Feats in the battle for the Caucasus. War in the Caucasus, Great Patriotic War in the Caucasus Mountains

BATTLE FOR THE CAUCASUS 1942-43, during the Great Patriotic War, a set of defensive (July 25-31, 1942) and offensive (10/1-9/1943) operations of Soviet troops in order to defend the Caucasus and defeat the German and Romanian troops that invaded its borders. On July 25, the troops of the German Army Group “A” (commander - Field Marshal W. List, from September - A. Hitler, from November - Colonel General E. von Kleist; 167 thousand people, over 4.5 thousand guns and mortars, over 1.1 thousand tanks, about 1 thousand aircraft) from bridgeheads on the Don River went on the offensive against the troops of the Southern Front (Lieutenant General R. Ya. Malinovsky) and part of the forces of the North Caucasus Front (Marshal Soviet Union S. M. Budyonny) - a total of 112 thousand people, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars, 121 tanks, 130 aircraft. Taking advantage of their overwhelming superiority in tanks and aircraft, German tank and motorized units broke through the Soviet defenses and reached the Zadonsk and Salsk steppes. On July 28, in order to improve the leadership of troops from the Southern and North Caucasian fronts, a united North Caucasian Front (S. M. Budyonny) was formed, to which the Black Sea Fleet (Vice Admiral F. S. Oktyabrsky) and the Azov Military Flotilla (Rear Admiral S. G.) were quickly subordinated . Gorshkov). Although at the end of July the enemy was forced to turn part of his forces towards the Stalingrad direction, German troops captured Salsk on July 30, Voroshilovsky (Stavropol) on August 3, Maykop on August 9, and Pyatigorsk on August 10. Having avoided encirclement, the troops of the North Caucasus Front, during stubborn battles, retreated to the northwestern spurs of the Main Caucasus Range by mid-August and on September 1 were transformed into the Black Sea Group of Forces (Colonel General Ya. T. Cherevichenko, from October - Lieutenant General I. E. . Petrov) of the Transcaucasian Front (Army General I.V. Tyulenev) for the defense of the coastal direction. To prevent the breakthrough of German troops through the Main Caucasus Ridge and bypassing it from the east into Transcaucasia, formations of the 46th Army took up defensive positions on the passes (Major General V.F. Sergatskov, from August 28 - Lieutenant General K.N. Leselidze) , and along the Terek River and in the direction of Grozny and Makhachkala - the Northern Group (Lieutenant General I. I. Maslennikov) of the Transcaucasian Front. In September - December 1942, having exhausted and bled the enemy in heavy battles, Soviet troops stopped his advance in the coastal direction in the Novorossiysk region, on the passes of the Main Caucasus Range, in the Ordzhonikidze region (Vladikavkaz) and along the Terek River. Having suffered heavy losses (over 100 thousand people), the troops of Army Group A went on the defensive.

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The defeat of German troops and their allies in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-43 created the threat of encirclement and defeat of the enemy in the Caucasus. On January 1, 1942, the German command began to withdraw its troops under the cover of strong rearguards from the Mozdok area. On the same day, the troops of the Southern (former Stalingrad Front) Front (Colonel General A. I. Eremenko, from February - R. Ya. Malinovsky) began an offensive on the city of Rostov-on-Don (liberated on February 14), but, having met stubborn enemy resistance, were unable to cut off his escape route across the Don River. The pursuit of the retreating enemy by the troops of the Northern Group of the Transcaucasian Front began only on January 3 and was carried out indecisively and disorganized. The Black Sea Group of Forces launched an offensive on January 11 in Maikop and on January 16 in Krasnodar directions, but was unable to prevent the withdrawal of German troops. The headquarters of the Supreme High Command demanded to detain the enemy in the North Caucasus and encircle his troops. For this purpose, on January 24, the Northern Group of Forces was transformed into the North Caucasus Front [I. I. Maslennikov (from January 30, 1943, Colonel General), from May - I. E. Petrov (from August 27, 1943, Colonel General)], on February 5, the Black Sea Group of Forces was included in its composition. In order to encircle enemy troops in the Novorossiysk area, on the night of February 4, an amphibious assault was landed, which captured a small bridgehead (Malaya Zemlya) south of Novorossiysk, but did not complete the main task. During the Krasnodar operation (began on February 9), Krasnodar was liberated (February 12). Continuing the offensive, Soviet troops reached the Taman Peninsula in early May, where they met stubborn enemy resistance at the Gotenkopf defense line. All attempts to break through this line in the spring and summer of 1943 were unsuccessful. Fierce air battles took place in the air (see Air Battle in Kuban 1943). In September - October, troops of the North Caucasus Front carried out the Novorossiysk-Taman Operation of 1943, liberating the Taman Peninsula and ending the battle for the Caucasus.

The victory in the battle for the Caucasus was of great military and political significance. The enemy's plans to seize the richest grain regions, oil sources, and penetrate into the regions of the Near and Middle East were thwarted. The losses of German troops during the offensive operations of the Soviet troops alone amounted to over 280 thousand people, over 7 thousand guns and mortars, over 1.3 thousand tanks and about 2 thousand aircraft. The losses of Soviet troops for the entire period of the battle for the Caucasus were: irrevocable - over 340 thousand people, sanitary - about 600 thousand people.

Lit.: Grechko A. A. Battle for the Caucasus. 2nd ed. M., 1973; People's feat in the battle for the Caucasus. M., 1981; Tike V. March to the Caucasus: The Battle for Oil 1942-1943 M., 2005.

On July 25, 1942, the Battle of the Caucasus began - one of the most dramatic battles of the Great Patriotic War.

Attack near Kushchevskaya

In the first days of the offensive in the Caucasus, German and Romanian troops met serious resistance in the area of ​​​​the villages of Shkurinskaya and Kushchevskaya, where they were detained for almost three days. One of the culminating moments of the battle was the attack on August 2, 1942, carried out by the Cossacks of the 17th Cavalry Corps on horseback. German troops were attacked on the march and did not have time to give a serious rebuff. The enemy's first line wavered and the battle began in Kushchevskaya, which changed hands three times. The feat of the Cossack Konsantin Iosifovich Nedorubov is noteworthy, who, together with his son, taking a good position near the embankment, destroyed several dozen enemy soldiers with automatic weapons fire and grenades. Subsequently, Nedorubov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union; he is known as one of the five full Knights of St. George who became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Lieutenant Zubkov's battery

By September 11, 1942, German troops managed to capture most of Novorossiysk. However, the city and port were under constant Soviet artillery fire. One of the most effective stationary Soviet batteries was the 394th battery of four 100-mm guns, located at Cape Penai under the command of Lieutenant Andrei Emmanuilovich Zubkov. Initially, it was built to repel a possible attack from the sea, but since 1942. successfully operated against ground targets. In total, during the battles, the battery carried out 691 firings, firing more than 12 thousand shells. The battery was subjected to massive enemy artillery and air strikes. The crews suffered serious losses, and the guns were constantly damaged. Gun barrels and armor shields were replaced several times. In 1975, a museum and memorial complex was opened on the site of the legendary battery.

"Mountain Katyusha"

The Battle of the Caucasus was marked by the first use of M-8-8 rocket launchers, called “Mountain Katyushas”. The lightweight collapsible installation was located on a small site in the mountains and could simultaneously launch eight 82-mm rockets. Production of the first M-8-8 was launched in the workshop of the Riviera sanatorium in Sochi.

The first case of using mountain Katyushas at sea was the landing of troops on the night of February 4 near Novorossiysk (the future Malaya Zemlya bridgehead). Then the seiner "Mackerel", equipped with twelve M-8-8 mounts, swept away the front line of the enemy's anti-landing defense.

Rare PPSh-41

Among the types of small arms used only in the battle for the Caucasus, one can note the machine guns of the Georgy Semenovich Shpagin system (PPSh-41, produced by the Baku Machine-Building Plant named after Felix Dzerzhinsky in the first half of 1942. The submachine gun was equipped with a sector sight for a distance of up to 500 meters There was no interchangeability of disc magazines that were fitted to each submachine gun. On the barrel casing there was a mark in the form of the letters “FD” enclosed in an oval. Probably, only a few tens of thousands of such PPSh were produced, which found use only in the battle for the Caucasus. submachine guns produced in Baku in the Great Patriotic War have not yet been traced. One of these PPSh was found at Shelter 11 on Elbrus, where the company of Lieutenant Grigoryants was killed in September 1942.

In the Mucklgobeck direction

The battle for the Caucasus, which unfolded over a vast area, was marked by a number of tank battles. An example of successful combat against a superior enemy was the actions of the 52nd Tank Brigade in September-October 1942 in the Malgobek direction. On September 12, the German command threw about 120 tanks into the breakthrough, which were driven back with heavy losses. So the KV, under the command of Lieutenant Petrov, destroyed 14 German tanks during this battle. Subsequently the 52nd tank brigade successfully acted against a numerically superior enemy, using tank ambush tactics and competently interacting with infantry and artillery.

Air battles over Kuban

While in April-May 1943 there was a certain calm on the front line, large-scale battles broke out in the air over the Kuban. The heaviest of them are in the Myskhako area, the villages of Krymskaya, Kievskaya and Moldavanskaya. Both sides suffered heavy losses, however, as a result, the enemy's advantage in aviation on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front was broken. It was for the battles over Kuban that the first Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin, the future three-time Hero of the Soviet Union and an air marshal.

Last operation

September 9, 1943 began last fight for the Caucasus - Novorossiysk-Taman operation. Within a month, German troops on the Taman Peninsula were defeated. As a result of the offensive, the cities of Novorossiysk and Anapa were liberated, and the prerequisites were created for a landing operation in Crimea. In honor of the liberation of the Taman Peninsula on October 9, 1943, a salute of 20 salvoes from 224 guns was given in Moscow.

Defense of the Caucasus 1942-1943

Defense of the Caucasus (Battle for the Caucasus) is a major defensive-offensive operation of Soviet troops during the second period of the Great Patriotic War in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia.

From July 25 to December 31, 1942, an offensive was carried out by the Germans, who managed to capture part of the territories;

From December 31 to October 9, 1943, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive, recaptured territory and forced German troops to retreat.

By the beginning of autumn 1942, German troops were able to conquer most of the Kuban and North Caucasus, but after the defeat at Stalingrad they were forced to retreat again, as they suffered serious losses and feared that Soviet troops would encircle them. In 1943, the Soviet army planned an operation, as a result of which German troops were to be surrounded in the Kuban territory and defeated, but the operation failed - the Germans were evacuated to Crimea.

Background and balance of power

By June 1942, the Soviet army was in a weakened state after the failure at Kharkov. The German command, seeing that the Soviet troops could not provide worthy resistance, decided to launch an offensive in the Caucasus, taking advantage of the situation. After a series of battles, German troops were able to conquer several cities, including Rostov-on-Don, which opened the way for Hitler to the Caucasus.

The Caucasus, like Ukraine, was a very important strategic point that German troops sought to capture as early as possible. The Caucasus and Kuban contained large reserves of Soviet oil, grain and other crops, which could provide serious support for the German army to conduct further battles on the territory of the USSR. In addition, Hitler hoped that by reaching the sea he would be able to turn to Turkey for help. Moreover, the German command also counted on the help of the residents themselves, since they were aware that part of the local population did not accept Soviet power.

After the fall of Rostov-on-Don, communication between the Soviet command and the Caucasus could only be carried out by sea or by rail passing through Stalingrad. That is why Stalingrad became an important point that the Germans needed to capture. Despite the fact that Hitler threw enormous forces into the fight at Stalingrad, he was never able to take the city. The Germans lost the Battle of Stalingrad. They suffered significant losses and, largely thanks to this, later they never managed to conquer the Caucasus.

Progress in the defense of the Caucasus

The battle took place in two stages. During the first stage, the German army, not without difficulty, managed to take a number of cities: Stavropol, Armavir, Maykop, Krasnodar, Elista, Mozdok and part of Novorossiysk. In September 1942, the German army approached the Malgobek area, where it was stopped by Soviet troops.

On September 9, after fierce three-day fighting, it was abandoned most of the city of Novorossiysk, located on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. The eastern part of the city was held by Soviet troops until the complete liberation of Novorossiysk in September 1943. For the courage shown by the defenders of the city, Novorossiysk was awarded the title “Hero City”.

The first stage of the battle for the Caucasus took place from July to December 1942. The German army was able to approach the foothills of the Caucasus Range and the Terek River, but this victory was not easy - Hitler’s troops suffered colossal losses. The original plan to capture Transcaucasia was never completed, despite the fact that the Germans were still leading in this operation - Soviet troops were able to stop the German offensive in time and force the army to stop fighting, since most of the army was simply destroyed. Türkiye also failed, which never decided to enter the war and come to the aid of Hitler.

The German offensive failed largely due to the victory of Soviet troops at Stalingrad. Hitler, who had too high hopes for the capture of this city, simply did not foresee the possibility that the Soviet army could defend Stalingrad and, therefore, one of the routes to the Caucasus.

As a result of numerous losses, by the beginning of 1943 the German army was numerically inferior to the Soviet army several times.

The second stage of the battle for the Caucasus can be considered a counter-offensive of Soviet troops, which became extremely successful for the Soviet Union. Territories previously captured by the Germans were recaptured, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Rostov region, Stavropol Territory and other areas were completely liberated. Oil fields and grain crops were again returned to the control of the Soviet Union, which gave a colossal advantage in the war.

Despite the fact that the Soviet army was able to achieve serious successes, it cannot be considered that the victory definitely belonged to the Soviet Union, since the main goal that Stalin set for his army - to capture and destroy the Germans in Kuban - was never achieved. The German army fled to Crimea, however, despite this, the Caucasus returned again to the command of the USSR.

The meaning and results of the battle for the Caucasus

The successes of the Soviet Union in the battle for the Caucasus can be considered one of the most important parts of the general counter-offensive of the USSR in the second period of the war. At this time, the Soviet army not only began to recapture its territories and return captured people, but also greatly increased its combat power and could give in on equal terms in battles with the German army. The return to the jurisdiction of the USSR of such an important strategic point as the Caucasus can be considered as one of greatest victories USSR in the Great Patriotic War.

Unfortunately, the battle for the Caucasus had Negative consequences. Part of the population was accused of assisting the enemy and many of them local residents were later exiled to Siberia.

With the victory at Stalingrad and the battle in the Caucasus, the victorious march of the Soviet Union in the Second World War began.

Year after year, the events of the Great Patriotic War move further and further away from us. The means of armed struggle and views on its conduct are changing. However, its results, the most important lessons, still have enormous theoretical and practical significance. The experience accumulated by the Soviet Armed Forces in the fight against German aggressors is an inexhaustible source for the further development of domestic military science. In this regard, the modern generation of commanders needs to deeply study and carefully select from the past everything that has not lost value even today, that can be creatively used in training troops.

During the years of the last war, the Soviet Armed Forces carried out offensive and defensive strategic operations as a set of coordinated and interconnected strikes, operations and combat actions of associations and formations in terms of purpose, place and time various types armed forces to achieve strategic goals. The main criteria on the basis of which a particular operation can be classified as strategic include the following: the solution of important strategic tasks and the achievement of major military-political goals, the large spatial scope of combat operations and the participation in them of a significant number of forces and means, as well as planning by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SHC) and coordination of the actions of fronts, fleet forces and other types of armed forces by its representatives. All these criteria can be fully attributed to one of the battles of the Great Patriotic War - the battle for the Caucasus.

The battle for the Caucasus was one of the longest in the Great Patriotic War. It lasted 442 days (from July 25, 1942 to October 9, 1943) and went down in the history of military art as a complex of defensive and offensive operations carried out over a vast territory in difficult conditions of steppe, mountainous and mountain-wooded terrain, in coastal areas . Its content included the North Caucasus strategic defensive operation, which lasted more than five months, the North Caucasus strategic offensive operation, the Novorossiysk landing operation, Krasnodar and Novorossiysk-Taman offensive operations, lasting a total of more than nine months. During these operations, troops of the Southern, North Caucasian and Transcaucasian fronts, together with units of the internal and border troops of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD), in cooperation with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet, Azov and Caspian military flotillas, in fierce battles and battles, exhausted the formations of the German Army Group “A” stopped their advance and, having defeated them, expelled them from the Caucasus.

The task is to stop the enemy, to wear him down in defensive battles...

In the strategic plans of the German leadership, the capture of the Caucasus, where before the war up to 95% of all oil in the USSR was produced, was given an important place. At a meeting in Poltava in June 1942, Hitler said: “If we fail to capture the oil of Maikop and Grozny, then we will have to stop the war!” That is why, apparently, the plan of the German command on the Soviet-German front in the summer of 1942 included delivering the main blow in the Caucasus direction with a simultaneous attack on Stalingrad.

The plan for the operation, codenamed “Edelweiss,” was to encircle and destroy Soviet troops south and southeast of Rostov and seize the North Caucasus. In the future, it was envisaged that one group of troops would bypass the Main Caucasus Range from the west and capture Novorossiysk and Tuapse, and the other would attack from the east with the goal of capturing Grozny and Baku. Simultaneously with this bypass maneuver, it was planned to overcome the ridge in its central part through passes with access to the regions of Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Sukhumi. With a breakthrough in Transcaucasia, the enemy hoped to paralyze the bases of the Black Sea Fleet, achieve complete dominance in the Black Sea, establish direct contact with the Turkish army and thereby create the preconditions for an invasion of the Near and Middle East.

To solve such large-scale problems, the German command concentrated Army Group A (commander Field Marshal V. List) in the Caucasian direction, consisting of the German 1st, 4th Tank, 17th and 11th armies, 3rd Romanian army. They were supported by units of the 4th Air Fleet. In total, Army Group A consisted of over 170 thousand people, 1130 tanks, about 4.5 thousand guns and mortars, and up to 1 thousand aircraft. At this time, the 6th Army from Army Group B was aimed at Stalingrad.

These groups had high combat effectiveness and were impressed by recent victories. Many of their formations took part in the defeat of Soviet troops near Kharkov and southwest of Voronezh; in the June battles, moving towards the lower reaches of the Don, they immediately captured a number of bridgeheads on its left bank.

The German Army Group A was opposed by the troops of the Southern and part of the forces of the North Caucasus fronts. At first glance, they included many armies - the 51st, 37th, 12th, 18th, 56th combined arms and 4th air force. However, all of these armies, except the 51st, suffered significant losses in previous battles and numbered only 112 thousand people, 120 tanks, about 2,200 guns and mortars and 130 aircraft. They were inferior to the enemy in men by 1.5 times, in guns and mortars by 2 times, in tanks by more than 9 times, and in aviation by almost 8 times. To this must be added the lack of stable control of formations and units, which was disrupted during their hasty retreat to the Don.

The Soviet troops faced a very difficult task stop the enemy, exhaust him in defensive battles and prepare the conditions for going on the offensive. Back on July 10–11, 1942, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the Southern and North Caucasian fronts to organize defense along the river. Don. However, the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the fronts was complicated by the fact that the armies of the Southern Front fought intense battles with the advancing large German forces in the Rostov direction. They essentially had neither the time nor the means to prepare the defense of the left bank of the Don.

By this time, troop control in the Caucasian direction had not been restored. In addition, the close attention of the Supreme Command Headquarters and the General Staff at this time was paid to the Stalingrad direction, where the enemy was rushing towards the Volga.

Under pressure from superior enemy forces, the armies of the Southern Front (commanded by Lieutenant General R.Ya. Malinovsky) by July 25 retreated to the southern bank of the Don in a strip 330 km long, from Verkhnekurmoyarskaya to the mouth of the river. They were weakened and outnumbered, with only 17 tanks. Some of them had no contact with front headquarters.

Troops of the North Caucasus Front under the command of Marshal S.M. Budyonny, meanwhile, continued to defend the coasts of the Azov and Black Seas to Lazarevskaya, and the troops of the Transcaucasian Front, led by Army General I.V. Tyulenev, covered the Black Sea coast from Lazarevskaya to Batumi, the border with Turkey and provided communications for Soviet troops in Iran. The 44th Army was located in the Makhachkala region and covered the coast of the Caspian Sea.

The Black Sea Fleet (commanded by Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky), after the loss of Sevastopol and Kerch, was based in the ports of the Caucasus coast, which were in the zone of action of German aviation. It was supposed to interact with ground forces in the defense of coastal areas, provide sea transportation, and also strike at enemy sea communications.

In such extremely unfavorable conditions for the Soviet troops, the North Caucasus strategic defensive operation unfolded.

North Caucasus strategic defensive operation

On July 26, 1942, the enemy, having begun active operations, began to intensively transport its units to the southern bank of the Don. In the current situation, Headquarters is taking measures to repel the enemy’s offensive. In order to combine efforts and improve command and control of troops in the North Caucasus, the armies of the Southern and North Caucasian fronts were united into one North Caucasian Front under the command of Marshal S.M. Budyonny. The Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Military Flotilla were operationally subordinate to him. The newly created front was given the task of stopping the enemy’s advance and restoring the situation along the left bank of the Don. Such a task was practically impossible, since the enemy had complete initiative and led an organized offensive with superior forces. In addition, it turned out to be extremely difficult to ensure control of the combat operations of front troops in a strip more than 1000 km long. Therefore, the Headquarters allocated two operational groups as part of the North Caucasus Front: Don, led by Lieutenant General R.Ya. Malinovsky and Primorskaya, led by Colonel General Ya.T. Cherevichenko.

The troops of the Transcaucasian Front received the task of occupying and preparing for defense the approaches to the Caucasus from the north. In this regard, the Front Military Council developed a combat action plan, which Headquarters approved on August 4. Its essence was to stop the enemy’s advance at the Terek line and the passes of the Main Caucasus Range. The troops of the 44th Army were entrusted with the defense of Baku and Grozny, covering the Georgian Military and Ossetian Military roads. The defense of the Black Sea coast was entrusted to the 46th Army.

Fighting in the North Caucasus at the end of July - beginning of August took on an exceptionally dynamic character. Possessing numerical superiority and command of the initiative, the German corps quickly advanced towards Stavropol, Maikop and Tuapse. Under these conditions, in order to restore the combat effectiveness of the Soviet troops and ensure the defense of the Caucasus from the north, on August 8, Headquarters united the 44th and 9th armies into the Northern Group of the Transcaucasian Front, and on August 11, it included the 37th Army. Lieutenant General I.I. was appointed commander of the group. Maslennikov. An important place was also given to strengthening cover in the direction of Maikop, Tuapse, as well as the defense of Novorossiysk. The measures taken since mid-August had a positive effect on increasing resistance to the enemy.

Nevertheless, the enemy had sufficient forces to develop a simultaneous offensive both in the direction of Baku and Batumi by formations of the 1st Tank and 17th Field Armies, and to capture the passes of the Main Caucasus Range by units of the 49th Mountain Rifle Corps. At the end of August, the Germans managed to capture Mozdok, and they intended to develop an offensive against Grozny. However, this plan was thwarted by active defensive actions of the Soviet troops.

In mid-August, intense fighting broke out in the central part of the Main Caucasus Range. At first, they were clearly not in favor of the Soviet troops, who poorly organized defense in the foothills. The Germans, with forces specially trained for operations in the mountains, were able to quickly capture almost all the passes west of Mount Elbrus, creating a threat to access to Sukhumi and coastal communications. After the intervention of the Headquarters in the course of hostilities and its demands to strengthen the defense of the Georgian Military and Ossetian Military roads, the situation here improved somewhat. The enemy, repelling counterattacks from formations of the Northern Group of Forces, was forced to go on the defensive.

At the same time, there were battles near Novorossiysk and Tuapse. By mid-September the enemy managed to capture most of Novorossiysk, but his attempts to break through to Tuapse along the coast were thwarted. Back on September 1, the Headquarters made an important organizational decision - to unite the North Caucasus and Transcaucasian fronts. The united front was called the Transcaucasian Front. The Directorate of the North Caucasus Front formed the basis of the Black Sea Group of the Transcaucasian Front, which significantly increased the stability of defense on the coastal section of the front.

In October - December, the German command again attempted to conduct an offensive in the Tuapse and Grozny directions, however, encountering stubborn resistance from Soviet troops, it was unable to achieve noticeable success.

In the autumn months of 1942, the armies of the Transcaucasian Front, having received reinforcements, significantly intensified their actions, launching a series of counterattacks that forced the enemy to constantly change their intentions and more and more often go on the defensive. Gradually the situation stabilized, and then the initiative began to shift to the side of the Soviet troops.

During the North Caucasus strategic defensive operation (July 25 - December 31, 1942), troops of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasian fronts, forces of the Black Sea Fleet carried out Armaviro-Maikop (August 6–17), Novorossiysk (August 19 - September 26), Mozdok -Malgobek (September 1–28), Tuapse (September 25 - December 20), Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze (October 25 - November 11) defensive operations. As a result, their enemy was stopped east of Mozdok, on the approaches to Ordzhonikidze, on the passes of the Main Caucasus Range, in the southeastern part of Novorossiysk. Intense battles were fought at a front from 320 to 1000 km and to a depth of 400 to 800 km.

Defensive operations were carried out in extremely difficult conditions and in conditions unfavorable for the Soviet troops. The enemy managed to achieve significant successes during these battles, capture the rich agricultural regions of the Don and Kuban, the Taman Peninsula, reach the foothills of the Main Caucasus Range, capturing part of its passes. However, the Soviet troops, having withstood the powerful onslaught of the enemy, solved the main problem - they stopped and did not allow the Germans to access the Baku and Grozny oil. In stubborn defensive battles, they inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, bleeding his strike force dry.

It is necessary to note the great role of the Supreme Command Headquarters and the General Staff in directing military operations in the Caucasus. Their special attention was focused on restoring the stability of the command and control system and immediately taking measures to improve it. Despite the difficult situation in other sectors of the Soviet-German front, Headquarters in every possible way strengthened the troops of the North Caucasus direction with its reserves. Thus, from July to October 1942, the fronts operating in the Caucasus received about 100 thousand marching reinforcements, a significant number of formations and units of military branches and special troops, and a considerable amount of weapons and equipment.

The defense of the Caucasus took place in the difficult conditions of the mountain theater, which required the troops to master specific forms and methods of fighting with the use of all types of weapons. The troops gained experience in conducting combat operations in different directions, building deep-echelon combat formations, and interacting with all branches of the military. The organization of formations and units was improved. They were reinforced with engineering equipment, transport, including pack vehicles, equipped with mountain equipment, and received more radio stations.

During defensive operations ground troops interacted with the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Military Flotilla, whose ships covered their flanks from the sea, supported them with naval and coastal artillery fire, carried out anti-landing defense of the coast, and disrupted the enemy’s supply by sea.

In addition, the Black Sea Fleet, the Azov, Volga and Caspian military flotillas provided great assistance to the troops, carrying out sea transportation of reserves, delivery of military cargo, and timely evacuation of the wounded and material assets. In the second half of 1942, the fleet transported more than 200 thousand people and 250 thousand tons various cargoes, sank 51 enemy ships with a total displacement of 120 thousand tons.

In November 1942, the enemy's offensive capabilities in the Caucasus were depleted, and the activity of Soviet troops increased noticeably. There was a turning point in the course of the battle, which was decisively facilitated by a sharp change in the situation at Stalingrad, where the troops of the Southwestern, Don and Stalingrad fronts, which went on a counteroffensive, surrounded a large enemy group and were preparing to eliminate it.

As a result of defensive operations carried out by Soviet troops in the Caucasus, the enemy was seriously defeated, and the initiative in this strategic direction began to pass into the hands of the Soviet command. Despite the fact that in the Caucasian direction, enemy troops managed to occupy a significant part of the territory of the North Caucasus, they were unable to overcome the stubborn resistance of Soviet troops, seize the oil sources of the Grozny and Baku regions and other sources of valuable strategic raw materials. In addition, the plans of the Hitlerite leadership, through a breakthrough in Transcaucasia, to draw Turkey into the war against the USSR, to unite with their troops operating in North Africa, and to continue aggression towards the Middle East, failed. In a difficult situation, the Soviet command retained some naval bases that supported the fleet's operations, and also created the conditions for troops to launch a decisive offensive. The plans of the fascist German command to seize the Caucasus were thwarted by the efforts of the Soviet Armed Forces with the active assistance of the entire Soviet people, including the peoples of the Caucasus.

The defense of the Caucasus, undoubtedly, was an important source of development of domestic military science. Defensive operations carried out by Soviet troops, even today, represent a certain instructiveness, practical significance and special relevance for military theory and practice in preserving the independence and integrity of the Fatherland.

Information from the official website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The Battle of the Caucasus, which lasted 442 days (from July 25, 1942 to October 9, 1943) and took place simultaneously with the Stalingrad and Kursk battles, played a big role in creating and completing a radical change during the Great Patriotic War. Its defensive stage covers the period from July 25 to December 31, 1942. The Wehrmacht, during fierce battles and suffering heavy losses, managed to reach the foothills of the Main Caucasus Range and the Terek River. However, in general German plan"Edelweiss" was not realized. German troops were unable to penetrate the Transcaucasus and the Middle East, which should have led to Turkey entering the war on the side of Germany.

Plans of the German command

On June 28, 1942, the Wehrmacht's 4th Panzer Army under the command of Hermann Hoth broke through the Soviet front between Kursk and Kharkov and continued its offensive towards the Don. On July 3, Voronezh was partially captured by German troops, and the troops of S.K. Timoshenko, defending the Rostov direction, were covered from the north. The 4th Tank Army rapidly advanced southward between Donets and Don. On July 23, Rostov-on-Don was captured by the Germans. As a result, the path to the North Caucasus was open.

In the strategic plans of the German military-political leadership, the capture of the Caucasus, where about 90% of Soviet oil was produced before the start of the war, was given a large place. Adolf Hitler understood the limitations of the raw material and energy base of the Third Reich and at a meeting in Poltava in June 1942 he said: “If we fail to capture the oil of Maikop and Grozny, then we will have to stop the war!” In addition, Hitler took into account the importance of the Kuban and the Caucasus as a source of food (grain), and the presence of reserves of strategic raw materials here. In particular, the Tyrnyauz tungsten-molybdenum ore deposit was located here. The plan of the German command on the Soviet-German front in the summer of 1942 included delivering the main attack in the Caucasus direction with a simultaneous attack on Stalingrad, an important transport node and a major center of military industry. Some researchers believe that this was a strategic miscalculation by Hitler, since the division of limited military forces and resources led to the dispersion of the Wehrmacht, and ultimately to defeat in the Stalingrad and Caucasus directions.

On July 23, 1942, Hitler approved the plan for Operation Edelweiss (German: Operation Edelweiß). It provided for the encirclement and destruction of Soviet troops south and southeast of Rostov-on-Don and the capture of the North Caucasus. In the future, one group of troops was supposed to advance bypassing the Main Caucasus Range from the west and capture Novorossiysk and Tuapse, and the second was to advance from the east with the aim of capturing the oil-producing regions of Grozny and Baku. Simultaneously with this roundabout maneuver, the German command planned to break through the Main Caucasus Ridge in its central part in order to reach Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Sukhumi. With the breakthrough of the Wehrmacht into the South Caucasus, the tasks of destroying the bases of the Black Sea Fleet, establishing complete dominance in the Black Sea, and establishing direct contact with the Turkish armed forces and the involvement of Turkey in the war on the side of the Reich, the preconditions were created for an invasion of the Near and Middle East region. In addition, the German command hoped that a number of Caucasian nationalities and Cossacks would support them, which would solve the problem with auxiliary troops. These expectations will be partially met.

A column of German StuG III assault guns on the march to the Caucasus.

To solve such large-scale problems, the German command concentrated a significant strike force in the Caucasian direction. For the attack on the Caucasus, Army Group A was allocated from Army Group South under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelm List (Hitler took command on September 10, 1942, and from November 22, 1942 - Colonel General Ewald von Kleist ). It consisted of: 1st Panzer Army - commander Colonel General Ewald von Kleist (until November 21, 1942, then Colonel General Eberhard von Mackensen), 4th Panzer Army - Colonel General G. Hoth (first attacked Caucasian direction, then was transferred to Group “B” - to the Stalingrad direction), 17th Field Army - Colonel General Richard Ruoff, 3rd Romanian Army - Lieutenant General Peter Dumitrescu (in September 1942 the army was transferred to Stalingrad direction). Initially, Manstein’s 11th Army was supposed to take part in the attack on the Caucasus, which after the siege of Sevastopol was located in the Crimea, but part of it was transferred to Leningrad, partly divided between Army Group Center and Army Group South. The troops of Army Group A were supported by units of the 4th Air Army of Wolfram von Richthofen (about 1 thousand aircraft in total). In total, by July 25, 1942, the strike force had about 170 thousand soldiers and officers, 15 thousand oil workers, 1,130 tanks (from July 31 - 700 tanks), over 4.5 thousand guns and mortars.

The German troops had high combat effectiveness and had a high morale, which was strengthened by recent high-profile victories. Many Wehrmacht formations took part in the defeat of Red Army units near Kharkov, southwest of Voronezh, in the June battles, when they, moving towards the lower reaches of the Don, immediately gained a foothold on its left bank. In Berlin they were confident of victory; before the battle they even founded oil companies (“Ost-Öl” and “Karpaten-Öl”), which received the exclusive right to exploit oil fields in the Caucasus for 99 years. It was prepared a large number of pipes (which later went to the USSR).

Wilhelm Liszt.

Soviet troops

The German troops were opposed by the troops of the Southern Front (Rodion Malinovsky) and part of the forces of the North Caucasus Front (Semyon Budyonny). The Southern Front included the 9th Army - commanded by Major General F. A. Parkhomenko, the 12th Army - Major General A. A. Grechko, the 18th Army - Lieutenant General F. V. Kamkov, the 24th army - Major General D. T. Kozlov, 37th Army - Major General P. M. Kozlov, 51st Army - Major General N. I. Trufanov (on July 28 it was transferred to the Stalingrad Front) and 56- I army - Major General A.I. Ryzhov. Aviation support was provided by the 4th Air Army, Major General of Aviation K. A. Vershinin (since September, Major General of Aviation N. F. Naumenko). At first glance, the composition of the front was impressive, but almost all of these armies, except the 51st, suffered heavy losses in previous battles and were bled dry. The southern front numbered about 112 thousand people; there was a significant lag behind the Germans in technology - 120 tanks, more than 2.2 thousand guns and mortars, 130 aircraft. Thus, the front that received the main attack of the enemy was inferior to the enemy in manpower by 1.5 times, in aircraft by almost 8 times, in tanks by more than 9 times, and in guns and mortars by 2 times. To this should be added the lack of a stable system of command and control, which was disrupted during their rapid retreat to the Don. On July 28, 1942, the Southern Front was abolished, its troops entered the North Caucasus Front.

The Red Army was faced with a very difficult task: to stop the enemy’s advance, wear him down in defensive battles and prepare the conditions for launching a counteroffensive. On July 10-11, 1942, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SVGK) ordered the Southern and North Caucasian fronts to organize a defensive line along the Don River. However, this order was difficult to carry out, since the troops of the Southern Front at that time were fighting heavy battles with German troops rushing forward in the Rostov direction. The command of the Southern Fleet had neither the time nor significant reserves to prepare defensive positions on the left bank of the Don. By this time, troop control in the Caucasian direction had not been restored. In addition, at this time the SVGK paid closer attention to the Stalingrad direction, the Germans were rushing to the Volga. Under strong enemy pressure, the Southern Front armies retreated to the southern bank of the river by July 25. Don in a strip 330 km long, from Verkhnekurmoyarskaya to the mouth of the river. They were bleeding, lost a lot of heavy weapons, and some armies had no contact with the front headquarters.

At the same time, it should be noted that there were other troops in the region that also took part in the battle for the Caucasus. The troops of the North Caucasus Front under the command of Marshal Budyonny at this time defended the coasts of the Azov and Black Seas to Lazarevskaya. The SCF included: the 47th Army - under the command of Major General G.P. Kotov, the 1st Rifle and 17th Cavalry Corps. Air support was provided by the 5th Air Army of Aviation Colonel General S.K. Goryunov. Units of the Transcaucasian Front under the command of Ivan Tyulenev defended the Black Sea coast from Lazarevskaya to Batumi, the Soviet-Turkish border and provided communications for the Soviet group in Iran. In addition, units of the Polar Front were located in the Makhachkala region and covered the coast of the Caspian Sea (44th Army). At the beginning of the battle for the Caucasus, the Transcaucasian Front included the 44th Army - Lieutenant General V. A. Khomenko, the 45th Army - Lieutenant General F. N. Remezov, the 46th Army - V. F. Sergatskov (from August K. N. Leselidze) and the 15th Cavalry Corps. The front was reinforced by 14 aviation regiments. At the beginning of August 1942, the 9th, 24th (disbanded on August 28) and 37th armies were transferred to the Polar Fleet, and at the end of August the 58th army was formed. At the beginning of September, several more armies were transferred - the 12th, 18th, 56th. It should be noted that Tyulenev, having received his appointment as commander of the Polar Fleet in February 1942, did a lot of work to create defensive lines in case of invasion from Turkey. He insisted on the construction of defensive lines in the area of ​​the Terek River and Grozny, and the defense of the Main Caucasus Range was strengthened in advance. The events of the battle for the Caucasus showed the correctness of the commander’s decision.

After the loss of Sevastopol and Kerch, the Black Sea Fleet under the command of Philip Oktyabrsky was based in the ports of the Caucasian coast, although they were in the zone of operation of the German Air Force. The fleet had the task of interacting with ground forces in protecting coastal areas, providing sea transportation, and also attacking enemy sea communications.

Ivan Vladimirovich Tyulenev.

The importance of the Caucasus for the USSR

The Caucasus at that time had great value for the country, it was an inexhaustible source of industrial and military-strategic raw materials, an important food base for the Union. During the years of the Soviet pre-war five-year plans, the industry of the Transcaucasian republics grew significantly, and a powerful industry was created here through the efforts of the people. Hundreds of new heavy and light industry enterprises were built here. Thus, only in the Baku region for the period from 1934 to 1940. 235 new wells were drilled, and in total, 1,726 new wells were launched in the region by 1940 (about 73.5% of all wells that were commissioned in the USSR during this period of time). The Baku oil-bearing region played a huge role. It provided up to 70% of all-Union oil production. It is clear that only the loss of the Baku region could have a sharply negative impact on the industry of the USSR and its defense capability. Much attention was also paid to the development of oil production in Checheno-Ingushetia and Kuban.

Along with oil industry, production developed rapidly natural gas. The gas industry of Azerbaijan provided the country with about 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 1940, i.e., about 65% of the total gas production of the USSR. The electric power base developed rapidly; before the Great War, new power plants of all-Union and local significance were built in the Caucasus. Manganese ore, which is of great economic and military-strategic importance, was mined in Georgia. Thus, the Chiatura mines produced 1448.7 thousand tons of manganese ore in 1940, or about 56.5% of the total production of manganese ore in the USSR.

The Caucasus and Kuban were important as one of the food bases of the USSR. The region was one of the richest in the state in the production of wheat, corn, sunflowers and sugar beets. The South Caucasus produced cotton, sugar beets, tobacco, grapes, tea, citrus fruits and essential oil crops. Thanks to the availability of rich feed, livestock farming was developed. On the basis of agricultural products in the pre-war years, the food and light industries were developed. Cotton, silk, weaving, wool, leather and shoe factories, canning factories for processing fruits, vegetables, meat and fish products, wineries and tobacco factories, etc. were erected.

The region was of great importance in terms of communications and foreign trade. A large flow of goods passed through the Caucasus region and its ports on the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. In particular, 55% of all exports and 50% of imports of the Soviet Union went through southern, including Caucasian, ports. Communications of the Black and Caspian Seas connected Russia with Persia and Turkey, and through Persian Gulf and the Black Sea straits with the routes of the World Ocean. It should be noted that during the war, communications that went through the Persian Gulf, Iran and the Caspian Sea took second place in the supply of weapons, equipment, ammunition, food and strategic raw materials from the United States and territories subordinate to the British Empire. The significance of the Caucasus lay in its unique geographical location: The Caucasus is located in an important strategic region of the planet, through which there are trade and strategic routes connecting the countries of Europe, Asia, the Near and Middle East into a single hub. We must not forget the mobilization capabilities of the region’s human resources.

Soviet mounted reconnaissance in the Caucasus mountains.

North Caucasus strategic defensive operation

On July 23, 1942, the Germans occupied Rostov-on-Don and began an attack on Kuban. The forces of the 1st and 4th tank armies delivered a powerful blow to the left flank of the Southern Front, where the defense was held by the 51st and 37th armies. Soviet troops suffered heavy losses and retreated. The Germans in the defense zone of the 18th Army broke through to Bataysk. In the defense zone of the 12th Army, things initially were not so good and the Wehrmacht was unable to cross the Don on the first day. On July 26, the 18th and 37th Soviet armies, having received reinforcements, tried to launch a counterattack, but to no avail. As a result, already from the first days of the battle, the situation in the defense zone of the entire Southern Fleet sharply worsened; there was a threat of German troops entering the Salsk region, cutting the Southern Front into two parts and the enemy entering the rear of the Soviet group, which continued to defend south of Rostov. The Soviet command tried to withdraw the troops of the left flank to the line of the southern bank of the Kagalnik River and the Manych Canal. However, units of the Southern Front, in conditions of overwhelming enemy superiority in tank forces, aviation and artillery, were unable to withdraw in an organized manner to the positions indicated by them. The retreat turned into flight. German troops, no longer encountering serious resistance, continued their offensive.

In the critical conditions created, the Supreme Command Headquarters took measures to correct the situation. On July 28, the Southern Front, in order to unite efforts and improve troop control, was disbanded. His armies became part of the North Caucasus fronts under the command of Marshal Budyonny (in fact, the two fronts were united). The Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Military Flotilla were subordinate to the front command. SCF received the task of stopping the advance of German troops and restoring the position of the front along the left bank of the Don River. But such a task was actually impossible, since the enemy had a strategic initiative and led a well-organized offensive with superior forces and means. It is also necessary to take into account the factor that it was necessary to organize command and control of troops on a strip with a length of over 1 thousand km, and this in the conditions of the collapse of the front and the successful offensive of enemy troops. Therefore, the Headquarters allocated two operational groups within the SCF: 1) the Don group led by Rodion Malinovsky (it included the 37th Army, the 12th Army and the 4th Air Army), it was supposed to cover the Stavropol direction; 2) Primorsky group under the command of Colonel General Yakov Cherevichenko (18th Army, 56th Army, 47th Army, 1st Rifle, 17th Cavalry Corps and 5th Air Army, Azov Military Flotilla), one was supposed to defend the Krasnodar direction. In addition, the 9th and 24th armies were withdrawn to the area of ​​Nalchik and Grozny, and the 51st was transferred to the Stalingrad Front. The troops of the Polar Front received the task of occupying and preparing for defense the approaches to the Caucasus Range from the north. The Military Council of the Transcaucasian Front prepared a combat plan, which was approved by the Supreme Command Headquarters on August 4, 1942. Its essence was to stop the advance of German troops at the turn of the Terek and the passes of the Main Caucasus Range. Units of the 44th Army from the Makhachkala and Baku region were transferred to defensive positions on the Terek, Sulak and Samur rivers. It was supposed to defend Grozny, cover the Georgian Military and Ossetian Military roads. At the same time, other parts of the Polar Fleet were transferred from the Soviet-Turkish border and from the Black Sea coast to the Terek and Urukh border. Simultaneously with the transfer of units of the Polar Front to fight German troops, Headquarters replenished the forces of the front from the reserve. Thus, from August 6 to September, the Polar Fleet received 2 guards rifle corps and 11 separate rifle brigades.

At the same time, the German command transferred the 4th Tank Army to the Stalingrad direction as part of Army Group B. Perhaps they thought that the Soviet front in the Caucasus had collapsed and the remaining troops would be sufficient to accomplish the assigned tasks.

The fighting in the Caucasus at the end of July - beginning of August took on an exceptionally fierce and dynamic character. The Germans still had numerical superiority and, possessing the strategic initiative, developed an offensive in the direction of Stavropol, Maikop and Tuapse. On August 2, 1942, the Germans continued their offensive in the Salsk direction, and on August 5 they captured Voroshilovsk (Stavropol). In the Krasnodar direction, the Wehrmacht was unable to immediately break through the defenses of the 18th and 56th armies; Soviet troops tried to counterattack, but soon retreated across the Kuban River. On August 6, the 17th German Army launched a new offensive in the Krasnodar direction. August 10th was Azov coast evacuate the Azov flotilla, Krasnodar fell on August 12.

The German command decided to take advantage of the moment and block Soviet troops south of Kuban. Part of the strike force that captured Stavropol was sent to the west. On August 6, units of the 1st German Tank Army captured Armavir, on August 10 - Maikop and continued to move to Tuapse. Part of the 17th Army, from Krasnodar, also began to advance in the direction of Tuapse. Only by August 15-17, units of the Red Army managed to stop the enemy’s advance and prevent the Wehrmacht from breaking through to Tuapse. As a result, during the first stage of the offensive (July 25 - August 19), the German command was able to partially fulfill the assigned tasks: the Red Army in the Caucasian direction suffered a serious defeat (although there were no large “cauldrons”), most of the Kuban, part of the Northern Caucasus. Soviet troops were able to stop the enemy only at Tuapse. At the same time, the Soviet command carried out a large preparatory work on the reorganization of troops, the creation of new defensive lines, the transfer of troops of the Polar Fleet and the reserve of the Headquarters, which ultimately led to the failure of the German offensive and victory in the battle for the Caucasus.

German soldiers in the Caucasus.

Headquarters, in order to restore the combat effectiveness of Soviet troops and ensure the defense of the Caucasus in the northern direction, on August 8 united the 44th and 9th armies into the Northern Group of the Polar Fleet. Lieutenant General Ivan Maslennikov was appointed its commander. On August 11, the 37th Army was included in the Northern Group. In addition, the Headquarters paid great attention to organizing the defense of Novorossiysk and Tuapse. The measures taken already from mid-August 1942 began to have a positive effect on the situation at the front, resistance to the enemy increased sharply.

Despite the measures taken by the Headquarters, the Wehrmacht had sufficient forces to develop a simultaneous offensive both in the direction of Baku and Batumi - by units of the 1st Panzer and 17th Field Armies, and to capture the passes of the Main Caucasus Range - by parts of the 49th Mountain Corps (from composition of the 17th Army). In addition, German troops attacked in the direction of Anapa - Novorossiysk. On August 19, units of the 17th Army went on the offensive in the Novorossiysk direction. The Soviet 47th Army, which held the defense in this direction, was able to repel the first blow. However, on August 28, the Wehrmacht resumed its offensive and captured Anapa on August 31. As a result, the ships of the Azov military flotilla had to break through into the Black Sea.

On August 23, German troops went on the offensive in the Mozdok direction, where the 9th Soviet Army held the defense. On August 25, Mozdok was captured. At the same time, the 23rd Panzer Division attacked Prokhladny and occupied it on August 25. Further attempts to break through along the Prokhladny-Ordzhonikidze line were unsuccessful. Soviet troops, using natural barriers, created a deeply echeloned defensive line. At the beginning of September, German troops began to cross the Terek and took a small bridgehead on south coast rivers, on September 4 the Germans launched a new offensive with 2 tank and 2 infantry divisions. The Germans had superiority here in artillery by more than 6 times and in tanks by more than 4 times. However great success did not reach, suffering heavy losses due to Soviet air strikes. On September 24, a new German offensive began in this direction. The strike force was reinforced by the 5th tank division SS "Viking", which was removed from the Tuapse direction. The Germans advanced in the direction of Ordzhonikidze and along railway Prokhladny - Grozny along the Sunzha River valley to Grozny. After four days After fierce battles, German troops captured Terek, Planovskoye, Elkhotovo, Illarionovka, but were unable to get further than Malgobek. The ever-increasing resistance of the Soviet troops and the huge losses suffered in the battles in the area of ​​​​Mozdok, Malgobek and Elkhotovo forced the Wehrmacht to go on the defensive. As a result of the Mozdok-Malgobek defensive operation (September 1-28, 1942), the plans of the German command to capture the Grozny and Baku oil regions were thwarted.

Simultaneously with the fighting in the Grozny direction, a battle broke out in the central part of the Main Caucasus Range. Initially, the battle was clearly not in favor of the Soviet forces - units of the 46th Army of the Polar Fleet, which poorly prepared the defense in the foothills. The Wehrmacht, with the help of units specially trained for combat in mountainous conditions - the 49th Mountain Corps and two Romanian mountain divisions, managed to quickly capture almost all the passes west of Mount Elbrus. On August 16, the Kadar Gorge was captured. On August 21, German climbers hoisted the Nazi flag on Elbrus. This was done by Captain Grot’s detachment from the 1st Mountain Infantry Division “Edelweiss”. Before the war, Grot visited Tyrnyauz and climbed to Elbrus; as a mining engineer, he was able to easily examine the area, providing a detailed report on what he saw. The Edelwes climbers became national heroes in Germany, newspaper headlines shouted: “We are the masters of Europe! The Caucasus has been conquered!..” At the beginning of September, German units occupied the Marukh and Sanchar passes. As a result, there was a threat of German troops reaching Sukhumi and coastal communications.

Captain Grotto.

On August 21, 1942, the Nazis planted their flag on Elbrus.

While German troops stormed the approaches to Grozny, Ordzhonikidze (Vladikavkaz), and the passes of the central part of the Caucasus Range, the battle for Novorossiysk unfolded. The German command planned to capture Novorossiysk and then launch an offensive along the Black Sea coast towards Tuapse - Sukhumi - Batumi. The strike was carried out by a strike force from the forces of the 17th German Army - the 5th Army Corps and the 3rd Romanian Army - a cavalry corps consisting of the 5th, 6th and 9th Cavalry Divisions. Already during the operation, the strike force was reinforced by three infantry divisions of the 11th Army, which were transferred across Kerch Strait.

On August 17, the Soviet command created the Novorossiysk defensive region (NOR) for the defense of Novorossiysk and the Taman Peninsula under the command of Major General G. P. Kotov (since September 8, Major General A. A. Grechko). Commander of the Azov Flotilla, Rear Admiral S.G. Gorshkov, was appointed Kotov’s deputy for naval affairs. The NOR included: the 47th Army, one rifle division from the 56th Army, the Azov military flotilla, Temryuk, Kerch, Novorossiysk naval bases and a combined aviation group (parts of the 237th Air Division and formations of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force) . Measures were taken to create a powerful line of defense, but by the time of the German offensive only a minority of the measures had been implemented. The NOR troops, drained of blood in previous battles, were inferior to the Wehrmacht: in manpower by 4 times, in artillery and mortars by 7 times, in tanks and aviation by 2 times.

On August 19, the Wehrmacht went on the offensive, striking in the direction of the villages of Abinskaya and Krymskaya. Auxiliary strikes were aimed at Temryuk and the Taman Peninsula, where the defense was held by a few Soviet garrisons. After fierce battles, units of the 47th Army and Marines stopped the enemy by August 25, preventing him from capturing Novorossiysk on the move. On August 29, having received reinforcements from the Tuapse direction, the Germans resumed their offensive and, at the cost of heavy losses, captured Anapa on August 31 and reached the coast, cutting off part of the Soviet troops on the Taman Peninsula. On September 3, the surrounded units were evacuated by sea to Gelendzhik. On September 7, Wehrmacht units made their way to Novorossiysk, and fierce street battles broke out. The Germans captured the railway station, grain elevator and port. By September 11, at the cost of enormous efforts, the enemy was stopped in the southeastern part of the city. The battles for Novorossiysk continued until September 26; in fact, the city was completely destroyed. However, German troops were never able to break through to Tuapse along the coast, and went on the defensive. The plan for an offensive along the Black Sea coast was thwarted.

As a result of the second stage of the German offensive (August 19 - September 29, 1942), German troops won a number of victories, captured the Taman Peninsula, reached the foothills of the Main Caucasus Range, capturing part of its passes. But in general, the Red Army was able to withstand a powerful onslaught and stop the enemy’s advance and prevent him from breaking into the South Caucasus, capturing the regions of Grozny and Baku, and capturing the Black Sea coast from Novorossiysk to Batumi. The balance of forces in the Caucasus gradually began to change in favor of the Red Army. This was facilitated by the transfer of a significant part of the German troops to the Stalingrad direction. The German troops suffered heavy losses in men and equipment, were exhausted by the battles, and partially lost their offensive power.

Headquarters continued to pay great attention to the Caucasus. On August 23, GKO member Lavrentiy Beria arrived from Moscow to Tbilisi. He replaced a number of responsible leaders of the front and army leadership. Measures were taken to improve aviation reconnaissance. A lot of work has been done to equip defensive structures - defense units, strong points, pillboxes, trenches and anti-tank ditches, barriers systems - work to prepare for the collapse of rocks, destruction of roads and their flooding, at the most important passes, on the Ossetian Military and Georgian Military roads . On the main pass routes and roads, commandant's offices were created, which included sappers and radio stations. To counter the enemy's outflanking actions, special detachments were formed, numbering up to a company, reinforced by sappers, who could quickly block a possible enemy breakthrough. Separate mountain rifle detachments were also created, numbering a company - a battalion, with climber instructors; they were sent to the most inaccessible areas; those paths that could not be reliably covered were blown up. On September 1, the Supreme Command Headquarters made an important organizational decision - the North Caucasian and Transcaucasian fronts were united. The united front was called the Transcaucasian Front. The SCF management became the base for the Black Sea Group of the Transcaucasian Front. This significantly increased the stability of the Soviet defense on the coastal sector of the front.

A group of Il-2 attack aircraft of the 7th Guards Attack Aviation Regiment of the 230th Attack Air Division in the air. In the foreground is the Il-2 attack aircraft of captain V.B. Emelianenko, future Hero of the Soviet Union. North Caucasus Front.

Failure of the German offensive

Tuapse defensive operation (from September 25 to December 20, 1942). The German command, after the failure of operations to break through to the South Caucasus in August - September 1942, decided to use the 17th Army under the command of Colonel General Richard Ruoff (more than 162 thousand people, 2266 guns and mortars, 147 tanks and assault guns and 350 combat aircraft), strike again at Tuapse. The defense here was held by the Black Sea group of Colonel General Ya. T. Cherevichenko (since October, the defense was led by Lieutenant General I. E. Petrov), it included the 18th, 56th and 47th armies, the 5th Air Army ( the strength of the group of troops is 109 thousand people, 1152 guns and mortars, 71 aircraft). In addition, the Tuapse defensive region was created here.

On September 25, after two days of air strikes and artillery bombardment, German troops went on the offensive. The main blow was delivered by the Tuapse group (it included mountain rifle and light infantry units) from Neftegorsk and an auxiliary blow was delivered from Goryachiy Klyuch, the Germans attacked in converging directions towards Shaumyan. The goal of the offensive was to encircle and destroy the 18th Soviet army Lieutenant General F.V. Kamkov, blocking the Black Sea Group of Soviet Forces, depriving the Black Sea Fleet of bases and ports. By September 30, German-Romanian troops were able to penetrate 5-10 km in some areas of the defense of the 18th and 56th armies. There was a threat of the fall of Tuapse. The Soviet command organized a series of counterattacks, and by October 9 the German offensive was stopped. In these battles, the Germans lost more than 10 thousand people.

On October 14, the German Tuapse group resumed its offensive. German troops launched simultaneous attacks on Shaumyan and the village of Sadovoe. On October 17, the Germans captured Shaumyan, the 56th Army was pushed back, and the threat of encirclement of the 18th Army arose. However, the Black Sea group received reinforcements, this changed the balance of forces in this direction, on October 23 the German troops were stopped, and on October 31 they went on the defensive.

Observation point of mountain rangers in the mountains of the Caucasus.

The German command brought up reserves and in mid-November the Wehrmacht launched a third offensive in the Tuapse direction, trying to break through to Tuapse through the village of Georgievskoye. The enemy managed to penetrate the defenses of the 18th Army up to 8 km deep. However, this was where the successes of the German-Romanian troops ended. Strong resistance from Soviet troops forced the Germans to stop. Already on November 26, the 18th Army went on the offensive, striking with two strike groups. By December 17, the German-Romanian group in this direction was defeated and thrown back across the Pshish River. Aviation played a major role in these battles - aircraft of the 5th Air Army shot down and destroyed 131 enemy aircraft at airfields; coastal artillery, the Black Sea Fleet and the Marine Corps took an active part in the operation. As a result of this operation, the Germans' attempt to break through to Tuapse was thwarted, the Wehrmacht suffered heavy losses and went on the defensive along the entire front of the Black Sea Group of the Transcaucasian Front.

Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze defensive operation (October 25 - November 12, 1942). By October 25, the German command was able to secretly regroup the 1st Tank Army and concentrate its main forces (two tank and one motorized divisions) in the Nalchik direction. The Germans planned to capture Ordzhonikidze and then develop an offensive in the direction of Grozny - Baku and along the Georgian Military Road to Tbilisi.

Here the defense was held by the Northern Group of Forces of Lieutenant General I.I. Maslennikov: the 9th, 37th, 44th and 58th armies, two separate rifle corps and one cavalry corps. The group was supported from the air by the 4th Air Army. The command of the Northern Group missed the enemy's preparations for the attack, although the reconnaissance of the 9th and 37th armies reported suspicious movements of enemy troops. They believed that the Germans were strengthening their defensive formations. At this time, the Soviet command itself was preparing a counteroffensive in the Malgobek-Mozdok direction (in the sector of the 9th Army), where the main forces and reserves were concentrated. On the Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze line, the defense was held by the 37th Army, weakened by previous battles and lacking tanks. Therefore, the German command was able to create a huge superiority in forces in the 6-kilometer breakthrough section: 3 times in manpower, 10 times in guns and mortars; the Soviet side had no tanks at all.

On the morning of October 25, after powerful air and artillery preparation, German troops went on the offensive. The defense of the 37th Army was broken through: on October 28, the Germans captured Nalchik, and on November 2, they broke through the outer line of the Ordzhonikidze defensive region, capturing Gizel (a suburb of Ordzhonikidze) by the end of the day. To stabilize the situation, the Soviet command transferred some troops from the Grozny region to the Ordzhonikidze direction. On November 3-4, the Germans concentrated up to 150 tanks in the Gisel area and tried to build on their success, but were unsuccessful. On November 5, Soviet troops with their counterattacks forced the Wehrmacht to go on the defensive.

For German troops in the Gisel area, there was a threat of encirclement. The Soviet command took advantage of this moment and launched a counteroffensive on November 6, trying to block the Gisela group. On November 11, Gisel was liberated, the German group was defeated and was thrown back across the Fiagdon River. It was not possible to encircle the German troops, but the last attempt of the Wehrmacht to break through to Grozny, Baku and the South Caucasus was thwarted.

After the completion of the Nalchik-Ordzhonikidze defensive operation, the Soviet command organized a counter-offensive in the Mozdok direction. On November 13, units of the 9th Army went on the offensive. But they failed to break through the defenses of the German troops; Soviet troops were only able to wedge themselves into the German formations for several kilometers, reaching the eastern bank of the Ardon and Fiagdon rivers. At the end of November and beginning of December 1942, the troops of the 9th Army repeated offensive attempts, but they were also unsuccessful. As a result, the offensive in the Mozdok direction was postponed until early January 1943.

Soviet tankman on a captured German tank Pz.Kpfw IV in Vladikavkaz (at that time - Ordzhonikidze).

Results of the defensive stage of the battle for the Caucasus

During the first stage of the battle for the Caucasus, which took place from July to December 1942, the Wehrmacht achieved great success: the rich agricultural regions of the Don and Kuban, the Taman Peninsula, part of the North Caucasus were captured, they reached the foothills of the Main Caucasus Range, capturing part of the passes. Overall, however, the German Edelweiss plan was a failure. German troops were unable to capture the oil-producing areas of Grozny and Baku, break through into Transcaucasia, or occupy the Black Sea coast right up to the Turkish border, establishing direct contact with Turkish troops. Türkiye never took the side of Germany. The German-Romanian troops suffered heavy losses - about 100 thousand people, the strike force was exsanguinated. Soviet troops completed their main task - they stopped the enemy advance in all directions. German troops were stopped east of Mozdok, on the approaches to Ordzhonikidze (Vladikavkaz), on the passes of the Main Range, in the southeastern part of Novorossiysk. German-Romanian troops were driven back from Tuapse.

One of the main reasons why the German offensive in the Caucasus did not achieve its goals was the dispersal of forces. The German military-political leadership began to pay more attention to the battle for Stalingrad, where the 4th Tank Army and the 3rd Romanian Army were transferred. In December, due to the defeat of the German group at Stalingrad, several more German military formations were withdrawn from the Caucasian direction, which further weakened Army Group A. As a result, by the beginning of 1943, Soviet troops surpassed the Wehrmacht in the Caucasus in numbers, both in personnel and in equipment and weapons.

It is also necessary to take into account the factor of the enormous attention of the Headquarters and the General Staff to the Caucasus; it also played a big role in the failure of the plans of the German command. Much attention was paid to restoring the stability of the command and control system and measures to improve it. In addition, despite the difficult situation in other sectors of the Soviet-German front, the VKG Headquarters constantly strengthened the Caucasian direction with fresh troops. From July to October 1942 alone, about 100 thousand marching reinforcements, a significant number of military units, special units, equipment and weapons were transferred to the Caucasian Front.

It should be noted that the battles in the Caucasus took place in the specific conditions of mountainous terrain, which required the Red Army soldiers to master special forms and methods of fighting the enemy. The organization of formations and units was improved, and special mountain detachments were created. The units were reinforced with sapper units, engineering equipment, mining equipment, transport, including pack vehicles, and received more radio stations. During the battles with the enemy, the interaction of ground forces with ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Military Flotilla received great development. The ships covered the ground forces from the flanks, supported defenses and attacks with naval and coastal artillery fire, and carried out anti-landing measures. The crews formed marine units that covered themselves with immortal glory in the battles for the Caucasus. In addition, the Black Sea Fleet, Azov, Volga and Caspian military flotillas played a large role in the delivery of reinforcements, military cargo, evacuation of the wounded, civilians and material assets. Thus, in the second half of 1942, ships and vessels transported more than 200 thousand people and 250 thousand tons of various cargo. Soviet sailors sank 51 enemy ships with a total displacement of 120 thousand tons.

In November 1942, the offensive capabilities of the Wehrmacht in the Caucasus were significantly depleted, and the activity of the Red Army, on the contrary, increased. A turning point came during the battle for the Caucasus. The strategic initiative in the Caucasian sector of the Soviet-German front began to pass into the hands of the Soviet command.

VO, Samsonov Alexander