After the
Donbas strategic offensive (August 1943), the troops of the
Southern Front (from October 20, 1943 - the
4th Ukrainian Front) had driven back the German
6th Army of
Army Group A, behind a pre-prepared line on the
Molochna River. This was a 2-3 deep defensive line, part of the
Panther–Wotan line, with a developed system of trenches, long-range firing structures, numerous anti-tank and anti-personnel barriers. The main center of defense was the city of
Melitopol. The goal of the Melitopol operation was to break through this line and to access the lower reaches of the
Dnieper, cutting off a large German force in the
Crimea from the main German Army. During the offensive, which began on September 26, it was planned to deliver two blows - the main blow with the main forces north of Melitopol (4 armies, 2 tank and 2 cavalry corps) - and a secondary one, by the forces of the
28th Army, from the area south of Melitopol, bypassing the city from the south west. The offensive was launched with virtually no operational pause at the request of the Headquarters, in order to prevent the enemy from settling on the defensive line. Without proper preparation and reconnaissance, and because of the fatigue of the troops and the depletion of materiel, the Soviet offensive stalled after 5 days with heavy losses, and an advance of only 2–10 km. From September 30 to October 9, the offensive was temporarily stopped. After a thorough analysis of the situation and finding that
Karl-Adolf Hollidt, commander of the German 6th Army was transferring significant forces from his southern flank to the northern,
Fyodor Tolbukhin regrouped the main forces in the opposite direction and delivered a massive blow to the weakened enemy grouping. The transfer of troops of the
51st Army, tank and cavalry corps to the zone of the 28th Army made it possible to achieve the greatest success in the southern direction, and two weeks after the resumption of the operation, on October 23, Melitopol was liberated by the 51st Army in cooperation with the troops of the 28th Army. At the same time, the troops advancing north of the city also broke through the defenses and cut the
Zaporizhzhia-Melitopol railway line. A mobile cavalry-mechanized group "Storm" was formed to advance through the gap south of Melitopol, as part of the
4th Guards Kuban Cavalry Corps and
19th Tank Corps, supported by aviation. On October 24, all German troops were forced to begin a general retreat. Pursuing the enemy, on October 30, Soviet troops liberated
Henichesk and reached the coast of the
Sivash Bay. On November 1, having overcome the Turkish Wall, they gained a foothold in the
Perekop Isthmus. By the night of November 5, the troops reached the lower reaches of the Dnieper and captured a bridgehead on the southern bank of the Sivash Bay. The advancing troops, however, failed to dislodge the enemy from the last bridgehead he occupied on the left bank of the Dnieper south of
Nikopol. == Results ==