User:Ted52/sandbox1

Operation Neptune (Unternehmen Neptun) was a failed German military operation in the Kuban bridgehead, on the Eastern Front during World War II. The April 1943 attempt to break the Soviet bridgehead at Cape Myskhako (Malaya Zemlya, Novorossiysk) ended in failure. The Soviet naval infantry contingent at Cape Myskhako held their post until eventually relieved by a Soviet offensive in September 1943.

Background
With the Battle of Stalingrad slowed down by a Soviet encirclement (Operation Uranus), the Battle of the Caucasus also resulted in several German setbacks. On 4 January 1943, Oberkommando des Heeres instructed the units of German 17th Army to prepare the "Goth's Head" (Gotenkopf) defensive positions in the Kuban region. On 27 January, 1st Panzer Army was split into a contingent to withdraw via Rostov-on-Don and another contingent for the Kuban positions, by Hitler's decree.

In an attempt to cut off German withdrawal movements in the Caucasus, the Soviet Black Sea Fleet conduct naval operations on 4 February to cover several amphibious landings south of Novorossiysk, including the 165th Rifle Brigade, 83rd Naval Infantry Brigade and 255th Naval Infantry Brigade. Shortly thereafter, on 10 February, German rearguards (of 198th Infantry Division) crossed the Kuban river at Krasnodar and destroyed the bridges behind them. Hitler gave orders to 17th Army HQ on 27 March to defend and hold the Taman Peninsula, which included the Soviet bridgehead at Novorossiysk. For this purpose, 17th Army (which, next to the Kuban, was also in charge of Crimea) possessed Group Wetzel (Gruppe Wetzel), which consisted of V Corps, XXXXIV Corps and XXXXIX Corps, in the Taman–Kuban region. Overall command of this group fell to the commander of V Corps, Wilhelm Wetzel, giving the group its name.

Operational conduct
The operation to recapture the Soviet bridgehead at Cape Myskhako began on 6 April, and involved elements of 73rd Infantry Division, 125th Infantry Division, and 4th Mountain Division.

Aftermath
On 26 May, on the main line of the front, Soviet forces began an offensive against the lines of XXXXIV Corps in the Kievskoye-Moldavanskoye sector, but the attack is aborted shortly thereafter on 28 May, although local fighting intermittently carries on until 26 June.

On 15/16 September, the beginning of the signalled the breach of the Kuban bridgehead.