The Bloody Triangle by Victor Kamenir

Author:Victor Kamenir
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MBI
Published: 2010-05-26T16:00:00+00:00

JUNE 24, 1941 Vladimir-Volynskiy and Lutsk Direction

Being late for the attack the previous evening, the morning of June 24 found the 135th Rifle Division deployed two miles east of Voinitsa, a small village located roughly halfway between Vladimir-Volynskiy and Lutsk. Its commander, Maj. Gen. F. N. Smekhotvorov, while preparing for the attack, did not posses information that Germans were already flowing around both flanks of his unit. Smekhotvorov’s division was deployed on the north-south axis across the Vladimir-Volynskiy–Lutsk road, its left flank resting on the Lokachi village. Behind the 135th, a powerful Soviet artillery task force was taking up its positions astride the road leading to Lutsk. This task force consisted of the 1st Antitank Artillery Brigade, the 406th Artillery Regiment of the XXVII Rifle Corps, and the artillery from the 135th Rifle Division, all headed by the chief of artillery of the Fifth Army, Maj. Gen. V. N. Sotenski. Opposing the Soviet forces were the German 298th Infantry and 13th and 14th Panzer divisions.

The two divisions from the XXII Mechanized Corps, the 19th Tank and 215th Motorized Rifle, had a busy night moving into attack positions. They were subject to constant German air strikes and mechanical breakdowns, which were severely draining the Soviet offensive capability. Part of the route of the two divisions took them cross-country, through the marshy wetlands unsuitable for mechanized formations. The 19th Tank Division was the closest to their assigned positions, but still late. The 215th Motorized Rifle fell hopelessly behind the timetable. Therefore, attack on Vladimir-Volynskiy was postponed from 0400 hours until the time both divisions would be ready to go. Moreover, commander of the XXII Mechanized Corps, Major General Kondrusev, became separated from his command and moved forward with the headquarters element of the 1st Antitank Artillery Brigade.

However, the time for the Soviet attack came and went at 0800 hours, and the 14th Panzer Division, supported by aviation, preempting the Soviet forces, attacked the 135th Rifle Division and pushed it three miles east. There, the advancing Germans ran into defensive positions of two artillery battalions from the 1st Antitank Artillery Brigade. The furious fire of the Soviet gunners finally halted German advance. Still, while stopped in the center and on the northern flank, the Germans began working around the southern flank of Soviet positions.

Around 1300 hours, the 19th Tank Division finally arrived in the woods north of Shelnov. This division only had forty-five operational tanks and twelve armored cars remaining after losing vehicles on the march due to German air strikes and mechanical breakdowns. They were combined into a provisional regiment. After a short preparatory artillery barrage and supported by the 135th Rifle Division, the provisional tank regiment went into the offensive. By 1630 hours the Soviet troops forced the enemy to fall back towards the Voinitsa-Lokachi line.

But the Germans were not done for the day yet. Around 1800 hours they hit back at the 135th Rifle and 19th Tank divisions and mauled them. The 19th Tank Division was particularly severely brutalized. The butcher bill of senior commanders was particularly impressive: Lt.

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