Siege of Mogilev

Part of the Battle of Smolensk

Date	3–26 July 1941
Location	Mogilev, Belorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Result	German victory

Belligerents

Nazi Germany

Soviet Union

Commanders and leaders

Units involved

The Siege of Mogilev was a three-week encirclement of Mogilev undertaken by German troops, part of the Battle of Smolensk. After the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, German troops broke through Soviet lines. Mogilev was heavily fortified and bypassed by German tank forces. German infantry steadily reduced the pocket, and by late July, the defending Soviet troops had run out of ammunition and other necessary supplies. As a result, Soviet commander Fyodor Bakunin went against orders and ordered a breakout. A small number of Soviet troops were able to reach Soviet lines, and 35,000 were reported captured by German troops. The defense of Mogilev tied down four German infantry divisions, delaying their attack on Gomel for a week.

In late June, Soviet troops began constructing defenses around Mogilev and on the Drut River 19 kilometers to the west of the city. The city's buildings were fortified and minefields and trenches were created. Attacks from the XXXXVII Motorized Corps and the XXIV Motorized Corps were repulsed. Heinz Guderian, commander of Panzer Group 2, decided to bypass the city instead of attacking it. He ordered the XXXXVI and XXIV Motorized Corps to head for the Sozh River.

On 13 July, 13th Army commander Vasily Gerasimenko withdrew his army east towards the Sozh River, leaving the forces in Mogilev under the command of 61st Rifle Corps commander Fyodor Bakunin. XXXXVI Motorized Corps' SS Das Reich Motorized Division took blocking positions north of Chausy to prevent Soviet units at Mogilev from escaping to the northeast on 13 July. The XXIV Motorized Corps advanced east from the Bykhov bridgehead on 14 July. Chausy and Propoysk were captured the next day, completing the encirclement of Mogilev. Along with the Grossdeutschland Motorized Infantry Regiment and the SS Das Reich Motorized Division, the 3rd Panzer and 10th Motorized Divisions of XXIV Motorized Corps maintained the encirclement until 17 July. At this time, the Soviet troops in Mogilev included the 61st Rifle Corps' 53rd Rifle Division, 110th Rifle Division, and 172nd Rifle Division, the 20th Mechanized Corps' 26th and 38th Tank and 210th Motorized Divisions. Most of the 20th Rifle Corps' 132nd, 137th, and 160th Rifle Divisions were also in the encirclement, along with parts of the 148th and 187th Rifle Divisions from the 48th Rifle Corps, and the 1st Motorized Division. On the night of 16 July, Gerasimenko ordered all troops of the 13th Army except for the 61st Rifle Corps and the 20th Mechanized Corps to withdraw east to the Sozh. A group led by 172nd Rifle Division commander Mikhail Romanov was the core of the defense. Romanov's group included the 110th and 172nd Rifle Divisions, remnants or regiments from the 132nd, 137th, 160th, and 143rd Rifle Divisions, as well as the remnants of the 20th Mechanized Corps. The Soviet defenders also included units of the People's Militia.

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