In July, the main forces of the German Nazis and their allies reached the lower part of the Don River, from where, in accordance with Hitler's directive No. 45 of July 23, 1942, they were preparing to develop an offensive in two directions: to the Caucasus (Army Group A) and to Stalingrad (Army Group B).
Above: The liberation of the North Caucasus from the Nazi troops. "Fire at the enemy." An artillery crew firing at the enemy. Summer 1943, the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
To solve such large-scale tasks, the German command concentrated Army Group A (commanded by Field Marshal W. List) in the Caucasus direction, consisting of the German 1st, 4th Panzer, 17th and 11th Armies, 3rd Romanian Army. They were supported by units of the 4th Air Fleet. In total, Army Group A had over 170,000 men, 1,130 tanks, about 4,500 guns and mortars, up to 1,000 airplanes. The 6th Army of Army Group B was aimed at Stalingrad at that time.
Above: Combat medic Bryukova assists a Red Army soldier wounded during the battle for Novorossiysk.
These groups had a high fighting capacity and were inspired by the recent victories. Many of their detachments participated in inlficting defeat on the Soviet troops near Kharkov and southwest of Voronezh, in the June battles, advancing to the lower part of the Don River, quickly capturing a number of Red Army's bridgeheads on its left bank.
Above: The Soviet soldiers on the fronline defending the Caucasus in 1942.
The German Army Group A was fighting against the troops of the Southern front and some forces of the North Caucasus front. In their composition, at first glance, there were many armies: 51st, 37th, 12th, 18th, 18th, 56th all-armed and 4th Air. However, all these armies, except the 51st, suffered significant losses in previous battles and had only 112,000 men, 120 tanks, about 2,200 guns and mortars and 130 airplanes. They were inferior to the enemy in men by 1.5, in guns and mortars by 2, in tanks by more than 9 and in aircraft by almost 8 times. In addition, the Red Army lacked stable control of formations and units, which was broken during their hasty retreat to the Don River.
Above: The 4th Guards Kuban Cossack Cavalry Corps under the command of Lieutenant General Nikolai Kirichenko in the area of the Taman Peninsula, the Southern Front.
Nevertheless, it had to stop the enemy's advance by all means, and then, having exhausted the main German forces in defensive battles, launch a counteroffensive.
Above: A woman traffic contoller on the roads of the liberated Kuban, the Battle of the Caucasus, the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
In difficult battles near Mozdok, Tuapse and on the mountain passes of the Main Caucasus Range in September-October, Soviet troops exhausted the enemy, reduced its offensive capability and created the prerequisites for a counteroffensive. However, the enemy retained a lot of strength and repelled all counterattacks of the Transcaucasian Front troops in November-December 1942.
Above: The Soviet marines of the Black Sea Fleet in the battles near Tuapse, liberating the North Caucasus from the German troops as part of the Tuapse defense operation.
It was not until January 1, 1943, that the German forces started retreating. The second stage of the battle fo,r the Caucasus - the liberation stage - began. At the initial stage (January 1 - February 4, 1943) the enemy was pushed back from the foothills of the Caucasus to the lower part of the Kuban River.
Above: The Red Army soldiers of a mountain rifle division defending one of the Caucasus mountain passes, December 1942.
The offensive was rapid: on January 3, Mozdok was liberated, on January 11 - Pyatigorsk, and already on January 21 - Stavropol. On January 24, 1943, the Northern Group of the Transcaucasian Front was transformed into the North Caucasus Front of the 2nd formation (commander - Lieutenant-General I.I. Maslennikov). On February 5 the Black Sea group of troops of the Transcaucasian Front was included into the North Caucasian Front.
Above: The area of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and the basins of the Don and Kuban Rivers. The Soviet landing force moving on the cruiser Red Crimea of the Black Sea Fleet.
On February 13, 1943, the Red Army soldiers threw off the flags of the Third Reich and the standards of the 1st Mountain Division of the Wehrmacht "Edelweiss" from the western peak of Mount Elbrus, installing instead the Soviet banners with a hammer and sickle. Soldiers installing the USSR flag at the Priyut II (lit. Shelter II) station on the Mount Elbrus.
On February 12, 1943, the troops of the front liberated Krasnodar. In the course of pursuit of the enemy from the Terek River the Red Army inflicted significant damage on the Nazi invaders. The German 1st Tank and 17th armies suffered heavy losses in manpower and equipment. However, the Soviet troops could not solve the main task - to prevent the withdrawal of troops from the territory of the North Caucasus, to encircle and defeat the Wehrmacht and its allies.
Above: Kavkazskaya railway station after liberation, the Transcaucasian front.
Later the enemy was pushed back to the Taman Peninsula, where it put up a desperate resistance to the Soviet troops on a prepared beforehand line of defense (Gotenkopf - literally. "Cat's Head"; in modern sources it is better known as the Blue Line). The German command created there a formidable defense, which ran from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea, covering the Taman Peninsula from the east. Bloody battles in this direction continued until October 9, 1943, until the last German soldier was thrown into the Kerch Strait.
Above: The Soviet troops are fighting for a settlement in the Caucasus front.
"The Caucasus Pass is taken!" The Battle of the Caucasus took place along a wide front line - from Novorossiysk to Mozdok. On these bridgeheads, in the course of exhausting, bloody defensive battles, the German offensive was stopped.