Battle of Nikolayevka
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Nikolayevka was fought in January 1943, as a small part of the larger Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...

. The Battle pitted forces of the Italian 8th Army's Alpini
Alpini
The Alpini, , are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpini Corps Command. The singular is Alpino ....

 Corps against the four Soviet Armies of the Voronezh Front
Voronezh Front
The Voronezh Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the town of Voronezh on the Don River....

. Since the war the village has been absorbed by the nearby village of Livenka
Livenka, Belgorod Oblast
Livenka is a village in Krasnogvardeysky District of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located from the town of Biryuch, the administrative center of the district....

.

Prelude

On December 16, 1942, Soviet forces launched Operation Little Saturn aimed at the Italian 8th Army. The Soviet plan was to force the River Don
Don River (Russia)
The Don River is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometres southeast from Tula, southeast of Moscow, and flows for a distance of about 1,950 kilometres to the Sea of Azov....

, encircle and destroy the Italian 8th Army along the Don, then push towards Rostov on Don
Rostov-on-Don
-History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak...

 and thus cut the line of communication
Line of communication
A line of communication is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communication is vital for any military force to continue to operate effectively...

 of Army Group A
Army Group A
Army Group A was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.-Western Front, 1940:During the German invasion of the Low Countries and France Army Group A was under the command of General Gerd von Rundstedt, and was responsible for the break-out through the Ardennes...

 fighting in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

 and the line of communication of 4th Panzer Army, which was in the midst of Operation Wintergewitter
Operation Wintergewitter
Operation Winter Storm was a German offensive in World War II, undertaken between 12–23 December 1942, in which the German 4th Panzer-Armee failed to break the encirclement of Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad....

—the attempt to relieve 6th Army from encirclement in the city of Stalingrad. on December 16 General Fyodor Isidorovich Kuznetsov's 1st Guards Army
Soviet First Guards Army
The 1st Guards Army was a Soviet field army that fought on the Eastern Front during World War II, being formed from the 2nd Reserve Army with five Guards Rifle Divisions in August 1942....

 and General Dmitri Danilovich Lelyushenko
Dmitri Danilovich Lelyushenko
Dmitry Danilovich Lelyushenko |Army General]] , twice the Hero of the Soviet Union , Hero of Czechoslovakia . Member of the CPSU from 1924. Born in Rostov Oblast, ethnically Ukrainian....

's 3rd Guards Army
Soviet Third Guards Army
The 3rd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II, notably in 1945.It was created in December 1942, as part of the Southwestern Front , according to the order of the Supreme High Command on formation of the 3rd Guards Army...

 attacked the units of the Italian 8th Army, which were quickly overcome, encircled and crushed—in three days the Soviets had opened a gap in the Axis front 45 km (28 mi) deep and 150 km (93.2 mi) wide and destroyed two of the Italian Army's Corps (2nd and 35th). The Soviet armored columns now rapidly advanced south towards the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

. Thus 4th Panzer Army was forced to abandon its relief attempt of the 6th Army and fall back to halt the advancing Soviets.

The battle

The Italian 8th Army's Alpini
Alpini
The Alpini, , are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpini Corps Command. The singular is Alpino ....

 Corps, consisting of Alpine Divisions 3rd Julia
3 Alpine Division Julia
The 3rd Alpine Division Julia was a World War II light Infantry division of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated and elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units...

, 2nd Tridentina
2 Alpine Division Tridentina
The 2nd Alpine Division Tridentina was a World War II Mountain Infantry division of the Italian Army. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated and elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units...

 and 4th Cuneense and the 156th Vicenza Infantry Division to their rear, were at this point largely unaffected by the Soviet offensive on their right flank. But on January 13, 1943, the Soviets launched the second stage of Operation Saturn. In this stage four armies of Soviet General Filipp Golikov
Filipp Golikov
Filipp Ivanovich Golikov, was a Soviet military commander, promoted Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1961.Golikov saw service during the Russian Civil War...

's Voronezh Front
Voronezh Front
The Voronezh Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the town of Voronezh on the Don River....

 attacked, encircled, and destroyed the Hungarian Second Army
Hungarian Second Army
The Hungarian Second Army was one of three field armies raised by the Kingdom of Hungary which saw action during World War II. All three armies were formed on March 1, 1940...

 near Svoboda
Svoboda
Svoboda, a word in Slavic languages meaning "freedom". It may refer to:* Radio Svoboda, operated by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty* Svoboda , a daily Ukrainian language newspaper published in New Jersey by Ukrainian National Association...

 on the Don to the northwest of the Italians, they attacked and pushed back the remaining units of the German 24th Army Corps on the Alpini left flank and then attacked the Alpini themselves. The Alpini held the front, but within three days the Soviets advanced 200 kilometres (124.3 mi) to the left and right of the Alpini, who were thus encircled.

Although the Alpini corps was ordered to hold the front at all costs, preparations for a general retreat began on January 15. On the evening of January 17, the commanding officer of the corps General Gabriele Nasci finally ordered the full retreat. At this point the Julia and Cuneense divisions were already heavily decimated and only the Tridentina division was still capable of conducting effective combat operations.

The 40,000-strong mass of stragglers—Alpini and Italians from other commands, plus various Germans and Hungarians—formed two columns that followed the Tridentina division which, supported by a handful of German armoured vehicles, led the way westwards to the new Axis front. The Soviets had already occupied every village and bitter battles were fought by the soldiers of the Tridentina to clear the way. In fifteen days the soldiers covered 200 km on foot, fought twenty-two battles and spent fourteen nights camped in the middle of the Russian steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...

. Temperatures during the night fell between -30 °C and -40 °C.

On the morning of January 26, the spearheads of the Tridentina reached the little hamlet of Nikolayevka, now part of the village of Livenka. A Soviet division occupied it and the surrounding area. The Alpini immediately began their attack as they knew that this was the last Soviet position blocking their way to safety. But the Soviet forces held their ground, and after hours of fighting the Italian units became desperate as each hour increased the risk that Soviet reinforcements could arrive. Although the chief-of-staff of the corps, Brigadier General Giulio Martinat
Giulio Martinat
Giulio Martinat was an Italian General during World War II. He was killed leading his men of the 2 Alpine Division Tridentina in the Battle of Nikolayevka.-Awards:...

, had already been killed earlier that day while leading an assault of the Edolo battalion, General Luigi Reverberi, commander of the Tridentina division, stepped onto one of the last three Panzer
Panzer
A Panzer is a German language word that, when used as a noun, means "tank". When it is used as an adjective, it means either tank or "armoured" .- Etymology :...

s as the sun began to set and, yelling "Tridentina, Avanti!" (Tridentina Forward), led his men personally on the final assault. As the Alpini advanced, all remaining soldiers of the columns fell in and the Soviets, facing a human wave attack
Human wave attack
Human wave attack, also known as human sea attack, is an offensive infantry tactic, in which an attacker conducts an unprotected frontal assault with densely concentrated infantry formations against the enemy line, intended to overrun the defenders by engaging in melee combat.-Definition:According...

 by 40,000 Germans, Italians and Hungarians, relented and abandoned the village. The retreat of the Alpini was no longer contested by Soviet forces and on February 1 the remnants of the Corps reached Axis lines.

The Alpini did pay a high price in Russia. The 4 Alpine Division Cuneense was annihilated. Only about one tenth of the 3 Alpine Division Julia
3 Alpine Division Julia
The 3rd Alpine Division Julia was a World War II light Infantry division of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated and elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units...

 survived (approximately 1200 survivors of 15000 troops deployed) and only about one third of the 2 Alpine Division Tridentina
2 Alpine Division Tridentina
The 2nd Alpine Division Tridentina was a World War II Mountain Infantry division of the Italian Army. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated and elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units...

survived (approximately 4250 survivors of 15000 troops deployed).

Myths

A tenacious urban legend often heard in Italy quotes an alleged Soviet war bulletin as stating that "the only force that can regard itself as undefeated on Russian soil is the Italian Alpini corps". Actually, nothing similar to this report ever happened.
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