Bloody Citadel

by Andrew McGregor

  The Panzer IV 75mm guns fired, two more tanks emerging behind and the armoured cars rattled across the bridge, another T34 erupting in flame, a massive hole punched in its front armour. As Hausser watched, the silhouettes of Hanomags roared up the slope, forward machine guns flashing as the MG34 fire swept across the slit trenches, fleeing Russians cut down as they scrambled from the emplacements.

  The Tiger stopped abruptly, the hull shuddering as another shell bounced off the armoured plate, the main gun firing again, a T34 disintegrating under the force of the armoured piercing shell, the main hull collapsing downwards as the turret ring and upper hatches burned fiercely.

  Leutnant Hausser raised the MP40 once more, Hase on one knee next to him, the officer indicating to the building ahead across the track, ‘That’s their machine gun position…they will open fire as the infantry get out…’ He sensed Hase nod, then gasped as the Russian Hiwi lunged forward, sprinting across the track, bullets splattering against the earth around the boots of the running man before he threw himself forward, dropping into the darkness between two buildings opposite.

  Hausser glanced out again, another glowing shell zipping past, the Tiger firing at the T34s once more. Drawing breath, he sprinted forward at a crouch, the MP40 dropping into one hand as he threw himself forwards, gasping in fear as bullets swept past, an eruption nearby, the flashes from further explosions across the darkness. His eyes narrowed in terror as he neared the buildings opposite, Hase emerging to beckon him forward frantically.

  Then he slumped against the house wall, falling to his knees in the darkness between two buildings, tears filling his eyes as he grimaced and gasped for air, Hase giggling from shock as he heaved his commander up, Hausser stunned, ‘Are you mad? We could have been killed…or crushed by a tank!’

  Hase dropped to his knees, breathing heavily and still laughing silently, ‘I did not really think about it until I was halfway across…then I got really scared!’

  Hausser spun round to stare at his friend’s shadow, ‘Really scared…I was terrified before you ran out…’ He shook his head in exasperation, ‘…my men are all mad now!’

  The explosions continued, bursts of machine gun fire as they crept forward in the darkness, hearing startled and fearful Russian voices in the building to the left and realising the three soldiers were arguing in hushed voices whether to run or not. Reaching the end of the building, Hausser indicated to a door in the faded light, the roars of engines filling the air as further gunshots and shouts rang out, many of the defenders now fleeing to the north as the German soldiers overwhelmed the defences.

  Glancing at his friend nervously, Hausser raised the MP40, Hase stepping back and then kicking forwards, the door splintering, then falling inwards. The officer charged, a shout of shocked alarm from inside as he advanced into the darkened room, the muzzle of his weapon sweeping round, Hase behind with his raised rifle.

  The three Russians spun round, one half raising his rifle before instinctively dropping it, the others unarmed, their own DP 28 machine gun sat upon a table next to the window, the barrel extending though an opening in the shutters.

  Slowly raising their hands, one stared at Hausser and then Hase, his voice low as he spoke in German, ‘You know you will never win this now…our defences go back for hundreds of kilometres and our reserves are waiting for you…this will be another Stalingrad, kameraden.’

  Leutnant Hausser grinned as he heard tracks clatter past outside, the gunfire dying down as a muffled familiar voice echoed through the open shutters, Major Wolff shouting, ‘Gather any prisoners…we need to set our own defences. One platoon in the slit trenches, the rest in the treeline up the slope…we will use the village as a headquarters.’

  Leutnant Hausser nodded to the Russian prisoner, still smiling, ‘I was at Stalingrad…’ The man’s eyes widening as he continued, ‘…all my men were, but now we are here and we won’t be making the same mistake twice…we will never underestimate you Russians again.’

  Situation Report:

  Army Group Centre:

  General Walther Model’s 9th Army attacked at 0530hrs, his force of 45 Tiger I heavy tanks supported by 83 Ferdinand tank destroyers, 31 assault guns and 9 tanks. Backed up by another 62 assault guns, Luftwaffe ground attacks and artillery, the general expected to break through the Russian lines on the second day, a belief not held by his subordinates.

  The first engagement lasted three hours, a Russian counterattack with 90 T34s beaten back with the loss of 42 machines, the Germans losing 2 Tiger I’s with several sustaining repairable track damage.

  Behind the advance, his remaining Panzer Divisions moved forward, the intention to unleash these once a breakthrough was achieved. Delays through extensive heavy minefields covered by Russian artillery continued throughout the day, German engineers deploying Goliath and Borgward remote controlled vehicles where it proved too dangerous to send men out, but this met with limited success.

  By 1700hrs, only 12 of 45 Ferdinands deployed to one unit were still operational, most casualties damaged by mines but still recoverable for the coming days.

  By nightfall, the German advance had achieved a depth of 6 miles or 9.7 kilometres before stalling, breaching through to the second Soviet defensive belt at the heavily fortified town of Ponyri.

  Army Group South:

  Manstein’s assault commenced at 0400hrs, Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army advancing against the Soviet 6th Guards Army. Fortunately for the Germans and unlike in the north, the Russians had no prior knowledge of the exact location of the attack. Grossdeutschland was the strongest formation in 4th Panzer Army, fielding numerous Panzer III and IV tanks with the addition of 15 heavy Tiger I’s.

  Setbacks on the left flank proved nearly critical as 36 Panther tanks broke down or were immobilised in a heavy minefield. Russian artillery then bombarded the German positions, the minefield only cleared with numerous losses. Heading then into marshy terrain before Gertsovka, the Panthers once again bogged down, the fighting so severe their unit commander was killed. Heavy fighting ensued throughout the day with the town captured and the following objective of Mikhailovka reached by nightfall.

  Grossdeutschland pushed through to the village of Butovo, utilising their tanks in an arrow formation with the Tigers leading and medium tanks supporting on the flanks, the tactic effective at minimising the Russian pakfront defence.

  Further east, the SS Divisions had utilised their engineers during the night to clear paths through the minefield defences, 494 tanks attacking across a front of twelve kilometres. By 0900hrs, the SS units had broken through the Soviet first defensive line and were heavily engaged against Russian tanks and guns. It took until early evening to reach the minefields of the second defensive line, the delays inflicted by throwing Soviet tanks at the advancing units enabling the Red Army to reinforce and strengthen the defences behind.

  Army Detachment Kempf attacked to the north east to support the flanks of 4th Panzer Army, but had to cross the Donetz River to do so. Under heavy Russian bombardment, some of the Tiger tanks and the lighter medium tanks were able to cross before bridges were destroyed behind them, many then delayed by mines and strong resistance, further delays were caused under artillery fire as engineers had to construct replacement bridges that could support the heavy weight of the Tiger I’s. By days end the units had advanced ten kilometres, but the delays inflicted also allowed the Red Army to strengthen the defences before them with additional units.

  Corps Raus to the south of Detachment Kempf advanced without armoured support, the 106th Infantry and 320th infantry Division crossing the Donetz river and advancing to penetrate the first defensive line. Counterattacks with Russian armour and infantry were beaten off using German artillery and flak batteries, but by day’s end the attacking units were digging in having sustained over 2000 casualties.

  Chapter Twenty One: The Second Day: 6th July 1943: Cherkasskoye

  Report to Luftwaffe Command:

  ‘Fighting on the southern
flank has proven effective on the first day with the destruction of 432 enemy aircraft in dogfights and on the ground. Our own losses amounted to no more than twenty six aircraft and it is considered we will achieve air superiority in the next couple of days.’

  Major Wolff sighed, rubbing the back of his neck through tiredness, his eyes bleary, ‘So many of our tanks got bogged down after the rain and in marshland ahead…they are now being freed I am told, so that should add to our advance. Others were stuck in minefields, so we have been advancing without all our strength.’ He indicated in irritation to the map, ‘Still…progress is poor…only perhaps ten or eleven kilometres on the first day gentlemen…’

  The small room was dimly lit, candles flickering on the makeshift table corners as the major stretched his back wearily, six subordinate commanders staring down at the crumpled paperwork.

  Major Wolff looked up at Hausser and the other assembled officers, the darkness of night only encouraging extra artillery salvos and blind bombing from above, most soldiers getting little sleep as muffled explosions tore across the terrain. Pointing back down to the map, he sighed as he thrust his finger northwards, ‘Tomorrow we advance to Cherkasskoye and then on to Oboyan…when we get there, the Russkies will really begin to panic…’

  Leutnant Hausser stiffened in the early morning light, the doors to the rear of the Hanomag creaking open as Tatu beckoned him inside, many of the tired soldiers lying on the grass next to the carriers or stealing some sleep between the damaged smouldering buildings of Butovo. Hearing tank engines begin to roar to the sides, Hausser grimaced, ‘Time to move off…get the men. What were our losses?’

  Tatu frowned reluctantly, ‘Two men killed, three wounded…one by machine gun fire, the other a sniper from the woodland to the north. I have their identity tags and they have been sent to the rear for burial. Of the wounded, one is staying with us…the other two are heading back.’

  The officer nodded solemnly, clambering into the Hanomag, ‘We have our orders for the day…we are being reinforced by some Tigers from the centre and Panzer IV tanks from 11th Panzer to our right and must drive on Cherkasskoye.’

  Tatu nodded grimly, Petru handing Hausser a metal mug full of tea as the Romanian indicated to Kurt, ‘Get the rest of the men…we leave shortly.’

  The Hanomags roared forward along the track, skirting the woods on the right as they rose up the slope, a Tiger I heavy tank leading as the Panzer IVs followed. Udet wiped his tired eyes, exhaustion seeming to hang behind his eyelids as he drank greedily from his mess tin, staring at the smoke plumes in the distance, Luftwaffe planes flying high overhead towards the next enemy objectives.

  The Hanomag rose over the hill, his eyes staring into the valley below, the sight of a smouldering supply column filling his vision. The Russian trucks and armoured cars had been attacked from above, the Luftwaffe fighter bombers and Stukas catching the vehicles in open land, the drivers accelerating desperately in a vain attempt to reach the trees. One by one the lorries had exploded, the valuable and desperately needed ammunition and fuel cargo sealing the fates of the drivers as they ignited and exploded. The escorting five BA-64 armoured cars blackened and destroyed along the side of the track, several having burned for most of the previous day, their tyres melted and main hulls now slumped at angles or punctured and shattered.

  Udet stared further, seeing numerous scorched and smouldering hulks in the fields, the T34 tanks and SU-76 self propelled guns falling victim to the new ‘cannon’ or ‘tank busting’ Stukas, the young German swallowing as he considered what the village fight would have been like if the numerous machines before him had been in the nearby woods or treeline.

  They rumbled on for some time, Udet losing count of the amount of brown uniformed bodies he saw in the surrounding fields, infantry cut down by Panzers and the Luftwaffe on the day before, the tank units now off to the north east and west, the distant gunfire just audible above the burbling Maybach engine.

  Tatu suddenly rose next to him, stretching as his back cracked, the Romanian indicating to a spare space on the bench below, ‘Do you want to rest? I can take over on the machine gun…’ He looked round, seeing their slow moving column now consisted of a number of armoured carriers and tanks, several armoured cars moving along at the rear with a flak unit, the two 20mm quad cannons mounted on SdKfz 7 halftracks.

  Tatu gestured to the seat once more, ‘Go on…we will be travelling for at least another thirty minutes before the fighting starts again I think…’ He shrugged innocently, ‘The Russian next line is perhaps four kilometres ahead…the Luftwaffe is clearing the way.’

  Udet nodded, lowering himself slowly, his eyes weary as he nodded across at Petru opposite, noticing Hausser’s head had lolled forward, the younger soldiers around him already asleep with half eaten food in mess tins on their laps, the carrier swaying back and forth, the occasional artillery explosion in the distance causing them to stir briefly, rarely opening their dirt smeared eyes. As he leant back, his eyelids began to close as his head lolled to one side, the rumble of the track and burble of the engine seeming to get more distant by the second as he drifted off into a fitful sleep.

  Urgent shouts shook him from slumber, Udet shaking his head as he struggled to wake, his slumber only having lasted twelve minutes. Struggling to comprehend what was happening as he opened his eyes, the Hanomag engine roared, the carrier swerving sideways as he slumped forward, several of the other soldiers attempting to rise through confused half sleep.

  Then he heard the rapid thumps, the flak guns opening fire from the rear of the column, more alarmed shouts as the MG34 burst into life above him, Tatu swearing as the rear doors creaked open, Hausser’s voice rising, ‘All out…take cover, enemy aircraft!’

  Udet pushed himself upwards as the Hanomag lurched into a rut, the tracks spinning briefly before the vehicle skidded round once more, Tatu’s voice loud in his ears as he grasped the side plate to steady himself, ‘Three waves…stay behind the carrier for cover…’

  The soldiers tumbled out as the Hanomag lurched to a halt, the continuous thuds of the 20mm flak guns filling their ears as Udet stared northwards, his mouth opening as he glimpsed the black planes banking towards them, the first three now sweeping over the trees and low houses in the distance, lining up to strafe the track. The Panzers veered to the sides, 20mm tracer shells sweeping towards the oncoming aircraft as he ducked back, briefly glimpsing flashes from the undergrowth in the distance, Russian pak guns opening fire on their position.

  Scrambling to the back of the carrier, he stumbled out onto the grass, boots sliding as he fell, his rifle slipping from his grasp. Flashes from the flak guns filled his vision from the rear, the machine guns chattering in unison as bullets swept upwards, several soldiers rolling over on the grass in attempt to gain the best cover. Crawling forward desperately, he scrambled to the side of the carrier, staring through a gap in the tracks in horror.

  Explosions rocked the area, Udet pushing his head into the fresh smelling grass as dirt fell onto his back, bullets tearing up the earth around them as the first enemy fighters shot low overhead, the engine noise deafening as the pilots banked sharply to the west and east, keen to gain another run before they attracted the attention of the Luftwaffe.

  Screams of pain filled the air, Udet glancing upwards to see the second group of planes sweep over the trees ahead, one of the buildings burning fiercely as the undergrowth flashed again, the pak guns firing once more. He forced his head down again, the whoosh of shells and further explosions behind, his chest heaving in fear as dirt once more peppered the back of his uniform, bullets clanking against the Hanomag’s armoured plate around them, most soldiers cowering behind the back of the vehicles.

  The Yak fighter engines roared overhead, dust billowing around him as he coughed, panic beginning to fill his mind as he pushed his helmet further into the grass. Then the roar of Panzer engines, the tanks rolling forward to join those in front, their commanders shouting frantically as they s
tared at the treeline ahead, muzzles flashing as high explosive shells swept towards the trees and undergrowth. The lead Tiger shuddered as a shell bounced off its turret, the 88mm main gun turning slowly before belching flame.

  Udet looked up once more as the trees ahead became a wall of flame and smoke, eruptions ripping through the undergrowth and branches, red hot shrapnel peppering the Russian gun crews. The Panzers roared forward, machine guns blazing as the third wave of Russian Yak fighters roared through the billowing smoke, the shroud twisting and turning in their wake.

  Gritting his teeth, he glanced round, glimpsing several bodies across the blood stained grass, a young blond soldier slapping an ammunition cartridge onto the top of an MG34 before slipping behind the weapon, the barrel raised on the lip of a depression in the ground as it shuddered and flashed. A Hanomag was burning fiercely over to the right, an Sdkfz222 smouldering nearby, its hull sunk down after hitting a mine, six bodies lying around the steel carcasses, one of them on fire.

  More MG34 fire, the tracers and glowing ammunition soaring towards the oncoming aircraft, the repetitive thuds of the flak guns opening fire once more. Udet stared at the oncoming aircraft, their wing guns blazing as rifles and MP40s opened fire in response, the plane on the right seeming to jolt then spin, a burst of flame from its engine as it turned over, then tore downwards, crashing into some trees on the right, a large fireball and black smoke shooting upwards. More bullets clanked against the armoured hulls, Udet gasping as the roar overhead seemed even louder, the planes banking round for another run.