Turn 32: 22 – 28 January 1942
After the successes in the previous week, Stavka awarded Guards status to more of the formations leading the offensive.
(shows all infantry and cavalry with 5 or more victories)
[1]
North of Vitebsk, major offensive operations ceased. Soviet units made a series of limited attacks but the main goal for North-Western Front was now to protect the flank of Soviet operations to the south. On the Volkhov, the fighting died away but Soviet U2s inflicted heavy losses on the Finnish defenders.
The Pronya battles
Smolensk was now well to the rear as Soviet formations switched their offensive to drive southwards down the line of the river Pronya. If successful, this could cut the German line of retreat as they fell back from Bryansk. The Germans were aware of the threat and launched a series of counterattacks on the spearheads of Kalinin and Volkhov Fronts.
The Soviet response was to renew their offensive. 24 Army cut the Orsha-Minsk railway and elements of 20 Army almost encircled the Germans clinging on at Orsha.
However, a major offensive by Volkhov Front failed. Neither 2 Shock nor 52 Army could breach the German line between the Pronya and Dneipr. The Front's poor performance also saw 1 Shock fail to break through north of the Besad.
The Starodub encirclement operation
The failures of Volkhov Front mattered as Stavka had identified the destruction of the German units falling back from the Bryansk battles as a major target. The small town of Starodub became the operational target for both Western and Bryansk Fronts.
To the north, 4 Army swept aside 35 Corps but was unable to exploit due to the threat to its flanks after the defeat of 1 Shock. Despite the relative failure of the Soviet attempt at a deep penetration, around Starodub, the German position worsened. 3 and 13 Army almost reached the town from the north and with the Germans retreating in panic 28 Army struck from the south, storming the town and leaving 3 German infantry divisions cut off behind Soviet lines.
(elements of 28 Army moving up to their attack positions)
16 Army then struck and after several days of vicious fighting the Germans broke. Most escaped as the Soviet encirclement was weakly held but they were forced to abandon substantial amounts of artillery as their retreat became a rout.
[2]
Even that was not the end of the crisis. Despite a counterattack by elements of 47 Panzer Corps, 40 Army again struck deep into the weakly held southern flank.
The Dnepr bend
In the northern Ukraine, South-Western and Southern Fronts made steady progress driving back German and Hungarian formations.
However, in the south, Stavka's focus was now on the great Dnepr bend. Intensive Soviet reconnaissance flights indicated there were no significant German reserves to the east of Kirovgrad.
The opening blow was by 18 Army on the Romanians holding the northern flank of the bulge. Surprisingly fierce resistance prevented the Soviets from pushing over the frozen river.
To the south, the terrain favoured the Soviet cavalry and armour and 38 Army drove 20 km northwards along the Bazavlik threatening the German communications to Zaporozhye.
(T-34s of 38 Army in action)
Finally, Trans-Caucasus Front went over to the offensive. Fresh mountain troops attacked over the frozen river and broke the centre of the German defensive line between Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk.
Losses for both sides were heavy. The Germans lost 29,000 men (6,000 killed or captured) and the Soviets 47,000 (14,000 killed). In addition, the Germans had lost 450 artillery pieces. In the skies, the VVS was still operating with complete freedom as the Luftwaffe abandoned the German infantry to their fate.
[1] – as an aside, the experiment of adding a ski and tank battalion to every cavalry corps has been very successful.
[2] – had a long think about this and whether I could make a proper pocket. Problem was its not properly sealed and would have been easy to open. Doing this helps with my three goals – make Guards, inflict losses and perhaps push the Germans well away from Moscow for 1942.
