Battle of Brody (1941)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Brody (1941)


partof=World War II
place=Brody, Ukraine
date=June 26, 1941 – June 30, 1941
result=German victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=
commander2=
strength1=600 Tanks
strength2=1000 Tanks
casualties1= unknown
casualties2= unknown|

The Battle of Brody ( other names used are Battle of Dubna, Battle of Dubno, Battle of Rovne, Battle of Rovne-Brody etc.) was a tank battle fought between the 1st Panzer Group's IIIrd, XXXXVIII Army Corps (Motorized) and five Soviet Mechanized Corps in northern Ukraine between 26, June 1941 and 30, June 1941 known in Soviet history as the Ukrainian Border Defensive Battles. Although the Red Army formations fought well, and inflicted heavy losses on the German forces, they were outmaneuvered and suffered large losses in tanks. This was of the most intense armoured engagements in the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa and remained the largest tank battle of World War II until the Battle of Kursk two years later.

Prelude

1st Panzer Group led by Kleist was ordered to secure the Bug river crossings, and advance to Rovno and Korosten with the strategic objective of Kiev. It deployed two Corps forward and advanced between Lvov and Rovno in the attempt to cut the Lvov - Kiev railway line.

Opposing the Germans in the Lvov - Kiev railway line sector of the front was the Soviet Southwestern Front's 6th Army and Front reserve trops.

The Battle

The primary German infantry formation operating on this sector of the front, IV Army Corps (von Schwedler) of the 17th Army (Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel) were advancing in the south-easterly direction with the objective of reaching the railway line by late on the 25 of June.

Despite suffering crippling losses, the VVS South-Western front sent its remaining air units to support the offensive. The Air battle resulted in heavy casualties for the attacking Soviets. JG 3 under the command of "Fliegerkorps IV" shot down 24 Tupolev SBs on the first day. Among the casualties was the Commander of 86 SBAP, "Podpolkovnik" Sorokin. Just 20 of the initial 251 SBs remained with the unit. German losses were also heavy, 28 destroyed and 23 damaged (including 8 He 111s and Ju 88s). [Bergström 2007, p. 38.]

Five Soviet Mechanized Corps, (the 4th, 8th, 9th, 15th and 19th Mechanized Corps) and with over 1,000 tanks mounted massive counterattacks from the north and south. The aim was to cut through the flanks of 1st Panzer Army and meet near Dubno. The 9th and 19th Mechanised Corps were deployed north-west of Rovno, the 8th and 15th Mechanised Corps were deployed to the south-west and north-east of Brody, and the 4th Mechanised Corps was deployed between Sokal and Radekhov. The overall command for the the concentric attack intended to be delivered was with General Vlasov. [Haupt 1997, p. 18] The intention was for the Soviet Corps to execute a concentric attack and convert it into a pincer movement that med west of Dubno, intended to trap parts of the 6th and 17th German Armies (the northern flank of the Army Group). Seemingly the Front Staff were unaware that they were about to engage in combat the 1st Panzer Group's leading formations. The battle between the 1st Panzer Army and the Soviet Mechanised Corps was the fiercest of the whole invasion, lasting a full 4 days. The Soviets fought furiously and crews of German tank and anti-tank guns found to their horror that the new Soviet T-34 Tanks were almost immune to their weapons. The new KV-1 and KV-2 heavy tanks were impervious to virtually all German anti-tank weapons, but the Red Army's supply had completely broken down due to "Luftwaffe" attacks. The German "Kampfgruppen", namely KG 51, KG 54 and KG 55 contributed a series of heavy low-level attacks against the Soviet ground targets. The Headquarters of the Soviet 15 Mechanised Corps was destroyed, and its commander, "General-Mayor" Ignat Karpezo, was wounded. The "Luftwaffe" destroyed some 201 Soviet tanks in this area. [Bergström 2007, p. 39.]

The five Red Army Corps were mishandled while being concentrated into large powerful groups. The German troops sought to isolate individual units, an destroy them. Meanwhile the "Luftwaffe" was ranging over the battlefields and were able to separate the supporting infantry and deny them resupply of fuel and ammunition. [Deichmann 1999Fact|date=July 2008] Ultimately due to lack of adequate planning and overall coordination the Soviet counter-attack failed to meet at Dubno.

After the Battle

Although 1st Panzer Army took a severe battering in the battles around Dubno, it survived the battle still capable of operation. The Soviets did not. The last substantial Soviet tank forces in the South had been used up clearing the way for the German drive deep into the industrial and agricultural heartland of the Ukraine.

Citations

References

* Bergström, Christer (2007). "Barbarossa - The Air Battle: July-December 1941". London: Chervron/Ian Allen. ISBN 978-1-8578-0-270-2.
* Deichman, Paul, "Spearhead for Blitzkrieg:Luftwaffe operations in support of the Army 1939-1945", Alfred Price ed., Ivy Books, New York, 1999
* Haupt, Werner (1997). "Army Group Centre: The Wehrmacht in Russia 1941-1945". Schiffer Military History. Atglen. ISBN 0-7643-0-266-3