En
Ru
The Day of Military Glory of Russia – Day of the defeat of Nazi German troops by Soviet troops in the Battle for the Caucasus (1943)
October 9, 1943 ended the Novorossiysk-Taman operation (10 September - 9 October) - the hostilities of the North-Caucasian Front, the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Flotilla to defeat the Nazi forces on the Taman Peninsula during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
As a result of offensive battles during the spring and summer of 1943, the North Caucasian Front (9th, 56th and 18th Army, the 4th Air Army; the commander - Colonel-General I. E. Petrov) approached the "Blue line" - heavily fortified frontier, which German forces had created on the outskirts of the Taman peninsula. This frontier was being defended by troops of the 17th Army of the "A" Army Group (commander - General of Engineer Corps E. Eneke), which included 15 infantry divisions and one cavalry division. In the operational reserve in the Crimea there were 5 more divisions. In all, the enemy force included over 400, 000 men, 2, 860 guns and mortars, over 100 tanks and assault guns, 300 planes.
Soviet troops included 18 infantry divisions, four infantry brigades, 2 armored regiments - a total of over 317, 000 men, 4, 435 guns and mortars, 314 tanks and self propelled guns, 600 planes. In accordance with the concept of the operation, the 18th Army together with the Black Sea Fleet forces was to deliver the main blow against Novorossiysk and further against Verkhnebakansky and Anapa, the 56th Army – against Gladkovskaya and Gostagaevskaya villages, the 9th Army - against Kurchanskaya village and Temryuk. These attacks were supposed to cut the enemy group, cut off its escape route to the Crimea and destroy it piecemeal.
On the night of September 10 was held a powerful artillery and air preparation, and about 3 o'clock in the morning, unexpectedly for the enemy, a force landed in the port of Novorossiysk. At the same time the east and west groups of the 18th Army started the offensive on land (the latter - from the base of Myskhako - "Malaya Zemlya"). On the night of September 11, the second echelon of troops landed. The same day the offensive forces of the 9th Army stroke against Temryuk, and on September 14 the troops of the 56th Army, acting on the central front, made their blow. As a result of fierce fighting in Novorossiysk, September 15 eastern and western groups of the 18th Army united, and in the morning of September 16 the city was liberated.
The 18th Army developed its offensive on the flank and rear of the enemy, and the 9th and the 56th Army pressed the enemy to the west, toward the coast and sea ports of Taman. The Black Sea Fleet (Commander - Vice-Admiral L. A. Vladimirsky) and the Azov Flotilla (Commander - Rear Admiral S. G. Gorshkov) supported the advancing troops with fire from ships and air strikes, broke the enemy's sea communication lines, and landing forces in the enemy's rear prevented him from gaining a firm foothold on intermediate frontiers.
In the evening of October 8, after a 30-minute artillery barrage, units of the 56th Army launched a decisive attack. By dawn, October 9, they broke through the last line, covering the approaches to the Spit Chushka, seized the Ilyich cordon and reached to the shores of the Kerch Strait. Defeated enemy units were pinned to the sea and destroyed. On the night of October 8, cutters of the Black Sea Fleet landed the units of Marines at Tuzla Spit and by the morning mopped it up from the enemy.
Thus, as a result of the continuous offensive of the armies of the North Caucasus Front, ships, the Black Sea Fleet Marine Corps and Air Force, and the Azov Flotilla, the Taman peninsula was liberated from the enemy. At 8:00 a.m. October 9 the commander of the 56th Army, reported to the Military Council of the North Caucasus Front, "... by 7.00 a.m. October 9, 1943 units of the 56th Army have completely mopped up the Taman Peninsula from the German invaders." During 30 days of fierce fighting, the enemy lost 36, 000 killed and about 22, 000 wounded soldiers and officers, not counting those sunk and destroyed on the ferries. Our troops captured 32 tanks, 337 guns, 229 mortars, 540 heavy-throwers, 83 locomotives, 2, 073 cars, 184 depots, and a lot of other military equipment.
October 9 the commander of the North Caucasian Front issued an order stating: "Today, 9 October 1943, troops of the 56th Army with a swift attack broke the last resistance of the enemy and by 7.00 a.m. reached the shore of the Kerch Strait. Scattered remnants of the enemy were cut off from the ferry and killed. There is not a single living German, except for prisoners, at Kuban and Taman Peninsula. The last stage of the battle for the Caucasus, which began last fall on the Terek, near Novorossiysk, Tuapse, on the passes of the Great Caucasus Range - is over. The gates to the Caucasus are closed tightly for the enemies of our country. ... Noting the glorious path of the troops of the North Caucasian Front, I congratulate all staff: soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals on this victory."
October 9, 1943 at 10:00 p.m. in Moscow, was given a salute in honor of the troops who liberated the Taman.
One of the most heroic battles of the Great Patriotic War, the Battle for the Caucasus, resulted in the defeat of the Taman enemy group and liberation of the Taman peninsula. Soviet troops dismantled an important operational foothold of the enemy, which provided him a defense of the Crimea and the possibility of offensive action in the direction of the Caucasus. Germany was forced to withdraw all its ships from the Sea of Azov. Libration of Novorossiysk and the Taman Peninsula greatly improved the location of bases of the Black Sea Fleet and provided the possibility for further blows against the enemy troops at Crimea from sea and through the Kerch Strait.
Annex № 284-FZ dated July 31, 2020 to the Federal Law “About the Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia” (03.13.1995, № 32-FZ) October 9 is celebrated as the day of military glory of Russia - the Day of the defeat of Nazi troops in battle by Soviet troops for the Caucasus (1943).
Lit.: Гречко А. А. Битва за Кавказ. М., 1967. Ч. 2. Гл. 6. Прорыв Голубой линии; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/grechko_aa_1/06.html; Завьялов А. С., Калядин Т. Е. Битва за Кавказ 1942-1943. М., 1957; Кирин И. Д. Черноморский флот в битве за Кавказ. М., 1958. Гл. 7. Новороссийско-Таманская операция (10 сентября — 9 октября 1943 года); Сталин И. В. Приказ Верховного Главнокомандующего. 9 октября 1943 года. [№ 31] // П
риказы Верховного Главнокомандующего в период Великой Отечественной войны Советского Союза: Сборник. М., 1975. С. 57-59.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: