Building the Rzhew-Wjasma salient.

Barbarossa

To understand how the German situation in the Rzhew-Wjasma pocket originated you will find here a short description.

See also this website:

http://www.serpukhov.su/dima/war/eng/ekontr.htm

On June 29th 1940 the chief "der Wehrmachtsfuhrungsstabes“, Generaal Jodl, chief for the tree Wehrmachts units announces the decision for the attack on Russia.

The staffs and troops are moved to the eastern border. The staff of generals of the Heer are making the operational plans against Russia and on the 18^th of december 1940 Hitler Orders the mars on Russia in his “Order 21” codename “Operation Barbarossa” and orders to take Russia in a fast and short war.

Due to the coup in Yugoslavia and the following campaign and the next attack on Greece to expel the allies the attack on Russia had to bee postponed from mid may until june 21^st 1941. Four very valuable weeks where lost. The lack of extra weeks later seems to be fatal.

On June 22nd 1941 at 3.30 hour the German army (about 3.400.000 man) entered Russia with 3 army groups and 3 air fleets.

The code name: “Operation Barbarossa”

In July 1941 after they reached Smolensk the ideas for the continuation of the operation differed.

Field marshal Von Braunchitsch (the commander in chief of the army) and the chief of the General staff General Oberst Halder wanted to concentrate the main attack on Moscow.

Hitler on the other hand was not interested in Moscow, he wanted to push south to the grain chamber Ukraine and the industrial zone on the Donez and with this to cut of the Russians from the oil out of the Caucasus. In the North he wanted to take Leningrad and occupy the small pace of land connecting Finland.

Hitler persisted. The army group central had to give up troops for army group south. The battle for Kiev became a great tactical victory. But before Leningrad in the north was taken Hitler changed his plans. Now he wanted to take Moscow before the winter started, he so hoped to decide the war before the end of 1941. On the 2^nd of October Hitler ordered a full attack along the entire eastern front.

Along tree axis Russia was to be concurred. A northern axe along the east sees towards Leningrad. A middle axe via Smolensk towards Moscow. And a third route from the south of Poland towards the Ukraine. This made a front with a total length of about 3000 km.

Du to the good preparations and the proper training of the German troops and the element of surprise the first few weeks went very well. But the distance towards the fatherland became longer and longer. During the pullback of the Russian forces all the large factories and all means of support for the German troops were destroyed. Because of this all food and other supplies needed to be transported very far towards the front.

Eventually the goals (Leningrad, Moscow and the oilfields) were reached but never occupied.

The counteroffensive.

The troops of army group middle approached Moscow up to 22 kilometres but from there on the chances of the Third Reich turned.

The great Russian counteroffensive started in the night of 5 and 6 december 1941.

In the middle of heavy winter weather the Russian attack with 80 fresh Siberian divisions was directed against the exhausted German army north and south of Moscow.

Du to the lack of proper clothing for the hard Russian winter, the German army immediately had to pull back and lost large parts of the conquered land.

Not only the weapons of the Russians but also the terrible cold caused a lot of injury with the German troops.

With temperatures below -35 ºC their fingers where frozen stiff and they could not operate their weapons.

Machinegun parts froze together and tanks and truck could not move because the oil was frozen. Also the oil of the recoil breaks of the guns would freeze which made the guns useless. To prevent the engines from freezing they kept them running but because the lack of fuel this could not always be done.

To solve this fire was lit underneath the engine but because of this sometimes a vehicle was lost in a fire.

The congelation became terrible. Especially the wounded suffered du to the frost. If you lost blood your limbs would frees and soldiers who would have survived in normal conditions would now frees in the aid stations.

Gradualy the 9th army was pushed awy from Kalinin towards the southwest in the direction of Rzhew. And more south the other army’s also were pushed west.

By the 3th of January the four northern army’s of army group middle were positioned along the line Juchnow-Medyn-Borosusk-Lataschino-Aleksino-Jelzy-Sselisharowo (South of Ostaschkow).

Then the Russians broke through the defence of the right wing of army group north over a length of about 45 kilometres in the directions of Welikije Luki.

Because of this around the city of Rzhew arose a salient (see map A) defended by the German 4^th and 9^th Army.

Despite all hardship and attacks of the well supplied superior Siberian forces, the overworked and frozen German troops managed to create a coherent but slim occupied defensive line. By polling back in small steps the leaders of the Army could prevent the collapse of the front and the break trough of the Russians.

By that time there were still no reserve troops to come to aid.

Then Hitler gave the order: “the 9^th army will do no more steps back. The line as it is on January 3^rd is the line to hold”

Map A

So as you can see the Rzhew pocket is a remainder of the chaotic winter battles of 1941-1942. The size of the salient was about 150 km by 150 km large with in it the important 9^th army of the army group middle.

For the Stalin it still formed a large threat towards Moscow and he wanted it to be eliminated by al costs, latterly!

General Walter Model Commander of the 9^th Army fortified all the villages and cities around the entire pocket under which the most important ones Rzhev, Belyi and Sychevka.(Map B). Furthermore all river beds where heavily defended and all the trees along the north-east and south-west roads and railroads were cut down. Both Zhukov and Model understood that the one controlling the roads and railroads controlled the entire area.

The central and the western part of the area existed mainly from dens woods and swamps, do the Germans managed to clear enough terrain that is was easy to defend and that they could easily move around tactically and operational.

The rivers formed natural defensive lines, but at the end of October they started to frees and where easy to cross by the Russians even by tanks.

Kaart B Uit: Counterpoint to Stalingrad door D.M. Glantz