Draft and early service A
Ukrainian, Yeryomenko was born in Markivka in
Kharkov Governorate (today in
Ukraine) to a peasant family, Yeryomenko was drafted into the
Imperial Army in 1913, serving on the Southwest and
Romanian Fronts during
World War I. He joined the
Red Army in 1918, where he served in the legendary
Budyonny Cavalry (
First Cavalry Army). He attended the
Leningrad Cavalry School and then the
Frunze Military Academy, graduating in 1935. In addition to his education, he was appointed to command of a regiment of cavalry in December 1929, then a division in 1937, and then the
6th Cavalry Corps in 1938.
World War II On September 17, 1939, Yeryomenko led his 6th Cavalry Corps into eastern Poland as part of the operations agreed to between Germany and the Soviet Union under the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In general, this Soviet operation was not efficiently organized. Yeryomenko (whose Corps contained light tank and other motorized elements) was forced to request an emergency airlift of fuel so as to continue his advance. Despite these difficulties, the Corps kept moving, and Yeryomenko earned the nickname "the Russian
Guderian". Yeryomenko was given command of the prestigious
1st Red Banner Far Eastern Army, deep in eastern Siberia, where he was serving at the outbreak of
Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941. Eight days after the invasion began, Yeryomenko was recalled to
Moscow, where he was made the Acting Commander of the
Soviet Western Front, two days after its original commander,
General of the Army Dmitri Pavlov, was dismissed (and later convicted and executed) for incompetence. Yeryomenko was thrust into a very precarious position. The Nazi
Blitzkrieg approach to warfare quickly dominated the Western Front, but Yeryomenko motivated the remaining troops, and halted the
German offensive just outside
Smolensk. During this vicious defensive
Battle of Smolensk, Yeryomenko was wounded. Because of his injuries, he was transferred to command the newly created
Bryansk Front. In late August, Yeryomenko was ordered to launch counter-offensive operations along the Bryansk Front, primarily against Guderian's
Second Panzer Group as it began to move south to trap
Kirponos'
Southwestern Front around
Kiev.
Stavka, particularly Stalin and
Shaposhnikov, seemed convinced that Yeryomenko could block or distract Guderian's drive and save Kiev from encirclement. The counter-offensive failed to accomplish its objectives despite a valiant effort, leaving Bryansk Front severely weakened. In October, the Germans launched
Operation Typhoon, which was an offensive aimed at capturing Moscow. Most of Yeryomenko's weakened forces (
3rd,
13th and 50th Armies) were partially encircled by 8 October although small units managed to escape for days or weeks following. On 13 October, Yeryomenko was once again wounded, this time severely. He was evacuated to a military hospital in Moscow, where he spent several weeks recovering. In January 1942, Yeryomenko was appointed commander of the
4th Shock Army, part of the
Northwestern Front. During the Soviet Winter Counteroffensive, Yeryomenko's army was part of the highly successful
Toropets–Kholm Offensive, which liberated
Toropets and much of the surrounding region, helping to create the
Rzhev Salient, which became a major battlefield over the next 15 months. On 20 January 1942, Yeryomenko was again wounded, this time in one leg, when German planes bombed his headquarters. Yeryomenko refused to evacuate to a hospital until the battle surrounding him finished.
Battle of Stalingrad (left), Chief Commissar of the Stalingrad Front, December 1942 Yeryomenko's performance in the winter offensives restored Stalin's confidence, and he was given command of the
Southeastern Front on 1 August, 1942, where he proceeded to launch powerful counterattacks against the German offensive into the
Caucasus,
Fall Blau. Yeryomenko and
Commissar Nikita Khrushchev planned the defense of
Stalingrad, rallying and re-organizing men and equipment falling back to the city from the
Don River and the steppes to the west. When one of his subordinates, Gen.
Anton Lopatin, doubted if his
62nd Army would be able to defend Stalingrad, Yeryomenko replaced him with Lt. Gen.
Vasily Chuikov as Army commander on 11 September, 1942. Chuikov and the 62nd Army went on to prove themselves as the defenders of the city, confirming Yeryomenko's judgement. On 28 September, the Southeastern Front was renamed the
Stalingrad Front. During
Operation Uranus, November 1942, Yeryomenko's forces helped to surround the German 6th Army from the south, linking up with the northern penetration at
Kalach-na-Donu. German General
Erich von Manstein soon attempted to counterattack the Soviet forces and break through the line to relieve the surrounded Germans. Yeryomenko successfully repelled the attack, largely with the forces of the
2nd Guards Army along their fall-back positions on the Myshkova River.
After Stalingrad in liberated
Prague on 6 June 1945 On January 1, 1943, the Stalingrad Front was renamed
Southern Front. After the end of the winter offensive, in March 1943, Yeryomenko was transferred north to the
Kalinin Front, which remained relatively quiet until September, when Yeryomenko launched a small, but successful offensive. In December, Yeryomenko was once again sent south, this time to take command of the
Separate Coastal Army, which was put together to retake
Crimea, which was accomplished with assistance from
Fyodor Tolbukhin's
4th Ukrainian Front. In April, Yeryomenko once again was sent north, to command the
2nd Baltic Front. During the summer campaign, 2nd Baltic was very successful in crushing German opposition, and was able to capture
Riga, helping to bottle up some 30 German divisions in
Latvia. On March 26, 1945, Yeryomenko was transferred to the command of the
4th Ukrainian Front, the unit he controlled until the end of the war. Fourth Ukrainian Front was positioned in Eastern
Hungary. Yeryomenko's subsequent offensive helped capture the rest of Hungary, and paved the way for the Soviet liberation of
Czechoslovakia. His army liberated many cities and towns in Czechoslovakia, most notably
Ostrava. Today, many streets in the
Czech Republic bear his name. ==Post-war career==