Operation Kotluben 1942

By September 1942, the German 14th Panzer Corps’ shock of
reaching the Volga on August 23rd, was over. While the breakthrough was astonishing, it was VERY narrow- some 2-4 miles
wide and the victors soon would face Russian troops attacking
from both sides of the corridor.
The next problem facing the Germans was to keep it. The 14th
Panzer Corps comprised of the 16th Panzer (51 AFV), 3
rd Motorized (10 AFV), and 60th Motorized (10-15 AFV). All the units
had suffered losses prior and all were somewhat understrength.
Many of the AFVs were Panzer II, the rest mostly Panzer III,
and a few long barreled Panzer IV.
The Russians reacted quickly with the 4th Tank Army and elements of the 1st Guards Army with attacks along the flank. Like
the German, the Russians were also weakened. Their divisions
were really at brigade strength, averaging 4000 men. Their
AFVs were mainly KV-1 and T-34. However, their tank corps’
had many more T-70, T-60, light tanks which were not much
use. Their tank corps’ averaged 50 AFVs, but half were light
tanks many times. For example, the 4th Tank Corps’ 47th Brigade had 8 KV-1, 15 T-34, 15 T-60.
However, within a few days, the Russians had several armies,
all rushed to the front, ill-equipped and many untrained, flanking the 14th Panzer Corps, strung out for miles trying to prevent
any breakthroughs. At one point, the commander requested to
pull back as losses were mounting. The request was refused.
The euphoric attack on the 23rd had turned into a dire defense
within a few days. The Russians would not stop and managed to
cut the corridor briefly forcing the Germans to air supply on
Aug.27.
The first Russian Kotluban offensive began on Sept. 2nd with
the 7th, 4th, 16th Tank Corps’, and elements of 1st Gds. Army.
The German 3rd Motorized was unable to halt them and found
itself and 16 Pz. Division cutoff again. Again, the Russians had
come close to breakthrough to 62nd. The 60th Motorized division
was also having problems reaching the pocket. The Russians
had their own set of problems with a lack of forces to close the
pocket. Thus, eventually, the first Kotluban offensive failed but
came very close to succeeding. Successive attempts would follow and all fail but did come close in a breakthrough.