The second defense zone, located about 10 km (6.2 mi) behind the outer defense zone and covering the most important directions, was composed of a set of firing points connected with trenches. Thirty years later, Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky (Chief of the General Staff in 1943) wrote in his memoirs: This plan was enormous both in regard of its daring and of forces committed to it, was executed through several operations: the Smolensk operation, ...the Donbass [Operation], the left-bank Ukraine operation...[6], The territory on which the offensive was to be staged was a slightly hilly plain covered with ravines and possessing significant areas of swamps and forests that restricted military movement. The Assumption Cathedral in Smolensk housed one of the most venerated icons of the Orthodox Church, Our Lady of Smolensk attributed to St Luke, and Napoleon assumed that the Russians would fight outside the city to avoid its destruction. The Stavka decided instead to shift the attack axis west to Yelnya and Smolensk.[24]. Russian forces had inflicted thousands of combat losses on Napoleon's main army, but the primary cause in the reduction of his force was strategic consumption—the need to garrison cities, towns, fortresses and forward supply depots. Media in category "Battle of Smolensk (1943)" The following 4 files are in this category, out of 4 total. It has been estimated that as many as 55 German divisions were committed to counter the Smolensk Operation – divisions which would have been critical to prevent Soviet troops from crossing the Dnieper in the south. Its goal was to clear the German presence from the Smolensk and Bryan… Of 2,250 buildings, 84% were destroyed with only 350 surviving intact. This was initially successful, the intense artillery bombardment setting the city on fire. However, despite recent reinforcements, the combined strength of the Soviet armies manning the line (the 5th, 16th, 43rd and 49th armies) barely reached 90,000 men, hardly sufficient to stem the German advance.In light of the situation, Zhukov decided to concentrate his force… Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}54°47′N 32°03′E / 54.783°N 32.050°E / 54.783; 32.050, G.K. Zhukov, Memoirs, Moscow, Ed. The As­sump­tion Cathe­dral in Smolensk housed one of the most ven­er­ated icons of the Or­tho­dox Church, Our Lady of Smolenskat­trib­uted to St Luke, and Napoleon as­sumed that the Rus­sians would fight out­side the city to avoid its de­struc­tion. Deputy Chief of General Staff General A. I. Antonov reported "We have to deal both with forests and swamps and with increasing resistance of enemy troops reinforced by divisions arriving from Bryansk region"[19] while Marshal Nikolai Voronov, formerly a Stavka member, analysed the stalemate in his memoirs, publishing what he saw as the eight primary causes:[20], With all these factors considered, Voronov demanded that the 4th Tank Army and the 8th Artillery Corps be transferred from the Bryansk Front and instead committed to support the attack near Smolensk. The attack resumed the following day with another attempt at a simultaneous breakthrough taking place further north, towards Yartzevo. The First Battle of Smolensk was the first major battle during Operation Barbarossa in World War II that significantly delayed the advance of Hitler's Wehrmacht in the USSR. During the Spas-Demensk Offensive Operation (Russian: Спас-Деменская наступательная операция) in the region of Spas-Demensk, things went better for the 10th Army. The Russian offensive had failed due to disagreements among the generals, Barclay's inactivity and pointless marches that lost the Russians time they could not recover. These two cities were important logistical centers, allowing quick supply and reinforcements for German troops. He declared his army was hungry and sick and moved to Smolensk. Overall, Soviet troops advanced 100–180 km (62–112 mi) during almost 20 days of this third part of the offensive.[32]. Both attacks were stopped in their tracks by heavy German resistance. [17] He ordered Bagration to move south along the Dnieper. For instance, at the end of July 1943, a German staff briefing stated: On the front... held by the Army Group Center many signs show a continuous preparation to a yet limited offensive (Roslavl, Smolensk, Vitebsk) and of a maneuver of immobilization of the Army Group Center...[9], The front had been more or less stable for four to five months (and up to 18 months in several places) before the battle, and possessed geographical features favorable for a strong defensive setup. Second, German defense rings, on which German troops planned to rely, were almost completely overrun. Napoleon did not know Barclay's exact location and was acting on instinct. In the following five days, Soviet troops slowly made their way through German defenses, repelling heavy counterattacks and sustaining heavy losses. The 5th Mechanized Corps,[15] relocated from Kirov and committed to battle in order to exploit the breakthrough, failed in its mission, mainly because a poorly organized anti-aircraft defense enabled Luftwaffe dive bombers to attack its Valentine tanks with some impunity. By mid-August, the situation on the Eastern Front had changed as the Red Army started a general offensive, beginning with the Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation (Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev; 3–23 August) and the Orel Offensive Operation (Operation Polkovodets Kutuzov; 12 July – 18 August) otherwise known as the Battle of Kursk, and continuing with the Wehrmacht's defensive Battle of the Dnieper line in North Ukraine. On 7 September, the offensive was stopped, and the second stage of the Smolensk operation was over.[29]. This strategic threat, which had been the Stavka's biggest source of worry since 1941, was finally removed. Barclay retained forces on the other side of the river preventing a crossing until the night of August the 18th. Latour-Maubourg's cavalry would attack down the Dnieper as a diversion. After four days of battle, Soviet rifle divisions captured Dukhovshchina, another "key" to Smolensk.[30]. The main defense line, 5 km (3.1 mi) deep, possessed three sets of trenches and firing points, linked by an extensive communication network. The Battle of Smolensk was the first major battle of the French invasion of Russia. Dnieper is by far the largest of them and strategically most important. [6], Rapid forced marches and the inability of supply wagon trains led to high incidences of desertion and tens of thousands of losses to hunger and disease, most notably dysentery. [8][10][8], The action at Inkovo on 7 August was seen by Napoleon as heralding an immediate Russian attack. These four armies were covering a front of only 36 km (22 mi), creating a very high concentration of troops. Napoleon's deployment remained hidden from the Russians due to a thick cavalry screen under Generals Emmanuel de Grouchy, Étienne de Nansouty and Louis-Pierre Montbrun. [11] On the first day, the Soviet troops advanced only 4 km (2.5 mi),[12] with all available troops (including artillery, communications, and engineers) committed to battle.[13]. Platov was directed to rejoin Barclay's army and Bagration was to move to Vidra. The Battle of the Dnieper was to achieve the liberation of Ukraine and push the southern part of the front towards the west. The German Army had already advanced 500 km (300 miles) into the USSR in the previous three weeks. Gaston Bodart gave 6,000. On 25 September, after an assault crossing of the northern Dnieper and street fighting that lasted all night, Soviet troops completed the liberation of Smolensk. They were carried out by units of the Central, Western, Bryansk and Reserve fronts against the fascist troops belonging to the Army Group Center. Includes a printable map of the Smolensk '41 campaign scenario map. They relied too much on artillery. 200 megabytes of hard drive space Bagration refused, pointing out that Smolensk, Neverovski and Raevsky were in grave danger. An initial probing force captured … The First Battle of Smolensk (Kesselschlacht bei Smolensk ("Cauldron-battle) of Smolensk)";, Smolenskaya strategicheskaya oboronitelnaya operatsiya, "Smolensk strategic defensive operation") was a battle during the second phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, in World War II. When Napoleon invaded Russia in June 1812, he led a multinational army of more than half a million soldiers. $49.95. After rainfall, which was quite common during the Russian summer, most of them were turned into mud (a phenomenon known as rasputitsa), greatly slowing down any advance of mechanized troops, and raising logistical issues as well. As a result, the two Soviet counteroffensives that followed the Kursk Defensive Operation (5–23 July) proceeded relatively easily for the Red Army around Oryol, creating a large salient south of Smolensk and Bryansk. An aggressive "Russian" faction around Prince Pyotr Bagration called for an immediate, all-out attack against Napoleon. The battle occurred in the region around the city of Smolensk over a period of two months (it was planned to take two weeks). [5] 90,000 troops under Marshal Nicolas Oudinot and Generals Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, Jean Reynier and Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg had been detached for various missions. With over 15,000 casualties, it was one of the bloodiest battles of the invasion. The re-entrant exposed the Wehrmacht to flank attacks from the north but the offensive the main attack carried out Kalinin and Western Fronts would be quite difficult. Although quite modest compared to later offensive operations (not more than 200–250 km (120–160 mi) were gained in depth),the Soviet advance during this operation was important from several points of view. In one day, its troops advanced 30 km (19 mi) and reached the outskirts of Yelnya. French forces lacked ladders or climbing apparatus to scale the city walls and were under counter fire from Russian artillery. Istomin), Voenno-istoricheskiy zhurnal (Military history journal), 1969, No. Soviet troops eventually advanced a further 25 km (16 mi) as of 13 August, liberating Spas-Demensk. [21] Chandler puts French losses at 10,000,[20] while Mikaberidze also suggested 10,000. The River Dnieper ran through the middle. By 30 September, the Soviet offensive force were tired and depleted, and became bogged down outside Vitebsk, Orsha, and Mogilev, which were still held by Wehrmacht troops, and on 2 October the Smolensk operation was concluded. 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