Buy Now!

KV-1
Home

SPECIFICATIONS ARMAMENT

1 x 152mm M-10T Howitzer

Combat Weight 52 tons
3 x 7.62mm machineguns

Crew 6
MOBILITY

Engine Power 600 HP

HISTORY
Road Speed 21 mph
Number Made 334
Cross-Country 10 mph
Speed
MEASUREMENTS
Highway Range 158 mph
Length of body 22.97 ft
Cross-Country 93 mph
Range
Width of body 10.83 ft
German engineers making a detailed technical inspection of a captured KV-1

Height 10.5 ft
Counterattack in the Ukraine: The remainder were in strategic
reserve or deployed elsewhere in

DUBNO, 1941 By Joseph Miranda

the expanses of the Soviet Union.
Those numbers look impres-
sive and, in fact, the Soviets had
approximately twice the number of nowhere near its potential fighting 1937). As a consequence, the Kremlin
Background mechanized divisions (40 tank and 20 efficiency, being in the midst of a had ordered a vast increase in the
motorized) facing west as the Germans major reorganization. It had expanded number of Soviet divisions as well as

O
n 22 June 1941 the Germans
invaded the Soviet Union in
the greatest land campaign
in history, Operation Barbarossa. The
ensuing weeks saw the Wehrmacht
win stunning tactical and operational
victories against the Soviet Army. What
makes those victories all the more
incredible is the fact the Red Army
fielded more, and in many respects
better, tanks than the Germans. Yet the
panzers outfought the Soviet armor,
overrunning the western USSR.
The Soviet armed forces were then
officially known as the Workers’ and
Peasants’ Red Army. The Red Army
actually had four branches: ground
forces (what would generally be
termed the “army” in most systems),
the navy, the air force, and the air
defense formations. At the opening
of Barbarossa, the army had some
300 divisions: 60 tank (armored),
36 motorized infantry, 193 infantry,
and 13 cavalry. There were also five
airborne “corps” (actually division-
sized units) and several rifle brigades.
Of all those formations, 170 or so
were in the western Soviet Union in
positions facing the German frontier.
had in their entire armed forces. The
Red Army tank inventory amounted
to about 23,000 vehicles. That was
far more than the Germans and their
allies of Finland, Hungary, Romania
and Italy could deploy in 1941.
As has so often been the case,
however, the situation on-paper held
little relation to the actual one on the
ground. In 1941 the Red Army was
from 1.5 million men in 1938 to 4.2
million in 1941. That expansion was
in large part carried out in response
to the growing power of Hitler’s Third
Reich. The Kremlin also saw the need
to maintain larger forces in the Far
East to deal with the potential threat
from the Japanese (Tokyo having
annexed Manchuria in 1931 and
launched an invasion of China in
the weaponry needed to equip them.
That expansion failed to produce
armed forces having anywhere near
the combat efficiency of those of the
Germans. One factor was the lack of
cadre. Much of the pre-revolutionary
military leadership had been killed by
the communists during and after the
Russian Civil War. As a result, there
weren’t sufficient numbers of profes-

6 WORLD at WAR 31 | AUG–SEP 2013 WORLD at WAR 31 | AUG–SEP 2013 7

 LakeLake
East
East
Front
Front
1941
1941 F INFLIN
ANLD
AN D ViipuriViipuri Ladoga
Ladoga
XXXX XXXX
Map Map
Key Key
Operations,
Operations,
22 June
22 June
- 25- August
25 August
1941
1941 Helsinki
Helsinki 7 Meretskov
7 MeretskovNorth
XXXXX XXXXX
PopovPopov
North Soviet
Soviet
ArmyArmy
XXXX XXXX
34 Kakanov
34 Kakanov

Gulf Gulf
of Finland
of Finland
XXXX XXXX Leningrad
Leningrad
8 Sobennikov
8 Sobennikov XXXXX XXXXX
Tikhvin
Tikhvin XXXX XXXX
HankoHanko XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
52 Klykov
52 Klykov
Soviet
Soviet
FrontFrontWest Timoshenko
West Timoshenko
TallinnTallinn 55 Lazarev
55 Lazarev54 Kulik

v
54 Kulik

kh o

kh o
NarvaNarva
NORTHWEST
NORTHWEST THEATER
THEATER

Vol

Vol
XXXX XXXX
XXXX XXXX

A
German
German 4

18

18
XXXX XXXX 4
48 Akimov
48 Akimov (North,
(North,
Northwest
Northwest
Fronts)
Fronts) Panzer
Panzer
ArmyArmy

A
4Pz

4Pz
Voroshilov
Voroshilov
z z A A
Luga Luga
4P 4P XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Tartu Tartu 11 Morozov
11 Morozov XXXXX XXXXX German
German
9 9
Novgorod
Novgorod ArmyArmy
Staraya
Staraya Northwest F.I. Kuznetsov
Northwest F.I. Kuznetsov
RussaRussaXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX

Gulf Gulf
of of 34 Kachanov
34 Kachanov German
German
NORTHNORTH

RigaRiga PskovPskov Demyansk

Demyansk ArmyArmy
Group
Group

ga

ga
S WSEW
D EE D
NE N 18A 18A XXXX XXXX

Vol

Vol
KholmKholm 27 Berzarin
27 Berzarin German
German
Attack/
Attack/
XXXX XXXX
Advance
Advance
Valdai Valdai
Hills Hills Kalinin
Kalinin
Riga Riga Soviet
Soviet
Attack/
Attack/
A A Dv Dv
18 18 ina ina Velikiye
Velikiye XXXX XXXX Advance
Advance
XXXXX XXXXX
Luki Luki 22 Ershakov
22 Ershakov Klin Klin
RzhevRzhev Bogdanov
ReserveReserve Bogdanov German
German
ArmyArmy XXXX XXXX
Group
Group
Boundary
Boundary
NevelNevel
B ABL TA ILCT ISCE S
AE A 4P
zA
4P
zA DvinskDvinsk Beloj Beloj
XXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX MOSCOW
MOSCOW Soviet
Soviet
FrontFront XXXX XXXX
XXXX XXXX
A A Polotsk
Polotsk 19 Konev
19 Konev Timoshenko
West West Timoshenko Boundary
Boundary
Kuechler 18 18
Kuechler 16 16
Vyazma
Vyazma
NiemeNniemen 9A 9A Vitebsk
Vitebsk Kolomna
Kolomna
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Soviet
Soviet
Pocketed
Pocketed 3A 3A
Hoepner 4 Tilsit
Hoepner 4 Tilsit 3PzA 3PzA
Smolensk
Smolensk
16 July 16 July
24 Rakutin
24 Rakutin Armies
Armies 10A 10A
Konigsberg
Konigsberg Kaunas
Kaunas 16A 16A Ok Ok
Vilno Vilno OrshaOrsha Kaluga
Kaluga a a

Ber

Ber
XXXX XXXX
Danzig
Danzig XXXXX XXXXX 22 June 22 June 20A 20A
BuschBusch

ezhin

ezhin
16 16 XXXX XXXX
Tula Tula
Leeb Leeb
NORTHNORTH
Suwalki
Suwalki 3PzA 3PzA
28 Kachalov
28 Kachalov
Roslavl
Roslavl 200 200

a
MinskMinsk
27 June 27 June 2PzA 2PzA
Gen. Kirponos Gen. von Kleist StettinStettin
XXXXX XXXXX
Strauss
XXXX XXXX
Strauss
9 9 Grodno
Grodno 3A 3A Mogilev
Mogilev XXXX XXXX
XXXX XXXX
U SU SS RS R
10A 10A

Dnepr

Dnepr

2PzA

2PzA
50 Petrov
50 Petrov
XXXX XXXX
XXXXX XXXXX
MilesMiles
Bryansk Yeremenko
Bryansk Yeremenko
Hoth Hoth3 3 Bobruisk Rogachev
Bobruisk Rogachev Bryansk
Bryansk
sional officers to train and command Stalin was as suspicious of the loyalty Bialystok
Bialystok XXXX XXXX
XXXX XXXX 2PzA 2PzA 13 Golubev
13 Golubev
Orel Orel Tambov
Tambov
units or run staffs. There was also a of the Red Army as he was of so many

2P

2P
Vist Vist XXXX XXXX
Weichs 2
Weichs 2 ula ula

zA

zA
Poznan
Poznan XXXXX XXXXX Guderian2
Guderian 2 June 22 June
22
PripyatPripyat XXXX XXXX
Livny Livny YeletsYelets
lack of non-commissioned officers other sectors of Soviet society. Too GomelGomel
40 Podlas
40 Podlas
CENTER
Bock Bock CENTER BrestBrest
XXXX XXXX
PinskPinsk PripetPripet MosyrMosyr
(NCOs), the sergeants and corporals many innovative military thinkers and G EGREMRAMNAYN Y Warsaw
WarsawKluge Kluge
4 4 XXXX XXXX
Glukhov
Glukhov
Marshes
Marshes 21 V.I.
21Kuznetsov
V.I. Kuznetsov KurskKursk
who, in most Western armies, were too many popular commanders might Voronezh
Voronezh
XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXX
Chernigov
Chernigov Saratov
Saratov
the glue that held together units, mean the Red Army would try a coup.

Bu

Bu
Radom
Radom XXXX XXXX 5 Potapov
5 Potapov XXXX XXXX

g
LublinLublin Konotop
Konotop
Breslau
Breslau Reichenau 6
Reichenau 6 XXXX XXXX
especially in combat. The military Stalin therefore launched his infamous KovelKovel
37 Vlasov
37 Vlasov SumySumy
Korosten
Korosten
commissar system, in which political purges in 1936, and they ran for several XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXX
Kleist Kleist1 1
6A 6A
RovnoRovno XXXXX XXXXX Belgorod
Belgorod
Rundstedt
SOUTHSOUTH
Rundstedt Kiev Kiev
XXXX XXXX Do Do
officers were assigned to all units, was years. The Red Army was particularly DubnoDubno 26 Kostenko
26 Kostenko
Southwest Kirponos
Southwest Kirponos n n
22 June 22 June
1PzA 1PzA Zhitomir
Zhitomir
supposed to maintain morale and hard hit, losing three of its five mar- Krakow
Krakow XXXX XXXX
Kharkov
Kharkov

ga

ga
Stulpnagel 17 17
Stulpnagel 9 July 9 July

Vol

Vol
FastovFastov
motivation, but it more frequently shals (including Tukhachevsky), plus LwowLwow
17A 17A
Poltava
Poltava
XXXX XXXX
SOUTHWEST
SOUTHWEST THEATER
THEATER
led to stifling initiative and mutual numerous generals, colonels and low- Przemysl
Przemysl
Tarnopol
Tarnopol
Cherkassy
Cherkassy Krasnograd
Krasnograd (Southwest,
(Southwest,
South
South
Fronts)
Fronts)
XXXX XXXX IzyumIzyum
suspicion that paralyzed operations. er-level officers. In modern terms one 1P 1P Dne Dne Budenny
Budenny
DubnoDubno
BattleBattle
Area Area Vinnitsa
Vinnitsa UmanUman zA zA pr r Malinovsky
p6 6 Malinovsky
At the same time, that didn’t mean would say Stalin “decapitated” army. C a r pCaatrhpiaat h i a 6A 6A
(reconstituted)
(reconstituted) Stalingrad
Stalingrad
n Mn M 2 Aug 2 Aug Voroshilovgrad
Voroshilovgrad
there was a complete lack of military In the wake of the purges the army tns tns 12A 12A Kirovograd
Kirovograd Dnepropetrovsk
Dnepropetrovsk
Stalino
Stalino Done Done
Vienna
Vienna Cernauti
Cernauti Dn Dn XXXX XXXX t t sk sk

17A

17A
competence in the Red Army. A few was hard pressed to find sufficient i i Bug Bug
KrivoiKrivoi
Rog Rog 12 Koroteev
12 Koroteev XXXXX XXXXX

es

es
forward-looking leaders, such as qualified officers, which meant Balta Balta (reconstituted)
(reconstituted)

te

te
XXXX XXXX Tylunev
South South Tylunev Kotelnikovo
Kotelnikovo

r
XXXX XXXX
Budapest
Budapest Schobert
Schobert
11 11 11A 11A (Rybashev)
(Rybashev)
Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky, had promoting people far above their Rum. Rum.
Dumitrescu
3
Dumitrescu
3 Nikopol
Nikopol XXXX XXXX Taganrog
Taganrog
risen to prominence during the 1920s level of competency. Majors might Iasi Iasi 18 Smirnov
18 Smirnov
HUNGA
HUNRY
G ARY Tighina
Tighina Rostov
Rostov
Nikolayev
Nikolayev Mariupol
Mariupol
and early 1930s. They pushed for the be commanding divisions, while BacauBacauum 4Aum 4A
XXXX XXXX
R R 9 Cherevichenko
9 Cherevichenko
creation of large tank and mechanized colonels would be in charge of armies. Kherson
Kherson ElistaElista
SzgedSzged XXXX XXXX Odessa
Odessa Astrakhan
Astrakhan
forces, and the beginnings of airborne On top of that, many staff positions R O MAN
R O MAN
IA IA
Rum. 4
Rum. 4 XXXXX XXXXX Perekop
Perekop Sea Sea
of Azov
of Azov
warfare. Behind the weaponry, those went unfilled, making planning and Sofronov
CoastalCoastal Sofronov
Constantinescu
Constantinescu
Crimea
Crimea KerchKerch
officers also developed the doctrine coordination slower and more difficult. GalatiGalati
Simferopol
Simferopol KubanKubKrasnodar
an Krasnodar Armavir
Armavir
of “deep operations.” Broadly, it called The impact of the purges would YUGOS
YUGOS
L AVLI AV
A IA Belgrade
Belgrade Ploesti
Ploesti
Feodosia
Feodosia Novorossisk
Novorossisk
for mobile forces (mechanized and come to the foreground in the Bucharest
Bucharest Sevastopol
Sevastopol Yalta Yalta Maikop
Maikop
C A SCPAISAPNI A N
horse cavalry) to penetrate enemy 1939-40 Winter War, when the Soviet C a u cCaasu c a s S E AS E A
lines and move deep, supported by Union invaded Finland. While the Constanta
Constanta
BLB
A LC AK CSKE S
AE A u s Mu s M
t ns t ns
airpower, to speedily take rear-area Red Army had a preponderance in
BU LBU L G ARI
G ARI A A
operational-level objectives. The idea numbers, it was outfought. The Finns
was to win overall campaign victories were better led, better trained and Army carved out a pyrrhic victory whom Stalin eventually turned over part, the Germans closely watched In any event, on the eve of
while the other side was still trying to better organized, at least for winter by making massive frontal assaults command of the war. Timoshenko the Soviet performance in Finland, Barbarossa the Soviets still had
engage on the front line tactical level. warfare in forests. Soviet columns and taking tremendous casualties. exploited the Red Army strength and concluded from it the Red Army those 170 divisions facing west, but
The dilemma in the concept was were cut to pieces by fast moving Some credit must also be given in armor and artillery to bludgeon was too inept to put up serious again, the on-paper situation was
that it was actually too innovative. Finnish units. In the end the Red to Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, to the Finns into negotiating. For their resistance to the Wehrmacht. deceiving. For one thing the divisions

8 WORLD at WAR 31 | AUG–SEP 2013 WORLD at WAR 31 | AUG–SEP 2013 9

 Buy Now!

XXXXXXXX XXX XXX

17 17 XXX XXX Home
Army
ArmyGroup
Group
South
South

ryn

ryn
6 6 15 15

Go

Go
st
ula
st
ula
LublinLublin
XXX XXX KovelKovel Attacks
Attacks
thethe
Southwest
SouthwestFront
Front
Vi

Vi
3 3
22 -22
30- June
30 June
1941
1941
XXXXX
XXXXX r r
XXX XXX

Sty

Sty
SOUTH
SOUTH XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXXXXXX
29 29 XXX XXX
9 9 5 5 Korosten
Korosten
XXX XXX 27 27 22 22
XXX XXX
55 55
Vladimir
Vladimir
Volynsk
Volynsk
31 31 XXXXX
XXXXX
Sluc Sluc
h h
XXX XXX LutskLutsk XXX XXX Southwest
Southwest
XXXXXXXX
1 1 48 48 3 Pz3 Pz 19 19
Rovno
Rovno

Bu

Bu
Novgorod
Novgorod
Volinski
Volinski

g
Sa Sa
n

XXX XXX
XX XX
44 44 29 29 Dubno
Dubno
14 14
Radekhov
Radekhov
48Pz48Pz
Zhitomir
Zhitomir
ov ov
XXX XXX Teter Teter
XXXXXXXX
17 17 4 4 Shepetovka
Shepetovka Another view of a wrecked Soviet heavy tank near Dubno.
Kremenets
Kremenets
XXX XXX Brody
Brody
49 49 XXX XXX
XXX XXX
XXX XXX 36 36
LvovLvov 4 4 XXX XXX
XXX XXX 8 8
Prezemysl
Prezemysl 15 15
52 52 XXX XXX
XXX XXX 37 37 XXXXXXXX
8 8 XXXXXXXX 6 6
26 26 Tarnopol
Tarnopol
XXX XXX
4 4 Proskurov
Proskurov
CaCa
r p ar p a Vinnitsa
Vinnitsa
t h it h i Dn Dn
an an eis
t
eis
t
er

er
Bug Bug

MapMap
KeyKey
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Infantry
Infantry CorpsCorps
XXX XXX
9 German
9 German34 Soviet
34 Soviet
ArmyArmy ArmyArmy
XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX
Mountain
Mountain XX Division
XX Division German
German
Panzer
Panzer
ArmyArmy Kamenets
Kamenets
Podolsky
Podolsky German engineers examine some swamped and abandoned Soviet
12 12
M M tanks to determine if they’re worth recovering.
Cavalry
Cavalry German
XXXXX XXXXX
GermanNORTHNORTH
XXXXX XXXXX
West West ou ou
n n brought about mainly due to their later, in line with the provisions of
German Soviet
German Soviet experience in the Spanish Civil War. the Nazi-Soviet Pact. The following
ta
tains

XXXXXXXX
Mechanised
Mechanised Soviet
Soviet GroupGroup FrontFront
ArmyArmy The Red Army interpretation of year saw the blitzkrieg in the west,
in

DneisteDneiste
Chernovitsy
Chernovitsy 18 18 r r
s

German Attack/Advance
German Attack/Advance tank actions there had been that as Germany overran Belgium, the
Panzer/Tank
Panzer/Tank XXXXXXXX large mechanized formations were Netherlands and France, defeating
Prut Prut 100 100
Soviet Attack/Advance
Soviet Attack/Advance 11 11 too unwieldy to be used effectively in the combined Allied armies on the
MilesMiles
combat. Also involved was conflict continent and winning one of the most
between the old guard of surviving stunning military victories in history.
were often understrength, averaging made them brittle in combat. divisions manning the frontier were Red Armor Civil War-era veterans, such as Stalin’s Given the tactical, operational
7,000 personnel out of an authorized Even more, the rapid expansion to delay, tactically counterattacking crony Marshal Semyon Budenny, and strategic implications of those
14,500. Compare that to a full-strength of the Red Army meant units weren’t from the first, long enough to create In 1937 the Red Army had who was a proponent of large horse panzer-won victories, the Soviets
German infantry division with 17,200. deployed for combat; rather, in many the time needed to mobilize more organized its first “tank corps.” They cavalry formations, and the more could no longer relegate armor to a
Further, it wasn’t simply a divisions most of the battalions were forces in the interior. Those reserves were actually division-sized formations modern thinkers. Stalin backed the merely supporting role. STAVKA franti-
question of manpower, but also of in rear area training camps. Since would then counterattack and defeat of 12,710 men. They each included old guard and, as a result, the tank cally ordered the formation of new
unit resiliency. A German infantry divisional units didn’t have experience the Germans in a series of decisive one motorized machinegun and two corps were broken up and their “mechanized” corps. This time around
division could internally replace working together, that further under- battles. Leading the counteroffensive tank brigades. They were innovative components assigned as independent they were each to consist of two tank
a certain number of casualties by mined coordination and cohesion. were to be the armored units, organizations for the time, with a brigades and battalions to support and one motorized rifle divisions,
moving forward reserve echelons or Despite all that, STAVKA (the Soviet containing the 23,000 tanks. The Red concept of combined arms tactics the infantry and cavalry divisions. plus some corps-level support units.
combining shattered units. Red Army high command) did have a plan. It Army had to try to execute that plan evident in their structure. Incredibly, On 1 September 1939 the Had the Red Army more time, the
divisions lacked such depth and that, was developed by Gen. G. K. Zhukov when Barbarossa exploded across the Soviets disbanded those units Wehrmacht struck into Poland, new corps might’ve proven effective
combined with the aforementioned early in 1941 and approved by Stalin. the frontier on the morning of 22 in 1939. That was a retrograde move while the Red Army moved into that on the battlefield. As 1941 opened,
lack of qualified officers and NCOs, In the event of a German invasion, the June 1941—and the plan failed. nation’s eastern portion a short time however, time was running out.

10 WORLD at WAR 31 | AUG–SEP 2013 WORLD at WAR 31 | AUG–SEP 2013 11