Ironfall (Kirov Series Book 30)

by Schettler, John

  Good chess took time, and he was behind in development. Zhukov already had an open file right down the center of the board, and bridgeheads over the Donets. Did he have the nerve to push any further? Would he try to go all the way to the eighth rank?

  * * *

  General der Panzertruppen, Otto Von Knobelsdorff had a good deal on his mind that morning. Korps Raus, with the 106th and 320th Divisions near Chuguyev, could not hold. The Luftwaffe troops had been shattered in the south near Zimyev, and the enemy was now across the river on a wide front extending more than 25 kilometers. They had fast mobile units that might swing beneath and behind Kharkov to envelop it, or perhaps just bore in directly for the city. (See map: “Kuznetsov Crosses the Donets.”)

  This new SS Division Himmler delivered can’t hold either, he thought. The weight of both 3rd Shock and 3rd Guards Armies is simply too much. We’ve been trying to hold back three armies with three divisions, and the water is finally coming over the dam. Dietrich pulled 1st SS back over the river as we planned, and he has contained and pushed back the Soviet bridgehead in the Stary Saltov sector, but that is irrelevant now with everything else to the south of that collapsing!

  Yet I am not without resources. 9th and 11th Panzer are right here with me in Kharkov, but how to proceed here? If I continue to hold out that infantry shield it may be battered to a point that it will lose all combat effectiveness. I think the infantry must withdraw, but that will not be easy under this heavy enemy pressure.

  I could strike now with my sword and probably defeat that penetration near Zimyev, but it will be no good separating my Korps and trying to stop that and the enemy advance through Chuguyev as well. It must be one or the other, and the Zimyev breakthrough is the most serious. If I take my Panzers south, then General Raus will have to either hold on as best he can, or fall back on Kharkov.

  That was what he decided. 48 Panzer Korps moved south, and it would not be long before the two sides would meet. Balck had sent his “incomparable Hauser” with the 11th Recon Battalion, who reached the town of Beloye at about 4:00 that morning, and a company of panzers were with him. The Russians had mastered the art of night moves, and were not shy about initiating attacks if they seemed promising. It was a battalion of 1st Guard Mech in the van that first ran into Hauser, the German Armored cars spitting out fire that lit up the murky darkness, soon to be joined by the sharp crack of the Panzers 75mm guns.

  But that Mech Battalion was not alone. The Lieutenant radioed back that they had encountered German mechanized units, and General Russiyanov knew he would soon have to earn any further advance towards Kharkov, and likely pay for it in both blood and steel. He had 17thGuards Tank Brigade up front, and the 16th Guards right behind it, so he ordered them to engage and secure Beloye. The T-34’s ground up the wet soil, veering off road to take a short cut, and move swiftly to the battle zone, about a kilometer south of the town. Meanwhile 3rd Guard Mech Brigade had two more battalions, and they crossed the Udy River intending to flank and envelop the town on the right, while 1st Guard Mech Brigade would proceed to flank it from the left.

  Hauser engaged, but soon had reports of what the Russians were doing, and he deftly slipped out of the trap, falling back on the hamlet of Vlaschevo north of the river. There he met the entire 110th Panzergrenadier Regiment coming up, with a panzer company assigned to each of its three battalions.

  “Good to see you,” said Hauser. “Because the Russians are coming for breakfast.”

  “Then it is time we served it,” said Leutnant Paulson. “But I’m afraid their eggs will be cold.” He smiled, waving his hand to get the Grenadiers moving. The long column of halftracks would fan out and deploy on a three battalion front, and the regiment would sweep south towards the river, where they knew the Russians would be coming.

  The ensuing action was a case of the best mechanized infantry the Soviets had against some of the very best Panzergrenadiers on the German side. Hauser led the attack on the enemy penetration east of Beloye, his armored cars racing from point to point, guns firing as they moved, a fine art he had developed. They would drive back two battalions of the 1st Guard Mech, and the Germans were able to close up the position on the Udy River, where the Russians had now adopted a defensive line.

  The Russians had learned that there was also trouble on their left, where Scheller’s 9th Panzer was attacking through a gap in the heavy woodland south of Kharkov. That prompted Kuznetsov to send the 5th Guards Rifle Division to that sector to buttress Kuliev’s Cavalry on that flank. Soon the Russian position looked like a big inverted horse shoe, solid as the iron it was made of, but one thing was immediately clear. Knobelsdorff had stopped the Russians and forced them to go over to the defense.

  The problem for the Germans was that this apparent enveloping Russian pincer was not alone. As Zhukov had explained to Sergei Kirov, the plan was to attack along a very broad front. Kuznetsov’s 1st Guard Tank had crossed the Donets at Chuguyev, and it was now 10 kilometers up the road to Kharkov, pushing hard against the persistent resistance of the 320th Division.

  That thrust was strongly supported on the right by the entire 3rd Shock and 3rd Guard Armies, which had been methodically pushing out of the bridgeheads at Pechengi and Martovaya, through the heavy woodland. Sepp Dietrich had contained the Soviet bridgehead at Stary Saltov, but from there all the way to Chuguyev, the Soviets were over the Donets in force.

  That concentration was going to become a bold thrust for Kharkov, and with Knobelsdorff using both his available panzer divisions to stop Kuznetzov, he could not intervene. To make matters worse, the spearheads of Mikhail Katukov’s fast moving armor were now already 40 kilometers southwest of Belgorod. It was going to put that city on the chopping block next, for it was now the northernmost bastion of Heinrici’s 4th Army, but another sore thumb that Hitler was again loathe to relinquish. Something had to be done, and the tension was as hard as twisted rope at OKW.

  * * *

  “Where is Manstein?” Hitler’s impatience never helped the situation. “He promised me he would smash this attack, but we have no word of his doings for hours.”

  “Apparently he is still concentrating his forces at Izyum and to the west; bringing up further reserves from the Caucasus.” Zeitzler had finally received the position update on Group Hollidt, penciling in the three division he had brought to the lower Donets, the last of which was only now arriving, the 198th.

  “The Caucasus? From where?” Hitler gave him a wide-eyed look.

  “Group Hollidt was transferred from the Black Sea coast. Manstein has used them to secure the lower Donets crossings and prevent any further enemy advance or bridgeheads in that sector. This gives him a free hand to maneuver with Steiner’s group.”

  “A free hand, a free hand… Herr Manstein takes a good deal of liberty with that free hand of his these days. I gave no authorization for that withdrawal from the Caucasus. Those troops were supposed to be in Sukhumi by now!”

  “Obviously that can wait,” said Zeitzler. “Sukhumi gives us nothing, but Hollidt, where he is now, can help us keep the Donets Basin. Don’t forget the coal mines.”

  Turnabout was always fail play, thought Zeitzler. The Führer is always throwing out these economic foils to our plans. Now let me stick him with that one. He watched while Hitler put on his eyeglasses and leaned over the map to note the position of those three divisions.

  “As you can see,” said Zeitzler. “Hollidt can now cover the lower Donets from Krasny Liman all the way to Izyum. That gives us a strong right shoulder. The real problem now is in the center.”

  “What about this big bridgehead the Russians have obtained between Andreyevka and Balakleya?” Hitler shook his head. “What is to stop them from pushing further south?”

  “Manstein,” said Zeitzler. “That is the purpose of this buildup here with Steiner’s divisions. In fact, I would invite them to do as you suggest, and then you will see what they get in return for the ground they think they are taking from us. That is
not a concern for now. The real trouble spot is developing south of Kharkov and behind 4th Army. Now Belgorod is in the same soup that the Soviets used to cook Oboyan. It is being strongly held, but the enemy is flanking the entire position.”

  “They cannot go much further,” said Hitler Dismissively. “How can they hold the flanks of that penetration in the north?”

  “That will not be an issue, as we have nothing there to threaten those flanks, and they will soon know that. Yet if they continue south they will be cutting the vital roads and rail lines that Heinrici depends on to supply 4th Army. That spearhead could turn at any time.”

  “If this is a prelude for another request to abandon Belgorod, you may as well forget it,” said Hitler.

  “I understand your reluctance to yield that ground, but please do consider the following proposal. Dietrich is on the line containing the Saltov bridgehead, and with the Reichsführer Brigades are merely watching his back along the river. Those are elite mobile troops that could be used to stop this advance in the north, but who will hold the segments of the line they now defend if we give them that mission? The answer is obvious, even if it may be uncomfortable in the short run. The only reservoir of infantry is in 4th Army, and it must adjust its lines to free up at least one division to take the place of 1st SS. Heinrici presently still has three divisions east of the Donets. Allow them to move to the more defensible positions on the west bank, and fewer troops can hold that ground. Once Dietrich is relieved, he can move to intercept and crush this enemy spearhead.”

  Hitler rubbed the bridge of his nose. Yielding any ground rankled him, but the image of Sepp Dietrich, his old personal bodyguard, leading the Life Guards of Adolf Hitler on the attack was very compelling. As it was a minor adjustment in the line, he gave Zeitzler permission to do as he had suggested.

  “But Belgorod will not be abandoned like Oboyan. I am done with handing out candy to the Russians. If they want that city, then let them pay for it in blood.”

  “Very well.” Zeitzler turned and gave the order, putting the emphasis first on what he knew Hitler wanted. “Belgorod is to be designated a fortress and held at any cost Then he quietly told a staff officer to signal Heinrici to make the further adjustments to his line and pull those divisions back west of the river.

  “Now then,” he concluded. “We must look at the situation closer to Kharkov. Knobelsdorff has stopped this thrust from the south, but a strong attack is developing from the direction of Chuguyev, and we have little in hand to deal with it.”

  “Why doesn’t Knobelsdorff simply send one of his divisions?”

  “Because that will dilute the striking power of his Korps, which is already one division light, as 6th Panzer has yet to arrive.”

  “It is coming…. What about Himmler’s new division? It is already deployed, and he spoke very highly about it.”

  “It has fought hard to hold its lines but the weight of two strong enemy armies is becoming too much. I would order those troops to adopt an elastic defense with maneuver and counterattack instead of linear defense, but the division is only now getting its baptism of fire. It may not be able to do as I suggest.”

  “Then leave it where it sits. Let them fight and hold the line. Send a personal message to this Wagner and tell him the Führer is watching his division, counting on it to hold. That will put the fire into them.”

  Static, unyielding defense was always best in Hitler’s mind. Yet slowly, purposefully, the enemy had been chipping away at the walls the Führer would build, and something had to give.

  Part X

  Stemming the Tide

  “ On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”

  —William Shakespeare

  Chapter 28

  In the early hours of April 16th, General Markian Mikhailovich Popov smelled the clean, rain swept air that he knew so well, and he smiled. The Ukraine. It is high time that we returned here. We have missed the wheat, the endless fields to feed our people, the breadbasket of the Rodina.

  His spearheads had reached their first objective, seizing a good bridgehead over the Middle Donets. The 2nd Shock Army under Vlasov was on his left, its lines now screening Balakleya and points east along the river. His own 7th and 10th Tank Corps were in the Andreyevka Bridgehead, reorganizing after the long march from the Oskol, and waiting for word from Zhukov.

  He had pushed out a recon battalion as far south as Mikhaylovka, about 25 kilometers from his crossing point on the river. It was completely empty, save for a few families of peasant farmers who eagerly embraced the visitors as liberators. He had used the time to resupply and refuel his tanks, though they had seen little fighting. His was an exploitation force, meant to find the holes in the lines and push through to gain ground. Far off in his mind, he could see the wide deep bend of the Dnieper River, and it was his hope that one day soon he would see it with his eyes again. And all he had to do was go there. Nothing was opposing him or barring his way. All he needed was the order to move from Zhukov, and the fuel

  He sat, content for the moment to consolidate his Shock Group, and indulged himself in a good cigar for reaching his primary objective. By mid-day, word came that there was a German recon company 15 kilometers to his south at Lozovenka. Aerial reconnaissance had also spotted a stronger German force near the twisting bend in the river west of Izyum. It was reported to be at least regimental strength, with tanks and APCs; undoubtedly sent there to protect the flank of the light German infantry division still holding above that large river bend.

  That was all in the domain of 2nd Shock Army, except for that single company spotted to his south. Yet he was curious. He had his own recon troops at Mikhaylovka, and he sent word for them to take the road to Lozovenka and see what was there.

  Meanwhile, 2nd Shock Army was making preparations to engage that light infantry force above the bend. It was never intended that they would cross the Donets, and so they were woefully short on bridging engineers, having to borrow two battalions from the adjacent 63rd Army to the east. One was trying to repair the blown bridge at Balakleya, which was now under 2nd Shock Army’s command.

  At Popov’s urging, Vlasov had ordered two cavalry divisions and the 327th Rifle Division over the river at Balakleya to extend the bridgehead and allow the mobile units to move west. So Vlasov’s 2nd Shock Army was split. Those three divisions were south of the Donets in the western segment of his front, and the remainder of his forces were still north of the river to the east of Balakleya.

  Popov waited, growing more impatient, until orders were finally received in the late afternoon. “Consolidate bridgehead, conduct local recon operations, which may include reconnaissance in force to cut the railway line linking Kharkov and Pavlograd. Report any concentration of enemy forces encountered.”

  I have already completed the first two items on this list, so now I will cut that rail line. It was no more than 20 kilometers to the west, just beyond the town of Alexeyevskoye, and he already knew that road was open. So he tapped General Burkov’s shoulder, the commander of 10th Tank Corps, and ordered him to proceed with that recon in force.

  “Take your entire Corps,” he said, perceiving no real threat to his position at the moment. Now all he had to do was report that regiment spotted to his south, and his orders for the day would stand fulfilled. He was feeling good that day, even though he was still somewhat eager to get on with his war. The rest of 2nd Shock Group, a motorized Rifle Division and a good Mech Corps, was only 30 kilometers to his northwest. So Popov was feeling fat and sassy that day, and did not yet perceive the peril that was so very close at hand.

  The “regiment” spotted that day was actually part of General Paul Hausser’s 2nd SS Division. The entire division was there, all formed up for operations, and the “recon company” Popov was now investigating belonged to Eicke’s 3rd SS Totenkopf just a little southwest of Hausser’s Das Reich . Steiner had his full Korps assembled, well fueled, and ready to rampa
ge north at Manstein’s next word.

  * * *

  That word would come as the sunlight faded on the 16th of April. The third division now assigned to Steiner’s Korps was Grossdeutschland , which Manstein had sent by rail to Izyum, where it then moved up behind the lines of Hollidt’s 50th Infantry Division. The river split this force, with the SS on the left and Grossdeutschland on the right, but there was a convenient bridge that would allow Manstein to shift forces in either direction, and these moves would be well concealed by heavy woods.

  The move to concentrate the Korps had been lightning swift, a combination of fast rail moves and night marches, with the divisions taking rest in well screened terrain in the daylight hours. The troops were well rested, and ready to fight, and the power those three divisions represented could not be underestimated.

  Manstein launched his counterattack with Steiner’s SS Korps on the left. Supported by all the Korps artillery, including heavy Nebelwerfers, the thunder of that opening barrage in the darkness was just the opening round. Behind it came Das Reich and Totenkopf , in a tightly concentrated attack sweeping north and west towards the enemy bridgeheads. The sudden appearance of a force this large, with two full SS divisions in their prime moving side by side, was a shock akin to that delivered by Stonewall Jackson after his famous night move around the Union flank to attack on May 2nd of 1863 at Chancellorsville.

  The attack would fall heavily on those two Cavalry Corps that had moved south from Balakleya to screen the bridgehead, and the steel chariots the SS were riding in were a little more than the Russians could handle. To make matters worse, Manstein had also moved all four of the Schwerepanzer Battalions in Armeegruppe South to support these attack, with two on each side of the river.