On November 17, 1941, the Rostov offensive operation of the Soviet troops began, which ended in victory over the Nazi group, which was trying to break through to the Caucasus.

The Nazis were driven back to the Mius River, suffering significant losses.

According to historians, this was the first major victory of the Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War.

Defensive battles

“In the fall of 1941, the situation for the Red Army was extremely difficult.

On the southern flank of the Soviet-German front, she suffered a serious defeat, as a result of which she was forced to leave most of the Donbass.

The Nazis were given the opportunity to reach Rostov-on-Don, which was for them the gateway in the direction of the Caucasus and the Volga, "Dmitry Surzhik, associate professor of GAUGN, candidate of historical sciences, told RT.

According to him, the loss of oil fields in the Caucasus would be a terrible blow for the USSR.

According to experts, despite the fact that the Nazi troops, in comparison with their past campaigns, suffered huge losses in the Soviet Union, the Nazi command still hoped to win a quick victory over the USSR.

For an offensive in the Rostov direction, the Nazis deployed the 1st Panzer Army, which included the 13th, 14th, 16th Panzer, 60th Motorized, 198th Infantry, 1st and 4th Mountain Rifle Divisions, motorized SS divisions "Viking" and "Adolf Hitler", three Italian infantry and one Slovak motorized division.

According to historians, the 1st Panzer Army was a formidable force, especially considering that it had approximately 300 tanks and 100 armored vehicles.

During the autumn offensive, the Hitlerite command intended to encircle the troops of the Soviet Southern Front.

"The Germans initially wanted to bypass Rostov-on-Don from the north and east, take the city and the adjacent territories in a ring and, destroying Soviet troops, move to the Caucasus," military historian Sergei Perelygin emphasized in a conversation with RT.

The Nazi strike group was opposed by the Soviet 9th Army.

The battalion areas of the Red Army blocked the main directions along which Hitler's mechanized columns could move.

  • Fights for Rostov-on-Don in November 1941

  • © topwar.ru

At the end of October, the Nazis concentrated large forces in areas adjacent to the forward edge of the positions of the 9th Army.

The advanced units of the Nazis entered into battle with the Soviet troops and wedged themselves into their defenses, creating conditions for the deployment of the main forces of the Wehrmacht in the Rostov direction.

On November 5, 1941, a large-scale offensive by the Nazi troops began on the southern flank of the Soviet-German front.

Using a significant superiority in armored vehicles, the Nazis were able to advance about 17 km deep into the Soviet positions in a day, although they suffered heavy losses.

The first attempts to inflict counterattacks by Soviet troops were unsuccessful.

The forces of the 9th Army fought back.

However, after the Nazis advanced 40 km, they were stopped by courageously resisting Soviet units.

The Hitlerites could not capture Rostov-on-Don on the move with a blow through Shakhty and Novocherkassk.

The losses of the Wehrmacht during the offensive amounted to almost one and a half hundred tanks and about 9 thousand soldiers and officers.

  • 33rd regiment in the battles for Taganrog and Rostov

  • © topwar.ru

According to Sergei Perelygin, the Nazis had to adjust their plans, abandoning the deep bypass of Rostov-on-Don from the northeast.

The Nazis regrouped their forces against the 56th Soviet army, intending to deliver a powerful frontal strike in the Rostov direction.

On November 12-16, 1941, the German command concentrated a strong grouping, including the 13th and 14th Panzer Divisions, the 60th Motorized Division and the SS Adolf Hitler motorized division, for operations against units of the 56th Army.

Rostov offensive operation

As historians note, on November 17, 1941, two offensives began almost simultaneously in the Rostov direction: the Soviet and the German. Units of the 1st Panzer Army of the Wehrmacht attacked units of the 56th Army and by the middle of the day on November 19 were able to break through to her rear, to the northeastern outskirts of Rostov-on-Don. The 56th Army withdrew to the line of the Rostov Defense Region. On November 20, fierce battles unfolded on the outskirts of Rostov-on-Don itself. The Nazis were held back by units of the 343rd, 353rd and 31st rifle divisions, the 230th rifle regiment of the NKVD and the 347th rifle division, which had been put forward from the reserve. However, the Nazis succeeded in pushing back the defenders of the city. On the night of November 21, Soviet units were ordered to retreat to the left bank of the Don.

The withdrawal of Soviet troops was covered by units of the NKVD troops, including the 230th regiment.

At the same time, the NKVD fighters occupied an important bridgehead - the Green Island.

They fought off the attacks of the advance detachments of the Nazis, until the Soviet artillery eliminated the crossing.

The Nazis who broke into Rostov-on-Don committed atrocities known in historiography as "Bloody Week" (although, to be precise, the occupation lasted eight days).

During this time, the Nazis managed to destroy hundreds of civilians: old people, women and children. 

However, the Nazis could not advance further than Rostov-on-Don.

Since November 17, the offensive of the units of the 37th Soviet Army has been successfully developing.

The Nazis tried to contain the Soviet troops by throwing the SS Viking Division and the 16th Panzer Division against them.

However, the Soviet command on November 20 brought the cavalry corps of Major General Iosif Khorun into battle, reinforced by the 71st NKVD brigade and the 3rd tank brigade.

“The successful offensive of our troops led to the coverage of German units in the Rostov-on-Don region from three sides,” said Sergei Perelygin.

As historians note, the Nazi group was under the threat of encirclement.

To avoid this, the German command had to urgently transfer troops to the Tuzlov River, weakening its positions in Rostov-on-Don.

  • Observation post of Soviet troops on the outskirts of Rostov.

    Winter 1941

  • © mil.ru

The Soviet Headquarters, in turn, sent all the forces of the Southern Front and the 56th separate army to defeat the enemy's Rostov grouping and liberate Rostov-on-Don. Parts of the 9th, 37th and 56th separate armies moved towards the city. His assault began on the morning of November 27. But only on the night of November 29, the advanced units of Soviet troops entered the western outskirts of Rostov-on-Don. According to historians, the main brunt of the city's battles fell on the shoulders of the 347th and 343rd rifle divisions, the 230th NKVD regiment and the Rostov rifle regiment of the people's militia. NKVD officers and militias advanced under fierce enemy fire in the vanguard, paved the way through the barricades and were the first to break into the city.

Parts of the 37th Army were rapidly developing an offensive in the western direction.

On November 27, they crossed the Tuzlov, and on December 2 they reached the Mius River.

However, there the Nazis managed to prepare a defense for the units of the 1st Panzer Army.

The front line was temporarily stabilized.

Operating in the Rostov direction, Soviet troops inflicted the following losses on the Nazis: about 30 thousand soldiers and officers, 275 tanks, over 350 artillery pieces.

  • Monument to the soldiers who died in battles at the crossing to the Green Island

  • © topwar.ru

“In fact, this was the first successful Soviet counteroffensive on such a scale.

They managed not only to stop, but also to push back the enemy, to free the big city from the occupiers, ”said Sergei Perelygin.

According to him, the actions of Soviet troops in the Rostov direction fettered large forces of the Nazis, not allowing the Nazi command to send reinforcements to Moscow and thwarting the strategic plans of the Wehrmacht.

  • Liberation of Rostov from the German invaders.

    November 29, 1941

  • © mil.ru

As the scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society Mikhail Myagkov noted, the Rostov offensive operation of the Soviet troops not only saved the Caucasian oil for the needs of the defense of the USSR, but also strengthened the morale of the fighters against Nazism.

“Thanks to the Rostov operation, the Germans did not break through to the Caucasus.

At the same time, she showed that the Nazis can be beaten, they can be thrown from their positions and successfully attacked.

This was extremely important from a moral point of view.

In addition, even before the start of the counter-offensive near Moscow, it demonstrated to our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition that the Soviet army was not defeated, ”summed up Mikhail Myagkov.