The 3rd Panzer Division was one of the first divisions formed in the rebirth of the German military after WWI. They were known throughout the army as the Bears from Berlin, and their tanks carried the distinctive insignia to that effect. A veteran unit, they had raged through Poland and France during the blitzkrieg of 1940, and fought well in the battle and subsequent breakout at Kiev.
Yet the long four months of fighting had taken its toll, and the division was at about 70% of its nominal strength, with some of the tanks having run over 3000 kilometers in the last 90 days. Despite that, morale was still high, and the division had yet to suffer any real setback as a result of enemy action. But now they were about to get another baptism by fire against Lavrinenko, who fired what might be considered the first warning shots of the action that was soon to follow.
Munzel’s losses, while seemingly small in the general scheme of things, still reinforced one salient fact in the minds of the Germans—The Russians were learning how to fight. While the Germans had fought to clear Mtsensk and advance on Chern, another unexpected shock was building like a bad storm to the north. The troops sent by Vladimir Karpov, the first of Konev’s new reserves, had been leaping off the trains flowing into Tula and assembling south of the city.
Formed three months early due to the timely bargain struck with Karpov, the 1st Siberian Shock Army was a large and well equipped formation, even stronger than it had been in Fedorov’s history books. Kirov had assigned it three Soviet Rifle and two Cavalry divisions. To these, Karpov sent men who were formerly sailors and service personnel in the old Russian Pacific Fleet, long since folded into infantry units, and they were enough to establish seven brigades. Five of these had received training as special ski troops, though the snows of winter would not fall for many more weeks. Karpov also sent three of his best rifle divisions, the Siberian Guards in the 18th, 32nd and 93rd Rifle Divisions. Two Artillery Regiments, a Rocket Regiment, AT Regiment and a pair of light tank battalions with T-60s finished off this impressive formation.
With the road open to Tula, Sergei Kirov could no longer afford to hold the 1st Siberian Shock Army in reserve. Against the advice of General Zhukov, he sent the hardened Siberian troops to Tula, telling them to hold that place as long as possible. By the time they arrived, Katukov’s brief challenge at Chern had run its course, serving to simply delay the Germans a few hours. Without adequate infantry, and with only one small rocket artillery company left in support, the 4th Tank Brigade wisely withdrew that afternoon.
Now in the vanguard, Model’s 3rd Panzer pushed on up the road to Tula, clearing the towns of Chernyavka and Skuratovo without incident. The Panzergrenadiers of KG Wellmann were on the left, using a secondary road through those towns, and the main advance was still with KG Munzel and his tanks on the main road. Both columns would meet at the important road and rail hub of Gorbachevo, and it was there that the fighting began again.
Wellmann’s 1st battalion had the halftracks, and it came up on a good sized infantry force in the process of digging into defensive positions. He had encountered the 26th Rifle Division, which was part of a reserve force that had been moving up from Yevremov to help cover the empty front east of the road to Tula. Also an outfit from the far east, the Corps had been part of the old Red Banner Army that had been cooperating with the Siberians in 1938 to discourage further advances by the Japanese Kwantung Army. As the storm clouds of war approached, the Soviets moved the troops to the upper Volga until it was clear no offensive could be mounted there. So now they had come west, an independent Corps deploying south of Plavsk, and commanded by Kuzma Podlas. They had heard the rumors that their old comrades from the far east were coming, the Siberians, and so the troops were eager and confident that day.
Wellmann threw his two battalions of grenadiers at the regiment nearest to the town, while distracting a second force to the north with a demonstration by his Pioneer company. He was confident as well, for right behind him was an equal force in KG Westhoven, and he knew Munzel’s tanks would appear soon, where the main road slipped around the town about two kilometers off to the east.
He was not disappointed, for Oberst Gruner’s recon battalion was right at the head of Munzel’s column, and warned of the enemy ahead. They came in fast and hard, the troops mounted in the vehicles, and all guns blazing. He had 10 light armored cars, supported by three SdKfz 6/2 self propelled 3.2cm guns, and three more 4.7cm PaK auf 35Rs. They swept right through an enemy motorcycle recon battalion that had only just arrived on the scene itself, and a wild gunfight ensued.
Behind Gruner, Lt. Rhun’s III Panzer Battalion appeared, and joined the assault on the hapless motorcyclists. The rest of Munzel’s panzers swung off the road to the east, and soon ran into the third rifle regiment in the division. Model came forward to the recently cleared town of Chernyavka to see what was going on, arriving just as Westhoven’s Kampfgruppe was moving through. He flagged the officer down wanting to know what was happening.
“Wellmann’s got hold of a Russian division up ahead, Gruner and Munzel have both gone forward to see about it. Probably another blocking force, sir.”
“Any tanks with them this time?”asked Model.
“No sir. I’ve been on the radio with Wellmann for the last ten minutes, and he says it’s just infantry.”
“Excellent. Clear them out quickly. Langermann’s 4th Panzer has two KGs on the main road, and he’s jealous that we’re out on point now. I don’t want to get hung up in a fight like he had at Mtsensk.”
“Don’t worry sir,” said Westhoven, a dark haired, trim officer, who would one day rise to command this very same division after Model advanced.
It was Eberbach coming up that road, intent on redeeming his honor after the setback at Mtsensk. Seeing that 3rd Panzer was now hotly engaged at Gorbachevo, he swung east off the road into open ground, thinking to bypass and take the lead again, just as Model had done earlier while he was engaged. Yet as the afternoon sun began to cast an eerie orange glow on the smoke of the battle, he ran into more Russian infantry than he expected, all of the 22nd and 21st Rifle Divisions, who had heard the fighting and hastily rushed to the scene. Kuzma Podlas was eager that day as well, and he soon launched a full counterattack with all three of his divisions.
But he was a little too eager…
He sent his rifle battalions forward in a mad rush, the harsh cry of their charge now familiar to the Germans. On they came, right into the teeth of the withering MG-34 fire from the hardened German Panzergrenadiers, and right into the massed advance of all of Eberbach’s remaining tanks. The panzers swept right through the infantry, overrunning one company after another, breaking the regiments up and sending them reeling back.
Model’s troops were methodically clearing Gorbachevo, but it was Eberbach, his blood up and back in the fight, that really broke through on the right. By nightfall he had pushed all the way to Hill 896, where the Russians had posted a battalion of artillery, about six kilometers east of the town. As darkness fell, Kuzma Podlas was frantically trying to find out what had happened to his three divisions. His corps had run right into two full panzer divisions massed on a very narrow front as they deployed from road column of march. Their concentrated power had shattered his corps in just four hours… and nary a T-34 was ever seen.
Scattered reports of the action had finally reached Konev at his headquarters in Tula, not more than sixty kilometers to the northeast. “So,” he said to his chief of staff, a man named Kozlov. “Podlas deployed too far forward!”
“It appears so, sir. He’ll be lucky to get even half of his men back if these reports are accurate. The Germans have two panzer divisions up now, side by side.”
“Yes? Well they are about to run into the cream of Karpov’s Siberians. Is the Guard Corps deployed as ordered?”
“They reached Plavsk this afternoon, right astride the main road to Tula. Shall I send orders to advance?”
“No… Leave them right where they are. We will let the Germans teach Podla
s a little lesson, and they will come to our guardsmen soon enough. Where is the idiot?”
“Podlas? He’s established his headquarters at Ulyanovka.”
“Tell him to get anything he can salvage well east of the main road. I will send him 8th and 9th independent Rifle Brigades from the Army reserve. He can hold along the river and watch us fight tomorrow, and hopefully things will be a little different. Fritz will be tired, if nothing else, after chasing Podlas out of Gorbachevo today. His forward units will be low on ammunition, and his men will be mopping up all night down there.”
“Let’s hope they’re good and tired, sir.”
“Yes… What is 5th Army doing on our right?”
“They’ve just come down from Kaluga to try and stop the envelopment of Bryansk. The German 10th Motorized Division is operating on their front.”
“A single division?”
“That is the only unit identified thus far. It pushed as far as Belev, where they appear to be organizing a forward supply depot. After that they’ve just been chasing NKVD battalions.”
“Does Lelyushenko plan to attack?”
“He’s still moving up, but his orders are to push as far south as he can.”
“Then he will be a welcome arrival on our right if he has any guts. In the meantime. Get the rest of the Army moving tonight. Nobody sits on his thumbs or starts digging in to defensive positions. This army will attack!”
“Very good sir,” said Koslov, watching the light gleam off Konev’s balding head.
“Now we see how these Siberians fight,” Konev said coolly.
“Their 24th Army stopped the Germans in front of Kirov,” said Koslov. “Now we will stop them here.”
“I certainly hope so,” said Konev, “because all we have behind us is a single tank corps, and it is still forming up at the rail stations near Kashira. After that, we have nothing between this place and Moscow but the militias digging on the river at Serpukhov. Sergei Kirov is counting on us, and we must not let him down. Notify the NKVD security detachment. We move forward to Fominka tonight, and we attack tomorrow.”
The following day it was again a detachment of KG Wellmann of the 3rd Panzer Division that found itself on point along the road to Tula. They had pushed right through the Russian lines the previous night, nearly overrunning an artillery position that fled when they saw the soldiers approaching were Germans.
Division had a Storch up to see what was up ahead, though low grey clouds frustrated the reconnaissance. They did manage to spot what looked to be a single rifle division west of Plavsk, but saw nothing in that town, where the Siberian Guards were lying low after a long night’s rest. Wellmann’s other battalion was still assisting Ruhn’s panzers of Munzel’s regiment about three kilometers behind, so the enterprising Lieutenant decided to reconnoiter up the road. At that moment, they were the spearhead of Operation Typhoon. Though none of the men really thought about things that way. To them this was just what they were doing after a meager breakfast of stale biscuits, moldy cheese, and coffee so thin it could barely claim the name.
Morale was high, even though supply stocks were at only 50% levels. So it was that II/3 Panzergrenadier battalion rolled off in the lorries that morning, the men huddled in the trucks with their rifles at the ready. They had gone about five kilometers when they ran into a recon battalion that was coming down the road from Plavsk for the very same reason, only these men looked nothing like the typical rifle division rabble the division had cut through the previous day.
Wellmann attacked, seeing it was just a motorcycle unit, undoubtedly much more lightly armed than his own battalion. He was just two kilometers south of the town when the action opened, and little did he know that the sound of those German machineguns was perking up the ears of 30,000 hardened veterans of Karpov’s Siberian Guards.
About five kilometers to the southeast, and not to be beaten to Tula by Model’s boys, Eberbach had cobbled together a mixed kampfgruppe with one of his tank battalions, the 4th Division Recon Battalion, and one of KG Dorn’s infantry battalions. This regimental sized force had stormed Hill 896 the previous evening, and now they continued north, chasing the tracks of the artillery that had fled north in the rout of 26th Rifle Corps. They found them right outside the small village of Ulyanovka, where General Kuzma Podlas had spent a sleepless night trying to organize what was left of his troops.
Even as those attacks went in, a special Kampfgruppe that had been attached to Schweppenburg’s Corps was moving well to the west, probing into the open country between the two panzer divisions and the lines of the 10th Motorized Division, about 20 kilometers off. It was comprised of two units from the unique 1st Cavalry Division, the 1st Motorcycle Battalion, and the Lehr Recon Battalion that had been attached to that division. To these, Schweppenburg had added the 45th Pioneer Battalion, and topped the formation off with a little clout in 1/53 Werfer Battalion.
The kampfgruppe had been screening the left of the main thrust up the road, while also trying to make contact with 10th Motorized, which had been reporting growing signs of enemy activity all along its very extended front. The division commander, Generalleutnant Fredrich von Loeper, was a dour faced man who had followed his orders to the letter with the onset of these operations. He was to push up to Belev, secure the town, organize a forward depot there, and then screen the area south of Kaluga, which was exactly what he was doing when the whole of Lelyushenko’s 5th Army began to advance on his position.
The General had reported growing signs of enemy activity, but his reports went unheeded in the whirlwind advance that was then underway with the rest of the Korps. Had Heinz Guderian been there, he might have had a more sympathetic ear, but the Panzergruppe Commander was still on a plane returning to the front when these events occurred.
It was the ad hoc cavalry detachment, specifically the motorcycle battalion that had moved up to high ground near Hill 935, that finally confirmed von Loeper’s growing suspicions. Scaling the hill, the Leutnant was stunned to look out in the grey dawn and see a large grouping of enemy troops on the move, to his north, including infantry formations, mounted units and finally the telltale movement of armor. He was on the radio at once, first to von Loeper with the news.
“Herr Generalleutnant, I have a lot of enemy movement to my front, about eight to ten kilometers out. Where is your right flank?”
“So someone else is finally listening to me! I have a battalion five klicks southeast of Kykovka. Where are you?”
“We passed through Ivanovka, and took hill 935 this morning. Now we see what is happening!”
“Yes? Well that means there’s a nice fat hole between my flank and your kampfgruppe. I’ll try raising Schweppenburg again, but he won’t want his breakfast disturbed.”
“It’s either that or the Russians come for his eggs and sausages,” said the Leutnant, and it was a statement that would not be too far from the truth. Generalleutnant von Loeper was about to earn his Knight’s Cross…
Chapter 32
That same morning, Munzel’s main force mopped up a pocket of Russian infantry, while Westhoven’s KG of 3rd Pz found an isolated regiment that had retreated the wrong direction and was now cut off. They took it upon themselves to force the resignation of the enemy, and that action brought them about five kilometers west of the main road.
Generalleutnant von Loeper finally managed to get Schweppenburg on the radio, and told him all he had learned. “They will push a wedge right between my division and your position along the road,” he said. “I believe I should move my troops east and try to make contact with the Lehr reconnaissance force.”
“What about the depot at Belev?” said Schweppenburg.
“I could leave a couple battalions there, but they would only be cut off. Given the situation we’re facing, I think that unwise. If we stabilize this flank, then we visit Belev at a more fortuitous time.”
“Very well, Generalleutnant. Move your division towards the KG Lehr at Ivanovka. We will see what d
evelops on the road ahead. If we can take Plavsk by storm, that would put my division in a good position to flank any enemy move south against you at Ivanovka.”
“If wishes were horses,” said von Loeper. “If they had a full rifle corps at Gorbachevo, then they will likely have troops at Plavsk as well. Be careful, general. Model should be warned.”
It was very good advice, but Model would not be having lunch in Plavsk that day as Schweppenburg hoped. 1st Siberian Shock Army came storming into the vanguard of the 24th Panzer Korps like an unstoppable red tide. KG Wellmann’s II/3 PzGren took the initial attack by elements of 18th and 32nd Siberian Guards, and was soon in a desperate battle with infantry on every side. The enemy tank threat was not present, but the overwhelming pressure from the Siberian infantry compelled the Germans to fall back and take up defensive positions as casualties mounted. Prittman’s engineer company was hit by the 91st Siberian Guards, and was soon in danger of being completely overrun. Wellmann made a desperate call on the radio, ordering his second battalion up in support, and then he plugged a gap on his left flank with his Panzer Jaeger company, a group of eight self propelled 45mm guns.
Further west, where KG Westhoven had been mopping up that isolated Russian rifle regiment, now no more than a battalion in strength, it was suddenly faced with a wave of fresh troops from the 329th Rifle Division of 17th Rifle Corps. This attack was far larger than anyone could have expected, the advancing corps of three divisions extending some ten kilometers west, where the motorcycle Battalion of the Lehr Group was hit by two regiments of the 344th Rifle Division.
The Germans had hit Podlas single corps the previous day with the full weight of two panzer divisions, and made short work of that force at Gorbachevo. Now they were facing two more fresh rifle corps, with the Siberian Guards hitting the Schwerpunkt right on the nose, while the 17th Corps was pushing to flank the German advance from the northwest. Beyond that point, von Loeper had wisely moved his 10th Motorized division east that morning, but he was still twenty kilometers or more from the Lehr Battalion Recon Group near Ivanovka.
Nemesis Page 27