Kharkov 1942 In memory of an able historian and fine friend, Colonel Paul Adair, British Army Retired, who worked so hard to reveal the human dimension of the war on the Eastern Front. Kharkov 1942 Anatomy of a Military Disaster David M. Glantz SARPEDON Rockville Centre, NY Published in the United States by SARPEDON ©1998 by David M. Glantz All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. For additional information contact Sarpedon Publishers, 49 Front Street, Rockville Centre, NY 11570. ISBN 1-885119-54-2 Published in the United Kingdom in 1998 by IAN ALLAN PUBLISHING LTD Terminal House, Station Approach, Shepperton, Surrey TW17 8AS. Cataloging-in-publication data is available from the Library of Congress. 1098765432 1 MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM The right of David M. Glantz to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Picture credits All pictures in this book are from the author's collection unless credited otherwise. Front cover: Soviet tank assault in the Kharkov region. Back cover, top: Soviet troops erecting anti-tank obstacles. Back cover, bottom: German armoured units break through Soviet lines. IWM HU40225 CONTENTS List of Appendices 6 List of Maps 7 Glossary and Abbreviations 8 Preface 11 Introduction 15 1 Prelude 17 2 Planning 21 Overview: The Strategic Debate 21 Overview: The Soviet Assessment 37 3 Area of Operations 59 Strategic Aspects 59 Operational and Tactical Aspects 61 4 Opposing Forces 65 Soviet Order of Battle 65 Soviet Force Structure 69 The Southwestern Direction Leaders 75 The Southwestern Direction Forces 80 German Order of Battle 104 German Force Structure 106 Correlation of Forces 111 5 The Course of Combat Operations 114 First Stage: Southwestern Front Offensive 114 Second Stage: Southwestern and Southern Front Defensive Battles in the Barvenkovo Salient 164 6 Costs and Consequences 218 The Price of Combat 218 The Consequences 219 Brief Results and Conclusions 226 7 Conclusions 239 Notes to Chapters 248 Appendices 252 Select Bibliography 280 Index 283 LIST OF APPENDICES 1 Report No 00137/op of the Southwestern Direction High Command, 22 March 252 2 Report of the Southwestern Direction High Command to the Supreme High Command, 30 March 255 3 Operational Plan of Southwestern Direction Forces for the occupation of the Kharkov Region, 10 April 256 4 From Operational Directive No 00275 of the Southwestern Direction High Command to Southwestern Front Forces, 28 April 258 5 From Operational Directive No 00177 of the Southern Front Command concerning right flank defence, 6 April 261 6 Report of the Southwestern Direction High Command to the Stavka VGK concerning the offensive, 15 May 262 7 Combat Order No 0140/op of the Southwestern Direction Headquarters to the Commander, Southern Front, 17 May 264 8 Report of the Southwestern Direction High Command to the Stavka VGK concerning the enemy offensive, 17 May 264 9 Combat Report No 0119 of the Southwestern Front Commander to the Stavka VGK concerning combat operations, 19 May 265 10 Report of the Military Council of the Southwestern Direction to the Stavka VGK concerning combat operations, 19 May 266 11 Notes of a conversation between the Chief of the Red Army General Staff and the Commander-in-Chief, Southwestern Direction, 19 May 267 12 Notes of a conversation between the Chief of the Red Army General Staff and the Commander-in-Chief, Southwestern Direction, 19 May 268 13 Combat Order No 00320 of the Southwestern Direction High Command to the Commander of 6th Army forces, and the Commander of the Army Group, 19 May 268 14 Combat Order No 0143/op of the Southwestern Direction High Command to the commander of Southern Front and 57th Army forces, 19 May 269 15 Combat Report No 00323/op of the Southwestern Direction High Command to the Stavka VGK concerning the offensive since 12 May and the plan for subsequent operations, 21 May 270 16 Extract from a Southwestern Front Military Council Order to 38th Army, 22 May 271 17 Information concerning the losses of Southwestern Direction forces during the period of battle on the Kharkov Axis, 10-31 May 272 18 Soviet order of battle (participating formations) and abbreviated German order of battle (initial) 273 19 Postscript: The Fate of the Survivors 275 6 LIST OF MAPS 1 The Barvenkovo-Lozovaia Operation, 18-31 January 1942 19 2 Plan 'Blau' 23 3 Situation on the Eastern Front, April 1942 39 4 Operational Plan 45 5 Strategic axes in the Soviet Union 60 6 The Kharkov region: the Northern Sector 62 7 The Kharkov region: the Southern Sector 63 8 Force dispositions north of Kharkov, 11 May 67 9 Force dispositions south of Kharkov, 11 May 68 10 Combat on 12 May in the Northern Sector 115 11 Combat on 13 May in the Northern Sector 125 12 Combat on 14 May in the Northern Sector 131 13 Combat on 12 May in the Southern Sector 133 14 Combat on 13 May in the Southern Sector 135 15 Combat on 14 May in the Southern Sector 138 16 Combat on 15 May in the Northern Sector 144 17 Combat on 16 May in the Northern Sector 157 18 Combat on 15 May in the Southern Sector 159 19 Combat on 16 May in the Southern Sector 162 20 Combat on 17 May in the Southern Sector 170 21 Combat on 17 May in the Northern Sector 176 22 Combat on 18 May in the Southern Sector 182 23 Combat on 18 May in the Northern Sector 186 24 Combat on 19 May in the Southern Sector 189 25 Combat on 19 May in the Northern Sector 193 26 Combat on 20 May in the Northern Sector 195 27 The situation 21-24 May in the Northern Sector 196 28 Combat on 20 May in the Southern Sector 199 29 Combat on 21 May in the Southern Sector 200 30 Combat on 22 May in the Southern Sector 203 31 Combat on 23 May in the Southern Sector 206 32 Combat on 24 May in the Southern Sector 208 33 Combat on 25 May in the Southern Sector 211 34 Combat on 26 May in the Southern Sector 213 35 Combat on 27 May in the Southern Sector 215 36 Summary map of the Kharkov Operation (12-29 May 1942) 229 37 The Summer-Autumn Campaign, 1942 243 7