Kakhovka bridgehead
카호프카 교두보
The bridgehead the Red Army established on 7 August 1920 around Kakhovka, on the left bank of the lower Dnieper, and held against Wrangel's attacks until the end of October. Covering 216 square kilometres to a depth of 12 to 15 kilometres and lying 60 to 70 kilometres from Perekop, it threatened the rear of the Whites in Northern Taurida and their road back to Crimea. Three lines of defence built under the direction of Dmitry Karbyshev withstood a last tank-led assault on 14 to 16 October, and the Southern Front's counteroffensive of 28 October was launched from it.
In depth
The bridgehead was formed when the 15th, 52nd and Latvian Divisions of the 13th Army's right-bank group under Robert Eideman crossed the Dnieper between Oleshky and the Korsun monastery, and Blyukher's 51st Division arrived on the 10th. Fortification began on 8 August and was finished on 13 October: a forward line of about 40 kilometres, a main line of about 30 kilometres 3 to 6 kilometres behind it with three belts of wire and communication trenches, and a 2-kilometre bridge line guarding the crossings. The Russian source says the Red Army used anti-tank mines here for the first time. The artillery was organised in three groups for direct support, counter-battery fire and anti-tank reserve, and an air group and anti-aircraft batteries covered the bridgehead. The Whites attacked it with Barbovich's cavalry corps and Slashchov's 2nd Corps on 12 to 20 August and again from 28 August with the Kornilov Division and other units, and the Reds counterattacked towards Melitopol and Skadovsk, but each time both sides ended up back on their starting lines.
On 14 October Vitkovsky's 2nd Army Corps made the last assault with about 6,000 infantry, some 700 cavalry, 12 tanks (10 in another Russian source) and 14 armoured cars. A night attack slipped to dawn because the infantry was late, and the garrison of about 11,000 and its artillery knocked out half the tanks. After fighting that went on until the 16th the Whites withdrew on the 17th, and according to the 51st Division's report nine tanks were captured, five of them intact. At the same time the White operation on the right bank of the Dnieper that went with the assault was stopped by Mironov's 2nd Cavalry Army. Peasant risings and partisans in the White rear and a raid by the 5th Kuban Cavalry Division also helped the defence. On 28 October Kork's 6th Army and Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army struck out of the bridgehead and drove the Whites in Northern Taurida back towards Crimea. In 1967 the monument "The Legendary Tachanka" was raised on the site of the bridgehead.