Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze operation

By the end of October 25, the German commanders managed secretly to regroup the 1st Tank Army of Army Group A and concentrate its main forces (2 tank and 1 motorized divisions) on the Nalchik direction to capture Ordzhonikidze in order to then develop a strike on Grozny - Baku and on the Georgian Military Highway on Tbilisi . The northern group ( Lieutenant-General I.I. Maslennikov ) consisting of the 9th , 37th , 44th and 58th armies, two separate infantry and one cavalry corps and the 4th air army occupied defense in a band of about 350 km wide. Its command, without revealing the rearrangement of enemy troops, was preparing an offensive on the Malgobeksko-Mozdok direction, where it concentrated its main forces. On the Nalchik direction, the 37th Army , weakened by the battles, defended its tanks and defended itself. Here, on a six-kilometer breakthrough, he created a threefold superiority in men, an elevenfold one in implements, a tenfold one in mortars and an absolute one in tanks.

The command of the Transcaucasian Front did not expect an offensive on the Nalchik direction, because there was a weak group of Soviet troops here. The larger forces were concentrated in the zone of the 9th Army of General K. A. Koroteev , where an offensive operation was being prepared. The military councils of the 37th and Northern Group of Forces failed to unravel the enemy’s plan, despite reports from the intelligence of the 9th and 37th armies about the regrouping they were making. She was considered as an event to strengthen the defense.

The offensive of the Northern Group’s forces in the Malgobek-Mozdok direction was planned to begin on November 3. However, on October 25, early in the morning, about 70 enemy aircraft made a powerful raid on the troops and the headquarters of the 37th Army, located in Dolinsky. Communication of the Northern Group with the army headquarters was interrupted. General Kozlov found himself without contact with the Northern Group of Forces and lost control of his troops. At 10 o'clock , the 2nd Romanian Mountain Infantry Division , reinforced by German units, after a short but strong fire raid went on the offensive. Tanks with assault forces of machine gunners under the cover of smoke screens struck the junction of the 295th and 392nd infantry divisions, in the general direction of Nalchik . The 295th Infantry Division of Colonel N. G. Safaryan was forced to retreat up to 8 km per day in selected sectors. The 392nd Division , commanded by Colonel G. I. Kuparadze , was cut off and pressed against the mountains. The divisions of this division, driven into the Baksan gorge , had to go to Transcaucasia through the passes of Elbrus . On the morning of October 26, he resumed the offensive and in the afternoon approached Nalchik. The Germans believed that the Soviet troops could no longer stop them. On the same day, the headquarters of Army Group A reported to Hitler’s headquarters : “In the 1st Tank Army area, the attack on Nalchik, apparently, caught the enemy off guard. Already on the first day, tank divisions advanced to Psygans , some of their units turned north and created prerequisites for encircling approximately four enemy divisions. The destruction of this grouping should end in a few days. Opponent pushed into the mountains. It seems that the advance of tank forces in the southern and then eastward to Vladikavkaz will open up broad prospects ... "

On October 26, the 13th and 23rd tank divisions hit the Mayskoye , Kotlyarevskaya area. Having broken through the weak defense, the German tanks quickly spread in a southwesterly direction and by the end of the day advanced more than 20 km.

The commander of the Transcaucasian Front, General of the Army Tyulenev, sent the 155th Infantry Brigade from Sukhumi and the 317th and 319th Infantry Divisions from the 58th Army to the disposal of the Northern Group of Forces. In addition, the newly formed 10th Rifle Corps under the command of Major General P. E. Lovyagin was pulling into the breakthrough area. On the night of October 27, he was to take up defensive positions along the eastern bank of the Urukh River , from the Terek to Chikoly . The corps was subordinate to the right - flank 275th Infantry Division and the 52nd Tank Brigade . The 11th Guards Rifle Corps, Major General I. P. Rosly, was ordered to take up defensive along the outer perimeter of the Ordzhonikidze defensive area. The enemy, meanwhile, continued to continuously advance, dropping parts of General Kozlov to the foothills of the Main Caucasus Range. There was a gap between the divisions of the 37th Army, the section from Uruha to Chikola was completely open. Created a direct threat of a breakthrough of German tanks to Ordzhonikidze.

October 28, breaking through the defense of the 37th Army, the enemy occupied the city of Nalchik. The command of the Northern Group, trying to stop their advance, advanced on the night of October 30 to the Digora region a tank brigade, reinforced with anti-tank artillery, and to a section of the mouth of the Ardon river, Suadag - a rifle division from the 58th army. This made it possible to slow the advance of the enemy. However, the situation remained tense.

On October 29 and 30, the German command regrouped the 13th and 23rd tank divisions to the west bank of the Urukh river. On October 31, units of the 1st German Tank Army attacked in the Chikola area and went into the rear of the 10th Rifle Corps , defeating its headquarters. Breaking through the defense of the corps, the enemy launched an offensive against Ardon .

Overcoming the resistance of the Soviet troops, the Germans occupied the Alagir on November 1 and crossed the Ardon River. Their aircraft was heavily bombarded by Ordzhonikidze . On the same day, their aircraft inflicted a heavy bombing attack on Ordzhonikidze. On these tense days, General Tyulenov decided to abandon the planned attack on the Ishchersky direction and to transfer the 10th Guards Rifle Corps from the 44th Army within 2 days. The 2nd and 5th Guards Tank Brigades also went there. In addition, five regiments of anti-tank artillery and three regiments of rocket artillery from the 9th army and a reserve commander of the northern group were concentrated in the Ordzhonikidze area. Thanks to the measures taken, the enemy’s advance was slowed down, but the situation remained extremely dangerous. Strengthened and infantry compounds ^[1] .

On the morning of November 2, the enemy, with the support of almost 100 tanks, broke through the outer edge of the Ordzhonikidze defensive area in the Fiagdon sector (20 km west of Ordzhonikidze), Dzuarikau, and went to the suburb of Ordzhonikidze. By the end of the day, he captured Gizel . The further advance of the German troops was stopped by the approaching reserves of the Northern Group.

The Soviet troops could not restrain the onslaught of a strong tank group, and yet they did everything to stop the advance of the enemy. In the area of Fiagdon, units of the 11th Guards Rifle Corps under the command of General I. P. Rosly, having knocked out 30 German tanks, did not move away from the city walls.

These days a large load fell on the pilots of the 4th Air Army . Despite the bad weather, they made about 2,200 aircraft sorties in the Nalchik direction and within 12 days spent about 100 air battles, during which 60 enemy aircraft were shot down ^[2] .

The Germans continued to try to break through to Ordzhonikidze. Capturing Gizel and concentrating up to 150 tanks in the area, on November 3 and 4 they tried to expand the breakthrough, but everywhere were thrown back with heavy losses for them. On November 4, the headquarters of the 1st German Tank Army reported to the headquarters of Army Group A that “they would have to suspend the attack on Vladikavkaz until the area south of the Terek River was cleared from the enemy and this eliminated the danger of striking the flank and rear tank divisions. However, not tactical considerations were the reason that the Germans stopped the attack on Ordzhonikidze. They were forced to this by the stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops and militia units, as well as heavy losses.

November 5, the German offensive stopped. Now the German command was thinking not about the persecution of the Soviet troops, but about protecting their own. On that day, the headquarters of the 1st German Tank Army received an order that said: “... on the entire Eastern Front, on the Russian revolutionary holiday of November 7, we should expect major offensive operations; The Fuhrer expresses the hope that the troops will protect every inch of the earth to the last man. "

The narrow “bag” in which the German troops found themselves under Ordzhonikidze was increasingly tightly attached to the units arriving from the reserve of the Northern Group of Forces. There was a real possibility of complete encirclement and destruction of the enemy in the area of ​​Gizel. The commander of the Northern Group of Forces decided to launch a counterattack with three infantry and four tank brigades. The main forces of the group received defensive tasks. This decision was affected by the caution of the command and fears for the direction of Grozny, the desire to cover it with deeply echeloned defense.

On the morning of November 6, the 11th Guards Rifle Corps of the 10th Guards and 57th Rifle Brigades, the 5th Guards and 63rd Tank Brigades struck along the eastern bank of the River Fiagdon on Dzuarikau . At noon , the 10th Guards Rifle Corps, by the forces of the 4th Guards Rifle Brigade, together with the 52nd and 2nd Tank Brigades, launched an attack on Gizel. Due to the successful advance of the 11th Guards Rifle Corps, the main forces of the 23rd Panzer Division of the Germans were almost completely surrounded. They had only a narrow corridor in the area of Mayramadag not more than 3 km wide. German units made strenuous efforts to break out of encirclement and save their group.

Fierce battles were fought in Suar gorge beyond Mayramadag (12 km west of Ordzhonikidze), where the 34th separate rifle brigade of Colonel A.V. Vorozhischeva defended from cadets of naval schools defended. In an effort to help the 13th Panzer Division, on November 9, the German command threw into battle the 2nd Romanian Mountain Rifle Division and the German Brandenburg regiment , supported by 60 tanks. More than ten days, the sailors defended the line. They did not allow the enemy to capture Mayramadag and penetrate into the Suar gorge. He could not even help his group surrounded by Gizel.

On the morning of November 11, the troops of the left flank of the 9th Army broke down the resistance of the German rear guards , captured Gisel , and in the afternoon occupied New Saniba . The next day, the 9th Army reached the line of the Mayramadag and Fiagdon rivers. Its further advance was stopped by the stubborn resistance of the enemy, who organized the defense along the western bank of the Fiagdon river.

The Nalchik defensive operation of the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front ended with the defeat of the Gizel group of the Wehrmacht. The Soviet troops captured 140 tanks, 70 guns of various calibers and other trophies. German-Romanian units lost killed more than 5,000 soldiers and officers.

The underestimation of the forces and capabilities of the Transcaucasian Front and the resilience of the Soviet troops led to the failure of the plans of the command of the German 1st Tank Army. Her units could not overcome the Soviet defense to the full depth and develop tactical success in operational. As a result of the Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze operation, the last attempt of the Wehrmacht to break through to the Grozny and Baku oil-bearing regions and to Transcaucasia was thwarted. ^[3]

Nalchik defensive operation took place during the brutal battles of Stalingrad . The German command was looking for new reserves to strengthen its Stalingrad grouping. It intended to take these reserves from the Caucasus as well.

In 2007, the city ​​of Vladikavkaz was awarded the title of the City of Military Glory .

March 25, 2010 the decree of the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev Nalchik awarded the honorary title of the Russian Federation " City of Military Glory " ^[4] .

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• Isaev A.V. When suddenness was gone. The history of the Second World War, which we did not know. - M .: Yauza, Eksmo, 2006.
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Memoirs

• Grechko A. A. Battle for the Caucasus. - M .: Military Publishing, 1967
• Tyulenev I. V. Three wars. - M .: Military Publishing, 1972.
• Maltsev E. E. In the years of testing. - M .: Military Publishing, 1979.
• Heinz Guderian. Erinnerungen eines Soldaten. - Heidelberg, 1951

• Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze operation of 1942
• Map of the Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze operation of 1942
• Romania in the Second World War