75 years ago, on January 24, 1944, the Korsun-Shevchenko operation of the Red Army began. Soviet troops surrounded and destroyed the Korsun-Shevchenko group of the Wehrmacht.
The day before
The days of the impressive successes of the German armed forces are in the past. In 1943, a radical change took place during the Great Patriotic War - Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge. During the fierce and bloody battles, the Red Army intercepted the strategic initiative and went on the offensive. Soviet troops pushed the enemy back, recaptured their lands.
The 1944 campaign did not bode well for the Third Reich. The German military-political leadership was forced to abandon an offensive strategy. And this was the collapse of all strategic plans of Berlin. They were initially based on blitzkrieg - lightning war, then there was improvisation, an attempt to maintain the initiative. Now the German armed forces did not have a meaningful war plan. Germany was not ready for a long, trench war, a war of attrition. But now the Hitlerite headquarters had no choice but to drag out the war in order to postpone its collapse and hope for some serious military-political shifts in the camp of the opponents. In particular, there was a hope that the USSR would quarrel with its capitalist allies - Great Britain and the United States, and Germany in such a situation would be able to come to an agreement with the Anglo-Saxons and survive, preserve at least part of the conquests in Europe.
As a result, the Wehrmacht had to bleed the Russian troops and hold positions located as far east as possible, from the main vital centers of the German Empire. On the Russian front, the Germans created a deeply echeloned defense, which already existed in the northern and central strategic directions. But in the southern direction they had not yet managed to create it, and the former defensive lines fell. So, the Red Army in the fall of 1943 broke through the Eastern Wall on the Dnieper and liberated Kiev on November 6. Therefore, on the southern wing of the Eastern Front, mobile combat operations continued.
The war was still in full swing. The Third Reich still had at its disposal a powerful military-economic potential, forces and means to continue the war. The "gloomy Teutonic genius" continued to create new weapons and equipment. The military economy of the Reich, backed by plunder and the capabilities of the occupied and allied countries of Europe, continued to supply the Wehrmacht with everything it needed. In 1944, military production continued to grow, and only in August began its decline (mainly due to a lack of resources). A total mobilization of human resources was carried out. Taking all the last forces and resources from Germany, the Hitlerite elite tried to delay the defeat, to gain time to the last.
The striking power of the Wehrmacht in the fiercest battles of 1943 was seriously undermined. However, the German leadership tried with all its might to restore the combat power of the armed forces. By the beginning of 1944, the Wehrmacht consisted of 317 divisions, 8 brigades: 63% of these forces were on the Russian front (198 divisions and 6 brigades, also 3 air fleets). Also, the Nazis had 38 divisions and 18 brigades of the allied forces on the Eastern Front. A total of 4, 9 million people, more than 54 thousand guns and mortars, 5400 tanks and self-propelled guns, 3 thousand aircraft.
German tanks "Tiger". January 1944
Thus, the armed forces of the USSR faced big tasks: it was necessary to break the resistance of a strong enemy, completely expel the Nazis from their native land, begin the liberation of the occupied countries of Europe, so as not to give the "black-brown plague" a chance for recovery. Therefore, the Red Army was preparing for new offensive operations. Although victory was approaching, the seriousness of future battles was obvious. So, during the autumn-winter operations of 1943, the Wehrmacht repeatedly inflicted strong blows on Soviet troops in Ukraine, and in Belarus stopped their movement. The Germans retained a powerful foothold in the Baltic States, stood near Leningrad.
The war economy of the Soviet Union achieved new successes, increased the production of weapons and equipment. The troops received heavy tanks IS (Joseph Stalin), modernized medium tanks T-34 and with an 85-mm cannon, self-propelled artillery guns ISU-152, ISU-122 and Su-100. Artillery received 160-mm mortars, aviation - fighters Yak-3, La-7, Il-10 attack aircraft. The organizational structure of the troops was improved. The combined arms army began to have, as a rule, 3 rifle corps (8-9 rifle divisions). In the Air Force, mixed aviation corps were reorganized into homogeneous ones - fighter, bomber and assault. The striking power of the army continued to grow rapidly: armored and mechanized troops were developing. At the beginning of 1944, the sixth Panzer Army was formed. The equipping of troops with automatic, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, etc., increased. All this, taking into account the growth of the combat skill of Soviet soldiers, significantly strengthened the combat power of the Soviet armed forces.
By the beginning of the 1944 campaign, the Soviet army numbered 6, 1 million people, about 89 thousand guns and mortars, more than 2, 1 thousand rocket artillery installations, about 4, 9 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 8500 aircraft. At the front, there were 461 divisions (excluding artillery), 80 separate brigades, 32 fortified areas, and 23 tank and mechanized corps.
The strategic plan of the Soviet high command was to defeat the Wehrmacht with a series of powerful successive strikes: in the northern strategic direction - Army Group North, in the southern - Army Groups South and A. In the central direction, it was initially planned to hold down enemy forces with offensive actions in order to facilitate the offensive in the north and south. That is, at first they planned to break up the strategic groupings of the Wehrmacht in the Leningrad region, in the Right-Bank Ukraine and the Crimea. This created favorable conditions for the summer-autumn offensive campaign in the central sector of the front - in Belarus, the continuation of the offensive in the Baltic States and a breakthrough into the Balkans.
Thus, the strikes were not delivered simultaneously along the entire length of the front, but sequentially, in different directions. This made it possible to concentrate strong shock groups of Soviet troops, which had a decisive superiority of forces and equipment over the Wehrmacht, especially in artillery, aviation and armored vehicles. Soviet shock "kulaks" were supposed to break the enemy's defenses in a short time, create large gaps in the chosen directions and build on their success. To scatter the reserves of the Wehrmacht, operations alternated in time and were carried out in areas significantly distant from each other. The main offensive operations were planned in the southern direction with the aim of the complete liberation of Ukraine and Crimea. The first in time was the operation in the northern direction - the Leningrad, 2nd Baltic and Volkhov fronts. Our troops were to finally lift the blockade from Leningrad and reach the borders of the Soviet Baltic republics occupied by the enemy.
These operations went down in history under the name "Ten Stalinist Strikes" and led to the complete liberation of Soviet territory from the invaders and the transfer of hostilities of the Red Army outside the USSR.
Liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine
During the winter campaign of 1944, large operations of the Soviet troops were deployed in the southern direction (this was the second blow, the first - Leningrad). This did not allow the German command to transfer troops from south to north. By the beginning of 1944, on the southern wing of their front, the Germans had one of their largest strategic groupings. The German command believed that the Russians would continue the 1943 offensive on the southern flank. On the most severe instructions of Hitler, they had to keep the Right-Bank Ukraine (food resources), Nikopol (manganese), the Krivoy Rog basin (iron ore) and the Crimea, which covered the southern flank of the entire German front, at any cost.
On the Right-Bank Ukraine, there were two German army groups - "South" and "A", which included 1.7 million soldiers and officers, about 17 thousand guns and mortars, 2, 2 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, about 1500 aircraft. From our side, the Germans were opposed by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian fronts: 2,3 million people, about 29 thousand guns and mortars, more than 2 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, over 2, 3 thousand combat aircraft.
The first operations of the strategic Dnieper-Carpathian operation began back in December 24, 1943. On this day, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of N. F. Vatutin launched an offensive in the general direction of Vinnitsa. The first days of the Zhitomir-Berdichev operation developed very successfully, the enemy's defense was broken up to 300 km wide and 100 km deep, and Soviet troops advanced west, south-west and south. The Germans suffered heavy losses and retreated. But soon they came to their senses and put up stubborn resistance. Heavy battles were fought on the outskirts of Zhitomir, Berdichev and Belaya Tserkov. During the offensive, our troops defeated the opposing forces of the German 4th field and 1st tank armies, liberated Radomyshl (December 27), Novograd-Volynsky (January 3, 1944), Zhitomir (December 31, 1943), Berdichev (5 January) and White Church. Soviet troops reached the approaches to Vinnitsa, Zhmerinka, Uman and Zhashkov.
German medium tanks Pz.kpfw. IV Ausf. G late series, abandoned in the area of Zhitomir. December 1943
Tank T-34 of the 44th Guards Tank Brigade in an ambush near Berdichev. 1944 g.
Soviet infantrymen on Berdichev street. January 1944
The commander of Army Group South, Field Marshal Manstein, had to transfer 10 infantry and 6 tank divisions to the Vatutin offensive area. Having created shock groups in the region of Vinnitsa and Uman, the Nazis on January 10-11, 1944, inflicted two strong counterattacks and were able to stop and press out the Soviet troops. As a result, by January 14, 1944, the Red Army advanced up to 200 km and captured the Korsun-Shevchenko group of the Wehrmacht from the northwest. Soviet troops liberated almost completely the Kiev and Zhytomyr regions, partially - the Vinnytsia region.
Given the successful and rapid offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front, the Soviet Headquarters changed the tasks of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts. Previously, they had to defeat the enemy's Kryvyi Rih grouping. Now the 2nd Ukrainian Front, under the command of I. S. Konev, was to, while maintaining a solid defense on its left flank, on January 5, 1944, deliver the main blow in the Kirovograd direction - defeat the Kirovograd grouping of the Wehrmacht, liberate Kirovograd, covering it from the north and south. In the future, occupy the areas of Novo-Ukrainka, Pomoshnaya and advance on Pervomaisk in order to reach the Southern Bug River.
Konev's troops launched an offensive on January 5, 1944. During the first day of the offensive, Soviet troops partially broke through the enemy's tactical defenses and advanced to a depth of 4 to 24 km. On January 6, the 5th and 7th Guards armies of Zhadov and Shumilov, breaking the stubborn resistance of the Nazis, created a breakthrough up to 70 km in width and up to 30 km in depth. The formations of the 5th Guards Tank Army of Rotmistrov overcame the second defensive line of the enemy on the move and entered the Kirovograd area. After stubborn battles, repelling enemy counterattacks, on January 8, Soviet troops liberated Kirovograd. However, it was not possible to encircle and destroy the German grouping in the Korsun-Shevchenko salient due to the lagging behind the rifle divisions. After that, the Soviet troops, faced with the ever-increasing resistance of the Germans, still launched an offensive until January 16.
Thus, during the Kirovograd operation, Soviet troops defeated the 8th German army. Kirovograd, an important communications center, was liberated. At the same time, the right (southern) flank of the German grouping in the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky area was under the threat of a blow from the Soviet army. The German command, still hoping to return Kiev, was not going to withdraw this large grouping and align the front.
On January 12, 1944, the Soviet Headquarters sent a new directive and demanded that the enemy's grouping in the Korsun-Shevchenko salient be encircled and eliminated in the near future, and the left flank of the 1st Ukrainian Front and the right flank of the 2nd Ukrainian Front should be closed. The command of the Soviet fronts, by regrouping their forces, formed shock groups, which were to strike at the base of the ledge. For the successful conduct of the operation, superiority over the Germans was created - in manpower by 1, 7 times, in artillery - by 2, 4 times, in tanks and self-propelled guns - by 2, 6 times. From the air, Soviet troops were supported by the 2nd and 5th air armies.
On January 14-15, 1944, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front went over to the offensive and achieved some success. However, the Germans organized strong counterattacks and on January 16, the Headquarters pointed out to Konev that the troops were not well organized. Therefore, the beginning of the Korsun-Shevchenko operation was postponed until January 24.
Soviet infantry in battle in a village near Korsun-Shevchenkovsky
German tank Pz. Kpfw V "Panther", knocked out by the SU-85 self-propelled gun under the command of Lieutenant Kravtsev. Ukraine, 1944. Photo source:
