As with the October offensives, the idea was to eradicate German forces in the South in conjunction with an attack in the Minsk, Belurussia area. Kiev was the priority (or at least that is the official line), though the strategic objective was to push forward to a line running roughly from Riga in the North to Minsk in the center to Venitzia in the South. Whereas the October offensives were an absolute bloodletting and accomplished little, the Novemeber offensives did better.

The Soviets moved the 3rd Guards Tank Army and several Rifle Corps from south of Kiev in the Velikie Bukrin area to the area north of the city (about 100 kilometer distance) behind the 38th Army. German intelligence discovered the move north on October 30, but lost track of where it went, consistently showing, even after it attacked them, east of Kiev.

On the front north of Kiev, on the segment of the line running westward, the Soviets concentrated 50th and 51st Rifle Corps (six divisions) backed by the 3rd Guards Tank Army (400+ tanks). The 71st and 340th Rifle Divisions were adjacent, holding the line that bent to the north. The 23rd Rifle Corps (another three infantry divisions) was in the "angle" behind the front line, along with the 74th Infantry Division and 5th Guards Tank Corps (80-90 tanks) further to the east. Where the line bent around Kiev and headed south, the Soviets posted the 126th and 127th Rifle Divisions, backed by the 21st Rifle Corp (three more Infantry divisions).

At the start of the offensive on November 3, 337,000 Soviets with 500 tanks faced 147,000 Germans with 50 tanks. However, by November 15, reinforcements of the Soviet 8th and 10th Guard Tank Corp (100 tanks) was offset by the 48th Panzer Corp (200-250 tanks). The weather was lousy--rain and frost intermingled.

Soviet Attack Plan

The plan was to push the 50th and 51st Rifle Corps forward to smash the two defending German infantry divisions, then follow with the 5th Guard Tank Corp. When the line had been broken, the 3rd Guards Tank Army would be used for exploitation. That the result did not go according to plan was due to stubborn German defense. In the end, Chibisov was fored to commit the 5th Guard Tank Corp early, and the had to commit the first two Tank Corps of the 3rd Guards Tank Army as well.

In the meantime, the forces still bottled up at Velikie Bukrin staged a demonstration with a massive artillery bombardment and strong recon in force. It didn't fool the Germans too much.

On 3 November, the Soviets launched their attack and soon had a couple penetrations, which were counterattacked by the 7th Panzer west of Kiev and 8th Panzer north of Kiev. The Germans called in the 20th PanzerGrenadiers to plug the holes. By the next day, the Germans have written off Kiev as the Germans are pushed back thanks to weight of numbers. Kiev fell on the 5th, but the Soviets have suffered 30-50% losses in their attacking units and are forced to commit the 3rd Guards Tank Army.

On the 6th, the Guards Cavalry Corp exploited through a gap in the far north of the battlefield while the weight of the 3rd Guards Tank Army drove west past Kiev. The Germans lose any semblance of a contiguous front and start pulling back along lines of communications. The Soviet Tanks captured Fastov to the west of Kiev and cut the 25th Panzer Division in two on its way to the far south--the tanks are in the south while the Panzer Grenadiers are in the west.

By the 6th of November, huge gaps appeared and the 6th Guards Tank Corp reinforced the units in Fastov. The Germans responded by starting to send the 25th Panzer and SS Das Reich divisions (both at full strength, although the former is cut in half) to attack and restore the situation.

Far to the north, the Soviet offensive in Bellorussia had succeeded in blowing out the German line--now the German high command is in a dilemma about where to send reinforcements.

On the 8th, the 25th Panzer, fresh from France and which had stripped all the Pz IVs from France, counterattacked with dismal results, although the SS Das Reich counteratack was more successful. These countermeasures stalled the Soviet offensive in the southern portion of the Soviet breakout from Kiev. The Germans pulled some infantry divisions from the Velikie Bukrin area, but it will take time and is a case of too little too late.

The 3rd Guards Tank Army continued heading west while the German counterattack around Fastov results in heavy fighting but little gain. On the 10th, the SS Adolph Hitler division got plugged into the line and in heavy fighting by the next day Soviet forard detachments were eliminated, the 3rd Guards Tank Army had been halted, and the front stabilized in the south. The 25th Panzer is mutilated and it and the SS AH division retired into reserve.

Meanwhile, the Guards Cavalry Corp swings south and follows the 23rd Rifle Corp westward, reinforcing success there and grabbing Zhitomir which is just south of the Pripyet Marshes. It was a huge bulge in the German line.

On the 12th, the Germans regrouped around the SS AH, 25th Panzer, and 1st Panzer Divisions and head west of Fastov to counterattack and rip the Soviets--just like the last time a huge bulge appeared back in March. Only this time, it doesn't work.

Heavy fighting around Fastov on the 13th, where Brusilov is the German objective, finally punched a hole in the Soviet line, but Soviet 17th and 21st Rifle Corps, augmented with heavy anti-tank weapons, stymied the impact. On the 16th, 8th Panzer division retook Zhitomir, and on the 17th, the Germans panzers hook around Brusilov to the west. The Soviets shifted units like mad into the bulge, such as the 1st Guards Army inserted in Kiev as a strategic reserve, and this time, the front holds instead of falling to German ripostes. The open flank of previous months was no longer there. They made small penetrations, but no huge gaps.

On the 19th, the 19th Panzer appeared and attacked south of Brusilov in conjunction with the 1st Panzer's attack north of the city. By the 22nd November, the pocket still held. Over the next few days, the Soviets finally retreated and the Germans entered Brusilov, but there were no big pockets of prisoners and captured equipment. By the 26th, the counter-offensive ended.

The Soviets lost 80,000 troops, but that was lighter than the October losses. Their armor losses were heavy, for example, 3th Guards Tank Army lost 1,000 tanks in November (had only 50 left), but Soviet production was cranking out replacements.

Lectures

Convention Introduction and Overview
Possible German-Czech War of 1938 by Jason Long
1943: Orders of Battle and Early D-Day by Walter Dunn
Kiev Offensive: October 1943 by Col. David Glantz
WWII Soviet Armor by Charles Sharp
Grand Master Europa and GR/D by Tom Johnson
Kiev Offensive: November 1943 by Col. David Glantz
WWII Soviet Air Force by Charles Sharp

E2000

Last Year's Convention: E2000

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