Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1942: Schwerpunkt

438 Pages·2014·10.28 MB·English

by  Forczyk

First published in Great Britain in 2013 by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
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Copyright © Robert A. Forczyk, 2013
HARDBACK ISBN: 978-1-78159-008-9
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1988.
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Contents
List of Plates
List of Maps
Glossary
Preface
Introduction
Popular Mythology
Strategic Setting
Terrain and Weather Factors
Doctrinal and Technological Influences
Tanker Facts of Life
Chapter 1: The Opposing Armoured Forces in 1941
The German Panzerwaffe
The Red Army’s Tank Force
Chapter 2: The Dynamic of Armoured Operations in 1941
Panzergruppe 4 versus the Northwest Front, 22–30 June
Panzergruppe 3 and the Crossing of the Neman, 22–24 June
The Destruction of Pavlov’s Armour in the Bialystok Salient
Von Kleist’s Panzergruppe 1 versus the Southwest Front
An Assessment of the June 1941 Border Battles
Stopping Höpner’s Advance on Leningrad, July–September 1941
Crossing the Berezina and Dnieper, July 1941
Seizing the Bull by the Horns: Smolensk, 10 July–5 August
Showdown at Yartsevo, 17–31 July 1941
Velikiye Luki: Punch and Counterpunch, 17 July–26 August
The Road to Kiev, 2–9 July
Kishinev, 2–12 July 1941
Debacle at Uman, 15 July–8 August
Yelnya: Zhukov’s Pyhrric Victory, 8 August–6 September
Kiev: the Führer’s Choice, 25 August–20 September
Yeremenko’s Attempted Deep Battle, 30 August–7 September
Kiev: Closing the Kessel, 1–20 September
Sustaining the Tanks, September 1941
Pursuit to the Donbas, September–October 1941
Preparing for Typhoon, 6–30 September
Typhoon: Guderian’s Battle, 30 September–16 October
Hoth Demolishes the Western Front, 2–12 October
Höpner Seals the Vyazma kessel, 2–12 October
Zhukov: Playing for Time, 7–31 October
Guderian Tries for Tula, 22 October–30 November
Typhoon: the Last Roll of the Dice, 1 November–4 December
Gamble at Tikhvin, 16 October–18 November 1941
Rostov: von Kleist’s Frozen Blitzkrieg, 5–20 November
Striking the Hydra’s Head, 25 November–15 December
Chapter 3: Armoured Operations in 1942
Soviet and German Armoured Forces, January–March 1942
The Winter Counteroffensive, January–March 1942
Armoured Warfare in the Winter
Fateful Decisions and Armoured Renewal, April–May 1942
Tank Skirmishes in the Crimea, 1 January–20 May
Decision at Kharkov, 12–28 May 1942
Clearing up Loose Ends, 2 June–4 July
Case Blau: Hoth’s Advance to Voronezh, 28 June–15 July
Von Kleist’s Panzers Head for the Oil, 9 July–6 September
Drive on Stalingrad, 16 July–23 August
Tank Battles north of Orel, 5 July–29 August
Stalingrad: the Schwerpunkt Hits a Brick Wall, 24 August–1 November
The Rzhev Meatgrinder, 2 July–30 August
Enter the Tigers, August–December 1942
Operation Uranus, 19–23 November
Wintergewitter, December 12–19
Operation Mars, 25 November–20 December
Deep Battle, 16–30 December
Armour on the Eastern Front at the End of 1942
Conclusions
Appendix I: Rank Table
Appendix II: Armour Order of Battle, 22 June 1941
Appendix III: Tanks on the Eastern Front, 1941
Appendix IV: Tank Production, 1941
Appendix V: Armour Order of Battle, 1 July 1942
Appendix VI: Tank Production, 1942
Notes
Bibliography
List of Plates
A mixed German armoured Kampfgruppe begins the attack into the Soviet
Union.
Abandoned Soviet T-26 light tanks from Oborin’s 14th Mechanized Corps in
Kobrin, 23
June 1941.
A knocked-out T-26 light tank and a victim of the early border battles.
A Pz.38(t) light tank from the 12.Panzer-Division, which was part of Hoth’s
Panzergruppe
3.
A German infantryman approaches a dead Soviet tanker next to his burning BT-
7 fast
tank, Ukraine, June 1941.
A 15cm sIG 33 (sf), probably from 1.Panzer-Division, passes an abandoned KV-
2 heavy
tank in June 1941.
During the Battle of Dubno on 26 June 1941, the Soviet 12th Tank Division
attempted to
attack the German-held village of Leshnev, but advancing into marshy terrain
along the
Syten’ka River they lost three T-34 tanks that got bogged down.
A T-34 Model 1941 which overran and crushed a German l.FH18 10.5cm
howitzer.
A StuG III assault gun crossing a river in the early stages of Operation
Barbarossa.
The hull of a KV-1 with at least four medium-caliber anti-tank round hits, which
failed to
penetrate, but a large-caliber artillery round, either 10.5cm or 15cm, has
damaged the
track.
A KV-1 heavy tank from the 124th Armored Brigade ambushed a German
column
northeast of Ivanovka on 9 October 1941.
Soviet tankers examine a Pz.38(t) light tank from the 7.Panzer-Division,
abandoned near
Yartsevo.
The onset of mud slowed down, but did not stop, German operations.
Soviet T-26 light tanks lead Timoshenko’s counterattacks during the fighting
near
Smolensk in August 1941.
A Pz.III medium tank from 10.Panzer-Division, knocked out near Skirminova,
east of
Volokolamsk in mid-November 1941.
The last stage of Operation Typhoon began with German panzers attempting to
batter their
way through Rokossovsky’s final layer of defense outside Moscow.
A Soviet white-washed T-34 in hull-down position awaits the German panzers,
near
Volokolamsk, November 1941.
Polkovnik Mikhail G. Sakhno’s tanks from the Moscow Proletarian Motorized
Rifle
Division move to a new position in the vicinity of Naro-Fominsk, December
1941.
Two overturned Matilda II tanks near Volokolamsk, 1 December 1941.
A T-34 tank moving at speed in deep snow.
The crew of a Pz.III tank from the 14.Panzer-Division watch German infantry
clearing a
village, mid-1942.
The interior of Hube’s command vehicle, 16.Panzer-Division.
A Pz.III tank from 11.Panzer-Division in action during the opening stages of
Operation
Blau, 28–30 June 1942.
An 8.8cm flak gun employing direct fire against Soviet armour.
A Pz.IV tank destroyed during the Second Battle of Kharkov in May 1942.
A Pz.III Ausf J with long 5cm gun.
An American-built Lend-Lease M3 Lee tank, shattered by 8.8cm anti-tank fire.
Tiger I heavy tank in August 1942.
A T-34 tank moving over rough terrain with infantry in desant role.
A Pz.IV Ausf G with long 7.5cm cannon in mid-1942.
A KV-1 heavy tank that overran a German reconnaissance car at the Battle of
Ostrov.
A German Tauchpanzer III in testing.
List of Maps
Overview – disposition of major German and Soviet armoured units at start of
Barbarossa,
22 June 1941 and major battle sites, limit of German advance
Von Schweppenburg’s XXIV Armeekorps (mot.) crosses the Bug River and
defeats
Oborin’s 14th Mechanized Corps, 22–23 June
Cherniavsky’s 1st Mechanized Corps versus Reinhardt’s XXXXI Armeekorps
(mot.);
Soviet 3rd Tank Division counterattack against 1.Panzer-Division at Ostrov, 5–6
July and
delay back to Pskov, 7–9 July