Battle of Velikiye Luki

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Battle of Velikiye Luki
Part of the
Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Result Soviet victory
Belligerents  Germany  Soviet UnionCommanders and leaders Nazi Germany Kurt von der Chevallerie Soviet Union Maksim Purkayev
Soviet Union Kuzma GalitskyStrength
LIX Korps – ~50,000 (on 19 Nov)
Reinforcement forces: ~50,000[1]
3rd Shock Army – 95,608 (on 19 Nov)
Reinforcement forces: 86,700[2]Casualties and losses Western estimate[3]:
5,000 KIA and MIA;
15,000 WIA
Soviet estimate: ~60,000
killed, missing or wounded, 4,500 captured[4] 104,022
31,674 killed or missing
72,348 wounded[5]
Situation after the initial Soviet advance.

The Battle of Velikiye Luki, also named Velikiye Luki offensive operation (Russian: Великолукская наступательная операция), started with the attack by the forces of the Red Army's Kalinin Front against the Wehrmacht's 3rd Panzer Army during the Winter Campaign of 1942–1943 with the objective of liberating the Russian city of Velikiye Luki as a previous part of the northern pincer of the Rzhev-Sychevka Strategic Offensive Operation (Operation Mars).

Sometimes known as "The Little Stalingrad of the North", the Soviet forces encircled the city on 27 November 1942, but were unable to make much progress against German units further west nor retake a key railway to

Leningrad. The German garrison in the city was ordered to hold out for a relief force and put up a concerted defense. As was the case at Stalingrad
, repeated German counterattacks were unable to reach the city, and the garrison surrendered on 16 January 1943.

Background

As part of Operation Barbarossa, the German army took Velikiye Luki on 19 July 1941, but was forced to retreat the next day due to Soviet counter-attacks breaking the line of communications in multiple places.[6] A new attack was launched in late August, and the city was recaptured on Aug. 26.[7]

The city had great strategic value due to the main north-south railway line running just west of the city at Novosokolniki, as well as the city's own rail network to

Lovat River. After its capture and with the German offensive running out of steam for the winter, the area was fortified. Marshy terrain extended to Lake Peipus
from just north of the city defended by the German 16th Field Army, making operations in the region around the city difficult for both sides. Rather than maintaining a solid "front" in the area, the Germans established a series of thinly held outposts to the north and south of the city.

Soviet counterattacks during the

Winter Campaign of 1941–1942, especially the Battles of Rzhev
just to the south, formed a large salient in the German lines. Velikiye Luki lay just on the western edge of the original advance, and was just as strategic for the Soviets as the Germans. The city dominated the region and would therefore be the natural point for fighting, offering the possibility of eliminating the German bridges on the Lovat, and to deny the Germans use of the rail line that provided communications between Army groups North and Centre. Furthermore, as long as the German Army occupied both rail junctions at Velikiye Luki and Rzhev, the Red Army could not reliably reinforce or resupply its troops on the north face of the massive Rzhev Salient.

Because of its strategic significance, the Germans heavily fortified the city over the course of 1942. The Soviets often raided into German-held territory around the town and the town could only be kept supplied by armoured trains.

Soviet offensive

The Soviet offensive to retake the city was developed in mid-November 1942 using troops from the 3rd and 4th Shock armies, and 3rd Air Army. The city itself was defended by the 83rd Infantry Division commanded by Lieutenant General Theodor Scherer, the lines to the south held by the 3rd Mountain Division, and the front to the north held by the 5th Mountain Division. The city itself was provided with extensively prepared defenses and garrisoned by a full regiment of the 83rd Division and other troops, totaling around 7,000.

Encirclement of German forces

Rather than attacking the town directly, the Soviet forces advanced into the difficult terrain to the north and south of the town. Spearheaded by the

Gruppe "Chevallerie"
from the north and 20th Motorised Division from the south counter-attacked to open the encirclement.

German relief attempts

The garrison were ordered to hold the city at all costs, while a relief force was assembled. The remainder of the 83rd Infantry and 3rd Mountain Divisions, encircled south of Velikiye Luki, fought their way west to meet the relieving troops. Due to Army Group Centre's commitments at Rzhev, the only resources immediately available to man the lines opposite Velikiye Luki were those already in the area, which were organised as Gruppe Wöhler (291st Infantry Division). Later, other divisions were made available, including the understrength 8th Panzer Division from Gruppe Chevallerie, the 20th Motorized Infantry Division from Army Group Centre reserve, and the weak 6th Luftwaffe Field Division, and the hurriedly rushed to the front 707th and 708th Security, and 205th and 331st Infantry divisions although there was a corresponding build-up of Soviet strength.

Throughout December, the garrison – which maintained radio contact with the relief forces – held out against repeated Soviet attempts to reduce their lines, and in particular the rail depot in the city's southern suburb. The Soviet forces, attacking strongly entrenched troops in severe winter weather, suffered extremely high casualties, while conditions in the city steadily deteriorated despite airdrops of supplies, ammunition and equipment. In the meantime, Soviet attempts to take their main objective, the rail lines at Novosokolniki, had been frustrated by the counter-attacks of the relief force. An attempt by the Germans to reach Velikiye Luki in late December ran into stubborn Soviet defence and halted, heavily damaged.

Operation Totila, the next attempt to break through to Velikiye Luki, was launched on 4 January. The two German spearheads advanced to within five miles (8 km) of the city, but stalled due to pressure on their flanks. On 5 January, a Soviet attack from the north split Velikiye Luki in two, isolating a small group of troops in the fortified "citadel" in the west of the city, while the bulk of the garrison retained a sector centred around the rail station in the south of the city. The former group broke out on during the night of the 14th; around 150 men eventually reached German lines. The German garrison surrendered on 16 January.

Aftermath

After the war, the Soviet authorities collected a representative set of Germans of various ranks from general to private who had fought at Velikiye Luki from prisoner-of-war camps and brought them to the city. A military tribunal held a public trial and convicted them for war crimes related to anti-partisan warfare. Nine were sentenced to death and publicly hanged in the main square of Velikiye Luki in January 1946.[9]

The battle is sometimes called "The Little Stalingrad of the North" due to its similarities with the larger and better-known

Battle of Smolensk) south, exposing the whole army group to encirclement, which is exactly what happened in the Operation Bagration
the following year.

Orders of battle

While it is somewhat difficult to separate the actions of various Red Army and Wehrmacht units within the flurry of movements involved in the larger scope of the Soviet operations, for the most part these below are derived from Glantz and Isayev.

Soviet

German relief attempts. (Notice that the order of battle given on this 1952 map is not accurate.)
  • Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive
    to the south of Velikiye Luki.
  • 4th Shock Army
  • 3rd Shock Army as of 1 December, 1942 (General Lieutenant Kuzma Galitsky)
    • 2nd Guards Rifle Corps (held a defensive front during the battle)
    • 5th Guards Rifle Corps (Major General A. P. Beloborodov)
    • Separate Rifle Divisions:
    • Separate Rifle Brigades:
      • 31st Rifle Brigade
      • 54th Rifle Brigade
    • 44th Ski Brigade
    • 2nd Mechanized Corps (Major General Ivan Korchagin)
      • 18th Mechanized Brigade
      • 34th Mechanized Brigade
      • 43rd Mechanized Brigade
      • 33rd Tank Brigade
      • 36th Tank Brigade
      • 68th Separate Motorcycle Battalion
    • 184th Tank Brigade
    • 27th Separate Tank Regiment
    • 34th Separate Tank Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Bogdanov) equipped with T-34 tanks
    • 37th Separate Tank Regiment
    • 38th Separate Tank Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Zheleznov, after 30.12.42 Lieutenant Colonel Khubayev) equipped with T-34 tanks
    • 45th Separate Tank Regiment
    • 146th, 170th Separate Tank Battalions
    • 225th, 289th, 293rd Separate Engineer Brigades
    • 94th Motor-Pontoon Battalion[11]
  • 3rd Air Army
  • Long Range Aviation
    • 3rd Long-range aviation division (Colonel Yukhanov)
    • 17th Long-range aviation division (General Major of Aviation Loginov)
    • 222nd Long-range aviation division (Colonel Titov)

German

Most of Army Group Center was engaged in resisting the second Soviet Rzhev-Sychevka offensive throughout this period.

Almost half of the 83rd Infantry Division was assigned to the Velikiye Luki garrison.

The 3rd Mountain Division was at little more than half strength, since its 139th Regiment had been left in Lapland when the division withdrew from northern Finland. The 138th Mountain Regiment was the unknown unit of 3rd Mountain shown in Maps 2 and 3.

20th Motorized was from Army Group Center's reserve.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Oldwitg von Natzmer. Operations of Encircled Forces. German Experiences in Russia. — Department of the Army, Washington, DC 1952. (Oldwitg von Natzmer). Washington DC. 1952
  2. ^ Галицкий К. Н. Годы суровых испытаний. 1941—1944 (записки командарма) — М.: Наука, 1973. стр.185
  3. ^ R. Forczyk, VELIKIYE LUKI 1942–43, 2020, p. 90
  4. ISBN 5-8213-0232-3
  5. ^ Glantz (1995), p. 296
  6. ^ David Stahel, Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2009, pp. 290-91
  7. ^ Stahel, p. 409
  8. ^ http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/beloborodov2/08.html. In Russian. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  9. ^ Paul Carell; Scorched Earth (1971) pp. 332–333
  10. ^ "Watch Soviet Storm: WWII in the East | the Rzhev Meat-Grinder online | Free | Hulu". Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-18.
  11. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 234
  12. ^ Christensen, C.B.; Poulsen, N.B.; Smith, P.S.(1998) "Under Hagekors og Dannebrog" pp. 176–185

References

  • Chadwick, Frank A. et al. (1979). White Death: Velikiye Luki, The Stalingrad of the North. Normal, Il:, game design notes, GDW (Game Designers Workshop) a board wargame that covers the battle with considerable detail. It includes notes on the battle, orders of battle for each side, and a 1:100,000 map derived from Soviet wartime situation maps. Shelby Stanton had researched primary sources using the captured German records held by NARA in Wash. DC.
  • Department of the Army, Historical Study Operations of Encircled Forces German Experiences in Russia, Pamphlet 20-234, Washington DC, 1952.[1] Archived 14 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine This pamphlet was written by German officers to relay their experiences fighting the Russians (sic). The officers had to rely on memory so there are some inaccuracies but gives a good overall account of various operations and battles.
  • Glantz, D.M., Zhukov's greatest defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, 1999
  • Glantz, David M. & House, Jonathan (1995), When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler, Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas,
    ISBN 0-7006-0899-0
  • Isayev, A.V., When there were no surprises: History of the Great Patriotic War which we never knew, Velikiye Luki operation Russian: Великолукская операция, Yauza, Eksmo, 2006 (Russian: Исаев А. В. Когда внезапности уже не было. История ВОВ, которую мы не знали. — М.: Яуза, Эксмо, 2006)
  • Webb, William A., Battle of Velikiye Luki: Surrounded in the Snow, PRIMEDIA Enthusiast Publications, Inc.(2000). [2] ". Accessed on 21 April 2005.

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