Операция «Голубая»: Немецкое наступление на Кавказе в 1942 году.

1942 German plan to further invade the Soviet Union following Operation Barbarossa

Case Blue (German: Fall Blau) was the Wehrmacht plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku (Azerbaijan SSR), Grozny and Maikop for two purposes: to enable the Germans to re supply their low fuel stock and also to deny their use to the Soviet Union, thereby bringing about the complete collapse of the Soviet war effort. After Operation Barbarossa failed to destroy the Soviet Union as a political and military threat the previous year, Adolf Hitler, the Führer of Nazi Germany, recognized that Germany was now locked in a war of attrition, and he was also aware that Germany was running low on fuel supply and would not be able to continue attacking deeper into enemy territory without more stock. With this in mind, Hitler ordered for the preparation of offensive plans for summer 1942 to secure the Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus. The operation involved a two pronged attack: one from the Axis right flank against the oil fields of Baku, known as Operation Edelweiss, and one from the left flank to protect the first attack, moving in the direction of Stalingrad along the Don River, known as Operation Fischreiher. Army Group South (Heeresgruppe Süd) of the German Army was divided into Army Groups A and B (Heeresgruppe A and B). Army Group A was tasked with fulfilling Operation Edelweiss by crossing the Caucasus mountains to reach the Baku oil fields, while Army Group B protected its flanks along the Volga by fulfilling Operation Fischreiher. Supported by 2,035 Luftwaffe aircraft and 1,934 tanks and assault guns, the 1,570,287 man Army Group South began the offensive on 28 June, advancing 48 kilometers on the first day and easily brushing aside the 1,715,000 Red Army troops opposite, who wrongly expected a German offensive on Moscow even after Blau commenced. The Soviet collapse in the south allowed the Germans to capture the western part of Voronezh on 6 July and reach and cross the Don river near Stalingrad on 26 July. Army Group B's approach toward Stalingrad slowed in late July and early August owing to constant counterattacks by newly deployed Red Army reserves and overstretched German supply lines. The Germans defeated the Soviets in the Battle of Kalach and the combat shifted to the city itself in late August. Nonstop Luftwaffe airstrikes, artillery fire and street to street combat completely destroyed the city and inflicted heavy casualties on the opposing forces. After three months of battle, the Germans controlled 90% of Stalingrad on 19 November. In the south, Army Group A captured Rostov on 23 July and swept south from the Don to the Caucasus, capturing the demolished oilfields at Maikop on 9 August and Elista on 13 August near the Caspian Sea coast. Heavy Soviet resistance and the long distances from Axis sources of supply reduced the Axis offensive to local advances only and prevented the Germans from completing their strategic objective of capturing the main Caucasus oilfield at Baku. Luftwaffe bombers destroyed the oilfields at Grozny but attacks on Baku were prevented by the insufficient range of the German fighters. The Allies were concerned about the possibility of German forces continuing to the south and east and linking up with Japanese forces (then advancing in Burma) in India. However, the Red Army defeated the Germans at Stalingrad, following Operations Uranus and Little Saturn. This defeat forced the Axis to retreat from the Caucasus in order to avoid getting cut off by the Red Army, which was now advancing from Stalingrad towards Rostov in order to achieve the cut off. Only the Kuban region remained tentatively occupied by Axis troops. By February 1942 the German Army High Command (OKH) had begun to develop plans for a follow up campaign to the aborted Barbarossa offensive – with the Caucasus as its principal objective. On 5 April 1942, Hitler laid out the elements of the plan now known as "Case Blue" (Fall Blau) in Führer Directive No. 41. The directive outlined the main goals of the 1942 summer campaign on Germany's Eastern Front: holding attacks for Army Group (AG) Centre, the capture of Leningrad and the link up with Finland for AG North, and the capture of the Caucasus region for Army Group South. The main focus was to be the capture of the Caucasus region.

The Caucasus, a large, culturally diverse region traversed by its eponymous mountains, is bounded by the Black Sea to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east. The region north of the mountains was a production center for grain, cotton and heavy farm machinery, while its two main oilfields, at Maykop, near the Black Sea, and Grozny, about halfway between the Black and the Caspian Seas, produced about 10 percent of all Soviet oil. South of the mountains lay Transcaucasia, comprising Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. This heavily industrialized and densely populated area contained some of the largest oilfields in the world. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, was one of the richest, producing 80 percent of the Soviet Union's oil—about 24 million tons in 1942 alone. The Caucasus also possessed plentiful coal and peat, as well as nonferrous and rare metals. Manganese deposits at Chiatura, in Transcaucasia, formed the richest single source in the world, yielding 1.5 million tons of manganese ore annually, half of the Soviet Union's total production. The Kuban region of the Caucasus also produced large amounts of wheat, corn, sunflower seeds, and sugar beets, all essential in the production of food. Aware of his declining oil resources, and fearful of enemy air attacks on Romania (Germany's main source of crude oil), Hitler's strategy was increasingly driven by the need to protect Romania and acquire new resources, essential if he wanted to continue waging a prolonged war against a growing list of enemies. In late 1941, the Romanians warned Hitler that their stocks were exhausted and they were unable to meet German demands. For these reasons, the Soviet oilfields were extremely important to Germany's industry and armed forces as the war became global, the power of the Allies grew, and shortages started to occur in Axis resources.

The German offensive commenced on 28 June 1942, with Fourth Panzer Army starting its drive towards Voronezh. Due to a chaotic Soviet retreat, the Germans were able to advance rapidly, restoring Wehrmacht confidence for the upcoming major offensive. Close air support from the Luftwaffe also played an important role in this early success. It contained the Red Air Force, through air superiority operations, and provided interdiction through attacks on airfields and Soviet defence lines. At times, the German air arm acted as a spearhead rather than a support force, ranging on ahead of the tanks and infantry to disrupt and destroy defensive positions. As many as 100 German aircraft were concentrated on a single Soviet division in the path of the spearhead during this phase. General Kazakov, the Bryansk Front's chief of staff, noted the strength and effectiveness of the Axis aviation. Within 26 days, the Soviets lost 783 aircraft from the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 8th Air Armies, compared to a German total of 175. By 5 July, forward elements of Fourth Panzer Army had reached the Don River near Voronezh and became embroiled in the battle to capture the city. Stalin and the Soviet command still expected the main German thrust in the north against Moscow, and believed the Germans would turn north after Voronezh to threaten the capital. Although the battle was a success, Hitler and Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group South, argued over the next steps in the operation. The heated debate, and continuing Soviet counterattacks, which tied down Fourth Panzer Army until 13 July, caused Hitler to lose his temper and dismiss Bock on 17 July. As part of the second phase of the operation, on 9 July, Army Group South was split into Army Group A and Army Group B, with Wilhelm List appointed as commander of Army Group A and Army Group B commanded by Maximillian von Weichs. Despite this impressive performance in keeping the army mobile, Löhr was replaced by the more impetuous and offensive minded Richthofen.

With air support from the Ju 87s of Sturzkampfgeschwader 77, List's Army Group A recaptured Rostov, the "gate to the Caucasus", on 23 July 1942 relatively easily. The Luftwaffe had air superiority in the early phase of the operation, which was of great help to the ground forces. With the Don crossing secured and Sixth Army's advance flagging on the Volga front, Hitler transferred the Fourth Panzer Army to Army Group B and sent it back to the Volga. The redeployment used enormous amounts of fuel to transfer the army by air and road. After crossing the Don on 25 July, Army Group A fanned out on a front from the Sea of Azov to Zymlianskaya (today Zymlyansk). The German Seventeenth Army, along with elements of the Eleventh Army and the Romanian Third Army, manoeuvred west towards the east coast of the Black Sea, while the First Panzer Army attacked to the south east. The Seventeenth Army made a slow advance but the First Panzer Army had freedom of action. On 29 July the Germans cut the last direct railway between central Russia and the Caucasus, causing considerable panic to Stalin and Stavka, which led to the passing of Order No. 227 "Not a step back!". Salsk was captured on 31 July and Stavropol on 5 August. The length of the German advance created chronic supply difficulties, particularly of petrol; the Black Sea was judged too dangerous and fuel was brought by rail through Rostov or delivered by air, but panzer divisions were sometimes at a standstill for weeks. Even petrol trucks ran out of fuel and oil had to be brought up on camels. With the Soviets often retreating instead of fighting, the number of prisoners fell short of expectations and only 83,000 were taken. As Hitler and OKH began to concentrate on Stalingrad, some of Kleist's mobile forces were diverted. Kleist lost his flak corps and most of the Luftwaffe supporting the southern front, only reconnaissance aircraft being left behind. The Voyenno Vozdushnye Sily (VVS) brought in about 800 bombers, a third of which were operational. With the transfer of air cover and flak units, Soviet bombers were free to harass the German advance. The quality of the Soviet resistance increased, with many of the forces used coming from local levies, who Kleist thought were willing to fight harder for their homeland. German units were especially bogged down by fighting Georgian alpine and mountain troops, who greatly contributed to stalling their advance. The quantity of replacements and supplies the Soviets committed increased, and faced with these difficulties, the Axis advance slowed after 28 August.

In the south east, the Wehrmacht headed in the direction of Grozny and Baku, the other important petroleum centers. More installations and industrial centers fell into German hands, many intact or only slightly damaged during the Russian retreat. From August–September, the Taman Peninsula and a part of the Novorossiysk naval base were captured. The Germans continued towards Tuapse on the Black Sea coast and in the east Elista was taken on 13 August. In the south, the German advance was stopped north of Grozny, after taking Mozdok on 25 August. German paratroopers assisted an insurgency in Chechnya, operating behind Soviet lines. German mountain troops failed to secure the Black Sea ports and the advance fell short of Grozny as supply difficulties arose once more. The Soviets dug in the 9th and 44th armies of the North Transcaucasian Front along the rocky Terek River bank in front (north) of the city. The Luftwaffe was unable to support the German army that far forward and Soviet aviation attacked bridges and supply routes virtually unopposed. The Germans crossed the river on 2 September but made only slow progress. At the beginning of September, Hitler had a major argument with the High Command and specifically List, as he perceived the advance of the German forces as too slow. As a result, Hitler dismissed List on 9 September and took direct command of Army Group A himself. Axis ships transported 30,605 men, 13,254 horses and 6,265 motor vehicles across the Black Sea from Romania, from 1–2 September. With the reinforcements, the Germans captured most of the Black Sea naval bases but were held up at Novorossiysk, where the Soviet 47th Army had prepared for a long siege. The port fell on 10 September, after a four day battle, the final German victory in the Caucasus. It left the heights south of the port and several coast roads in the hands of 47th Soviet Army. Attempts to push out of Novorossiysk were costly failures and the Axis also failed to break the defences on the coastal plain from Novorossiysk to Tuapse, having only the strength to stabilize the line. Romanian Army losses were particularly high and the Romanian 3rd Mountain Division was nearly wiped out by a Soviet counter attack from 25–26 September. Further east, the Axis enjoyed greater success and on 1 September, the Germans took Khulkhuta [ru] (Хулхута́), halfway between Elista and Astrakhan. During August and September, German patrols raided the railway around Kizlyar, north east of Grozny, marking the farthest advance of the German forces towards the Caspian Sea. In the south, the First Panzer Army advance on Grozny was stopped by the Red Army and the 14th Air Army. By late September, supply failures and the resistance of the Red Army slowed the Axis advance. The Germans took Nakchik on 26 October. On 2 November 1942, Romanian mountain troops (Vânători de munte) under the command of Brigadier General Ioan Dumitrache took Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino Balkaria and also the farthest point of Axis advance into the Caucasus. This victory earned the Romanian General the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Up to 10,000 prisoners were captured in two days, before the advance toward Grozny was stopped again west of the city at Vladikavkaz. On 5 November, Alagir was seized and the Alagir–Beslan–Malgobek line reached became the farthest German advance in the south. By this time, the gap between Army Groups A and B had left them vulnerable to a counter offensive. Only the German 16th Motorized Infantry Division remained inside the gap, guarding the left flank of the First Panzer Army by securing the road towards Astrakhan. On 22 November, after several Soviet counter attacks, Hitler appointed Kleist as Group commander with orders to hold his position and prepare to resume the offensive if Stalingrad could be taken. On 8 October, Hitler called for the air offensive to be carried out no later than 14 October, as he required air assets for a major effort at Stalingrad. As a result, on 10 October 1942, Fliegerkorps 4 of Luftflotte 4 (4th Air Corps of Fourth Air Fleet) was ordered to send every available bomber against the oilfields at Grozny. Fourth Air Fleet was in poor shape by this time – Richthofen had begun Case Blue with 323 serviceable bombers out of a total of 480. He was now down to 232, of which only 129 were combat ready. Nevertheless, the force could still deliver damaging blows. Attacks on the refineries reminded Richthofen of the attacks on Sevastopol several months earlier. Thick black smoke rose from the refineries to a height of On 12 October, further raids caused even more destruction. It had been a strategic mistake not to have made greater efforts to hit the oil refineries at Grozny and Baku sooner, as their destruction would have been a greater blow to the Soviets than the loss of Stalingrad, where most of the air fleet was deployed. On 19 November, the Soviet counter offensive at Stalingrad compelled Richthofen to once more withdraw his units north to the Volga and bring an end to the aerial offensive. Much damage was done at Grozny, but the remaining oilfields were beyond the logistical reach of the German Army as well as of the fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe. Grozny was within range of German bombers from 4th Air Corps, based near the Terek River. But Grozny and the captured oilfields at Maykop produced only ten per cent of Soviet oil. The main fields at Baku were out of German fighter range. German bombers could have reached them, but it meant flying the most direct, thus most predictable route without protection. In August it may have been possible to carry out these operations owing to the weakness of Soviet air power in the region, but by October it had been considerably strengthened.

On 23 July, the main body of Army Group B started its advance toward the Don. The Germans met with increasing Soviet resistance from the new Stalingrad Front, with the 62nd and 64th Soviet Armies. On 26 July, XIV Panzer Corps broke through and reached the Don, where the new First and Fourth Tank Armies conducted several futile counter attacks by inexperienced troops. On 4 August, the Germans were still from Stalingrad. By 10 August, the Red Army had been cleared from most of the west bank of the Don, but Soviet resistance continued in some areas, further delaying Army Group B. The Wehrmacht advance on Stalingrad was also impeded by supply shortages caused by the poor state of Soviet roads. The Luftwaffe sent an ad hoc force of 300 Ju 52 transport aircraft, enabling the Germans to advance; some bombers were diverted from operations to supply flights under the Stalingrad Transport Region force. The Soviets made several counter attacks on the northern flank of Army Group B, between Stalingrad and Voronezh. From 20–28 August, the 63rd Army and the 21st Army counter attacked near Serafimovich, forcing the Italian Eighth Army to fall back. The 1st Guards Army attacked near Novo Grigoryevskaja, extending its bridgehead. These and several other bridgeheads across the Don, opposed by the Eighth Italian and Second Hungarian armies, were a constant danger. The Soviets reported that civilian casualties from 23–26 August were 955 dead and 1,181 wounded (a preliminary total; later reports of casualties in the tens of thousands were probably exaggerations). Sixth Army advanced from the north via Kalach and Fourth Panzer Army came up from the south through Kotelnikovo. In the first few days, the XIV Panzer Corps opened a corridor between the main body of Sixth Army and the northern Stalingrad suburbs at the Volga. In the south, Soviet resistance repulsed the Fourth Panzer Army. On 29 August another attempt was made with Hoth turning his forces west directly through the center of 64th Army. The attack was unexpectedly successful and Fourth Panzer Army got behind 62nd and 64th Armies with the chance to encircle and cut off 62nd Army. Weichs ordered Sixth Army to complete the encirclement; a Soviet counter attack held up the advance for three days and the Soviets escaped and retreated towards Stalingrad. The rapid German advance caused a slump in morale among the Soviet troops, who retreated in chaos, abandoning the outer defences of the city. After defeating the last Soviet counter attacks, Sixth Army resumed its offensive on 2 September, linking up with Fourth Panzer Army the following day. On 12 September, the Germans entered Stalingrad.

The advance into Stalingrad against the 62nd Army was carried out by Sixth Army, while Fourth Panzer Army secured the southern flank. The city was a ribbon along the west bank of the Volga, which forced the Germans to conduct a frontal assault, and the ruins of the city gave the defenders an advantage. To counter Luftwaffe air superiority, the commander of the 62nd Army, General Vasily Chuikov, ordered his troops to "hug" the Germans, negating German tactical mobility. The Luftwaffe suppressed Soviet artillery on the east bank of the Volga and caused many casualties during Soviet attempts to reinforce the defenders on the west bank. From mid September until early November the Germans made three big attacks on the city and ground forward in mutually costly fighting. By mid November, the Soviets were penned into four shallow bridgeheads, with the front line only from the river. Anticipating victory, substantial numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft were withdrawn to the Mediterranean in early November to support the Axis operations in Tunisia. Sixth Army had captured about 90 percent of the city. On 19 November, the Soviets launched Operation Uranus, a two pronged counter offensive against the flanks of Sixth Army. With the battle for the city and the exhaustion of Fourth Panzer Army, the flanks were mainly guarded by Romanian, Hungarian and Italian soldiers. Third Romanian Army, on the Don River west of Stalingrad, and Fourth Romanian Army, south east of Stalingrad, had been under constant Soviet attack since September. Third Romanian Army had been transferred from Caucasus on 10 September to take over Italian positions on the Don, opposite the Soviet bridgeheads. The Romanians were understrength and had only around six modern anti tank guns per division. The bulk of the German tank reserve, the 48th Panzer Corps, consisted of about 180 tanks, half being obsolete Panzer 35(t)s. The two Romanian armies were routed and Sixth Army with parts of Fourth Panzer Army were encircled in Stalingrad. Hitler ordered Sixth Army to remain on the defensive, rather than try to break out. It was intended the army would be supplied by air, but the quantity of supplies necessary was far beyond the ability of the Luftwaffe to carry. Sixth Army's strength diminished and the Soviets gained the upper hand inside the city. To stabilize the situation on the Eastern Front, Army Group Don (Heeresgruppe Don) under Field Marshal Erich von Manstein was created to fill the gap between Army Groups A and B. On 12 December, a relief operation called Operation Winter Storm was launched from the South by fresh reinforcements of the 4th Panzer Army. The offensive surprised the Soviets and the Germans were able to penetrate the Soviet line for towards Stalingrad. Despite these gains, the Sixth Army was not allowed to attempt to break out and link up, so this led to nothing. The failure was followed by a siege that lasted for almost two months, during which the Sixth Army was destroyed.

Following the success of Operation Uranus, the Red Army began Operation Saturn to cut off Army Group A and all troops east of Rostov. During the German relief operation at Stalingrad, Soviet forces had been redeployed, lesser objectives substituted, and the operation renamed "Little Saturn". The attack fell on Eighth Italian Army and the remnants of Third Romanian Army, and led to the destruction of most of Eighth Army. On the verge of collapse, Army Groups B and Don were able to prevent a Soviet breakthrough but Army Group A was ordered to withdraw from the Caucasus on 28 December. The Soviets launched several follow up offensives, later called the Voronezh Kharkov Strategic Offensive. The Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive began on 12 January and destroyed large parts of the Second Hungarian Army and the remnants of Eighth Italian Army at the Don south east of Voronezh. With the southern flank in danger, Second German Army was forced to withdraw from Voronezh and the Don. The operations continued until January and led Stavka to believe that they could deal a fatal blow to the Germans and decide the war in southern Russia. Operation Star, conducted by the Voronezh Front, was aimed at Kharkov, Kursk and Belgorod. Operation Gallop was conducted by the South western Front against Voroshilovgrad, Donetsk and then towards the Sea of Azov, to cut off the German forces east of Donetsk. The operations began simultaneously at the end of January. The Soviets broke through quickly and in the north, Kursk fell on 18 February and Kharkov on 16 February after a German withdrawal, while in the south the Germans were pushed back to a line west of Voroshilovgrad. Army Groups Don, B and parts of Army Group A were renamed Army Group South, commanded by Manstein, on 12 February. The disaster at Stalingrad was the end of Case Blue and the territorial gains had been reversed by the end of 1943, except for the Kuban bridgehead on the Taman peninsula, retained for a possible second offensive to the Caucasus, which was held until 19 October 1943.

The failure of the operation, mainly due to the disastrous defeat at Stalingrad, marked the turning point in the war on the Eastern Front. Germany was forced to withdraw some 800 kilometers back to a new battle about 100 kilometers west of the city of Kursk. This withdrawal set the pace for Operation Citadel in the summer of 1943, which was unsuccessful, and resulted in a permanent swing of fortunes in the Soviets' favor for the remainder of the war. The Soviets permanently secured the initiative with regard to offensives, while Germany was forced to switch to a defensive posture that persisted until its eventual defeat less than 2 years later.

Due to the initial success of the German summer offensive in 1942, Hitler became more ambitious, putting great strain on the German army. Overextension reduced the capabilities of the German Army and its allies to defend this territory and the Soviets mounted a decisive offensive at Stalingrad, encircling a German army. Soon both sides concentrated on the battle for the city, making the Caucasus a secondary theatre.