Rollback: The Red Army’s Winter Offensive along the Southwestern Strategic Direction, 1942–43 covers the period from mid-December 1942 to mid-February 1943, one of the most critical periods of the war on the Eastern Front. It was here that following the encirclement of an entire German army at Stalingrad, the Soviets sought to take advantage of the ruptured Axis front in southern Russia to finish off the Germans’ Italian and Hungarian allies and liberate the economically vital areas of eastern Ukraine.

This study is drawn from a number of wartime and postwar articles, published by the General Staff’s directorate for the study of wartime experience. Also featured are documents relating to the operational-strategic conduct of the various operations, which were compiled and published after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Several articles deal with the preparation for and conduct of the Southwestern Front’s Middle Don operation of December 1942. Originally intended as an ambitious offensive to cut off the German forces in the North Caucasus by driving on to Rostov, the operation was later reoriented to meet the threat of the German effort to relieve Stalingrad. The offensive not only accomplished its objective of turning back the German attack, thus dooming the Stalingrad garrison, but also destroyed the Italian army in the East as well.

The Soviet Voronezh Front then struck further up the Don River, and in the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh’ operation destroyed what remained of the Italian forces in the area, as well as the Hungarian army. This enabled the Red Army to capture Khar’kov and push nearly to the Dnepr River by mid-February, before being thrown back by a skillful German counteroffensive.

The territorial results of this operation set the stage for the front’s subsequent Voronezh–Kastornoe operation, which enabled the Soviets to push as far west as Kursk before exhaustion and growing German resistance brought the offensive to a halt. Further to the south, the Soviets were able to capture Voroshilovgrad and penetrate into the industrial Donets Basin.

The book also contains a detailed Soviet examination of the employment of tank and mechanized corps during the campaign. The conclusions reached here had a direct bearing on the restructuring of the Red Army’s tank armies in time for the summer campaign of 1943.

• Cover
• About the author
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Maps
• List of Tables
• Preface to the English-language edition
• Part I The Soviet Counteroffensive along the Middle Don: Preparation
  • 1 The Planning and Preparation of the Southwest Front’s Offensive Operation in December 1942
  • 2 The Disposition and Composition of the Romanian Third and Italian Eighth Armies on the Don
  • 3 The Southwestern Front’s Artillery in the December 1942 Operation
  • 4 Some Conclusions on Employing Tank and Mechanized Corps for Developing The Breakthrough
• Part II The Soviet Counteroffensive Along the Middle Don: Execution
  • 1 The Breakthrough of the Enemy’s Defense on the Don by the Southwestern Front’s Forces and the Troops’ Activities in the Operational Depth
  • 2 Aviation Activities in the December Operation along the Middle Don
• Part III The Voronezh Front’s Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh’ Offensive Operation (13-27 January 1943)
  • Introduction
  • 1 The Situation by the Start of the Operation’s Preparation
  • Part A Preparing the Operation
    • 2 The Stavka of the Supreme High Command’s Instructions and the Decisions by the Front Commander and the Army Commanders
    • 3 The Plan for the Tank Troops’ Combat Employment
    • 4 The Organization of the Artillery Offensive
    • 5 The Organization of the Air Offensive
    • 6 Engineer Support for the Operation
    • 7 Operational Support for the Operation
    • 8 Organizing Control and Communications
    • 9 The Combat Training of the Troops and Staffs
    • 10 Materiel Support for the Operation
    • 11 Political Support for the Operation
    • 12 The Regrouping of Troops and the Correlation of Forces by the Beginning of the Operation
  • Part B The Conduct of the Operation
    • 13 The Breakthrough of the Enemy’s Tactical Defense (The First Stage of the Operation, 13-15 January)
    • 14 The Encirclement and Destruction of the Ostrogozhsk—Rossosh’ Enemy Group of Forces (The Second Stage of the Operation, 16-27 January)
• Part IV The Voronezh-Kastornoe Operation by the Voronezh Front and Bryansk Front’s Left Wing (24 January-17 February 1943)
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Operational Preparation
  • 3 The Conduct of the Operation
• Part V The Voroshilovgrad Operation
  • 1 The Fighting for Voroshilovgrad
• Part VI Documents