Uman–Botoșani offensive
1944 Red Army offensive in western Ukraine during World War II / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Uman–Botoșani Offensive?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Uman–Botoșani offensive[16] or Uman–Botoshany offensive[17] (Russian: Уманско-ботошанская наступательная операция) was a part of the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive, carried out by the Red Army in the western Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic against the German 8th Army of Army Group South during World War II. Led by Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev, it became one of the most successful Red Army operations of the whole war. In over a month of combat through the deep spring mud and numerous water barriers, the 2nd Ukrainian Front advanced over 300 kilometres (190 mi), cleared German forces from southwestern Ukraine, and entered Romania and Moldova.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2008) |
Uman–Botoșani offensive | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Dnieper–Carpathian offensive | |||||||
Soviet soldiers inspect the Panther tank, abandoned by the Germans in the Uman area in conditions of rasputitsa, 10 March 1944. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Soviet Union |
Germany Romania | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ivan Konev (2nd Ukrainian Front) |
Erich von Manstein (Army Group South) Otto Wöhler (8th Army) Ioan Mihail Racoviță (4th Army) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2nd Ukrainian Front on 1 March 1944:[1] - 691,097 men in total (ration strength) - 480,279 men in combat and support units - 8,054 guns and mortars - 670 operational tanks and self-propelled guns - 325 tanks and self-propelled guns in repairs - 551 aircraft |
8th Army Manpower 29 February 1944:[2] - 250,000 men in total 7 April 1944:[3] - 230,000 men in total (reinforcements) 23 April 1944:[4] - 267,000 men in total (reinforcements) AFV status 1 March 1944:[5] - 172 operational tanks and assault guns - 159 tanks and assault guns in short-term repair - 62 tanks and assault guns in long-term repair 27 March 1944:[6] - 37 operational tanks and assault guns (most of the tanks lost irrevocably by this date) 11 April 1944:[7] - 111 operational tanks and assault guns (reinforcements) 23 April 1944:[8] - 198 operational tanks and assalt guns (reinforcements) 4th Army Manpower Start of April 1944:[9] - 200,000 men in total Start of May 1944:[10] - 300,000 men in total (full mobilization) Equipment holdings at the start of May 1944:[11] - 10,243 machine-guns - 3,235 guns and mortars - 264 anti-aircraft guns - 1,344 anti-tank guns. Of them: - 382 German 7.5 cm Pak 40 guns | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
March:[12] - 15,896 killed and missing - 40,089 wounded - 8,072 sick and frostbitten - 294 other non-combat losses - 64,354 in total |
Wöhler report:[14] |
This offensive, alongside Marshal Georgy Zhukov's great slicing blow, split the Wehrmacht's Army Group South into two parts, north and south of the Carpathian Mountains. The northern portion was pushed back into Galicia in Poland, while the southern portion was pushed back into Romania. On 5 April 1944, the northern portion was renamed Army Group North Ukraine, while the southern portion became Army Group South Ukraine, although very little of Ukraine remained in German hands.
As a result of this split, the Soviets had cut the main supply lifeline of Army Group South, the Lviv–Odessa railway. Now, the southern group of German forces would have to use the long roundabout route through the Balkans, with all of the supplies being rerouted over the Romanian railroads, which were in poor condition.
For the Wehrmacht's defeat, the commander of Army Group South, Erich von Manstein, and the commander of Army Group A, Ewald von Kleist, were dismissed by Adolf Hitler and replaced by Walter Model and Ferdinand Schörner, respectively.
In the course of the operation, 10 German divisions were either destroyed or left with only remnants of their troops.[18] In order to save its southern sector from complete collapse, the German high command was forced to transfer seven divisions from the neighboring German 6th Army in the south to the disintegrating front of the 8th Army, while also mobilizing the Romanian 4th Army, which consisted of eight divisions and one brigade, with another seven Romanian divisions and two Romanian brigades being incorporated directly into the German 8th Army.[19]
This was the only operation in which the Red Army crossed six major rivers – the Gornyi Tikich, the Southern Bug, the Dniester, the Răut, the Prut, and the Siret – one after another.