(defensive period from 25 July to 31 December 1942)

Year by year, the events of the Great Patriotic War are moving further and further away from us. The means of armed struggle and views on its conduct are changing. However, its results, the most important lessons, are of great theoretical and practical importance even today. The experience accumulated by the Soviet Armed Forces in the fight against the German aggressors is an inexhaustible source for the further development of domestic military science. In this regard, the modern generation of commanders needs to deeply study and carefully select from the past everything that has not lost its value even today, that can be creatively used in the training of troops.

During the past war, the Soviet Armed Forces carried out offensive and defensive strategic operations as a set of strikes, operations and combat actions coordinated and interconnected in purpose, place and time, formations and formations of various branches of the armed forces to achieve strategic goals. The main criteria on the basis of which this or that operation can be classified as a strategic one can be called such as: the solution of important strategic tasks and the achievement of major military-political goals, the large spatial scope of hostilities and the participation of a significant number of forces and means in them, as well as planning by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK) and coordination of the actions of the fronts, fleets and other branches of the armed forces by its representatives. All these criteria can be fully attributed to one of the battles of the Great Patriotic War - the battle for the Caucasus.

In the 1940s, Baku and the North Caucasus were the largest source of oil in the Eastern Hemisphere. At that time, the USSR occupied the second place in the world in terms of oil production, producing a tenth of the world's oil, and Germany, which experienced an acute shortage of oil products throughout the war, sought to seize this area at all costs. There were also reserves of other strategic raw materials, for example, the Tyrnyauz deposit of tungsten-molybdenum ore.
In addition, the loss of the Caucasus would have left the Soviet Union without oil at all, since only 12% of oil was produced outside the Caucasus. Therefore, Hitler chose this particular direction as the main one.

The battle for the Caucasus was one of the longest in the Great Patriotic War. It lasted 442 days (from July 25, 1942 to October 9, 1943) and entered the history of military art as a complex of defensive and offensive operations carried out over a vast territory in difficult conditions of steppe, mountainous and mountainous wooded areas, in coastal areas . Its content included the North Caucasian strategic defensive operation, which lasted more than five months, the North Caucasian strategic offensive operation, the Novorossiysk landing operation, the Krasnodar and Novorossiysk-Taman offensive operations, which lasted a total of more than nine months. During these operations, the troops of the Southern, North Caucasian and Transcaucasian fronts, together with parts of the internal and border troops of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD), in cooperation with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet, the Azov and Caspian military flotillas, in fierce battles and battles, exhausted the formations of the German army group "A", stopped their advance and, having defeated them, drove them out of the Caucasus.

The task is to stop the enemy, wear him out in defensive battles...

In the strategic plans of the German leadership, the capture of the Caucasus, where up to 95% of all oil in the USSR was produced before the war, was given an important place. At a meeting in Poltava in June 1942, Hitler declared: "If we fail to seize the oil of Maykop and Grozny, then we will have to stop the war!" That is why, apparently, the plan of the German command on the Soviet-German front in the summer of 1942 provided for the main blow in the Caucasian direction with a simultaneous attack on Stalingrad.

The operation plan, codenamed "Edelweiss", was to encircle and destroy Soviet troops south and southeast of Rostov and take control of the North Caucasus. In the future, it was envisaged that one group of troops would bypass the Main Caucasian Range from the west and capture Novorossiysk and Tuapse, and the other would advance from the east in order to capture Grozny and Baku. Simultaneously with this bypass maneuver, it was planned to overcome the ridge in its central part along the passes with access to the regions of Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Sukhumi.

mountain ranger of the SS division "Edelweiss"

With a breakthrough in Transcaucasia, the enemy hoped to paralyze the bases of the Black Sea Fleet, achieve complete dominance in the Black Sea, establish direct contact with the Turkish army and thereby create the prerequisites for an invasion of the Near and Middle East.

To solve such large-scale tasks, the German command concentrated Army Group A in the Caucasian direction (commanded by Field Marshal V. List) as part of the German 1st, 4th tank, 17th and 11th armies, 3rd Romanian army. They were supported by units of the 4th air fleet.

Wilhelm List

In total, Army Group A had over 170,000 men, 1,130 tanks, about 4,500 guns and mortars, and up to 1,000 aircraft. At that time, the 6th Army from Army Group B was aimed at Stalingrad.

These groups had a high combat capability and were impressed by the recent victories. Many of their formations participated in the defeat of the Soviet troops near Kharkov and southwest of Voronezh, in the June battles, advancing to the lower reaches of the Don, they immediately captured a number of bridgeheads on its left bank.

The German Army Group "A" was opposed by the troops of the Southern and part of the forces of the North Caucasian Fronts. In their composition, at first glance, there were quite a few armies - the 51st, 37th, 12th, 18th, 56th combined arms and 4th air armies. However, all these armies, except for the 51st, suffered significant losses in previous battles and totaled only 112 thousand people, 120 tanks, about 2200 guns and mortars and 130 aircraft. They were 1.5 times inferior to the enemy in men, 2 times in guns and mortars, more than 9 times in tanks, and almost 8 times in aviation. To this must be added the lack of stable control of formations and units, which was violated during their hasty retreat to the Don.

The Soviet troops had a very difficult task to stop the enemy, wear him out in defensive battles and prepare the conditions for going on the offensive. As early as July 10-11, 1942, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the Southern and North Caucasian fronts to organize defense along the river. Don. However, the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the fronts was hampered by the fact that the armies of the Southern Front were engaged in intense battles with the advancing large German forces in the Rostov direction. They essentially had neither the time nor the means to prepare the defense of the left bank of the Don.

By this time, command and control of troops in the Caucasian direction had not been restored. In addition, close attention of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the General Staff at that time was paid to the Stalingrad direction, where the enemy was rushing to the Volga.

Under pressure from superior enemy forces, the army of the Southern Front (commanded by Lieutenant General R.Ya. Malinovsky) by July 25 retreated to the southern bank of the Don in a strip 330 km long, from Verkhnekurmoyarskaya to the mouth of the river. They were weakened and few in number, having only 17 tanks. Some of them had no connection with the front headquarters.

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (center)

Troops of the North Caucasian Front under the command of Marshal S.M. Budyonny, meanwhile, continued to defend the coasts of the Azov and Black Seas to Lazarevskaya, and the troops of the Transcaucasian Front, led by General of the Army I.V. Tyulenev, covered the Black Sea coast from Lazarevskaya to Batumi, the border with Turkey and provided communications for Soviet troops in Iran. The 44th Army was in the Makhachkala region and covered the coast of the Caspian Sea.

Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny Ivan Vladimirovich Tyulenev

The Black Sea Fleet (commanded by Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky), after the loss of Sevastopol and Kerch, was based in the ports of the Caucasian coast, which ended up in the zone of German aviation.

Philip Sergeevich Oktyabrsky (in the center)

It was supposed to interact with the ground forces in the defense of coastal areas, provide sea transportation, and also strike at enemy sea lanes.

In such extremely unfavorable conditions for the Soviet troops, the North Caucasian strategic defensive operation was unfolding.

North Caucasian strategic defensive operation

On July 26, 1942, the enemy, having begun active operations, began to intensively transport his units to the southern bank of the Don. In the current situation, the Headquarters takes measures to repel the enemy's offensive.

In order to combine efforts and improve command and control in the North Caucasus, the armies of the Southern and North Caucasian fronts were merged into one North Caucasian front under the command of Marshal S.M. Budyonny. The Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla were subordinate to him in operational terms. The newly created front received the task of stopping the advance of the enemy and restoring the situation along the left bank of the Don. Such a task was practically impossible, since the enemy had full initiative and conducted an organized offensive with superior forces. In addition, it turned out to be extremely difficult to provide control over the combat operations of the troops of the front in a strip with a length of more than 1000 km. Therefore, the Headquarters allocated two operational groups as part of the North Caucasian Front: the Don group, headed by Lieutenant General R.Ya. Malinovsky and Primorskaya, headed by Colonel General Ya.T. Cherevichenko.

Yakov Timofeevich Cherevichenko

The troops of the Transcaucasian Front received the task of occupying and preparing for defense the approaches to the Caucasus from the north. In this regard, the Military Council of the front developed a plan of military operations, which the Headquarters approved on August 4. Its essence was to stop the enemy's offensive at the turn of the Terek and the passes of the Main Caucasian Range. The troops of the 44th Army were entrusted with the defense of Baku and Grozny, covering the Georgian Military and Ossetian Military Highways. The defense of the Black Sea coast was entrusted to the 46th Army.

The fighting in the North Caucasus in late July-early August took on an exceptionally dynamic character. Possessing numerical superiority and owning the initiative, the German corps moved fairly quickly towards Stavropol, Maikop and Tuapse. Under these conditions, in order to restore the combat readiness of the Soviet troops and ensure the defense of the Caucasus from the north, the Stavka on August 8 unites the 44th and 9th armies into the Northern Group of the Transcaucasian Front, and on August 11 it includes the 37th Army. Lieutenant General I.I. was appointed commander of the group. Maslennikov. An important place was also given to strengthening the cover in the direction of Maikop, Tuapse, as well as the defense of Novorossiysk. The measures taken since mid-August had a positive effect on increasing resistance to the enemy.

Nevertheless, the enemy had sufficient forces to develop a simultaneous offensive both in the direction of Baku and Batumi by formations of the 1st Tank and 17th Field Armies, and to capture the passes of the Main Caucasian Range by units of the 49th Mountain Rifle Corps. At the end of August, the Germans managed to capture Mozdok, and they intended to develop an offensive against Grozny. However, this plan was thwarted by the active defensive actions of the Soviet troops.

In mid-August, intense battles unfolded in the central part of the Main Caucasian Range. At first, they were clearly not in favor of the Soviet troops, who poorly organized defense in the foothills. The Germans, using detachments specially trained for operations in the mountains, were able to quickly capture almost all the passes west of Mount Elbrus, creating a threat of access to Sukhumi and coastal communications.

After the intervention of the Headquarters in the course of hostilities and its demands to strengthen the defense of the Georgian Military and Ossetian Military Highways, the situation here improved somewhat. The enemy, repulsing the counterattacks of the formations of the Northern Group of Forces, was forced to go on the defensive.

At the same time there were battles near Novorossiysk and Tuapse. By mid-September, the enemy managed to capture most of Novorossiysk, but his attempts to break through to Tuapse along the coast were thwarted.

As early as September 1, the Headquarters made an important organizational decision - to unite the North Caucasian and Transcaucasian fronts. The united front was called the Transcaucasian. The Directorate of the North Caucasian Front formed the basis of the Black Sea Group of the Transcaucasian Front, which significantly increased the stability of the defense on the coastal sector of the front.

In October-December, the German command again made attempts to conduct an offensive in the Tuapse and Grozny directions, however, having met stubborn resistance from the Soviet troops, they could not achieve noticeable success.
In the autumn months of 1942, the armies of the Transcaucasian Front, having received reinforcements, significantly intensified their operations, inflicting a number of counterattacks that forced the enemy to constantly change their intentions, more and more often go on the defensive. Gradually, the situation stabilized, and then the initiative began to go over to the side of the Soviet troops.

During the North Caucasian strategic defensive operation (July 25 - December 31, 1942), the troops of the North Caucasian and Transcaucasian fronts, the forces of the Black Sea Fleet carried out Armaviro-Maikop (August 6-17), Novorossiysk (August 19 - September 26), Mozdok -Malgobek (September 1-28), Tuapse (September 25 - December 20), Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze (October 25 - November 11) defensive operations. As a result, their enemy was stopped east of Mozdok, on the outskirts of Ordzhonikidze, on the passes of the Main Caucasian Range, in the southeastern part of Novorossiysk. Intense battles were fought on the front from 320 to 1000 km and to a depth of 400 to 800 km.

Defensive operations were carried out in an extremely difficult situation and in unfavorable conditions for the Soviet troops. During these battles, the enemy managed to achieve significant successes, to seize the rich agricultural regions of the Don and Kuban, the Taman Peninsula, to reach the foothills of the Main Caucasian Range, capturing part of its passes.

Nevertheless, the Soviet troops, having withstood the powerful onslaught of the enemy, solved the main task - they stopped and did not allow the Germans to get to the Baku and Grozny oil. In stubborn defensive battles, they inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, bleeding his strike force.

It is necessary to note the great role of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the General Staff in directing military operations in the Caucasus. Their special attention was focused on restoring the stability of the command and control system and immediately taking measures to improve it. Despite the difficult situation in other sectors of the Soviet-German front, the Stavka strengthened the troops of the North Caucasian direction with its reserves in every possible way. Thus, from July to October 1942, the fronts operating in the Caucasus received about 100,000 march reinforcements, a significant number of formations and units of military branches and special forces, and a considerable amount of weapons and equipment.

The defense of the Caucasus took place in the difficult conditions of the mountain theater, which required the troops to master specific forms and methods of combat using all types of weapons. The troops gained experience in conducting combat operations along axes, in building battle formations in depth, and in the interaction of all branches of the armed forces. The organization of formations and units was improved. They were reinforced with engineering equipment, transport, including packs, equipped with mountain equipment, received more radio stations.

In the course of defensive operations, the ground forces interacted with the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Flotilla, whose ships covered their flanks from the sea, supported naval and coastal artillery fire, carried out antiamphibious defense of the coast, and disrupted the enemy’s supply by sea.

In addition, the Black Sea Fleet, the Azov, Volga and Caspian military flotillas provided great assistance to the troops, carrying out sea transportation of reserves, delivery of military cargo, timely evacuation of the wounded and material assets. In the second half of 1942, the fleet transported more than 200 thousand people and 250 thousand tons of various cargoes, sank 51 enemy ships with a total displacement of 120 thousand tons.

In November 1942, the offensive capabilities of the enemy in the Caucasus were exhausted, and the activity of the Soviet troops increased markedly. A turning point occurred in the course of the battle, which was decisively facilitated by a sharp change in the situation near Stalingrad, where the troops of the Southwestern, Don and Stalingrad fronts, which went on the counteroffensive, surrounded a large enemy grouping and were preparing to liquidate it.

As a result of the defensive operations carried out by the Soviet troops in the Caucasus, the enemy was seriously defeated, and the initiative in this strategic direction began to pass into the hands of the Soviet command. Despite the fact that in the Caucasian direction the enemy troops managed to occupy a significant part of the territory of the North Caucasus, they failed to overcome the stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops, to seize the oil sources of the Grozny and Baku regions and other sources of valuable strategic raw materials. In addition, the plans of the Hitlerite leadership failed to draw Turkey into the war against the USSR by means of a breakthrough in the Transcaucasus, to unite with its troops operating in North Africa, and to continue aggression in the direction of the Middle East. In a difficult situation, the Soviet command retained some naval bases that ensured the operations of the fleet, and also created conditions for the troops to go on a decisive offensive. The plans of the Nazi command to seize the Caucasus were thwarted by the efforts of the Soviet Armed Forces with the active help of the entire Soviet people, including the peoples of the Caucasus.

The defense of the Caucasus, undoubtedly, was an important source of development of domestic military science. The defensive operations carried out by the Soviet troops, even today, are of a certain instructiveness, practical significance and particular topicality for military theory and practice in preserving the independence and integrity of the Fatherland.

Sergey Grebenyuk, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Head of Department of the Research Institute (Military History) of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces

See the continuation on the website: For advanced - Commanders - Liberation of the North Caucasus

The history of the battle for the Caucasus - how the situation developed on the fronts before it began, what was the alignment of forces. How was the first stage of the battle for the Caucasus, the victories and defeats of the Soviet command. What is famous for the second stage of the battle in the Caucasus, the main battles and results.

The battle for the Caucasus 1942-1943 is a serious turning point in the course of the war

The battle for the Caucasus was decisive for the outcome of the Great Patriotic War. If the Soviet Union had lost this battle, it is quite possible that the entire Second World War would have been lost. It was one of the longest and lasted from July 25, 1942 to October 9, 1943.

Time is relentless. Today, there are very few veterans of the Second World War - participants in that great struggle against the enemy. They are trying with might and main to surround them with care and attention, especially on memorable dates of these events. Poems are dedicated to heroes, in which their exploits are sung. Children's drawing competitions are held on the theme of the battle for the Caucasus, where children often depict warriors with orders and medals. These pictures once again remind us of how important it is to protect the world.

Heroes and ordinary participants in the battle for the Caucasus can be seen in the photo on May 9 during the procession of the Immortal Regiment.

This victory came at a great cost to us. What we call a "battle" was in reality a series of military operations. The battle for the Caucasus has a strategic division into two stages - the first was defensive (during 1942), and the second offensive (from the beginning of 1943).

The military-political situation in the first half of 1942

The beginning of the military campaign of 1942 for our country developed unsuccessfully. Serious miscalculations were made in planning and conducting operations along the entire length of the Soviet-German front.

Previous events

Having carried out several successful operations in the winter of 1941, in particular, near Moscow, Yelets, Rostov and other settlements, the military leadership of the Soviet Union made erroneous conclusions about the unpreparedness of the Wehrmacht army for combat operations in winter conditions (which were partly true). The military potential of the Nazi group on the Eastern Front as a whole was greatly underestimated.

Attempts to seize the initiative in the winter and spring of 1942 by conducting many private offensive operations led to failure. Thus, the Rzhev-Vyazemsky, Smolensk, Kharkov operations, also in the Crimea, the battle for the Demyansk cauldron and others in a number of cases were marked by local successes. As a result, the Soviet troops even managed to capture part of the territories, but on the whole they ended in failure with a huge number of losses in manpower and equipment.

By the summer, the Red Army switched to positional defense. Another strategic mistake was the assumption put forward by the Soviet command that the summer campaign of the Nazis would again develop in the old directions (Moscow, Leningrad), assigning secondary importance to the south. It was there that the main battles were expected. The attack on the Caucasus came as a surprise.

Significance of the Caucasus during the war

By 1942, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, Crimea, Donbass were lost, Leningrad was in the blockade. The economic base of the USSR has narrowed. A number of industrial areas were lost, and the evacuated enterprises have not yet reached the required capacity. Significant agricultural areas were lost. As a result, steel production decreased by 10 million tons, grain harvest more than 3 times. Do not forget about a significant reduction in the mobilization resource due to the loss of vast territories.

Under the prevailing conditions for the Soviet Union, the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia turned out to be key industrial and agricultural regions. They accounted for 86.5% of the all-Union oil production, 65% of natural gas, 56.5% of manganese ore. In addition, the trade route through the Persian Gulf, Iran and the Caspian Sea was the second after the Northern Sea Route for Lend-Lease supplies.

The balance of forces and means before the start of the first stage of the battle for the Caucasus

For Nazi Germany, the Caucasus was also vital, mainly due to the lack of oil and oil products. The technical equipment of the army grew, and so did their consumption. Own German industry coped with difficulty. Even the captured oil-bearing territories of Europe, as well as the production of synthetic or "ersatz fuel" from coal, alcohol, benzene, and others, could hardly meet the needs.

The plans of the German command

During the unsuccessful Kharkov offensive operation of the Soviet troops, the Nazis reached the Don and occupied Rostov. On the basis of the fascist army group "South", two army groups were created - "A" and "B".

Group "A" included 3 armies - one tank and two infantry. Their task at the first stage was to force the Don, to occupy part of the Kuban, the North Caucasus, the eastern coast of the Azov and Black Seas. On the second, they were supposed to go around the Main Caucasian Range from the west and east and go through the passes to the Transcaucasus. In addition, with access to the border of Turkey to force her to enter the war with "Soviet Russia".

Field Marshal List was appointed commander. He was instructed to solve the combat mission by the consistent implementation of the plan Operation Edelweiss. Later, List was recalled from the front by Hitler and a new commander, Colonel General Kleist, was appointed in his place. Thus, from November 1942, the reins of government passed to him.

Group "B" was intended for an attack on Stalingrad. Obviously, the Stalingrad direction was initially secondary.

3 fronts were deployed in the Caucasian direction: Southern, North Caucasian, Transcaucasian.

Southern Front had 5 armies in its composition, the task of which was to prevent the crossing of the Don and the development of an offensive against the Kuban and the Caucasus. General Malinovsky was appointed commander.

North Caucasian Front consisted of one army and two separate corps. They were tasked with defending the northeastern and eastern coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. The commander was Marshal of the Soviet Union Budyonny.

Transcaucasian Front as part of two armies and one cavalry corps, he defended the Black Sea coast with our naval bases located in Georgia. Part of the forces was located in northern Iran to cover the Iranian-Turkish border.

All three fronts were not fully equipped, there were problems with logistics.

The Black Sea Fleet experienced difficulties in connection with the loss of the Crimea and the main base - the city of Sevastopol. At this time, Novorossiysk became its replacement. In addition, enemy aircraft from the airfields of the Crimea caused significant damage.

The Caucasus, as a theater of operations, began to be equipped as early as 1941, but the work was extremely slow and inefficient. In addition, nothing was done in terms of fortification on the passes of the Main Caucasian Range. It seemed that they were not going to fight in the mountains at all. Everything had to be corrected in a short time and already in the course of hostilities.

Developments in the defense of the Caucasus

By July 25, Wehrmacht formations unexpectedly reached the Don. The Soviet units had to urgently prepare for defense.

The alignment of forces at the 1st stage of the battle

The superiority of Army Group A over the troops of the Southern Front turned out to be as follows:

• in personnel by 1.5 times;
• in tanks by 9.3 times;
• in airplanes by 7.7 times.

The superiority necessary for an offensive with a forcing of a water barrier, the enemy had only in tanks and aircraft. But the troops of the Southern Front defended a strip 320 kilometers wide, the forces were stretched out. There was no opportunity to form strong second echelons and reserves. All these prerequisites led to the fact that the Nazis in some places, by skillful maneuvering, were able to create the necessary advantage.

German advance

In the first two days, the Nazis in some sectors of the front managed to force the Don and break through the defenses. Further, developing the offensive, enemy formations reached Bataysk. In some places, prerequisites arose for the encirclement of parts of the Southern Front. In addition, with the release of German tank units in the steppe, it became possible to cut the front into two parts.

Under these conditions, our command decided to retreat. However, due to the rapid advance of the Nazis, an organized retreat, and even more so a maneuverable defense, did not work out for our troops. The retreat turned into a rout. Thus, the combat capability of the Southern Front was partially lost, therefore July 28th it was disbanded and included in the North Caucasus.

After this date, there was a partial regrouping of both our and German troops. The Nazis continued to rapidly develop the offensive and by the end of August 19, they had practically completed their immediate task. Most of the Kuban was captured, the cities of Maykop, Stavropol, Armavir, Elista, Krasnodar fell. The Soviet troops suffered heavy losses. The Azov flotilla was forced to evacuate and subsequently became part of the Black Sea Fleet.

Fights for Novorossiysk, Malgobek and in the foothills of the Main Caucasian Range. Defense of Tuapse

The Red Army was able to organize serious resistance only on the outskirts of Tuapse, thereby preventing the encirclement of a large grouping of our troops and blocking the path to the Black Sea.

The further plans of the command of the German Army Group "A" consisted in a simultaneous offensive along three main transport arteries:

• along the Black Sea coast Anapa-Poti-Batumi;
• through the Main Caucasian Range in the direction of Sukhumi-Kutaisi;
• from the east, bypassing the ridge through Pyatigorsk-Prokhladnoye-Ordzhonikidze in the direction of Grozny, Makhachkala and Baku.

The Soviet leadership took a number of measures to increase the combat capability of the troops. First of all, the Transcaucasian Front was reinforced with two rifle corps and eleven separate rifle brigades from the Stavka reserve. A number of formations were transferred from the Makhachkala and Baku region to occupy defensive lines along the Terek and Urukh rivers.

At the end of August, Lavrenty Beria arrived in the Caucasus to carry out general leadership in the preparation of defense. According to his instructions, work was carried out on the engineering equipment of protective lines, strongholds, units of engineering barriers on the passes of the Caucasus Range, the engineering and sapper group was significantly strengthened, and the main mountain roads were prepared for collapse, flooding and destruction.

On August 19, the offensive of the German troops resumed with simultaneous attacks on Anapa and Temryuk and the Taman Peninsula. The first time to take Anapa did not work. The Germans succeeded only on 31 August. At the same time, they cut off parts of the Marine Corps from the main forces on the Taman Peninsula. As a result of partially successful actions on September 11, almost the entire Novorossiysk.Subsequent attempts to capture the city were completely unsuccessful. His the defense lasted almost a year.

On August 23, 1942, attempts began to attack Mozdok. The city fell two days later. Later, having crossed the Terek, the Germans managed to advance 10 km with heavy losses. However, this offensive was not continued. A little further they managed to go along the Prokhladnoye-Ordzhonikidze-Grozny railway in the direction of the Grozny oil region. However, the troops did not let them go further than Malgobekanashi. The Nazis were forced to go on the defensive in this sector as well.

Simultaneously with offensive operations in the Grozny and Novorossiysk directions, the Wehrmacht organized attempts to cross the Main Caucasian Range. The soldiers of the German 49th mountain rifle corps even managed to plant a fascist flag on Elbrus. In February 1943, he was removed from the mountain top and installed by the Soviet.

Toward the end of September 1942, the situation in the North Caucasus relatively stabilized, thanks to successful actions in the defense, and also due to the transfer of part of the German forces to the area of ​​the Battle of Stalingrad. The offensive potential of the enemy was exhausted. Therefore, by the end of September, the Germans made only separate attacks in the Novorossiysk and Grozny directions.

On September 25, 1942, an attempt was made to advance towards Tuapse. After five days of stubborn fighting, there was a danger of capturing the city, but the enemy was stopped by two counterattacks. Subsequently, the Germans made two more attempts - in October and November, which also failed. As a result of prolonged positional defensive battles, the enemy was stopped and forced to switch to defense in December 1942.

At the end of October, a series of successful actions allowed the enemy to capture Nalchik and Gizel. The Soviet command partially minimized these losses when they freed Gizel with counterattacks and the encirclement of a large group of Germans.

In addition, in a number of sectors of the front of the Mozdok direction during November, the prerequisites for counter-offensive operations were created. However, due to miscalculations in the development of the operation and an incorrect assessment of the enemy, until mid-December it was not possible to break into the defense of the Nazis. The offensive was delayed until January 1943.

Results of the 1st stage of the battle for the Caucasus

The first stage of the battle for the Caucasus in 1942 turned out to be very difficult and bloody for the Red Army. Our troops suffered heavy losses. Despite their stubborn resistance, the enemy continued to advance inland. The main positive results of the first stage of the battle for the Caucasus can be considered as follows:

• operation "Edelweiss" failed, the Caucasian nut was too tough for Hitler;
• the Germans never succeeded in capturing the oil-bearing regions of our country;
• The Wehrmacht was unable to break into the Middle East;
• Turkey never entered the war;
• the enemy lost more than 100 thousand killed.

The defeat of the German group during the counteroffensive

By January 1943, the Red Army managed to create an advantage in manpower and equipment in the zones of operations of the Southern and Transcaucasian fronts.

The alignment of forces at the beginning of the 2nd stage of the battle

In numerical terms, the superiority was:

• in personnel by 1.4 times;
• in guns and mortars by 2.1 times;
• in tanks by 1.8 times;
• in airplanes by 1.7 times.

There were some problems with the rear support of the fronts. First, difficult terrain, unstable weather. Secondly, the main ways of delivering materiel and personnel from the depths of the country were possible only by sea. Therefore, the main burden fell on the Caspian Flotilla and, to a lesser extent, on the Black Sea Fleet.

Both fronts had the task of encircling the enemy with coordinated strikes, supported by the Black Sea Fleet and two air armies, and not letting the enemy out of the North Caucasus and the Kuban. It was not possible to complete this task until the end.

The German command understood the complexity of the situation. In the Stalingrad direction, the Nazi troops suffered a crushing defeat. There was a risk of getting another encirclement of Army Group "A" in the North Caucasian direction. Therefore, the decision was made to retreat. It was planned to carry out a sequential withdrawal to pre-selected lines, of which there were four, with cover by strong rear guards (classic maneuverable defense).

In early January, units of the Wehrmacht began to retreat. In the beginning, the situation was favorable for the Germans. They managed to significantly break away from the Soviet troops. At this stage, our command did not have a sufficient number of mobile formations that could constrain the maneuver by actions on the flanks. There were only cavalry corps that could not cope with this task.

The Nazis managed to get ahead of our units and formations by several days. Therefore, it was decided not to disperse forces and means, but to concentrate on the right flank and go to possible retreat routes.

In the first weeks of the persecution, Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk, and Mineralnye Vody were liberated. On January 21, Stavropol was cleared of fascist units. And yet, squeezing the enemy out of the North Caucasus was unprofitable, he had to be locked up, and our troops acted belatedly. Under these conditions, the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front on January 24 was reorganized into the North Caucasian Front under the command of Lieutenant General I. I. Maslennikov.

The Red Army failed to immediately capture Bataysk, Krasnodar, near Tuapse the battles took on a protracted character. There were not enough forces to block the retreat of the Nazis to Rostov.

In the current situation, plans required adjustments. As a result, the Soviet command decided to focus its main efforts on preventing the enemy from retreating to Rostov, the Tamansky Peninsula and withdrawing to the Crimea through the Kerch Strait. In addition, it was necessary to capture Krasnodar as soon as possible.

On February 14, Rostov was liberated. Almost simultaneously, to the south, our troops defeated the encircled Krasnodar enemy grouping and liberated the city itself.

In the sky over the Kuban from 17 to 24 April the largest air battle unfolded, from which the Soviet aviation emerged victorious.

Decisive battles on the Taman Peninsula

The withdrawal to the Taman Peninsula could not be prevented. In this sector, the front narrowed and the enemy managed to condense the battle formations. Our troops met stubborn resistance. The Nazis concentrated on the peninsula a group of 400 thousand. At any cost, they wanted to keep this bridgehead. On its territory, the Nazis erected a well-known defensive line - the "blue line".

Soon the protracted Novorossiysk-Taman operation began, which became the final one in the battle for the Caucasus.

The fighting continued there. from February to October 1943. Nevertheless, some successes were achieved by the enemy formations here. After the beginning of the offensive of our troops in Ukraine in September of the same year, the Nazis managed to evacuate from the Taman Peninsula to the Crimea over two hundred thousand personnel, all horses, equipment and supplies of materiel.

In early February, an amphibious landing was carried out south of Novorossiysk. The Marines managed to capture part of the territories of the coastal strip. Subsequently, this bridgehead will be called "Small Land". Fierce fighting there continued until the liberation of Novorossiysk. It happened only on September 16th.

By October 9, 1943, the Taman Peninsula was completely liberated. Thus ended the battle for the Caucasus.

The inhabitants of the mountain regions helped our army as guides. The maps of that time did not fully reflect the mountain roads and trails. In addition, a paper map could not replace an experienced highlander.

After summing up the results of this great historical battle in May 1944, the Medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus"

Results of the 2nd stage of the battle for the Caucasus

The second stage of the battle for the Caucasus as a whole turned out to be positive for the Soviet Union. The results are:

• all the republics of the North Caucasus, most of the territory of the Kuban, the eastern coast of the Black and Azov Seas have been liberated;
• returned the main sown areas, Maikop oil regions;
• inflicted a major military defeat on fascist Germany.

The negative points include the fact that the Germans managed to keep most of Army Group A, it never managed to be locked up in the Caucasus.

_______________________

Our victory is woven from many battles. Among them, the battle in the Caucasus in 1942-1943 became the longest in the entire Great Patriotic War. The Russian soldier once again showed that no matter where he fought, be it the forests of the Moscow region, the swamps near Leningrad, the steppes of the Kuban or the mountains of the Caucasus, he will stand and win.

The heroic defense of the Caucasus became part of the military history of the Soviet Union, and later Russia. This battle took its rightful place in the list of feats of Russian weapons.

The collapse of the blitzkrieg in the autumn - winter of 1941 was not the final defeat of Germany, just like the defeats of the summer and autumn of 1941, the loss of almost half of the European part of the country did not lead to the final defeat of the Soviet Union. However, in the plans for 1942, the opponents continued to underestimate each other: the Soviet troops were to “chase the enemy along the entire front”, and the Wehrmacht during the offensive on the southern wing of the front (there were no forces for the offensive along the entire front) was to capture the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, reach Iran and the Turkish border, and most importantly, seize the oil fields in Grozny and Baku. Hitler and his generals quite correctly believed that without oil it was still possible to wage a blitzkrieg, but a long war could not be won without it.

The German offensive into the Caucasus in the summer of 1942 was part of the Barbarossa plan, which failed in 1941. How this grandiose adventure plan was carried out is the subject of this book. The author practically does not consider the issues of strategy. They paid little attention only to the disclosure of the general situation. The main place is given to the description of the actions of formations, units and subunits on the basis of the surviving logs of military operations and the memories of eyewitnesses. The author's intention was to show the battle for the Caucasus as it was seen by soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht, who reached the Volga, stopped 20 kilometers from Grozny, on the outskirts of Ordzhonikidze and climbed Elbrus, crossed the Main Caucasian Range, but never reached the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea and the oil of Grozny and Baku. The adventurous plan could not succeed. And in January 1943, the grouping that had penetrated deeply into the southeast had to hastily retreat. How the retreat was organized, why the Red Army failed to encircle the German Army Group "A" in the Caucasus, and then for a long time failed to dislodge its remnants from the Taman Peninsula, the reader will learn from this book.

It was written in the 1960s, so some of the author's judgments about the Soviet Union and the Red Army are not indisputable or simply erroneous. However, it is of undoubted interest to everyone interested in military history, as it shows the Battle for the Caucasus "from the other side", allows it to be explored as a two-way process.

In the process of translation, the translator tried to preserve the nuances in the terminology: in the Soviet historical literature, one term is used to refer to formations and units of the Wehrmacht equipped with armored personnel carriers and cars, while in the Wehrmacht there were several special terms for their designation, and each the term corresponded to its own organization and armament. Therefore, some names of formations and units, in violation of tradition, are translated as “motorized infantry”, while others are translated as infantry (motorized), motorized, motorcycle, scooter, etc. By the way, the author also speaks about inconsistencies with terminology in his afterword.

S. LIPATOV

IN THE CAMPAIGN IN THE CAUCASUS IN 1942-1943 TOOK PART:

ASSOCIATIONS DEPARTMENTS:

Army Group A

Directorate of the 1st Panzer Army

Directorate of the 4th Panzer Army (partially)

Directorate of the 17th Army

BODY CONTROLS:

5th Army Corps

52nd Army Corps

44th Jaeger Corps

49th Mountain Rifle Corps

3rd Panzer Corps

40th Panzer Corps

57th Panzer Corps

Förster Corps Headquarters (for the 57th TC)

CONNECTIONS:

3rd Panzer Division

13th Panzer Division

23rd Panzer Division

16th Infantry Division (Motorized)

5th SS Panzer Division "Viking"

Felmi Corps

9th Infantry Division

46th Infantry Division

50th Infantry Division

73rd Infantry Division

79th Infantry Division

98th Infantry Division

111th Infantry Division

125th Infantry Division

198th Infantry Division

298th Infantry Division

370th Infantry Division

153rd Field Training Division

97th Jaeger Division

101st Jaeger Division

1st Mountain Division

4th Mountain Division

Parts (not complete)

1st Heavy Rocket Mortar Regiment

52nd and 54th Regiments of Rocket Mortars

4th Security Regiment Cossack Regiment of Jungshulz

190th, 191st, 203rd, 210th and 249th assault gun brigades

731, 732, 617 divisions of heavy military artillery

ALLIES:

5th, 6th and 9th Cavalry Divisions as part of the Romanian Cavalry Corps

2nd and 3rd Romanian mountain divisions

10th and 19th Romanian Infantry Divisions

Slovak Motorized Division

4th Air Fleet

8th Aviation Corps,

1st Aviation Corps

4th Aviation Corps,

5th Air Field Division

15th anti-aircraft artillery division

9th anti-aircraft artillery division

NAVY:

Headquarters of the Admiral of the Black Sea

Naval commandant of the Caucasus (commandants of harbors, commanders of convoys, naval artillery)

Forces of the fleet of the Admiral of the Black Sea

30th Submarine Flotilla

1st and 11th Torpedo Boat Flotillas

3rd and 30th Minesweeper Flotillas

30th and 31st Escort Flotillas

3rd Artillery Barge Flotilla

1st and 23rd anti-submarine flotillas

1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th landing flotillas in cooperation with the commander of the Kerch Strait:

Senior engineering chief of the Kerch crossing (770th airborne regiment)

Commandant Tamani

The Caucasus is an area of ​​500,000 sq. km (the area of ​​Germany before the unification was 240,000 sq. km), located between the Black and Caspian Seas. It is subdivided into a mountain range - the Caucasus, the North Caucasus and the South Caucasus - Transcaucasia.

Most of the North Caucasus, in accordance with the administrative division, is part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Transcaucasia covers three Soviet socialist republics - Azerbaijan with the capital Baku, Armenia with the capital Yerevan and Georgia with the capital Tiflis, officially Tbilisi.

Geographically, the Caucasus belongs to Asia. Its border runs along the Manych River, and in the south - along the Turkish-Iranian border.

The North Caucasus is in Europe. Its western part is crossed by the Kuban River, which has a length of 907 km. She gave the name to the fertile Kuban region. In the Kuban, in several places, there are hydrotechnical irrigation facilities; it flows into the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. In its widely branched delta there are numerous lagoons and swamps - the so-called floodplains. The Kuban has numerous tributaries. The most important city in the Kuban is Krasnodar.

The eastern part of the North Caucasus is crossed by the Kuma and Terek rivers, both of which flow into the Caspian Sea. The larger one is the 590-kilometer Terek with numerous tributaries.

The Manych depression and the Kalmyk steppe, located in the eastern part of the North Caucasus, have a dry steppe climate. Streams and rivers dry up here in the summer or stop their flow. Many of them flow into salt lakes or end in salt marshes. There is no drinking water here. Most deep wells often produce undrinkable water. The population here is very rare.

The Caucasus Mountains are 1100 km long and 100 to 200 km wide. They cross the Caucasus across. The Caucasus is a folded mountain of the Tertiary period and is very similar to the Alps. Its highest peaks are Elbrus (5633 m) and Kazbek (5043 m).

The battle for the Caucasus, which lasted 442 days (from July 25, 1942 to October 9, 1943) and took place simultaneously with the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, played a big role in creating and completing a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War. Its defensive stage covers the period from July 25 to December 31, 1942. The Wehrmacht, during fierce battles and suffering heavy losses, managed to reach the foothills of the Main Caucasian Range and the Terek River. However, in general, the German plan "Edelweiss" was not implemented. German troops were unable to break into the Transcaucasus and the Middle East, which should have led to Turkey's entry into the war on the side of Germany.

The plans of the German command

On June 28, 1942, the 4th Panzer Army of the Wehrmacht under the command of Hermann Goth broke through the Soviet front between Kursk and Kharkov and continued the offensive towards the Don. On July 3, Voronezh was partially captured by German troops, and the troops of S.K. Timoshenko, who defended the Rostov direction, were engulfed from the north. The 4th Panzer Army advanced rapidly southward between the Donets and the Don. On July 23, Rostov-on-Don was captured by the Germans. As a result, the path to the North Caucasus was opened.

In the strategic plans of the German military-political leadership, the capture of the Caucasus, where about 90% of Soviet oil was produced before the start of the war, was given a large place. Adolf Hitler understood the limitations of the resource, energy base of the Third Reich and at a meeting in Poltava in June 1942 he said: “If we fail to seize the oil of Maykop and Grozny, then we will have to stop the war!” In addition, Hitler took into account the importance of the Kuban and the Caucasus as a source of food (grain), and the presence of strategic raw materials here. In particular, the Tyrnyauz deposit of tungsten-molybdenum ore was located here. The idea of ​​the German command on the Soviet-German front in the summer of 1942 provided for the main blow in the Caucasian direction with a simultaneous attack on Stalingrad, an important transport hub and a major center of the military industry. Some researchers believe that this was Hitler's strategic miscalculation, since the division of limited military forces and resources led to the dispersion of the Wehrmacht, and ultimately to defeat in the Stalingrad and Caucasus directions.

On July 23, 1942, Hitler approved the plan for Operation Edelweiss (German: Operation Edelweiß). It provided for the encirclement and destruction of Soviet troops south and southeast of Rostov-on-Don, the capture of the North Caucasus. In the future, one group of troops was to advance around the Main Caucasian Range from the west and capture Novorossiysk and Tuapse, and the second - to advance from the east in order to capture the oil-producing regions of Grozny and Baku. Simultaneously with this detour maneuver, the German command planned to break through the Main Caucasian Range in its central part in order to reach Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Sukhumi. With the breakthrough of the Wehrmacht to the South Caucasus, the tasks of destroying the bases of the Black Sea Fleet, establishing complete dominance in the Black Sea, establishing direct communication with the Turkish armed forces and involving Turkey in the war on the side of the Reich, were being created, prerequisites were created for the invasion of the region of the Near and Middle East. In addition, the German command expected that a number of peoples of the Caucasus and the Cossacks would support them, which would solve the problem with auxiliary troops. In part, these expectations will come true.

A column of German StuG III assault guns on the march to the Caucasus.

To solve such large-scale tasks, the German command concentrated a significant strike force in the Caucasian direction. For the attack on the Caucasus, Army Group A was detached from Army Group South under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelm List (on September 10, 1942, Hitler took command, and from November 22, 1942, Colonel General Ewald von Kleist ). It consisted of: 1st Panzer Army - Commander Colonel General Ewald von Kleist (until November 21, 1942, then Colonel General Eberhard von Mackensen), 4th Panzer Army - Colonel General G. Goth (first attacked Caucasian direction, then it was transferred to the group "B" - to the Stalingrad direction), the 17th field army - Colonel General Richard Ruoff, the 3rd Romanian army - Lieutenant General Petr Dumitrescu (in September 1942, the army was transferred to the Stalingrad direction). Initially, Manstein's 11th Army was supposed to take part in the attack on the Caucasus, which, after the completion of the siege of Sevastopol, was located in the Crimea, but part of it was transferred to Leningrad, part was divided between Army Group Center and Army Group South. The troops of Army Group "A" were supported by units of the 4th Air Army of Wolfram von Richthofen (about 1 thousand aircraft in total). In total, by July 25, 1942, the shock group had about 170 thousand soldiers and officers, 15 thousand oil workers, 1130 tanks (from July 31 - 700 tanks), over 4.5 thousand guns and mortars.

The German troops had a high combat capability, had a high morale, which was strengthened by recent high-profile victories. Many formations of the Wehrmacht participated in the defeat of the Red Army units near Kharkov, southwest of Voronezh, in the June battles, when they advanced to the lower reaches of the Don, they immediately entrenched themselves on its left bank. In Berlin, they were sure of victory, before the battle they even founded oil companies (“Ost-Öl” and “Karpaten-Öl”), which received the exclusive right to exploit oil fields in the Caucasus for 99 years. A large number of pipes were prepared (which later went to the USSR).

Wilhelm List.

Soviet troops

The German troops were opposed by the troops of the South (Rodion Malinovsky) and part of the forces of the North Caucasian fronts (Semyon Budyonny). The Southern Front included the 9th Army - Commander Major General F.A. Parkhomenko, the 12th Army - Major General A.A. Grechko, the 18th Army - Lieutenant General F.V. Kamkov, the 24th Army - Major General D.T. Kozlov, 37th Army - Major General P.M. Kozlov, 51st Army - Major General N.I. Trufanov (July 28, it was transferred to the Stalingrad Front) and 56th I am the army - Major General A. I. Ryzhov. Aviation support was provided by the 4th Air Army of Major General Aviation K. A. Vershinin (since September Major General Aviation N. F. Naumenko). At first glance, the composition of the front was impressive, but almost all of these armies, except for the 51st, suffered heavy losses in previous battles and were bled dry. The southern front numbered about 112 thousand people, a significant lag behind the Germans was in technology - 120 tanks, more than 2.2 thousand guns and mortars, 130 aircraft. Thus, the front, which received the main blow of the enemy, was inferior to the enemy in manpower by 1.5 times, in aircraft by almost 8 times, in tanks - by more than 9 times, guns and mortars - by 2 times. Added to this is the lack of a stable command and control system, which was disrupted during their rapid retreat to the Don. On July 28, 1942, the YuF was abolished, its troops entered the North Caucasian Front.

The Red Army faced a very difficult task: to stop the enemy's offensive, wear him out in defensive battles and prepare the conditions for a transition to a counteroffensive. On July 10-11, 1942, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SVGK) ordered the Southern and North Caucasian fronts to organize a defensive line along the Don River. However, this order was difficult to fulfill, because the troops of the Southern Front at that time were engaged in heavy battles with the German troops rushing forward in the Rostov direction. The command of the Law Firm had neither time nor significant reserves in order to prepare defensive positions on the left bank of the Don. Command and control of troops in the Caucasian direction by this moment could not be restored. In addition, the SVGK at that time paid closer attention to the Stalingrad direction, the Germans rushed to the Volga. Under strong pressure from the enemy, the armies of the YuF by July 25 retreated to the southern bank of the river. Don in a strip 330 km long, from Verkhnekurmoyarskaya to the mouth of the river. They were drained of blood, lost a lot of heavy weapons, some armies had no connection with the front headquarters.

At the same time, it should be noted that there were other troops in the region that also took part in the battle for the Caucasus. The troops of the North Caucasian Front under the command of Marshal Budyonny at that time defended the coasts of the Azov and Black Seas to Lazarevskaya. The SCF included: the 47th Army - under the command of Major General G.P. Kotov, the 1st Rifle and 17th Cavalry Corps. Air support was provided by the 5th Air Army of Aviation Colonel General S. K. Goryunov. Parts of the Transcaucasian Front under the command of Ivan Tyulenev defended the Black Sea coast from Lazarevskaya to Batumi, the Soviet-Turkish border and provided communications for the Soviet group in Iran. In addition, parts of the Polar Front were located in the Makhachkala region and covered the coast of the Caspian Sea (44th Army). By the beginning of the battle for the Caucasus, the Transcaucasian Front included the 44th Army - Lieutenant General V. A. Khomenko, the 45th Army - Lieutenant General F. N. Remezov, the 46th Army - V. F. Sergatskov (since August K. N. Leselidze) and the 15th Cavalry Corps. The front was reinforced by 14 aviation regiments. At the beginning of August 1942, the 9th, 24th (disbanded on August 28) and 37th Army were transferred to the ZF, and the 58th Army was formed at the end of August. In early September, several more armies were transferred - the 12th, 18th, 56th. It should be noted that Tyulenev, having received an appointment as commander of the Polar Front in February 1942, did a great job of creating defensive lines in case of an invasion from Turkey. He insisted on the construction of defensive lines in the region of the Terek and Grozny rivers, and the defense of the Main Caucasian Range was strengthened in advance. The events of the battle for the Caucasus showed the correctness of the decision of the commander.

The Black Sea Fleet under the command of Philip Oktyabrsky, after the loss of Sevastopol and Kerch, was based in the ports of the Caucasian coast, although they ended up in the zone of operations of the German Air Force. The fleet had the task of interacting with the ground forces in protecting coastal areas, providing maritime transportation, and also attacking enemy sea lanes.

Ivan Vladimirovich Tyulenev.

Significance of the Caucasus for the USSR

The Caucasus at that time was of great importance for the country, was an inexhaustible source of industrial and military-strategic raw materials, an important food base of the Union. During the years of the Soviet pre-war five-year plans, the industry of the Transcaucasian republics grew significantly, and a powerful industry was created here through the efforts of the people. Hundreds of new enterprises of heavy and light industry were built here. So, only in the Baku region for the period from 1934 to 1940. 235 new wells were drilled, and a total of 1,726 new wells were launched in the region by 1940 (about 73.5% of all wells that were put into operation in the USSR during this period of time). The Baku oil-bearing region played a huge role. It gave up to 70% of the all-Union oil products. It is clear that only the loss of the Baku region could have a sharply negative impact on the industry of the USSR, its defense capability. Much attention was paid to the development of oil production in Checheno-Ingushetia and the Kuban.

Along with the oil industry, natural gas production developed rapidly. The gas industry of Azerbaijan provided the country in 1940 with about 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas, that is, about 65% of the total gas production of the USSR. The electric power base developed rapidly; before the Great War, new power plants of all-Union and local significance were built in the Caucasus. In Georgia, manganese ore was developed, which is of great economic and military-strategic importance. Thus, in 1940, the Chiatura mines produced 1,448.7 thousand tons of manganese ore, or about 56.5% of the total production of manganese ore in the USSR.

The Caucasus and Kuban were of great importance as one of the food bases of the USSR. The region was one of the richest in the state in the production of wheat, corn, sunflower and sugar beets. The South Caucasus produced cotton, sugar beet, tobacco, grapes, tea, citrus and essential oil crops. Due to the availability of rich fodder, animal husbandry was developed. On the basis of agricultural products in the prewar years, the food and light industries were developed. Cotton, silk, weaving, woolen, leather and shoe factories, canneries for processing fruits, vegetables, meat and fish products, wineries and tobacco factories, etc. were built.

The region was of great importance in terms of communications and foreign trade. A large flow of goods passed through the Caucasus region and its ports on the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. In particular, 55% of all exports and 50% of imports of the Soviet Union went through the southern, including the Caucasian, ports. Communications of the Black and Caspian Seas connected Russia with Persia and Turkey, and through the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea straits with the ways of the World Ocean. It should be noted that during the war, communications that went through the Persian Gulf, Iran and the Caspian took second place in the supply of weapons, equipment, ammunition, food and strategic raw materials from the United States and territories subordinate to the British Empire. The significance of the Caucasus lies in its unique geographical position: the Caucasus is located in an important strategic region of the planet, through which trade and strategic routes pass, connecting the countries of Europe, Asia, the Near and Middle East into a single knot. We should not forget the mobilization potential of the region's human resources.

Soviet mounted reconnaissance in the Caucasus mountains.

North Caucasian strategic defensive operation

On July 23, 1942, the Germans occupied Rostov-on-Don and launched an attack on the Kuban. The forces of the 1st and 4th tank armies dealt a powerful blow to the left flank of the Southern Front, where the defense was held by the 51st and 37th armies. The Soviet troops suffered heavy losses and retreated. The Germans in the defense zone of the 18th Army broke through to Bataysk. In the defense zone of the 12th Army, things were initially not so good and the Wehrmacht was unable to force the Don on the first day. On July 26, the 18th and 37th Soviet armies, having received reinforcements, tried to launch a counterattack, but to no avail. As a result, from the very first days of the battle, the situation in the defense zone of the entire Southern Front deteriorated sharply, there was a threat of German troops entering the Salsk region, cutting the Southern Front into two parts and leaving the enemy in the rear of the Soviet grouping, which continued to defend south of Rostov. The Soviet command tried to withdraw the troops of the left flank to the line of the southern bank of the Kagalnik River and the Manych Canal. However, under the conditions of the overwhelming superiority of the enemy in tank forces, aviation and artillery, units of the LF were unable to withdraw in an organized manner to the positions indicated by them. The retreat turned into a flight. The German troops, no longer encountering serious resistance, continued the offensive.

Under these critical conditions, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command took measures to correct the situation. On July 28, the Southern Front, in order to combine efforts and improve command and control, was disbanded. His armies were transferred to the North Caucasian fronts under the command of Marshal Budyonny (in fact, two fronts were united). The Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla were subordinate to the front command. The SCF received the task of stopping the advance of the German troops and restoring the position of the front along the left bank of the Don River. But such a task was actually impossible, since the enemy had a strategic initiative and conducted a well-organized offensive with superior forces and means. It is also necessary to take into account the factor that it was necessary to organize the command and control troops on a strip with a length of over 1 thousand km, and this in the conditions of the collapse of the front and the successful offensive of the enemy troops. Therefore, the Headquarters allocated two operational groups as part of the SCF: 1) the Don group led by Rodion Malinovsky (it included the 37th army, the 12th army and the 4th air army), it was supposed to cover the Stavropol direction; 2) Primorsky group under the command of Colonel General Yakov Cherevichenko (18th Army, 56th Army, 47th Army, 1st Rifle, 17th Cavalry Corps and 5th Air Army, Azov military flotilla), one was supposed to defend the Krasnodar direction. In addition, the 9th and 24th armies were taken to the region of Nalchik and Grozny, the 51st was transferred to the Stalingrad Front. The troops of the ZF front received the task of occupying and preparing for defense the approaches to the Caucasus Range from the north. The Military Council of the Transcaucasian Front prepared a combat plan, which was approved by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on August 4, 1942. Its essence was to stop the advance of German troops at the turn of the Terek and the passes of the Main Caucasian Range. Parts of the 44th Army from the region of Makhachkala, Baku were transferred to defensive positions on the Terek, Sulak and Samur rivers. It was supposed to protect Grozny, cover the Georgian Military and Ossetian Military Highways. At the same time, other parts of the Polar Front were transferred from the Soviet-Turkish border and from the Black Sea coast to the border of the Terek and Urukh. Simultaneously with the transfer of parts of the Polar Front to fight the German troops, the Headquarters replenished the forces of the front from the reserve. So, from August 6 to September, the ZF received 2 guards rifle corps and 11 separate rifle brigades.

At the same time, the German command transferred the 4th Panzer Army to the Stalingrad direction as part of Army Group B. Perhaps they thought that the Soviet front in the Caucasus had collapsed and the remaining troops would be enough to solve the assigned tasks.

The fighting in the Caucasus in late July - early August took on an exceptionally fierce, dynamic character. The Germans still had numerical superiority and, having a strategic initiative, developed the offensive in the direction of Stavropol, Maykop and Tuapse. On August 2, 1942, the Germans continued their offensive in the Salsk direction and on August 5 they captured Voroshilovsk (Stavropol). In the Krasnodar direction, the Wehrmacht could not immediately break through the defenses of the 18th and 56th armies, the Soviet troops tried to counterattack, but soon retreated across the Kuban River. On August 6, the 17th German Army launched a new offensive in the Krasnodar direction. On August 10, the Azov Flotilla had to be evacuated from the Azov coast, and Krasnodar fell on August 12.

The German command decided to take advantage of the moment and block the Soviet troops south of the Kuban. Part of the strike force that captured Stavropol was sent to the west. On August 6, units of the 1st German Tank Army captured Armavir, on August 10 - Maykop and continued to move towards Tuapse. In the direction of Tuapse, a part of the 17th Army also began to advance from Krasnodar. Only by August 15-17 did the Red Army units manage to stop the enemy offensive and prevent the Wehrmacht from breaking through to Tuapse. As a result, during the first stage of the offensive (July 25 - August 19), the German command was able to partially fulfill the assigned tasks: the Red Army suffered a serious defeat in the Caucasian direction (although there were no large "cauldrons"), most of the Kuban was captured, part of the Northern Caucasus. Soviet troops were able to stop the enemy only at Tuapse. At the same time, the Soviet command did a lot of preparatory work to reorganize the troops, create new defensive lines, transfer the troops of the Polar Front and the Stavka reserve, which ultimately led to the failure of the German offensive and victory in the battle for the Caucasus.

German soldiers in the Caucasus.

The Headquarters, in order to restore the combat capability of the Soviet troops and ensure the defense of the Caucasus in the northern direction, on August 8 united the 44th and 9th armies into the Northern Group of the Polar Front. Lieutenant General Ivan Maslennikov was appointed its commander. On August 11, the 37th Army was included in the Northern Group. In addition, the Headquarters paid great attention to organizing the defense of Novorossiysk and Tuapse. The measures taken already from mid-August 1942 began to have a positive effect on the situation at the front, resistance to the enemy increased sharply.

Despite the measures taken by the Headquarters, the Wehrmacht had sufficient forces to develop a simultaneous offensive both in the direction of Baku and Batumi - parts of the 1st Tank and 17th Field Armies, and to capture the passes of the Main Caucasian Range - parts of the 49th Mountain Corps (from composition of the 17th army). In addition, German troops struck in the direction of Anapa - Novorossiysk. On August 19, units of the 17th Army went on the offensive in the Novorossiysk direction. The Soviet 47th Army, which held the defense in this direction, was able to repel the first blow. However, on August 28, the Wehrmacht resumed the offensive and captured Anapa on August 31. As a result, the ships of the Azov military flotilla had to break into the Black Sea.

On August 23, German troops went on the offensive in the Mozdok direction, here the defense was held by the 9th Soviet Army. August 25 Mozdok was captured. At the same time, the 23rd Panzer Division attacked Prokhladny and occupied it on 25 August. Further attempts to break through along the Prokhladny-Ordzhonikidze line did not bring success. Soviet troops, using natural barriers, created a defense line in depth. In early September, German troops began to cross the Terek and occupied a small foothold on the southern bank of the river; on September 4, the Germans launched a new offensive with 2 tank and 2 infantry divisions. The Germans here had superiority in artillery by more than 6 times and in tanks by more than 4 times. However, they did not achieve great success, having suffered heavy losses due to Soviet air strikes. On September 24, a new German offensive began in this direction. The strike force was reinforced by the 5th SS Viking Panzer Division, which was removed from the Tuapse direction. The Germans were advancing in the direction of Ordzhonikidze and along the Prokhladny-Grozny railway along the Sunzha river valley to Grozny. After four days of fierce fighting, the German troops captured the Terek, Planovskoye, Elkhotovo, Illarionovka, but they could not break through further than Malgobek. The ever-increasing resistance of the Soviet troops and the huge losses suffered in the battles in the area of ​​​​Mozdok, Malgobek and Elkhotovo forced the Wehrmacht to go on the defensive. As a result of the Mozdok-Malgobek defensive operation (September 1-28, 1942), the plans of the German command to capture the Grozny and Baku oil regions were thwarted.

Simultaneously with the fighting in the Grozny direction, a battle unfolded in the central part of the Main Caucasian Range. Initially, the battle was clearly not going in favor of the Soviet forces - units of the 46th Army of the Polar Front, which had poorly prepared defenses in the foothills. The Wehrmacht, with the help of units specially trained for fighting in mountainous conditions - the 49th mountain corps and two Romanian mountain rifle divisions, managed to capture almost all the passes west of Mount Elbrus quite quickly. On August 16, the Kadar Gorge was captured. On August 21, German climbers hoisted the Nazi flag on Elbrus. This was done by a detachment of Captain Grotto from the 1st Edelweiss Mountain Division. Before the war, the grotto visited Tyrnyauz and climbed to Elbrus, as a mining engineer, he could easily explore the area, providing a detailed report on what he saw. The Edelwes climbers became national heroes in Germany, the newspaper headlines shouted: “We are the masters of Europe! The Caucasus is conquered!..». In early September, the German units occupied the Marukh and Sanchar passes. As a result, there was a threat of German troops reaching Sukhumi and seaside communications.

Captain Grot.

On August 21, 1942, the Nazis set their flag on Elbrus.

While the German troops stormed the approaches to Grozny, Ordzhonikidze (Vladikavkaz), the passes of the central part of the Caucasus Range, the battle for Novorossiysk unfolded. The German command planned to capture Novorossiysk and continue to launch an offensive along the Black Sea coast towards Tuapse - Sukhumi - Batumi. The blow was delivered by a strike force from the forces of the 17th German army - the 5th army corps and the 3rd Romanian army - a cavalry corps consisting of the 5th, 6th and 9th cavalry divisions. Already during the operation, the strike force was reinforced by three infantry divisions of the 11th Army, which were transferred across the Kerch Strait.

The Soviet command for the defense of Novorossiysk and the Taman Peninsula on August 17 created the Novorossiysk Defensive Region (NOR) under the command of Major General G.P. Kotov (from September 8, Major General A.A. Grechko). The commander of the Azov Flotilla, Rear Admiral S. G. Gorshkov, was appointed Kotov's deputy for the marine unit. The NOR included: the 47th Army, one rifle division from the 56th Army, the Azov military flotilla, the Temryuk, Kerch, Novorossiysk naval bases and the combined aviation group (parts of the 237th Air Division and Black Sea Fleet Air Force formations) . Measures were taken to create a powerful line of defense, but by the time of the German offensive, only a minor part of the measures had been implemented. The NOR troops, bled in previous battles, were inferior to the Wehrmacht: in manpower 4 times, in artillery and mortars 7 times, in tanks and aircraft 2 times.

On August 19, the Wehrmacht went on the offensive, striking in the direction of the villages of Abinskaya and Krymskaya. Auxiliary strikes were directed at Temryuk and the Taman Peninsula, where a few Soviet garrisons held the defense. After fierce battles, units of the 47th Army and Marine Corps stopped the enemy by August 25, preventing him from capturing Novorossiysk on the move. On August 29, having received reinforcements from the Tuapse direction, the Germans resumed their offensive and, at the cost of heavy losses, captured Anapa on August 31 and reached the coast, cutting off part of the Soviet troops on the Taman Peninsula. On September 3, the encircled units were evacuated by sea to Gelendzhik. On September 7, units of the Wehrmacht made their way to Novorossiysk, fierce street battles ensued. The Germans captured the railway station, the elevator and the port. By September 11, at the cost of huge efforts, the enemy was stopped in the southeastern part of the city. The fighting for Novorossiysk continued until September 26, in fact, the city was completely destroyed. However, the German troops could not break through to Tuapse along the coast, and went on the defensive. The plan of attack along the Black Sea coast was thwarted.

As a result of the second stage of the German offensive (August 19 - September 29, 1942), German troops won a number of victories, captured the Taman Peninsula, reached the foothills of the Main Caucasian Range, capturing part of its passes. But in general, the Red Army was able to withstand a powerful onslaught and stop the enemy’s offensive and prevent him from breaking through to the South Caucasus, capturing the Grozny and Baku regions, and seizing the Black Sea coast from Novorossiysk to Batumi. The balance of power in the Caucasus gradually began to change in favor of the Red Army. This was facilitated by the transfer of a significant part of the German troops to the Stalingrad direction. German troops suffered heavy losses in people, equipment, were exhausted by battles, partially losing their offensive power.

The headquarters continued to pay great attention to the Caucasus. On August 23, GKO member Lavrenty Beria arrived in Tbilisi from Moscow. He replaced a number of responsible leaders of the front and army leadership. Measures were taken to improve aerial reconnaissance. A lot of work has been done on the arrangement of defensive structures - defense units, strongholds, pillboxes, trenches and anti-tank ditches, a system of barriers - work to prepare for the collapse of rocks, the destruction of roads and their flooding, at the most important passes, on the Ossetian Military and Georgian Military Highways . On the main pass routes and roads, commandant's offices were created, which included sappers and radio stations. To counter the enemy's bypass actions, special detachments were formed, up to a company in number, reinforced by sappers, who could quickly block a possible enemy breakthrough. Separate mountain rifle detachments were also created, the size of a company - a battalion, with climbing instructors, they were sent to the most inaccessible areas, those trails that could not be reliably covered were blown up. On September 1, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command made an important organizational decision - the North Caucasian and Transcaucasian fronts were united. The united front was called the Transcaucasian. The Directorate of the SCF became the base for the Black Sea Group of the Transcaucasian Front. This significantly increased the stability of the Soviet defense on the coastal sector of the front.

A group of Il-2 attack aircraft of the 7th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment of the 230th Assault Air Division in the air. In the foreground is the Il-2 attack aircraft of Captain V.B. Emelianenko, the future Hero of the Soviet Union. North Caucasian front.

The failure of the German offensive

Tuapse defensive operation (from September 25 to December 20, 1942). The German command, after the failure of operations to break through to the South Caucasus in August - September 1942, made a decision with the forces of the 17th Army under the command of Colonel General Richard Ruoff (more than 162 thousand people, 2266 guns and mortars, 147 tanks and assault guns and 350 combat aircraft), again strike at Tuapse. The Black Sea group of Colonel General Y. T. Cherevichenko held the defense here (since October, Lieutenant General I. E. Petrov led the defense), it included the 18th, 56th and 47th armies, the 5th air army ( the strength of the group of troops - 109 thousand people, 1152 guns and mortars, 71 aircraft). In addition, the Tuapse defensive region was created here.

On September 25, after two days of air strikes and artillery preparation, the German troops went on the offensive. The main blow was delivered by the Tuapse group (it included mountain rifle and light infantry units) from Neftegorsk and an auxiliary blow was delivered from Goryachiy Klyuch, the Germans advanced in converging directions on Shaumyan. The purpose of the offensive was to encircle and destroy the 18th Soviet Army, Lieutenant General F.V. Kamkov, blocking the Black Sea Group of Soviet Forces, depriving the Black Sea Fleet of bases and ports. By September 30, the German-Romanian troops were able to wedge in some sectors of the defense of the 18th and 56th armies for 5-10 km. There was a threat of the fall of Tuapse. The Soviet command organized a series of counterattacks, and by October 9 the German offensive was stopped. In these battles, the Germans lost more than 10 thousand people.

On October 14, the German group "Tuapse" resumed the offensive. German troops launched simultaneous attacks on Shaumyan, the village of Sadovoye. On October 17, the Germans captured Shaumyan, the 56th Army was pushed back, and there was a threat of encirclement of the 18th Army. However, the Black Sea Group received reinforcements, this changed the balance of forces in this direction, on October 23 the German troops were stopped, and on October 31 they went on the defensive.

Observation post of mountain rangers in the mountains in the Caucasus.

The German command pulled up reserves and in mid-November, the Wehrmacht launched a third offensive in the Tuapse direction, trying to break through to Tuapse through the village of Georgievskoye. The enemy managed to penetrate into the defenses of the 18th Army up to 8 km in depth. However, the successes of the German-Romanian troops ended there. The strong resistance of the Soviet troops forced the Germans to stop. Already on November 26, the 18th Army went on the offensive, striking with two shock groups. By December 17, the German-Romanian grouping in this direction was defeated and thrown back across the Pshish River. Aviation played an important role in these battles - aircraft of the 5th Air Army shot down and destroyed 131 enemy vehicles at airfields, coastal artillery, the Black Sea Fleet and the marines took an active part in the operation. As a result of this operation, an attempt by the Germans to break through to Tuapse was thwarted, the Wehrmacht suffered heavy losses and went on the defensive on the entire front of the Black Sea Group of the Transcaucasian Front.

Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze defensive operation (October 25 - November 12, 1942). By October 25, the German command was able to secretly regroup the 1st Panzer Army and concentrate its main forces (two tank and one motorized divisions) in the Nalchik direction. The Germans planned to capture Ordzhonikidze, in order to then develop an offensive in the direction of Grozny - Baku and along the Georgian Military Highway to Tbilisi.

Here the Northern Group of Forces of Lieutenant General I. I. Maslennikov held the defense: the 9th, 37th, 44th and 58th armies, two separate rifle and one cavalry corps. From the air, the group was supported by the 4th Air Army. The command of the Northern Group missed the preparation of the enemy for the strike, although the reconnaissance of the 9th and 37th armies reported suspicious movements of enemy troops. It was considered that the Germans were strengthening the defensive orders. At that time, the Soviet command itself was preparing a counteroffensive in the Malgobek-Mozdok direction (in the sector of the 9th Army), where the main forces and reserves were concentrated. On the Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze line, the 37th Army, weakened by previous battles and having no tanks, held the defense. Therefore, the German command was able to create a huge superiority in forces on the 6-kilometer breakthrough section: 3 times in manpower, 10 times in guns and mortars, the Soviet side did not have tanks at all.

On the morning of October 25, after a powerful air and artillery preparation, the German troops went on the offensive. The defense of the 37th Army was broken through: on October 28, the Germans captured Nalchik, and on November 2 they broke through the outer line of the Ordzhonikidze defensive region, capturing Gizel (a suburb of Ordzhonikidze) by the end of the day. To stabilize the situation, the Soviet command transferred part of the troops from the Grozny region to the Ordzhonikidze direction. On November 3-4, the Germans concentrated up to 150 tanks in the Gizel area and tried to build on their success, but did not achieve success. On November 5, Soviet troops forced the Wehrmacht to go on the defensive with their counterattacks.

For the German troops in the Giseli area, there was a threat of encirclement. The Soviet command used this moment and launched a counteroffensive on November 6, trying to block the Gisel group. On November 11, Gisel was liberated, the German group was defeated, and was driven back across the Fiagdon River. It was not possible to surround the German troops, but the last attempt of the Wehrmacht to break through to Grozny, Baku and the South Caucasus was thwarted.

After the completion of the Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze defensive operation, the Soviet command organized a counteroffensive in the Mozdok direction. On November 13, units of the 9th Army went on the offensive. But it was not possible to break through the defenses of the German troops, the Soviet troops were only able to penetrate the German orders for several kilometers, reaching the eastern banks of the Ardon and Fiagdon rivers. In late November and early December 1942, the troops of the 9th Army repeated their offensive attempts, but they also failed. As a result, the offensive in the Mozdok direction was postponed until the beginning of January 1943.

Soviet tanker on a captured German tank Pz.Kpfw IV in Vladikavkaz (at that time - Ordzhonikidze).

The results of the defensive stage of the battle for the Caucasus

During the first stage of the battle for the Caucasus, which took place from July to December 1942, the Wehrmacht achieved great success: the rich agricultural regions of the Don and Kuban, the Taman Peninsula, part of the North Caucasus were captured, they reached the foothills of the Main Caucasian Range, having mastered part of the passes. However, in general, the German plan "Edelweiss" was a failure. German troops were unable to capture the oil-producing regions of Grozny and Baku, break through into the Transcaucasus, occupy the Black Sea coast up to the Turkish border, establishing direct contact with Turkish troops. Turkey never took the side of Germany. The German-Romanian troops suffered heavy losses - about 100 thousand people, the strike force was bled white. The Soviet troops completed the main task - they stopped the enemy's offensive in all directions. German troops were stopped east of Mozdok, on the outskirts of Ordzhonikidze (Vladikavkaz), on the passes of the Main Range, in the southeastern part of Novorossiysk. From Tuapse, the German-Romanian troops were driven back.

One of the main reasons why the German offensive in the Caucasus did not achieve its goals was the dispersion of forces. The German military-political leadership began to pay more attention to the battle for Stalingrad, where they transferred the 4th tank army and the 3rd Romanian army. In December, in connection with the defeat of the German group near Stalingrad, several more German military formations were removed from the Caucasian direction, which further weakened Army Group A. As a result, by the beginning of 1943, Soviet troops surpassed the Wehrmacht in the Caucasus in terms of numbers, both in personnel and in equipment and weapons.

It is also necessary to take into account the factor of the great attention of the Headquarters and the General Staff to the Caucasus, he also played a big role in the failure of the plans of the German command. Much attention was paid to restoring the stability of the command and control system and measures to improve it. In addition, despite the difficult situation in other sectors of the Soviet-German front, the Headquarters of the VKG constantly reinforced the Caucasian direction with fresh troops. From July to October 1942 alone, about 100 thousand marching reinforcements, a significant number of military formations, special units, equipment and weapons were transferred to the Caucasian Front.

It should be noted that the battles in the Caucasus took place in the specific conditions of the mountainous terrain, which required the Red Army to master special forms and methods of fighting the enemy. The organization of formations and units was improved, special mountain detachments were created. The units were reinforced with sapper units, engineering equipment, mountain equipment, transport, including packs, and received more radio stations. During the battles with the enemy, the interaction of ground forces with the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla was greatly developed. The ships covered the ground forces from the flanks, supported the defenses and attacks with naval and coastal artillery fire, and carried out anti-amphibious measures. Marine formations were formed from the crews, which covered themselves with immortal glory in the battles for the Caucasus. In addition, the Black Sea Fleet, the Azov, Volga and Caspian military flotillas played an important role in the delivery of reinforcements, military cargo, the evacuation of the wounded, civilians and material assets. So, in the second half of 1942, ships and ships transported more than 200 thousand people, 250 thousand tons of various cargoes. Soviet sailors sank 51 enemy ships with a total displacement of 120 thousand tons.

In November 1942, the offensive capabilities of the Wehrmacht in the Caucasus were largely depleted, and the activity of the Red Army, on the contrary, increased. There was a turning point in the course of the battle for the Caucasus. The strategic initiative in the Caucasian sector of the Soviet-German front began to pass into the hands of the Soviet command.

VO, Alexander Samsonov

Battle for the Caucasus 1942-1943
	Kuban, North Caucasus
	First stage: German troops fail to break through into the Transcaucasus. The second stage: the Red Army fails to encircle the enemy troops in the Kuban and inflict a decisive defeat on them. After a six-month defense on the Taman Peninsula, German troops are evacuated to the Crimea. Indirect result: On charges of collaborating with the occupiers, the peoples of the North Caucasus were subjected to mass deportation: Chechens, Ingush, Balkars, Kalmyks, Karachays.
Opponents
	Slovakia
	Croatia
Commanders
S. M. Budyonny
I. V. Tyulenev	E. von Kleist
I. E. Petrov	E. von Mackensen
I. I. Maslennikov
R. Ya. Malinovsky	P. Dumitrescu
F. S. Oktyabrsky	J. Turanets
L. A. Vladimirsky
	I. Gariboldi
Side forces
By July 25, 1942: 112 thousand people, 121 tanks, 2160 guns and mortars, 230 aircraft. by January 1, 1943: more than 1 million people, more than 11.3 thousand guns and mortars, about 1.3 thousand tanks, 900 aircraft.	By July 25, 1942: 170 thousand people, 1130 tanks, over 4.5 thousand guns and mortars, up to 1 thousand aircraft. from July 31: 700 tanks. by January 1, 1943: 764 thousand people, 5290 guns and mortars, 700 tanks, 530 aircraft. At the end of January 1943: all German tank units (except the 13th Panzer Division) were withdrawn from the Kuban to Ukraine
344 thousand people	281 thousand people

Battle for the Caucasus(July 25, 1942 - October 9, 1943) - the battle of the armed forces of Nazi Germany, Romania and Slovakia against the USSR during the Great Patriotic War for control of the Caucasus. The battle is divided into two stages: the offensive of the German troops (July 25 - December 31, 1942) and the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops (January 1 - October 9, 1943).

In the autumn of 1942, German troops occupied most of the Kuban and the North Caucasus, but after the defeat at Stalingrad, they were forced to retreat due to the threat of encirclement.

In 1943, the Soviet command failed to either lock up the German units in the Kuban or inflict a decisive defeat on them: the tank units of the Wehrmacht (1st Panzer Army) were withdrawn from the Kuban to Ukraine in January 1943, and the infantry units (17th Army) were taken out from Taman Peninsula in Crimea in October.

In 1943-1944. Karachais, Kalmyks, Chechens, Ingush and Balkars were accused of collaborationism and deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan, where many died of starvation and disease.

Previous events

By June 1942, the Soviet front in the southern sector was weakened due to the failure of the spring offensive near Kharkov. This circumstance did not fail to take advantage of the German command.

On June 28, the 4th Panzer Army of the Wehrmacht under the command of Hermann Goth broke through the front between Kursk and Kharkov and rushed to the Don. On July 3, Voronezh was partially occupied, and the troops of S.K. Timoshenko, who defended the direction to Rostov, were engulfed from the north. Only prisoners of the Red Army lost more than 200 thousand people in this area. The 4th Panzer Army, having fought about 200 km in ten days, rapidly advanced south between the Donets and the Don. On July 23, Rostov-on-Don fell - the path to the Caucasus was opened.

The plans of the German command

The breakthrough of the Soviet front near Kharkov and the subsequent capture of Rostov-on-Don opened before Hitler not only a real prospect of access to Baku oil in the Transcaucasus, but also the opportunity to capture Stalingrad - the most important transport hub and a major center of the military industry. In German sources, this offensive is called "Operation Blue" (it. Fall Blau).

Caucasus

Baku and the North Caucasus were the main source of oil for the entire economy of the USSR. After the loss of Ukraine, the importance of the Caucasus and Kuban as a source of grain increased dramatically. There were also reserves of strategic raw materials, for example, the Tyrnyauz deposit of tungsten-molybdenum ore. The loss of the Caucasus could have a significant impact on the overall course of the war against the USSR, so Hitler chose this particular direction as the main one. The army group created for the offensive in the Caucasus received the code "A".

The task of group "A" included: to encircle and destroy the troops of the Southern Front, which had retreated across the Don River, to the south and southeast of Rostov-on-Don, and to seize the North Caucasus; then it was supposed to bypass the Great Caucasus group from the west, capturing Novorossiysk and Tuapse, and another group from the east, capturing the oil-bearing regions of Grozny and Baku. Simultaneously with the roundabout maneuver, it was planned to overcome the Dividing Range in its central part along the passes and exit to Georgia. After the alleged victory at Stalingrad, the preparation of a springboard for combat operations against Great Britain in the Middle East.

The German command took into account that many Terek Cossacks, the Cossack population of the Kuban and the mountain population of the North Caucasus were hostile to the Soviet regime. In Chechnya, anti-Soviet rebellions began in February 1940 under the leadership of Khasan Israilov and intensified after the defeat of the Red Army in 1941-1942. Later, the assumptions of the Germans were confirmed - in the Caucasus, several Cossack and mountain formations were formed that joined the Wehrmacht.

Stalingrad

After the fall of Rostov-on-Don, communication between the Caucasus and the regions of European Russia was possible only by sea through the Caspian and Volga and by railroad Salsk - Stalingrad. The German command believed that by cutting these communications, they would be able to quickly establish control over the Caucasus and deprive the USSR of its most important resources. To solve this problem, it was supposed to strike in the direction of Stalingrad. For the attack on Stalingrad, Army Group B was created under the command of Field Marshal von Weichs. Until November 1942, the Stalingrad direction was considered auxiliary in relation to the attack on the Caucasus.

Hitler's strategic miscalculation

According to some historians, the division of strategic directions in the conditions of limited military forces was erroneous and led to the dispersion of German troops, ultimately to the failure of both the Stalingrad and the Caucasian offensive plans.

The alignment of forces in the 1st stage of the battle

the USSR

• Southern Front (commander - R. Ya. Malinovsky). It included the 9th Army, 12th Army, 18th Army, 24th Army, 37th Army, 51st Army and 56th Army. Air support was provided by the 4th Air Army. On July 25, the front consisted of 112 thousand people, 121 tanks, 2160 guns and mortars. On July 28, 1942, the front was merged with the North Caucasian Front, the 51st Army was transferred to the Stalingrad Front.
• North Caucasian Front (commander - S. M. Budyonny). It included the 47th Army, the 1st Rifle Corps and the 17th Cavalry Corps. Air support was provided by the 5th Air Army. On July 28, the troops of the Southern Front were included in the front, except for the 51st Army. On September 4, 1942, the front was disbanded, its troops transferred to the Transcaucasian Front.
• Transcaucasian Front (commander - I. V. Tyulenev). By the beginning of the battle, it included the 44th Army, the 45th Army, the 46th Army and the 15th Cavalry Corps. The aviation of the front consisted of 14 aviation regiments. In early August 1942, the 9th, 24th (disbanded on August 28) and 37th Army from the North Caucasian Front were transferred to the front. On August 30, the 58th Army was formed. In early September, the 12th, 18th, 56th and 58th armies from the disbanded North Caucasian Front were transferred to the front. On September 20, the 12th Army was disbanded.
• Black Sea Fleet (commander - F.S. Oktyabrsky). By the beginning of the battle, it consisted of a squadron, submarine brigades, torpedo boat brigades, a trawling and barrage brigade, a gunboat division, the air force and the Azov military flotilla.

Germany and allies

For the attack on the Caucasus, Army Group A was allocated from the Army Group South, consisting of:

• 1st Panzer Army (Kleist)
• 17th Army (Ruoff)
• 3rd Romanian Army

Initially, it was planned to include in the group the 4th Panzer Army of Hermann Goth and the 11th Army of Manstein, which, after the completion of the siege of Sevastopol, was located in the Crimea, but it never got to the Caucasus (with the exception of parts of the 42nd Army Corps), but was transferred to north for an attack on Leningrad. The 4th Panzer Army, leaving one tank corps as part of Army Group A, was transferred to Stalingrad. The 3rd Romanian army was also soon transferred to Stalingrad. Thus, the attack on the Caucasus was carried out by the 1st tank and 17th field armies of the Wehrmacht, as well as the 1st Romanian army corps and cavalry corps.

Initially, the command of the group was entrusted to Field Marshal List. However, a month later, Hitler, dissatisfied with the pace of the offensive, took command. The leadership of Hitler, who was at his headquarters in Rastenburg, was only nominal, current issues were handled by List's former chief of staff, Hans von Greifenberg. At the end of November, when it became clear that the main events were unfolding not in the Caucasus, but in Stalingrad, the command of the group was transferred to the commander of the 1st TA, von Kleist. The command of the 1st TA was transferred to Gen.-Regiment. von Mackensen.

Air support was provided by the 4th Air Fleet of the Luftwaffe.

German advance

Chronology

• August 3 - Stavropol fell
• August 7 - Armavir fell
• August 10 - Maykop fell
• August 12 - Krasnodar and Elista fell
• August 21 - German flag hoisted on Elbrus
• August 25 - Mozdok fell
• September 11 - most of Novorossiysk is captured, with the exception of the eastern outskirts of the city.
• late September 1942 - the German offensive was stopped in the Malgobek area

Development of events

Having occupied Rostov-on-Don on July 23, 1942, Army Group A launched an attack on the Kuban. The Germans delivered the most powerful blow with the forces of the 1st and 4th tank armies on the left flank of the Southern Front, where the Soviet 51st and 37th armies were defending. The Soviet armies, having suffered heavy losses, retreated. In the zone of the 18th Soviet Army, German troops broke through to Bataysk, but in the zone of the 12th Soviet Army, things were worse for them, and they were not able to force the Don on the first day. On July 26, the 18th and 37th Soviet armies, reinforced by two divisions, tried to launch a counterattack to restore the situation on the Don, but this attempt ended in vain.

As a result, already in the first two days of fighting for the Soviet forces, the situation in the entire zone of operations of the Southern Front deteriorated sharply. There was a real threat of a German breakthrough to the Salsk area. With its successful development, the German troops were able to cut the Southern Front into two parts and open the way for their tank grouping to reach the rear of the main forces of the Soviet troops, who continued to hold positions south of Rostov. To prevent this, the Soviet command ordered on the night of July 28 to withdraw the formations of the left wing of the front to the line passing along the southern bank of the Kagalnik River and the Manych Canal. The German troops, under the cover of large aviation forces, transferred formations of seven corps to the left bank of the Don, where an overwhelming superiority was created, especially in tank forces and artillery. The troops of the Southern Front were unable to withdraw in an organized manner to the lines indicated by them. The gradual withdrawal turned into a flight. German troops, without encountering serious resistance, began to rapidly move deep into the Kuban steppes.

On July 28, the Southern Front was disbanded, and its troops were transferred to the North Caucasus. The front was given the task of stopping the enemy offensive by any means and restoring the situation along the southern bank of the Don. The North Caucasian Front was divided into two operational groups: the Don (51st Army, 37th Army, 12th Army and 4th Air Army), which covered the Stavropol direction, and Primorskaya (18th Army, 56th I army, 47th army, 1st rifle corps, 17th cavalry corps and 5th air army with the support of the Azov military flotilla), which was defending in the Krasnodar direction. The 9th and 24th armies were withdrawn to the area of ​​Nalchik and Grozny. The 51st Army was transferred to the Stalingrad Front. At the same time, the German command transferred the 4th Panzer Army to Army Group B.

On August 2, 1942, German troops resumed their offensive against Salsk, which developed quite successfully, and already on August 5 they captured Voroshilovsk. The 37th Soviet Army withdrew beyond the Kalaus and Yankul Rivers, and the 12th Army was transferred to the Don Group. In the Krasnodar direction, units of the 17th German Army were unable to immediately break through the defenses of the 18th and 56th Army. The Soviet troops tried to respond with a counterattack, but were soon forced to retreat over the left bank of the Kuban.

On August 6, the 17th German Army launched an offensive against Krasnodar. After fighting with the 56th Soviet Army, the Germans managed to take the city on August 12. On August 10, the Azov military flotilla was evacuated from the Azov coast. The German command, taking advantage of the favorable situation, decided to encircle the Soviet troops south of the Kuban. On August 6, the 1st German Panzer Army captured Armavir, on August 9 - Maykop and continued to advance in the Tuapse direction. On August 12, the Germans occupied Belorechenskaya, and on August 13, Tverskaya. By August 15-17, the offensive of the German troops was stopped at the Samurskaya, Khadyzhenskaya line, south of Klyuchevaya and Stavropolskaya. The Soviet troops managed to stop the 17th Army and prevent it from breaking through to Tuapse.

As a result, during the first stage of the offensive (July 25 - August 19), the German troops partially managed to fulfill their tasks - inflict a major defeat on the Soviet troops, capture most of the Kuban; The 1st TA moved east along the northern side of the Caucasus Range to Mozdok. Soviet troops were able to organize resistance to the enemy only on the outskirts of Tuapse.

Fights for Novorossiysk, Malgobek and in the foothills of the Main Caucasian Range

To strengthen the troops in the Caucasus, from August 1 to August 12, the Soviet command regrouped the Transcaucasian Front. Troops of the 44th Army from the region of Makhachkala, Baku were advanced to the defensive lines on the rivers Terek, Sulak and Samur. At the same time, 5 rifle divisions, 1 tank brigade, 3 rifle brigades, three artillery regiments, an armored train and several other units were transferred to the Terek and Urukh line from the Soviet-Turkish border and from the Black Sea coast. Simultaneously with the organization of the regrouping, significant forces were allocated from the Stavka reserve to reinforce the troops of the Transcaucasian Front. From August 6 to September, the Transcaucasian Front received 2 guards rifle corps and 11 separate rifle brigades.

On August 19, in the Novorossiysk direction, the German 17th Army went on the offensive, inflicting the main blow on Novorossiysk and Anapa and auxiliary blows on Temryuk and the Taman Peninsula. The Soviet 47th Army, inferior in strength, was able to repel the offensive and by August 25 to push the enemy back. On August 28, German troops resumed their offensive in this direction and captured Anapa on August 31, as a result of which the marines defending the Taman Peninsula were cut off from the main forces of the 47th Army, and the ships of the Azov military flotilla were forced to break into the Black Sea. On September 11, units of the 17th Army, having captured most of Novorossiysk, were stopped on the southeastern outskirts of the city. In a new offensive, undertaken from 19 to 26 August, the 3rd Romanian mountain rifle division was almost completely destroyed. Due to heavy losses on September 26, German troops went on the defensive near Novorossiysk, which lasted more than a year.

On August 23, German troops launched an offensive on Mozdok, at the same time the 23rd German Panzer Division attacked Prokhladny and captured it on August 25. Further attempts to advance along the railroad Prokhladny - Ordzhonikidze did not bring success. On the morning of September 2, the Germans began to cross the Terek near Mozdok. Having captured a small foothold on the southern bank of the river, the German troops dealt a strong blow on the night of September 4, and advanced 10 km south of Mozdok. However, at the same time, they suffered heavy losses, especially as a result of the actions of Soviet aviation (4th Air Army).

On September 24, German troops, having reinforced the Mozdok grouping with the SS Viking Panzer Division, withdrawn from the Tuapse direction, went on the offensive through the Elkhotovsky Gates (along the valley along the Terek) in the direction of Ordzhonikidze and along the Prokhladny - Grozny railway along the Sunzha river valley to Grozny. By September 29, after 4 days of stubborn fighting, German troops captured the Terek, Planovskoye, Elkhotovo, Illarionovka, but they could not advance further than Malgobek and were forced to go on the defensive.

Simultaneously with the fighting in the Grozny and Novorossiysk directions in mid-August, fierce battles began between units of the 46th Army of the Transcaucasian Front in the passes of the Main Caucasian Range, where the German 49th Mountain Rifle Corps and two Romanian mountain rifle divisions acted against them. By mid-August, units of the 1st German Mountain Division approached the Klukhor Pass and Elbrus, where on August 21 German climbers hoisted the Nazi flag. In early September, German troops also captured the Marukh and Sanchar passes.

During the second stage of the German offensive (August 19 - September 29), despite a number of failures, in general, Soviet troops managed to stop the German offensive and prevent them from breaking through into the Transcaucasus. The balance of power also gradually improved in favor of the Soviet troops.

The failure of the attempt of German troops to break into the Transcaucasus

Preparations for the defense of Transcaucasia

On August 23, GKO member L.P. Beria arrived in Tbilisi from Moscow, who replaced a number of senior officials of the army and front-line apparatus of the Transcaucasian Front, including the commander of the 46th Army. Major General K.N. Leselidze was appointed the new commander

The fate of the peoples of the Middle East and Asia was then decided on the passes of the Main Caucasian Range.

The aviation of the front received the task of conducting daily reconnaissance from the air of all the passes through the Main Caucasian Range and the roads leading to them from the north.

Measures were also taken to install barriers on the most important pass routes leading to the Black Sea coast. On the Military-Ossetian and Military-Georgian roads, work began on the preparation of the collapse of rocks, the destruction of roads and their flooding. In addition to the system of barriers, a system of defensive structures was built along these roads - defense centers, strongholds, pillboxes and bunkers, trenches and anti-tank ditches. On the main directions and roads, commandant's offices were created, which had reserves of sapper forces, means and were equipped with radio stations.

To counter enemy detours, special detachments were formed up to a company with a sapper squad, which advanced to possible directions of a detour maneuver. For the same purpose, paths that were not covered by troops were undermined. Separate mountain rifle detachments were urgently created, each as part of a company - a battalion. These detachments, which included climbers-instructors, were sent to the most inaccessible areas.

Defense of Tuapse

In September 1942, the situation in the Caucasus gradually began to improve in favor of the Soviet troops. This was also facilitated by the failures of the Germans and their allies at Stalingrad. The German command, having no additional reserves, could no longer advance simultaneously along the entire front and decided to deliver successive strikes, first in the Tuapse direction, then in Ordzhonikidze.

On September 25, 1942, after a two-day powerful air bombardment by the forces of the 4th Aviation Corps, in the direction of Tuapse against the troops of the Soviet Black Sea Group (18th Army, 47th Army and 56th Army), the 17th German Army went on the offensive, previously reinforced by two German and two Romanian infantry divisions, as well as mountain rifle units, united in a divisional group under the command of General Lanz. After 5 days of heavy fighting, the German-Romanian troops managed to break through the defenses of the 18th and 56th armies in some areas. Over Tuapse, the threat of capture loomed. On October 4, the Stavka ordered the troops of the Black Sea Group to launch counterattacks from the Rozhet, Maratuki area in the direction of the Red Cemetery and from the White Clay area to Pervomaisky and Khadyzhenskaya. By October 9, German and Romanian troops were stopped in all directions. On October 14, German troops again went on the offensive, pushing back the 18th Army and somewhat pushing the 56th Army. The Soviet troops tried to launch a counterattack on the enemy grouping, and by October 23, the German-Romanian troops were stopped, and on October 31 they went on the defensive.

On October 25, the German 1st Panzer Army went on the offensive in the direction of Nalchik. The Germans played into the hands of the fact that they managed to covertly carry out a regrouping of troops, as a result of which the Soviet command was not ready to strike in this direction. Having broken through the weak defenses of the 37th Soviet Army, German troops captured Nalchik on October 27, and Gizel on November 2. In this area, the German command concentrated large tank forces, trying to expand the breakthrough, but did not achieve success. On November 5, Soviet troops stopped the advance of the enemy. Taking advantage of the favorable situation, the Soviet command tried to surround the Gisel group. On November 11, Gisel was recaptured, but the German troops retreated across the Fiagdon River. The last attempt of the German-Romanian troops to break through to the Grozny and Baku oil regions and into the Transcaucasus was thwarted.

Having pulled up reserves, the German 17th Army tried to break through to Tuapse again and in mid-November went on the offensive. The German-Romanian troops managed to penetrate the defenses of the 18th Army up to 8 km in depth, but their forces quickly dried up. On November 26, Soviet troops went on the offensive, and with the help of the Black Sea Fleet and the forces of the 5th Air Army, by December 17, they defeated the German grouping and threw back its remnants across the Pshish River. The German command gave the order to go on the defensive on the entire front of the Black Sea Group of Forces.

After the attempt of a German breakthrough in Transcaucasia, the Soviet command decided to launch counterattacks on the German-Romanian troops from the Gizel region in the Mozdok direction. On November 13, units of the 9th Army went on the offensive, but within ten days they failed to break through the enemy defenses, but only wedged to a depth of 10 km, reaching the eastern banks of the Ardon and Fiagdon rivers. In connection with these failures and poor command, on November 15, the commander of the Transcaucasian Front, Army General I.V. Tyulenev and the commander of the Northern Group of Forces, Lieutenant General I.I. Maslennikov, were called to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on November 15, who received new tasks - firmly covering the main directions on Grozny and Ordzhonikidze, strike on both flanks and defeat the Mozdok and Alagir groupings of German troops. On November 27, units of the 9th Army went on the offensive in the general direction of Digora. On December 4, they launched new attacks, but this time they were forced to stop the offensive. According to Soviet historians, the failure of the operation was due to the unsuccessful choice of the direction of the main attacks. These failures forced the Soviet command to postpone a major counteroffensive in the Mozdok direction until January.

Results of the 1st stage of the Battle for the Caucasus

The first stage of the battle for the Caucasus took place from July to December 1942. The German-Romanian troops, having suffered heavy losses, managed to reach the foothills of the Main Caucasian Range and the Terek River. However, in general, the German plan "Edelweiss" failed. In total, during the 1st stage of the battle, Army Group "A" lost almost 100 thousand people killed; the Germans failed to break into the Transcaucasus and the Middle East. Turkey did not dare to enter the war on the side of the Third Reich.

One factor in the failure of the Germans in the Caucasus was that the German command focused on the battle of Stalingrad, where events unfolded in no way in the best way for the Wehrmacht. In September 1942, with the task of protecting the flanks of Army Group B near Stalingrad, the 3rd Romanian Army was transferred from the Caucasian direction. In December 1942, due to failures near Stalingrad, some German formations were also removed from the Caucasian front, as a result of which the German group in the Caucasus weakened even more, and by the beginning of 1943 began to yield to the Soviet troops in numbers - both in personnel , as well as in technology and weapons.

The alignment of forces in the 2nd stage of the battle

the USSR

• Transcaucasian Front (commander - I. V. Tyulenev). By January 1, 1943, it included the 9th Army, 18th Army, 37th Army, 44th Army, 46th Army, 47th Army, 56th Army, 58th Army, 4th Kuban Guards Cavalry Corps and 5th Don Guards Cavalry Corps. The aviation of the front consisted of the 4th Air Army and the 5th Air Army. The troops of the front were divided into two groups: Northern and Black Sea. On January 24, the Northern Group of Forces was transformed into the North Caucasian Front. On February 6, the Black Sea Group of Forces was also included in the North Caucasian Front, after which the 45th Army, the 13th Rifle Corps, the 15th Cavalry Corps and the 75th Rifle Division remained in the Transcaucasian Front.
• Southern Front (commander - A. I. Eremenko). By January 1, 1943, it included the 28th Army, the 51st Army, the 5th Shock Army and the 2nd Guards Army. The aviation of the front consisted of the 8th Air Army.
• The North Caucasian Front (commander - I. I. Maslennikov, from May 1943 - I. E. Petrov) was formed on January 24 from the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front. It included the 9th Army, the 37th Army, the 44th Army, the 4th Kuban Guards Cavalry Corps, the 5th Don Guards Cavalry Corps and the 4th Air Army. On February 6, the 44th Army was transferred to the Southern Front.
• Black Sea Fleet (commander - F.S. Oktyabrsky). It also included the Azov military flotilla. The fleet included 1 battleship, 4 cruisers, a leader, 7 destroyers, 29 submarines, 69 torpedo boats, and other small warships. The Air Force of the Black Sea Fleet had 248 aircraft.

Germany and allies

• Army Group "A" (commander - E. von Kleist). It included the 17th Army and the 1st Tank Army - a total of 32 infantry, 3 tank and 3 motorized divisions. Air support was provided by the 4th Air Fleet, which included 900 aircraft. In early February 1943, the 1st Tank Army, having successfully avoided encirclement, left the Kuban in the Azov region and did not take part in the battles in the Kuban.
• The combined German-Romanian-Italian naval forces on the Black Sea consisted of 1 auxiliary cruiser, 7 destroyers and destroyers, 12 submarines, 18 torpedo boats and a significant number of small warships.

By the beginning of 1943, the strategic situation in the Caucasian direction of the Soviet-German front was favorable for the encirclement and complete defeat of a large German group in the North Caucasus. The troops of the Stalingrad Front (January 1, 1943, renamed the Southern Front), as a result of the successful development of events in the battle of Stalingrad, by the beginning of 1943, reached the Loznoy-Priyutnoye line, threatening the rear of the German group in the Caucasus. This circumstance forced Hitler to allow the command of Army Group "A" to plan measures to prepare for the withdrawal, on the condition that they did not weaken the strength of resistance. The idea of ​​the operation of the Soviet command was to dismember and defeat the main forces of Army Group A with coordinated strikes from the troops of the Southern and Transcaucasian fronts from the northeast, south and southwest, preventing it from withdrawing from the North Caucasus.

On January 1, 1943, the troops of the Southern Front went on the offensive in the Rostov and Salsk directions. The German 1st Panzer Army, trying to avoid encirclement, under the cover of strong rearguards, began to withdraw in the direction of Stavropol. On January 3, the troops of the Northern Group of the Transcaucasian Front went on the offensive (44th Army, 9th Army, 37th Army, 4th Guards Kuban Cossack Cavalry Corps, 5th Guards Don Cossack Cavalry Corps and 4th Air Army) . Pursuing the enemy, the 58th Army captured Mozdok and, together with the formations of the Northern Group, began pursuing the enemy along the entire 320-kilometer front. However, the German formations managed to break away from the Soviet troops. This was facilitated by the fact that the persecution began two days late and was carried out without due determination and organization. Connection management was broken, parts were mixed up. For three days, the troops of the Northern Group advanced in some areas only 25-60 km. Developing the pursuit, the formations of the Northern Group, with the support of the 4th Air Army, liberated the cities of Georgievsk, Mineralnye Vody, Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk by mid-January.

Due to the not very successful offensive of the Soviet army, the Germans managed to retreat in an organized manner to a fortified line of defense along the Kuma and Zolka rivers, where the troops of the Northern Group had to fight stubborn battles from January 8 to 10. Only on January 21, the 44th Army, with the support of partisans, liberated Stavropol. On January 23, the cavalry-mechanized group entered the Salsk region, making a 200-kilometer throw, where it connected with the approaching units of the 28th Army of the Southern Front. On January 24, the Northern Group of Forces was transformed into the North Caucasian Front, which received the task of developing a strike on Tikhoretsk, the village of Kushchevskaya, defeating the retreating units of the German 1st tank army and, in cooperation with units of the Southern Front, capture Bataysk, Azov and Rostov-on-Don. The German command, trying to avoid the encirclement of their troops, threw units of the 4th Panzer Army of the Don Army Group against the Southern Front. The forces of the Southern Front were not enough to successfully carry out the operation and encircle the German units. Meanwhile, the troops of the 37th Army, overcoming the stubborn resistance of the enemy, began to bypass Krasnodar from the north, and by February 4 they reached the line 30-40 km northeast of Krasnodar in the Razdolnaya and Voronezh regions. The troops of the North Caucasian Front came very close to the Sea of ​​Azov in the areas of Novobataysk, Yeysk and Yasenka.

The forces of the Black Sea Group (46th Army, 18th Army, 47th Army, 56th Army, 5th Air Army) of the Transcaucasian Front also failed to regroup and go on the offensive on time. On January 11-12, in the auxiliary direction from the area northeast of Tuapse, the strike groups of the 46th and 18th armies went on the offensive. The German 17th Army managed to repel the initial attacks. The offensive of the 56th Army developed more successfully - in seven days of fighting, it broke through the German defenses in the Goryachiy Klyuch region and, advancing 30 km, reached the near approaches to Krasnodar. In order to prevent the German troops from leaving for the Crimea through the Kerch Strait, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command ordered the Black Sea Group of the Transcaucasian Front to seize Novorossiysk with the main forces and liberate the Taman Peninsula, and to go to the Krasnodar region with right-flank formations. Maykop was liberated on January 29. By February 4, the troops of the Black Sea Group reached the line of the Kuban River and the area of ​​the village of Ust-Labinskaya.

In general, the German troops managed to avoid encirclement and retreat to the western part of the Krasnodar Territory and to the area north of Rostov. Despite this, the results of the North Caucasian operation were of great political importance. The plans of the German command for a further offensive in the Caucasus, for which it now had no strength, were frustrated.

Fighting in the Kuban

In early February, the Soviet command set new tasks for its troops and carried out a regrouping of troops. The 44th Army and the Cavalry Mechanized Group were included in the Southern Front, and the Black Sea Group of Forces was transferred to the North Caucasian Front. The remaining troops of the Transcaucasian Front received the task of guarding the Black Sea coast, the Soviet-Turkish border and leading troops in Transcaucasia and Iran. The North Caucasian Front received the task of defeating the Krasnodar-Novorossiysk grouping of German troops.

From January 26 to February 6, the 47th Soviet Army unsuccessfully tried to break through the German defenses in order to capture Novorossiysk. To help the ground forces on February 4, the forces of the Black Sea Fleet in the Novorossiysk region landed an amphibious assault. During fierce battles, the bridgehead was expanded to 28 square meters. km, and additional units were thrown into it, including the 18th Army.

On February 7, the troops of the Southern Front went on the offensive with the aim of capturing the cities of Bataysk and Rostov-on-Don. By the morning of February 8, Bataysk was liberated, and units of the 28th Soviet Army reached the left bank of the Don. Planning to encircle the German troops in the Rostov-on-Don region, the Soviet command advanced the 2nd Guards and 51st Armies from the northeast, bypassing the city, and the 44th Army and a mechanized cavalry group from the southwest. The German troops managed to avoid encirclement and retreat to a pre-fortified position on the line of the river. Mius (see Mius-front). On February 13, Soviet troops entered Rostov.

On February 9, the troops of the North Caucasian Front launched an offensive against Krasnodar. The greatest success in the first days of the offensive was achieved by the 37th Army, which managed to break the defending enemy and create a threat to his troops near Krasnodar. On February 12, Krasnodar was taken by the forces of the 12th and 46th Soviet armies. The German command began to withdraw its troops to the Taman Peninsula, at the same time, with the support of aviation, inflicting counterattacks on the Soviet forces, of which the 58th Army suffered the most. The Soviet fleet and aviation tried to completely paralyze the connection between the German formations on the Taman Peninsula and in the Crimea, but they failed to complete this task. In the second half of February, the resistance of the German troops, the basis of which was the 17th Army, increased sharply.

On February 23, the forces of the North Caucasian Front launched a new offensive, but it did not bring the expected result. From February 28 to March 4, the troops of the 17th German Army, with the support of aviation, launched strong counterattacks, especially in the zone of the 58th Army, and partially managed to push it back. The strikes of the Soviet 37th and 9th armies forced the Germans on the night of March 9 to begin a retreat to the prepared line of defense. During the pursuit of the retreating 17th Army, Soviet troops captured important defense centers and by mid-March reached a new defensive line of German troops 60-70 km west of Krasnodar, but could not break through it. On March 16, the troops of the North Caucasian Front went on the defensive and began preparing a new offensive operation to defeat the German troops on the Taman Peninsula.

The German command created a powerful defense center in the area of ​​​​the village of Krymskaya. Two German infantry and a Romanian cavalry division, previously in reserve, were additionally transferred here. Not having sufficient forces to hold the Taman bridgehead, the German command hoped to thwart the impending offensive of the Soviet troops with the help of aviation forces. For this purpose, up to 1 thousand combat aircraft of the 4th Air Fleet were concentrated at the airfields of the Crimea and the Taman Peninsula. Additional aviation forces were transferred here from other fronts.

On April 4, the troops of the North Caucasian Front went on the offensive, but immediately ran into stubborn resistance from the German-Romanian troops. Especially strong blows were dealt by German aircraft. Taking advantage of the lull on April 17, a large German group went on the offensive in order to eliminate the Soviet bridgehead in the Myskhako area and destroy the 18th Army. To repel the offensive, the Soviet command attracted large aviation forces - units of the 8th and 17th air armies were additionally attracted to this area. From April 17 to April 24, a major air battle broke out in the sky over the Kuban, which was won by Soviet aviation. Taking advantage of the victory in the air, by April 30, units of the 18th Army restored the situation in the Myskhako area.

From the beginning of April to May, Soviet troops continued to conduct attacks in order to defeat the enemy grouping on the Taman Peninsula. On May 4, the troops of the 56th Army liberated the village of Krymskaya, an important communications center on the Taman Peninsula. At the beginning of June, the Soviet troops, at the direction of the Headquarters, went on the defensive, without completing the assigned task to the end.

Decisive battles on the Taman Peninsula

In the summer of 1943, there was a lull in the Kuban sector. In order to hold the Taman bridgehead, the Germans erected a defensive line - the so-called. "blue line". Fighting on the Blue Line lasted from February to September 1943.

The total strength of the Taman group of German-Romanian troops, which included the 17th Army and part of the forces of the 1st Tank Army, reached 400 thousand people.

Landing on "Malaya Zemlya"

On February 4-15, 1943, a landing operation was carried out in the Novorossiysk region. Its purpose was to assist the troops advancing north of Novorossiysk. It was planned to land the main landing in the area of ​​Yuzhnaya Ozereyka, the demonstrative (auxiliary) one - on the western shore of the Tsemesskaya Bay, in the area of ​​​​the suburb of Novorossiysk - Stanichki. The landing was provided by ships of the Black Sea Fleet. Aviation support was assigned to the Black Sea Fleet Air Force (137 aircraft) and the 5th Air Army (30 aircraft). On the night of February 4, 1943, landing began in the designated areas. However, due to a strong storm, it was not possible to land the main landing force in full force in the area of ​​Yuzhnaya Ozereyka. Events unfolded more successfully in the area of ​​the auxiliary landing: the detachment of Caesar Kunikov managed to occupy a small bridgehead in the Stanichki area. Together with the troops, partisans from the Novorossiysk group of partisan detachments landed on the bridgehead under the command of the Secretary of the Novorossiysk City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, P. I. Vasev. The demonstration landing became the main one. The bridgehead was expanded to 4 km along the front and up to 2.5 km in depth, subsequently it received the name "Malaya Zemlya" (a piece of terrain on the western shore of the Novorossiysk (Tsemesskaya) Bay and the southern outskirts of Novorossiysk), where from February 4 to September 16, 1943 Soviet troops fought heroic battles. On the bridgehead, according to eyewitnesses, there was “not a square meter where a bomb would not fall, a mine or a shell would not fall” (Brezhnev).

Evacuation of the Blue Line

The successful offensive of Soviet troops in Ukraine in the spring of 1943 put the Taman Wehrmacht group in a difficult situation. September 3, 1943 Hitler gave the order to withdraw troops from the Kuban. The evacuation continued until 9 October. Despite all the efforts of the Red Army to prevent this, 260 thousand soldiers, 70 thousand horses, all equipment, artillery and food supplies were transported through the Kerch Strait to the Crimea. All that was left was fodder for the horses. The troops withdrawn from Taman were sent to defend the Perekop isthmuses of Crimea.

The Soviet offensive began on the night of September 10 with an amphibious landing in the port of Novorossiysk. Parts of the 18th Army went on the offensive east and south of the city. On the night of September 11, the second echelon of troops was landed. On the same day, the troops of the 9th Army went on the offensive, striking at Temryuk, and on September 14, the troops of the 56th Army, operating on the central sector of the front. On September 15, the eastern and western groups of the 18th Army united in Novorossiysk, the next day the city was completely liberated.

By October 9, the 56th Army had captured the entire northern part of the peninsula and reached the Kerch Strait. This completely ended the fighting in the Caucasus.

Results of the 2nd stage of the Battle for the Caucasus

In general, the second stage of the battle in the Caucasus was quite successful for the Soviet troops. Kalmykia, Checheno-Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Rostov Region, Stavropol Territory, Cherkessian Autonomous District, Karachay Autonomous Okrug and Adygei Autonomous Okrug were completely liberated. The Maikop oil fields, as well as the most important agricultural regions of the country, were returned under the control of the Soviet government.

After the return of Soviet power to the Caucasus, on charges of mass collaborationism and in order to eliminate the anti-Soviet detachments still operating in the rear, the following peoples were completely deported to Siberia and Central Asia: Chechens, Ingush, Karachays, Balkars, Kalmyks. The autonomy of these peoples was eliminated.

The victory in the battle for the Caucasus strengthened the southern flank of the Soviet-German front, in which close cooperation was achieved between ground forces, aviation, navy and partisans. Thousands of soldiers were awarded the medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus", established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 1, 1944.

For the skillful leadership of troops during the battles for the Caucasus and the Kuban, on February 1, 1943, the commander of the German troops in the Kuban, E. von Kleist, was promoted to the rank of field marshal.

In February 1943, a group of Soviet climbers from the 46th Army removed German flags from the tops of Elbrus and installed the flags of the USSR (on February 13, 1943, the Soviet flag was hoisted on the western peak by a group led by N. Gusak, and on February 17, 1943 - on Eastern, a group led by A. Gusev).