Hungarian Soldier vs Soviet Soldier

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This fully illustrated study assesses the Hungarian and Soviet forces that clashed repeatedly in 1941 during the Barbarossa campaign of World War II.On 26 June 1941, unidentified bombers attacked the Hungarian town of Kassa, prompting Hungary to join its Axis partners in Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. Hungary's contribution to Barbarossa was designated the Carpathian Group, its most powerful component being the Mobile Corps, which fielded motorized rifle, cavalry, bicycle, and light armored troops. The Hungarians faced Soviet forces belonging to the Kiev Military District, deployed in four armies along a 940km-long front.On the defeated side in World War I, Hungary had seen its borders redrawn and its armed forces constrained by treaty, but was determined to recover territories lost to adjoining countries. When Hungary decided to participate in Operation Barbarossa, however, the Royal Hungarian Army was deployed in the Soviet Union and not against its neighbors. Meanwhile, the Red Army, while remaining among the most formidable armies of the era, had been seriously weakened by successive purges, its shortcomings exposed by the Winter War against Finland in 1939-40.In the battle of Gordievka (July 27-29), Hungarian units were counterattacked by Soviet forces, Hungarian motorized-rifle and light-tank units fought a savage battle to restore the front line. In the battle for Nikolajev (August 10-16), the Hungarian motorized-rifle units played a key role in a clash noteworthy for involving the last cavalry charge of the Hungarian Hussars. During the Hungarian defensive operation at the River Dniepr (August 30-October 6), the Hungarians sought to defeat the pursuing Soviet forces in a series of actions that involved the Mobile Corps. Both sides would seek to draw lessons from these opening battles as the war in the East continued to rage into 1942. Fully illustrated, this book investigates the Hungarian and Soviet soldiers who fought in three battles of the Barbarossa campaign, casting new light on the role played by the forces of Nazi Germany's allies on the Eastern Front.