Siege of Mogilev

Last updated
Siege of Mogilev
Part of the Battle of Smolensk
Date3–26 July 1941 [1]
Location
Mogilev, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
53°55′N30°21′E / 53.917°N 30.350°E / 53.917; 30.350
Result German victory
Belligerents
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Heinz Guderian
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Wilhelm Fahrmbacher 		Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg Fyodor Bakunin   †
Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg Pyotr Filatov   †
Units involved
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg VII Army Corps

The siege of Mogilev was a three-week encirclement of Mogilev undertaken by German troops, part of the Battle of Smolensk during World War II. After the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, German troops broke through Soviet lines. Mogilev was heavily fortified and bypassed by German tank forces. German infantry steadily reduced the pocket, and by late July, the defending Soviet troops had run out of ammunition and other necessary supplies. As a result, Soviet commander Fyodor Bakunin went against orders and ordered a breakout. A small number of Soviet troops were able to reach Soviet lines, and 35,000 were reported captured by German troops. The defense of Mogilev tied down four German infantry divisions, delaying their attack on Gomel for a week.

Contents

Background

In late June, Soviet troops began constructing defenses around Mogilev and on the Drut River 19 kilometers to the west of the city. The city's buildings were fortified and minefields and trenches were created. Attacks from the XXXXVII Motorized Corps and the XXIV Motorized Corps were repulsed. Heinz Guderian, commander of Panzer Group 2, decided to bypass the city instead of attacking it. He ordered the XXXXVI and XXIV Motorized Corps to head for the Sozh River. [2]

Map of the Battle of Smolensk, showing the siege of Mogilev Smolensk 1941 Diagram.jpg
Map of the Battle of Smolensk, showing the siege of Mogilev

Siege

Encirclement of Mogilev

On 13 July, 13th Army commander Vasily Gerasimenko withdrew his army east towards the Sozh River, leaving the forces in Mogilev under the command of 61st Rifle Corps commander Fyodor Bakunin. [3]

XXXXVI Motorized Corps' SS Das Reich Motorized Division took blocking positions north of Chausy to prevent Soviet units at Mogilev from escaping to the northeast on 13 July. The XXIV Motorized Corps advanced east from the Bykhov bridgehead on 14 July. Chausy and Propoysk were captured the next day, completing the encirclement of Mogilev. Along with the Grossdeutschland Motorized Infantry Regiment and the SS Das Reich Motorized Division, the 3rd Panzer and 10th Motorized Divisions of XXIV Motorized Corps maintained the encirclement until 17 July. At this time, the Soviet troops in Mogilev included the 61st Rifle Corps' 53rd Rifle Division, 110th Rifle Division, and 172nd Rifle Division, the 20th Mechanized Corps' 26th and 38th Tank and 210th Motorized Divisions. Most of the 20th Rifle Corps' 132nd, 137th, and 160th Rifle Divisions were also in the encirclement, along with parts of the 148th and 187th Rifle Divisions from the 48th Rifle Corps, and the 1st Motorized Division. [4]

On the night of 16 July, Gerasimenko ordered all troops of the 13th Army except for the 61st Rifle Corps and the 20th Mechanized Corps to withdraw east to the Sozh. [5] A group led by 172nd Rifle Division commander Mikhail Romanov was the core of the defense. Romanov's group included the 110th and 172nd Rifle Divisions, remnants or regiments from the 132nd, 137th, 160th, and 143rd Rifle Divisions, as well as the remnants of the 20th Mechanized Corps. [6] The Soviet defenders also included units of the People's Militia. [7]

Attacks of VII Army Corps

Between 16 and 17 July, the troops of the German 2nd Army reached the Dnieper. After relieving the units of Panzer Group 2, 2nd Army commander Maximilian von Weichs ordered VII Army Corps commander Wilhelm Fahrmbacher to lead the operations to take Mogilev. On 20 July, the 7th Infantry Division [8] and 23rd Infantry Division [9] attacked the city from the west. The attack was repulsed by entrenched Soviet troops and artillery fire. German troops crossed the Dnieper on the northern and southern flanks of the position, capturing a bridge over the Dnieper and breaking through Soviet defenses near Buinichi, only 8 kilometers from the center of the city. The 15th [10] and 78th Infantry Divisions became part of the VII Army Corps so that it could close the encirclement. The 15th Infantry Division was placed between the 7th and 23rd Divisions, and the 78th was located southeast of the city. On 21 July the 9th Regiment of the 23rd Division outflanked Soviet positions on a bridge into Mogilev from the southeast, capturing it after heavy fighting. The 23rd broke through the Soviet inner defenses along the bend of the Dnieper and repulsed multiple heavy counterattacks. Late that day, Bakunin reported to 21st Army headquarters, stating that artillery shells had been "used up" and requesting more ammunition. [11] TB-3 bombers had attempted to airdrop supplies, although a large number landed behind German lines and a large number retrieved by Soviet troops were of the incorrect caliber. Elements of the 1st Motorized Division fought their way into the encirclement from the north. [11]

On 22 July the 78th Infantry Division repulsed an attempt by Soviet troops to fight into the pocket from the northeast. It also repulsed an attempt by the 61st Rifle Corps to break out of the encirclement in its eastern sector. During the night the attacks of the 78th Infantry Division broke through the southern part of the Soviet lines, capturing 5,000 and large numbers of equipment. To stop the supply drops, German troops deployed Barrage balloons. On 24 July, the 23rd, 15th, 7th, and 78th Infantry Divisions advanced to the center of the city, beginning street fighting. By late 25 July, the Soviet troops in Mogilev had used up all of the ammunition, food, and fuel. [12]

Soviet breakout

Bakunin ordered Soviet troops in Mogilev to break out to the east on the night of 26–27 July, by which point the troops had almost entirely run out of ammunition. This contravened orders from higher headquarters. Thousands of wounded Soviet troops were left behind in the city with doctors. A small number of Soviet troops were able to escape and reach Soviet lines. Romanov was captured after his column attempted to join up with a German convoy and was destroyed. [12]

Aftermath

Western Front commander Semyon Timoshenko reported on 27 July that Bakunin had been turned over to a military tribunal for his ordering the breakout. German troops reported capturing 35,000 soldiers and 245 guns during the operation. The 23rd Infantry Division lost more than 1,000 men in the operation. [9] The defense of Mogilev prevented German troops from using its bridges for a week, although German troops built temporary bridges over the Dnieper in six other places. The siege of Mogilev delayed 2nd Army's attack on Gomel for more than a week. This delay allowed Timoshenko to bring up reinforcements for the Battle of Smolensk. [13] Mogilev later was called "Gallant Mogilev" and "the Belarusian Madrid" in Soviet sources. [14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Yeryomenko 1965, pp. 109, 189.
  2. ↑ Glantz 2010, p. 120.
  3. ↑ Glantz 2010, p. 107.
  4. ↑ Glantz 2010, pp. 121–122.
  5. ↑ Glantz 2010, p. 275.
  6. ↑ Glantz 2010, p. 278.
  7. ↑ Yeryomenko 1965, pp. 138–140.
  8. ↑ Mitcham 2007, p. 44.
  9. 1 2 Mitcham 2006, p. 185.
  10. ↑ Mitcham 2007, p. 55.
  11. 1 2 Glantz 2010, p. 279.
  12. 1 2 Glantz 2010, p. 280.
  13. ↑ Glantz 2010, p. 281.
  14. ↑ Glantz 2010, p. 119.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kiev (1941)</span> Battle on the Eastern Front of World War II

The First Battle of Kiev was the German name for the major battle that resulted in an encirclement of Soviet troops in the vicinity of Kiev during World War II, the capital and most populous city of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. This encirclement is the largest encirclement in the history of warfare by number of troops. The battle occurred from 7 July to 26 September 1941 as part of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Front (Soviet Union)</span> WW2 Soviet Red Army formation

The Western Front was a front of the Red Army, one of the Red Army Fronts during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Uman</span> German offensive in the WWII

The Battle of Uman was the World War II German offensive in Uman, Ukraine against the 6th and 12th Soviet Armies. In a three-week period, the Wehrmacht encircled and annihilated the two Soviet armies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XXXIX Panzer Corps</span> Military unit

The XXXIX Panzer Corps was a German panzer corps which saw action on the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitebsk–Orsha offensive</span>

The Vitebsk–Orsha offensive was part of the Belorussian strategic offensive of the Red Army in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bagration. During the offensive, Soviet troops captured Vitebsk and Orsha. A Soviet breakthrough during the offensive helped achieve the encirclement of German troops in the subsequent Minsk offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mogilev offensive</span> 1944 Red Army offensive in Byelorussia

The Mogilev offensive was part of the Belorussian strategic offensive – commonly known as Operation Bagration – of the Red Army on the Eastern Front of World War II in the summer of 1944. Its goals were to capture the city of Mogilev and to pin down and trap the bulk of the German Fourth Army. The offensive fulfilled both objectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">252nd Rifle Division</span> Military unit

The 252nd Rifle Division was the eighth of a group of 10 regular rifle divisions formed from cadres of NKVD border and internal troops as standard Red Army rifle divisions, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District.

The 50th Army was a Soviet field army during World War II. It was formed in mid-August, 1941 and deployed on the southwest approaches to Moscow. Partly encircled and destroyed by German Second Panzer Army in the opening stages of Operation Typhoon, enough of the army escaped that it could be reinforced to successfully defend the city of Tula in November. It was at this time that the 50th came under the command of Lt. Gen. Ivan Boldin, who continued in command until February, 1945. During most of its career the army was relatively small and accordingly served in secondary roles. It finished the war in East Prussia, under the command of Lt. Gen. Fyodor Ozerov, as part of 3rd Belorussian Front.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">293rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)</span> Military unit

The 293rd Rifle Division began service as a Red Army rifle division shortly after the German invasion. It was largely based on what would become the shtat of July 29, 1941. The division was initially assigned to 40th Army of Southwestern Front when that Army was formed on August 26. It served in several clashes with the German 2nd Panzer Group in the vicinity of Korop and was therefore outside the area encircled by 2nd and 1st Panzer Groups in September, spending the winter along the front near Kursk. It fought in the unsuccessful Soviet offensive on Kharkiv in May, 1942 as part of 21st Army, suffering significant casualties in the process. During June and July the remnants of the division fought along the Don River against the German summer offensive until it was pulled back into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding. It returned to the front in October, again as part of 21st Army, near Stalingrad, where it played a leading role in the encirclement and destruction of German 6th Army in January 1943, for which it was raised to Guards status as the 66th Guards Rifle Division as the battle was still ongoing.

The 61st Rifle Corps was a Red Army infantry corps during World War II, formed twice. The 61st Rifle Corps was formed firmed in Tula during September 1939. After Operation Barbarossa, it was transferred to the front in Belarus and fought in the Battle of Smolensk. After suffering heavy losses at Smolensk, it was disbanded in early August 1941. Reformed in spring 1943, the corps fought in Operation Kutuzov, the Lublin–Brest Offensive and the Berlin Offensive. The corps was disbanded after the end of the war in summer 1945.

The 169th Rifle Division began forming as an infantry division of the Red Army in the Ukraine Military District in August 1939, based on the shtat of the following month. It nominally saw service in the occupation force in western Ukraine in September, but was not in any state to see combat. It played a more active role in the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in June/July 1940. The German invasion in June 1941 found it still in Ukraine, as part of 55th Rifle Corps fighting back to the Dniepr until it was nearly destroyed. It joined the reformed 28th Army after that Army was assigned to Southwestern Front. In May it formed part of the Front's northern shock group for the offensive intended to liberate Kharkiv. While initially hampered by the failure to take the German strongpoint at Ternovaya it gradually developed momentum in cooperation with 175th Rifle Division and ended up deep into the German positions before being struck by an armored counterattack on May 20 and being driven back to near its starting line, at considerable cost. In June it was nearly encircled during Operation Wilhelm, but managed to escape, again with serious losses. At the end of July it was removed to the Stalingrad Military District for rebuilding, joining the reformed 28th Army in the Kalmyk Steppe, but was then moved north in October to 64th Army south of Stalingrad and played a minor role in an offensive to break into the city. At the start of Operation Uranus it was in 57th Army south of the city and quickly penetrated the Romanian positions and exploited westward until coming up against German positions on the southern edge of what was now the Stalingrad Kessel (Pocket). During the operation that eliminated the pocket in January 1943 it was again under 64th Army, now in Don Front. Following the German surrender the 169th was removed to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and sent north to join 11th Guards Army in Western Front, and under these command it took part in the offensive against the Oryol salient in July and August. With the successful conclusion of this operation the division was moved to 63rd Army, which became part of Belorussian Front in October, following an advance through northeastern Ukraine. It saw action in eastern Belarus through the fall and winter, being moved to 3rd Army after the 63rd was disbanded, and it would remain in this Army for nearly the entire remainder of the war. In late February 1944 the 169th was awarded a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Rahachow. After a pause in operations in the spring the division fought in Operation Bagration, including taking part in the clearing of the city of Babruysk, and during the pursuit of the defeated forces of Army Group Center won the Order of the Red Banner after taking Vawkavysk, now as part of 2nd Belorussian Front. Before the offensive culminated it advanced past Białystok nearly to the borders of East Prussia. During the Vistula-Oder Offensive in January 1945 the 169th crossed that border and fought in there into March, briefly as part of 3rd Belorussian Front, winning the Order of Suvorov and Order of Kutuzov in the process. It was moved, with 3rd Army, back to 1st Belorussian Front in time for the final assault on Berlin, and fought in the encirclement battle with German 9th Army southeast of the city in the last days of April. It ended the war along the Elbe River and, although it was slated for disbandment during the summer, it continued in service in Belarus until June 1946.

The 20th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army. Formed in March 1941, the corps was almost entirely destroyed in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk and the Battle of Smolensk, in which it defended Mogilev.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fyodor Bakunin</span> Soviet major general (1898–1984)

Fyodor Alexeyevich Bakunin was a Soviet Army major general. Bakunin briefly served in the Imperial Russian Army in 1917 and in 1919 joined the Red Army, fighting in the Russian Civil War. He became an officer and in 1938 was appointed to lead the 11th Rifle Division. A year later Bakunin became commander of the 2nd Rifle Corps. Nearly a year later, he became commander of the 61st Rifle Corps. The corps fought in the Battle of Smolensk after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Bakunin led the corps during the Siege of Mogilev, in which it was destroyed. He escaped the encirclement and became a teacher at the Frunze Military Academy. In the fall of 1943 he was given deputy command of the 10th Rifle Corps and in May 1944 command of the 63rd Rifle Corps. Bakunin led the corps until 1947, when he retired.

Mikhail Timofeyevich Romanov was a Red Army major general. Romanov served with the Imperial Russian Army in World War I and joined the Red Army; he held command positions during the Russian Civil War. In 1939, Romanov became commander of the 185th Rifle Division. He attended courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff and became commander of the 172nd Rifle Division. Romanov led the division in the Siege of Mogilev and was taken prisoner during the Soviet breakout attempt. He was sent to the Hammelburg POW camp and died there in December 1941.

Leonid Grigorevich Petrovsky was a Soviet lieutenant general. He was the oldest son of Grigory Petrovsky. He was born in what is now Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine. He was promoted to Komkor from Komdiv in 1937. While in command of forces in Central Asia, he was removed from command and expelled from the army. He was not executed like many of his colleagues. In 1940, he was reinstated in the army. He was a recipient of the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Patriotic War. Less than a month after his death, his younger brother, Peter was executed on September 11, despite a request from his father for his release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">61st Cavalry Division (Soviet Union)</span> Military unit

The 61st Cavalry Division was a cavalry division of the Red Army that served in the first years of the Great Patriotic War. It was formed in September – October, 1941, and saw its first actions to the south of Stalingrad during the German siege of that city in the autumn of 1942. When the Soviet counteroffensive, Operation Uranus, began in November the 61st formed a significant part of the mobile forces of its 51st Army. After the positions of Romanian 4th Army were broken through the division took part in the exploitation to the southwest, but became overextended and vulnerable to the mobile German reinforcements arriving to attempt a breakthrough to their Sixth Army. The 61st suffered such severe losses that it had to be withdrawn to the reserves in December, and was later disbanded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Nevel (1943)</span> Military action on the Eastern Front in World War II

The Battle of Nevel was a successful military operation conducted by the Red Army in the Pskov Oblast of western Russia and in northern Belarus during World War II, from October 6 to roughly December 16, 1943, although fighting persisted in the area into the new year.

The 204th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was destroyed in the first weeks of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The first formation was based on the shtat of July 29, 1941, and it then remained for nine months in the far east of Siberia training and organizing before it was finally sent by rail to the Stalingrad region in July 1942 where it joined the 64th Army southwest of the city. During the following months it took part in the defensive battles and later the offensive that cut off the German 6th Army in November. In the last days of the battle for the city it took the surrender of the remnants of a Romanian infantry division. Following the Axis defeat the division was recognized for its role when it was redesignated as the 78th Guards Rifle Division on March 1, 1943.

The 1940 formation of the 160th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed as part of the prewar buildup of forces, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. The division completed its formation at Gorki in the Moscow Military District and at the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union was in the same area, assigned to the 20th Rifle Corps in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. It was moved west by rail to join the 13th Army of Western Front in the first days of July 1941 in the Mogilev area. At the end of the month the division was assigned to the reserves of Central Front before becoming part of Operations Group Akimenko in the reserves of Bryansk Front. In mid-September it was encircled and forced to break out; in the process it lost its commanding officer, much of its command staff and so many men and heavy weapons that it was briefly written off. Its number was reallocated to the 6th Moscow Militia Division and for the next 18 months there were two 160th Rifle Divisions serving concurrently. By the start of Operation Typhoon at the end of September it was in Operations Group Ermakov; while falling back to southwest of Kursk it managed to avoid encirclement but remained barely combat-effective due to its heavy losses.

The 187th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed just after the start of the Second World War, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. It began forming on that same date, in the Kharkov Military District, and while it was officially part of the Active Army when the invasion of Poland began four days later it was not nearly complete enough to take part. At the start of the German invasion it was in reserve in the 45th Rifle Corps, but soon began moving to the front, again joining the Active Army on July 2, 1941. It was initially assigned to 21st Army in Western Front, then moved to 13th Army in the same Front, before returning to the 21st. Part of the division was encircled and destroyed in the hard-fought battle for Mogilev. Late in August the 187th was transferred, with its Army, to Bryansk Front, just days before the 2nd Panzer Group began driving south to encircle Southwestern Front east of Kyiv. The division was directly in the path of this drive, and despite being withdrawn across the Desna River on September 5, it was pocketed by September 16 and largely destroyed within days, although not officially disbanded until November 1.

References

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.