The 62nd Army is the quickly created association of the Red Army, which took part in the Great Patriotic War. It did not exist for long - from July 1942 to April 1943, but during this short period managed to go down in Russian history, distinguished itself by the heroic defense of Stalingrad.
Army creation
The 62nd Army was formed in Tula. This happened on July 10, 1942. This military unit was created on the basis of the Seventh Reserve Army. It is important that the 62nd Army was directly subordinate to the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander.
Structure
Initially, it consisted of six rifle divisions, one of which was a guard, as well as a tank brigade, artillery and other military formations.
The place of deployment of the 62nd Army is Volgograd (at that time it was called Stalingrad). Already on July 12, it was included in the newly created Stalingrad Front.
The composition of the 62nd Army was very peculiar. It compares favorably thanks to powerful tank battalions, which were armed with 42 tanks (half of them are medium and the rest are light). Such battalions were part of each formation, with the exception of the 196th Infantry Division.
It is especially worth emphasizing that no other army at that time possessed such separate tank battalions in such proportions. In addition, each rifle division was strengthened by an anti-tank and fighter regiment, which were armed with 20 guns.
In total, the 62nd Army consisted of 81 thousand people. The number of individual units ranged from 11.5 to 13 thousand soldiers and officers.
Dislocation
On the eve of the Battle of Stalingrad, a military unit took up defense at the turn in the area of several settlements: Evstratovsky, Malokletsky, Slepikhin, Kalmykov, Surovikino. The total length was over one hundred kilometers, while the 184th Infantry Division was assigned to the second echelon.
The commander of the 62nd Army decided to focus his efforts on the left flank, covering the direction in which Stalingrad could be reached along the shortest route. The main forces were concentrated on the left flank by moving the 192nd Infantry Division.
Battle of stalingrad
This is one of the main battles of World War II. Many historians believe that it was a turning point that changed the entire course of the future confrontation.
For the 62nd Army, the battle began at the end of July 1942, when it encountered the 6th Wehrmacht Army on the Chir River. On July 23, the main forces repelled an enemy attack on the defensive line of Surovikino-Kletskaya. As a result, I had to retreat to the left bank of the Don.
By the middle of next month, the army was fixed on the outer defensive contour of Stalingrad, continuing to engage in stubborn battles. Since August 30, it became subordinate to the Southeast Front after breaking through the external contour and the exit of Hitler troops to the north of the city.
Since mid-September, for about two months, troops fought fierce defensive battles on the territory of Stalingrad itself. By the end of this operation, the 62nd Army was under the control of Lyudnikova Island, an area north of the tractor factory, several workshops of the Krasny Oktyabr factory, and a number of quarters in the central part of the city.
On October 19, units of the Don Front came to the rescue. Before that, General Rokossovsky had important tasks. He was ordered to break through the enemy defenses in order to connect with the units of the Stalingrad front.
In his memoirs, Marshal Zhukov writes that in October it was decided to transport six more divisions across the Volga, because there was practically nothing left of the original army, except for headquarters and rear.
Moreover, the remnants of the army continued to fight even after the start of the offensive operation. The 62nd Army was able to effectively forge enemy forces, preparing for the transition to the offensive.
January 1, 1943 the army finally became part of the Don Front. Then she participated in the operation to eliminate the group of Nazi troops that were surrounded near Stalingrad.
When the battle officially ended, the army was transferred to the Headquarters reserve. In the spring, she participated in the construction of a defensive line on the Oskol River. On April 16, it was transformed into the 8th Guards Army, which lasted until 1992.
Commanders
Over the short history of the 62nd Army, four generals commanded it. The first was Vladimir Kolpakchi. He led the unit for less than a month on the far approaches to Stalingrad. He later led the 30th Army of the Western Front, which took part in Operation Mars.
Another month the army was led by Lieutenant General Anton Lopatin. He could not hold back the long defensive lines on the outskirts of Stalingrad. When the German troops made a breakthrough, he was removed from office.
Major General Nikolai Krylov took his place. To do this, he was urgently summoned to Stalingrad. At that time, the 62nd Army conducted street battles on the territory of the city itself. Krylov was the commander for only a week. After that, the leadership formally passed to Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov, who remained commander until the end of the Battle of Stalingrad.
Chuikov began to use melee tactics. Often German and Soviet trenches were located at a throw distance of a grenade. This forced the Nazi troops to abandon the use of artillery and aircraft, since they were afraid to hit their own.
In manpower, superiority was on the side of Paulus, but the Soviet troops acted on counterattacks, mainly at night. This made it possible to repulse the positions lost during the day.
Chuikov is associated with the appearance of assault groups that used underground communications to move.
Memory
In honor of the 62nd Army, a monument was erected, a plate on the mass grave on the Mamaev Kurgan. After World War II, the central embankment of Stalingrad was named after her. She bears the same name today.
The embankment of the 62nd Army in Volgograd consists of a pair of terraces. The top is adjacent to residential buildings, public buildings and parks, and the bottom is designed for direct contact with water.
In 1952, it was rebuilt. It was believed that its restoration is an important part of the reconstruction of all of Stalingrad. Today, the embankment of the 62nd Army is one of the main attractions of the city.