In the area of ​​Novorossiysk, the enemy was afraid of the landing of our troops, so here he prepared a powerful anti-amphibious defense. The entire coastline up to Anapa was heavily fortified. Approaches to the city from the sea were covered by a dense system of bunkers and bunkers, which were located in the western part of the port. All berths, piers, port buildings were mined. Mines were placed not only on the coastline, but also on and under water. Between the western and eastern breakwaters, the Germans installed bonoset barriers, connecting them with mines and land mines.

On the heights outside the city, the enemy equipped artillery observation posts, which allowed him to correct fire on any part of the bay. In addition, at these heights, he placed numerous artillery and mortar batteries, which kept all areas of the city under fire.

The terrain itself in the Novorossiysk region allowed the enemy to hold their positions even with limited forces. At the same time, it created additional difficulties for the advancing troops. A large ridge of mountains north of Novorossiysk is covered with forests, there are almost no roads and passages. The offensive could only be carried out in certain directions.

This is the characteristic of the Blue Line. A successful breakthrough of such a powerful defense depended on careful and comprehensive preparation of the operation.

It was clear to the Soviet command that it would be very difficult to break through the Blue Line in the center. Due to the heavily swampy terrain, it was impossible to expect a breakthrough of the Blue Line on its left wing either. Only the right flank of the German defense in the Novorossiysk region remained for the strike, although due to the mountainous and wooded terrain, this section was not ideal either.

In addition, when choosing the location of the main strike, the factor of surprise was taken into account. The enemy had fortified Novorossiysk and the approaches to it to such an extent that he was sure of the impregnability of his positions and least of all expected a blow in this direction.

But the headquarters of the North Caucasian Front managed in a short time to develop and carry out the Novorossiysk-Taman strategic offensive operation, which significantly accelerated the expulsion of the invaders from Novorossiysk and the Taman Peninsula within a month - from September 10 to October 9, 1943.

Battles for Novorossiysk. The Novorossiysk-Taman operation was deployed on the night of September 10 by landing troops in the Novorossiysk area, following a powerful air and artillery attack on the landing sites.

On September 9, with the onset of dusk in the Gelendzhik Bay, the landing of paratroopers on ships and ships of landing craft began.

About 800 of our guns and mortars, as well as long-range artillery from the shore of the Tsemes Bay, fired at the German positions. The artillery preparation began at 02.44, when all our detachments reached their starting position. At the same time, aircraft bombed the enemy fortifications in the port.

Our boats (25 units) from the breakthrough group under the command of the captain of the 2nd rank V.T. Protsenko struck with torpedoes at enemy firing points located on the eastern and western piers. After the torpedo strikes, special assault groups were landed: 5 people on the western pier and 13 on the eastern one. By 02.55 our sailors blew up the cable barrier at the port gate. At the signal “The passage to the port is open”, the torpedo boats of the attack group of Lieutenant Commander A.F. Afrikanova at 02.56 quickly broke into the port and attacked enemy firing points on the shore, piers and marinas with torpedoes.

As soon as the landing detachments started fighting with the enemy in the landing areas, at 0315 hours the main forces of the 18th Army, that is, the eastern and western ground groups, went on the offensive.

Despite fairly strong artillery support, units of the army advancing from the direction of the Oktyabr cement plant and the Myskhak bridgehead, during September 10, wedged into the enemy defenses by 500-700 meters, could not break through it.

At this time, the troops of the 9th and 56th armies were conducting enhanced reconnaissance and were completing preparations for the offensive.

The German command, seeking to delay the offensive of the troops of the 18th Army and prevent a breakthrough of the defense, hastily threw the nearest reserves into the Novorossiysk region. Parts of the 73rd Infantry Division, the 101st Jaeger Division and the Romanian 1st Mountain Infantry Division operated in the urban area of ​​​​Mefodievsky. In the western part of Novorossiysk and Stanichka, units of the 4th German Infantry Division and the 4th Romanian Mountain Infantry Division were fighting. At the cost of heavy losses, the enemy managed to disunite Detachment 1, encircle and isolate Detachment 2, but failed to stop the offensive of Detachment 3.

On the night of September 11, landing detachment No. 3 (1339 joint ventures) was reinforced by the 1337th rifle regiment and a detachment of marines consisting of 500 people under the command of Major S.T. Grigoriev, who were successfully transferred and landed at 4 o'clock in the area of ​​the power plant. The successful transfer of reinforcements to the landing force and the reinforcement of the eastern ground group of the 18th Army with heavy tanks were of decisive importance for the development of the further offensive.

Parts of the 318th Infantry Division broke the enemy resistance in a night battle and by 6 o'clock on September 11, having broken through the enemy defenses in the area of ​​the Oktyabr cement plant, united with the units of the 1339th regiment, advancing towards them from the area of ​​​​the power plant and the Turkish Garden.

On this day, in the northern part of the Novorossiysk port, where the 393rd separate battalion of marines was landed, and on September 11, part of the forces of the 290th rifle regiment of the NKVD, fierce battles continued in the area of ​​​​the station and the elevator.

The Germans, in an effort to eliminate our units, entrenched in the area of ​​​​the station and the elevator, went into violent counterattacks with infantry and tanks. In Novorossiysk harbor, according to German data, Soviet torpedo boats TKA-124 and 125, as well as patrol boats SKA-025, 032 and 084, were sunk. For this purpose, the enemy threw up to two regiments of infantry, 20 tanks and the 191st division of assault guns into the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe settlement of Adamovich Balk.

At 7 o'clock on September 11, the 9th Army went on the offensive, striking with the forces of the 11th Rifle Corps on Keslerovo and with the forces of two divisions - on Kalabatka and Krasny Oktyabr. During the day, units of the 9th Army had little progress and could not break through the enemy defenses. Nevertheless, in connection with the transition to the offensive of the 9th Army, the German command was forced to bring into battle the reserves located in the area of ​​​​the settlements of Kievskoye, Varenikovskaya and Gladkovskaya, which made it impossible to use these reserves against units of the 18th Army.

On that day, the 56th Army continued to concentrate forces and means for the offensive, limiting its actions to reconnaissance by reinforced detachments.

During September 12 and 13, the second echelons of landing forces were introduced into battle, and the eastern ground group of the 18th Army was reinforced by the 55th Guards Rifle Division, the 6th Guards Tank Breakthrough Regiment and the 5th Guards Tank Brigade.

The German-Romanian troops suffered heavy blows, and their resistance began to weaken significantly. The decrease in enemy resistance was due to the fact that tactical reserves had already been used up by this time, there were almost no operational reserves, and the active actions of units of the 9th and 56th armies did not allow him to maneuver at the expense of other sectors of the front.

Repulsing the attacks of units of the 89th Infantry Division, the enemy began to accumulate forces in the area of ​​​​Mount Sugar Loaf in order to close the breakthrough with a blow in the direction of the Oktyabr cement plant and cut off the offensive of the units of the 55th Guards and 318th Infantry Divisions, which time fought in the western part of the suburbs "Standard", as well as in the area of ​​the Novorossiysk elevator and the station.

To build on the success of the eastern group of the 18th Army, a tank group consisting of the 5th Guards Tank Brigade, one self-propelled artillery regiment of heavy self-propelled guns SU-152, one anti-tank artillery regiment and two battalions of infantry. The task of this group was to build on the success of the 55th Guards Rifle Division with its swift actions and, if necessary, support the actions of the units of the 318th Rifle Division, covering the flank of the army strike group.

At 7 o'clock on September 14, after a 40-minute artillery preparation, the 56th Army went on the offensive, striking with its right flank in the direction of the Kievskoye, Moldavanskoye settlements and with its left flank at Nizhne-Bakanskaya. During the day, units of the army, overcoming the resistance and counterattacks of the enemy, wedged into its defenses at 800–1000 m. On September 15, units of the army also had only a slight advance due to heavy fire and frequent counterattacks of the enemy and almost continuous minefields. From the second half of the day, the advancing formations of the army began to prepare a night offensive.

In the morning of the same day, units of the eastern group of the 18th Army resumed the offensive and by the end of the day reached the Markotkh pass. The 55th Guards Rifle Division, together with a tank group, broke the enemy's resistance in the Novorossiysk railway station area and continued to develop the offensive in the direction of Tsemdolina (Cement Valley. - Note. ed.).

The western ground group, advancing from the Myskhak bridgehead, could not break through the enemy defenses until September 15 and only wedged 700–800 m into the enemy’s battle formations in some areas. On September 15, this group, having resumed the offensive, advanced 1.5–2 km during the day.

Thus, the 18th Army achieved the greatest success on its right flank, where the advancing units reached the area of ​​the Markotkh Pass and Mount Koldun, which later decided the fate of the largest enemy in the entire system in the Novorossiysk region of the defense center on Mount Sugar Loaf.

By the end of September 15, the resistance of the Germans, acting against units of the 18th Army, had noticeably weakened. At 5 p.m., reconnaissance established that the enemy began to retreat in small groups in the western and north-western directions. At the same time, the artillery and mortar fire of the German troops intensified, and at 21.00 it reached its highest intensity.

Under the cover of strong but erratic artillery fire, the enemy began to withdraw his main forces in the western and northwestern directions.

Thus, the troops of the 18th Army, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet, defeated the Novorossiysk grouping of German troops and liberated the port and city of Novorossiysk with land strikes and landings in the port.

This operation thwarted the German command of the Kriemhild action complex - a plan for a long-term evacuation from Novorossiysk and the Taman Peninsula. "The Germans failed to bring the Novorossiysk port into disrepair for at least 6 months."

By 10 o'clock on September 16, the port and city of Novorossiysk were completely cleared of the enemy. On this day, the whole country listened to the order of the Supreme High Command to the troops of the North Caucasian Front and the Black Sea Fleet: “The troops of the North Caucasian Front, in cooperation with the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, as a result of a bold operation - a strike from land and an amphibious landing from the sea, - after five days of fierce fighting ... today, September 16, they stormed the important port of the Black Sea and the city of Novorossiysk.

In the battles for Novorossiysk, the troops of Lieutenant General Leselidze, the sailors of Rear Admiral Kholostyakov, the pilots of Lieutenant General of Aviation Vershinin and Lieutenant General of Aviation Yermachenkov distinguished themselves.

Particularly distinguished:

318th Rifle Division of Colonel Vrutsky, 55th Guards Irkutsk Order of Lenin and three times Red Banner Rifle Division named after the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR Major General Arshintsev, 83rd Red Banner Separate Naval Rifle Brigade of Lieutenant Colonel Kozlov, 5th Guards Tank Brigade of Colonel Shurenkov, 290 -th separate rifle regiment of the NKVD troops, lieutenant colonel Piskarev, 393rd separate marine battalion, captain-lieutenant Botylev, 11th assault aviation division of the air force of the Black Sea Fleet, lieutenant colonel Gubriy, 88th guards fighter aviation regiment, major Maksimenko, 889th night light bomber aviation regiment of Major Bocharov, 2nd brigade of torpedo boats of captain 2nd rank Protsenko, 1st Red Banner division of patrol boats of captain-lieutenant Glukhov, 4th division of patrol boats of captain-lieutenant Sipyagin, 81st howitzer artillery regiment of lieutenant colonel Akhtyrchenko, 69th Guards (iptap) fighter counter the tank artillery regiment of lieutenant colonel Ivanyan, the 1st guards separate artillery division of major Matushenko, the 251st separate mobile artillery division of captain Soluyanov, the 8th guards mortar regiment of lieutenant colonel Makaryan.

In commemoration of the victory won in the battles for the liberation of the city of Novorossiysk, the 318th Infantry Division, the 83rd Red Banner Separate Marine Rifle Brigade, the 5th Guards Tank Brigade, the 290th Separate Rifle Regiment of the NKVD troops, the 393rd Separate Marine Battalion, 11th Assault Aviation Division, 88th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, 2nd Torpedo Boat Brigade, 1st Red Banner Patrol Boat Division, 4th Patrol Boat Division, 81st Howitzer Artillery Regiment, 1169th Cannon Artillery Regiment , the 108th Guards Anti-tank Artillery Regiment, the 195th Mining and Mortar Regiment, the 1st Guards Separate Mobile Artillery Battalion, the 251st Separate Mobile Artillery Battalion and the 8th Guards Mortar Regiment to be named Novorossiysk and henceforth these formations and units are called :

318th Novorossiysk Rifle Division;

83rd Red Banner Novorossiysk Separate Marine Rifle Brigade;

5th Guards Novorossiysk Tank Brigade;

290th Novorossiysk separate rifle regiment of the NKVD troops;

393rd Novorossiysk separate battalion of marines;

11th Novorossiysk Assault Aviation Division;

88th Guards Novorossiysk Fighter Aviation Regiment;

2nd Novorossiysk brigade of torpedo boats;

1st Red Banner Novorossiysk division of patrol boats;

4th Novorossiysk division of patrol boats;

81st Novorossiysk howitzer artillery regiment;

1169th Novorossiysk Cannon Artillery Regiment;

108th Guards Novorossiysk anti-tank artillery regiment;

195th Novorossiysk mining mortar regiment;

1st Guards Novorossiysk Separate Mobile Artillery Battalion;

251st Novorossiysk Separate Mobile Artillery Battalion;

8th Guards Novorossiysk Mortar Regiment.

The 55th Guards Irkutsk Order of Lenin and the three times Red Banner Rifle Division named after the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, which has repeatedly distinguished itself in battles with the enemies of our Motherland, should be presented for awarding the Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree.

Today, September 16, at 8 p.m., the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, on behalf of the Motherland, salutes our valiant troops, who liberated the city of Novorossiysk, with twelve artillery salvos from one hundred and twenty-four guns.

Ships of the Black Sea Fleet at the same time to salute with twelve volleys to the troops and ships that liberated the second base of the Black Sea Navy - Novorossiysk from the Nazi yoke.

Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in the struggle for the freedom and independence of our Motherland.

The breakthrough of the enemy defenses in the Novorossiysk region and the withdrawal of our troops to the area of ​​the Gaiduk settlement laid the foundation for the defeat of the entire enemy grouping defending on the Blue Line. The advance of our ground forces in the direction of Anapa and the landing of amphibious assault forces on the enemy's flanks began to threaten the entire enemy Taman grouping.

And what about the Germans? Now another escape plan, "Brunnhilde", came into play for them. On the night of September 16, the 5th Army and 44th Jaeger Corps began to withdraw. On September 18, they were followed by the 49th Mountain Infantry Corps.

Battles on the Taman Peninsula (September 16 - October 9, 1943). The breakthrough of the enemy defense by the troops of the 18th Army in the Novorossiysk region and the exit of the army units advancing along the Sukhumi highway to the Markotkh and Neberdzhaevsky passes and to the northwestern and western outskirts of the object. Mefodievsky, created the conditions for the development of a strike in the direction of Verkhne-Bakansky, Natukhaevskaya in the rear of the main enemy grouping defending at the turn of the Blue Line.

Faced with the immediate threat of defeating their grouping, the German command at 10 pm on September 15 ordered the withdrawal of the right wing and center troops from the Blue Line line.

On the night of September 16, the 56th Army went on the offensive along the entire front and by the end of the day reached the line of Melnichny, Trudovoy, Prokhladny, Nizhne-Grechesky, Amanat. At this turn, for three days, the enemy, using the terrain convenient for defense, held back the attacks of the troops of the 56th Army.

The troops of the 9th Army, which went on the offensive in the direction of Battery, Keslerovo, captured insignificant bridgeheads on the left bank of the Adagum River, in the areas of these settlements. On the direction of the main attack at the turn of the Kurka River, the troops of the army were not successful.

The threat of bypassing the left wing of the enemy's defense forced the German command to begin the withdrawal of troops from this line, and at first the units operating in front of the 18th Army were withdrawn, then in front of the 56th and 9th armies.

By the end of September 21, the troops of the North Caucasian Front, pursuing the enemy, reached the line of the Chekon River, the eastern outskirts of Gostagaevskaya, Marchenko, Kurbatsky, Upper Dzhemene.

The enemy, covering the retreat of his troops behind the valley of the Old Kuban River, put up strong resistance. The troops of the 56th and 18th armies were unable to capture this intermediate line of enemy defense on the move and were forced to stop and begin preparations for breaking through this line and, first of all, to bring up lagging artillery.

Having detained the troops of the 56th and 18th armies at the turn of the Chekon River for three days, the enemy withdrew the main forces to the Taman Peninsula and organized defenses along the line of Chaikino, Temryuk, Krasnaya Strela, Vozrozhdeniye, Starotitarovskaya (southeast).

On September 24, the troops of the North Caucasian Front resumed the offensive. Overcoming enemy resistance, on February 26 the 56th and 18th armies reached the valley of the Staraya Kuban River along its entire length from the Bol estuary. Raznokol to n / a Suvorov-Cherkess and connected with the amphibious assault, landed in Blagoveshchensk. By this time, an amphibious assault was also landed in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bLake Salt. On the night of September 25, Soviet troops numbering 800 people (units of the 389th Rifle Division and the 369th Marine Battalion) landed in Temryuk Bay to cut off the Germans' retreat. But they were on the alert, and most of the landing force was dispersed. Repeated attempts by units of the 56th and 18th armies to force the Old Kuban River were unsuccessful.

Narrow isthmuses between estuaries with heights located on them made it easier for the enemy to organize defense and allowed him to hold back our troops with small forces. The enemy fired extremely intense fire from all types of artillery, mortars and infantry weapons, completely mined all roads and defiles. All this complicated the offensive of the Soviet troops, who had to take the heights fortified by the enemy with frontal strikes.

The troops of the 9th Army at that time were fighting for the city of Temryuk, which they captured on September 27, 1943.

Already on September 9, the evacuation of the main forces of the 17th Army to the Crimea began. By September 26, there were the headquarters of the 5th Army and 44th Jaeger Corps, the 125th and 9th Infantry Divisions, the 101st Jaeger Division, the Romanian 1st Mountain Infantry and 10th Infantry Divisions, the 73rd and 79th -I infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht and the 9th Romanian cavalry division. Now the remaining front was defended (from north to south): the 50th and 370th infantry divisions, the 98th infantry and 97th jaeger divisions (in the central sector), the 4th German mountain infantry and the 19th Romanian infantry divisions. The general management of the defense was carried out by the command of the 49th mountain infantry corps.

The very same transportation of troops was carried out on sea (ships of the naval command "Caucasus") and landing engineer ferries (770th landing engineer regiment) with a carrying capacity of 60 tons, landing landing boats with a carrying capacity of 30 tons, Siebel ferries (from a power plant of two aviation engines) with a carrying capacity of 10 tons and lighters.

The convoy passed along the following routes: Kerch - Temryuk (convoys "Tony", "Teodor"), Kerch - Taman (convoy "Banzin" internal traffic) and, at first, Kerch - Anapa (convoy "Hagen").

The convoys were guarded by German torpedo and patrol boats, which were hard hit by Soviet aviation and the Black Sea Fleet. The Germans also did not remain in debt.

So, back on September 11 at 04.30, when the landing of Soviet troops near Novorossiysk took place, several of our IL-2 attack aircraft shot German torpedo boats and sank one of them (S-46). On September 17, 20, 24, the German forces of the fleet had a number of clashes with the ships of the Azov flotilla. To hinder the landing of new Soviet troops in the Golubitskaya area, the Crimean group of the 3rd minesweeper flotilla, Ober-Lieutenant Schneider, placed minefields in front of the Azov port of Primorsko-Akhtarskaya on the night of September 27. On the same day, ships from the 1st flotilla of German torpedo boats at 2300 attacked the port of Anapa with torpedoes, sinking, according to their data, 4 ships.

On September 17–20, the U-18 submarine of Lieutenant Fleige operated in the Gelendzhik-Tuapse operational area. At the end of the campaign, he announced one destroyed Soviet ship. On the morning of September 26, as many as 9 Soviet ships entered Temryuk Bay. The German defense was rather weak here, but since our landing force was already dispersed here, naval fire support was not required and the squadron left with nothing.

At the same time, on the southern coast of the Taman Peninsula on September 26 opposite Veselovka at 02.22 a short fire fight took place between our gunboats and German patrol boats. After that, Soviet ships landed a landing force of 1600 people south of Veselovka with the task of taking this settlement. Despite the initial failure, our watercraft brought up a new l / s, and after three days the size of the landing group was already about 8 thousand people. Advancing chest-deep in water, they attacked the German defenses and reached their goal.

Meanwhile, the German command was very afraid of involving the main forces of the Black Sea Fleet, which was in Poti, in the operation. On September 20, a submarine of the U-20 type under the command of Lieutenant Scheler was already off the coast of Georgia with the task of laying a mine at the entrance to the temporary main base of the Black Sea Fleet. In the fairway known to the Germans, 1.5 miles from the coast, at a depth of 17–24 meters, mines were laid. The submarine had 9 TVM mines, three in each torpedo tube. Such a mine had a mass of 800 kg and a length of 2.31 meters. Considering that the entrance to the port was mined, U-20 returned to Sevastopol, and on September 30 was near Anapa, where she sank a lighter.

On September 30, the destroyers of the Black Sea Fleet Able, Boikiy and Merciless tried to attack German evacuation convoys off the southern coast of Crimea without much success. The fate of this operation was still decided on the ground.

The troops of the North Caucasian Front, having overcome enemy resistance at the turn of the Kuban and Staraya Kuban rivers, continued the offensive in cooperation with amphibious assault forces landed in the areas of Temryuk (Azov coast) and Salt Lake (Black Sea coast).

The troops of the 56th Army, together with the 414th Division of the 18th Army operating along the northern bank of the Kiziltash Estuary, crossed the Staraya Kuban River, overcame the floodplains, on October 2 bypassed the heavily fortified height 117.0 and broke through to Starotitarovskaya. Having overcome the intermediate defensive line of the enemy between the estuaries of Akhtanizovsky and Kiziltashsky, on October 4, the army troops broke into the village of Vyshesteblievskaya, from where they turned north to the rear of the enemy units, which still continued to defend themselves on the northern coast of the Taman Peninsula against the 9th Army. This maneuver separated the enemy units, forced the enemy to hastily leave the villages of Golubitskaya and Akhtanizovskaya, and allowed units of the 9th Army to advance to the Kuchugury settlement area.

Simultaneously with the breakthrough of the troops of the 56th Army near the village of Starotitarovskaya, part of the 18th Army, in cooperation with the amphibious assault landed in the Veselovka area, advancing along the southern coast of the peninsula, overcame enemy resistance in the area of ​​​​the fortified mountains of Makotra and Polivadina and rapidly moved forward, clearing the Taman Peninsula from the enemy.

To cover the last stage of the evacuation, the German command concentrated a powerful artillery fist on the coast of the Kerch Peninsula. These were mainly long-range guns of German, French and Soviet production. In total, 101 guns were used to defend the Kerch Strait. Railway artillery systems of 280 mm caliber fired at a distance of 30 km and could fire at three-quarters of the defended bridgehead. Guns of 170 mm caliber fired at a distance of 25 km. They were followed by guns of 150 mm caliber. Positions near the village of Ilyich and on the Chushka Spit were under fire from 210-mm howitzers. Such fire support did a great job of cementing the German defense on the Taman Peninsula.

On October 1, the German command began to carry out the second stage of the evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead. Under the pressure of the Soviet troops, who, with varying degrees of success, landed troops and "threshed" the enemy's defenses, the German troops "jumped" from line to line. The formations withdrawn from the battle were evacuated to the Crimea. It was during this period that the well-known case of the death of the leader "Kharkov" and the destroyers "Merciless" and "Able" from the attacks of German dive bombers from the 77th squadron occurred. On October 6, 1943, our ships, carrying out operations to combat German shipping in the waters of the Kerch Strait and the northern part of the Black Sea, were sunk as a result of repeated enemy air attacks. After such an affront, Stalin generally forbade the use of large ships without his permission, and the activity of the Black Sea Fleet decreased significantly.

Meanwhile, on land, the Germans were retreating. On the night of October 6, as already mentioned, the position near Golubitskaya was abandoned, our landing force landed on the Tuzla Spit. On October 8, the command posts of the German group in the village of Ilyich were curtailed. In front of this settlement, to cover the withdrawal of the last groups of invaders, there were the 13th mountain infantry regiment, the 560th special-purpose battalion and the 97th artillery division with 10 mountain guns. After loading the last part of the invaders - 13 GBP - at midnight the berths (18 berths with a total length of 1742 meters were built) were blown up. On October 9, at 01.00, the last boat left the coast of the Taman Peninsula, which arrived in Kerch at 02.00.

By 07:00 on October 9, the troops of the 56th and 18th armies of the North Caucasian Front, having reached the Kerch Strait, completed the liberation of the Taman Peninsula, completely clearing it of the enemy.

From October 8 to October 10, 1943, four large convoys of 240 enemy ships participating in the evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead passed from Kerch to Sevastopol. Soviet aircraft sank the engineering assault boat No. 299, and the F-474 ferry was sunk by a submarine attack.

Since the distance between the Kerch Peninsula and Taman was small, and the German command began to evacuate its grouping as early as September 3, 1943, the enemy managed to save a lot. In the combat report of the Directorate 17 A for the operational department No. 14674/43 dated October 9, 1943, during the evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead through the Kerch Strait, 177,355 German military personnel were taken out, as well as 50,139 Allied military personnel, 28,486 "Khivi" and work columns, 27,456 civilian evacuees (excluding 60,000 civilians transported from February to August), 72,899 horses, 27,491 horse-drawn vehicles, 21,230 vehicles, 1,815 guns, 115,477 tons of cargo (of which 27,670 tons of ammunition ), 29,500 tons of food, 13,940 tons of fodder, 74 tanks and assault guns. From September 7 to October 9, 15,661 servicemen and 1,153.8 tons of weapons and cargo were evacuated by air. 109 steam locomotives and 1150 wagons took out the entire wagon fleet of the field railway, and with it a large amount of building materials for the railway.

The Germans also destroyed all more or less usable infrastructure and materials: 10,150 tons of coal, 16,500 tons of feed, 83,300 tons of other cargo (of which 52,200 tons of rails and sleepers for the field railway). 253 km of rails and 774 meters of railway bridges were blown up. The Taman Peninsula and Novorossiysk were completely devastated. This is the price we had to pay for the liberation of this most fertile part of the Russian land.

With the withdrawal of troops to the Kerch Strait, the Novorossiysk-Taman offensive operation of the troops of the North Caucasian Front was completely completed. In this operation, the troops of the front broke through the "Blue Line" of the defense of the German troops and defeated their Taman group, pushing its remnants back to the Crimea.

As a result of this operation, the enemy's operational bridgehead in the Kuban was finally liquidated, which provided him with the defense of the Crimea from the east and fettered a significant number of our troops. The troops of the Red Army occupied an advantageous starting position for subsequent operations to liberate the Crimea.

In this operation, Soviet troops inflicted a heavy defeat on the 73rd, 79th, 98th, 125th, 370th German infantry and 101st Jaeger divisions, the 4th mountain infantry, the 19th and 10th Romanian infantry divisions, the 560th and 994th mu separate battalions of the Wehrmacht. The German 9th and 50th Infantry Divisions and the Romanian 9th Cavalry Division suffered heavy losses.

And now let's consider the actions of the armored forces of the North Caucasian Front in September - October 1943. By the beginning of the offensive operation of the SCF troops on September 10, 1943, the enemy occupied the main defensive line with the forces of the 17th Army, known to us under the name "Blue Line". It was a powerful, well-equipped defensive position in terms of engineering. The backbone of the defensive line was the centers of resistance located in the settlements and at the dominant heights. The depth of defense reached 4–6 km. The northern flank of the defensive line was covered by the Sea of ​​Azov, the Azov floodplains, the Kuban and Kurka rivers.

By the beginning of the operation, the armored forces of the SCF included: 2 tank brigades (5 guards tank brigade and 63 tank brigade), 6 tank regiments (6 guards tank regiments, 51, 85, 244, 257 and 258 tanks), 1 separate tank battalion (132 otb), and 3 self-propelled artillery regiments (1542 tsap, 1449 and 1448 sap). 244 and 258 TP did not take part in the hostilities. The personnel of these regiments were engaged in combat training.

132nd separate tank battalion. The operation to defeat the German grouping in Novorossiysk was designed for joint energetic actions of troops from the Oktyabr cement plant, an amphibious group of troops, which included 132 detachments, and an amphibious landing on the coast near Cape Love.

132nd Battalion had the task of: together with the landing group of troops and rifle units of the 18th Army, break through the enemy defenses on the southern outskirts of Novorossiysk, capture the city and continue to conduct military operations in the direction of Tsemdolina. The operation was carefully prepared and began on the night of September 10, 1943 with powerful artillery preparation throughout the entire sector of the army, under the cover of which a landing was carried out on the Novorossiysk coast. At 24.00 on September 10, by order of the commander of the landing group of troops of the army, 6 light tanks of 132 battalions from their original positions, in cooperation with the infantry, attacked the enemy in the Stanichnaya Ploshchad area. The tanks had the task of breaking through the enemy defenses and connecting with the landing force in the Park area. Demyan Bedny and Cape Love. Tanks, breaking through the enemy's line of defense, went to a heavily fortified stronghold, equipped in the school building. The infantry, cut off from the tanks by strong barrage fire, had no advance, and the vehicles returned to their original positions.

On September 11, tanks, together with the infantry of the 176th Red Banner Rifle Division, again attacked the enemy. A strong barrage of all types of weapons upset the battle formations of the advancing units, cut off the infantry, and in the remaining time, the tanks fought a firefight from a place from behind shelters. During the day of the battle, 5 anti-tank guns, 2 anti-tank rifles, 7 bunkers, 15 machine-gun points and up to 100 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed.

By the end of the day on September 10, 1943, a consolidated group of tanks, consisting of 7 KB vehicles, two T-34s and two SU-122s, took their starting positions in the area of ​​the Oktyabr cement plant with the task of breaking through the heavily fortified enemy defense line in cooperation with infantry and artillery , destroy the strongholds and capture the settlement of Methodius.

On the night of September 12, 1943, the consolidated group of tanks, crossing the Kamyshevataya gully, suffered losses: 2 KB tanks were hit by artillery fire, 1 KB tank fell into the pit, blocking the passage for the rest of the tanks. The task of leaving the tanks to advance to the cement plant was not completed. After a lot of work done, the sappers managed to restore the crossing by 15.00 on September 12, 1943. At 18.00 on the same day, the group entered the battle, destroying the firing points and manpower of the enemy with fire and caterpillars, ensuring the advance of the infantry and capturing the firing points and strong points. Before dark, a group of tanks processed several quarters, but the infantry captured only the quarters adjacent to Cementnaya Street. The multi-penetration bunker - "Red House" - was especially hindered by fire in the advancement of our units. The tanks brought down all their fire on this firing point, suppressed it, but the infantry failed to take possession of it.

On September 13, tanks as part of assault groups resumed the battle for the capture of the Red House. In the middle of the day, the enemy was knocked out and fled, leaving behind 4 radio stations, 11 machine guns and up to 40 soldiers.

On September 14, the consolidated group received the task of operating in the direction of the elevator. 2 T-34 tanks were successfully advancing in the indicated direction, but met in the area of ​​the Club. Stalin's minefield. Both were blown up, but continued to fire from a place.

As a result of three days of fighting, the consolidated group of tanks, together with the infantry, captured 14 quarters of the Mefodievsky settlement.

Combat activity of the 5th Separate Guards Tank Brigade. Composition of the 5th Guards. brigade with reinforcement units on September 13, 1943: medium tanks - 21, MKIII "Valentine IV" -14, mspb - 360 people, SU-76 - 8, 76-mm guns - 20.

5 Guards On September 13, the brigade with reinforcement units received the task, together with rifle units, to capture the Methodius settlement. On the night of September 14, the first echelon of the brigade, consisting of one tank battalion, a motorized rifle-machine-gun battalion and 2 batteries of self-propelled guns under the command of Guards Colonel Kovalsky, under the strong influence of enemy artillery fire, entered the area of ​​​​the Proletary cement plant. To accomplish the task, assault groups were organized from 2 to 5 tanks, 2 self-propelled guns, a platoon of riflemen and a squad of sappers.

During September 14, assault groups fought stubborn battles to capture the heavily fortified Red House stronghold and a group of buildings that covered the main approaches to Methodius. The tanks of the assault groups with intense fire suppressed the firing points in the lower floors of the houses, thereby ensuring the approach of sapper units and infantry. With the approach of the infantry to the buildings, the latter gave the tanks a signal with a rocket. The tanks carried their fire on the upper floors of the buildings, the infantry stormed the Germans who had settled in the lower floors. Through the efforts of sappers, the Red House was blown up, burying the defending enemy under its rubble.

On the morning of September 15, a company of tanks, supported by 1448 self-propelled guns, fought to capture the church on the central square of Methodius, bypassing the enemy from the east and west. By the afternoon, the tanks ensured the capture of the church and suppressed the enemy's fire system in the buildings adjacent to the square. By the end of the day, the enemy began to withdraw from the area of ​​​​n / a Mefodievsky and the city of Novorossiysk.

As a result of the hostilities of the 5th Guards. in the battles for Novorossiysk, the following damage was inflicted on the enemy: 25 tank and light machine guns, 10 bunkers, 5 anti-aircraft guns, 1 ammunition depot, 1 fuel depot, 1 tank was destroyed and up to 300 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed. The losses of the brigade during the period of the fighting were: M4A2 - 2 tanks, T-34 - 5 tanks, SU-76 - 1 vehicle; 4 killed and 23 wounded.

In the battles for the city of Novorossiysk, the crew of the guards, Lieutenant Mikhailov, distinguished himself, which was the first to break into a heavily fortified height in the northeastern part of the Mefodievsky settlement. The Germans knocked out his tank, pelting him with grenades and bottles of flammable liquid. Despite this, the crew continued to fire at the enemy from a burning tank, where he died heroically.

The battle for the conquest of Blagoveshchenskaya. During September 24, the 5th Guards Tank Brigade, with fire reinforcement units from a place, destroyed enemy firing points. Repeated attempts to break through the enemy defenses were unsuccessful due to the limited ability of tanks to maneuver in the area and powerful artillery fire from the southern outskirts of Blagoveshchenskaya, which could not be suppressed.

The outcome of the battle for the settlement of Blagoveshchenskaya was decided by the end of September 25 by a simultaneous strike by units of the 5th Guards. brigade and combat operations of the landing troops of our troops on the spit of the Bugazsky estuary.

On the night of September 26, the enemy began a hasty retreat from Blagoveshchenskaya in the direction of Veselovka, abandoning equipment and property.

By 16.45 on September 26, 1943, the brigade reached the mark of 0.6 (500 m southeast of the Gorky estuary), overcoming organized fire resistance. Repeated attempts to capture the height of 36.4, which was the main node of enemy resistance, were not successful due to heavy artillery fire and repeated bombardments by enemy aircraft.

The brigade, battered in previous battles, by 16.00 on September 28, having 6 tanks in service, was withdrawn to the 27.3 mark by the combat order of the headquarters of the 18th Army to repair the materiel and put the personnel in order.

By 18.00 on September 29, a brigade consisting of 20 tanks and two SU-76s reached the area of ​​mark 0.5 (500 m southeast of the Gorky Estuary) with the task of capturing the height of 36.4 and, in the future, the Bugaz state farm.

From 22.00, the brigade went on the attack in the direction of height 36.4. The attack was not successful. The brigade, having retreated to the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe starting positions, during September 30, October 1 and 2, 1943, continued to repair and restore the materiel. Being in an open area, she was repeatedly attacked by enemy aircraft and intensive long-range artillery attacks, and therefore suffered significant losses.

On the night of October 3, the enemy, fearing to be cut off in the Taman region, began to withdraw his troops. Destroying the hastily retreating Germans, capturing 5 prisoners in the city of Taman, the brigade continued the pursuit in the direction of the Sennaya settlement.

The battle for the capture of Chirkov Mountain. 5 Guards The brigade, having captured the town of Taman, despite the fulfillment of the assigned task, continued to pursue the enemy in the direction of the Sennaya settlement and by 9.00, consisting of 4 tanks and one SU-76, with the support of 103 Iptap and MSPB - consisting of 34 riflemen and sappers of the 174th engineer battalion, reached the line: a dairy farm, 1.5 km north of the Chirkov Mountain direction.

By the decision of the brigade commander for reconnaissance in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bMount Chirkov, one T-70 tank advanced. When approaching the northwestern outskirts, the tank was fired upon by the enemy and caught fire. By the decision of the brigade commander, the M4A2 tank of the commander of the guard company, captain Gorlinsky, was sent with the task of establishing who occupied Mount Chirkov. Having reached the top of the mountain, the guard captain Gorlinsky discovered the Romanian infantry on the defensive, and right on the move began to crush it with caterpillars, turning around in the trenches, and destroy it with cannon and machine gun fire. The remaining tanks of the brigade also turned around and, with a blow from the north and south, broke into the top of the mountain, crushing the Romanian infantry and firepower with their tracks.

The tanks acted independently, as the rifle units retreated far back. The commander of the anti-tank battery decided to help the tanks, throwing even his control platoon into the attack. By 20:00 on October 3, the enemy was completely destroyed on Mount Chirkova, and the surviving small groups began to retreat in the direction of the Semenyuk settlement.

Having used up ammunition and fuel as a result of the battle, the tanks remained in the area of ​​​​mountain Chirkov, waiting for the supply of spent materiel. From 05:00 on October 4, the brigade continued to pursue the enemy, retreating in the direction of the Semenyuk settlement. By 9.00 she took possession of the settlement of Primorsky (southern). By 10.00, overcoming the stubborn resistance of the enemy, the brigade reached the southern outskirts of the Semenyuk settlement, connecting with the 63 brigade operating as part of the 56 army. After the end of the fighting from 16.00 on October 4, 5th Guards. The brigade was withdrawn to the reserve of the 18th army for the repair and restoration of materiel.

Fighting tank units of the 56th Army. In accordance with the plan of the commander of the 56th Army of the 6th Guards. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the 51st, 85th and 257th Tank Regiments were given the task of: in cooperation with the infantry units, to break through the front edge of the enemy’s defensive line at the turn of the Novy settlement, height 95.0. In the future, going to the Kudako River, ensure the introduction of 63 tank brigade into the breakthrough with reinforcement parts for the development of success.

After a powerful artillery preparation at 6.30 on September 14, the tank regiments went on the attack, overcoming the strong fire resistance of the German troops. The offensive continued until the tanks approached the front line of the enemy's defense, where minefields were laid. The sent combat reconnaissance discovered a new passage in the minefields to the north. Three tanks of 257 tons broke through into the discovered passage. They reached the western outskirts of the Novy settlement and were hit by enemy artillery. Further attempts to break through the front line of the German defenses were unsuccessful, and the tanks withdrew to the area of ​​\u200b\u200bits original positions.

With the dawn of September 15, 6 Guards. CC and 85 CC resumed the offensive in the same direction. After stubborn fighting, by the end of the day, it was possible to break through the front line of the enemy’s defense, giving the interacting infantry the opportunity to take over the first line of the trench. With the onset of darkness, the tank units were withdrawn from the battle and, having regrouped, were preparing for decisive offensive operations on September 16. As a result of the actions on September 14, tank units suffered losses: 6 Guards. tp - 14 KB tanks, 85 tp - 4 T-34 tanks, 257 tp - 6 M3s tanks.

Fighting at the turn of the rivers Psif and Psebeps. Driven out by our troops from their intermediate line of defense, on the night of September 18, the enemy moved to a new, pre-prepared line of defense along the western bank of the river. Psif and further along the heights to the south.

63 tank brigade, together with 51 tank troops and 1449 glanders, received the task of forcing the Psif River, advancing in the direction of Gladkovskaya, Kukulovka, Krasny Pakhar.

257 TP received the task of forcing the Psif River and advancing in the direction of Ilyichevsky, Kars, Nepel, with access to the line of the Psebeps River.

85 TP received the task - to advance in the direction of Novomikhailovsky, Kalinovsky, with access to the line of the Psebeps River.

6 Guards The Chamber of Commerce and Industry received the task of concentrating in the Dolgozhdanovsky settlement, to enter the operational subordination of the commander of the 63rd brigade and be ready to act in the general direction of the village of Gostagaevskaya.

At 08:00 on September 16, the tank units, having left their original positions, broke the enemy's resistance and proceeded to "energetic" pursuit. 63 brigade, together with reinforcement units, by 12.00 left the area n / a Prokhladny to the west. There she was met by strong artillery and mortar fire from the areas of the settlement Dolgozhdanovsky, Krasny Pakhar, Psebeps. The reconnaissance sent from the brigade discovered an enemy artillery battery, 2 self-propelled guns and up to a company of submachine gunners in the forest. Supported by the fire of 1449 sap, the tank brigade suppressed the artillery and destroyed the machine gunners with a decisive attack. By 24.00 of the same day, the tanks of the 63rd brigade fought out to the north of the collective farm named after. Stalin. As a result of successful hostilities, the tank brigade captured the settlements of Dolgozhdanovsky, Tamansky, Trudovoy and the collective farm named after S. Stalin.

257 tr, having overcome the minefield in front of the village of Novy, successfully crossed the Kudako River and by 10.00 with their reconnaissance reached the eastern outskirts of Trudovaya. At this line, the regiment was met with stubborn resistance from the enemy, who strove at all costs to keep their intermediate lines of defense. By the end of September 16, 1943, with a swift attack, in cooperation with infantry, the tank regiment broke through the enemy defenses and captured Hill 149.8, ensuring successful operations for rifle units.

At 8.00 on September 18, 63 brigade, together with 51 tank troops and reinforcement units, went on the offensive. Having overcome strong rugged terrain and suppressed enemy fire resistance, the tanks crossed the Psifik River at 11.00. At 13.00 they captured Gladkovskaya with a fight. Having captured Gladkovskaya, the tankers received a new task - to advance in the direction of the settlement of Consent, Akkermanka. Having started the offensive at 1500 on September 19, by the end of the day the tanks went behind enemy lines to the west of the Concorde settlement and fought independently without infantry until 0400 on September 20. At 0400, a motorized rifle and machine-gun battalion of the brigade approached the tanks. By joint actions with the approaching infantry, the enemy was driven out of Akkermanka. In the same place, in Akkermanka, the 63rd brigade received the task of moving behind the battle formations of the rifle formation in readiness for combat operations to capture and hold the crossing across the Staraya Kuban River.

Having sent reinforced tank reconnaissance and a blocking detachment ahead of them, the tanks crossed the Psebeps River on the night of September 21. Further advance was halted by heavy artillery fire from the areas of heights 224.5 and 258.8 and Gostagaevskaya. Continuing to conduct reconnaissance, the brigade did not fight during September 21 and 22, remaining in the concentration area in readiness for military operations in the direction of Krasnaya Balka.

257 tr, after reconnaissance of the crossing across the Psif River at 6.00 on September 18, meeting with little resistance from the enemy, captured the settlements of Ilyichevsky, Osnova, Kars. By 10:00 a.m. on the same day, the regiment reached the line of the Khobza River, where it was subjected to heavy fire from large-caliber artillery and was forced to retreat to cover. At 11.00, having successfully crossed the Khobza River, the regiment with battles captured the settlements of Sirotsky, Kubanskaya Kolonka and reached the line of the Psebeps River.

85 TP after building a crossing over the river. On the night of September 18, Psif, together with the interacting infantry, crossed the water barrier and proceeded to pursue the enemy in the direction of the Kalinovsky, Novomikhailovsky, Pokrovsky settlements. By the end of September 18, as a result of a three-hour battle, the tanks captured Novopokrovsky.

In the course of offensive actions during September 18-21, tank units suffered losses: 63 brigade - 10 T-34 vehicles; 257 tp - 5 vehicles M3s, M3l; 85 TP - 11 T-34 vehicles.

Mastering the border of the Chekups and Chakon rivers. By order of the commander of the 56th Army, the 63rd brigade was given the task of advancing in the direction of the settlement of Krasnaya Balka in cooperation with rifle formations, capturing the settlement of Dzhiginskoye and the crossing over the Staraya Kuban River.

At 18.00 on September 22, a brigade consisting of 16 T-34 tanks with the support of 1449 SAPs, together with 85 and 257 tank troops, went on the offensive. Overcoming the fire resistance of the enemy from the areas of the Krestyansky Trud collective farm, the settlement of Pervomayskoye, by 22.00 reached the southwestern outskirts of Krasnaya Gorka, having lost 4 T-34 tanks as a result of the battle. Continuing to conduct a difficult battle at the reached line, the first battalion of the 63rd brigade broke into the settlement of Pervomaiskoye. On the streets of the settlement, our tanks were met by a counterattack by enemy self-propelled guns and submachine gunners. Having left the settlement, the tanks of the 1st battalion, having made a retreat, advanced in the direction of the Dzhiginskoye settlement.

Acting at night, the tank battalions of the 63rd brigade lost their bearings and, deviating from the route to Dzhiginskoye, went to the area of ​​the Maly Raznokol settlement. The sudden appearance of tanks at night led the enemy to panic, and by the morning of September 23, the enemy was driven out of the settlement with heavy losses for him. Throughout the night and day of September 23, the tanks of the brigade, being behind enemy lines, fought heavy battles with numerically superior enemy forces. The Germans repeatedly attacked tanks with infantry, self-propelled artillery and twice bombed the battle formations of tanks from the air. Waging unequal battles, having used up ammunition and having suffered significant losses, the 63rd brigade was forced to withdraw. At dawn on September 24, the tanks of the brigade fought their way into the area where their troops were located. As a result of clashes behind enemy lines, the tanks of the brigade inflicted significant damage on him: 3 tanks were burned, 2 self-propelled guns were destroyed, 22 vehicles with military supplies were destroyed, several warehouses with ammunition and property were burned, more than 200 soldiers and officers were killed.

257 TP, without artillery escort and a sufficient number of interacting infantry, failed to independently break through the enemy defenses on September 19 and 20. Only on September 21, after intensive artillery preparation, the regiment broke through the defenses and reached the Chekups River. At the turn of the river, he was again stopped, and repeated attempts to further advance during September 21 were unsuccessful.

On September 22, the commander of the BT and MB of the 56th Army ordered 85, 257 tr and 6 Guards. tpp to break through the enemy defenses in the area of ​​the 89.2 mark and reach Dzhiginskoye, seize the crossing over the Staraya Kuban River and hold it until the infantry approaches. At 13.00 on September 22, tank regiments crossed the Chekups River and by 14.00 reached the northern outskirts of the Krestyansky Trud collective farm. The advancing tanks were met by fire from an ambush of 4 self-propelled guns of the enemy and counterattacked by his tanks. Having successfully repelled the counterattack, the tank regiments entrenched themselves at the line they had reached and went on the defensive. For the rest of the day, the tankers did not conduct active hostilities. Resuming offensive operations on September 23, tank regiments fought continuously throughout the day in the West Checon area. By 13.00, part of the tanks left the Krestyansky Trud collective farm. Met by enemy heavy artillery fire and self-propelled guns, the regiments did not advance further, limiting themselves to firefights from the spot. During September 24, the tank regiments did not conduct combat operations, putting themselves in order and restoring the materiel. As a result of hostilities on September 22-24, tank units suffered losses: 63 brigade - 7 T-34 vehicles; 257 tp -5 M3s vehicles; 85 tp - 1 T-34 tank; 6 Guards tpp - 6 cars KV. In addition, 63 brigade had heavy losses in personnel during operations behind enemy lines: 61 people were killed and 137 were wounded.

Mastering the settlement Dzhiginskoye and crossing the river. Old Kuban. On the basis of the combat order of the headquarters of the 56th Army, 63 brigade, together with operational subordinates 257, 85 tr and 1449 sap, received the task of advancing in the direction of height 118.1, the Agrotechnik collective farm, n / a Dzhiginskoye, to seize it and capture the crossing across the Kuban River . At 15.30 on September 25, the tank units launched an attack and by 21.00 fought out to the Agrotekhnik collective farm. The interacting infantry moving behind the tanks lay down under the influence of the enemy, and the tanks had to act independently for the remainder of September 25. Continuing their "single" offensive, by 04:00 on September 26, the tank units drove the enemy out of the Agrotechnik collective farm with a swift attack. By 0600, the attackers reached the southwestern outskirts of the Dzhiginskoye settlement and captured the crossing over the Staraya Kuban River. Thus, having mastered Dzhiginskoye and captured the crossing, the tank units completed the assigned combat mission, thereby ensuring the possibility of further development of the offensive by the troops of the 56th Army.

Mastery of the Taman Peninsula. Continuing to evacuate their main forces from the Taman Peninsula to the Crimea, by October 1, 1943, the German command covered its retreat with rearguard units. The basis of the defense was a pre-prepared and heavily fortified intermediate line - Mount Strelchanskaya, Bely's farm, Mount Garlyannaya.

By the beginning of hostilities to clear the Taman Peninsula from the enemy by October 2, the tank units had the following number of combat-ready tanks: 63 brigade - 17 T-34 vehicles; 257 tp - 13 M3l machines; 85 TP - 13 T-34 vehicles; 1449 sap - 9 self-propelled guns SU-122.

63 brigade, together with 257.85 tank troops and 1449 sap, received the task of advancing in the direction of the settlement Bely, Kamyshevataya, Malaya Neftyanaya, capturing Vyshesteblievsky and preventing the enemy from retreating along the coast of the Kiziltash estuary.

At 05:00 on October 2, tank units, having crossed the Staraya Kuban River and overcoming intense enemy barrage fire, by 07:00 reached the southwestern outskirts of Starotitorovskaya. At the line reached, the advancing units concentrated and sent out tank reconnaissance in the direction of Kurganov, Shapovalka, Vyshesteblievsky.

At 4.00 on October 4, the offensive was resumed. Having overcome the minefields, by 7.00 63 brigade with attached units entered the area north-east of Girka. Subsequently, continuing to advance in the direction of Semenyuk - Sennaya, by 11.00 she entered the Shapurskaya area with battles. For the remainder of the day on October 4, the tanks fought a firefight with self-propelled and anti-tank artillery of the enemy at the reached line. Repeatedly advancing units were bombarded from the air. At 16.00 on October 4, during a raid by enemy aircraft, the commander of the 63 brigade, Colonel M.T., was killed. Melnichuk. The command of the brigade was taken over by Lieutenant Colonel K.K. Fedorovich. At 21.00 on October 4, by order of the commander of the 56th Army, the tank units were withdrawn from the battle and sent to the area of ​​​​concentration - n / a Shapurskaya.

During October 5 and 6, tank units remained in their concentration areas. The combat materiel was repaired and reconnaissance was carried out in the direction of the settlements of Sennaya, Fontalovskaya, Zaporozhye.

At 01.00 on October 7, the tank units went on the offensive and throughout the day, without supporting artillery, fought independently in the Tatarsky area. On the night of October 8, under the blows of our troops, the Germans began to withdraw. The tank units, pursuing the enemy, reached the area north of the Zaporizhzhya settlement by 0900, where they were forced to retreat, met with strong fire resistance. At 16.00 on the same day, having received the task of further pursuing the enemy, 63 brigade, 257 tank brigade and 1449 sap at 20.00 resumed their offensive. Having overcome the anti-tank ditch and minefields covered by enemy artillery and mortar fire, being under continuous long-range artillery fire from the eastern coast of the Kerch Peninsula, by 6.30 on October 9 they captured the Kordon settlement. At 06.40, part of the tanks of the 63rd brigade broke into the Chushka Spit and by 08.00 reached its southern coast, thereby completely clearing the Taman Peninsula of the enemy. By order of the headquarters of the BT and MB of the 56th Army, the tank units were withdrawn to the areas of concentration, where they began to repair and restore the materiel.

The combat activities of the 51st separate tank regiment as part of the 9th Army. The 51st tank detachment, withdrawn from the 56th Army, entered the 9th Army on September 23 and at 5.00 concentrated in the Varenikovskaya area, being at the disposal of the commander of the 9th Army.

At 11.00 on September 23, the command and officers of the regiment went to reconnoiter the area of ​​​​probable actions to link issues of interaction with rifle and artillery units. Having carried out reconnaissance, the tank regiment, consisting of 9 T-34 tanks, 2 T-70 tanks, crossed the Kuban River on the night of September 24 and concentrated on waiting positions east of Kurchanskaya by 05.00.

By combat order of the headquarters of the 9th Army, 51 TP became part of the mobile group and received the task of breaking through the enemy defenses at the turn of heights 118.9 and 60.5. Having received from tank reconnaissance sent out at 13.00 information about the anti-tank defense of the enemy and his fire systems, the regiment attacked the enemy at 19.00 on September 24 in the direction of height 60.5. With a swift attack, the tankers broke through the front line of defense and by 20.40 reached the western slopes of height 60.5. With the onset of darkness, the actions of tanks became impossible due to rough terrain, and therefore attempts to continue the offensive at night ended with 4 T-34 tanks stuck in enemy trenches, and 2 of them were burned by artillery fire. At 04.00 on September 25, by order of the commander of the mobile group, the actions of the tanks were stopped.

With five T-34s and two T-70s in service, at 06.30 on September 26, the tank regiment proceeded to pursue the enemy in the direction of the Temryuk settlement. At 0920 on the same day, the tanks reached the northwestern outskirts of Temryuk, where they were stopped by an anti-tank ditch filled with water, as well as minefields. Engineering barriers were covered by strong enemy artillery fire from the Gniloy area. After the sappers made passages in the minefields and established crossings through the anti-tank ditch, the tanks resumed pursuit. At 06.30 on September 27, the regiment concentrated in Temryuk in anticipation of establishing a crossing across the Kuban River. Having crossed the river on September 28 and concentrated on the eastern outskirts of the Zamosty settlement, the 51st Tank Regiment proceeded to repair the materiel, while conducting reconnaissance in the direction of Golubitskaya.

On October 2, the regiment was given the task of pursuing the enemy by the combat disposition of the headquarters of the 9th Army, together with parts of the mobile group, and, cutting off his escape routes, to seize the crossing through the Peresyp canal.

At 6.20 on October 4, with reconnaissance in front of them consisting of 3 T-70 tanks, an Iptap battery and a motorized infantry platoon, 51 tank tanks reached the bridge east of Golubitskaya and, met by strong enemy barrage fire, started a firefight with him. Only at 00.30 on October 6, the tank regiment again switched to pursuing the enemy and, having overcome minefields, as well as wire fences reinforced with anti-tank slingshots, reached the lines west of the pier by 05.00. Stopped by minefields and stubborn fire from the resisting enemy, the regiment was forced to take up defensive positions and on the night of October 7 retreated to the southeastern slopes of height 62.8. On the basis of the combat order of the headquarters of the 9th Army, 51 tank troops went into the reserve of the front and from October 10 concentrated south of Varenikovskaya, putting the personnel and materiel in order.

Thus, tank formations and units of the North Caucasian Front played a crucial role in carrying out the operation to break through the Blue Line and capture the Taman Peninsula.

The results of the operation. By October 9, 1943, after 30 days of the offensive, the troops of the North Caucasian Front and the forces of the Black Sea Fleet defeated the enemy formations of Army Group A, liberated Novorossiysk by sea and land, reached the coast of the Kerch Strait and completed the liberation of the Caucasus. The enemy's foothold, which provided him with the defense of the Crimea, was liquidated. The total losses of the Soviet troops amounted to 65,510 people.

Having liberated Taman, the troops of the North Caucasian Front, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Flotilla, carried out a landing operation and occupied a bridgehead in the Crimea near Kerch. The 56th Army was to capture the northeastern ledge of the peninsula and the city of Kerch, and the 18th Army was to capture the eastern coast of the peninsula south of Kerch.

On November 1, the crossing of the Kerch Strait began. A storm was raging at sea, there were not enough floating seafaring facilities. As a result, only half of the landing force of the 18th Army, which consisted of the 318th Division and units of the Marine Corps, was able to land in the Eltigen area and capture a small bridgehead. German troops repeatedly went over to counterattacks, tried to block our landing and make it difficult to supply. Under the cover of heavy artillery, which operated from the Taman Peninsula, as well as aviation of the 4th Air Army, on the orders of the Soviet command, some of the soldiers were evacuated from the bridgehead, the rest made their way to Kerch to join the 56th Army.

The landing force of the 56th Army crossed the strait on the night of November 3rd. Previously, our artillery carried out a fire raid on the area of ​​the planned landing and disorganized the enemy's fire system. This made it possible for the paratroopers to capture a small foothold on the very first day of the battle with fewer losses. Reflecting the continuous counterattacks of the Germans, by November 11 they expanded the bridgehead, and approached the northeastern outskirts of Kerch. Having met especially stubborn resistance here, the Soviet units were forced to go on the defensive. Frantic attempts by the enemy to throw them into the sea were unsuccessful. In the spring of 1944, this bridgehead was used by the Red Army in the battles for the liberation of the Crimea.

The plan for the capture of Novorossiysk in September 1943

The plan for the defeat of the Taman enemy grouping in the fall of 1943

Notes:

TsAMO RF, f. 16, op. 1032, d. 21, ll. 38–40.

Text from the war diary of the 17th Wehrmacht Army. Bezymensky L.L. The failure of Operation Neptune. M., APN, 1980, p. 12.

Report of the Commander of the 17th Army dated 07/30/1943. Bezymensky L.L. The failure of Operation Neptune. M., APN, 1980, p. 70.

TsAMO, f. 69, op. 12111, d. 1335, l. 26.

Grechko A.L. Battle for the Caucasus. M., Military Publishing, 1973, p. 396–399.

TsAMO, f. 371, op. 6430, d. 15, l. 68.

TsAMO, f. 5698, op. 725168, d. 1173, ll. 25–72.

Russia and the USSR in the wars of the XX century / losses of the armed forces. M., Olma-Press, 2001, p. 290.

Germany Commanders

I. E. Petrov (North Caucasian Front) K. N. Leselidze (18th Army) A. A. Grechko (56th Army) A. A. Grechkin (9th Army) L. A. Vladimirsky (Black Sea Fleet) S. G. Gorshkov (Azov flotilla)

Ewald von Kleist (Army Group "A") E. Eneke (17th Army)

Side forces Losses

14564 killed, sanitary - 50946, total - 65510

12137 killed

Battle for the Caucasus (1942-1943)
Tikhoretsk-Stavropol Armavir-Maikop (Krasnodar (1942)) Novorossiysk (1942) Mozdok-Malgobek Tuapse Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze Soviet counteroffensive Krasnodar (1943) Air battles in the Kuban Novorossiysk (1943) Novorossiysk-Taman

Novorossiysk Temryuk

Novorossiysk-Taman operation- a strategic military operation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army against the Wehrmacht during the Great Patriotic War, the final part of the battle for the Caucasus.

background

As a result of offensive battles during the spring and summer of 1943, the troops of the North Caucasian Front came close to the heavily fortified line of the Nazis on the outskirts of the Taman Peninsula - the Blue Line. At this line, the troops of the 17th Army of Army Group "A" defended.

In accordance with the plan of operation, the 18th Army, together with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet, delivered the main blow to Novorossiysk and further to Verkhnebakansky and Anapa, the 56th Army - to the villages of Gladkovskaya and Gostagaevskaya, the 9th Army - to Kurchanskaya and the city of Temryuk.

On September 10, the Novorossiysk landing operation began. September 16 Novorossiysk was completely liberated.

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Notes

Literature

• [military-encyclopedia.rf / Soviet-military-encyclopedia / N / Novorossiysk-Taman operation-1943 Novorossiysk-Taman operation 1943] // Adaptive radio communication line - Objective air defense / [under the general. ed. N. V. Ogarkova]. - M. : Military publishing house of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, 1978. - (Soviet military encyclopedia: [in 8 volumes]; 1976-1980, vol. 5).
• Lubchenkov Yu. N. 100 great battles of World War II. - M .: Veche, 2008. - ISBN 978-5-9533-3382-5.
• F. M. Zharkoy/ Ed. M.F. Zharky. - Ed. 4th, revised. and additional - St. Petersburg. : Publishing House of the Mikhailovskaya Military Artillery Academy, 2015. - 212 p. - ISBN 978-5-98709-303-0.
• Team of authors: M. I. Povaliy (head), Yu. V. Plotnikov (deputy head), I. M. Ananiev, A. V. Basov, V. A. Golikov, E. P. Eliseev, A. N. Kopenkin, V. A. Maramzin, A. P. Marfin, S. S. Pakhomov, V. B. Seoev, P. F. Shkorubsky, N. I. Yakovlev. M. Kh. Kalashnik took part in the preparation of the book. Eighteenth in the battles for the Motherland: The combat path of the 18th army. - M.: Military Publishing, 1982. - 528 p., ill.

Links

• Memory forever, 1975. Director and screenwriter D. Firsova. Operators: TSSDF operators, announcer: Khlebnikov A.
• Documentary film by Roman Karmen "The Great Patriotic War", in the American box office this film was released under the name "Unknown War".
• "Hero City Novorossiysk" .. (1974). Operators: Akkuratov E., Mikosha V., Leongardt Yu.
• ELAR Corporation.

An excerpt characterizing the Novorossiysk-Taman operation

They also gave a dressing wagon and sent it for the wounded through two houses. All the household and servants were merrily animated. Natasha was in an enthusiastically happy animation, which she had not experienced for a long time.
- Where can I tie it? - people said, fitting the chest to the narrow back of the carriage, - you must leave at least one cart.
- Yes, what is he with? Natasha asked.
- With count books.
- Leave it. Vasilyich will remove it. It's not needed.
The cart was full of people; doubted where Pyotr Ilyich would sit.
- He's on the goats. After all, you are on the goats, Petya? Natasha screamed.
Sonya busied herself without ceasing, too; but the aim of her troubles was the opposite of Natasha's. She put away those things that should have been left; wrote them down, at the request of the countess, and tried to take with her as much as possible.

At two o'clock, the four Rostovs' crews, laid down and laid down, stood at the entrance. Carts with the wounded, one after another, drove out of the yard.
The carriage in which Prince Andrei was being carried, passing by the porch, attracted the attention of Sonya, who, together with the girl, was arranging seats for the countess in her huge tall carriage, which was standing at the entrance.
Whose wheelchair is this? Sonya asked, leaning out the carriage window.
"Don't you know, young lady?" the maid replied. - The prince is wounded: he spent the night with us and they are also coming with us.
- Yes, who is it? What's the last name?
- Our very former fiance, Prince Bolkonsky! - Sighing, answered the maid. They say dying.
Sonya jumped out of the carriage and ran to the countess. The countess, already dressed for the road, in shawls and a hat, tired, walked around the living room, waiting for her family, in order to sit with closed doors and pray before leaving. Natasha was not in the room.
“Maman,” said Sonya, “Prince Andrei is here, wounded, near death. He rides with us.
The Countess opened her eyes in fright and, grabbing Sonya by the hand, looked around.
- Natasha? she said.
And for Sonya and for the countess, this news had only one meaning in the first minute. They knew their Natasha, and the horror of what would happen to her at this news drowned out for them all sympathy for the man whom they both loved.
- Natasha doesn't know yet; but he is coming with us,” said Sonya.
Are you talking about dying?
Sonya nodded her head.
The Countess hugged Sonya and began to cry.
"God works in mysterious ways!" she thought, feeling that in everything that was being done now, the almighty hand that had previously been hidden from the eyes of people was beginning to appear.
- Well, mom, everything is ready. What are you talking about? .. - Natasha asked with a lively face, running into the room.
“Nothing,” said the Countess. - Done, let's go. And the Countess bent over her purse to hide her upset face. Sonya hugged Natasha and kissed her.
Natasha looked at her questioningly.
- What you? What happened?
- There is nothing…
- Very bad for me? .. What is it? asked sensitive Natasha.
Sonya sighed and didn't answer. The Count, Petya, m me Schoss, Mavra Kuzminishna, and Vasilyich went into the drawing-room, and, having closed the doors, they all sat down and silently, without looking at each other, sat for a few seconds.
The count was the first to get up and, sighing loudly, began to cross himself on the icon. Everyone did the same. Then the count began to embrace Mavra Kuzminishna and Vassilich, who remained in Moscow, and, while they caught his hand and kissed him on the shoulder, lightly patted them on the back, saying something indistinct, affectionately soothing. The countess went into the figurative room, and Sonya found her there on her knees in front of the remaining icons scattered along the wall. (The most expensive images, according to family legends, were taken with them.)
On the porch and in the yard, people leaving with daggers and sabers with which Petya armed them, with trousers tucked into boots and tightly belted with belts and sashes, said goodbye to those who remained.
As always on departures, much was forgotten and not properly arranged, and for quite a long time two guides stood on both sides of the open door and the steps of the carriage, preparing to help the countess, while the girls ran with pillows, bundles from home to carriages, and a carriage , and the chaise, and back.
- Everyone will forget their age! the countess said. "You know I can't sit like this." - And Dunyasha, clenching her teeth and not answering, with an expression of reproach on her face, rushed into the carriage to remake the seat.
Ah, this people! said the Count, shaking his head.
The old coachman Yefim, with whom the countess alone dared to ride, sitting high on her goats, did not even look back at what was being done behind him. He knew with thirty years of experience that it would not be soon before he would be told “God bless!” and that when they say, they will stop him two more times and send for forgotten things, and after that they will stop him again, and the countess herself will lean out of his window and ask him, by Christ God, to drive more carefully on the slopes. He knew this and therefore more patiently than his horses (especially the left red one - Sokol, who kicked and, chewing, sorted out the bit) expected what would happen. At last they all sat down; the steps gathered and threw themselves into the carriage, the door slammed shut, they sent for the casket, the countess leaned out and said that she must. Then Yefim slowly took off his hat from his head and began to make the sign of the cross. The postilion and all the people did the same.

Successes in the battles near Stalingrad allowed the Red Army to gather forces for an offensive to the south. In early 1943, the troops of the Transcaucasian Front succeeded in driving the enemy out of the Caucasus. This threatened the Kuban group of invaders to be pressed to the Black Sea.

Such a development of events was not included in the plans of the German invaders, their command decided to prepare for defense.

WHAT IS THE BLUE LINE

In February-May 1943, when the landing detachment of Caesar Kunikov heroically defended in Novorossiysk, the invaders built a powerful system of defensive structures in the Kuban, it was called "Gotenkopf" (literal translation "Head of the Goth") or "Blue Line". It stretched from the Kurcha estuary of the Azov Sea to the Black Sea - from Neberdzhaevskaya to Novorossiysk. In total, during the Second World War, there were two more such fortifications - the Maginot Line in France and the Mannerheim Line in Finland.

The invaders drove literally the entire local population to the construction of the Blue Line. Captured Kuban dug trenches, trenches and anti-tank ditches in the literal sense of the word at gunpoint.

The Gotenkopf line consisted of 577 closed firing structures, 37.5 kilometers of minefields, up to 500 meters wide, with a density of 2,500 mines per kilometer, as well as 12 kilometers of forest debris in the mountains. The depth of the line reached six kilometers.

The Germans made all local settlements strongholds, braided them with wire and mined roads and approaches. The most durable buildings were equipped for firing points, the approaches to them were blocked by barricades.

The Blue Line was guarded by the 17th Wehrmacht Army. Its number reached 400 thousand people, 2,860 guns and mortars, over 100 tanks and assault guns, 300 aircraft. Having retreated from the Caucasus, the army densely concentrated on the Taman Peninsula. While here, the Germans covered the Crimea and had a foothold for a second offensive in the Caucasus.

It would hardly have been possible to take such lines with a swoop, although the Soviet command made several unsuccessful attempts in March. Having stumbled upon the line, the troops of the North Caucasian Front went on the defensive and began to prepare to defeat the Germans on the Taman Peninsula. There was no other task.

FIRST BREAKTHROUGH ATTEMPT

On April 19, 1943, Marshal Zhukov arrived at the command post, which was located outside the village of Abinskaya. He carefully studied the terrain, maps, visited the corps and divisions. The legendary commander personally planned the first offensive.

On April 29, the Red Army attempted to break through the Blue Line. Six days of fierce fighting allowed the 56th Army to capture only one node of the German defense - the village of Krymskaya.

The Germans were able to stop the further offensive of the Red Army in the area of ​​​​the villages of Kievskaya and Moldavanskaya, including powerful air strikes.

They were carried out by 1,400 German aircraft operating from bases on the Crimean peninsula.

In the skies over the Kuban, fierce air battles were unfolding, the likes of which were never seen in history. Hundreds of planes take to the skies every hour.

The best German aces participated in the battles, for example, Erich Hartmann. From the side of the Soviets, legendary pilots participated in air battles. In April 1943 alone, Alexander Pokryshkin shot down 10 German aircraft. Then he received his first title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

It was during this tense spring of 1943 that a special method of air raids, nicknamed the "Kuban whatnot", was formed. The raids of the famous "night witches" terrified the enemy.

However, by May 15, the Soviet army was unable to build on the success of the first offensive and suspended it.

SUBSEQUENT OFFENSES

After the liberation of the Crimean troops of the North Caucasian Front began preparations for the next offensive. A breakthrough was planned between Kyiv and Moldavanskaya with advancement to Varenikovskaya and Gostagaevskaya. On May 26, our troops moved into battle.

One of the key points was the height of 121.4, later called the Hill of Heroes. Planes, tanks and mortars from both sides covered this land with metal. 16 thousand people died in the battles for the height.

The Soviet army managed to advance 3-5 kilometers deep into the Blue Line, there was very little left before a complete breakthrough, but it never took place. On May 30, the offensive was suspended and resumed on June 2. On June 5, the commander of the front, Ivan Petrov, gave the order to stop the offensive. The parties fell into a stalemate: the Red Army could not complete the breakthrough, and the Germans were unable to return to their previous positions.

During the summer, stubborn battles were fought along the entire line. And Soviet intelligence played a huge role in these battles, because it was extremely difficult to fight against an enemy well-established on the ground.

At the end of June 1943, the reconnaissance company of the 317th Infantry Division received the task of capturing a prisoner in the area of ​​​​the village of Nizhne-Grechesky and finding out if there had been any changes in the enemy grouping.

After a thorough examination of the enemy defenses, the commander of the reconnaissance company, Senior Lieutenant Ganzha, chose an object suitable for the operation - a bunker behind the front edge of the Blue Line, 500 meters southwest of Nizhne-Greek.

The reconnaissance group was assembled from 16 people: 5 fighters for capture, 8 in the support subgroup and 3 sappers.

The sappers removed the minefield, made a passage in the barbed wire and waited for the return of the scouts. Support fighters took a good place to fire.

And the capture group, led by Lieutenant Tkachenko, meanwhile, bypassing the bunker from the rear, broke into it, but it turned out to be empty. The Germans were here only during the day. Then the lieutenant decided to move on, leaving two scouts at the bunker. Going deeper, the Red Army found two dugouts, one of them was locked from the inside, but the second was open.

Tkachenko with two scouts carefully entered, leaving one scout at the door outside, the other between the dugouts. The lieutenant lit a flashlight and saw two German soldiers. At this time, a board creaked underfoot, one of the sleepers woke up and immediately grabbed the machine gun. Tkachenko shot him, and the second German did not risk his life and surrendered.

The group returned, knowing for sure that they were covered by sappers and support. But their help was not required, the operation was carried out without extra shots. Such reconnaissance operations allowed the troops to learn in time about the state of affairs on the other side of the line.

The course of events was influenced by the fighting in eastern Ukraine. The advance of the Soviet army put the enemy's Taman grouping in a difficult position - they were threatened with encirclement if they did not retreat back to the west. And on September 3, Hitler gave the order to withdraw troops from the Kuban.

The Soviet command assumed such a turn of affairs and instructed the commander of the North Caucasian Front, Colonel-General Ivan Petrov, to prepare an offensive operation in order to complete the defeat of the enemy's Taman group and prevent it from retreating to the Crimea.

NOVOROSSIYSK-TAMANSK OPERATION

In August 1943, the troops of the North Caucasian Front were almost 1.5 times superior to the enemy in infantry and artillery, and were not inferior to him in the number of tanks. Since, as a result of heavy losses in air battles in the Kuban and the Kursk Bulge, the number of German aviation was significantly reduced, the enemy had no more than 300 aircraft on the Taman Peninsula and in the Crimea against over 1000 aircraft of our 4th Air Army and the Black Sea Fleet.

The essence of the operation was to split the German grouping by a series of strikes from the sea and land, with its further defeat in parts.

The 9th Army of Major General Grechkin, with the support of the Azov military flotilla of Rear Admiral Gorshkov, was to lead an offensive along the Kuban River to Kurchanskaya, Temryuk, and the 56th Army of Lieutenant General Grechko to Gladkovskaya and Gostagaevskaya. The main blow was delivered by the 18th Army of Lieutenant General Leselidze. She was given the task, in cooperation with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet of Vice Admiral Vladimirsky, to liberate Novorossiysk, and then develop an offensive on Verkhnebakanskaya and Anapa. Then the troops were to advance on the crossings of the Old Kuban River and prevent the enemy from escaping to the Crimea.

Preparations for the operation were carried out seriously. The troops were trained to break through in special camps, equipped in the mountains on the model of German defense.

For 15 days, even before the start of the operation, artillery fire destroyed the defensive redoubts of the Germans. From September 5, detachments of the 9th and 58th armies diverted the attention of the enemy from the attack being prepared, engaging in battles in assigned areas. The main blow came from a completely different direction.

On the night of September 10, 1943, the landing of airborne troops in the Novorossiysk region, following a powerful air and artillery attack on the enemy at the landing sites, came as a complete surprise to the German command. As it turned out later, it could not have imagined such a large-scale offensive by the Soviet troops here.

By September 16, the enemy was defeated in Novorossiysk and completely left the city. The breakthrough of the German defense here and the withdrawal of Soviet troops to the Gaiduk area marked the beginning of the defeat of the entire Taman group of invaders, which held the defense on the Blue Line.

The command of the Wehrmacht on the evening of September 15 ordered the withdrawal of the troops of the right wing and the center of the Blue Line. Using the terrain, the Germans retreated under cover, using all kinds of barriers.

Departing, the Nazis offered serious resistance in the Varenikovskaya area on the left bank of the Shukha River up to Novopokrovsky.

Because of the danger of a bypass on the left, the German command withdrew troops from the lines that their army managed to defend.

On September 21, Soviet troops reached the Chekon River, the village of Gostagaevskaya and Upper Dzhemet. It was not possible to break through this line at once, a stop was needed to bring up the rear and artillery. It took three days.

On September 24, the offensive continued; on the 27th, the 9th Army liberated Temryuk. The 56th and 18th armies reached Staraya Kuban and joined up with the amphibious assault landing in Blagoveshchenskaya.

The Germans skillfully maneuvered between the estuaries and occupied the heights, thanks to which they managed to restrain the Red Army with small forces. It took time to take the fortified heights, during which the Germans managed to evacuate by ships and aircraft. By the end of the day on October 9, Soviet troops were able to reach the Kerch crossing.

October 9, 1943 the Novorossiysk-Taman operation ended (10 September - 9 October) - military operations of the troops of the North Caucasian Front, the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla to defeat the Nazi troops on the Taman Peninsula during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 gg.

As a result of offensive battles during the spring and summer of 1943troops of the North Caucasian Front (9th, 56th and 18th army, 4th air army; commander - Colonel General I. E. Petrov) came close to the heavily fortified line, which the German troops created on the outskirts of the Taman Peninsula - the "Blue Line". At this line, the troops of the 17tharmy group armies"A" (commander - General of Engineering Troops E.Eneke) consisting of 15 infantry and 1 cavalry divisions. There were 5 more in the operational reserve in the Crimeadivisions. In total, the enemy grouping numbered over 400 thousand people, 2 thousand 860 guns and mortars, over 100tanks and assault guns, 300 aircraft.

Soviet troops included 18rifle divisions, 4rifle brigades, 2tank regiments - over 317 in total thousand people, 4 thousand 435 guns and mortars, 314tanks and self-propelled guns, about 600aircraft. In accordance with the plan of the operation, the 18ththe army, together with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet, delivered the main blow to Novorossiysk and further to Verkhnebakansky and Anapa, the 56tharmy - to Gladkovskaya and Gostagaevskaya, 9tharmy - to Kurchanskaya and Temryuk. These blows were supposed to cut the enemy grouping, cut off its escape routes to the Crimea and defeat it in parts.

On the night of 10 September, a powerful artillery and aviation preparation was carried out, and about 3o'clock in the morning, suddenly for the enemy, a landing force was landed in the port of Novorossiysk. At the same time, an offensive began on land by the eastern and western groups of the 18tharmy (the last from the bridgehead of Myskhako - "Small Land"). On the night of 11September, the second echelon of troops was landed. On the same day, the troops of the 9tharmies that attacked Temryuk, and 14September - troops of the 56tharmies operating on the central sector of the front. In Novorossiysk during fierce fighting 15September Eastern and Western Groups 18tharmies united, and by morning 16September the city was liberated.

18th the army began to develop an offensive on the flank and rear of the enemy, and the 9th and 56tharmies pushed him to the west, to the coast and seaports of Taman. Active actions - the fire of ships and air strikes - the Black Sea Fleet (commander - Vice Admiral L. BUT. Vladimirsky) and the Azov military flotilla (commander - Rear Admiral S. G. Gorshkov) supported the advancing troops, disrupted enemy sea communications, and by landing behind enemy lines did not allow him to firmly gain a foothold on intermediate lines.

Parts of the 56th Army in the evening 8 October, after a 30-minute artillery preparation, they launched a decisive offensive. By Dawn 9October, they broke through the last line that covered the approaches to the Chushka Spit, occupied the Ilyich cordon and reached the shores of the Kerch Strait. The defeated parts of the enemy were pressed to the sea and destroyed. On the night of 8In October, boats of the Black Sea Fleet landed units of the Marine Corps on the Tuzla Spit and cleared it of the enemy by morning.

Thus, as a result of the continuous offensive of the armies of the North Caucasian Front, ships, marines and aviation of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Flotilla, the Taman Peninsula was liberated from the enemy. AT 8 9 am October commander of the 56tharmy reported to the Military Council of the North Caucasian Front: “... the Taman Peninsula by parts of the 56th Army by 7.00 9 October 1943 years completely cleared of the German occupiers. Over 30days of fierce fighting, the enemy lost 36thousand killed and about 22thousand wounded soldiers and officers, not counting those sunk and destroyed at the crossings. Our troops captured 32 tanks, 337 guns, 229 mortars, 540 heavy throwing apparatus, 83 steam locomotive, 2 thousand 73 cars, 184 warehouse and many other military equipment.

9 October, the commander of the North Caucasian Front issued an order stating: “Today, 9 October 1943, troops 56 armies with a swift attack broke the last resistance of the enemy and by 7.00 in the morning they reached the shore of the Kerch Strait. The scattered remnants of the enemy were cut off from the crossing and exterminated. Not a single living German remained in the Kuban and the Taman Peninsula, except for prisoners. The last stage of the battle for the Caucasus, which began last autumn on the Terek, near Novorossiysk, Tuapse, on the passes of the Main Caucasian Range, is over. The gates to the Caucasus were tightly closed for the enemies of our Motherland. ... Noting the glorious combat path of the troops of the North Caucasian Front, I congratulate all the personnel: soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals on the victory.”

October 9, 1943 at 10 o'clock in the evening in Moscow, a salute was given in honor of the troops who liberated Taman.

One of the most heroic battles of the Great Patriotic War - the battle for the Caucasus - ended with the defeat of the Taman grouping of the enemy and the liberation of the Taman Peninsula. Soviet troops liquidated an important operational foothold of the enemy, which provided him with the defense of the Crimea and the possibility of offensive operations towards the Caucasus. Germany was forced to withdraw all its ships from the Sea of ​​Azov. The liberation of Novorossiysk and the Taman Peninsula significantly improved the basing of the Black Sea Fleet and ensured further attacks on the Crimean enemy grouping from the sea and through the Kerch Strait.

Lit.: Grechko A. A. Battle for the Caucasus. M., 1967. Ch. 2. Chap. 6. Breakthrough of the Blue Line; The same [Electronic resource]. URL : http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/grechko_aa_1/06.html; Zavyalov A. S., Kalyadin T. E. Battle for the Caucasus 1942-1943. M., 1957; Kirin AND. D. The Black Sea Fleet in the Battle for the Caucasus. M., 1958. Ch.7. Novorossiysk-Taman operation (10 September - October 9, 1943); Stalin I. B. Order of the Supreme Commander. nine October 1943. [No. 31] // Orders of the Supreme Commander during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union: Collection. M., 1975. S. 57-59 .

See also in the Presidential Library:

Memory of the Great Victory: collection.

The final operation in the battle for the Caucasus was the strategic Novorossiysk-Taman offensive operation of the troops of the North Caucasian Front (September 9 - October 9, 1943). During its course, Soviet troops broke through the powerful line of defense of the German troops, called the "Blue Line" (or "Gotenkopf" - literally - "Head of the Goth") in the Krasnodar-Taman direction, defeated the forces of the 17th German army and completely liberated the Taman Peninsula and Novorossiysk .

background

As a result of the spring-summer offensive of 1943, the troops of the North Caucasian Front came close to the heavily fortified Blue Line on the outskirts of the Taman Peninsula. April 29 - May 15, 1943, the troops of the North Caucasian Front carried out an offensive operation, trying to break through the "Blue Line" and capture the Taman Peninsula. After several days of stubborn fighting, the troops of the 56th Army of General A.A. Grechko captured the village of Krymskaya - one of the key points of the German defense. This is where the success ended. In the area of ​​​​the villages of Kyiv and Moldavanskaya, the Germans stopped the Soviet offensive. Played a big role in the success of the Germans. A powerful grouping of the Luftwaffe - up to 1400 aircraft, operated from bases on the Kerch Peninsula. The Red Army was unable to break through the well-prepared German defenses, and the offensive was halted.

In addition, in April - June 1943, the so-called. air battle in the Kuban between the 4th air army under the command of General K.A. Vershinin and 4th Air Field Marshal V. Richthofen. Vershinin widely used the constant duty of air controllers at the forefront, the massive deployment of forces into battle (up to 5 or more fighter regiments), the exchange of combat experience among pilots - for the first time, army fighter pilot conferences were organized. During a fierce battle, Soviet aviation put an end to the dominance of the Luftwaffe in the air.

In the summer, the Red Army defeated the Wehrmacht near Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov. Soviet soldiers broke through the German defenses on the Dnieper, Mius and Molochnaya rivers. Soviet troops advanced west from 300 km in the central part of the front to 600 km in the south. Thus, favorable conditions appeared for the strike of the North Caucasian Front. The movement of Soviet troops to the lower reaches of the Dnieper put the enemy's Taman grouping in a very difficult position.

The Taman bridgehead lost its significance as a starting point for a new German offensive in the Caucasus. At the same time, the German command still continued to strengthen its defenses, hoping to keep it behind them for as long as possible. Holding the coast of the Taman Peninsula, the Germans defended their sea communications, limited the actions of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and at the same time covered the approaches to the Crimea, which was the naval and air base of the Wehrmacht. In addition, the Taman group of the Wehrmacht fettered the significant ground, air and naval forces of the USSR, which could not take part in the battles in other directions.

blue line

The main obstacle in the path of the Soviet troops in solving the task of liberating Taman was the powerful German defensive line - the Blue Line. The Germans used the favorable terrain conditions in order to hold the Taman Peninsula. In the north-east of the theater of operations near the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov and the valley of the Kuban River, swampy lowland prevailed with a significant number of floodplains, estuaries, rivers, rivers and streams. The southeastern section of the combat area is mountainous and wooded. In the depths of the peninsula, from the area of ​​Varenikovskaya, Anapa, the terrain was flat, steppe. From the line Temryuk, Blagoveshchenskoye, in the western part of the Taman Peninsula, the troops could only advance along the narrow defile between the estuaries. This allowed the Germans to create a solid defense system, turning settlements and some areas of the terrain into centers of resistance. The defense was strengthened by the fact that the Germans reduced the front, greatly compacting their defensive formations.

Already in January 1943, the German command, fearing that the rapid advance of the Soviet troops would lead to the complete defeat of the Kuban group, began to build defensive lines in the lower reaches of the river. Kuban, on the nearest approaches to the Taman Peninsula. The Germans forcibly mobilized the local population for the construction of a defensive line. Thousands of people from Taman settlements and farms worked under the supervision of German submachine gunners. They dug anti-tank ditches, trenches, paybacks, built dugouts and dugouts. German sapper and special construction units and field troops worked to create strongholds and centers of resistance.

For more than four months, German troops built several defensive lines with intervals between them from 5 to 25 km. The main defensive line, the Blue Line itself, had a depth of up to 6 kilometers. It consisted of three or four positions, protected by minefields and several rows of barbed wire. But even behind it, to a depth of 30-40 km, there were auxiliary well-prepared defensive lines. So, 10-15 km from the main defensive strip, the second strip passed. The left flank of the Blue Line was located at the Verbyana Spit, went through the coastal estuaries, then along the river. Kurka. Along Kurka, 56 km long, the Germans built high earthen ramparts. Then Gotenkopf passed east through the swampy area near the Adagum River to the village of Kyiv. From the front, this area was protected by a wide strip of Kuban floodplains. Further, the front edge turned south. Given the fact that the central section of the Blue Line, 32 km long, was the most convenient for the Soviet offensive, the Germans paid special attention to strengthening it. There were two positions with a large number of nodes of resistance and strong points. Villages, farms and dominating heights were prepared for a long-term defense. They tried to cover the gaps between them with reinforced concrete firing points with armor caps. The main nodes of resistance in the first line of defense were the village of Kievskoye and the height with a mark of 195.5. Kievskoye blocked the way to Taman through the village of Varenikovskaya, and height 195.5 blocked the highway and railway through the villages of Nizhne-Bakanskaya and Verkhne-Bakanskaya, which went to Novorossiysk. The most powerful defense center of the second position was created in the village of Moldavanskaya, which was located in the center of a hilly plateau. He was supposed to close the path to the center of the Taman Peninsula in the event of a breakthrough by the Soviet troops of the advanced position.

Defense nodes and strongholds were prepared for all-round defense, in case of encirclement, they had two or three lines of continuous trenches. The defense of the first line of trenches was strengthened by wood-and-earth or reinforced concrete firing points advanced 20-60 meters forward. They were located mainly on slopes or on the outskirts of settlements, at a distance of 50-80 meters from each other. They covered the flanks of the front line of defense and the immediate approaches to wire, minefields. The second line of firing structures was built with a ledge behind and was supposed to cover the space between the firing positions of the first line with frontal fire. The trenches were complemented by numerous rifle cells. Artillery and mortar positions were located in the depths of the positions. For the personnel there were dugouts and dugouts. Communication passages connected all the structures of the strongholds with trenches. The leading edge of the defensive line was covered by a dense network of barbed wire, minefields, mined blockages with a total depth of up to half a kilometer. The density of mining reached in some areas up to 2.5 thousand mines per 1 km of the front. At the forefront, special attention was paid to mining tank-dangerous areas. In addition, each structure had its own stock of anti-tank mines to fight the Soviet ones. In large numbers, surprise mines of tension action were installed, designed to destroy enemy manpower.

The southern flank of the "Blue Line" passed through a hard-to-reach mountainous and wooded area with a length of 25 km from the village of Neberdzhaevskaya to Novorossiysk. Here, the German defense was based on forest blockages, anti-personnel minefields and combined with a system of multi-tiered barrage fire.

One of the most powerful nodes of enemy resistance was the part of Novorossiysk captured by the Germans, the approaches to the city, as well as positions in the Myskhako area, which was where the Soviet bridgehead was. During the year, day and night, the Germans created a system of defensive structures in Novorossiysk. In the city itself, the main line of defense, 5-7 km wide, consisted of three positions. 10 km from the front edge of the main strip was the second line of defense. In the area between the port and the mountains, there was a narrow passage about 3 km long and up to 1 km wide. Through it it was possible to break through to the eastern part of Novorossiysk, the village of Methodius. In order to deprive the Soviet troops of such an opportunity, the Germans built a dense network of barbed wire, minefields, and firing points there. The eastern part of the city was additionally reinforced with three lines of trenches with numerous long-term firing points. Houses and entire neighborhoods were turned into strongholds, ready for all-round defense. The streets were blocked with barricades, with embrasures for machine guns and communications. In many houses, walls and ceilings were reinforced with concrete or brickwork to withstand artillery hits. The cellars were converted into bomb shelters. All large buildings that were not occupied by German garrisons were mined in order to undermine them already during the Soviet offensive, street fighting, causing damage to the enemy and creating additional blockages. In the city and its environs, the Germans prepared up to 500 defensive structures protected by wire and minefields. The mining density was high. Only in the first days after the liberation of the city, Soviet sappers removed and neutralized 29 thousand enemy mines.

To combat possible Soviet landings, a strong anti-amphibious defense was created. The entire coast, up to Anapa and further, was prepared to repel an enemy landing. To cover the approaches to Novorossiysk from the sea, the entrance to the port was closed by booms with mines and land mines, in all port buildings there were machine-gun and artillery protected positions. All port buildings, berths and piers were mined. Mines were laid not only on the shore, but on the water and under water. At the heights they had protected observation posts, which allowed the German troops to deliver concentrated artillery fire on any part of the bay. At the same heights there were German mortar and artillery batteries, which made it possible to fire at all quarters of the city. The very terrain near Novorossiysk contributed to the creation of a solid defense, and created additional obstacles for the attackers. A large range of mountains to the north of the city was covered with forests, where there were practically no roads and passages.

The main line of defense was reinforced by rear lines. The first passed from Varenikovskaya to Yuzhnaya Ozereyka, with the main center of resistance in Verkhnebakansky. The next frontier went from Temryuk to Su-Psekh. Separate defensive lines blocked the isthmuses between the estuaries.

Operation preparation. Side forces

In August 1943, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, in connection with the favorable situation in the southwestern strategic direction, instructed the commander of the North Caucasian Front, Colonel-General Ivan Efimovich Petrov, to destroy the Wehrmacht's Taman grouping, preventing it from retreating to the Crimean peninsula. Given the fact that the German command did not expect an offensive in the Novorossiysk direction, and somewhat weakened its grouping on the right flank of the 17th Army, it was decided to deliver the main blow in the Novorossiysk area. The breakthrough of the German defense in the Novorossiysk direction, the capture of the Neberdzhaisky and Volchy Gate passes, violated the entire enemy defense system, created the possibility of encirclement and complete defeat of the Taman group.

A successful breakthrough of the enemy's powerful line of defense depended on the thorough and comprehensive preparation of the operation by the troops of the North Caucasian Front. Intelligence did a lot of work to open the German defense system. Soviet reconnaissance aircraft carried out aerial photography of the Blue Line to its entire depth. The photographs were reproduced and transferred for study to aviation formations, to all headquarters of the combined arms armies and rifle corps. In May 1943, aviation units received 96 photographic schemes, combined arms headquarters - 54 photographic schemes. The results of aerial reconnaissance were also transferred to higher headquarters. Special topographic maps were made to help break through the German defenses. Since May, combined-arms and engineering intelligence have been continuously monitoring enemy activities. Special search groups were sent behind enemy lines in order to open elements of the German defense. Part of the information about the Blue Line was able to pass the partisans.

The command organized the creation of special camps equipped in mountainous areas, modeled on the defense of the Wehrmacht. In them, Soviet troops were trained to break through enemy positions. Parts of the Black Sea Fleet conducted exercises on landing and organizing the interaction of groups of combat support ships with landing craft and landing groups. Particular attention was paid to the training of crews of torpedo boats, which were supposed to destroy the enemy's booms and minefields, to deliver a fire strike on the enemy's defenses at the landing site. Practical exercises were organized with a night passage of ships and boats with landing troops.

All measures were taken to ensure the secrecy of the preparation of the offensive operation. All governing documents were drawn up by a narrow circle of persons in the part that concerned them, and only in one copy. They tried to carry out all the transfer of troops, the concentration of strike groups in the dark. Also at night, paratroopers landed, went to sea and built ships of the landing group. Trying to misinform the German command, the Soviet troops carried out demonstration reorganizations in secondary directions, and combined-arms reconnaissance was activated on them. As it turned out later, these events were successful. The German command began to regroup its forces and consolidate the defensive formations in areas that were not the main whole of the Red Army.

The Soviet command knew that the enemy had distributed his forces unevenly, worrying most of all about the central sector of his front. On the left flank were hard-to-reach Azov floodplains, on the right - the most powerful Novorossiysk fortified area and dominant heights. The left flank was ill-suited for directing the main attack, the troops could get stuck in a heavily marshy area. The front command decided to strike at the right flank of the enemy. Here the enemy expected the main blow least of all, relying on mountainous and wooded terrain, which impeded the actions of large tank formations and artillery, and a powerful defense created in advance. The capture of Novorossiysk deprived the enemy of his southern flank support, and made it possible to deal a crushing blow to the entire German defense system. In addition, in the Novorossiysk operation, the ground forces could support the Black Sea Fleet.

The general plan of the front command was to inflict a series of combined blows from land and sea on the enemy's Taman grouping and destroy it. The troops of the 9th Army under the command of Major General Alexei Aleksandrovich Grechkin, in cooperation with the forces of the Azov Flotilla under the command of Rear Admiral Sergei Georgievich Gorshkov, were to conduct an offensive along the river. Kuban to Kurchanskaya, Temryuk and Varenikovskaya. The 56th Army under the command of Lieutenant General Andrey Antonovich Grechko advanced in the Moldavanskaya area on Gladkovskaya and Gostagaevskaya. The 56th Army, with its right wing, was to strike at Varenikovskaya. The 18th Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Konstantin Nikolaevich Leselidze, dealt the main blow. She was supposed to, in cooperation with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet under the leadership of Lev Anatolyevich Vladimirsky, liberate Novorossiysk, and develop an offensive in the direction of Verkhnebakanskaya and Anapa. With such actions, the Soviet command planned to cut through the German defenses, quickly reach the crossings of the Old Kuban River and cut off the enemy's escape route to the ports and the Kerch Strait. Preparations for the operation were planned to be completed by September 7. The beginning of the offensive of the main forces of the 9th and 56th armies depended on the success of the troops of the 18th army in the Novorossiysk direction. And up to this point, they were supposed to, starting from September 5, carry out local operations with the forces of small detachments and divert the attention of the enemy to themselves.

The North Caucasian Front included the 58th, 9th, 56th, 18th and 4th air armies (plus aviation of the Black Sea Fleet). However, three armies took part in the operation: 21 rifle and mountain rifle divisions, several separate rifle and tank brigades, separate tank regiments, reinforcement artillery. Parts of the 58th Army were involved in the defense of the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov. The 18th Army of Leselidze was located on the left flank of the North Caucasian Front from the village of Neberdzhaevskaya to the Black Sea. Grechko's 56th Army was in the center from Neberdzhaevskaya to Kievskoye. Grechkin's 9th Army was located on the right flank of the front from the Kyiv to the Sea of ​​Azov. The total number of troops was more than 315 thousand people, 4435 guns and mortars, more than 300 tanks and self-propelled guns. The North Caucasian Front was almost 1.5 times superior to the enemy forces in infantry and artillery, and had an advantage in armored vehicles.

A significant advantage was in aviation. As a result of heavy losses in air battles in the air battle for the Kuban and during the Battle of Kursk, the number of combat aircraft of the German Air Force fell. In total, the Luftwaffe had 1275 aircraft in the southwestern direction, of which about 300 were based in the Crimea and Taman. By the beginning of the Novorossiysk-Taman operation, the 4th Air Army under the command of Konstantin Andreyevich Vershinin had about 600 combat aircraft. In addition, the Air Force of the Black Sea Fleet had up to 450 aircraft. The presence of quantitative and qualitative air superiority has become a serious prerequisite for the success of an offensive operation.

The Soviet troops were opposed by the 17th Army under the command of Erwin Gustav Jeneke. She was part of Army Group A. The 17th Army included formations of the 5th and 44th Army Corps, the 49th Mountain Corps, and the Romanian Cavalry Corps. A total of 17 infantry, mountain rifle and cavalry divisions, 4 separate regiments and several other separate formations. The German-Romanian troops numbered 200 thousand people (according to other sources, about 400 thousand), 2860 guns and mortars, 100 tanks and assault guns, and about 300 combat aircraft. In addition, the reserve of the 17th Army was located in Crimea - 36.6 thousand people, 11.6 thousand people in training units, and up to 50 thousand Allied troops.

In the first echelon on the 100 km front, 12 divisions held the defense, in the second - 5. The German forces were unevenly distributed. So, in front of the 9th Army on a front of 40 km there were three divisions, in the sector of the 56th Soviet Army on a front of 30 km, 5 enemy divisions held the defense, the rest of the German divisions held the defense against the 18th on a front of 29 km.