Nexus Deep (Kirov Series Book 31)

by Schettler, John

  Katukov’s attack was halted and his three mobile corps began to regroup. The surviving 29th Tank Corps was reorganizing and waiting for fresh supplies, and STAVKA was releasing new formations from general reserve to build up for the attack. Some would begin to introduce new concepts debated and adopted by the Soviet army, which was rapidly adapting as they learned the deadly art of maneuver warfare.

  A great deal of discussion was dedicated to the lessons learned from the Battle of Volkov Yar. The Soviets analyzed both their strengths and weaknesses, particularly within their armored corps. They realized that the German technology curve for tank design had caught up and surpassed their own efforts. The German Lion was now a proven and highly effective tank, with the VK-75mm model a match for the T-34, and the VK-88mm model superior to the newest T-34/85 when it came to engagement range and protection. Only the Kirov-I was a match for it, and the German Tiger. The same could be said for the German Panther, which was another strong medium tank capable of matching and often besting all models of the T-34.

  The Soviets had the advantage of mass, with most line Tank Corps fielding three tank brigades, with two battalions each, with the Guards Tank Corps and latest Line Corps (29th and 31st) having three tank Brigades with three battalions each. Yet the weak point of the current Tank Corps structure was its lack of adequate infantry support. Even though it had a full brigade of motorized infantry attached, in actual practice, the Soviets found that the truck mounted infantry could not keep up with the tanks, particularly in cross country movement and definitely in winter conditions. This saw the tanks outpacing the infantry, and then finding themselves alone when facing the combined arms formations of the German Panzer Divisions.

  The first attempt to redress the need for infantry in faster moving formations was the concept of the Motor Rifle Division. This was an effort to emulate the German Motorized Divisions, but it was soon deemed to be ineffective for the kind of shock and exploit armored warfare the Soviets were now contemplating, a doctrine that would be known as Deep Operations.

  It had three regiments of motorized infantry, but in the older trucks which were often roadbound, its mobility was limited. General Mikhail Katukov, perhaps one of the best practitioners of the Mobile Art the Russians had, never liked the formation, claiming that it was too slow, and too weak to fight with the tank corps, or make any real contribution to a tank army. He was proven correct at Volkov Yar, where the 2nd Motor Rifle Division, under Ermakov, had been savaged by the German counterattack, and largely destroyed. The infantry had been too sluggish in cross country movement, and lacked adequate AT support for defense. It was basically just a faster rifle division, but was not suitable for the role of exploitation, and could only be deployed in a support role if assigned to a tank army.

  Katukov had made his arguments long before Ermakov paid the price on the field of battle. In early 1942, seeing the sluggishness of the Soviet Army, its inability to react to the fast-moving German Panzer Divisions, Katukov spoke up.

  “We need mobile infantry that can maneuver and operate with our tank corps. This is what the Germans have in their Panzer Divisions. We must do the same.”

  “We already have the Motor Rifle Division,” said Zhukov.

  “They are ineffective, nothing more than a fast rifle division. I need something that can give me cross country infantry support when I run with my T-34s. We need to put the infantry into a halftrack, or better yet, a fully tracked vehicle.”

  The Soviet answer to that problem had been the development of the Mech Corps, of which there were now eight in the Army, often designated “Guards.” This saw all the infantry mounted in halftracks using the new ZIS-42M Cross Country truck, with its rear propulsion being tracked. Some models even mounted a potent 37mm Open Topped AA Gun, which could also be used as an infantry support weapon. Very fast, and with good cross country movement capability, the Mech Corps was the perfect exploitation force, and so the Soviets built their Tank Armies with two Tank Corps for the breakthrough, and one Mech Corps to exploit and breach in the enemy line. The only liability was that the Mech Corps did not have as much armor support, fielding only one tank brigade, but at least it was given the better T-34/85, and sometimes even had a company of the newest Kirov-I’s added. Katukov argued that all the existing Motor Rifle Divisions should be converted to Mech Corps.

  “Even if we can provide enough ZIS-42M’s to make the conversion,” he said, “that formation will still lack anti-tank support. Why not try a new concept in the way we add that armor protection to the Mech Corps?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Zhukov.

  “Well, at present, we assign a full armored brigade to our Guards Mech Corps. Leave that alone, but for the Motor Rifle Division conversions, integrate the armor within the new infantry battalions using the ZIS-42M. This way they will always have support at hand when they fight, and not have to wait for the armor brigade to send tanks when needed.”

  “Will this not disperse the striking power of the armor?” asked Zhukov.

  “Yes, but this new Motor Rifle Corps will not be a breakthrough force. It is an exploitation force, with both speed and staying power, like our Mech Corps. Let me build one such Corps and battle test it in the field.”

  “Very Well, do so. I will see that you get the next shipment of the new ZIS-M42’s, but for this role, what tank will you select?”

  “It will not need the breakthrough armor, only the T-34, and the latest models if available. That said, I will take whatever I can get. If we had a real armored personnel carrier, and one with a decent main gun added for support, then we would not have to shuffle in tanks as I now suggest. We would be solving the problem by building the fighting quality we want into the infantry vehicle, instead of by simply restructuring an existing Mech Corps.”

  That remark caught Zhukov’s attention. “A real APC? The ZIS-42 is not enough? Explain.”

  “What I would like is an infantry carrier, but not a halftrack. It should be built on a fully tracked tank chassis, which has much better armor to protect the infantry from both small arms, mortars, and enemy artillery as it advances in an attack. The ZIS-42 is good for cross country movement, but it has a very high silhouette in combat, and becomes an easy target. We need a new design—with a low silhouette, and better armor than a halftrack. Put a 76mm gun on it somehow, and we’ve got a real Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty —an infantry fighting vehicle! It would be fast enough to stay in close contact with conventional armor, more durable than any infantry carrier we now have, and it would have real punch, as much hitting power as a T-34. Only with this vehicle, the infantry rides inside , instead of jumping on top of the tank as they often do now.”

  That was a far-reaching concept, years, perhaps decades ahead of its time, but Katukov had seen the strengths and liabilities of the Soviet armored forces first hand, and he knew instinctively what was needed. General Zhukov was deeply impressed.

  “I like this idea,” he said. “If we could build such a vehicle, how would you design it?”

  “It must be an infantry carrier, fast, with good protection, and with a main gun on it of at least a 76mm caliber. Being fully tracked, it will have good cross-country performance, and make the tracks wide like those on the T-34 for winter conditions. It must not be too heavy, so the front must be sloped to improve the defensive capability of its armor. Since it will have a gun turret, I would incline that slope forward, and not backward as in our T-34. Then the turret could be moved forward, allowing more room for the infantry squad behind it in the main body. There would then be a hatch in the back, not on the top, to allow the infantry to deploy safely while under fire, and they should all have SMG’s.”

  “Interesting,” said Zhukov. “Very interesting…. Let us try to build such a vehicle. Yes? In fact, go to Siberia yourself, to Chelyabinsk, and direct the design of this vehicle. I can spare you from the front for a few months this winter.”

  That conversation had taken place in June of 1942, and a prototype th
at was known only as “Object 700” was drafted and designed at the Kurgan Machine Building Plant, east of Chelyabinsk. A certain intelligence officer, Tyrenkov, soon became aware of the project’s existence, and when he brought the matter to Vladimir Karpov, the cagy Siberian decided to speed things along. He approached Sergei Kirov, who was desperate for Siberian manpower throughout 1942, and made a deal with him that his Siberian Army would get tank production support in exchange.

  “I can even assist your design process in that regard,” he told Kirov. “You have seen things, from another way this history could have played out. You have seen the Russia that Stalin would have built, the gulags, the mass executions and purges, the assassinations. Well I must tell you that others have seen these things as well. Volkov calls himself the “Prophet,” and not without good reason. He has long sight, and even as you have, he has seen things from days that have not yet come to pass.”

  “Yes,” said Kirov. “I was warned of this by Admiral Volsky and Mister Fedorov. “He is from the upper floor of the inn, in a manner of speaking.”

  “A clever way of putting it,” said Karpov. “You should also that I am from the upper floor of the inn as well. I have seen things from another time.”

  That conversation had set Soviet tank design off in the right direction, and the initial aim was to get the better tank designs conceived and built earlier than they were in the real history. The Kirov-I was already over six months early, but when Karpov learned about Object 700, he was quite surprised. “That idea wasn’t realized until the late 1950s,” he told Tyrenkov. “Let us see what we can do to help it along.”

  A year had passed since these events took place. The SU-76 Self Propelled Gun had been a starting point, but that chassis had its frontal armor sloped the wrong way, and it had a rear mounted turret. But a similar chassis was designed, and shepherded along by Karpov. Within that long year, prototypes were produced and tested, and alterations were made, adding gun ports so the mounted infantry could fire from inside the vehicle if necessary.

  Instead of trying to provide heavy armor against main tank guns, it was deemed that protection from shell fragments, small arms and machineguns would be sufficient, which kept the weight down to 15 to 18 tons. Against enemy tanks, the vehicle would look to deploy hull down, and take advantage of its very low silhouette. It took time and sweat, but the urgency of the war, and Karpov’s ability to aid in the design, pushed it along. By mid-1943, the Soviets were going to have what Mikhail Katukov had asked for so long ago, and they would call it by the initials of the words he had used to first describe it to General Zhukov—Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty —the B.M.P. While it was not the same vehicle that the Soviets would build after the war, it incorporated similar ideas in design and function.

  So, after Volkov Yar, the Soviets decided to discontinue building more Motorized Rifle Divisions, and converted any remaining in the field to the new Mechanized Corps concept. As Zhukov had promised, Mikhail Katukov would get the first production run on the AFV he had asked for, and by May of 1943, there were just enough to equip nine battalions. The first thought was that they could use those brigades to replace the motorized infantry troops in three separate Tank Corps, but Katukov protested.

  “No,” he said. “Let me build one new fast Mech Corps, the 5th Guards. We already have three Motorized Rifle Brigades in Popov’s old group that are trained to operate with armor. There is my infantry. All they need now is this new B.M.P. and some support assets.”

  The 5th Guards Mech was created, and it had been held in the Voronezh Front reserve by Rokossovsky. Now, after learning of the heavy losses to 5th Shock Army, and the destruction of the 24th and 25th Tank Corps, he sent it to Katukov to augment his already powerful 1st Guards Army. A written message was handed to him when the Corps commander reported to Katukov for duty.

  “Here now is the force you conceived and built after a long year of trial and effort. Use it well.”

  It was signed Sergei Kirov, General Secretary of the Soviet Union.

  With this new Corps in hand, and with the Germans pulling most of their Panzer divisions south to defend Kharkov, Rokossovsky now ordered Katukov to reclaim the ground he had taken in April during Operation Red Star. “After reorganizing, you will continue your assault with 1st Tank Army, Chiukov’s 8th Guards, and adjacent infantry armies, with the aim of breaking the enemy front, retaking Tomarovka, and pushing south to compel the enemy to yield his position on the upper Donets.”

  General Katukov’s troops were ready for action. The three mobile corps in his own army were still in good shape, and now he would inherit the last surviving member of the old 5th Tank Army, the 29th Tank Corps, and his new 5th Guards Mech. As five mobile corps were too much for a single army staff to coordinate, he would now reassign forces to build two separate tank armies, and the newcomer would be called 5th Guards Tank, in honor of the old army that had died to give it birth.

  So even though the Germans had delivered a very heavy blow with their abortive Operation Zitadelle , largely destroying the operational capability of the 5th Shock Group, it was a case of Hercules versus the Hydra. STAVKA still had considerable resources, long husbanded by Zhukov over the long winter lull where January through March of 1943 saw little action on the East Front. The Soviets had taken the enemy blow, and were now delivering a strong counterattack aimed at encircling Kharkov, Operation Rumyantsev .

  Phase II of that plan was about to begin.

  Part VI

  Confrontation

  “Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand….”

  —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

  Chapter 16

  The attack in the north would come like two great waves, a tsunami of steel and fire. Gorodov’s 21st Army, now renamed 6th Guards, would provide the infantry shock aimed at retaking Tomarovka. To the east was Chiukov’s 8th Guards Army, which would bypass Belgorod. That town would then be assaulted by the 5th Guards Army, the only formation still intact and with good combat power from the old 5th Shock Group.

  Behind these three strong infantry armies, was Mikhail Katukov’s 1st Tank Army, to make the breakthrough and initial exploitation. He would retain his 6th and 31st Tank Corps, but take for himself the newly arriving 5th Guards Mech Corps. For the newly forming 5th Guard Tank Army, he relinquished his 3rd Mech Corps, which would join the 29th Tank Corps. To bring this new army up to strength, STAVKA released the newly rebuilt 17th Tank Corps, now renamed 4th Guards, and it was one of the new structures that would have its motorized infantry regiment converted to the ZIS-42 Halftracks.

  Katukov was very eager to get into action and see what 5th Guard Mech Corps could do with the new B.M.P. infantry fighting vehicles. They were the only formation on the field to have that carrier, and this battle would be a good test of its capabilities. Yet 5th Guards Tank Army was still organizing, and so he would wait until June 1st to begin his attack in the north.

  While the Russians were planning this new attack, Manstein was busy in the south near Kharkov. He was slowly building up a considerable force capable of stopping the enemy offensive, but he was unaware of the threat looming in the north. The Germans thought they had taken the measure of the foe in that sector. Knobelsdorff’s 9th and 6th Panzer Divisions had a rough time against Katukov, but they were able to conduct a fighting retreat in good order. Then he got a call from Manstein again, asking him to detach Balck’s 11th Panzer Division.

  “What will I hold with here?” Knobelsdorff protested. “Balck’s Division is still near full strength. That was my ace in the hole.”

  “I know, but we gave them a hard blow up there. I do not think they will be able to do anything more on your front for some weeks. We have pulled Salmuth’s 10th Korps off the line, and General Kempf will send you the 167th and 168th Divisions in return. Use them to build a second line behind your main front, and then you can rest those two remaining panzer divisions for a f
ew days.”

  What Manstein did not reveal was the fact that Salmuth’s Korps had been in action against the Soviet 3rd Shock Group, and both his divisions had been worn down. Manstein knew they would have little offensive capability, but they could still hold on defense. 11th Panzer would make a nice addition to his armored grouping in the south, and he got the much better end of the deal he had brokered with Knobelsdorff.

  Now things were looking a little better for him. The Soviet penetrations over the Donets had at least been contained. That said, the German “Donets Line,” as Hitler was now calling it, was only that in name. They only held a 30-kilometer segment of the upper Donets, from Belgorod south. The Russians were over the river to a depth of 10 to 15 kilometers from Volchansk all the way south to Chuguyev, which they had just taken. Now Manstein had to see if he could push them back while still holding on to Kharkov, and finding a way to reinforce the Donets Bend from Zimyev down through Andreyevka to Izyum.

  The General drafted a terse message to OKW, covering his intentions with the thin veneer of a document in writing. It read: “Under the condition that Kharkov will be held at all costs, as Armeegruppe Commander, I am assuming freedom to operate in a manner best designed to defeat the enemy and throw him back.”

  Hitler read it in silence when Zeitzler handed it to him. He watched the map updates with growing concern and an inner simmering anxiety. On the morning of May 31st, the Red Tide had again reached the village of Borovoye south of Kharkov. And there was fighting at Rodin on the main road from Chuguyev. They had reclaimed all the ground they had been driven from during Manstein’s dramatic counteroffensive in April. He could feel, and clearly see on that map, that something had changed in the war on the Ostfront . What the Soviets took, they more often than not held. What they lost, they now came to reclaim, and once again, they had their eyes fixed on Kharkov.