5th Army in 1945. Legendary army. Combat strength of the army

A. I. Makarov

Battle path of the 27th division of the 5th army

A. I. MAKAROV - member of the CPSU since 1917, former military commissar of the 236th Orsha rifle regiment of the 27th division of the 5th Red Army, in the years civil war participated in the liberation of Siberia (including Novonikolaevsk) from Kolchak and interventionists. Currently a personal pensioner.

December 1918. There were heavy battles with the combined forces of the White Guards and interventionists. But the troops of the 3rd Army were able to retain the main core of the Ural workers and already in the second half of January 1919, in some areas, they switched to action.

The widely conceived operation of the White Guard command was reduced to local successes.

The general winter offensive of the armies of the Eastern Front, which began in November - December 1918, did not stop, despite the temporary withdrawal of the 3rd Army in December and the surrender of Perm. The 2nd Army of the Eastern Front successfully crossed to the left bank of the Kama and advanced significantly in the Kungur direction.

On the front of the 5th Army, where I was seconded by the commissar of the regiment, in the first half of December there were battles with varying success.

The Samara group of whites managed to capture Belibey for a while. But already from mid-December 1918, the initiative passed entirely into the hands of Soviet troops.

An attempt by the commander of the Samara group of White Czechs and White Guards, General Voitsekhovsky, with the help of the reserves of the units of the 12th Ural Division and the French artillery unit, to delay the advance of Soviet troops in the area of Chishma station, was unsuccessful.

Parts of the 5th Army, despite fatigue and an acute shortage of supplies, knocked down the Whites and interventionists from their positions and rushed to Ufa.

In the battles near Ufa, I was wounded in the back, and I was in the hospital until the evacuation of Ufa. Among the white soldiers, cases of surrender became more frequent. In a few days, about 8 thousand soldiers surrendered in the Ufa direction of the 5th Army. Kolchak's attempt to replenish the troops with workers and peasants mobilized in the front-line regions of the Urals did not produce the expected results. Many conscripts refused to join Kolchak's army and went into the forest in groups.

On December 31, 1918, units of the 5th Army liberated Ufa, and a few days later - Birsk. The capture of Ufa by the 5th Army provided protection for the left flank of the 1st Army and created an advantageous position for an attack on Orenburg not only from Buzuluk, but also from Sterlitamak. On January 22, 1919, the Red Army liberated Orenburg.

Comrade Tukhachevsky was then commander of the 1st Army. The Ural White Cossacks were cut off from the Kolchak army. Great assistance to the Soviet troops of the Eastern Front was provided by the partisan movement, which unfolded by the autumn of 1918 under the leadership of underground communist organizations in the rear of Kolchak. On the authority of the Central Committee of our party, a Bolshevik underground was created in the Urals and Siberia, which was headed by the old underground Bolshevik of the Urals, Sergei Fomich Baranov, later secretary of the Saratov regional committee of the CPSU (b).

With the active assistance of the underground at the time of the occupation of the city of Zlatoust, we already had more or less complete information about the state of Kolchak's White Guard gangs.

In Zlatoust, the 1st brigade of the 27th rifle division was replenished with workers from the Southern Urals. Up to 200 people came to our 236th Orsha Rifle Regiment, including 60-70 members of the CPSU (b).

The battles for Chelyabinsk lasted 10-12 days. Near the village of Dolgoderevenskaya, we received the strongest rear blow. There was not enough equipment, food, commanders were not quite well selected in some parts.

But we have not given Chelyabinsk to Kolchak anymore. In the defense of the city, the workers of Chelyabinsk and the suburban coal mines rendered great help. Up to 700-800 workers joined our regiments. After we took Chelyabinsk and its suburbs, the Whites began to quickly, without fighting, retreat to the river. Tobol. The Whites managed to fortify themselves and kept us near the Tobolsk sector. Searches began, reconnaissance in the camp of the White Guard units, the determination of their combat capability. We firmly fortified on Tobol.

There were cases on the Tobol when whites surrendered to us in order to bring decay into our units.

picture

Battles on the Tobol

The main forces of the 5th Army advanced along the railway line Kurgan - Petropavlovsk - Omsk. The 3rd Army delivered the main blow along the Yalutorovsk-Ishim railway line.

After a short stop, on August 20, Soviet troops crossed the Tobol and rushed to the east.

By the end of August, the regiments of the 5th Army in places advanced up to 180 km from Tobol and were 70 km from the Ishim River. This forced the Kolchakites to increase resistance. On September 1, the enemy launched a series of counterattacks. The advance of the Soviet troops was suspended. The initiative temporarily passed to the Whites. Soviet intelligence officers discovered a large grouping of white troops on the right flank of the army and several divisions in the railroad strip. It became clear that the Kolchakites were preparing for a big operation.

Meanwhile, a decisive battle was approaching. By October 14, 1919, on the Eastern Front, the superiority of forces was on our side. There were already spare regiments in Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Troitsk fortified areas. The Soviet soldiers were burning with the desire to put an end to Kolchak as soon as possible and to free the workers and peasants of Siberia from the landowner-bourgeois dictatorship of the White Guards and the violence of the interventionists.

The Kolchakites at one time had to fight on two fronts, and even the most downtrodden soldiers increasingly understood that the whole people were fighting against them, that an army without reserves (from mobilization everyone flees to the forests, to the partisans, etc.) is doomed to complete defeat. To all this was added insufficient provision of their army with uniforms and equipment. Meanwhile, the rains began to fall and the cold began. This further undermined the spirit of Kolchak.

But the Kolchakites nevertheless decided to move on to active operations by mid-October. They had no other choice. The White Guards learned that the Soviet troops themselves would soon begin to cross the Tobol. Indeed, the command of the Red Army was ahead of the enemy.

In Omsk, in a large, well-finished Pullman carriage, completely lined with icons, banners, banners (the headquarters of the Kolchak armies), General Diterikhs gave the last orders to prepare for the crossing of the Tobol, and our soldiers moved east, seizing the initiative.

At dawn on October 14, 1919, units of the 5th Army began fierce battles along the entire front. The White Guards resisted fiercely. In some places, at first, they even managed to throw the Soviet regiments into the river and again force them to retreat to the western bank of the Tobol.

However, already on the first day of the offensive, the main parts of our army crossed the river and significantly expanded their bridgehead on the eastern bank. The decisive days of fighting were approaching.

And so Kolchak's General Sakharov abandoned the so-called Izhevsk division, known to everyone for his services to Kolchak, she was helped by the 11th Ural division. But the breakthrough of the Soviet troops was so great that the Izhevsk division was surrounded in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Glyadinskoye and only broke through to the east at a high price.

She lost at least a thousand people here. By the end of the third day of the offensive, the right flank of the 5th Army had advanced significantly. The enemy began to retreat along the entire front. General Diterichs, frightened by the successes of the Soviet troops and the defeat of the White Guards, on October 24 ordered:

“In view of the unexpected colossal withdrawal of the left flank of the 3rd Army by the morning of October 24, which caused the withdrawal of the entire front and the hasty evacuation of the rear, take urgent and energetic measures to clear the Omsk and Kulomshisky knots.”

Soviet troops quickly advanced to the Ishim River, crushing the enemy and capturing entire regiments. The whole Carnatorus regiment went over to the side of the Red Army. In two weeks, units of the Red Army covered a distance of 250 km.

In the course of the battles with the Kolchakites on the Eastern Front, their own cadres of commanders and commissars grew up from among the workers and peasants. Many thousands of rank-and-file fighters received a great hardening.

Soviet soldiers wrote new heroic pages in the history of the struggle of the people against the enemies of the Motherland.

On October 16, 1919, the 229th Novgorod Regiment met enemy resistance in the area of the villages of Davydovo and Petrakovo. With fire from all types of weapons, the Kolchak troops stopped the advance of the Soviet troops. Then the commissar of the regiment, S.P. Vasiliev, with a group of fighters, bypassed the White Guards and appeared in their rear. Despite their small numbers, the Red Army men, inspired by the commissar, boldly attacked the enemy. The Kolchakites did not expect a blow and fled, throwing their weapons. 300 prisoners were captured, two guns and five machine guns.

On November 4, near the village of Bugrovar, the 43rd regiment fought a hot battle all day with two enemy units, supported by strong artillery fire. The Kolchakites managed to surround and disarm one of the battalions of the neighboring 237th regiment of our brigade and create a threat to bypass the 43rd regiment. Then the regiment commander V. I. Chuikov applied a skillful maneuver: he advanced one battalion to cover the flank, and with the rest he began to quickly bypass the enemy himself and soon surrounded him. For the fear of the captured battalion, he, at the head of a mounted reconnaissance in the amount of 14 people, boldly rushed at the Cossacks, who disarmed the Soviet battalion, shot several enemy soldiers and caused a panic in the ranks of the White Guards. With his bravery, he captivated the entire regiment. As a result, the Soviet battalion was released, and the enemy fled, leaving 300 prisoners and many weapons. For the skillful leadership of the 43rd punk in battles and personal courage, V.I. Chuikov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

On the same day, in the battle near the village of Vakorinsky (near Ishim), on the outskirts of Omsk, the commander of the 2nd Cavalry Division K.K. Rokossovsky (now Marshal of the Soviet Union) showed great resourcefulness and personal courage. Personally leading the division, he broke through the enemy's position in the equestrian formation with 30 horsemen, overcoming the stubborn resistance of the enemy's infantry cover, captured the enemy's battery in full service.

Near the city of Ishim, on the outskirts of Omsk, the commanders and Red Army soldiers of the 262nd regiment of the 30th division, commanded by M.D. Solosidin, also distinguished themselves. Assistant regiment commander T. D. Shevoldin with a group of soldiers captured two enemy battalions. The fighters and commanders showed great ingenuity and endurance.

In early November, the headquarters of the 311th regiment learned from a survey of prisoners that the 44th Kustanai White Guard Regiment was located in the village of M. Balpash. The commander of the 311th regiment, P.F. Zelipugin, with a team of scouts, went to the enemy’s location. Knowing the pass, he freely passed the Cossack outpost, drove into the village and surrounded the headquarters of Kolchak. Entering the headquarters, Zelipugin disarmed all the officers and declared them under arrest. After that, the entire 44th White Regiment in the amount of 500 people was disarmed. The Red Army captured five machine guns, one gun and the entire convoy. When crossing the Tobol and when advancing beyond the Tobol River, Kolchak's troops were still fighting defensive battles, but to no avail. Kolchak soldiers surrendered in whole companies and units.

After forcing the Tobol River, the cavalry reconnaissance of our regiment began to scan the banks of the river and discovered a company of armed Czechoslovaks. She unexpectedly attacked the enemy from the rear and opened gun, machine-gun fire. A company of soldiers in the amount of up to 140 people, laying down their arms, actually surrendered to three people: Commissar Comrade Surkov, me - the platoon commander, and my orderly. Having suffered a defeat between Tobol and Ishim, the Kolchak command withdrew the remnants of the troops across the Ishim River.

On November 4, units of the 3rd Army entered the city of Ishim, capturing large trophies, including food.

After the loss of Petropavlovsk and Ishim, the Whites began a hasty retreat to Omsk. Here was Kolchak and his government. Omsk was the main base of the White Guard army.

That is why Kolchak decided to defend this city with all his might. However, among the Whites there was no consensus on this issue. Thus, General Diterichs considered the defense of Omsk hopeless and offered to retreat further to the east. But Kolchak did not want to hear about leaving Omsk, he was supported by Sakharov.

Kolchak said: “It is unthinkable to surrender Omsk. With the loss of Omsk, everything is lost.

The White Guards began to hastily prepare Omsk for defense. Six kilometers from the city, it was supposed to dig trenches and install thick wire fences. Troops were moving up to Omsk. At that time, a 30,000-strong garrison was in the city itself, and the remnants of the armies from the front also approached here.

Kolchak newspapers began another campaign to raise the spirit of the troops and the population. All fences were covered with leaflets with an appeal to the inhabitants of the city to join the army. Bells rang in all the churches, their ringing was very reminiscent of the "waste". The Bishop of Omsk addressed an appeal to the faithful, suggesting that they come to their senses and stand up for the "Orthodox faith against the Antichrists." Despite the fact that a lot of the bourgeoisie, former tsarist officials, policemen, and the top of the Cossacks gathered in the city, none of them showed a desire to take up arms. The bourgeoisie had long since packed their bags and dreamed of fleeing east as soon as possible. officials higher institutions from the first days of November, they went to the service in full marching attire, so that at a convenient moment, as soon as the train carriage appeared on the train, they would immediately jump into it and move into the depths of Siberia.

Among the Kolchak soldiers every day more and more intensified decomposition. It soon embraced a significant part of the officers, who indulged in unrestrained drunkenness and revelry.

Under these conditions, the command of the White Guards abandoned the idea of \u200b\u200bdefending Omsk and ordered the remnants of the troops to retreat to the east.

On November 10, 1919, the Kolchak government fled from Omsk. The next day, Kolchak left in the direction of Irkutsk with five letter trains, and with him a train with a gold reserve. Every day the flow of evacuees grew. Soon the only railroad going to the east was loaded with trains. Before leaving Omsk, the Kolchakists took out of prison and shot three parties of chained Bolsheviks, 125-150 people each. Meanwhile, the advanced units of the Red Army were approaching Omsk.

On November 12, our 27th division was 100 kilometers from Omsk. The troops of the White Guards were approaching Omsk, they were very afraid that, due to the lack of crossings, the Red Army might overturn them into the Irtysh, but a severe frost hit, and the river stood up. The White Guards hurriedly crossed the Irtysh and, bypassing Omsk, retreated in the direction of Novonikolaevsk. Three brigades of the Soviet 27th division, of which one was advancing from the west, and the other two from the north and south, approached the city in a forced march.

On November 14, 1919, in the morning, the 238th Bryansk Regiment, having overcome a distance of almost 100 kilometers on carts in a day, entered Omsk. Following him, other regiments entered the city. But none of the White Guards expected that the Soviet troops would reach Omsk so quickly.

Therefore, on the morning of November 14, when the Red Army units entered the city, some officials who had not had time to evacuate were still on their way to work. A group of Red Army soldiers encountered one of these officials. It was General Rimsky-Korsakov, riding a trotter into the presence. Noticing that the soldiers on the street did not salute him, Rimsky-Korsakov immediately stopped his horse and began to scold the soldiers. Imagine the general's surprise when the lower ranks standing in front of him responded to his remark with a friendly laugh and surrounded the sled. Then the Red Army soldiers, with jokes, pulled their prisoner out of the sled, shook him out of his rich fur coat, took off his hat and, under escort, led him to the headquarters of the regiment.

The Omsk garrison offered no resistance to the Soviet regiments, with the exception of individual small detachments, which in some places opened fire on the Red Army. But the soldiers of the garrison with the first shots in the city poured out of the barracks and rushed to the military depots.

By the evening of November 14, the rest of the regiments of the 27th division entered Omsk, and soon order was restored in the city.

On the day of liberation, a revolutionary committee was formed in Omsk, which appealed to the working people of the city:

"Comrade citizens! Finally, the veil of darkness and obscurantism fell. The chains of slavery, sticks and executions of defenseless workers and peasants are over. All power in the city is in the hands of the revolutionary committee of the city of Omsk.”

Soviet troops captured huge trophies in Omsk. Among them: 3 armored trains, 41 guns, over 100 machine guns, 500 thousand shells, 5 million rounds of ammunition, more than 200 locomotives and 3 thousand wagons. Many thousands of soldiers and officers were taken prisoner.

After the liberation of Omsk, units of the Red Army advanced another 40–50 km to the east and received a short rest.

After Omsk, the control of the White Guard armies broke down. The commander of the front, General Sahara, together with his headquarters, retreated in the train, lost among the huge number of echelons moving east. And in the middle of this huge railway convoy, Kolchak's trains trudged along.

By the end of November, the entire route east from Omsk to Irkutsk was packed with trains in which White Guard civilian and military institutions, officials, the bourgeoisie, industrial and military cargo were evacuated.

Along the same road, starting from Novonikolaevsk, ahead of the Kolchakites, the troops of the Polish, Romanian and Czech legions fled. All this soon mixed up and merged into one continuous line of running people. The actions of partisan detachments on the railroad made the retreat of the White Guards and interventionists even more difficult. In the conditions of a stampede to the east, the Kolchak command could not even think about providing any organized resistance to the units of the Red Army in the near future. It sought to break away from the Soviet regiments as far as possible and thereby preserve the remnants of the army. But the Red Army advanced rapidly. Its main forces were advancing along the railway line. The partisans provided great assistance to the units of the Red Army. The interaction of Soviet troops with partisan detachments began at the end of October 1919. At the end of November, a close connection was established between the 5th Army and the partisans of Altai, who had extensive experience in fighting Kolchak. The Altai partisans were already reduced to 25 regiments and numbered over 40 thousand people in their ranks.

In early December, units of the Red Army met with the rebels. It was a great holiday for the people.

“Finally, the long-awaited hour of our connection has come,” the Volchikhinsky district headquarters of partisans wrote to representatives of the Soviet troops on December 5, 1919, “with a sense of joy, to tears, on behalf of the insurgent people and headquarters, we welcome you, comrade delegates, fighters of liberated Russia.”

To communicate with the rebels, coordinate operations and conduct political work, the command of the 5th Army sent representatives to the main headquarters of the partisans and revolutionary committees, mainly from political workers.

They launched a great propaganda work in the liberated villages. The task was to strengthen the influence of the Bolshevik Party among the rebellious Siberian peasantry, to strengthen political consciousness, to fight against manifestations of spontaneity and anarchism.

The activities of the representatives of the Red Army in the areas of the partisan movement did not remain fruitless.

There were Polish legions along the railway line from Barnaul to Novonikolaevsk. The offensive, the partisans in this area created a threat to the rear of the Kolchak troops. In early December, the partisans captured two armored trains here - "Stepnyak" and "Falcon", 4 guns, 11 machine guns, three wagons of shells and cartridges, and many other property. The combination of the actions of regular Soviet troops operating in the main direction to Novonikolaevsk, from Omsk, with the partisan movement behind enemy lines - Barnaul, was the most striking manifestation of the growing alliance between the working class and the working peasantry.

The partisan movement also intensified along the Siberian Railway, near Novonikolaevsk. And here the partisans were of great help in the offensive of the main forces of the Soviet troops advancing on Novonikolaevsk. On December 14, 1919, without any special resistance, we occupied the city of Novonikolaevsk, which waged a selfless struggle against the Kolchakites.

The struggle against the forces of counter-revolution was led by an underground party committee. The Bolsheviks of Novonikolaevsk issued proclamations, collected and sent weapons to the partisans. The arbitrariness of Kolchakism pushed the peasants to actively join them in joint actions with the Novonikolaev workers. Partisan detachments were created throughout Siberia. Detachments operated on the territory Altai Territory and Novosibirsk region. Novonikolaev workers were also in them. The blows inflicted by the partisans on the Kolchak troops seriously disorganized the rear of the White Guards.

Near Novonikolaevsk, in unity with the partisans, units of our 27th division inflicted a decisive defeat on Kolchak. The enemy fled, leaving behind rifles, machine guns, artillery, equipment. However, on the eve of their flight from the city, the Kolchakites committed another serious crime - they killed 104 political prisoners. Among those shot was the first chairman of the Novonikolaev Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies V. R. Romanov. The brave fighters for the people's happiness are buried in a mass grave in the garden of Lenin's house. Their memory will live forever.

After a short rest, on the night of December 15, our units and the 236th Orsha Regiment launched a further offensive along the Siberian railway. The fighting began at the Eltsovka station. Our division, and in particular the 236th Orsha Regiment, had the largest and last battle under Art. Taiga. We had to bypass Art. Taiga and blow up railroad bridge. The reconnaissance blew up the bridge, and the Orsha 3-inch battery under the command of Comrade Sivets, having converted the battery from wheels to makeshift sleds, into a snowstorm, drove all three guns to the very bed of the railway in the evening and overturned the Kolchak train. The train crew was immediately captured.

In total, the battle near the Taiga lasted at least a day and ended late at night.

In the battle for the capture of Art. Taiga, our regiment commander comrade was killed. Terekhov. We managed to capture rich trophies. More than 40 echelons were with food, new Anglo-American uniforms and the best Polish cavalry horses. Then we reached Krasnoyarsk without any fights, or rather drove in carts. On the outskirts of Krasnoyarsk, our regular units met partisans from the army of TT. Shchetinkin and Kravchenko.

In the troops of the partisan army Kravchenko-Shchetinkin, good workshops were organized in the forests for the manufacture of equipment - edged weapons, machine-gun bullets, rifle grenades and explosives - I personally managed to see such workshops in the Taiga, between Krasnoyarsk and Minusinsk.

The official meeting of the regular units of the 27th division of the 5th army with the Shchetinkin-Kravchenko partisans took place in the city of Minusinsk.

After the official ceremony, the partisan units joined the regular Red Army. Then our units were quartered in the village of Shushenskoye. A peaceful period of building socialism began, but when the Polish front opened, some of the division’s fighters and command staff again defended the honor, independence and freedom of the Motherland with weapons in their hands.

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5th Army

First formed in 1939 in the Kiev Special Military District. On the eve of the war, the army included the 15th and 27th rifle corps, the 9th and 22nd mechanized corps, the 2nd and 9th fortified areas, a number of artillery, engineering and other units. From the beginning of the war, she was included in the Southwestern Front and participated in the Border Battles and the Kyiv defensive operation, during which she suffered heavy losses. In September 1941, the army administration was disbanded, and its formations and units were transferred to other armies of the front.

Commanding:
M. I. Potapov (June - September 1941), major general of tank troops.

The 5th Army was created again in October 1941 on the basis of the troops of the Mozhaisk combat sector (the former Mozhaisk UR) as part of the 32nd and 133rd rifle divisions, the 18th, 19th, 20th tank brigades and a number of artillery, engineering and other parts. As part of the Western, then the 3rd Belorussian Front, she participated in the Battle of Moscow, the Rzhev-Vyazemsky (1943), Smolensk, Belorussian and East Prussian offensive operations. After relocation to Far East the army (17th, 45th, 65th and 72nd rifle corps, 105th UR, tank, artillery brigades, a number of separate units) as part of the 1st Far Eastern Front participated in the Harbino-Girinsky operation.
Commanders:
Lelyushenko D. D. (until October 17, 1941), major general;
Govorov L. A. (October 18, 1941 - April 1942), lieutenant general of artillery;
Fedyuninsky Ivan Ivanovich (April - October 1942), major general, from June 1942 lieutenant general;
Cherevichenko Yakov Timofeevich (October 1942 - February 27, 1943), Colonel General;
Polenov V. S. (02/27/1943 - October 1943), lieutenant general;
Krylov N. I. (October 1943 - October 1944 and from December 1944 until the end of the war), lieutenant general, from July 1944 colonel general;
Shafranov P. G. (October - December 1944), lieutenant general.

Literature:
Krylov N. I., Alekseev N. I., Dragan I. G., "Towards victory. The battle path of the 5th Army. October 1941 - August 1945", Moscow, 1970.

Abstract on the topic:

5th Army (USSR)

Plan:

1 First formation
- 1.1 Summer 1941
- 1.2 Battle path of the 5th army
  - 1.2.1 fighting 5th Army during frontier battle Southwestern Front and withdrawal to the line of the fortified area along the old state border from June 22 to July 8, 1941
  - 1.2.2 Combat operations of the troops of the 5th Army from Korostensky UR during the Kyiv battle
  - 1.2.3 March-maneuver of the 5th Army on the Dnieper River and defensive battles in the Left-Bank Ukraine in the conditions of bilateral enemy coverage and encirclement
- 1.3 Combat strength of the 5th Army
  - 1.3.1 On June 22, 1941 [TsAMO 1]
  - 1.3.2
  - 1.3.3 On July 20-22, 1941
  - 1.3.4 The combat composition of the armored and mechanized troops of the 5th Army
  - 1.3.5 Composition of the Air Force of the 5th Army
2 Second formation
- 2.1 Combat strength of the army
  - 2.1.1 The combat composition of the armored and mechanized troops of the 5th Army
  - 2.1.2 on November 1, 1941
  - 2.1.3 Composition of the Air Force of the 5th Army
  - 2.1.4 On 1 July 1942
  - 2.1.5 On 1 April 1945
3 Commanders
4 Literature

6 Information sources

Introduction

5th Army (5A) - the operational association of the Red Army (combined arms army)

1. First formation

First formed in 1939 in the Kiev Special Military District. Army troops as part of the Ukrainian Front took part in the Polish campaign of 1939.

On the eve of the war, the army included the 15th and 27th rifle corps, the 9th and 22nd mechanized corps, the 2nd and 9th fortified areas, a number of artillery, engineering and other units (a total of 5 rifle, 4 tank and 2 motorized divisions). From the beginning of the war, the army was included in the Southwestern Front.

1.1. Summer 1941

In the early days of the war, the 5th Army entered into battle with the forces of the German Army Group South. Army troops fought in the Kovel and Lutsk directions, took part in the tank battle near Dubno. The forces of the army, retreating with battles from Kovel to Kyiv, suffered heavy losses. The remnants of the army were captured during the battle for Kyiv. The commander of the army, Major General of the Tank Troops M. I. Potapov, was taken prisoner while trying to get out of the encirclement. On September 20, 1941, the army administration was disbanded, and its formations and units were transferred to staff other armies of the Southwestern Front.

1.2. Battle path of the 5th army

1.2.1. The fighting of the 5th Army during the border battle of the Southwestern Front and the withdrawal to the line of the fortified area along the old state border from June 22 to July 8, 1941

The 5th Army covered the Lutsk direction.
In front of the 5th Army, in the area from Vlodava to Krystynopol (174 km along the front), the enemy concentrated a large grouping of his troops in the 17th, 29th, 55th and 44th Army Corps of the 6th Army, 3rd, 48th and 14th Motorized Corps 1st Panzer Group. In total, this grouping consisted of 21 divisions.
On June 25, the 19th Mechanized Corps became part of the 5th Army.

1.2.2. Combat operations of the troops of the 5th Army from Korostensky UR during the Kyiv battle

1.2.3. March-maneuver of the 5th Army on the Dnieper River and defensive battles in the Left-Bank Ukraine in the conditions of bilateral enemy coverage and encirclement

1.3. Combat strength of the 5th Army

1.3.1. On June 22, 1941 [TsAMO 1]

15th Rifle Corps
- 45th Rifle Division
- 62nd Rifle Division
27th Rifle Corps
- 87th Rifle Division
- 124th Rifle Division
- 135th Rifle Division
2nd (Vladimir-Volynsky) fortified area
1st artillery anti-tank brigade
21st Corps Artillery Regiment
231st Corps Artillery Regiment
264th Corps Artillery Regiment

1.3.2. The combat composition of the armored and mechanized troops of the 5th Army

9th Mechanized Corps
- 20th Panzer Division
- 35th Panzer Division
- 131st Motorized Division
- 32nd Motorcycle Regiment
22nd Mechanized Corps
- 19th Panzer Division
- 41st Panzer Division
- 215th motorized division
- 23rd Motorcycle Regiment
5th Pontoon Bridge Regiment

1.3.3. On July 20-22, 1941

195th Rifle Division
200th Rifle Division
62nd Rifle Division
228th Rifle Division
193rd Rifle Division

1.3.4. The combat composition of the armored and mechanized troops of the 5th Army

19th Mechanized Corps
9th Mechanized Corps
22nd Mechanized Corps

1.3.5. Composition of the Air Force of the 5th Army

7th separate reconnaissance aviation squadron - formed in the second half of July 1941. It was armed with aircraft: 21 R-10, two I-15bis and one U-2. Squadron commanders - Captain A.A. Troshin. It operated as part of the Air Force of the 5th Army of the Southwestern Front.

2. Second formation

Again, the 5th Army was created on October 11, 1941 as part of the Western Front on the basis of the troops of the Mozhaisk combat sector (former Mozhaisk UR) as part of the 32nd and 133rd rifle divisions, the 18th, 19th, 20th tank brigades and a number of artillery, engineering and other units. Until December 1941, army troops, participating in the Battle of Moscow, fought stubborn defensive battles in the areas of Mozhaisk, Zvenigorod, and Kubinka. In December 1941 - January 1942, the army launched a counteroffensive, as a result of which they liberated Mozhaisk and entrenched themselves on the outskirts of Gzhatsk.

In March 1943, the army took part in the Rzhev-Vyazemsky offensive operation, during which the cities of Gzhatsk and Vyazma were liberated, in August - September 1943, during the Smolensk operation of 1943, it participated in the liberation of Smolensk.

In 1943-1944, the army as part of the 3rd Belorussian Front participated in the Orsha, Vitebsk, Belorussian and East Prussian offensive operations. At the final stage of hostilities, the army participated in the liquidation of the Zemland grouping of enemy troops.

In April 1945, the army was withdrawn to the reserve of the Supreme Command Headquarters, and then transferred to the Far East as part of the Primorsky Group of Forces (since August 5, 1945 - the 1st Far Eastern Front). In August - September 1945, the army (17th, 45th, 65th and 72nd rifle corps, 105th SD, tank, artillery brigades, a number of separate units) participated in the Harbino-Girinsky operation.

2.1. Combat strength of the army

2.1.1. The combat composition of the armored and mechanized troops of the 5th Army

2.1.2. on November 1, 1941

18th brigade
19th tank brigade
20th tank brigade
22nd tank brigade
25th tank brigade
36th MCP
27th team

2.1.3. Composition of the Air Force of the 5th Army

148th Separate Communications Aviation Squadron - formed in the second half of July 1941. It was armed with 8 U-2 aircraft. It operated as part of the Air Force of the 5th Army of the Southwestern Front.

2.1.4. On 1 July 1942

19th Rifle Division
32nd Rifle Division
50th Rifle Division
108th Rifle Division
144th Rifle Division
329th Rifle Division
336th Rifle Division
82nd Motorized Division
37th Rifle Brigade
43rd Rifle Brigade
60th Rifle Brigade

2.1.5. On 1 April 1945

45th Rifle Corps
- 157th Rifle Division
- 159th Rifle Division
- 184th Rifle Division
65th Rifle Corps
- 97th Rifle Division
- 144th Rifle Division
- 371st Rifle Division
72nd Rifle Corps
- 63rd Rifle Division
- 215th Rifle Division
- 277th Rifle Division

3. Commanders

Potapov M. I. (June - September 1941), major general of tank troops
Lelyushenko D. D. (until October 17, 1941), Major General
Govorov L. A. (October 18, 1941 - April 1942), major general of artillery, from 11.1941 lieutenant general of artillery
Fedyuninsky I. I. (April - October 1942), major general, from June 1942 lieutenant general
Cherevichenko Ya. T. (October 1942 - 02/27/1943), Colonel General
Polenov V. S. (02/27/1943 - October 1943), lieutenant general
Krylov N. I. (October 1943 - October 1944), lieutenant general, from July 1944 colonel general;
Shafranov P. G. (October - December 1944), lieutenant general.
Krylov N. I. (from December 1944 until the end of the war), Colonel General;

4. Literature

Isaev A.V. From Dubno to Rostov. - M.: AST; Transitbook, 2004.
Vladimirsky A.V. On the Kiev direction. According to the experience of conducting combat operations by the troops of the 5th Army of the South-Western Front in June-September 1941 - M .: Voenizdat, 1989.
Krylov N. I., Alekseev N. I., Dragan I. G., “Towards victory. Battle path of the 5th army. October 1941 - August 1945, Moscow, 1970.

Sources

TsAMO, fund 229, inventory 9776ss, case 3, sheet 122. Original

6. Sources of information

The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945: The active army. - Zhukovsky; Moscow: Kuchkovo field; Animi Fortitudo, 2005.

Battle near Moscow. Chronicle, facts, people: in 2 books. - M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2002. - Book. 1.

Khazanov D.B. 1941. Battle for the sky. From the Dnieper to the Gulf of Finland. - M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2007.

There are many mysteries in Russian and Soviet history: one of them is why, on the initiative of the Supreme Commander of the USSR, the history of the 5th Army was rewritten anew? The Ussuri historian Viktor Smagin was looking for an answer to it.

Driven by the troubled history of the young Soviet Union, they began their bloody path from its very beginnings - the Union -. Perfectly prepared and full of determination, they marched victoriously along the roads of the civil war (and these are the roads of the entire USSR from west to east), died and were injured.

They stood as a stone, almost indestructible block on the path of the Wehrmacht at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. But the block was destroyed, and a long, painful war was started, leaving them - an army of many thousands of Soviet soldiers and officers - behind. Behind life, behind history. In order to honor the memory of the courageous, but doomed to death soldiers of the 5th Red Banner Army, today, during the celebrations of the Great Victory, it is worth touching on the difficult, painful question “why?”.

Chronicles of exploits

Two years ago, we - the Ussuri people - witnessed the celebrations dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the formation of the 5th Army, the pride and glory of our region and our city. The anniversary fell on October 11, 2011. Especially for this date, under the editorship of the commander of the 5th Army, Major General A.N. Serdyukov in Primorye released a historical album dedicated to history combat way army. This is a large colorful book that has collected photographs and facts, the distant past and the present on its pages. From the pages of this book, Major General Serdyukov himself cordially congratulates his comrades, starting his solemn speech with a brief retrospection.

From the congratulatory speech of A.N. Serdyukov:

70 years have passed since the day when FIRST formations and units of the future illustrious Red Banner Army on the Mozhaisk line of defense entered into an unequal battle with the Nazi invaders. (...)

During the Great Patriotic War formations and military units of the army participated in 21 operations carried out by the Western, 3rd Belorussian and 1st Far Eastern Fronts.

Such accuracy in calculations is what is expected of historians. Doctor of Historical Sciences Y. Felshtinsky once said: "History is an insanely simple science, everything converges in it, like in a crossword puzzle." So, if the 70th anniversary was celebrated in 2011, then the date of formation of the 5th Red Banner Army is October 11, 1941, the fourth month after the start of the war? Surprisingly, many historical sources, unlike the local album about the 5th Army, do not think so! What did the chronographs of the 5th army miscalculate? Were the battles on the Mozhaisk line the first? And is it correct, like A.N. Serdyukov, to name the exact number of operations in which the legendary military unit participated?

G.K. Zhukov in his "Memoirs and Reflections" gives the composition of the pre-war grouping of troops in the Kiev Special Military District: these are 5A, 6A, 12A, 26A (B and R. 7th edition, volume 1, p. 281). If we believe Marshal Zhukov, it turns out that the 5th Army existed before the war, that is, until June 22, 1941. Then why is October 11, 1941, the date of its formation?

In order to clarify this obscure point, it was worth turning over piles of historical documents, conscientiously cutting out from them everything connected with the 5th Army.

Even more surprising was the mention of this compound, referring to 1939. Army General S.M. Shtemenko in his book “The General Staff during the War Years” recalled how he studied at the Academy of the General Staff. At the end of August 1939, S.M. Shtemenko with a large group of students was sent to the Kiev Special Military District for an internship. Soon there were to be big maneuvers. But while they were getting to Kyiv, on September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland. On page 8 of his book, S.M. Shtemenko writes:

“The People's Commissar of Defense warned the commander of the district troops about preparations for a campaign in Western Ukraine. The Kiev Military District was deployed to the Ukrainian Front. (...)

From that moment on, we no longer knew peace either day or night: we controlled the deployment of troops, equipping them with weapons and equipment, and pulling them back to their starting areas. In the region of Perga, Olevsk, Belokorovichi, the 15th separate rifle corps was concentrated; near Novograd-Volynsky, Slavuta, Shepetovka- 5 army; in the Kupel, Satanov, Proskurov area - the 6th Army; in the area of Gusyatin, Kamenetz-Podolsky, Novaya Street, Yarmolintsy - the 12th Army.

So, in September 1939, the 5th Army existed and quite harmoniously entered the Red Army.

The book “The Red Army in June 1941” (Kalashnikov K., Feskov V., Chmykhalo A., Golikov V. - Novosibirsk: Siberian Chronograph, 2003) is also distinguished by a significant mention of the connection. Pivot tables serve as visual appendices to the book. According to their data, in September-October 1939, the 5th Army was part of the Ukrainian Front and participated in the campaign against Western Belarus. We are talking about 15 rifle corps (sk), 45, 60, 87 rifle divisions (sd), about 8 sk and 44, 81 sd and 36 tank brigade. Further, the authors also give in the form of a table the grouping of the Southern Front, intended for a campaign in Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in June 1940. This grouping, along with the 12th and 9th armies, also includes the well-equipped 5th army, consisting of numerous corps, divisions and brigades. Further chronologically, the authors also present the grouping of the Red Army Ground Forces on June 22, 1941. The 5th Army is listed here as the first in the list of military formations of the Kyiv Special Military District.

What happens? The 5th Army, as of June 22, 1941, is a fairly powerful military formation. And with the beginning of the war, according to G.K. Zhukov, the 9th and 19th mechanized corps and two more rifle corps were additionally included in the 5th Army (“Memoirs and Reflections”, G.K. Zhukov, volume 2, pp. 15.21). Moreover, the main battle of the first days of the war on the Southwestern Front unfolded in the area of the 5th Army. So, by the end of the day on June 22, 1941, Directive No. 3 of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR received at the headquarters of the South-Western Front, which said:

“(...) The armies of the Southwestern Front, firmly holding the border with Hungary, with concentric strikes in the general direction to Lublin with forces of 5 and 6 A, at least five mechanized corps and all aviation of the front, encircle and destroy the enemy grouping advancing on the Vladimir front -Volynsky, Krystynopol, by the end of 26.6, capture the city of Lublin. Strongly secure from the Krakow direction. (...)

People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Marshal of the Soviet Union Tymoshenko

Member of the Main Council Malenkov

Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army General of the Army Zhukov

BATTLE REPORT No. 3 SHTARM 5 FOREST YUZHN. QTY. TEREMNO / east. LUTSK / 23.6.41.

Card 100.000.

1. Up to three enemy corps and one infantry division invaded our territory, trying to develop success in the directions - Lyuboml, Kovel; Wlodzimierz, Sokal, inflicting the main blow at the junction between 5 and 6A. Zap. Lyuboml 190 and 154 points are installed, south-east. Wlodzimierz - 222 and 212 points. At 6.00 from Vydranitsa, the tanks of the avenue are moving south along the Brest highway.

2. Parts of 5A put up stubborn resistance to the enemy and hold the front: Melniki, Rulikuvka.

a / 45th rifle division by 9.00 23.6 is fighting at the line of Shatsk, Koshary, Stolensky Smolars, Novinje, f. Petruvka, Kuprache, Vishnev. Its right flank, under pressure from the enemy, is slowly retreating.

The division is short of ammunition due to lack of vehicles.

b / 62 sd holds the Zamlyne front, elev. 191.8, Kladnev, Dluga Niva. The division needs fire supplies, there are no vehicles for delivery.

c/ 87 sd with a successful counterattack by 3.00 threw back the avenue and is fighting at the line: Pshidetki, Mikuliche, Bubnuv.

g / 124 sd threw back the pr-ka and is fighting at the turn of the count. Valley, Rulikowka, having mastered the Barane Peretoki.

d / 135 sd is concentrated in the Voinitsa area.

e/ 22 MK. 41 td focused southwest forest. Kovel. The remaining parts concentrated Maidan Izevsky, Gorodnishche, from 7.00.

w / 1 Fri brigade part of the forces covers the crossings of Lutsk, Rozhishche, Torgovishche.

Decided: holding 15 sk from 41 td the occupied line, 22 MK from 1 ptbr in cooperation with 15 sk
strikes in the direction of Tuzhisk, Verba, Ustilug and Voinitsa, Ustilug - to destroy the Vladimir-Volyn group of the pr-ka, with a view to further developing success in the direction of Krasnostav.
Start of attack 20.00 23.6.

Beat 22 MK supports 62 gardens and 14 IADs.

a/ In view of the difficulties with the delivery of ammunition, urgently provide at least one motor battalion.

b / By repeated air strikes, assist 22 MK in the destruction of the Vladimir-Volyn group and prohibit the crossing of the avenue across the river. BUG at the front of Vlodava, Sokal.

c / Prevent the advancement of tanks in the direction of Brest by an air strike; I have no other means besides a dedicated artillery division.

d / I ask you to immediately provide 85 mm, 37 mm and 152 mm tank shells / we have up to 1/4 bq for the first two calibers, we don’t have 152 mm at all /.

e/ LUTSK is half destroyed, burning.

Commander of the 5th Potapov Army

Member of the military council Nikishev

Chief of Staff Pisarevsky

Returning here to the book by S.M. Shtemenko "The General Staff during the war", we read:

“On July 30, a categorical instruction followed from Berlin: the 5th Red Army, fighting in the swampy area northwest of Kiev, was forced to accept the battle west of the Dnieper, during which it should be destroyed. Timely prevent the danger of a breakthrough to the north "...

“With the interception of the approaches to Ovruch and Mozyr, the 5th Russian Army must be completely destroyed” (p. 22)

“The 5th Army held out until the second half of September 1941. Heavy fighting also fell to its lot east of Kyiv. But the sacrifices made in these battles were not in vain. Here one of the first solid slabs was laid as the foundation of our subsequent victories” (p. 22).

“On September 15, the tanks of Guderian and Kleist, who bypassed Kyiv from the north and south, finally connected in the Lokhvitsa area. In a vast area east of Kyiv, approximately one third of the forces of the 5th, 37th, 26th and partly the troops of the 21st and 38th armies were surrounded” (p. 24).

“The wounded army commander M.I. Potapov and some unit commanders were taken prisoner” (p. 25).

However, with regard to the losses of the Southwestern Front by September 1941, General of the Army S.M. Shtemenko is being modest. Candidate of Historical Sciences Yaroslav Butakov tells more about this and about the actions of the 5th Army in his article “The heroic defense of Kyiv disrupted the lightning march of the Nazis on Moscow”:

“In the Kyiv region, a large grouping of Soviet armed forces was defending itself, which was like a thorn in the eye of the German command. It was not possible to encircle and destroy the troops of the Soviet Southwestern Front west of the Dnieper. Our 5th Army under the command of Major General M.I. especially interfered with the Wehrmacht. Potapova, who fought north of Kyiv.

As early as July 19, 1941, in Directive No. 33, Hitler stated the stubborn resistance of this army. On July 30, a categorical order was given from Berlin to cut off the withdrawal routes of the 5th Army through the Pripyat and the Dnieper. However, Potapov's army continued to fight, retreating in an organized manner from line to line and not allowing the enemy to break through the front. In Hitler's directive of August 21, not a single Soviet army was noted, except for the 5th, which turned out to be mentioned twice! Army Group "Center" was ordered to assist the group "South" in the destruction of this Soviet army. Moreover, the Center group had to use a sufficient number of forces for this, "regardless of subsequent operations."

It is obvious that Hitler attached decisive importance to the liquidation of the resistance of the Soviet troops near Kiev for the successful continuation of the war, although at that moment, and especially later, he had many opponents in the high command of the Wehrmacht.

In September 1941, the main forces of the Southwestern Front under the command of Colonel-General M.P. According to the summary of the German High Command, during this battle only 665 thousand of our military personnel were taken prisoner, 3718 guns and 884 tanks were captured. Our historians admit that on September 1, 1941, the Southwestern Front, without reserves, spare parts and rears, that is, only in combat formation, had 752-760 thousand people, 3923 guns and mortars, 114 tanks and 167 combat aircraft. All of them, with the exception of 15 thousand fighters who managed to break through from the encirclement, perished in the Kiev "cauldron" and in the battles that preceded the encirclement "...

In September 1941, in the last hours before captivity, the commander of the 5th Army, M.I. Potapov fought hand to hand, but was seriously wounded by a shell fragment and lost consciousness...

We see now that the pre-war 5th Army is not only formal data, not just numbers that say a lot or little about the staffing of a military unit, about its role in battles. Now it is quite clear that the 5th Army is hundreds of thousands of people who were the first to be thrown to defend the western borders of the USSR, the first to fall in a bloody battle with the fascist offensive. All of them, on duty and honor, occupied the territories allocated for them by the high command and were called upon to implement Stalin's defensive plans. And all of them fell out of place for the Wehrmacht, determined to take Moscow. Surrounded by offensive army groups, captured and killed in an unequal battle, they left the stage of the war. The outcome of the Kyiv defense resulted in one of the worst tragedies of the war years, taking with it human lives and crippled fate.

However, do not forget that the 5th Army, which widely celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2011, was formed October 11, 1941!

It is strange that in general, when talking about events not even a century old, one has to compare and analyze extracts from various sources of information! It is amazing that we are forced to treat the chronicle of the 20th century, as with pre-literate rock paintings or decrepit chronicles from the beginning of writing! Already in those events, unintentional distortions of dates and violations of chronologies, an approximate calculation of historical periods without any accuracy in days and even years is an understandable and normal phenomenon. But how did it happen that, with all the numerous references to the heroic formation by authoritative historical publications, the 5th Army itself today assures that its beginning was laid only on October 11, 1941?

It turns out that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Stalin ordered to rewrite the history of the 5th Army from a new sheet with his official order. Why?

Born in fire?

During the interrogation of the commander-in-chief of the 5th Russian army M.I. Potapov, the commander of the 20th tank group of the Wehrmacht, Colonel-General Heinz Guderian asked:

When did you learn that my tanks had infiltrated your location?

Why didn't you immediately evacuate Kyiv?

We were given an order to evacuate from the command of the army group, and we had already begun to move east, but immediately received an order of the opposite nature - to turn around and defend Kyiv at any cost.

Having cited this part of the interrogation in his book "Memoirs German general» Heinz Guderian concludes:

« The execution of this second order led to the destruction of the Kyiv Army Group. The enemy never repeated this mistake again” (p. 246).

And so we came to October 1941. But what happened to the 5th Army before October?

On September 25, the field administration of the 5th Army was disbanded, and its formations and units were transferred to the staffing of other armies of the Southwestern Front. And on October 11, on the basis of the directive of the headquarters of the Supreme Command of October 9, 1941, the 5th army of the SECOND formation was formed on the basis of the troops of the Mozhaisk fortified region (it was about him that the current army commander A.N. Serdyukov spoke in his congratulatory speech).

Historical reference:

For the first time, the 5th Combined Arms Army was formed by order of the People's Commissar for Military Affairs dated 08/11/1918 No. 15. In June 1924 it was disbanded.

The order on the formation of the 5th Army No. 0152 dated 26.06.1938 was signed by People's Commissar of Defense Voroshilov.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, it was part of the Southwestern Front, but, having suffered heavy losses in September 1941, it was disbanded, and its formations and military units were transferred to other formations of the front.

In October 1941, the 5th Army was created again on the basis of the military units of the Mozhaisk fortified region and the 32nd Infantry Division, which arrived in Moscow from the Primorsky Territory. It already included 5 Heroes of the Soviet Union, 1700 order bearers who were awarded state awards for the battles near Lake Khasan. On the day of the division's arrival, directive The Headquarters of the Supreme Command of October 11, 1941 marked the beginning of the formation of the army.

Why did the army of the first formation go into oblivion? Perhaps the answer to this question lies in the realm of politics. Probably, to admit the existence of the 5th army of the first formation means to admit something very unpleasant for the Soviet Union ...

To make an attempt to understand this situation, we will have to go back to 1938 and start with the diaries of L.P. Beria (Lavrenty Beria. Secret diary 1937-1953 with comments by S. Kremlev. Moscow. Yauza-Press, 2012) .

2.11.38 " Two days ago (Stalin) summoned me for a report (...). He listened carefully, then got angry, began to swear. (...) The point is to war, and we have a traitor on a traitor ...

01/24/39 Today, Comrade Stalin tells me (...) The war may already be this year.

3.08.39 The Poles are whispering with the Germans. The Germans promise Ukraine, well, it's so, fu-fu. Hitler wants to decide everything about the Poles this year, before the rains. Either the Poles will give in, or there will be war. So Hitler will be in a hurry. And we have nowhere to hurry. So we can expect the Germans to meet us.

The Poles will not be allowed into their territory under any circumstances. There are no troops in England, the French are rotten. Conclusion: negotiations must be conducted so that everything becomes clear that England and France will not fight. And they want to rake in the heat with our hands. But negotiations are needed to work the Germans. We do not need a war, especially a war with the Germans.

Conclusion: to conduct negotiations until the Germans are ready. (...) But to lead carefully so that Hitler believes that they are leading the line. As soon as the Germans accept our economic conditions, go to negotiations with them, and send these old ones ... from England and France to ... mothers.