Under the scorching summer sun, the Red Army found itself teetering on the edge of disaster.
It was late July 1941, merely a month after the launch of Operation Barbarossa, and the
relentless Axis advance had swept through the Soviet frontier, leaving behind a trail
of destruction.
Once bustling with life, cities like Vilnius, Riga, and Minsk now lay silent under the shadow
of the swastika.
Desperation permeated the air as the Soviets yearned for a triumph, a spark of hope to
ignite their faltering spirits.
Time was of the essence, and they needed it urgently.
With their backs against the wall, the Soviet leadership turned its gaze to the unfolding
Battle of Smolensk.
Amidst the turmoil, a wildcard emerged: the Yelnya salient.
Nestled deep within Soviet-held territory, this bulge in the German frontlines, surrounded
on three sides by Russian forces, offered an enticing opportunity.
It was a chance to strike back, to inflict a blow upon the seemingly unstoppable German
war machine.
For the Red Army, it represented a glimmer of hope, a slender chance to turn the tide…
German Might
On June 22, 1941, the world trembled as Operation Barbarossa, the largest military invasion
in history, thundered into motion.
Over three million German soldiers, supported by over 3,000 tanks and close to 2,500 aircraft,
surged across the Russian frontier, their sights set on Moscow.
The vision was grandiose: a swift victory, a shattered Soviet military, the capture of
key economic resources, and a vast Lebensraum, or living space, for the people.
This wasn't just a clash of armies but a ferocious collision of ideologies, a struggle between
the hammer and sickle of Soviet communism and Hitler’s swastika of Nazi fascism.
Despite the onslaught, the Red Army refused to crumble.
Initially stunned and caught off guard, Stalin swiftly regained his composure and rallied
his forces.
Within the first few days of Barbarossa, known as the Great Patriotic War to the Russians,
numerous border cities, including Brest and Grodno, fell to the German blitzkrieg, creating
a sense of impending disaster.
By July 3, German forces had seized Minsk, dealing a significant blow to the Soviet defenses.
However, the Red Army's resolve remained unbroken, and despite massive losses, they commenced
preparations for the battles that lay ahead.
As the days of early July unfolded, both sides suffered heavy casualties, revealing the true
magnitude of the conflict.
The unrelenting German advance had left behind a trail of devastation and a string of captured
cities.
War In Smolensk
The Battle of Smolensk, a pivotal moment in the advancing German campaign on the Eastern
Front, commenced on July 8, 1941.
A thousand-year-old fortress on the Dnieper River and a key waypoint on the road to Moscow,
Smolensk was an important logistical hub for the invaders.
It could provide the German forces with a strategic springboard from which to launch
their final assault on Moscow.
Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, commander of the Army Group Center, was tasked with capturing
this city.
On the opposing side, Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, a seasoned Soviet leader, helmed the defense
of the Western Front of the Red Army.
The battle unfolded with ferocity.
German panzers, supported by the Luftwaffe, initially succeeded in encircling a substantial
portion of the Soviet forces by July 16.
However, the Red Army, fighting with dogged determination, launched repeated counterattacks
that, although exacting a heavy toll, disrupted the German attempts to fully secure the city
and prolong the battle into the following month.
Amidst the chaos, the Germans inadvertently created a salient around the town of Yelnya
towards the end of July.
Situated just 50 miles southeast of Smolensk and perched upon elevated terrain, Yelnya
held strategic significance in the eyes of General Heinz Guderian, commander of the 2nd
Panzer Group, as a launching point for future offensives towards Moscow.
Embedded deep within Soviet-held territory and encircled on three sides, the salient
became a vulnerable point for the German forces and a fresh opportunity for the Soviets to
exploit.
Tough Decision
Amidst the raging Battle of Smolensk and the emergence of the Yelnya salient, Adolf Hitler
made a controversial decision against the advice of his senior generals.
He chose to postpone the German advance on Moscow and instead shifted his focus to the
fertile lands of Ukraine in the south and the symbolic city of Leningrad in the north.
Hitler’s decision was not simply a military one; it was a strategic calculation, a calculated
move to weaken the peripheral regions of the Soviet Union and deal a devastating blow to
their war effort.
Inexplicably, this decision left the Yelnya salient, which lay dangerously close to Moscow,
somewhat neglected and vulnerable.
Simultaneously, the Red Army underwent a significant reorganization, while Stalin, who had initially
been in denial about the scale of the German threat, came to acknowledge the grim reality
of the situation.
The Red Army needed to adapt to the new circumstances and prepared for a protracted defensive campaign
that would test its mettle and endurance to the utmost limits.
Taking Yelnya
As the German forces continued to encircle large Soviet units, General Heinz Guderian
and his Panzer Group 2 successfully crossed the Dnieper River in mid-July.
Although the advance was relentless, the 29th Motorized Division under Brigadier General
Walter von Boltenstern and Panzer Group 3 under General Hermann Hoth could not reach
each other and close the gap against the Soviet defenders after strong and determined resistance.
Thousands of Red Army soldiers escaped, and Guderian then ordered Brigadier General Ferdinand
Schaal and his 10th Panzer Division to rush toward Yelnya and seize it.
The 10th Panzer Division advanced toward the town on July 18.
Meanwhile, the defender, Major General Iakov Georgievich Kotelnikov, ordered the 19th Rifle
Division to prepare anti-tank ditches, place artillery and fortify the town for the upcoming
attack.
The 15,000 civilians residing in Yelnya were instructed to cooperate with the defense by
building trenches and ferrying supplies.
Additionally, soldiers from the 19th Division fortified the nearby Duna River.
Accompanying Schaal and his 10th Division was Waffen-SS Major General Paul Hausser and
his 2nd SS Motorized Division Reich, but due to the poor condition of the roads, their
advance was hindered, resulting in a slow progression.
On July 19, the German vanguard was attacked by Soviet artillery near the improvised anti-tank
ditches.
To overcome the enemy defenses, Schaal split his forces into two combat groups to flank
the Red Army soldiers.
As such, the Red Army opted to retreat, albeit at the cost of thousands of casualties.
By 2:30pm, the 10th Panzer Division entered the town, engaging in intense house-to-house
combat to eliminate the remaining defenders.
A New Counteroffensive
While Kotelnikov and his troops valiantly fought in Yelnya, Schaal was forced to send
some of his troops to support the fighting at Dorogobuzh.
The SS troops and motorcycle units engaged in grueling combat reminiscent of the trench
warfare of World War One, yet managed to capture the town by July 21.
Scattered Soviet units continued to resist the Germans on the outskirts of Yelnya.
Meanwhile, Stalin, Semyon Timoshenko, and Chief of Staff General Georgii Konstantinovich
Zhukov agreed to launch a counteroffensive to block the Germans from attacking Moscow.
As the preparations unfolded, the entrenched Soviet defenders on the heights received reinforcements.
The 10th Panzer Division and the Waffen-SS forces were equipped with heavy assault guns
to fortify the salient.
Aware of the arrival of fresh enemy forces, the Germans divided their troops to confront
and defeat them before they could link up with the rest of the Red Army in the region.
Hausser and Schaal attacked different sectors with devastating artillery strikes, followed
by the combined advance of armor and infantry.
Amidst the brutal crude hand-to-hand combat that inflicted hundreds of casualties, the
German forces began to experience the strain of fuel, ammunition, and spare parts shortages,
impacting their operational capabilities.
The artillery and infantry attacks decimated the remnants of Kotelnikov’s 19th Rifle
Division.
Nevertheless, they kept fighting until their last breath on the heights surrounding the
salient.
To alleviate some of the pressure from the 19th, the 100th Rifle Division and the 103rd
Rifle Division were repositioned to protect Kotelnikov's flanks.
Additionally, the deployment of Katyusha rocket launchers provided valuable support for the
Soviets, enabling them to repel German attacks.
First Soviet Victory
In the final week of July, the Soviets launched counterattacks across the entire Yelnya salient.
The outcomes of these counterattacks were varied, but the Germans quickly realized that
the Soviets were determined to hold onto Yelnya at all costs.
During this period, Guderian visited Brigadier General Schaal’s headquarters and was informed
about the dire condition of their vehicles, spare parts, and supplies.
While they expected the necessary provisions to arrive eventually, it would take time for
them to reach the frontlines.
Schaal and Hausser found themselves relying on the limited available resources and were
largely left to their own devices until reinforcements could arrive.
Despite their tenacity, the Germans steadily began to give ground as the Soviets received
additional reinforcements.
The Red Army continued its relentless offensive along the entire front.
Faced with ongoing shortages, the German artillery units had to carefully select their targets.
The conflict waged on with no quarter asked or given as the weeks passed and August 1941
drew to a close.
The Waffen-SS and Heer units successfully repelled the mounting waves of Soviet armor
and infantry, but the casualties they suffered were substantial.
The pressure intensified with the arrival of fresh divisions from Zhukov’s newly formed
Reserve Front.
Both the Heer and Waffen divisions were severely depleted, with some companies having fewer
than 20 men standing and supplies reaching dangerously low levels.
Although Guderian deployed all the reserve troops at his disposal to reinforce Yelnya,
the Red Army troops managed to enter the town on August 27.
The entire area had been devastated by the fierce conflict.
In the following days, Zhukov orchestrated coordinated airstrikes and infantry assaults
to drive the Germans out of the salient.
Then, on September 3, Commander Fedor von Bock was allowed to withdraw his forces from
the salient in order to prevent total encirclement.
Between July and August, the Germans suffered over 23,000 casualties, while the Soviets
endured at least 33,000 losses.
The Yelnya offensive marked the first significant setback for the Wehrmacht during Operation
Barbarossa.
A small victory nested within the most significant military intervention in history, the Battle
of Yelnya became a major propaganda victory for the Red Army and offered the Soviets a
crucial morale boost, reinforcing their resilience and determination to continue the fight for
their motherland.
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