Battle of Debrecen

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Battle of Debrecen
Part of World War II

A Turan I tank of the Hungarian 2nd Armoured Division in action near Debrecen, 1944.
Date October 6, 1944 – October 29, 1944
Location Debrecen / Nyiregyhaza, Hungary
Result Axis victory
Combatants
Germany,
Hungary		 Soviet Union
Commanders
Johannes Friessner (Heeresgruppe Süd),
Maximilian Fretter-Pico (6.Armee)		 Rodion Malinovsky (2nd Ukrainian Front),
I.A. Pliyev (Group Pliyev)
Strength
80,000 260,000
Casualties
11,900 killed,
6,662 missing,
358 tanks,
310 artillery pieces,
600 anti-tank guns,
247 mortars,
1,954 other vehicles		 25,000 killed or missing,
2,312 vehicles,
1,157 guns
Eastern Front
Barbarossa – Finland – Leningrad and Baltics – Crimea and Caucasus – Moscow – 1st Rzhev-Vyazma – 2nd Kharkov – Stalingrad – Velikiye Luki – 2nd Rzhev-Sychevka – Kursk – 2nd Smolensk – Dnieper – 2nd Kiev – Korsun – Hube's Pocket – Belorussia – Lvov-Sandomierz – Balkans – Hungary – Vistula-Oder – Königsberg – Berlin – Prague
Hungary 1944-1945
Debrecen – Budapest – Balaton – Vienna Offensive

The Battle of Debrecen was a battle on the Eastern Front of World War II. In October 1944, General Maximilian Fretter-Pico's German Sixth Army and allied Hungarian units encircled and destroyed three corps of Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's Mobile Group Pliyev near Debrecen, Hungary.

Contents

[edit] Crisis in Hungary

In mid August 1944, Colonel-General (Generaloberst) Johannes Friessner's Army Group South Ukraine was on the brink of collapse. To the north, the Soviet Operation Bagration was completing the destruction of Army Group Centre, and On 25 August 1944, Germany's former ally, Romania declared war. The subsequent drive of Soviet General Fedor Tolbukhin's 3rd Ukrainian Front into Romania destroyed any semblance of an organised defensive line. On 8 September, Bulgaria, another of Germany's former allies, declared war. By this time, Tolbukhin, aided by the 2nd Ukrainian Front under Malinovsky had anihilated 13 Axis divisions, taking over 100,000 prisoners. Both Tolbukhin and Malinovsky were promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union.

The actions of Bulgaria and Romania had opened up a 650 kilometer gap in Friessner's Army Group. As Friessner desperately struggled to reform a defensive line, news filtered through to Berlin that the Hungarian leader, Admiral Miklós Horthy was preparing to sign a separate peace with the Soviet Union. If this happened, the entire southern front would collapse.

General Fretter-Pico's Sixth Army formed the nucleus of Friessner's force, which was redesignated Army Group South on 24 September. Seeing that the Hungarian allies were suffering from low morale, Friessner attached the Hungarian Second Army to Fretter-Pico's army, which was redesignated Armeegruppe Fretter-Pico.

[edit] Respite - Plans

As Tolbukhin cleared the remaining resistance in Romania, Malinovsky began to move towards Hungary. Thankfully for Friessner, the Soviet advance slowed, allowing him enough time to establish a weak defensive line based on the Mureş River.

In early September, Maliovsky received orders from STAVKA to advance from Cluj towards Miskolc and Debrecen and the Tisza River, on flat expanses of the Hungarian Plain. Once on the plain, Malinovsky could exploit his overwhelming advantage in armour to destroy Friessner's army group, break through to Budapest and drive into Czechoslovakia.

Friessner, fearing an envelopment by Malinovsky's 2nd Ukrainian Front and the 4th Ukrainian Front, flew to the Führer Headquarters and requested permission to withdraw to the Tisza and for freedom of movement to counter the Soviet attack. Hitler refused, instead promising additional forces for Friessner's army group and ordering the start of an offensive aimed at the destruction of two of Malinovsky's armies, the 27th and 6th Guards Tank Army, and the retaking of two vital passes in the Southern Carpathians, cutting Malinovsky's lines of communication. The attack was to be launched from Cluj.

[edit] Malinovsky Attacks - Fresh Plans

On 16 September, Malinovsky launched his attack. Friessner had been massing his troops for the upcoming attack, and Malinovsky's forces ran into heavy resistance. After a week of fruitless attacks, he called off the attack and ordered the exhausted 6th Guards Tank Army, along with Mobile Group Pliyev and Mobile Group Gorshkov, to the area near Oradea. This heavy, highly mobile armored force would be used as the vanguard of future operations.

On 20 September, Soviet troops captured the Hungarian border town of Arad, throwing the Hungarian General Staff into a panic. They activated the Hungarian Third Army, a force of new recruits and reservists of very limited military value, and both pro-German and pro-Allied factions began maneuvering to take control of the country. At the same time, Admiral Horthy's negotiations with the Soviets began in earnest. Friessner was forced to send several of the reinforcing units to Budapest to watch the situation under the premise of a period of rest and refit.

At the end of September, both Malinovsky and Friessner received new orders. Malinovsky was to attack from the salient to the south around Arad towards Budapest, using two of his armies and with the support of Mobile Group Pliyev. The remainder of his forces, including the 6th Guards Tank Army and Mobile Group Gorshkov, were to attack from the north, near Oradea, towards Debrecen. The plan was for the two spearheads to link up, encircling the German forces and anihilating them.

Meanwhile, Friessner was to attack from Oradea with Armeegruppe Fretter-Pico, slicing through the Soviet lines and capturing the Carpathian passes, which were to be held until the following spring. This meant that both sides were to attack at the same time and the same place, and both underestimated the forces opposing them.

[edit] The Battle Begins

The battle began on 6 October, with Malinovsky attacking near Arad and slicing through the Hungarian Third Army. The army folded quickly, many of its divisions simply disappearing in the assault. Within 24 hours, the southern spearhead, lead by Mobile Group Pliyev, had advanced almost sixty kilometers.

The attack by the northern pincer ran into difficulty quickly, slamming headlong into two panzer divisions of the III Panzer Corps, the 1st and 23rd Panzer. By the end of the day, they had advanced only ten kilometers.

Reacting quickly, Fretter-Pico ordered the 76th Infantry Division into the line near Oradea, freeing up the 23rd Panzer to move south to counter the breakthrough near Arad. The Panzergrenadier Division Feldherrnhalle, refitting at Mezokövesd, was moved into action to guard potentional crossing points on the Tisza from advancing Soviets.

By the evening of 7 October, the Soviet southern pincer had advanced further towards the Tisza, while the northern arm was still stalled near Oradea, where German-Hungarian forces had managed to halt several flanking attempts by the 6th Guards Tank Army.

Realising that his northern pincer was stuck, Malinovsky decided to turn the southern pincer northwards towards Debrecen in an attempt to pull Axis forces away from Oradea, allowing his northern force to breakthrough, crushing the German forces between Mobile Group Pliyev and the 6th Guards Tank Army.

[edit] Mobile Group Pliyev's Advance

Mobile Group Pliyev shifted its attack north-eastwards on 8 October, advancing quickly along the major highway between Szolnok to Debrecen. At Hajdúszoboszló, its lead units, the 9th Guards Mechanized and 6th Guards Cavalry Corps, ran into elements of 23rd Panzer Division moving south to halt the southern pincer. With overwhelming air support from the VVS, the mobile group took the town on 9 October. The Germans fell back to Debrecen, and began entrenching to the southeast of the city, repelling several heavy Soviet attacks.

The mobile group shifted its attack southwards again, back towards Oradea, but its advance was slowed by a fanatical defence by German and Hungarian forces. Despite this defence, it was clear that the mobile group would be able to effect a linkup with 6th Guards Tanks Army, and Fretter-Pico's line would be shattered.

[edit] Confusion Reigns

Hungarian infantry and a Toldi IIa tank advancing on Soviet positions. A 36./40.M Nimrod self-propelled anti-aircraft gun is defending the column from airstrikes.
Enlarge
Hungarian infantry and a Toldi IIa tank advancing on Soviet positions. A 36./40.M Nimrod self-propelled anti-aircraft gun is defending the column from airstrikes.

On 10 October, Fretter-Pico ordered the 1st Panzer Division to attack to the west, and 13th Panzer to attack to the east, cutting off the three corps of Mobile Group Pliyev. Not expecting this, Pliyev had left his flanks relatively lightly defended, and the two veteran panzer units quickly effected a linkup near the town of Püspökladány. What looked like a crisis point for Fretter-Pico had now been turned into a possible disaster for Malinovsky.

Malinovsky, realising the danger the mobile group was in, halted his attack in the south and focused all his forces on reaching the trapped group. Fretter-Pico ordered the Feldherrnhalle to Debrecen. The situation on the ground was greatly confused, with neither the Soviets nor the Germans knowing who was surrounding whom. By 11 October, elements of Pliyev's 4th Guards Cavalry Corps had reached the outskirts of Debrecen. Although cut off from the main Soviet force, he had avoided encirclement.

Under the 6th Guards Tank Army's ferocious attacks, the front line near Oradea was steadily pushed back, and by 14 October the line had fallen back 14 kilometers, with the town finally occupied by Malinovsky's forces. Further to the north, a new crisis threatened. The 4th Ukrainian Front had finally attacked, falling on Otto Wöhler's Eighth Army, which was threatening to collapse.

On 15 October, Admiral Horthy announced that Hungary had accepted an armistice with the USSR. Reacting quickly, Hitler ordered Otto Skorzeny to launch Operation Panzerfaust. By the 16 October, Skorzeny and his SS paratroopers had averted disaster, blackmailing Horthy into resigning and giving control of the government to Ferenc Szálasi, a pro-German leader.

Malinovsky linked up with Group Pliyev, and ordered the advance to continue. He aimed at capturing Debrecen, then swinging north towards Nyíregyháza. If he could capture this city, he would sever Eighth Army's line of communications. The German-Hungarian forces fought tenaciously, turning each village and crossroads into a defensive position, however by 22 October, the Soviets had captured Nyíregyháza, and Wöhler's line of communications was severed. Friessner had ordered Wöhler to disengage and fall back northwest of Nyíregyháza and attempt to form a defensive line. This move was already in progress when Mobile Group Pliyev cut the lines of communications.

[edit] Encirclement

Friessner's chief of staff, Major-General Helmuth Grolman proposed a risky plan. Grolman believed that the first encirclement of Mobile Group Pyilev had failed because of the confusion of the German-Hungarian forces and lack of enough forces to effect an encirclement. Grolman argued that now such an effort would be possible, and Friessner approved the plan.

23rd Panzer and 1st Panzer Divisions, led by the King Tigers of the 503rd Heavy Panzer Detachment, would spearhead the attack to the east. Paul Klatt's 3rd Mountain Division (3.Gebirgs-Division), the 15th Infantry Division and the 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer formed the forces attacking to the west. The Feldherrnhalle, 13th Panzer and 46th Infantry Divisions would be held back to counter any Soviet breakout attempt.

The attack got underway on 23 October, quickly slicing through the infantry corps defending Mobile Group Pliyev's lines of communication. At 0200 on 24 October, forces of the 23rd Panzer Division reached Nagykalló, which was occupied by the 3rd Mountain Division, completing the encirclement. As the corps of the mobile group launched probing attacks to find an escape route, it quickly became clear that there was no way out. The German-Hungarian forces began closing in on the encircled Soviets.

Malinovsky sent forces north to break through to the mobile group, but these were met by a determined Axis resistance, and the advance soon stalled.


[edit] No Escape

Pliyev realised that the situation was now desperate, and ordered attacks to break the encirclement, but the German-Hungarian lines held. By the evening of the 24 October, Pliyev realised that the only hope of escape was if Malinovsky could break through to him.

Malinovsky launched a major assault on 25 October, only to be halted by a fierce counterattack by the 1st Panzer Division and the 128th Panzergrenadier Regiment from the 23rd Panzer Division. On the same day, Mobile Group Pliyev attempted to breakout through the positions of the 3rd Mountain Division. The mountain troops held their ground against the Soviet armour, inflicting many casualties.

On 26 October, 23rd Panzer recaptured Nyíregyháza. The Soviet forces had carried out widespread atrocities during their occupation, including mass looting, rape and murder of civilians. This steeled the resolve of the German and especially the Hungarian troops. When Malinovsky launched his next assault, he was met by the most ferocious defence yet encountered. Meanwhile, Wöhler began moving his Eighth Army out through the escape route created through Nyíregyháza. By the 28th, Wöhler's army had escaped encirclement, and the circle around Mobile Group Pliyev would not be broken.

On October 29, the suvivors of Pliyev's shattered mobile group destroyed their vehicles and heavy weapons and attempted to reach the Soviet lines on foot. Three tank corps of Malinovsky's front had been annihilated in the fighting. The lightning Soviet assault on Budapest had been halted, and Hungarian troops remained in the war as Germany's ally until the end of the war in Europe. This was the last time that German forces were to defeat a full-strength Soviet force on even terms.

[edit] Order of Battle for Armeegruppe Fretter-Pico, October 1944

[edit] References

  • Buchner, Alex - Ostfront 1944, 336 pages, ISBN 3-89555-101-5
  • Glantz, David M. - Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front 520 pages, ISBN 0-9717650-9-X
  • Hinze, Dr. Rolf - Mit dem Mut der Verzweifelung, 562 pages
  • Hinze, Dr. Rolf - TO THE BITTER END : The Final Battles of Army Groups A, North Ukraine, Centre-Eastern Front, 1944-45
  • Haupt, Werner - Die 8.Panzer-Division im Zweiten Weltkrieg
  • Pierik, Perry - Hungary 1944-1945. The Forgotten Tragedy
  • Mitcham, Samuel W. Jr - Crumbling Empire. The German Defeat in the East, 1944 336 pages, ISBN 0-275-96856-1
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