.gif)
Battle of Voronezh (1942)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Voronezh was a battle on the Eastern Front of World War II
, fought in and around the strategically important city of Voronezh
on the Don river, 450 km (279.6 mi) south of Moscow, from 28 June-24 July 1942, as opening move of the German summer offensive in 1942.
The city was defended by the troops of the 40th Army
as part of the Valuiki-Rossosh Defensive Operation (28 June-24 July 1942) of the General of Army Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin
's Southwestern Front.
The German
assault was conducted by the element of the 4th Panzer Army′s forces of Army Group South
under commanded by General Hermann Hoth
.
Hoth, under strict instructions not to get bogged down in street-to-street fighting, the armored units of the 4th Panzer Army partly captured Voronezh on 6 July by occupying the western river-bank suburbs, however German troops were subjected to a Red Army counter-attack. The 4th Panzer Army was to be followed by the Sixth Army, and when Voronezh was occupied the former was to wheel south-eastward and move down the right bank of the Don towards Stalingrad as part of Operation Blau. It took two days for infantry divisions from the Army Group South
to reach Voronezh to hold the line and free the Panzer troops; Adolf Hitler
later came to believe that these two days, when combined with other avoidable delays on the drive south, allowed Marshal Semyon Timoshenko
to reinforce the forces in Stalingrad before the 4th Panzer Army could arrive to allow taking of Stalingrad.
The Soviets recaptured the city
in 1943.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, fought in and around the strategically important city of Voronezh
Voronezh
Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...
on the Don river, 450 km (279.6 mi) south of Moscow, from 28 June-24 July 1942, as opening move of the German summer offensive in 1942.
The city was defended by the troops of the 40th Army
40th Army (Soviet Union)
The 40th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was an army-level command active from 1941 to 1945 and then again from 1979 to circa 1990.It was first formed, after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, had commenced, from elements of the 26th and 37th Armies under the command...
as part of the Valuiki-Rossosh Defensive Operation (28 June-24 July 1942) of the General of Army Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin
Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin
Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin was a Soviet military commander during World War II.-Before World War II:Vatutin was born in Chepuhino village near Valuiky in Voronezh Governorate , into a Russian peasant family. Commissioned in 1920 to the Red Army, he fought against the Ukrainian peasant partisans...
's Southwestern Front.
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
assault was conducted by the element of the 4th Panzer Army′s forces of Army Group South
Army Group South
Army Group South was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.- Poland campaign :Germany used two army groups to invade Poland in 1939: Army Group North and Army Group South...
under commanded by General Hermann Hoth
Hermann Hoth
Hermann "Papa" Hoth was an officer in the German military from 1903 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generaloberst during World War II. He fought in France, but is most noted for his later exploits as a panzer commander on the Eastern Front...
.
Hoth, under strict instructions not to get bogged down in street-to-street fighting, the armored units of the 4th Panzer Army partly captured Voronezh on 6 July by occupying the western river-bank suburbs, however German troops were subjected to a Red Army counter-attack. The 4th Panzer Army was to be followed by the Sixth Army, and when Voronezh was occupied the former was to wheel south-eastward and move down the right bank of the Don towards Stalingrad as part of Operation Blau. It took two days for infantry divisions from the Army Group South
Army Group South
Army Group South was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.- Poland campaign :Germany used two army groups to invade Poland in 1939: Army Group North and Army Group South...
to reach Voronezh to hold the line and free the Panzer troops; Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
later came to believe that these two days, when combined with other avoidable delays on the drive south, allowed Marshal Semyon Timoshenko
Semyon Timoshenko
Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko was a Soviet military commander and senior professional officer of the Red Army at the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.-Early life:...
to reinforce the forces in Stalingrad before the 4th Panzer Army could arrive to allow taking of Stalingrad.
The Soviets recaptured the city
Battle of Voronezh (1943)
The 1943 battle of Voronezh was a Soviet counter-offensive on recapturing the city of Voronezh during the Ostrogozhsk-Rossoshansk and Voronezh-Kastornensk operations on the Eastern Front of World War II. The Nazis had captured the city in a 1942 battle.-External links:...
in 1943.