Week 107 4 July 1943
Across almost the entire front, a surprising week of rain turns much of the ground into a state of light mud. Ivan Konev in active discussions with both Generals Antonov and Shtmenko of the Stavka’s Operations Directorate reviewed the conditons existing in the Orel area. The German 6th Panzer Division had entered the field and the German's opportunistic counterattacks continued to extract significant Soviet losses. Nevertheless, Stalin’s orders remained in effect in that Orel must be taken within two weeks.
It was no small matter that both the Voronezh and Bryansk Fronts were being forced to provide a significant portion of their ground units to the defense, and spread out along a considerable distance. As a result, both fronts struggled to create the critical mass needed to drive the Germans away from Orel. Now, the Western Front was being called upon to provide assistance in the Orel area. With a third front now brought into the picture, command and control was becoming exceedingly complex and challenging.
By mid-week amidst a pair of German counterattacks, Konev decided to commit his cavalry corps yet again on the northern face of the Orel defensive positions. Pavel Batov’s 7th and 8th Guards Cavalry Corps would be supported in part by 14th Guards Tank Corps of Gerasimenko’s 4th Tank Army that had been released from the Stavka Reserve. Colonel-General Vasily Sokolovsky’s Western Front provided 53rd Rifle Corps, 10th Rifle Division from Nikolai Berzarin’s 66th Army along with 393rd Rifle Division of Sergei Biryuzov’s 8th Army to support the efforts of the Voronezh Front. Opposing them were the dug-in 3rd Panzer and 38th Infantry Divisions.
Given the fact that the Soviet forces were such an assorted grouping among multiple commands, the battle results were an almost forgone conclusion. The German defenders held, with almost 7,000 losses. The defender losses were a mere 420.
It was under these circumstances that Konev requested that any further offensive action be called off. The reply from Moscow was not long in coming. Stalin remained obstinate, refusing to admit defeat. Konev must make yet another attempt.
With the week winding down, the commander of the Voronezh Front saw little prospect for success in anything other than a direct assault of Orel, to be led by Andrei Grechko’s 1st Guards Army and supported by whatever additional rifle corps could be made available. Defending Orel was Hans Gollnick’s 227th Infantry Division from III Panzer Corps and reinforced by the 6th Luftwaffe Field Division of XXXIV Corps. The Soviet attack would face the most difficult of fortifications within the city, and therefore assault engineers would be included in the operations along with over 650 M-30-4 heavy rocket launchers of Ivan Magagarov’s 6th Army.
Despite a numeric advantage of almost 8-1, the attacking force of 275,000 failed to drive out the defenders. Surprisingly, assaulting Soviet casualties were rather light with less than 3,000 lost to the Germans 1,000.
Stalin was now at last convinced by Generals Antonov and Shtmenko that any further attacks in the Orel sector would be pointless. It would require anywhere from 4-6 weeks now to rebuild the many weakened rifle corps that had expended much of their energy and supplies in conducting what amounted now to a fruitless operation.
In the months that followed, no one would bring up the failed Orel operation in discussions with Stalin, and in turn he would choose to let the matter be closed and forgotten. Ivan Konev himself would later be asked if he had any regrets over the failed operation against Orel. Konev replied he had none at all. When asked why he had no regrets, the general replied laconically, “Because Moscow had ordered it”.
