Kharkov 1942: Anatomy of a Military Disaster

292 Pages·1998·11.54 MB·English

by  David M. Glantz

Kharkov
1942

In memory of an able historian and fine friend,
Colonel Paul Adair, British Army Retired,
who worked so hard to reveal the human dimension of
the war on the Eastern Front.
Kharkov
1942
Anatomy of a Military Disaster
David M. Glantz
SARPEDON
Rockville Centre, NY
Published in the United States by
SARPEDON
©1998 by David M. Glantz
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
For additional information contact Sarpedon Publishers,
49 Front Street, Rockville Centre, NY 11570.
ISBN 1-885119-54-2
Published in the United Kingdom in 1998 by
IAN ALLAN PUBLISHING LTD
Terminal House, Station Approach, Shepperton, Surrey TW17 8AS.
Cataloging-in-publication data is available from the
Library of Congress.
1098765432 1
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
The right of David M. Glantz to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
Picture credits
All pictures in this book are from the author's collection unless credited
otherwise.
Front cover: Soviet tank assault in the Kharkov region.
Back cover, top: Soviet troops erecting anti-tank obstacles.
Back cover, bottom: German armoured units break through Soviet
lines. IWM HU40225
CONTENTS
List of Appendices 6
List of Maps 7
Glossary and Abbreviations 8
Preface 11
Introduction 15
1 Prelude 17
2 Planning 21
Overview: The Strategic Debate 21
Overview: The Soviet Assessment 37
3 Area of Operations 59
Strategic Aspects 59
Operational and Tactical Aspects 61
4 Opposing Forces 65
Soviet Order of Battle 65
Soviet Force Structure 69
The Southwestern Direction Leaders 75
The Southwestern Direction Forces 80
German Order of Battle 104
German Force Structure 106
Correlation of Forces 111
5 The Course of Combat Operations 114
First Stage: Southwestern Front Offensive 114
Second Stage: Southwestern and Southern Front
Defensive Battles in the Barvenkovo Salient 164
6 Costs and Consequences 218
The Price of Combat 218
The Consequences 219
Brief Results and Conclusions 226
7 Conclusions 239
Notes to Chapters 248
Appendices 252
Select Bibliography 280
Index 283
LIST OF APPENDICES
1 Report No 00137/op of the Southwestern Direction High
Command, 22 March 252
2 Report of the Southwestern Direction High Command to the
Supreme High Command, 30 March 255
3 Operational Plan of Southwestern Direction Forces for the
occupation of the Kharkov Region, 10 April 256
4 From Operational Directive No 00275 of the Southwestern
Direction High Command to Southwestern Front Forces, 28 April 258
5 From Operational Directive No 00177 of the Southern Front
Command concerning right flank defence, 6 April 261
6 Report of the Southwestern Direction High Command to the
Stavka VGK concerning the offensive, 15 May 262
7 Combat Order No 0140/op of the Southwestern Direction
Headquarters to the Commander, Southern Front, 17 May 264
8 Report of the Southwestern Direction High Command to the
Stavka VGK concerning the enemy offensive, 17 May 264
9 Combat Report No 0119 of the Southwestern Front Commander
to the Stavka VGK concerning combat operations, 19 May 265
10 Report of the Military Council of the Southwestern Direction
to the Stavka VGK concerning combat operations, 19 May 266
11 Notes of a conversation between the Chief of the Red Army
General Staff and the Commander-in-Chief, Southwestern
Direction, 19 May 267
12 Notes of a conversation between the Chief of the Red Army
General Staff and the Commander-in-Chief, Southwestern
Direction, 19 May 268
13 Combat Order No 00320 of the Southwestern Direction High
Command to the Commander of 6th Army forces, and the
Commander of the Army Group, 19 May 268
14 Combat Order No 0143/op of the Southwestern Direction High
Command to the commander of Southern Front and 57th Army
forces, 19 May 269
15 Combat Report No 00323/op of the Southwestern Direction High
Command to the Stavka VGK concerning the offensive since
12 May and the plan for subsequent operations, 21 May 270
16 Extract from a Southwestern Front Military Council Order to 38th
Army, 22 May 271
17 Information concerning the losses of Southwestern Direction
forces during the period of battle on the Kharkov Axis, 10-31 May 272
18 Soviet order of battle (participating formations) and abbreviated
German order of battle (initial) 273
19 Postscript: The Fate of the Survivors 275
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LIST OF MAPS
1 The Barvenkovo-Lozovaia Operation, 18-31 January 1942 19
2 Plan 'Blau' 23
3 Situation on the Eastern Front, April 1942 39
4 Operational Plan 45
5 Strategic axes in the Soviet Union 60
6 The Kharkov region: the Northern Sector 62
7 The Kharkov region: the Southern Sector 63
8 Force dispositions north of Kharkov, 11 May 67
9 Force dispositions south of Kharkov, 11 May 68
10 Combat on 12 May in the Northern Sector 115
11 Combat on 13 May in the Northern Sector 125
12 Combat on 14 May in the Northern Sector 131
13 Combat on 12 May in the Southern Sector 133
14 Combat on 13 May in the Southern Sector 135
15 Combat on 14 May in the Southern Sector 138
16 Combat on 15 May in the Northern Sector 144
17 Combat on 16 May in the Northern Sector 157
18 Combat on 15 May in the Southern Sector 159
19 Combat on 16 May in the Southern Sector 162
20 Combat on 17 May in the Southern Sector 170
21 Combat on 17 May in the Northern Sector 176
22 Combat on 18 May in the Southern Sector 182
23 Combat on 18 May in the Northern Sector 186
24 Combat on 19 May in the Southern Sector 189
25 Combat on 19 May in the Northern Sector 193
26 Combat on 20 May in the Northern Sector 195
27 The situation 21-24 May in the Northern Sector 196
28 Combat on 20 May in the Southern Sector 199
29 Combat on 21 May in the Southern Sector 200
30 Combat on 22 May in the Southern Sector 203
31 Combat on 23 May in the Southern Sector 206
32 Combat on 24 May in the Southern Sector 208
33 Combat on 25 May in the Southern Sector 211
34 Combat on 26 May in the Southern Sector 213
35 Combat on 27 May in the Southern Sector 215
36 Summary map of the Kharkov Operation (12-29 May 1942) 229
37 The Summer-Autumn Campaign, 1942 243
7