Bobruysk Offensive Operation
Encyclopedia
The Bobruysk Offensive was part of the Belorussian Strategic Offensive of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bagration.

Operational goals

The operational goals of the Bobruysk Offensive within the context of Operation Bagration were twofold:
  • To break through the defensive positions of Ninth Army and take the heavily fortified city of Babruysk
    Babruysk
    Babruysk or Bobruysk is a city in the Mahilyow Voblast of Belarus on the Berezina river. It is a large city in Belarus with a population of approximately 227,000 people . The name Babruysk probably originates from the Belarusian word babyor , many of which used to inhabit the Berezina...

    .
  • Commit motorised / cavalry exploitation forces through the gap opened, opening the way for a major encirclement of much of the remainder of Army Group Centre in the Minsk Offensive.

German intelligence

Ninth Army headquarters had argued particularly strongly that a major attack against Army Group Centre was imminent, and General Jordan had bitterly complained about the high command's refusal to sanction tactical withdrawals, but the Army Group commander, Field Marshal Busch, had brushed these concerns aside. Patrols of the 134th Infantry Division
134th Infantry Division (Germany)
The 134th Infantry Division was a German division in World War II. It was formed in October 1940.-134...

 had revealed a buildup in the sector of the 35th and 41st Guards Rifle Corps opposite; each of the three regiments of the German divisions was faced with a full-strength Soviet rifle division of 7,200 men.

Ninth Army was, in general, made up of lower quality divisions than Fourth Army to its north; this may have reflected a belief on the part of the OKH that the terrain in Ninth Army's sector was more easily defensible.

Wehrmacht

  • Ninth Army (General Hans Jordan
    Hans Jordan
    Hans Jordan was a German general during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...

    )
    • XXXV Corps (Lieutenant-General Kurt-Jürgen Freiherr von Lützow
      Kurt-Jürgen Freiherr von Lützow
      Kurt-Jürgen Freiherr von Lützow was a German general during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...

      )
    • XXXXI Panzer Corps
      XXXXI Panzer Corps (Germany)
      XXXXI Panzer Corps was a tank corps in the German Army during World War II.-Formation and actions:...

       (Lieutenant-General Edmund Hoffmeister
      Edmund Hoffmeister
      Edmund Hoffmeister was an officer in the German Army, mainly notable for his service in the Wehrmacht Heer during World War II.Hoffmeister's military service began in 1914 in the Imperial German army...

      )
    • LV Corps (General Friedrich Herrlein
      Friedrich Herrlein
      Friedrich Herrlein was a highly decorated General der Infanterie in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the LV. Corps. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or...

      )
    • Reserve: 20th Panzer Division, 707th Infantry Division (Major General Gustav Gihr
      Gustav Gihr
      Gustav Gihr was the German commander of the 707th Infantry division during the Bobruisk Offensive.-World War I:...

      )


The city of Babruysk had been designated a Fester Platz, or fortified area, under the command of Major-General Adolf Hamann
Adolf Hamann
-Early life:Hamann joined the Schwerin 89th Grenadier Regiment in 16 July 1901. He was promoted to corporal on 27 January 1904 and to Unteroffizier at 27 January the following year. Hamann became a Sergeant on 3 March 1908, and a Feldwebel at 1 October 1911. In 1914, during the first year of WWI,...

.

The above units were under the overall command of Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct German strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union...

 (Field-Marshal Ernst Busch).

Red Army

  • 1st Belorussian Front
    1st Belorussian Front
    The 1st Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during World War II...

     (Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky
    Konstantin Rokossovsky
    Konstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...

    )
    • 3rd Army (General Alexander Gorbatov
      Alexander Gorbatov
      Alexander Vasilyevich Gorbatov was a Russian and Soviet officer who served as an officer in the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War and as a Colonel-General in the Red Army during the Second World War...

      )
    • 28th Army
      28th Army (Soviet Union)
      The 28th Army was a field army of the Red Army and the Soviet Ground Forces, formed three times in 1941-42 and postwar active for many years in the Belorussian Military District.- First Formation :...

    • 48th Army
    • 65th Army (General Pavel Batov
      Pavel Batov
      Pavel Ivanovich Batov was a senior Red Army general during the Second World War and afterwards....

      )
    • 16th Air Army
    • Cavalry-mechanised group under command of Lieutenant-General Pliev, including 1st Mechanised Corps, 4th Guards Cavalry Corps


The above units were under the command of the special representative to Stavka
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...

, Marshal Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...

.

The offensive

In the southern sector of operations, where the 1st Belorussian Front
1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during World War II...

 under Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...

 faced Hans Jordan
Hans Jordan
Hans Jordan was a German general during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...

's Ninth Army, the main Soviet objective was Babruysk
Babruysk
Babruysk or Bobruysk is a city in the Mahilyow Voblast of Belarus on the Berezina river. It is a large city in Belarus with a population of approximately 227,000 people . The name Babruysk probably originates from the Belarusian word babyor , many of which used to inhabit the Berezina...

 and the southern crossings of the Berezina, which would open up the route for the southern 'pincer' of the main encirclement. (Army Group Centre's southernmost flank was covered by Second Army
German Second Army
The 2nd Army was a World War I and World War II field army.-First World War:The 2nd Army during World War I, fought on the Western Front and took part in the Schlieffen Plan offensive against France and Belgium in August 1914...

 in the Pripet Marshes, but this area was largely bypassed by the Soviet offensive.) Rokossovsky had bravely staked his reputation on a plan for a complex double-envelopment of the German forces at Babruysk, in opposition to Stalin's preferred plan of a single breakthrough in the sector.

Rokossovsky's attack, as with the other initial offensive operations of Operation Bagration, was preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment. The first assault, against strong German defences, was however repulsed with heavy casualties. Rokossovsky ordered further artillery preparation for July 24, which eventually resulted in a collapse of the 134th Infantry Division
134th Infantry Division (Germany)
The 134th Infantry Division was a German division in World War II. It was formed in October 1940.-134...

 to the north of the sector, as the Soviet 3rd Army pushed forward; the 20th Panzer Division began to counter-attack, but Jordan then ordered it to turn southwards and confront a new breakthrough by the Soviet 65th Army under Batov
Pavel Batov
Pavel Ivanovich Batov was a senior Red Army general during the Second World War and afterwards....

.

The encirclement of the German corps

By June 27, Soviet forces were converging near Babruysk
Babruysk
Babruysk or Bobruysk is a city in the Mahilyow Voblast of Belarus on the Berezina river. It is a large city in Belarus with a population of approximately 227,000 people . The name Babruysk probably originates from the Belarusian word babyor , many of which used to inhabit the Berezina...

, trapping the five divisions of Ninth Army's northernmost corps, Lieutenant-General von Lützow
Kurt-Jürgen Freiherr von Lützow
Kurt-Jürgen Freiherr von Lützow was a German general during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...

's XXXV Corps, east of the Berezina. Elements of the central XXXXI Panzer Corps
XXXXI Panzer Corps (Germany)
XXXXI Panzer Corps was a tank corps in the German Army during World War II.-Formation and actions:...

 were also trapped, along with the 20th Panzer Division. The disorganised German divisions commenced a series of desperate attempts to escape the pocket, which stretched for several kilometers along the river's eastern bank: the Soviets reported large fires on 27 June as the Germans destroyed their heavy equipment and attempted to break out, but Soviet air attack and artillery inflicted appalling casualties on the encircled forces. In the meantime, Hitler had relieved Jordan of command due to his confusing instructions to 20th Panzer; Ninth Army was dealt another blow when its main communications headquarters was destroyed by bombing. On the following day, reinforcements arrived behind German lines in the form of 12th Panzer Division, whose commander was greeted by Ninth Army's chief of staff with the words "Good to see you — Ninth Army no longer exists!"

The breakout of XXXXI Panzer Corps

Faced with Ninth Army's imminent collapse, OKH
Oberkommando des Heeres
The Oberkommando des Heeres was Nazi Germany's High Command of the Army from 1936 to 1945. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht commanded OKH only in theory...

 authorised a withdrawal. Lieutenant-General Adolf Hamann
Adolf Hamann
-Early life:Hamann joined the Schwerin 89th Grenadier Regiment in 16 July 1901. He was promoted to corporal on 27 January 1904 and to Unteroffizier at 27 January the following year. Hamann became a Sergeant on 3 March 1908, and a Feldwebel at 1 October 1911. In 1914, during the first year of WWI,...

, Commander (Commandant) of Babruysk
Babruysk
Babruysk or Bobruysk is a city in the Mahilyow Voblast of Belarus on the Berezina river. It is a large city in Belarus with a population of approximately 227,000 people . The name Babruysk probably originates from the Belarusian word babyor , many of which used to inhabit the Berezina...

, was ordered to hold the town with one division, Lieutenant-General Edmund Hoffmeister
Edmund Hoffmeister
Edmund Hoffmeister was an officer in the German Army, mainly notable for his service in the Wehrmacht Heer during World War II.Hoffmeister's military service began in 1914 in the Imperial German army...

's 383rd Infantry Division. Thousands of wounded were abandoned in the citadel
Babruysk fortress
The Babruysk Fortress is a historic fortress in the city of Babruysk, Belarus that was built between 1810 and 1836. It is one of the best surviving examples of fortification architecture and design in the first half of the 19th century. The fortress was constructed in the historic center of the...

. The remnants of 20th Panzer Division, with a handful of tanks and assault guns, formed a spearhead for XXXXI Panzer Corps' breakout attempt which was placed under Hoffmeister's overall command, while 12th Panzer Division attacked from the Svislach River
Svislach River
Svislach or Svisloch is a river in Belarus, a right tributary of the Biarezina river. It is 327 km in length. The name is derived from the root -visl- 'flowing,' of Indo-European origin ....

 to meet the retreating troops. Though a breakout was achieved through positions held by the Soviet 356th Rifle Division of 65th Army, the German forces were again subjected to intense artillery bombardment and air attack as they attempted to make their way along the roads south of Minsk.

The 65th Army takes Babruysk

Batov's 65th Army now fought their way into Babruysk street by street against stiff resistance from the German rearguard. Babruysk
Babruysk
Babruysk or Bobruysk is a city in the Mahilyow Voblast of Belarus on the Berezina river. It is a large city in Belarus with a population of approximately 227,000 people . The name Babruysk probably originates from the Belarusian word babyor , many of which used to inhabit the Berezina...

, in ruins and with much of its population killed during the German occupation, was liberated on June 29, the 383rd Infantry Division commencing withdrawal towards dawn: no further elements of Ninth Army would escape from east of the Berezina. The German breakout had allowed around 12,000 troops - mostly demoralised and without weapons - from the pocket east of Babruysk to get out, but the Soviets claimed 20,000 taken prisoner. A further 50,000 were dead: Soviet accounts speak of the area being carpeted with bodies and littered with abandoned materiel. The Soviet writer, Vasily Grossman
Vasily Grossman
Vasily Semyonovich Grossman was a Soviet writer and journalist. Grossman trained as an engineer and worked in the Donets Basin, but changed career in the 1930s and published short stories and several novels...

, entered Babruysk shortly after the end of the battle:

"Men are walking over German corpses. Corpses, hundreds and thousands of them, pave the road, lie in ditches, under the pines, in the green barley. In some places, vehicles have to drive over the corpses, so densely they lie upon the ground [...] A cauldron of death was boiling here, where the revenge was carried out"


Ninth Army had been decisively defeated, and the southern route to Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...

 was open.

Accounts, further reading

In addition to Vasily Grossman, the writer and future dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was aRussian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his often-suppressed writings, he helped to raise global awareness of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly in The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of...

 was present at Babruysk as an artillery officer; the experience is mentioned in The Gulag Archipelago
The Gulag Archipelago
The Gulag Archipelago is a book by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn based on the Soviet forced labor and concentration camp system. The three-volume book is a narrative relying on eyewitness testimony and primary research material, as well as the author's own experiences as a prisoner in a gulag labor camp...

.

Gerd Niepold, the 1st Staff Officer of 12th Panzer Division, later wrote a comprehensive account of Operation Bagration, Mittlere Ostfront Juni 1944.
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