By December 30, Operation Little Saturn was triumphantly completed. The main result of the Middle Don operation was that the German command finally abandoned further plans to unblock Paulus's 6th Army and lost the strategic initiative on the Russian front.
Defeat the enemy
In the course of stubborn battles on December 16-18, 1942, the troops of the Southwestern and left wings of the Voronezh fronts broke through the heavily fortified enemy defenses in several directions, and crossed the Don and Bogucharka rivers with battles. The 8th Italian Army was completely defeated.
As E. Manstein recalled: “It all started on the left flank of the Army Group, more precisely, on the left flank of the Hollidt Group. What happened to the Italian army was not known in detail. Apparently, there only one light and one or two infantry divisions put up any serious resistance. Early in the morning of December 20, a German general, the corps commander, to whom the right flank of the Italians was subordinate, appeared and reported that both Italian divisions subordinate to him were in a hurry to retreat. The reason for the retreat was, apparently, the news that two enemy tank corps had already penetrated deeply on the flank. Thus, the flank of Hollidt's group was completely exposed. … Hollidt's group was ordered to continue to hold their positions on the Upper Chir and to secure their flank, placing one of their formations on it with a ledge. But during this day, the weak front of Hollidt's group was also broken through in two places, the 7th Romanian Infantry Division arbitrarily retreated. The headquarters of the 1st Romanian corps, to which this sector was subordinated, fled in panic from their command post. On the evening of December 20, the situation in the depths, behind the flank of Hollidt's group, was completely unclear. No one knew if the Italians, who were former neighbors of the group, were resisting elsewhere. Everywhere in the rear of Hollidt's group, forward detachments of enemy tanks were found, they even reached the important crossing of the Donets River near the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky.
Over the next two days, the situation on the site of the Hollidt group escalated more and more. Its front was broken through, and the enemy's tank forces, which had complete freedom of action in the zone where the Soviets swept the Italian army out of their way, threatened its uncovered flank and rear. Soon, this threat was to affect the position of the 3rd Romanian Army. The German command hastily transferred new formations from the deep rear and from neighboring sectors of the front to the areas of the breakthrough. Units of the 385th, 306th infantry and 27th tank German divisions appeared in the battle area.
The dog sits in the snow against the background of a column of Italian troops retreating from Stalingrad
Meanwhile, the Soviet offensive continued to develop successfully. The main role in this operation was played by tank and mechanized formations. The 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th Panzer Corps of the 1st Guards and 6th Armies and the 1st Guards Mechanized Corps of the 3rd Guards Army were rapidly advancing south and southeast into the depths of the captured by the enemy territories, trashing the retreating enemy columns and their rear. Following the mobile formations, using and consolidating their success, the Soviet infantry moved. The enemy threw a large number of vehicles, carts, ammunition, food and weapons on the roads and in settlements. Our troops tried to inflict as much damage as possible on the retreating enemy, forming mobile detachments moving in vehicles, tank columns, horse and ski detachments.
The troops of the 6th Army, pushing the enemy back from the Pisarevka and Tala regions, advanced to Kantemirovka. Tankmen of the 17th Tank Corps of General P. P. Poluboyarov took this settlement on December 19, which was turned by the enemy into a strong stronghold. At 12 o'clock, the 174th Tank Brigade burst into the southern outskirts of the city, capturing the station where echelons with ammunition and food stood on the railroad tracks. At the same time, the 66th Panzer Brigade struck from the east, advancing with battles into the central part of the city. Motorized riflemen were sent to the northern outskirts. At 14 o'clock, the 31st motorized rifle brigade approached the city, covering it from the south and southeast. Street battles with the enemy ended in victory for the Soviet soldiers. By evening, Kantemirovka was cleared of the enemy. This success of the 17th Panzer Corps ensured the offensive of the entire strike group of the 6th Army. In addition, the enemy's communication between Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don was cut.
The swift actions of the 17th Panzer Corps ensured the advancement of units of the 15th Rifle Corps of Major General P. F. Privalov and contributed to the success of other tank corps (24th and 18th). After the liberation of Kantemirovka, Poluboyarov's corps took up defensive positions awaiting the approach of the 6th Army's infantry. In addition, it was necessary to tighten up the rear, replenish the reserves of fuel, ammunition, etc. Soon the 267th division approached, which took defense in Kantemirovka from the 17th Panzer Corps. The tankers rushed further, and from December 22 to 23, the corps fought to capture the settlements of Voloshin, Sulin. For eight days of the offensive, the tank corps, breaking the enemy's resistance, made a march for 200 km. The tankers liberated about 200 settlements, causing great damage to the enemy. For successes in battles in early January 1943, the 17th Panzer Corps was transformed into the 4th Guards Tank Corps and received the honorary name "Kantemirovsky".
The troops of the Southwestern Front, pursuing the retreating enemy, broke through with tank corps into the northeastern districts of the Voroshilovgrad region on December 20. As a result, the beginning of the liberation of Ukraine was laid. The 24th and 25th Panzer Corps were especially successful in advancing in the depths of the German defenses, developing their offensives on Tatsinskaya and Morozovsk. The tankers broke away from the rifle divisions by 110 - 120 km, but continued to move quickly along their routes, breaking the enemy's resistance, leaving his unfinished units in their rear.
General V. M. Badanov's 24th Panzer Corps moved especially rapidly. Introduced into battle on December 19, the corps in five days advanced to a depth of about 240 km, successfully smashing the rear of the 8th Italian Army. On December 22, corps units fought in the Bolshinka and Ilyinka area, where they captured a significant number of prisoners. By the end of December 23, the tankers occupied Skosyrskaya. The enemy retreated to Morozovsk, remaining in the rear and on the flank of Badanov's corps as they moved to Tatsinskaya.
Commander of the 24th Panzer Corps Vasily Mikhailovich Badanov
The enemy's front-line base was located in Tatsinskaya: depots of ammunition, fuel, food, ammunition, and various materials. At Tatsinskaya, one of the base airfields was located, where aviation was located, which supported the "air bridge" with the surrounded Paulus army. That is, this point was of great importance for the enemy army. However, Badanov's corps was experiencing an acute shortage of fuel and ammunition, the material part of the compound had to be put in order. And give the fighters a rest. Tatsinskaya was still 30 km away. Moreover, the enemy had the opportunity to organize flank counterattacks, the neighbors of the 24th Panzer Corps had not yet approached.
Badanov continued the offensive. On the night of December 24, part of the corps, "having no time to put the materiel in order, with a small amount of ammunition and fuel and lubricants," left the Skosyrskaya area. At dawn, the Soviet tank crews took up their starting position for the attack. The appearance of our troops at Tatsinskaya came as a surprise to the enemy. “The personnel of the airfield were still in the dugouts. Artillerymen of anti-aircraft units covering the airfield and st. Tatsinskaya, were not at the guns. The enemy garrison was sleeping peacefully."
At 7 o'clock. 30 minutes, at the signal of a salvo from the guards mortar battalion, corps units went over to the attack. The 130th Tank Brigade, operating from the south and southeast, cut off the Morozovsk - Tatsinskaya railway and the highway junction southeast of Tatsinskaya. By 9 o'clock the brigade reached the airfield and destroyed enemy aircraft and the flight personnel taken by surprise. The 2nd tank battalion of this brigade captured Art. Tatsinskaya, destroying a train with planes and a train with fuel tanks standing on the tracks. The 4th Guards Tank Brigade, striking from the north and northwest, reached the northern outskirts of Tatsinskaya. The 54th Tank Brigade, attacking from the west and south-west, reached the southern outskirts of Tatsinskaya, in the airfield area. At 17 o'clock, the tankers, having completely cleared the enemy from Tatsinskaya, the station and the airfield, took up a perimeter defense. During the battle, the enemy garrison was destroyed. Among the trophies were a large number of aircraft that did not manage to get off the airfield or were captured in train echelons.
The seizure of the railway station led to the fact that the most important railway communication Likhaya - Stalingrad was cut, along which the fascist command completed the concentration of the troops of the Hollidt group and ensured their supply with everything necessary for the conduct of hostilities. Thus, the German plan finally collapsed to abandon the troops of the Hollidt task force and the 48th Panzer Corps to liberate the Paulus group, and these forces were chained by battles with the advancing troops of the Soviet Southwestern Front.
The German command took emergency measures to restore the situation in Skosyrskaya and Tatsinskaya. At 11 o'clock, the Germans attacked Skosyrskaya and captured it with the forces of the 11th Panzer Division. The rear of the Soviet corps located there and the tanks remaining for repairs were retreated to Ilyinka. However, an attempt by the Germans to develop an offensive and take Tatsinskaya was repulsed.
The crushing defeat of the Germans in Tatsinskaya became a vivid episode of the battles at Stalingrad. Kurt Straiti wrote in his article “On those who escaped from the underworld”: “Morning December 24, 1942 A faint dawn is dawning in the east, illuminating a gray horizon. At this moment, Soviet tanks, firing, suddenly burst into the village and the airfield. The planes immediately flare up like torches. Flames are raging everywhere. Shells explode, ammunition takes off into the air. Trucks are rushing about, and desperately screaming people are running between them. Everything that can run, move, fly, tries to scatter in all directions. Who will give the order where to head to pilots trying to escape from this hell? Start in the direction of Novocherkassk - that's all the general had time to order. Madness begins … From all sides leave for the launch pad and start the planes. All this is happening under fire and in the light of fires. The sky spreads like a crimson bell over thousands of perishing, whose faces express madness. Here is one "Ju-52", not having time to rise, crashes into a tank, and both explode with a terrible roar in a huge cloud of flame. Already in the air, Junkers and Heinkel collide and fly into small pieces together with their passengers. The roar of tanks and aircraft engines mingles with explosions, cannon fire and machine-gun bursts into a monstrous symphony. All this creates a complete picture of the real hell."
Major General P. P. Pavlov's 25th Panzer Corps, having occupied Kashary, advanced in the direction of Morozovsk. On December 23 and 24, corps units fought heavy battles with the enemy's 306th and 8th airfield divisions. Having broken the enemy's resistance, the tankers occupied Uryupin by the end of December 24. But further advance towards Morozovsk was stopped by the increased opposition of the enemy. At this very time, the corps received an order to develop an offensive on Tatsinskaya. The 1st Guards Mechanized Corps of Major General IN Russiyanov also advanced in the direction of Morozovsk.
The troops of the Southwestern Front also successfully operated on other directions of their offensive. 18th Tank Corps, Major General of Tank Forces B. S. Bakharov, forcing the river. Bogucharki, took Meshkovo on December 19. At the same time, the corps broke 35-40 km ahead of the advancing rifle formations of the 1st Guards Army. As a result of these bold actions, Bakharov's corps, reaching the Meshkov area, cut off the escape routes from the Don of the main forces of the 8th Italian Army. With the approach of 21 December rifle divisions, the 18th Panzer Corps continued to develop the offensive and the next day captured Ilyichevka, Verkhne-Chirsky, and then turned sharply south-west and began to advance into the Millerovo area.
Using the swift and successful offensive of tank formations, the rifle divisions of the 1st Guards Army on December 22 surrounded large forces of the Italian 8th Army in the Arbuzovka, Zhuravka area: the 3rd, 9th, 52nd Italian, 298th German infantry divisions, Italian infantry brigades "March 23" and "January 3". The enemy grouping was dismembered, and on December 24 it completely surrendered. 15 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were taken prisoner. The actions of the 1st and 3rd Guards armies also surrounded and then defeated enemy forces in the Alekseev, Lozovskoe, Garmashevka, Chertkovo, Verkhne-Chirskoe, east of Kamenskoe, in the Kruzhilin area.
Thus, the German front on the Don and Chir rivers was crushed for up to 340 km. The troops of the Southwestern Front, having advanced 150-200 km, reached the Kantemirovka, Tatsinskaya and Morozovsk areas by December 24. The airbases of Morozovsk and Tatsinskaya, which were of decisive importance for the supply of Paulus's 6th Army, were under the blows of the Soviet troops. The further development of the front offensive was to lead to deep coverage of the left flanks of the shock groupings of Army Group Don, operating in the Tormosin and Kotelnikov areas, and threatened the rear of the enemy's North Caucasian grouping. In addition, this offensive led to the coverage of the right flank of the German-Hungarian troops operating in the Voronezh direction. The strikes by the troops of the Southwestern Front in the southeastern direction, combined with the offensive of the 2nd Guards and 51st armies of the Stalingrad Front in the Kotelnikov sector, which began on December 24, created a threat to encircle all the troops of Army Group Don.
Completion of the operation
The German command took emergency measures to save the situation and restore the front. Operation "Winter Thunderstorm" to unblock Paulus's army in Stalingrad by the forces of Manstein-Gotha's troops was finally abandoned. The Wehrmacht was facing the threat of a larger-scale defeat and defeat. The enemy command began to hastily transfer troops to the zone of the Southwestern Front, which were originally intended for a deblocking attack on Stalingrad. This was done primarily at the expense of the Tormosin group. She never received a number of formations sent to her, withdrawn from other sectors of the front, as well as being transferred from Western Europe. Even the troops that had already participated in the offensive of the Goth group were removed, so the main striking force of the army group "Goth" - the 6th German Panzer Division was withdrawn from heavy battles at the turn of the river. Myshkov and thrown into the Middle Don, in the areas of Morozovsk and Tatsinskaya.
The command of Army Group Don ordered the 3rd Romanian Army, which held the front along the lower reaches of the Chir River, to free the 48th Panzer Corps headquarters with the 11th Panzer Division from its sector in order to restore the position on the western flank with their help. The 4th Panzer Army transferred the 6th Panzer Division to defend the Lower Chir. As part of the Hollidt task force, a new Pfeifer group was formed, which took up defenses in the Skosyrskaya area. To restore the situation in the Millerovo area, the 30th German corps under the command of General Fretter-Pico (then called the Fretter-Pico army group) was transferred here on December 24 from Voroshilovgrad and Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. The following were subordinated to the command of the 30th corps: the newly formed 304th Infantry Division transferred from France to the Kamensk region; the Kreizing group (its core consisted of units of the 3rd Mountain Division); the remains of the 29th building; the remnants of the 298th Infantry Division operating north of Millerovo. In total, the German command managed to send eight additional divisions against the advancing troops of the Southwestern Front.
The fighting took on a more stubborn character. On the one hand, the shock capabilities of the Soviet mobile formations were weakened, their rear was lagging behind, they were far from their supply bases. It was necessary to regroup and replenish the troops with manpower, equipment, materiel. On the other hand, the Germans took urgent measures to restore the front, pulled up troops from other directions and reserves. Using the newly arrived formations, the enemy created an advantage in tanks and aircraft in some areas. Especially fierce battles were fought in areas south of Chertkovo, Millerovo, Tatsinskaya and north of Morozovsk.
The front commander, Vatutin, ordered the 6th and 1st Guards armies to hold their positions, complete the elimination of enemy troops blocked in the Garmashevka and Chertkov areas, take Millerovo and complete the exit to the Voloshino, Nikolskaya, Ilyinka, Tatsinskaya line.
The 24th Panzer Corps in the Tatsinskaya area was blocked by enemy troops and took up a perimeter defense. The enemy concentrated in this area up to two infantry and two tank divisions (11th and 6th), our troops were bombed by German aviation. The Soviet corps experienced an acute shortage of diesel fuel and ammunition. As of December 25, 1942, the corps had 58 tanks in service: 39 T-34 tanks and 19 T-70 tanks. The provision of fuel and ammunition was minimal: diesel fuel - 0.2 refueling; 1st grade gasoline - 2, 2nd grade gasoline - 2, ammunition - 0.5 ammunition.
On December 26, 1942, a convoy arrived at Tatsinskaya from the Ilyinka area, accompanied by five T-34 tanks, delivering a certain amount of supplies. The 24th motorized rifle brigade also went to the corps after a night march. After that, all paths were firmly closed by the enemy. The difficult problem with fuel was completely resolved due to the captured enemy reserves (over 300 tons of 1st and 2nd grade gasoline, oils and kerosene). The assistant to the corps commander for the technical part of the guard, engineer-colonel Orlov, developed a substitute for diesel fuel from captured gasoline, kerosene and oils, which fully ensured the operation of diesel engines. However, the ammunition was very bad. Therefore, Badanov gave the order to save ammunition and hit targets for sure, as well as to use the enemy's weapons and ammunition.
On this day, our tank crews repulsed several enemy attacks. Throughout the day, enemy aircraft delivered massive strikes against the combat formations of the corps. Badanov sent a radiogram to the headquarters of the Southwestern Front and the 1st Guards Army about an acute shortage of ammunition and asked for air supplies. He also asked to cover the actions of the corps from the air and to accelerate the advance of army units, ensuring the position of the corps units. I. Stalin gave the instruction: "Remember Badanov, do not forget Badanov, help him out at all costs." The Soviet command instructed the 25th Tank Corps and the 1st Guards Mechanized Corps to provide assistance to the 24th Corps. However, they were unable to break through to help Badanov's corps.
During the night of December 27, the enemy continued to concentrate forces around Tatsinskaya, and in the morning the Germans continued their attacks. Stubborn battles went on all day. The enemy managed to penetrate the defense of the 24th motorized rifle brigade, but the Germans were thrown back by a counterattack of the 130th tank brigade. When repelling enemy attacks, they used the captured guns and shells of the Germans. But the ammunition situation has become critical. On December 28, 1942, Corps Commander Badanov received permission from the front command to withdraw corps units from the encirclement. At night, the corps with a sudden blow rammed the enemy's front and left the encirclement for its rear in the Ilyinka area, losses during the breakthrough were insignificant. The corps retained its combat capability and within a few days was fighting in the Morozovsk region.
Breakthrough memorial monument. Rostov region
During the raid, Badanov's corps destroyed more than 11 thousand enemy soldiers and officers, took 4769 prisoners, knocked out 84 tanks and 106 guns, and destroyed up to 10 batteries and 431 aircraft in the Tatsinskaya area alone. On December 27, 1942, the newspaper "Krasnaya Zvezda" told about the heroes - tankmen throughout the country. The Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on awarding Vasily Mikhailovich Badanov with the rank of Lieutenant General and the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on awarding him the Order of Suvorov II degree were published. The 24th Panzer Corps was renamed the 2nd Guards Corps and received the honorary name "Tatsinsky".
On the right wing of the Southwestern Front, the enemy, pulling up reserves, counterattacked the troops of the 6th and 1st Guards armies. However, the enemy failed to succeed. By the end of December, the troops of the Southwestern Front had advanced to a depth of 200 km and reached the Novaya Kalitva - Vysochinov - Belovodsk - Voloshino - Millerovo - Ilyinka - Skosyrskaya - Chernyshkovsky line. This was the end of the Middle Don operation.
Outcomes
During the offensive, Soviet troops liberated 1,246 settlements and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. The main forces of the 8th Italian army, the Hollidt task force and the 3rd Romanian army were defeated. The plans of the German command to create a strike group in the Tormosin area were thwarted, since the troops concentrated here in parts were used in the Middle Don area (Morozovsk, Tatsinskaya). Hoth's strike group, which was breaking through to Stalingrad, was weakened. Its main striking force, the 6th Panzer Division, was taken straight from the battle. Thus, the idea of unblocking the 6th Army of Paulus finally collapsed. The Red Army got the opportunity to develop an offensive in the Voroshilovgrad and Voronezh directions.
The troops of the South-West and part of the forces of the Voronezh fronts during the December offensive completely destroyed five Italian divisions and three brigades, defeated six divisions. In addition, four infantry, two tank German divisions were seriously defeated. In these battles, Soviet troops captured 60 thousand soldiers and officers (total enemy losses amounted to 120 thousand people), captured 368 aircraft, 176 tanks and 1,927 guns as trophies.
The retreat of the German units of Army Group "Don" after an unsuccessful attempt to release Stalingrad
The 8th Italian Army suffered such a defeat that it could no longer recover. The defeat of the Italian troops on the Don shocked Rome. Relations between Rome and Berlin deteriorated sharply. The Duce regime staggered. Italy soon practically ceased to be an ally of Germany.
As a result, the enemy used up the reserves intended for the attack on Stalingrad, and abandoned further attempts to unblock the Paulus grouping surrounded there, which predetermined its fate and led to a radical change in the situation not only on the Stalingrad-Rostov direction, but on the entire Soviet-German front. Germany was unable to victoriously complete the 1942 campaign of the year, which had begun so successfully. In the Great Patriotic War, a strategic turning point took place, the Red Army seized the initiative. Only a few days will pass, and the Red Army will launch a general offensive on a broad front.
Monument to the Middle Don operation in the Bogucharsky district of the Voronezh region
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