Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1943-1945: Red Steamroller

Once the German 17.Armee (AOK 17) had retreated into the Kuban bridgehead in February 1943, General-polkovnik Ivan I. Maslennikov’s Soviet North Caucasus Front wasted little time in planning an offensive to drive the Germans from their last toehold in the Caucasus. However, Maslennikov had counted on the amphibious landing south of Novorossiysk unhinging the German defence, but instead, an 8,000-man landing force was contained in the ‘Malaia Zemlya’ (‘Little Land’) bridgehead and a battle of attrition ensued for seven months. By March, the AOK 17 was able to create a very strong defensive front known as the Blue Line (Blau Stellung), holding the approaches into the Kuban. The centrepiece of this defence was the Krymskaya sector, held by Generalleutnant Ernst Rupp’s 97.Jäger-Division. In mobile reserve, AOK 17 relied upon Generalmajor Wilhelm Crisolli’s 13.Panzer-Division and Hauptmann Alfred Müller’s Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 191 (21 StuG-IIIs) to counter-attack any Soviet breaches of the Blue Line. The Germans also had two batteries of Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 249 providing direct support to Rupp’s infantry and the adjoining 5.Luftwaffen-Feld-Division had its own attached battery of assault guns. Rupp’s defence was situated behind a small stream and German pioneers had emplaced minefields and obstacles to their front – it was a strong position. Furthermore, since the Eastern Front was relatively quiet after the culmination of von Manstein’s counter-offensive, the Luftwaffe was able to shift significant aircraft into the Crimea to support AOK 17 in the Kuban bridgehead. The Soviet VVS did likewise, committing almost 1,000 aircraft from the 4th and 5th Air armies (4VA, 5VA).⁶⁴

General-leytenant Andrei A. Grechko’s 56th Army was assigned the mission of breaking through Rupp’s defences, seizing Krymskaya and then pushing westward to link up with the Soviet naval infantry in the Malaia Zemlya bridgehead. Grechko was provided with five rifle divisions to conduct his breakthrough, but relatively little armour and artillery. He had no large armoured units and his 150–200 tanks were spread across three tank brigades (63, 92, 151), one tank regiment (257) and six OTBs, with a very eclectic mix of tanks. The 151st Tank Brigade was entirely equipped with captured German tanks, abandoned during von Kleist’s retreat from the Terek River. Grechko’s armour also included a large amount of Lend-Lease M3 Lees and Mark III Valentines, but few T-34s. One unit, the 63rd Tank Brigade, had just received 12 M4A2 Sherman medium tanks and was one of the first armour units in the Red Army to employ this new American-built tank in combat on the Eastern Front.⁶⁵

At 0900 hours on 4 April the 56th Army attacked Rupp’s division, but the offensive failed to penetrate the German HKL. Maslennikov temporarily suspended the offensive and made preparations for the 9th and 37th Armies to launch supporting attacks on other parts of the Blue Line to assist Grechko in making a penetration. Additional armour, artillery and air support was also provided. On 14 April, Grechko committed three rifle divisions, each led by a tank battalion (OTB) against the 97.Jäger-Division and succeeded in making a 3km-deep penetration in Rupp’s HKL. Crisolli’s 13.Panzer-Division immediately committed Kampfgruppe Brux to seal the breach but this was not successful. Consequently, Rupp was forced to abandon his forward line and withdraw to his secondary positions. When Grechko’s armour-infantry shock groups rolled forward to occupy the vacated German positions on 16 April, Rupp mounted a spirited counter-attack with a battery of assault guns, supported by Stukas; the Soviets had 48 tanks knocked out, which halted their advance.⁶⁶

During the Kuban Campaign, the Luftwaffe made a concerted effort to improve its low-level anti-tank capabilities. In particular, the Luftwaffe experimented with arming both the Ju-87 Stuka and the Hs-129B-3 with the 3.7cm Flak gun. Hauptmann Hans-Ulrich Rudel was provided with a few prototypes of the Ju-87G and sent to the Kuban to test the new weapon against Soviet armour. The Ju-87G’s two 3.7cm cannons, each with a six-round magazine, fired APCR rounds with tungsten carbide penetrators. The APCR rounds had a muzzle velocity of 1,170 m/sec and could penetrate up to 38mm of armour; the T-34’s rear deck armour was limited to only 16–20mm of protection. Although Rudel was shot down by anti-aircraft on his first combat sortie in the Ju-87G, he quickly became a staunch advocate of the new method of destroying Soviet T-34s.⁶⁷ Based on his endorsement, limited production of the Ju-87G began in June 1943 and a small number would be available for Operation Zitadelle.