Operation Don's Left Wing: The Trans-Caucasus Front's Pursuit of the First Panzer Army, November 1942-February 1943

by David M. Glantz

Overview

On 1 January 1943, with German Sixth Army about to be destroyed in the Stalingrad pocket, the Stavka (Soviet High Command) launched Operation Don, a strategic offensive conducted by the Red Army’s Southern, Southwestern, and Trans-Caucasus Fronts aimed at demolishing German defenses in the southern Soviet Union and decisively turning the war’s tide. Critical to this ambitious operation was the mission assigned to the Trans-Caucasus Front—to isolate and destroy German Army Group A in the northern Caucasus region in cooperation with the Southern Front. Operation Don’s Left Wing is the first detailed study of this crucial but virtually overlooked Soviet military operation.

Because of the priority given to the assault on German Sixth Army at Stalingrad, the Red Army Southwestern, Southern, and Trans-Caucasus Fronts were compelled to execute their missions with scant resources—inadequate logistical support, personnel replacements, and reinforcing equipment. Based on newly released Red Army archival operational documents, David M. Glantz constructs a clear, comprehensive account of how, despite such constraints, the Trans-Caucasus Front nonetheless pursued and severely damaged German First Panzer Army—although it failed to encircle and destroy the panzer army as hoped. These documents include candid daily orders and reports, periodic situation maps, a full array of ever-changing operational plans, and strength and casualty reports prepared by Soviet formations and units throughout the offensive. With unprecedented access to these documents, Glantz delves into previously forbidden topics such as unit strengths and losses and the foibles and attitudes of commanders at every level.

Following Glantz’s Operation Don’s Main Attack, this documentary study expands our understanding of a pivotal operation in the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany and a decisive moment in the history of World War II on the Eastern Front.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780700628438
Publisher:	University Press of Kansas
Publication date:	12/13/2019
Series:	Modern War Studies
Pages:	960
Sales rank:	544,317
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 2.10(d)

About the Author

David M. Glantz, an officer in the US Army from 1963 to 1993, was founder and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. He has authored numerous books published by the University Press of Kansas, including When Titans Clashed (with Jonathan House); his celebrated Stalingrad Trilogy (with Jonathan House); The Battle for Belorussia: The Red Army’s Forgotten Campaign of October 1943–April 1944 (with Mary Elizabeth Glantz); and, most recently, Operation Don’s Main Attack: The Soviet Southern Front’s Advance on Rostov, January–February 1943.

Table of Contents

List of Maps, Photographs, and Tables

Preface

Selected Abbreviations

1. The Situation in Mid-November 1942

-The Strategic Situation

-Opposing Orders of Battle

-Correlation of Opposing Forces

2. Opposing Forces

-Rifle (Infantry) and Artillery Forces

-Tank Forces

-Engineer Forces

-Air Forces

-Railroad Forces

-Penal and Blocking Forces

3. the Trans-Caucasus Front’s Planning and Operations in November and December 1942

-General

-The Northern Group of Forces’ Initial Counterstroke, 13-19 November 1942

-The Operations Lull, 19-26 November 1942

-The Northern Group’s Second Counterstroke, 27 November - 7 December 1942

-Army Group A’s Limited Withdrawal and the Northern Group’s Pursuit, 21-25 December 1942

-Soviet Assessments of the Northern Group’s Operations in December 1942

-Hitler’s Decision to Withdraw Army Group A from the Caucasus Region

4. The Stavka’s and Trans-Caucasus Front’s Offensive Planning, 29 December 1942 - 2 January 1943

-The Strategic Situation in Late December 1942

-The Trans-Causasus Front’s Plans for Offensive Operations along the Krasnodar and Stavropol’ Axes

-The Stavka Alters Its Strategy

5. The Northern Group of Forces’ Pursuit of First Panzer Army to Armavir, 1-23 January 1943

-The Northern Group’s Advance to the Kuma river, 1-8 January

-The Northern Group’s Pursuit Northward from the Kuma River, 9-14 January

-The Northern Group’s Revised Plans for an Advance to Stavropol’ and Tikhoretsk, 14-16 January

-The Northern Group’s Advance to Stavropol’ and Armavir, 15-23 January

-Conclusions

6. The Krasnodar Axis: The Black Sea Group of Forces’ Operations Sea (More) and Mountain (Gory), 1-31 January 1943

-Comparison of the Northern and Black Sea Groups’ Operations

-The Black Sea Group’s Area of Operations

-Opposing Forces

-Soviet Operational Planning, 23 December 1942 - 11 January 1943

-Regrouping of Forces and Reinforcement, 2-16 January

-German Seventeenth Army’s Withdrawal Plan

-Preliminary Military Operations, 5-15 January

-The Black Sea Group of Forces’ Main Offensive, 16-22 January

-Regrouping of Forces and Reinforcement, 2-16 January

-German Seventeenth Army’s Withdrawal Plan

-Preliminary Military Operations, 5-15 January

-The Black Sea Group of Forces’ Main Offensive, 16-22 January

-The Black Sea Group’s Offensive, 23-31 January

-Conclusions

-Postscript

7. the North Caucasus Front’s Pursuit of First Panzer Army to Tikhoretsk and the Panzer Army’s Escape, 24 January - 2 February 1943

-The Situation on 24 January

-The North Caucasus Front’s Advance to Egorlykskaia, 24-26 January

-The North Causasus Front’s Advance and First and Fourth Panzer Armies’ Counterstroke, 24-30 January

-Stalemate at Rostov and First Panzer Army’s Escape, 31 January - 2 February

-Conclusions

8. Conclusions

The Situation in January 1943

-Competing Strategies

-Costs and Problems

-Summary Judgments

Appendix A: Soviet and Axis Orders of Battle in the Caucasus Region, 1 November 1942 - 2 February 1943

Appendix B: Documents on the Struggle for the Caucasus Region, 19 November 1942 - 6 February 1943

Appendix C: Combat Strengths of the Trans-Caucasus Front’s Forces, November 1942 - February 1943

Appendix D: Correlations of Opposing Forces

Appendix E: Soviet Estimates of the Strength of German Forces

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

This is a remarkable book and it is a must-read for anyone interested in the war in the east, the Stalingrad campaign, and the wartime evolution of the Soviet war machine.”—Journal of Military History

“A valuable addition to the literature in the field.”—Michigan War Studies Review

From the Publisher