Hello to all
; more..........
Night Raid on the Village of Khotomlya (Chotomlja).
At 0100 the battalions had reached the edge of the grove near the village. The enemy illuminated its forward edge by rockets and fired his machine guns once in a while, figuring that if our fighters attempted to approach the village they would consider themselves detected and would fire back. Knowing these not- too-clever tricks, our men paid no attention to this firing. The companies began crawling. An hour passed. According to the plan, the battalion had to reach the line of departure for the assault by this time, but the commander decided to wait another half hour. That half hour also passed.
Suddenly a German sentinel detected a group of fighters who had crawled up too close to him and sent up a warning rocket. Quite accidentally the rocket was red, and inasmuch as a red rocket was our signal for assault, our men rushed into the village. The blow was so sudden that the Germans could not organize any serious resistance. They jumped out of the houses undressed and presented a perfect target for our tommy gunners. Our men threw grenades into the houses, broke into the buildings, and destroyed the enemy with bayonets and fire.
The Germans in the rear of the village ran across the river and opened from there a disorganized mortar fire on the southern
outskirts of the village. German officers who stayed in the village attempted to direct this fire by rockets, but our men also released German rockets and confused the enemy mortarmen. The enemy fled.
The mission was accomplished and the commander signaled to withdraw. Our units captured four 37-mm guns, ten machine guns, six mortars of various calibers, great quantities of gas masks, rifles, and overcoats, and three prisoners. Seven hundred Germans ran from three hundred Soviet fighters. The enemy casualties were over three hundred killed and wounded. Our losses were forty men, mostly wounded.
After the attackers had left the village, at first mortar and then artillery fire was heard. Then the enemy, having gathered his forces, attacked the village, but his blow struck an empty place. This example of night attack is interesting because its purpose was not reconnaissance but diversion. Such " harassing" operations are characteristic of active defense on an extended front. The experiment in this mission of using specially selected men was successful, because it enabled the commanders to prepare and thoroughly train the men for their assignment.
Night operations call for simplicity in maneuver and small depth of combat formations. Such was the case in the above example and this, no doubt, contributed to the success of the engagement. However, there were faults in the organization of the attack. Had the German guard not signalled with a red rocket, which happened to be our signal for attack, and had that signal not been given just when the companies were ready for the jump, or if the sentinel had noticed the attackers sooner and succeeded in giving the alarm, the battle might have ended differently. It was a happy coincidence that was really responsible for our success.
To assure success in such an action as this, communication between the commander and his companies should be better organized, all signals should be duplicated, and the time for reaching the line of departure by the companies determined more accurately.
Sources: Military Review. June 1944 (translation of an article from the Voyennyi Vestnik (Military Journal) June 1943).
It´s all. Cheers. Raúl M
Serás lo que debas ser o no serás nada. General José de San Martín.
