The Battle of Arbuzovka is a battle that took place from December 22 to December 25, 1942 in the Arbuzovka Valley (near Chertkovo, Russia), between the Italian and German troops and the Soviet troops in the framework of the Battle of Stalingrad.
| Battle of Arbuzovka |
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| date | December 22 - 25, 1942 |
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| A place | Arbuzovka, near Chertkovo, Soviet Union |
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| Total | USSR victory |
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Francesco Zingales
Roberto Lerici | Vasily Ivanovich Kuznetsov
Ivan Kulagin |
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over 25,000 soldiers | unknown |
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10,000 soldiers killed;
5,000 soldiers wounded;
10,000 - 15,000 captured [1] | unknown |
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During the retreat of the German units and its satellites during Operation Small Saturn , the remnants of the Torino 52nd Motorized Division, retreating towards Chertkovo, were cut off from the 8th Army and surrounded by the 35th Guards Rifle Division of the Red Army in the Arbuzovka Valley 30 km east of Chertkovo, where the temperature in the winter period often decreased to −50 ° C. Together with them, 6,000 soldiers from the 298th German Infantry Division and the remnants of the 4th division of the Black Shirts “January 3”, which included yourself the remnants of the 63rd Assault Legion Blackheaded nicknames "Tagliamento" and the 10th Legion Blackshirts "Montebello", under the command of Colonel Antonio Galardo. [2]
The battle lasted three days, during which the Italian and German forces tried to break through the defenses of the Soviet formations and break out of encirclement. These attempts, including several bayonet attacks by Italian units, were repulsed with heavy losses for Axis units, and the situation became so hopeless that the Italian regimental commanders were ordered to burn the flags of their units. Severe cold, exhaustion and hunger worsened the situation even more, along with the complete encirclement of the forces in the valley and the dense fire of the Soviet troops. Parts of the Axis soldiers committed suicide out of desperation. The Soviet parliamentarians three times offered to surrender: in the first two cases the proposal was rejected, but many Italian soldiers individually agreed to lay down their arms and were sent to prisoner of war camps. For the third time, during negotiations between the Soviet and Italian sides, an SS soldier shot the negotiators. [3]
On December 25, 1942, after a series of fierce attacks that turned into hand-to-hand combat, the remnants of the Italian and German units managed to break through the encirclement and reach Chertkovo the next day. At least 10,000 dead, 5,000 wounded Axis soldiers remained on the battlefield. From 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers were captured by the Soviet troops. After this battle, the Italian soldiers began to call this area "Death Valley". [four]
