The Battle of Bryansk (2–21 October 1941) was a twenty-day battle 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
conducted in the
Bryansk Oblast
Bryansk Oblast (russian: Бря́нская о́бласть, ''Bryanskaya oblast''), also known as Bryanshchina (russian: Брянщина, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is th ...
as a part of the overall
Moscow campaign. Returning from the
Kiev operation,
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who, after the war, became a successful memoirist. An early pioneer and advocate of the " blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in t ...
attacked in an unexpected direction capturing Bryansk and
Oryol
Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...
with few casualties thereby encircling two Soviet formations, the
13th Army and
3rd Army. A third Soviet formation, the
50th Army was encircled by infantry of the German
2nd Army north of Bryansk. However the encircled Red Army units continued fighting, delaying the drive on Moscow for two weeks. This delay, as well as the casualties taken by 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 previous ...
liquidating the pockets contributed to the German collapse at the gates of
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. See also:
Vyazma and Bryansk pockets. As a result of this battle, the Germans occupied Bryansk until they were expelled by the Red Army on 17 September 1943 as a part of the
Smolensk campaign.
Background and planning
After the successful encirclement of the reconstituted
Western Front in the
Smolensk pocket, the tanks of
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army fo ...
were ordered to halt so that the infantry could catch up and liquidate the pocket. Further to the north,
Army Group North
Army Group North (german: Heeresgruppe Nord) was a German strategic formation, commanding a grouping of field armies during World War II. The German Army Group was subordinated to the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH), the German army high comma ...
had stalled out in the drive towards
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, and
Army Group South
Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II.
It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group Sou ...
was struggling to take
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
. To secure the flanks of Army Group Center, Hitler ordered that the
3rd Panzer Army
The 3rd Panzer Army (german: 3. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942.
3rd Panzer Group
The 3rd Panzer Group (german: Panzergruppe 3) was formed on 16 November ...
be diverted north and the
2nd Panzer Army
The 2nd Panzer Army (german: 2. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941.
Organisation
Panzer Group Guderian (german: Panzergruppe Guderian) was formed on 5 June 1940 ...
be diverted south.
Army Group Centre's infantry formations, the
4th Army and
9th Army were ordered to dig in and wait for their flanks to be secured.
During the "lull" in the offensive, the Red Army General Staff, 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, a ...
ordered Red Army formations around Smolensk and Bryansk to conduct frontal assaults on Army Group Center in an effort to drive 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 previous ...
back from the approaches to Moscow.
The offensives were conducted over poor terrain against units in strong defensive positions and nearly all of them were disasters that seriously weakened Red Army formations defending the approaches to Moscow.
Operation
In September 1941, the German troops of XLVII. Armeekorps (mot.) (commander General of Panzer troops
Joachim Lemelsen
Joachim Lemelsen (28 September 1888 – 30 March 1954) was a German general during World War II who rose to army-level command.
During Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, troops of the XLVII Motorized Corps under his ...
) advanced towards, and crossed the
Desna River
The Desna (russian: Десна́; uk, Десна) is a river in Russia and Ukraine, a major left-tributary of the Dnieper. Its name means "right hand" in the Old East Slavic language. It has a length of , and its drainage basin covers . in the region southwest of Moscow. During the breakthrough attack, the German troops broke through the
Bryansk Front
The Bryansk Front (russian: Брянский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War.
First Formation (August - November 1941)
General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first fo ...
on 30 September, during the operation to encircle the
50th Army. This resulted in the penetration of the Front's position between the 50th and
13th Armies.
The Bryansk Front commander
Andrei Yeremenko
, birth_date =
, death_date =
, image = Маршал Советского Союза Герой Советского Союза Андрей Иванович Ерёменко (cropped).jpg
, image_size =
, caption = Y ...
adopted a
defence in depth
Defence in depth (also known as deep defence or elastic defence) is a military strategy that seeks to delay rather than prevent the advance of an attacker, buying time and causing additional casualties by yielding space. Rather than defeating ...
strategy, with the Front's reserves consisting of two rifle, one tank division and one tank brigade concentrated in the Bryansk area. However, in the course of the operation the troops of the XXXXVII Corps took
Karachev
Karachev (russian: Карачев) is an ancient town and the administrative center of Karachevsky District in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. Population:
History
First chronicled in 1146, it was the capital of one of the Upper Oka Principalities in t ...
and were able to advance to east of the city on 6 October while trying to link up with the XXXXIII Corps coming from the opposite direction.
This forced the Red Army's 50th and 13th Armies and the Operational Group of General Major A.N. Yermakov to withdraw in order to avoid encirclement, and consequently Bryansk was evacuated without significant fighting. Regardless of this, the city was subjected to heavy artillery and air bombardment which destroyed large parts of
Bryansk
Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population:
Geography Urban layout
The location of the settlement was originally ass ...
.
The Red Army, as part of the
Orel-Bryansk Defensive Operation (30 September 1941 – 23 October 1941) lost over 80,000 killed in and around the area of the city, with around 4062 soldiers injured and hospitalized
[Kahaner, Larry. "Weapon changed pattern of modern war." 29 December 2006] Another 50,000 prisoners were taken, before XXXXVII Corps proceeded on to its next objective,
Orel.
Aftermath
By virtue of Guderian's one-armed encirclement, the Germans had destroyed all of the Red Army forces defending the southern approaches to Moscow, opening the way to
Tula. Tula stood at the center of the road and rail network south of Moscow and its capture was vital to the Moscow Offensive. After the encirclement of the Bryansk Front, Guderian was closer to Tula than the nearest Red Army formation. However, the delay in liquidating the pocket bought 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, a ...
precious time to rush in reinforcements south of Moscow, stabilizing the front. When Guderian resumed the drive, he failed to capture Tula, and instead opted to bypass the city. This put a severe logistical constraint on the rest of the Moscow campaign. When Stalin ordered the Moscow Counter-Attack in December, Red Army control of Tula forced Guderian to withdraw the
2nd Panzer Army
The 2nd Panzer Army (german: 2. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941.
Organisation
Panzer Group Guderian (german: Panzergruppe Guderian) was formed on 5 June 1940 ...
from Moscow, in violation of a direct order from Hitler. This resulted in Guderian's dismissal in January 1942. In honor of its determined stand, Tula was awarded the title of
Hero City in 1976.
Inspiration for the AK-47
Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov ( rus, Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников, p=kɐˈlaʂnʲɪkəf; 10 November 1919 – 23 December 2013) was a Soviet and Russian lieutenant general, inventor, military engineer, writer, a ...
was a senior sergeant (
tank commander
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...
) serving on the
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 warfare, anti-tan ...
s of the 24th Tank Regiment,
12th Tank Division[p.27 Perechen No.6] of the
8th Mechanised Corps stationed in
Stryi
Stryi ( uk, Стрий, ; pl, Stryj) is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine 65 km to the south of Lviv (in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains). It serves as the administrative cen ...
(31
KV-1
The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour pro ...
and 10
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 warfare, anti-tan ...
tanks) before retreating after the
Battle of Brody, with the regiment soon to become a part of the
159th Tank Brigade.
He was wounded during the battle, but made it to a hospital on foot, where he received medical attention. This was not Kalashnikov's first battle as he had also participated in the
Battle of Brody where his division was part of the 8th Mechanized Corps that encountered the German
16th Panzer Division in battle around
Leshuv. While recovering from his injuries, Kalashnikov started
experiencing flashbacks of the raid and "became obsessed with creating a submachine gun that would drive the Germans from his homeland. Many believe the myth he mostly just copied the
Sturmgewehr 44
The StG 44 (abbreviation of Sturmgewehr 44, "assault rifle 44") is a German assault rifle developed during World War II by Hugo Schmeisser. It is also known by its early designations as the MP 43 and MP 44 (''Maschinenpistole 43'' and ''44''). ...
. However when examined, the Sturmgewehr 44 is very different in regards to the bolt design and operation, the disassembly method and contains a completely different style firing mechanism. Essentially the Sturmgewehr 44 has many more similarities to the HK G3 rifle than the AK-47"
References
External links
Weapon changed pattern of modern warreprint of article at
Infoshop News
The Alternative Media Project was a non-profit organization that promoted anarchist media.
Infoshop.org
Infoshop.org was founded in January 1995 as the Mid-Atlantic Infoshop. Infoshop was established as a general resource on anarchism, moving to ...
(
The Record)
Orel-Bryansk defence operation 19419.Armee-Oberkommandosupplemental timeline information from Feldgrau.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryansk, Battle Of (1941)
Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War
Battles of World War II involving Germany
Battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
September 1941 events
October 1941 events