The Jassy–Kishinev offensive, named after the two major cities, Jassy and Kishinev, in the staging area, was a Soviet offensive against Axis forces, which took place in Eastern Romania from 20 to 29 August 1944 during World War II. The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army engaged Army Group South Ukraine, which consisted of combined German and Romanian formations, in an operation to reoccupy Bessarabia and destroy the Axis forces in the region, opening the way into Romania and the Balkans.
The offensive resulted in the encirclement and destruction of the German forces, allowing the Soviet Army to resume its strategic advance further into Eastern Europe. It also pressured Romania to switch allegiance from the Axis powers to the Allies. For the Germans, this was a massive defeat, which can be compared to the defeat at Stalingrad.
Background
The Red Army had advanced past Romania's pre-war borders in the Uman–Botoșani offensive in early April. By late April, the German-Romanian allies managed to stabilize the frontline on the Carpathians-Târgu Frumos-lower Dniester alignment, and on May 6 the Stavka ordered the Soviet troops to switch to a defensive posture. Historian David Glantz however claims the Soviets made an unsuccessful attack in the same sector in an operation he refers to as the first Jassy–Kishinev offensive, from 8 April to 6 June 1944. In 1944, the Red Army pressed the Wehrmacht back along its entire front-line in the East. By May 1944, Germany's South Ukraine Army Group (Heeresgruppe Südukraine) was pushed back towards the prewar Romanian frontier, with the German 6th Army managing to establish a line on the lower Dniester River after the conclusion of the Soviet Odessa Offensive in April 1944. The line, however, was breached in two places, with the Red Army holding bridgeheads. After June, calm returned to the sector, allowing the rebuilding of the German formations.
Heeresgruppe Südukraine had been, until June 1944, one of the most powerful German formations in terms of armour. However, during the summer of 1944 the Oberkommando des Heeres re-assigned most of its armoured units to Army Group North and to Army Group Centre to stem Red Army advances in the Baltic states, Belarus, northern Ukraine, and Poland. On the eve of the offensive, the only armoured formations left were the 1st Romanian Armored Division (with the Tiger I tank), and the German 13th Panzer and 10th Panzergrenadier Divisions.
Failure of German intelligence
Soviet deception operations prior to the attack worked well. The German command-staff believed that the movement of Soviet forces along the front line was a result of a troop transfer to the north. The Wehrmacht lacked knowledge of the exact positions of Soviet formations until the final hours before the Jassy–Kishinev operation started.
By contrast, the Romanians were aware of the imminent Soviet offensive and anticipated a rerun of Stalingrad, with major attacks against the 3rd and 4th Armies and an encirclement of the German 6th Army. The German command dismissed such concerns as "alarmist". Marshal Ion Antonescu suggested a withdrawal of Axis forces to the fortified Carpathian–FNB (Focșani–Nămoloasa–Brăila)–Danube line, but Generaloberst Friessner, the commander of Army Group South Ukraine, was unwilling to consider such a move, having already been dismissed on 23 July 1944 by Hitler from Army Group North for requesting permission to retreat.
Order of battle
Soviet
Axis forces
Army Group South Ukraine – Generaloberst Johannes Friessner
- Army Group Dumitrescu (East)
- Romanian 3rd Army – Colonel General Petre Dumitrescu
- XXIX. Army Corps (Generalleutnant Anton von Bechtoldsheim): 9th Infantry, Romanian 4th Mountain and 21st Infantry Divisions,
- Romanian II Corps: 4th Infantry Division and 15th Infantry Division
- Coastal Defence: Romanian II Corps: 9th Infantry Division and 110th Infantry Brigade.
- 6th Army – General der Artillerie Maximilian Fretter-Pico
- VII Corps (General der Artillerie Ernst-Eberhard Hell) : 106th, 370th and Romanian 14th Infantry Divisions,
- XXXXIV Corps (Generalleutnant Ludwig Müller) : 62nd, 258th, 282nd and 335th Infantry Divisions,
- LII Corps (General der Infanterie Erich Buschenhagen) : 161st, 294th and 320th Infantry Divisions,
- XXX Corps (Generalleutnant Georg-Wilhelm Postel) : 384th, 302nd, 257th, 15th and 306th Infantry Divisions,
- Reserve
- Army Group Wohler (West)
1st Romanian Armoured Division
The 1st Romanian Armored Division did not have all of its units immediately available for opposing the Soviet offensive. Some of its units were still in the interior as of 20 August. Therefore, an ad hoc organization of the Division's units which were actually available for opposing the Soviet offensive lists the Division's 80 front line tanks as follows (not including the Division's 12 armored cars):
The Division also had a dedicated anti-tank battalion. Its main weapons were entirely of Romanian origin: 10 TACAM T-60 tank destroyers and 24 75 mm Reșița field/anti-tank guns. The 24 guns were the first ones produced of this model.
The 1st Romanian Armored Division had lost 34 armored fighting vehicles by 23 August, but claimed 60 Soviet tanks on 20 August alone.
Soviet strategy
Stavka's plan for the operation was based on a double envelopment of German and Romanian armies by the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts.
The 2nd Ukrainian Front was to break through north of Iași, and then commit mobile formations to seize the Prut River crossings before withdrawing German units of the 6th Army could reach it. It was then to unleash the 6th Tank Army to seize the Siret River crossings and the Focșani Gate, a fortified line between the Siret River and the Danube.
The 3rd Ukrainian Front was to attack out of its bridgehead across the Dniester near Tiraspol, and then release mobile formations to head north and meet the mobile formations of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. This would lead to the encirclement of the German forces near Chișinău.
Following the successful encirclement, the 6th Tank Army and the 4th Guards Mechanised Corps were to advance towards Bucharest and the Ploiești oil fields.
Progress of the offensive
General
Both the 2nd and the 3rd Ukrainian Fronts undertook a major effort, leading to a double envelopment of the German Sixth Army and parts of the Eighth Army. The German–Romanian front line collapsed within two days of the start of the offensive, and 6th Guards Mechanized Corps was inserted as the main mobile group of the offensive. The initial breakthrough in the 6th Army's sector was 40 km (25 mi) deep, and destroyed rear-area supply installations by the evening of 21 August. By 23 August, the 13th Panzer Division was no longer a coherent fighting force, and the German 6th Army had been encircled to a depth of 100 km (62 mi). The Red Army mobile group managed to cut off the retreat of the German formations into Hungary. Isolated pockets of German units tried to fight their way through, but only small remnants managed to escape the encirclement.
Detailed study of the Soviet breakthrough
The main effort of the front was in the sector of the 37th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Sharokhin, by the 66th and 6th Guards Rifle Corps. The 37th Army had a 4 km (2.5 mi)-wide breakthrough frontage assigned to it. It was divided in two groupings, two corps in the first echelon, and one in reserve. According to the plan, it was to break through the German–Romanian defence lines in seven days, to a distance of 110–120 km (68–75 mi), with the goal of covering 15 km (9.3 mi) per day during the first four days.
The 66th Rifle Corps, under Major General Kupriyanov, consisted of the 61st Guards Rifle and 333rd Rifle Divisions in the first echelon and the 244th Rifle Division in reserve. Attached were the 46th Gun Artillery Brigade, 152nd Howitzer Artillery Regiment, 184th and 1245th Tank Destroyer Regiment, 10th Mortar Regiment, 26th Light Artillery Brigade, 87th Recoilless Mortar Regiment, 92nd and 52nd Tank Regiment, 398th Assault Gun Regiment, two pioneer assault battalions, and two light flamethrower companies.
Corps frontage: 4 km (2.5 mi)
Corps breakthrough frontage: 3.5 km (2.2 mi) (61st Rifle Division 1.5 km (0.93 mi), 333rd Rifle Division 2 km (1.2 mi))
Troop density per kilometer of frontage:
- Rifle battalions – 7.7
- Guns/mortars – 248
- Tanks and assault guns – 18
Superiority:
- Infantry – 3:1
- Artillery – 7:1
- Tanks and assault guns – 11.2:1
There is no manpower information on the divisions, but they probably had between 7,000 and 7,500 men each, with the 61st Guards Rifle Division perhaps mustering 8,000–9,000. The soldiers were prepared over the course of August by exercising in areas similar to those they were to attack, with emphasis on special tactics needed to overcome the enemy in their sector.
Troops density in the 61st Guards Rifle Division's sector per kilometer of frontage was:
- Rifle battalions – 6.0
- Guns/mortars – 234
- Tanks and assault guns – 18
Troops density in the 333rd Rifle Division's sector per kilometer of frontage was:
- Rifle battalions – 4.5
- Guns/mortars – 231
- Tanks and assault guns – 18
Initial attack
The 333rd Rifle Division put three regiments in the first echelon and had none in reserve. The 61st Guards Rifle Division attacked in a standard formation, with two regiments in the first echelon and one in reserve. This proved to be fortunate, because the right wing of the 188th Guards Rifle Regiment was unable to advance past the Plopschtubej strongpoint. The 189th Guards Rifle Regiment on the left wing made good progress though, as did 333rd Rifle Division on its left. The commander of the 61st Guards Rifle Division therefore inserted his reserve (the 187th Guards Rifle Regiment) behind the 189th Guards Rifle Regiment to exploit the breakthrough. When darkness came, the 244th Rifle Division was assigned to break through the second line of defense. It lost its way, and only arrived at 23:00, by which time elements of the 13th Panzer Division were counterattacking.
The German–Romanian opposition was XXX. and XXIX. AK, with the 15th and 306th German Infantry Divisions, the 4th Romanian Mountain Division, and the 21st Romanian Infantry Division. The 13th Panzer Division was in reserve. At the end of the first day, the 4th Romanian Mountain (General de divizie, (Major General) Gheorghe Manoliu), and 21st Romanian Divisions were almost completely destroyed, while the German 15th and 306th Infantry Divisions suffered heavy losses (according to a German source, the 306th Infantry lost 50% in the barrage, and was destroyed apart from local strong-points by evening). Almost no artillery survived the fire preparation.