Uman–Botoshany Offensive

DATE: 05/03/2023

TIME (GMT): 19:00

ERA: WW2

MAP(S): Baranow

TYPE: COOP

GAME: Arma 3

EVENT: Official

AUTHOR(S): Jarvis for Brothers in Arms

SLOTS: 78 / 85

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RATING: (32)

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The Uman–Botoshany Offensive was the name of the Red Army offensive actions in western Ukraine in March and April of 1944, as part of the greater Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive. The operation would be undertaken by the 2nd Ukrainian Front, under the command of Marshal Ivan Konev, with the goals of ejecting the German Army from the south-west of the Ukrainian SSR, splitting German Army Group South in two, along with the destruction of the so called 'Uman group' consisting of the Wehrmacht's 8th Army and 1st Panzer Division.
The offensive would be launched on the 5th of March towards the Gorny Tikach River, and ultimately the town of Uman, after a substantive artillery barrage from over two thousand artillery pieces across the 100 mile wide front. On the first day, the 2nd and 5th Guards Tank Armies were pushed to the front by Marshal Konev in order to increase the force projection and develop promising sectors where breakthroughs were present, resulting in a near 1.5-1 Soviet advantage in infantry and armoured vehicles. By the 9th of March, the Gorny Tikach River had been crossed by the forward elements of the 4th Guards Combined Arms Army, severing the chance to retreat for much of the German forces still on the left bank. With several pontoon bridge crossings now open to the Red Army, Uman would fall the next day on the 10th as Soviet armour and infantry surrounded the town.

By the end of the month, Army Group South had been spilt in two by the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Front, and the German Army had pushed all the way back to the pre-1941 border of the USSR. Facing a rapidly collapsing front, the 8th Army and 1st Panzer Division would be reassigned to Army Group A, joined by reinforcements from the Romanian 4th Army, by the time that Botoshany had fallen on the 28th of March. Only by sending in the last strategic reserves of Army Group A, would Field Marshal Ewald von Kleist prevent the complete disintegration of his front, forcing the Red Army into a defensive posture by the end of April, officially ending the Uman–Botoshany Offensive.

As a result of the operation, both Uman and Botoshany were liberated, Army Group South had been spilt in two and Soviet forces had advanced by 140 miles through western Ukraine and Moldova. The Red Army had displayed its ability to perform continuous and sustained river crossings under fire, with units of the 2nd Ukrainian Front crossing six major rivers in under two months. The success of the Red Army could be attributed to a number of factors, those being: The exploitation of the German presumption that large scale offensive actions couldn't be undertaken during the Ukrainian mud session, the increased use of armoured and mounted infantry formations, with three Tank Armies being on the line at once, the improved cooperation and organisation between the Red Army and Soviet Air Forces to deliver sorties effectively and the lessening of the power of the NKVD in Red Army affairs, allowing for greater flexibility for Divisional Commanders to use initiative to exploit weaknesses in German lines.

It is the 10th of March, 1944, following a preparatory artillery bombardment, the 2nd Ukrainian Front launches the Uman–Botoshany Offensive. The 18th Guards Tank Regiment joins its Division in the assault on German held pontoon bridges crossing the Gorny Tikach River in order to seize the town of Uman.