Nexus Deep (Kirov Series Book 31)

by Schettler, John

  They were trying to envelop the city from the southwest, with a report coming in from Aleksandrovka, about 25 kilometers from the city, that a strong Soviet tank corps was now attacking in force. It was later identified as Kuznetsov’s 1st Guard Tank Corps, the most powerful in the army, and defending at Alexsandrovka, the Germans had posted Feld Ersatz Battalion-A, a ragtag band of walking wounded that acted as a replacement unit. It was the best the Soviets had against the worst the Germans could offer, and the result was a foregone conclusion.

  Right behind the heavy tanks and Guardsmen of Kuznetsov’s spearhead, he had sent the 10th Tank Corps in support, so this was a very strong left hook. Yet lurking in the heart of the city, the Germans had troops of higher caliber, the Grossdeutschland Division, coiled like a steel spring and ready to strike out in any direction. Manstein ordered Hörnlein to re assemble the entire division there, with most of the heavy Ferdinands attached. He then sent KG Deckard south to shore up the flank of Sepp Dietrich’s 1st SS.

  That division was now heavily engaged all along its extended front, and facing both 1st and 2nd Guards Mech Divisions. The battle for Kharkov was going to be like a clash of Titans, the hardened gladiators from either side hammering at one another all along the tight defensive perimeter that extended some 15 kilometers out from the city.

  In addition to that Ace he had in hand, General Manstein still had two more cards to play. He had another high face card with the arrival of the Wiking Division from Dnipropetrovsk where it had been taking on equipment. The fighting at Alexandrovka had cut the rail line to the city, so it would be approaching the battle from the south, on Kuznetsov’s left and rear flank if he advanced on Kharkov. That was a division that would be certain to force the dogged Russian General to look over his shoulder.

  The other card was a good high numbered spade, the 36th Infantry Division, which was the old 36th Motorized after converting to a leg infantry division. It would come by rail from Armeegruppe Center, and deploy just west of Kharkov to screen that flank. So Steiner’s entire Korps, five divisions including Grossdeutschland , was now assembled near the city, and it would be facing off against the equivalent of four Soviet armies.

  Eicke’s 3rd SS was coming down from the north, but was diverted towards the bridgehead achieved by 7th Guards near Murom. The enemy was coming through the lines of 111th Infantry with a lot of tanks and SU’s, so the bulk of 3rd SS went into action there to stop them. They went about it with methodical efficiency, the infantry deploying from halftracks in the woods on the northern flank of their attack. They waited for the panzers to come up, and then advanced behind them in close support, crouching low.

  The tank battle in the woodland was a wild affair, with tree limbs being shattered, other’s being hewn down by the high velocity rounds. A fire started, and heavy smoke rolled through the forest as the Tiger company ground its way forward. When there was not room to advance between trees, the heavy tanks simply bull-dozed them down and then rolled over the fallen trunks. The Soviets had a number of heavy SU-122’s, and soon the duel looked like herds of war elephants battling in the forest.

  The Germans called a halt, seeing that the Russians had backed off several hundred yards to try and regroup. Then came the rumble of distant guns and the whooshing sound of a rounds falling. The entire division artillery pool, all four battalions, had unleashed a barrage called in by the leading SS troops. It fell like blistering death. Many of the rounds bursting in the air to shred and flay the tree limbs and send a hail of shrapnel and splinters in all directions. There wasn’t much Soviet infantry in the attack, but they would have been cut to pieces if they had been under that ironfall. An SU-122 was struck by a very near miss, the explosion enough to blow the heavy 30-ton vehicle onto its side.

  Basically an armored howitzer, the SU-122 was not a match for the German tanks on its own. It was an infantry fire support weapon, but the Soviets had deployed these in mixed regiments, with platoons of SU-76 tank destroyers. Even that was not going to help, as the SU-76 only had 33mm of frontal armor, and the “Sukas,” or “little bitches” as the Russians called them, simply could not stand against the better armored Pz-IVF2’s the SS were driving, which had 50mm armor. The Russians were, quite literally, getting ‘bitch slapped.’ They began to fall back under that artillery barrage and were soon pushed out of the woodland into open fields beyond.

  The Soviet heavy howitzers could kill a German tank if they could hit one with a HEAT round, but knowing this, the German tanker simply engaged at longer range. Though the SU-122 looked like a formidable armored beast, it actually had only 45mm of frontal armor, less than the German Pz-IV’s. The German tankers pulled up to the edge of the trees, and started blasting away. It was the very definition of the phrase “target rich environment,” and brought the attack by 7th Guards Army to a complete halt.

  The arrival of 3rd SS, and 11th Panzer from the north had therefore done much to shore up the lines and contain the pressure from 7th Guards and 69th Army. To the south of that battle, Hausser’s 2nd SS was slugging it out with the 3rd Guards Army, which was strong enough to take on that division, and both of the Reichsführer SS Brigades at the same time, and still make headway.

  Hausser’s main attack was solid, but on his southern flank, the Russians found a weaker sector held only by two companies of the recon battalion, and a pioneer company. That battalion sized KG was then hit by the whole of the 40th Guard Rifle Division, and it could not stop them. This forced Hausser to detach units from his stronger sector, and try to close that breach.

  Yet it was the weary Reichsführer Brigades that were having the most difficulty. Many of their battalions were weakened by the five days of near non-stop fighting, and the Soviets found a hole between their southern flank and the lines of the Nordland SS Division. It wasn’t a serious breakthrough yet, but two brigades of Soviet cavalry had raced through, and they were causing havoc with the Werfer battalions attached to the Reichsführer Brigades in the rear.

  Then Sepp Dietrich called Manstein to report on the deteriorating situation on his own front. “I’m fighting two Mech Corps and a Tank Corps just came up on my western flank. This is no good. We can’t hold them much longer.”

  “Deckard’s KG wasn’t enough?”

  “That helped, but he reports that another strong armored formation is flanking him to the west as well.”

  “Alright, 36th Infantry has just arrived on the rail line south of the city,” said Manstein. “I’m moving it to support your flank. If you can hold out until tomorrow morning, I think we’ll have a nice little surprise for General Kuznetsov. Gille is back with his Wiking Division, and they are coming up from the south.”

  “The prodigal son,” said Dietrich. “That is good news. “Alright, I’ll stand my ground. But you’d better look after that Nordland outfit. They are fighting hard, but there’s a lot of pressure on them too.”

  “I’ll have Hornlein put together a KG.”

  Manstein’s surprise came up on the train from the Dnieper, reaching Novaya Vodolaga, about 45 kilometers southwest of Kharkov. There the first train found a small blocking force, the recon battalion of 1st Tank Corps that had been sent to scout that sector and look for just this sort of arrival by the enemy. That would give the Russians something to think about. Then Manstein got on the radio to find Balck, learning that his 11th Panzer Division had just formed up behind 3rd Panzergrenadiers.

  “I want you to roll south and relieve 2nd SS on the line. I need Hausser elsewhere.”

  “Very well,” said Balck. “But I could punch right through the Russian line and go all the way to the Donets.”

  “Yes, but another time. Stop 3rd Guards Army for me, and I will use Das Reich further south. We have a small breakthrough to contend with there.”

  “I’ll move immediately.”

  That was going to improve the situation on the road to Kharkov considerably. Balck found a battalion of heavy SU-152’s, and his tankers quickly chopped them to pieces, k
nocking out eight of twelve in ten minutes. The KG from Grossdeutschland ran into the enemy cavalry that had broken through, and put them to rout. There were several holes in the lines of the Nordland SS, but Manstein was confident that their brethren in Das Reich would soon arrive to stabilize the situation, allowing him to recall the Grenadier regiment to his nest in Kharkov. Grossdeutschland Division was his last reserve, and he wanted it as fresh as possible.

  He was going to need it.

  Far to the north, things were about to gear up another level. Mikhail Katukov had decided to send in Rodmistrov’s rebuilt 5th Guards Tank with two of its three Corps to test the enemy line west of Tomarovka. It was but a prelude to the main attack, which he had scheduled for that night, a midnight surge of two Guards armies and five tank corps against the lines of 42nd Korps, holding from Belgorod west through Tomarovka and on to Model’s right flank.

  The second Phase of Operation Rumyantsev was about to begin.

  Chapter 17

  While this action was being fought, word came from Knobelsdorff in the north to report that the Russians were renewing their attack. There was growing pressure all along the line, mostly by the rifle divisions of 6th and 8th Guards, the former being the troops of 21st Army which had just been awarded Guards status for their defense against Zitadelle . Yet 15 kilometers northwest of Tomarovka, a strong group of mechanized infantry had swarmed through the lines of 39th Division.

  Identified as 3rd Mech, the Germans thought they were being hit by the same nemesis that had stopped their attack the previous week, and reported that 1st Tank Army was attacking their sector. They were not aware that the Russians had shuffled their cards, and this was instead the new 5th Guards Tank Army under Rodmistrov. Knobelsdorff had no choice but to commit Scheller’s 9th Panzer to stop them, even though that division needed rest and refit after the grueling drive towards Kursk.

  3rd Battalion of 677 Grenadiers was already surrounded and bypassed by the fast-moving halftracks, and Scheller threw the bulk of his division in to remedy the situation. The Germans drove back the troops of 1st Mech Regiment, but there was another right behind it, this time supported by the 12th Guard Tank Brigade.

  A lot of the German infantry had dug into hedgehog positions, a strategy they often used against Russian offensives. It was dangerous if they were hit by too much force, for the Soviet infantry would flow around the strongpoints like French cavalry breaking on British squares. Yet in such events, it was the only way for that infantry to survive, even if it might soon find itself behind the advancing tide of the enemy attack. The men of the 39th were glad that 9th Panzer was a hand, but Scheller’s troops were now in a very difficult fight. It was not only 3rd Mech that had been sent in. The 4th Guards Tank Corps had also been added to that attack, and now Rodmistrov sought to get revenge for the death of 23rd and 24th Tank Corps, and the loss of the former 5th Tank Army Commander himself, General Rybalko.

  Some 20 kilometers to the east, between Tomarovka and Belgorod, the infantry of Chiukov’s 8th Guards was hitting the German front manned by the 161st Division. Knobelsdorff had posted 6th Panzer behind that segment of the line, and it was also needing refit after Zitadelle . The initial German reaction was to move up local reserves and answer the enemy push with artillery. Thus far there had been no sign of enemy attacks, and Knobelsdorff was still laboring under the assumption that Katukov was hitting his left…. But he was wrong.

  Behind Chiukov’s lines, Katukov had formed up his revitalized 1st Tank Army. 6th and 31st Tank Corps were forward, backed by the new 5th Guard Mech that he had stolen away from Rodmistrov’s army in exchange for his old 3rd Mech. He was forward with that unit, walking down the columns as they formed up, his hand running over the sleek, smooth sides of his brainchild, the new Soviet B.M.P. The three brigade columns extended many kilometers to the rear, the engines only now thrumming up and the SMG laden infantry mounted through the rear hatches. Katukov peered inside the lead vehicle, giving the men inside a smile.

  “Fight hard,” he told them, his face now set and serious. “Fight for the Rodina. We stopped them in front of Tula, and by god, we stopped them here as well. Now we throw them out.”

  The tip of that long deadly metal spear was the three brigades of heavy tanks assigned to this Corps, each fielding 36 of the best tank the Soviets had—the Kirov-I. This division would soon vie with Kuznetsov’s 1st Guard Tank as the best in the Army, and it was now poised like an iron bolt about to be catapulted at the German line. The 161st Infantry Division was going to have a very bad night.

  Katukov had been encouraged by the news from Rotmistrov to the west. 3rd Mech had led the way, and in spite of intervention by the German 9th Panzer Division, they were breaking through. Now it was time to unleash his new war horses. Just after midnight, he strode up to the head of the column and whistled loudly, circling his finger in the air as a sign for the vehicles to start their engines. One by one, they thrummed to life, like a line of planes on the deck of a carrier readying for takeoff.

  Katukov rapped on the hatch of the lead vehicle, and a Lieutenant peered out. “My old 3rd Mech Corps has just broken through to the west. I want you to beat them in the race.”

  The Lieutenant smiled, and his driver gunned the engine, ready to roll. Katukov looked at his watch, the second hand ticking off to midnight. Then, precisely on schedule, he heard the loud crack of artillery beginning to fire behind him. The distinctive sound of heavy 107 and 120mm mortars joined them, followed soon after by the roaring howl of the Katyushas.

  They had been called that when the troops saw the bold letter “K” painted on the trucks, which was just a marker to indicate they had been produced at the Komintern factory at Voronezh. But they soon began to sing an old favorite song called “Katyusha,” the name of a Russian woman longing for her lost love gone off to the front. It had bolstered the morale of the troops when they heard it, reminding them that they also had lovers and family waiting for them back home, and that so many had already lost their homes to the steel tide of the advancing German Army. Now their rocket launchers would sing another song, one of vengeance, retribution, reprisal.

  When the Germans heard it, it had the effect that their own Jericho Horns on the diving Stukas once had on their enemies, producing a blood curdling fear. They called them “Kirov’s Organ,” and knew enough to look for any cover they could find when they heard its deep throated roar.

  Katukov was coming through.

  The plan was a simple one, and it had been dress rehearsed the previous month by Katukov himself. They would break through to either side of Tomarovka, bypass Belgorod, and then run down either side of the Vorskla River. In that first attempt, they had stayed well east of that river, briefly touching base at Borisovka before turning towards the Donets to try and force the withdrawal of 4th Army. Hitler’s stubborn intransigence had kept that army in place, though Heinrici’s backward steps had later resulted in his dismissal to a new post on the “Northern Front,” where Operation Downfall was still being prepared.

  This time Katukov had no intention of turning. He knew if he broke through, and ran for Akythrya, the Germans would have to give up their last hold on the upper Donets. Phase one of the plan had already forced the enemy to cancel their Zitadelle offensive, and pull all of Steiner’s elite divisions south to defend Kharkov, but Katukov had no intention of making a direct approach to the city either. If he went for Akythrya, the threat would bring strong forces behind the German defense of Kharkov, and they would have to answer that threat. The only force they would have in hand to do that was Steiner, and that would then weaken the defense of Kharkov.

  It was envelopment of the city by their mobile elements that the Russians really wanted, while their infantry continued to keep up strong pressure all along the front. Yet Manstein’s surprise in the south was already complicating General Kuznetsov’s envelopment operation. The recon battalion of 1st Guards Tank reported a long train arriving south of Novaya Vodolaga. The Wiking Division wa
s now going to be a big factor on that front.

  The “Heroes of Damascus” had returned to the Ostfront , and with an assortment of new equipment that no other division had seen. Porsche had been busy designing a whole new line of vehicles that they were trying to ramp up in production. They had already used the 90 chassis of their failed Tiger project to build the formidable “Ferdinand” tank-killing assault gun. Now they opened their barn doors and let out a flock of creatures that were to be found nowhere else on the front.

  When the Wiking Division returned from Syria, it was needing fresh equipment, with orders to build up to a full panzer division. They would inherit some of the surviving tanks and APCs from the 24th Panzerkorps, but these new additions came directly from Germany on a train from the Porshe and Krupp factories.

  Porsche had worked with the Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz Magirus AG firm in Ulm on what was now being called the “Entwicklung” series, or simply the “E-Series” standard AFV project. It had been conceived by Chief Engineer Heinrich Ernst Kniekamp, as a series meant to create improved vehicles to replace the battle tested tanks produced in the early years of the war, including many of the self-propelled guns. The idea was to use standardized parts across the whole line, greatly simplifying production.

  There were a few prototypes, and a test batch run of the E-10, a new light tank with a hull mounted gun and very low profile. Its bigger cousin was the E-25, a similar design that had been meant to replace the Pz-IV tanks, and it was later envisioned as a heavy Panzerjager tank, like the “Hetzer.” Perhaps the best of the lot was the E-50, which looked very much like the tank it had been designed to replace, the Panther and Tiger series tanks, but there were only three of these. There were also some Panzerjagers, like the Waffentrager 38D, mounted with a turreted 88mm Pak 43 L/71 gun. It was given 60mm frontal armor, and that gun had real penetrating power at very long ranges.