Fronte Russo Scenario No.10

Nitikovka 12th November 1941

Scenario played : 7th March 2009

After the capture of Gorlovka in the first days of November, the only relevant town in the sector still in Soviet hands was Nitikovka. Colonello Chiaramonti, commander of the 80th Regiment of the Pasubio Division, seized the initiative and marched towards it. Taking Nitikovka would reduce the gap between the Italian CSIR and the German XVII Army, located approximately 50km north. Chiaromonti met increasing opposition during his march and lost contact with the main Italian force, but pushed forward all the same. As a result, when the 80th reached Nitikovka they came under siege by the Soviet forces and soon became bottled up in the central part of town. They repulsed all Soviet attacks but ran so low on ammunition that they could not hope to make their way back to the Italian lines on their own. Forces from the main Italian lines made several unsuccessful attempts to break the siege, and the final effort came on November the 12th.

For this final effort, battalions from the Bersigliari, Blackshirts, Cavalry and Infantry regiments were used. They had a long road ahead of them. Around 6 or 7km of territory criss-crossed with railway embankments and heavily defended by numerous Soviet units. They would therefore need to not only to advance over this, reach and relieve the town and leave a corridor open all the way back to safety, but also do this losing a minimum of casualties to have made the task worth while. At 0830 hours the attack begun along a broad front. The Italian units, though pushing north, veered westward in order to achieve a greater concentrated effort on their left flank.

The first main obstacles encountered were a defended hill position left-centre of the line and a forward woods position on the left flank. Attacks against these begun around 0930. Using artillery support and excellent move and fire tactics, the Soviets were strangely, but easily pushed from the hill with quite a few casualties inflicted. The defenders in the woods made an orderly withdrawal and kept their cohesion. These early successes made it much easier for the Italians to push on over the next 2kms. As they did so, the Russians were forced to reel back and spent much time trying to re-align their defensive line. This was made all the more difficult as a reserve of a Blackshirt and Bersigliari battalion were pushed through the centre. On their western flank, the Soviets were holding out in the thick wooded country plenty well. But up the middle and to the east flank, their troops had to scurry back and in a pretty much chaotic style, harried as they were by artillery tearing through the ranks and the Italian reserve already mentioned.

A defensive line was set by the Soviets in front of Nitokovka, and this held up the Italian advance for some time. This was also helped by the Soviets over on the wooded east flank. Their positions meant that the Italian SCIA had to fight through channelled openings and restricted the speed as well as the cohesion of the advance. The fighting at the line in front of the town did result in the loss of the life of the Soviet senior officer, a Colonel. His death signalled a further retirement, this time towards the town’s outskirts itself. By 1300 hrs and four and a half hours of battle, Soviet casualties had far outstretched the attackers.

Some 500 losses or more had been left strewn in the fighting before Nitokovka. Less than 80 Italians had fallen.

With the town before the Italians now, the final assault had to be launched. The Italians had collected their best troops in front of the town, made up mainly of the XVIII & XX Bersigliari as well as some high morale platoons of Blackshirts from the Tagliamento Battalion. However, behind them and all the way back for some 6km were numerous units strung out and left guarding the corridor, or simply lagging behind in the assault. These positions would prove very important to the final outcome. The Italians laid down their artillery on the defending Soviets on the outskirts of Nitokovka and surprisingly, they buckled very quickly. A rapid and vicious assault was launched and a hole was soon opened in the defence. Into this poured the attackers, and the 80th had finally been reached. Italian casualties though had just started to rise.

Little known to those at Nitokovka though was the fact that Soviet assault groups began making their own vicious counter-attacks at rear echelon units in the Italian positions. Suddenly, lone platoons, or vulnerable units soon became the focus of a Soviet force needing to inflict damage after losing their position. Far back in the rear, two companies of Russian troops found themselves in a position to send down shells from their artillery reserves on the vulnerable and open emplacements of Italian mortar teams. Before the Italians could move, much carnage was caused by the bombardment. Attacks like these added to the Italian casualty list at an alarming rate. At one point, a whole platoon of Blackshirt infantry disappeared under the massed guns of bombardment.

By 4pm, it was realised that despite the heroic relief of the 80th, the foray had cost too many Italian soldiers their lives. Yes, the 80th were free, and yes, a clear route back had been kept open. But the loss of 340 men proved too much a loss in exchange for that relief. For their part, Soviet losses amounted to just less than 800 men, and though granted a victory, it must have felt very hollow for those that survived.