The Kharkov boiler of 1942

As is known, from the first days of the Great Patriotic War and for several months Soviet troops retreated along the entire length of the western border of the country. For the first time the enemy's swift stride was stopped only in November 1941, on the outskirts of Moscow. Then, at the cost of the incredible efforts of the Red Army, the fascists were able to drop. This gave the military command to be assured of the readiness of the troops to conduct offensive attacks. However, such misconceptions led to a catastrophe near Kharkov.

The original plan

By the time the German attack was successfully stopped and, moreover, the enemy had been thrown back from Moscow lines by a fairly decent distance, most of the industry had been evacuated beyond the Urals, where several enterprises were actively engaged in the production of military equipment in several shifts. The receipt of weapons into the army was normalized, in addition, the personnel of the army increased significantly. Already in the second quarter of 1942, it was possible to form not only a replenishment for the active army, but also reserve nine armies.

Proceeding from these circumstances, the main command decided to develop several offensive operations in different directions of the front in order to demoralize the enemy, prevent him from uniting his armies, cut off the southern front of the Germans and, after squeezing them, destroy them. Among the strategic operations was the Kharkov boiler of 1942.

Composition of the future collision

On the Soviet side, it was decided to include in the battle of the army at once three fronts - Bryansk, South-West and South. They included more than ten combined arms armies, as well as seven tank corps and more than twenty separate tank brigades. In addition, a reserve was fitted to the front line, which consisted of additional tank connections. The Kharkov boiler of 1942 was prepared carefully, so that more than 640,000 fighters, including officers, and 1,2 thousand tanks were trained to participate in future battles.

The command of the whole operation was also entrusted to the first persons of the military leadership of the country. Among the leaders was the head of the South-Western Front, Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, the staff was headed by the commander Ivan Bagramyan, and also Nikita Khrushchev. At the head of the Southern Front at that time was Lieutenant-General Rodion Malinovsky. Hitler's forces were led by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. The total force consisted of three armies, including the Sixth Army of Paulus. For his part, the Wehrmacht called the operation the Kharkov boiler of 1942 "Frederikus".

Preparatory work

In early 1942, Soviet troops began preparatory maneuvers. The formation of a strong bridgehead by parts of the Southwestern Front in the Kharkiv region near the town of Izyum began, near the Seversky Donets River, on the western bank of which, and managed to create a pillar of further offensives to Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk. In particular, the Soviet army managed to cut the railway, along which the supply of enemy units passed. However, the spring and the mudslides along the roads interfered with the war plans - the offensive had to be stopped.

To advance

According to the plans of the German High Command it was supposed that the Kharkov cauldron of 1942 would initially be expressed in the destruction of the bridgehead created by the Soviet army, and then surrounded. The attack of the Nazis was to begin on May 18, but the Red Army soldiers outstripped the Germans, beginning to advance six days earlier. The operation was started with simultaneous attacks on enemy units from the north and south. According to the strategy of the Soviet command, the Sixth Army was to be surrounded by the Kharkov Kettle. 1942 from the very beginning seemed quite promising - at first the plans of the Soviet formations were successfully realized. Five days later they really managed to press the Germans to Kharkov.

Simultaneously, on the southern side of the Germans, three Soviet armies pressed at once to break through the German defenses and to bury themselves in small places, where prolonged fierce battles began. In the north, during the first days of the operation, it was possible to go deeper into the German defense for 65 kilometers. However, the South-Western and Southern Front did not show themselves sufficiently active, which enabled the Germans to navigate in time and regroup troops, withdrawing entire units from the attacked areas.

The first failures - the precursors of the disaster

Operation "Kharkov Kettle" (1942) was successful for the Soviet side only in the first few days. By the end of the fifth day of fighting it became clear that everything was not going according to plan. By this time, the defense had to be broken quite seriously, and the Soviet troops - to move far ahead, but they were still trampled on the front line. In the northern sector, defensive battles against German attacks were delayed. Historians note that already in the first days of the attack, the attackers from the southern and northern sides acted inconsistently. At the same time, the connections of the South and South-Western fronts also did not work at all, which created serious failures in the operation.

In addition, reserves were not formed, the preparation of engineering structures and barriers was extremely low. As a result, the southern side was not provided with a tough defense. This partly caused the fact that the Kharkov boiler of 1942 in the end turned into a real catastrophe for the Soviet troops. Do not forget that the command in general did not anticipate the possibility of an offensive by the Germans during the operation. Such confidence was inspired by the bridgehead created.

Counter attack

German troops also planned to inflict two blows from the southern side of the bridgehead in order to develop a further offensive against the raisins. The Ninth Army was responsible for this plot. It was planned that the fascists would break through the Soviet defenses and cut the troops into two parts in order to surround them and destroy them separately. Further, it was intended to continue the offensive to destroy the entire group of armies that sat on the bridgehead.

On the fifth day of the battle the First Panzer Army of the enemy managed to break through the defensive supports of the Red Army men and strike a blow. We add that on the first day they were able to cut off one of the armies of the Southern Front from the main forces and exclude the possibility of their retreat to the east within ten days. Probably, even then the Kharkov boiler of 1942 (photos related to the events, presented in the review) was doomed. Tymoshenko, realizing the desperation of the situation, asked Moscow for permission to retreat. And although Alexander Vasilevsky, who was already appointed Chief of Staff at the time, allowed, Stalin said his categorical "no." As a result, on May 23, more Soviet units were surrounded.

The enemy trap

Since that moment, the Red Army men have persistently tried to break through the blockade. In particular, German officers recalled the desperate and intense attacks of an incredibly large number of infantry. Attempts were not crowned with special success: three days after the start of the encirclement, the Soviet units were driven into a relatively small area near the small town of Barvenkovo. This was only the first stage of the Second World War. The Kharkov boiler became only a logical consequence of insufficient preparedness and inconsistency of actions. Because of the strong defense of the Germans, it was not possible to withdraw from the encirclement to the Soviet units. And Tymoshenko had no choice but to stop the offensive operation.

Nevertheless, attempts to withdraw their people from the encirclement continued for several more days. Despite the huge losses (literally endless was the list of the dead), the Kharkov boiler managed to break a little near the village of Lozovenki. However, only a tenth of those who entered it managed to break out of the trap. This was a crushing defeat. Killed in the Kharkov boiler in 1942 - 171 thousand people - gave their lives literally just like that, one might say, because of Stalin's whims. The total number of losses reached 270 thousand.

Lamentable consequences

The most important consequence of the failure was the total weakening of Soviet defense along the entire length of the Southern Front. Quite a large force was invested in the Kharkov pot (1942). The collapse of hopes for a turning point in the war was too painful. And the Wehrmacht, of course, used it wisely.

The Nazis launched large-scale offensives in the Caucasus direction, as well as on the Volga. Already at the end of June, passing between Kharkov and Kursk, they broke through to the Don. The Kharkov boiler was expensive in 1942 - lists of the deceased were filled by several high-ranking commanders, including commanders of armies and fronts. But even with the retreat of parts of the South-Western Front, the losses were considerable. While the Germans took Voronezh and moved to Rostov, the Soviet army lost from 80 to 200 thousand soldiers. Taking Rostov closer to the end of July, in early August the enemy went to Stalingrad - a milestone that the Germans could no longer overcome.

On the current situation near Kharkov, as the last triumph of the Wehrmacht on the territory of the USSR, wrote a book Konstantin Bykov - "The Kharkov Kettle of 1942".

Returning to Kharkov

In fact, the battles on the Kharkov borders were not once. And this is understandable. Hitler began his offensive with Belarus and Ukraine. On the approaches to Kharkov, the Soviet troops have already begun to orient themselves and have learned to repulse the enemies. So, the first Kharkov boiler of 1941 "boiled" throughout the whole of October. Then the two sides fought desperately for the industrial wealth of the city. However, by the time the city fell, most of the most important productions had either been exported or destroyed.

The third clash on the same lines occurred one year after the second battle. Another Kharkov boiler - 1943 - was formed in February-March in the territory between Kharkov and Voronezh. And this time the city was also surrendered. The losses on both sides were more than impressive.