The Toropets–Kholm offensive was a military operation conducted south of

Lake Ilmen Lake Ilmen ( rus, И́льмень, p=ˈilʲmʲɪnʲ) is a large lake in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia. A historically important lake, it formed a vital part of the medieval trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Novgorod - ...

by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, from 9 January–6 February 1942. The operation contributed to the formation of the

Kholm Pocket The Kholm Pocket (german: Kessel von Cholm; russian: Холмский котёл) was the name given for the encirclement of German troops by the Red Army around Kholm, south of Leningrad, in World War II's the Eastern Front, from 23 January ...

and the encirclement of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

's II Army Corps in the Demyansk Pocket.

Background

Following the successful Moscow counter-offensive of December 1941, the ''

Stavka The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff ...

'' of the Red Army decided to conduct a broad-front offensive with the aim of destroying the invading German forces in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. The Wehrmacht did not expect the Red Army to be capable of such a wide-ranging offensive, and therefore was caught off guard by attacks in areas that it supposed to be quiet, such as the region south of

Objective

The Soviet North-Western Front—under

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Pavel Kurochkin—was given two tasks to be executed from its position south of

. The first was a western thrust through Staraya Russa, to split German 18th Army and 16th Army, and support the effort of

Volkhov Front The Volkhov Front (russian: Волховский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the first period of the Second World War. It was formed as an expediency of an early attempt to halt the advance of the Wehrmacht Army Group ...

and

Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front (russian: Ленинградский фронт) was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front on August 27, 1941. ...

in breaking the siege of Leningrad. The second was a south-western thrust toward Vitebsk. This attack was to be conducted by three armies, 33rd, 3rd and 4th Shock, the latter two having just recently been renamed. Its ultimate aim was to become the northern pincer of a deep envelopment of German Army Group Center.

Battle

The initial penetration of the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * H ...

and 4th Shock Armies was very successful. German forces in the sector were overrun with heavy losses. The failure to predict this attack—coupled with multiple demands on the German reserves—gave the Soviet Front command an opening which it exploited to the utmost, driving deep into the German rear. While the Soviet forces had few supplies at the start of the offensive, they could keep going through the capture of significant amounts of German supply stores at Toropets. The tank support for such an operation was very weak on the Soviet side, especially compared to the requirements of the doctrine of

Deep operations Deep operation (, ''glubokaya operatsiya''), also known as Soviet Deep Battle, was a military theory developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s. It was a tenet that emphasized destroying, suppressing or disorga ...

, and the practice later in the war, showing the dearth of resources in the Soviet arsenal at this low point of Soviet fortunes in the war. Yeremenko's 4th Shock Army had only two tank battalions, the 171st Tank Battalion with 12 Lend-Lease Matilda IIs, nine

Valentines Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

, and 10 T-60s, and the 141st Tank Battalion had four KV-1s, six

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The C ...

s, and 20 T-60s. The drive of the Soviet forces was so strong that the defending German formation— 123rd Infantry Division, which was covering a line of — had its forward two regiments overrun. The regiments were so thinly spread in their strongpoints that they could not cover each other, allowing the Soviet assault forces to simply walk through between them. The strongpoints were later reduced, with significant casualties for the Germans. A German reserve formation— the 81st Infantry Division— was brought in by rail during the last days of December. Its first regiment—the 189th Infantry under Colonel Hohmeyer together with the 2nd Battalion of Artillery Regiment 181 and the 3rd Company of the Engineer Battalion 181— was immediately ordered to detrain at Toropets and Andreapol. From there, it advanced to Okhvat where it was encircled and completely destroyed on 14 January. 1,100 dead were later found in a forest near Okhvat, including the regimental commander who was posthumously promoted to Major General. A total of 40 survivors from the artillery battalion made it back to the German lines. The move into action and collapse was so swift that the regiment was not even identified on German situation maps.

Aftermath

The Soviet aim of encircling Army Group Center was not achieved, but the attack by the two Shock Armies created a deep bend in the German frontline that was to become a major concern for the German army group commands during 1942, until the Rzhev Salient, of which this bend formed the northern border, was evacuated in March 1943. The Soviet attack also created the

, and the southern shoulder of the Demyansk Pocket.

Order of battle

Soviet

* North-Western Front (elements with a strength of 122,100) ( Pavel Kurochkin) ** 3rd Shock Army ( Maksim Purkayev) *** 23rd Rifle Division *** 33rd Rifle Division *** 257th Rifle Division ***20th, 27th, 31st, 42nd, 45th, 54th Rifle Brigades ***63rd, 65th, 67th, 78th, 79th, 80th Ski Battalions ***170th Tank Battalion ** 4th Shock Army ( Andrey Yeryomenko) *** 249th Rifle Division *** 332nd Rifle Division *** 334th Rifle Division *** 358th Rifle Division *** 360th Rifle Division ***21st Rifle Brigade ***62nd, 64th Ski Battalions ***141st, 171st Tank BattalionsCombat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942
pp. 9, 26

German

*Army Group North (elements of with unknown strength) ** 16th Army ( Ernst Busch) *** II. Army Corps (

Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt __NOTOC__ Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt (13 July 1887 – 9 May 1943) was a German general (General of the Infantry) during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt became il ...

) ****123rd Infantry Division *****416th Infantry Regiment *****418th Infantry Regiment **** 81st Infantry Division *****189th Infantry Regiment **** SS Cavalry Brigade

References

Bibliography

*Haupt, W. 'Army Group North' *MGFA (ed.) 'Generalfeldmarshall Ritter von Leeb'. *Vilinov, M.A. 'Features of the Toropets-Kholm Operation' VIZH 1988 Issue 1, English translation *Ziemke, E.F. 'Moscow to Stalingrad'
Info on the Kholm part of the OperationMap of 3rd Shock Army Operations during the operation Jan 9-21 1942Map of 4th Shock Army Operations during the operation Jan 9-21 1942Map of 4th Shock Army Operations during the operation Jan 23-31 1942
*Glantz, David M. & House, Jonathan (1995), ''When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler'', Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Toropets-Kholm Offensive 1942 in the Soviet Union Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II Military operations of World War II involving Germany Conflicts in 1942 January 1942 events February 1942 events