Combat footage of the defeat of German troops in Novorossiysk (September 1943)
In August 1943, due to the favorable situation prevailing in the southwestern strategic direction, the Stavka instructed the commander of the North Caucasian Front, Colonel-General Petrov, to begin preparing an offensive operation in order to complete the defeat of the enemy's Taman group and prevent its withdrawal to the Crimea. Having intelligence data that the German-Romanian troops do not expect an imminent offensive in the Novorossiysk direction, and also partially weakened their grouping on the right flank of the 17th Army, the Soviet command decided to strike the main blow in the Novorossiysk area. A special bet was placed on the amphibious assault directly to the Novorossiysk port. According to the plan of the operation, the main blow was inflicted by the 18th army of Lieutenant General Leselidze. She was tasked to liberate Novorossiysk in cooperation with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet. Remaining frontline since the beginning of August 1942, the city was thoroughly fortified and prepared for defense. Novorossiysk. The Novorossiysk amphibious operation has gone down in history as one of the most well-planned and prepared Soviet offensive operations conducted jointly by the army and navy
