BATTLE OF THE CAUCASUS

(Redirected from Battle of Caucasus)

The 'Battle of Caucasus' is a generic name for a series of operations in the Caucasus area during the Soviet-German War. In 1942, the Wehrmacht launched Operation Edelweiss, which was aimed at penetrating to the oil fields of Azerbaijan. The German offensive was stopped by the Red Army in Chechenya in September, partly due to severe drain of German personnel to the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad. The Soviet counter-offensive was launched in January 1943. The key military base of Novorossiysk was liberated by September, and the Taman Peninsula was cleared from the Germans in early October.
In his memoirs, the commander Ivan Tiulenev recounts how thousands of civilians attempted to flee to comparatively safe Caspian ports, such as Makhachkala and Baku. The connections between Moscow and Transcaucasia were effected through the town of Krasnovodsk in Turkmenistan.
As the time was lacking, it proved impracticable to evacuate industrial enterprises and oilfield facilities. On this account, oil wells in Maykop were blown up by the Red Army on leaving the city to prevent these fuel supplies from falling to the Germans.

Contents
Forces and commanders
Red Army
Wehrmacht
German offensives (1942)
Soviet offensives (1943)
Anti-Soviet insurgencies (1941-1944)
References

Forces and commanders


Red Army


North Caucasian Front (Marshal Semyon Budenny) - until September 1942

Transcaucasian Front (General of the Army Ivan Tyulenev)

Black Sea Fleet (Vice-Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky)

Azov Sea Flotilla (Counter-Admiral Sergey Gorshkov)
Wehrmacht

Army Group A(Generalfeldmarshall Wilhelm List)
1st Panzer Army(General Paul von Kleist)
17th army

German offensives (1942)


Main articles: Operation Edelweiss


August 3, 1942 - Wehrmacht takes Stavropol

August 10, 1942 - Wehrmacht takes Maykop

August 12, 1942 - Wehrmacht takes Krasnodar

August 25, 1942 - Wehrmacht takes Mozdok

September 11, 1942 - Wehrmacht takes Novorossiysk

★ September 1942 - German offensive effectively stopped near Mozdok

Soviet offensives (1943)



January 3, 1943 - Red Army liberates Mozdok

January 21, 1943 - Red Army liberates Stavropol

January 23, 1943 - Red Army liberates Armavir

January 29, 1943 - Red Army liberates Maykop

4 February, 1943 - Soviet marines beat off a German attempt to land at Malaya Zemlya

February 5, 1943 - Soviet forces landing in Novorossiysk

February 12, 1943 - Red Army liberates Krasnodar

September 9, 1943 - the ''Blue Line'' of German Defense broken

September 16, 1943 - Red Army liberates Novorossiysk

October 9, 1943 - Red Army liberates Taman Peninsula

Anti-Soviet insurgencies (1941-1944)



1940-1944 Chechnya insurgency

References



Alexander Werth, The Battle of Stalingrad, Chapter 7, "Caucasus, there and back", P.648-651

Ivan Tyulenev, "Cherez Tri Voyny" (Through Three Wars), Moscow, 1960, P.176.

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