Shyaulyay Offensive

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Shyaulyay Offensive


caption=
partof=Operation Bagration / Eastern Front
place=Belorussian SSR and Lithuania
date=July 5, 1944 – August 29, 1944
result=Soviet victory
combatant1=
combatant2=flagicon|USSR Soviet Union
commander1=)
commander2=flagicon|USSR Hovhannes Bagramyan (1st Baltic Front)
strength1=?
strength2=?
casualties1=?
casualties2=?|

The Shyaulyay Offensive ( _ru. Шяуляйская наступательная) was an operation of the Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front, commanded by General Hovhannes Bagramyan, conducted from July 5 to August 29 1944 during the Second World War. It was part of the third phase of the Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation (also known as Operation Bagration), and drove German troops from much of Lithuania, with the main tactical objective of the city of Šiauliai ( _ru. Шяуля́й, "Shyaulyay"; _de. Schaulen).

Deployments

Wehrmacht

*Elements of Army Group Centre (Field-Marshal Walter Model)
**Northern wing of 3rd Panzer Army (Colonel-General Georg-Hans Reinhardt)
***XXVI Corps ((General Gerhard Matzky)
*Elements of Army Group North (Colonel-General Johannes Frießner)
**Southern wing of 16th Army (General Paul Laux)

Red Army

*1st Baltic Front (General Hovhannes Bagramyan)
**2nd Guards Army (General-Lieutenant Porfirii Chanchibadze)
** 6th Guards Army (General-Lieutenant Ivan Chistyakov)
**39th Army (General-Lieutenant I.I. Ludnikov)
** 43rd Army (General-Lieutenant Afanasii Beloborodov)
**51st Army (General-Lieutenant Yakov Kreizer)

The offensive

Initial phase

Front forces (the 6th Guards and 43rd Armies), participating in the Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation, advanced to the line of the Druya river, west Voropaevo and Naroch Lake from July 4, having the mission of beginning an advance in the direction of Švenčionys, Kaunas and by part of the forces towards Panevežys and Šiauliai. Also included in the composition of the Front for this operation was the 39th Army, which had to be concentrated on the left wing of the Front by July 10. The Front was also reinforced by the 2nd Guards and 51st Armies from the "Stavka" reserve, though these could only arrive in the front sector by the second half of July. The offensive began on 5 July with an assault by the forces of two rifle corps of the 6th Guards and three rifle corps of 43rd Armies, with support from a reduced 1st Tank Corps.

Facing them were German troops of two Corps, which were positioned on adjacent wings of Army Groups North and Centre. From the morning of July 10 39th Army was introduced into the battle, conducting an assault towards Kaunas. By July 12 the frontage of the offensive of three armies increased to 200 km, the opposing troops of Army Group North offering stubborn resistance.

Transfer of main attack from Kaunas to Šiauliai

As a result of the offensive's development, "Stavka" shifted the direction of the main attack of the 1st Baltic Front from Kaunas to Šiauliai. 39th Army, together with the sector of its offensive was transferred to the 3rd Belorussian Front on July 14 (see the Kaunas Offensive Operation). In exchange, 1st Baltic Front received the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps.

For the development of the offensive on the Šiauliai axis, the 2nd Guards and 51st Armies were introduced into the battle on July 14. By July 22 their troops had liberated Panevežys - an important communications center of Army Group North. On July 27, the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps, in cooperation with the combined arms units of 51st Army, liberated Šiauliai, which had been held by a scratch force led by Hellmuth Mäder. The troops of the right wing of the Front in interaction with the forces of the 2nd Baltic Front freed Daugavpils.

Pressing home the attack , the forces of the Front on July 30 over-ran strong points and road junctions Biržai and Bauska, and by July 31 had reached Jelgava (Mitava). The Front's mobile detachments entered Tukums and reached the coast of the Gulf of Riga, cutting the land communications of Army Group North.

German counter-attacks

At the end of July and beginning of August Bagramyan's forces repulsed German counter-attacks in the region of Biržai (some 4 infantry divisions and to 100 tanks and assault guns, according to Soviet estimates) and Raseiniai (one infantry and one tank division).

Between 16 and 29 August the Front reported strong counterattacks in the region west and northwest of Šiauliai (part of the German Operation Doppelkopf). During these defensive actions, the ground forces were supported by the 3rd Air Army. By August 20 the German forces, by counterattacks in the regions west of Tukums and Sloki and with support from the "Kriegsmarine", were able to push the Soviet troops away from the coastline in the southern sector and to restore the sea communications of their formations around Riga.

Aftermath

The 1st Baltic Front resumed its offensive that autumn, finally destroying much of Third Panzer Army, and severing the connection between the German Army Groups Centre and North, in the Memel Offensive Operation.

References

*Hinze, R. "Ostfrontdrama 1944", Motorbuchverlag Stuttgart, 1998
*"Fight for the Soviet Baltic in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945", Riga, 1967