Алексей Исаев. Днепр 1943 г. Кировоград. Первая попытка

The second half of October 1943. The turn toward Krivoy Rog after opening a bridgehead at Perevolochna urgently required covering the flank and even the rear of the 5th Guards Tank Army from possible counterattacks. This forced I.S. Konev to dispatch to Kirovograd and Znamenka not only rifle divisions withdrawn from the 53rd and 4th Guards Armies' unpromising Dnieper crossings, but also mobile units to aggressively cover the main group. One of these units was even withdrawn from a neighboring front based on a report from General Headquarters representative G.K. Zhukov. Initially, German resistance was weak, and the enemy was unable to hold the Ingulets River line. However, the situation soon began to deteriorate sharply. The number of enemy tanks and self-propelled guns increased with each subsequent encounter. The Luftwaffe's air activity also shifted from harassing raids to attacks on communications and equipment. Uninvited guests from Italy arrived in the Kirovograd region of right-bank Ukraine: the 14th and 24th Panzer Divisions, resurrected from oblivion, their first formations having been destroyed at Stalingrad. I.S. Konev, however, insisted on completing the previous mission, even though separation from Ingulets and the combined arms armies threatened serious trouble. Author's page on the website: https://tacticmedia.ru/author/8/ Our official website: https://tacticmedia.ru/ Support the film "Prokhorovka. Men, Fire, and Steel" and our other projects: http://tacticmedia.ru/donate/ Early access to our news and videos: Sponsr: https://sponsr.ru/tacticmedia/ Boosty: https://boosty.to/tacticmedia TacticMedia on social media: Telegram: https://t.me/TacticMedia_Official Zen: https://zen.yandex.ru/tacticmedia Rutube: https://rutube.ru/channel/23606772/ VKontakte: https://vk.com/tacticmedia YouTube:    / @tacticmediachannel