Still, despite all the shortcomings, the Soviet forces in Ukraine gave Germans the first bloody nose, not only slowing down the overconfident Wehrmacht, but even halting them for three days at Ostrog. Forced to attack into numerous Soviet formations echeloned in depth and limited by poor road system, von Kleist’s panzers could not achieve the finesse needed to break into operational maneuver room. West of Lutsk, faced with determined defense by gunners of General Moskalenko’s 1st Antitank Brigade, the Germans had to give up their attempts of rapid and easy advance up the Panzerstrasse to Kiev. Time lost in bypassing and battering aside Soviet forces near Lutsk, and then Rovno, significantly contributed to delaying the blitzkrieg in Ukraine.
The formidable Soviet mechanized corps virtually melted in the cauldrons of war. Of the powerful armored fleet of Kiev Special Military District that greeting the morning of June 22, less than three hundred operational tanks remained by mid-July. Still, the lessons learned and paid for with a premium were instrumental in rebuilding the Soviet armored corps anew. The Battle of Dubno was lost, but Kursk loomed large on the horizon.
Appendices
APPENDIX A
Abridged Order of Battle: Army Group South
This abridged version depicts only the major combat formations of the two armies (Panzer Group 1 was an army in all but name) that participated in the Bloody Triangle battle:
Commander: Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt
SIXTH ARMY
Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Reichenau
Army Reserves
LV (55th) Corps: General of Infantry Vierow
—75th Infantry Division: Lieutenant-General Hammer
—168th Infantry Division: Lieutenant-General Mundt
298th Infantry Division: Major-General Graessner (under direct control of HQ 6th Army)
—278th Air Defense Artillery Battalion (88mm)
—279th Air Defense Artillery Battalion (88mm)
XVII (17th) Corps: General of Infantry Kienitz
—56th Infantry Division: Major-General von Oven
—62nd Infantry Division: Lieutenant-General Keiner
XXIX (29th) Corps: General of Infantry von Obstfelder
—44th Infantry Division: Lieutenant-General Siebert
—111th Infantry Division: Lieutenant-General Stapt
—299th Infantry Division: Major-General Moser
XLIV (44th) Corps: General of Infantry Koch
—9th Infantry Division: Major-General von Schleinitz
—297th Infantry Division: Lieutenant-General Pfeffer
PANZER GROUP 1
GeneralOberst Ewald von Kleist
Group Reserves
16th Motorized Division: Major-General Henrici
25th Motorized Division: Lieutenant-General Cloesner
Motorized Division SS “Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler”: Obergruppenfuehrer Sepp Dietrich
III Motorized Corps: General of Cavalry Mackensen
—13th Panzer Division: Lieutenant-General von Rothkirch
—14th Panzer Division: Major-General Kuehn
—652nd Tank Destroyer Battalion (motorized)
—191st Assault Gun Battalion (motorized)
—eight motorized artillery battalions (105mm to 240mm)
ILVIII (48th) Motorized Corps: General of Panzer Troops Kempf
—11th Panzer Division: Major-General Cruewell
—16th Panzer Division: Major-General Hube
—57th Infantry Division: Lieutenant-General Bluemm
—197th Assault Gun Battalion
—six motorized artillery battalions (105mm to 240mm)
XIV (14th) Motorized Corps: General of Infantry von Wietersheim
—9th Panzer Division: Lieutenant-General von Hubicki
—Motorized Division SS “Wiking”: Brigadenfuehrer Steiner
APPENDIX B
Kiev Special Military District Order of Battle
Commander: Col. Gen. M. P. Kirponos
Political Deputy: Corps Commissar N. N. Vashugin (later Nikita Khruschev)
Chief of Staff: Lt. Gen. M. A. Purkayev
Deputy Commander: Lt. Gen. F. S. Ivanov
Deputy Commander: Lt. Gen. V. F. Yakovlev
Deputy Commander, District Armored Forces: Maj. Gen. R. N. Morgunov
Deputy Commander, District Air Forces: Lt. Gen. E. S. Ptukhin
Deputy Commander, Intelligence: Col. G. I. Bondarev
FORCES DIRECTLY SUBORDINATED TO HQ KIEV SPECIAL MILITARY DISTRICT
Armor
IX Mechanized Corps (20th, 35th Tank Divisions, 131st Motorized Rifle Division)
XV Mechanized Corps (10th, 37th Tank Divisions, 212th Motorized Rifle Division)
XIX Mechanized Corps (40th, 43rd Tank Divisions, 213th Motorized Rifle Division)
XXIV Mechanized Corps (45th, 49th Tank Divisions, 216th Motorized Rifle Division)
1st Separate Armored Train Detachment (35th Heavy and 15th, 17th Light Armored Trains)
Infantry
VII Rifle Corps (147th, 196th, 206th Rifle Divisions)
XXXI Rifle Corps (193rd, 195th, 200th Rifle Divisions)
XXXVI Rifle Corps (140th, 146th, 228th Rifle Divisions)
XXXVII Rifle Corps (80th, 139th, 141st Rifle Divisions)
XLIX Rifle Corps (190th, 197th, 199th Rifle Divisions)
LV Rifle Corps (130th, 169th, 189th Rifle Divisions)
Additional ground forces
V Cavalry Corps (14th Cavalry Division)
1st Airborne Corps (three brigades)
Aviation
17th Bomber Division
18th Bomber Division
19th Bomber Division
36th Fighter (PVO) Division
315th Air Reconnaisance Regiment
316th Air Reconnaisance Regiment
Separate Medical Evacuation Squadron
Fortified districts
1st (Kiev) Fortified District
3rd (Letichev) Fortified District
5th (Korosten) Fortified District (two to seven separate machine-gun battalions)
7th (Novograd-Volynskiy) Fortified District (one machine-gun and one artillery battalion)
13th (Proskurov) Fortified District
14th (Starokonstankinov) Fortified District
15th (Shepetovka) Fortified District
16th (Ostropol) Fortified District
Air Defense Command
(PVO: Protivo-Vozdushnaya Oborona)
Kiev PVO District (3rd PVO Division, 135th and 141st Separate Air Defense Artillery Battalions, 4th Early Detection Regiment)
Lvov PVO District (4th PVO Division, 11th PVO Brigade, 19th Early Detection Battalion, 146th Separate Air Defense Artillery Battalion)
Rovno PVO District (256th, 286th, 374th, 87th Separate Air Defense Artillery Battalions, 29th Early Detection Battalions)
Stanislav PVO District (227th, 85th, 334th Separate Air Defense Battalions, 4th Early Detection Battalion)
Ternopol PVO District (186th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 34th, 126th Separate Air Defense Artillery Battalions)
Zhitomir PVO District (139th, 254th Separate Air Defense Artillery Battalions, 22nd Early Detection Battalion)
Vinnitsa PVO District (375th Separate Air Defense Artillery Battalion, 122nd Air Defense Machine Gun Company, 14th Early Detection Battalion)