Battle of Nikolayevka

Battle of Nikolayevka
	Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
	; Alpini route toward Nikolaievka, from the Don river
Date	January 13–26, 1943 (including prelude)
Location	Nikolayevka, Belgorod Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Result	Axis breakout
Belligerents
Italy ; Germany ; Hungary	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Giulio Martinat † ; Luigi Reverberi	Nikolai Makovchuk
Strength
57,000	6,000 infantry (plus Soviet partisans) [ citation needed ]
Casualties and losses
34,170 killed and 9,400 wounded	1,000 dead and wounded [ citation needed ]

Last updated April 26, 2024

The Battle of Nikolayevka was the breakout of Italian forces in January 1943. The breakout involved the Alpine Army Corps of the Italian 8th Army near the village of Nikolayevka (now Livenka, Belgorod Oblast, in Russia).

Prelude

On December 16, 1942, Soviet forces launched Operation Little Saturn aimed at the Italian 8th Army. The Soviet plan was to force the River Don, encircle and destroy the Italian 8th Army along the Don, then push towards Rostov-on-Don and thus cut off Army Group A fighting in the Caucasus. On December 16 General Vasily Kuznetsov's 1st Guards Army and General Dmitri Lelyushenko's 3rd Guards Army attacked the units of the Italian 8th Army, which were quickly destroyed—in three days the Red Army had opened a gap in the Axis front 45 km (28 mi) deep and 150 km (93 mi) wide and destroyed two of the Italian Army's Corps (2nd and 35th). The Soviet armored columns now rapidly advanced south towards the Black Sea.

The breakout

The Italian Alpine Army Corps (it:Corpo d'armata alpino), consisting of the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina", 3rd Alpine Division "Julia", 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense", and 156th Infantry Division "Vicenza" to their rear, were at this point largely unaffected by the Soviet offensive on their right flank. On January 13, 1943, the Red Army launched the second stage of Operation Saturn. Four armies of General Filipp Golikov's Voronezh Front attacked, encircled, and destroyed the Hungarian Second Army near Svoboda on the Don to the northwest of the Italians and pushed back the remaining units of the German XXIV Army Corps on the Alpini left flank, thus encircling the Alpine Army Corps.

On the evening of 17 January, the Alpine Army Corps commander, General Gabriele Nasci, ordered a full retreat. At this point only the Tridentina division was still capable of conducting effective combat operations. The 40,000-strong mass of stragglers—Alpini and Italians from other commands, plus German and Hungarian Hussars (Light Cavalry) —formed two columns that followed the Tridentina division which, supported by a handful of German armoured vehicles, led the way westwards to the Axis lines.

On the morning of January 26, the spearheads of the Tridentina reached the hamlet of Nikolayevka, occupied by the 48th Guards Rifle Division. The Soviets had fortified the railway embankment on both sides of the village. General Nasci ordered a frontal assault and at 9:30 am the 6th Alpini Regiment with the battalions "Verona", "Val Chiese", and "Vestone", the Tridentina division's II Mixed Engineer Battalion, the Mountain Artillery Group "Bergamo" of the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment, and three German Sturmgeschütz III commenced the attack. By noon the Italian forces had reached the outskirts of the village and the Alpine Corps' Chief of Staff General Giulio Martinat brought up reinforcements: the 5th Alpini Regiment with the battalions "Edolo", "Morbegno" and "Tirano", and the remaining mountain artillery groups "Vicenza" and "Valcamonica" of the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment, as well as the remnants of the Alpini Battalion "L’Aquila" of the "Julia" division. General Martinat fell during this assault.^[1]

By sunset the Alpini battalions were still struggling to break the reinforced Soviet lines and in a last effort to decide the battle before nightfall General Luigi Reverberi, commander of the Tridentina division, ordered the remaining troops and stragglers, which had arrived over the course of the afternoon, to assault the Soviet positions in a human wave attack. The assault managed to break open the Soviet lines and the Italian survivors managed to continue their retreat, which was no longer contested by Soviet forces.^[1]

Aftermath

On February 1 the remnants of the Corps reached Axis lines. The Italians suffered heavy losses in the breakout: the Cuneense division had been destroyed; one tenth of the Division Julia survived (approximately 1,200 of 15,000 troops deployed) and one third of the Division Tridentina survived (approximately 4,250 of 15,000 troops deployed). The "Vicenza" Division that counted 10,466 men at the beginning of the Soviet offensive, 7,760 of which had been killed or were missing after the division's remnants reached Axis lines.^[2] In total the corps suffered 34,170 killed in action and 9,400 wounded in action out of 57,000 men at the beginning of the battle.^[1]

The battle has become an important point of reference for the Alpini and their fighting spirit. The Alpini Association also supports social programs in the city.

Related Research Articles

The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinate to the Alpine Troops Headquarters. The Alpini's name comes from their inceptive association with the Alps, the mountain range that Italy shares with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. An individual soldier of the Alpini is called Alpino.

The Italian participation on the Eastern Front represented the military intervention of the Kingdom of Italy in the Operation Barbarossa, launched by Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union in 1941. The commitment to actively take part in the German offensive was decided by Benito Mussolini a few months before the beginning of the operation, when he became aware of Adolf Hitler's intention to invade, but it was confirmed only in the morning of 22 June 1941, as soon as the Italian dictator was informed that same day the German armies had invaded the Soviet Union.

The 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" was a division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II, which specialized in mountain warfare. The headquarters of the division was in the city of Cuneo, and the majority of its Alpini soldiers were drafted from the surrounding Province of Cuneo - hence the division's name "Cuneense". The division participated in all Italian World War II campaigns with the exception of the North African Campaign. The division was annihilated during Operation Little Saturn by Soviet forces in January 1943.

The 2nd Alpini Regiment is a regiment of the Italian Army's mountain infantry speciality, the Alpini, which distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. The regiment was disbanded in 1943 due to losses on the Eastern Front, however one of its component battalions, the Alpini Battalion "Saluzzo", was reformed in November 1945 after the end of hostilities in Europe. The regiment itself was reformed in 1963 as a training unit, but during the 1975 army reform it was reduced to battalion. In 1992 the regiment was raised once again and today it consists of the Alpini Battalion "Saluzzo", is based in Cuneo and part of the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense".

The 1st Alpini Regiment is an active unit of the Italian Army's mountain infantry speciality, the Alpini, which distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. The unit is based in Turin in Piedmont and operationally assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense".

The 5th Alpini Regiment is a regiment of the Italian Army's mountain infantry speciality, the Alpini, which distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. The regiment is based in Sterzing and assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Julia".

The 6th Alpini Regiment is a training regiment of the Italian Army's mountain infantry speciality, the Alpini, which distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. The regiment is based in Bruneck and assigned to the Alpine Training Center.

The 8th Alpini Regiment is a regiment of the Italian Army's mountain infantry speciality, the Alpini, which distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. As of 2022 the regiment is assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Julia" and based in the city of Venzone in Italy's northeast.

The 9th Alpini Regiment is a regiment of the Italian Army's mountain infantry speciality, the Alpini, which distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Based in the city of L'Aquila in Abruzzo the regiment is operationally assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense".

The 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment is an inactive mountain artillery regiment of the Italian Army, which was based in Trento in Trentino. The regiment was formed in 1915 by the Royal Italian Army as 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment. In World War I the regiment's groups and batteries served on the Italian front.

The 4th Mountain Artillery Regiment is an inactive mountain artillery regiment of the Italian Army, which was based in Susa in Piedmont. The regiment was formed in 1934 by the Royal Italian Army with mountain artillery groups that had served in World War I. The regiment was assigned to the 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense", with which it served during World War II in the invasion of France and the Greco-Italian War. In summer 1942 the division was transferred to the Soviet Union, where it was destroyed in winter 1942-43 during the Soviet Operation Little Saturn. The remnants of the division were repatriated in spring 1943 and invading German forces disbanded the division and its regiments after the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943.

The 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" was a division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II, which specialized in mountain warfare. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated, elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units. Today the traditions and name of the 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" are carried on by the Alpine Brigade "Julia".

The 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" was a division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II, which specialized in mountain warfare. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated and elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units. The name Tridentina was chosen as the division was based in the Trentino-South Tyrol region, for which the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini had created the neologism Venezia Tridentina. After World War II, the traditions and name of the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" were carried on by the Alpine Brigade "Tridentina".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comando Truppe Alpine</span> Command of the Italian Army

The Comando Truppe Alpine or COMTA commands the Mountain Troops of the Italian Army, called Alpini and various support and training units. It is the successor to the 4º Corpo d'Armata Alpino of the Cold War. The Alpini are light Infantry units specializing in Mountain Combat. The subordinate units of the COMTA distinguished themselves during combat in World War I and World War II.

The Italian Army in Russia was an army-sized unit of the Regio Esercito which fought on the Eastern Front during World War II between July 1942 and April 1943. The ARMIR was also known as the 8th Italian Army and initially had 235,000 soldiers. The bulk of this force was destroyed by the Soviet Red Army at the Battle of Stalingrad, after which Mussolini withdrew the remnants from Russia to the West.

The 156th Infantry Division "Vicenza" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Vicenza was formed on 10 March 1942 and named for the city of Vicenza. The Vicenza was classified as an occupation infantry division, which meant that the division's artillery regiment consisted of two artillery groups instead of the three artillery groups of line infantry divisions and that the divisional mortar battalion was replaced by a divisional machine gun battalion. The division was sent to the Eastern front, as part of the Italian Army in Russia. The division guarded the army's line of communications and rear area against Soviet partisans.

Novopostoyalovka is a rural locality in Novopostoyalovskoye Rural Settlement, Rossoshansky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia. The population was 261 as of 2010. There are 2 streets. Between January 19 and 20, 1943, Italian Alpini attacked the village, leading to the Battle of Novopostoyalovka, one of the fiercest and costliest battles fought by the Royal Italian Army during the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Reverberi</span> Italian general

Luigi Reverberi was an Italian general during World War II.

The 8th Marching Division was a short-lived division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. In the Italian military the term "Marching" refers to temporary units based in Italy to manage replacements for the operational units at the front.

The Mountain Artillery Group "Asiago" is an inactive mountain artillery group of the Italian Army, which was based in Toblach in South Tyrol. The group consisted of mountain artillery batteries, had been formed in December 1914 and served in World War I on the Italian front. During World War II the batteries were assigned to the Alpine Artillery Group "Val Camonica" of the 2nd Alpine Artillery Regiment "Tridentina", which distinguished itself on the Eastern Front. The Mountain Artillery Group "Asiago" was formed in 1952 and assigned to the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment of the Alpine Brigade "Tridentina". In 1975 the group became an autonomous unit and was granted a flag and coat of arms. After the end of the Cold War the group was disbanded in 1991.

References

1 2 3 4 5 "Gli indomabili soldati dei ghiacci" (PDF). Italian Army - Rivista Militare: 100–113. January–February 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
↑ "Divisione Vicenza - Storia". Comitato Divisione Vicenza. Retrieved 5 October 2020.

Bibliography

David Glantz and Jonathan House, The Stalingrad Trilogy: Vol. 3. Endgame at Stalingrad: Book 2: December 1942 - February 194, University Press of Kansas, 2014. ISBN 978-0-7006-1954-2.
Hamilton, H. Sacrifice on the Steppe. Casemate, 2011 (English)
The Italian War on the Eastern Front, 1941–1943: Operations, Myths and Memories by Bastian Matteo Scianna (2019).
Eugenio Corti (1997). Few Returned: Twenty-Eight Days on the Russian Front, Winter 1942-1943: Diary of Twenty-eight Days on the Russian Front, Winter, 1942-43. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 9780826211156.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Rivista-1] 1 2 3 4 5 "Gli indomabili soldati dei ghiacci" (PDF). Italian Army - Rivista Militare: 100–113. January–February 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2020.

[2] "Divisione Vicenza - Storia". Comitato Divisione Vicenza. Retrieved 5 October 2020.

[1]

[2]