Operation Kutuzov

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Operation Kutuzov was a military operation by the Red Army in its fight against the German Wehrmacht during World War II. It was named after Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, the Tsarist general credited with saving Russia from defeat during the invasion by Napoleon in 1812.

[edit] The Battle

The operation was conducted by Western Front, Bryansk Front, and Central Front against German 2nd Panzer and 9th Army in the Orel sector. It began on July 12, 1943 and lasted to 18 August 1943. The aim to put pressure on German Army Group Centre which at the time was partially engaged in the Battle for Kursk, to reduce the Orel salient, and to destroy large German forces. It was almost immediately successful in achieving the first aim, leading to a move of German reserves earmarked for the Battle for Kursk to resist Operation Kutuzov.

The initial attack was made simultaneously on the northern and eastern faces of the Orel salient. Later, the southern face joined in, after German panzer forces withdrew from the Kursk offensive to meet Operation Kutuzov.

The northern drive by Western Front was initially led by the 11th Guards Army under Lt. Gen. I. Kh. Bagramian, initially supported by two tank corps, the 1st and 5th. This prong of the offensive kicked off around Ulianovo, against initially weak German infantry opposition. 6 rifle divisions concentrated against 2 German infantry regiments along a 16 kilometer attack sector, and broke through by the afternoon of the first day. The German 5th Panzer Division attempted to delay the breakthrough as the Soviets committed the supporting armor on 13 July, but was forced back.

The initial attacks on the eastern face by Briansk Front were less successful. The terrain was more open and the German defenders alert and prepared. The Soviets were match by timely arrivals of panzer divisions from the southern (Kursk) face, using the salient's interior lines to redeploy rapidly.

The Russians broadened the offensive later in its first week, with supporting attacks west of 11th Guards by 50th Army, and between it and the initial Briansk front attempts by 20th Tank Corps aimed at Bolkov, and by Central Front on the south face by day 4 of the operation. Partisans supported the operation by cutting German rail lines in thousands of places over several nights. The Soviets also committed 2 major tank formations, the 3rd Guards Tank and 4th Tank Armies. The 3rd Guards tried to develop the eastern attack, driving straight at Orel. The 4th Tank exploited the wider breech made by 11th Guards Army in the north, initially southward, then southeast. This was an attempt to cut off the German forces still waging a successful defense along the east face.

These battles developed into a series of brawls between arriving German reserves, often facing several directions, and the major Soviet tank formations. The Soviets gained ground gradually. As late as 20 July, Hitler forbade retreat to more rational positions with shorter lines. The Russian's best sector continued to be the 11th Guards corridor, which reached the outskirts of Karachev, midway between Orel and Briansk, by late July. This was the proximate cause of the German decision to evacuate the salient, which had clearly become untenable with the threat to the main rail line over which virtually all supplies had to come.

Operation Kutuzov represents the final Soviet seizure of the strategic initiative in the east. The Germans were on the defensive continually thereafter. The USSR succeeded in reducing the Orel salient while the Germans failed to reduce the parallel bulge at Kursk. German losses were substantial and they were forced from the field.

[edit] Outcome

The Soviet forces pressed back the German defenders and liberated Orel. Operation Kutuzov set the stage for the liberation of Smolensk in September 1943. The Germans were greatly weakened by this thrust, and thus were unable to stop further Soviet advances westwards.