Ironfall (Kirov Series Book 30)

by Schettler, John

  East of the Oskol River, Gagen’s 57th Army was still secure for the moment, so he would not worry about that side of the board. His Knight, Malinovsky, had 2nd Guards Mech Corps and the 2nd Motor Rifle Division in hand, with strong artillery. That piece had to move—or should it stay right where it was, guarding the center of the board? Zhukov needed to look several moves ahead to see what the enemy was up to here.

  Manstein has castled, he thought, and Steiner has finally reappeared. So here comes his Queen and a strong Rook, looking to cut off all the forces exposed south of the Donets. Steiner will get north of the river in time, and he will then make one concerted push north, most likely towards Chuguyev, and that will cut off Kuznetsov and all of 1st Guards Army. So I have to stop him…. Somewhere. To do that I will need everything Popov has, and Malinovsky as well. That will give me two Tank Corps, a Mech Corps, and two Motorized Divisions. Malinovsky soon received the news: Deploy for combat but maintain your present position until further orders.

  The plight of the 63rd Army worsened by the minute. 60% of the army would cease to exist that afternoon. When the stragglers found their way to Malinovsky’s line, a Lieutenant asked whether the rest of the 63rd Army was coming this way or not. A haggard Sergeant replied: “We are the 63rd Army, and there’s very little left behind us.” The Sergeant exaggerated, but the truth was just as grim. General Shurkin’s the 63rd Army would be left with no more than five regiments.

  * * *

  Manstein’s attack had already had a dramatic effect on the Soviet offensive as a whole. It had shattered one army and put it to rout, then prevented Popov from moving any further over the Donets. The commitment of Malinovsky’s reserve also had an effect on the battle for Kharkov. The attack by Kuznetsov’s 1st Guards Army had pushed over the Donets bend near Zimyev and was half way to the city before it was checked by the sudden appearance of the 9th and 11th German Panzer Divisions.

  Scheller’s division had come in by rail the previous day, intending to join Knobelsdorff’s Korps, but the situation at Zimyev was so bad that it had to be diverted there. The Soviets had crossed the river and advanced another 20 kilometers, half way to Kharkov, before Knobelsdorff stopped them near the small village of Borovoye.

  Kuznetsov informed Zhukov of the situation, requesting Malinovsky be sent to get his attack moving again, but that was not to be. For the first time, the Soviets were being forced to react to German countermoves.

  The only front where the Soviets still held all the momentum was in the north, where Heinrici had been forced to order the creation of “Festung Belgorod” under Hitler’s direct order, abandoning the 56th Division. Mikhail Katukov’s stunning march and sudden breakthrough had gone nearly half way to Kharkov, threatening the entire rear communications Zone of 4th Army and prompting Zeitzler’s conspiracy to try and save those troops.

  Katukov had punched a big hole in the line between Model and Heinrici, and he was going right through it like a cold north wind. The two German Generals had been struggling to close it for the last four days, but that was not to be. Even though Model built up forces near Tomarovka, they were countered by the growing commitment of 5th Guards Army. Models flank was still hanging in the air, but now long promised reinforcements from Army Group Center were finally arriving, the 42nd Infantry Korps under Dostler, with two more infantry divisions.

  On the other side of that hole, was Heinrici, struggling to free up enough troops to stop Katukov’s sudden left turn against his communications. The Reichsführer Brigades had halted 3rd Mech Corps at their bridgehead over the Lopan River, but all of 5th Tank Corps was still at large. One spearhead was 36 kilometers north of Kharkov, but when 6th Panzer finally arrived from Germany, Knobelsdorff ordered it to detrain at Kharkov and prepare to join Hermann Balck. Now only 15 kilometers west of the city, the 3rd Shock Army had to be stopped.

  Balck decided to attack immediately, throwing his entire division astride the main road from Chuguyev. His troops moved forward with grim determination. Their enemies had driven over 125 kilometers from their Oskol River bridgeheads, and now were within 15 kilometers of grasping their prize.

  They would go no further.

  Chapter 30

  The timely arrival of German Panzer reserves was slowly changing the tide of the battle. The sudden appearance Balck’s division at the point of 3rd Shock Army’s attack was a stunning blow, but Balck soon found out what others before him knew only too well. He was up against at least four rifle divisions and the entire 1st Guards Tank Corps, backed by three breakthrough artillery regiments three Katyusha regiments, and two more artillery regiments from 3rd Shock. The enemy response to his sudden attack was to unleash a barrage of over 300 guns all along the lines of his division.

  The iron fell heavily all along the line, and the PzJager Battalion of Korps Raus got the worst of it, the guns particularly vulnerable to the artillery fire. There were casualties, but the division weathered the storm. The Russians then thought the Germans had had enough, for they saw the panzers and halftracks pulling back, but Balck was only maneuvering. He had delivered his first hard punch; now he was going to roll his division south to make room for Hunersdorff’s 6th Panzer Division.

  General Hunersdorff brought up 6th Panzer as close to the front as he could by rail, and after assembling, he began an advance. His division would come onto the line just north of Balck’s and with all new tanks fresh from the factories in Germany.

  The German tankers saw what they thought were a group of T-34s, and they were correct, but when the enemy tanks fired, the crack of the main guns sounded distinctly different. They were T-34 85’s with an all new main gun that had much better range and hitting power. The arrival of 6th Panzer was the tonic, with all new VK-75 Lions, and a platoon of the better VK-88’s in each battalion. It became a mini-battle of Kursk, with the best new tanks on each side hammering away at each other, and largely bringing both sides to a standstill.

  Further south, the rest of General Kuznetsov’s 1st Guards Army was still frustrated by the stalwart defense of 9th Panzer. His attack had been brought to a complete halt. The Udy River flowed down through Kharkov to join the Donets near Chuguyev, and the Germans had been trying to hold that line. Kuznetsov’s troops had fought hard the previous day to gain a small bridgehead over that river, the Germans counterattacked to push him back. He reported the situation to Zhukov, who was getting more news along the same lines with each passing hour.

  All his shock groups were slowly being stopped, and Popov in the south had not even waited for the order to move north of the Donets. He crossed near dusk on the 17th, preferring the safety of Andreyevka and a good river behind him rather than having his back to that same river during a possible night attack against his position. 3rd SS had pursued him, nipping at his heels, and then suddenly vanished. The darkness was the German’s friend, and it was time for another stunning night move by Steiner.

  Das Reich led the way, its bridging battalions already at the river in a pre-arranged plan to lay a pontoon bridge. They would cross that night, screened by the woods southeast of Balakleya, which would put them behind the line of resistance 2nd Shock Army was trying to build along a wooded stream further east. As dusk fell the sounds of battle continued, rumbling over the steppe as Grossdeutschland Division ploughed into a line of three NKVD machinegun units that had thought to halt the Germans that day. Hörnlein would smash that line in a matter of two hours, his heavy tanks simply unstoppable. The roar of the Lions could be heard far away, and little by little, the morale of Vlasov’s army was ebbing away with the coming of night.

  * * *

  Katukov may have been stopped, but he was not deterred, believing he could maneuver and find a weaker point in the enemy line. In fact, the gap he had driven into the German lines was now 50 kilometers wide, a huge gaping hole that he could move into at any time, and it was completely undefended. but that attack was now of secondary importance. On his right, and behind his position, Rybalko’s 5th Tank Army had
probing columns no more than 40 kilometers from Kharkov, steel fingers groping into that emptiness, reaching for their distant objective. Yet even if he did move south, Katukov knew it could still take a very long time to get to the city from his present position.

  The Germans had reacted by folding back their lines along the upper Donets, peeling away from the river and then moving to concentrate forces near his spearheads. The same had been done by the enemy 2nd Army on the other side of the breach, where 5th Guards Army was tasked with holding that shoulder. They now reported a growing buildup of German infantry.

  They are planning to try and pinch this salient off, he thought, but they won’t get through my troops easily. Yet with all this strength building up on this flank, I cannot move south without taking a great risk that I might not be able to get back again. If we had another army behind me, moving into that gap, things might be different. But those troops are now investing the two German strongpoints at Prokhorovka and Belgorod. I could still move, with Rybalko, but by the time we got to Kharkov, our tanks would be bone dry, and the fuel trucks 50 kilometers behind us…. He went to his signals unit. It was time to inform General Zhukov of the situation, and see what might be done.

  * * *

  East of the city, the big inroad achieved by 3rd Shock Group had finally been brought to a halt. The combination of 11th and 6th Panzer divisions, had brought that attack to a standstill. 3rd Guards Army north of Chuguyev could not be driven back, and it was still pushing hard against the Nordland SS Division, but now Dietrich was sending strong Kampfgruppes to help shore up that line, and beginning to counterpunch. With the appearance of these tough, battle-savvy troops, Nordland Division finally found its backbone, fighting side by side with the senior SS division in the army.

  Hitler had raged about the withdrawals on the upper Donets when that situation finally became apparent, but seeing these counterattacks slowly halting the enemy offensive, he had begun to recover his composure.

  So all Zhukov’s attacks had been stopped or contained, and in the south, where there was still gaping hole along the Donets, he did not dare to move any further to exploit the situation. Popov had moved back north of the Donets when 63rd Army was routed, and now Malinovsky was shoulder to shoulder with him, the two groups waiting while Steiner and the Grossdeutschland Division battled against 2nd Shock Army.

  “Should we move now to support Vlasov?” Popov had asked in a terse signal.

  “Stand fast with Malinovsky,” came the reply.

  Even Zhukov had men he had to answer to, and this was such a time. He left his front HQ and flew to Leningrad that night to make his report and consider how to proceed. Weary from the long journey, he greeted Sergei Kirov and Intelligence Chief Berzin on the grey morning of the 18th of April. He unrolled the battle map with grave silence, then adjusted his hat and spoke.

  “I regret to inform you that Operation Red Star had not been able to achieve its primary objective. Our troops fought bravely, and fought well, but there was sufficient resiliency on the other side to bring this offensive to a halt.”

  “But Popov was over the Donets,” said Kirov. “He had open roads all the way to the Dnieper.”

  “I stopped him,” said Zhukov, “and that was fortunate. This attack the enemy threw at 63rd Army was very strong. I have had to commit my last mobile reserve and then recall Popov to create a force sufficiently powerful to have some chance of contesting it. 63rd Army has been routed, and 2nd Shock Army is now heavily engaged. It will not hold much longer, and then I expect this strong enemy counterattack will begin moving towards Chuguyev.”

  “Steiner?”

  “Who else…. And he has their elite Guards division on his right, with fresh units arriving from the Caucasus. The fighting with 2nd Shock Army is still underway, but there are now five enemy mobile divisions reported in action there. The initiative had passed to the enemy, so now we must decide how to proceed. We have two options. The first is to use our mobile reserves, combined with the Popov Shock Group, and counterattack. The advantage would be that we protect Kuznetsov’s position south of Kharkov, and that of the 3rd Shock Group as well. The disadvantage is that we expend our last reserve. If our attack is defeated, then we have no further mobile reserves in this entire theater.

  “The second option?” asked Berzin.

  “To take what we have gained and consolidate our position.”

  “Then we will not get Kharkov?” Kirov folded his arms.

  “Not immediately as planned. We are very close south of the city, and now we must do what we can to preserve that position.”

  “Can a counterattack with Popov and Malinovsky succeed?”

  “We might, but there will be heavy losses to those armored formations. We may have enough to stop this attack, but that is not certain.”

  “I see….” Kirov nodded gravely. “What do you propose?”

  “The situation in the south is the danger zone for us now. We reached the Donets, but I do not think we can stay there—not with this hole between Kuznetsov’s position and Andreyevka. If we counterattack, then Kuznetsov should pull back and extend his lines to cover that gap. He might even be able to send one of his mobile corps to stand as a small reserve. Then it’s up to Popov and Malinovsky.”

  “Is this what you wish to do?”

  “The safer play is to pull out, give up the Middle-Donets, and withdraw here, to a line between Chuguyev and Kupyansk on the Oskol River. We will try to retain the Chuguyev Bridgehead with 3rd Shock Army, but Kuznetsov, Popov and Malinovsky must all fall back and consolidate. Otherwise we invite a good deal of trouble. This General Manstein wants to roll us up from behind, and Steiner gives him the strength to do so.”

  “I agree,” said Kirov. “That is the danger zone.”

  “Katukov still has a deep penetration in the north. He might be able to gain more ground if I let him continue, yet that may also be trying to reach what we cannot fully grasp. In my opinion, I would pull him out as well. The Germans are building up too much strength on either side of his salient.”

  “So close,” said Kirov, “and yet so far. We are 15 kilometers from the city, and cannot take it! We have driven all the way to the Donets, and cannot cross it!”

  “Then let us fight to stay as close as possible,” said Zhukov. “Let us fight, and if they prevail, then we retreat if we must. But I am willing to do everything possible to preserve the gains we have achieved.”

  Kirov hesitated, ever so briefly, and then decided.

  “Attack,” he said. “Use Kuznetsov’s mobile units if his infantry can hold, but do anything to hang on to the Middle Donets. Pull Katukov’s 1st Tank Army and Rybalko’s 5th Tank Army out of that big penetration in the north if you think it best. Then perhaps they can become our new mobile reserve.”

  “Very well,” said Zhukov. “I am sorry we could not achieve our purpose in taking Kharkov, but we will fight as best we can to hold everything else we have taken from them.”

  Kirov put his hand on Zhukov’s shoulder. “Have no regrets,” he said. “This has been a solid victory. We have pushed back their 4th Army, carved up their 2nd Army, and come within a whisker of taking Kharkov. We ran all the way to the Donets! Yet as you point out, the enemy was not without resources. I consider Red Star a success, even if we could not take the city. Don’t worry, we’re that much closer, and we’ll take it this summer.”

  It was not the reaction that Zhukov expected, and he felt gratified that Sergei Kirov chose only to see the good in what his armies had accomplished.

  “You have my permission to start your battle in the south,” said Kirov. “Yes, hold that southern flank. I want Steiner stopped.”

  Red Star had achieved much, as Walther Model would be the first to admit. He realized that the divisions left in the fortress cities at Hitler’s insistence were now as good as lost. Kharkov had been saved, but the Russians had gone far, from the Oskol to the Donets, and with good prospects to advance further until they were given
pause by Manstein’s counterattack in the south. Zhukov’s caution had avoided the debacle this battle had become in the real history, and he had wisely opted to consolidate his gains instead of reaching too high on the tree for the sweeter fruit. Now the battle to see if he could hold the Middle Donets was about to be engaged.

  “You see,” said Berzin when Zhukov had departed for the front again. “He avoided the trap by stopping Popov near the Donets. Manstein will not get his famous backhand blow this time around.”

  “That remains to be seen,” said Kirov. “We are sending Popov into battle. Ah… but what if Zhukov had let Popov go? When he crossed at Balakleya, even I was so bedazzled by the thought that we could reach the Dnieper, that I all but forgot the outcome of that choice in the Material.”

  “So we take things slowly,” said Berzin. “Small bites will still finish the beef. Zhukov was correct to stop this attack and consolidate. This further fighting in the south could be a mistake. We may lose a lot of tanks, and this summer, we could always try again.”

  “You know they’ll also be planning a big offensive,” said Kirov. “In the Material, it was at Kursk, but that bulge has all but been eliminated with this attack. Assuming we can hold the Middle Donets, that may end up being the next critical sector. So why not fight for it now?”

  “Then there will be no battle of Kursk,” said Berzin.

  “Perhaps not,” said Kirov. “Their Counterattack went all the way to Belgorod in the Material, and it is not finished. We may still have to give ground here if Popov and Malinovsky can’t stop Steiner. If the battle this summer isn’t fought at Kursk, then it will be somewhere close by, somewhere on that same map Zhukov rolled out for us here. In fact, it may be this very fight we have ordained! So we must be prepared. I’ll want your best effort at intelligence in the months ahead.”