Ironfall

Chapter 25

The initial northern breakthrough of Operation Star, was beginning to bog down against the stubborn defense being put up by Model. Just when they thought they might seize a valuable prize in Kharkov, up came that German Panzer Division. The 22nd was worn out, but it still had about 48 tanks, all Pz-IIIN and IV-F2’s. It had not received any Lions, but did have several companies of the lighter Leopard and Lynx recon tanks, which could help against infantry even if they were largely ineffective against the T-34’s.

It ran right into the Russian 25th Tank Corps, and was enough to stop it in its tracks when supported by 56th Infantry Division from Heinrici’s 12th Korps. His 39th Division had fallen back through Belgorod and moved up to extend the German line out to Tomarovka, and slowly, Model had scrapped together ad hoc units to try and fill that gap. Yet the Russians had not one but three tank corps in this attack, and by April 15 when Knobelsdorff arrived, they had begun bringing up more elements of the 5th Shock Army infantry, and several Guards divisions.

Further east, 5th Shock had several brigades of light tanks organized loosely as a mechanized cavalry division, and they swarmed over the infantry of the 56th Division, pushing up the road from Melkhovo and Korocha. Division Commander Ludek had to use his Feld Ersatz Battalion to put in a counterattack and try to stop those light tanks short of Belgorod, but the situation put that fighting behind the right flank of 22nd Panzer.

Further south, near Volchansk, the 21st Army had forced a small penetration that prompted the 168th Division to make a strong counterattack. So the Soviets were keeping up strong pressure in the effort to take Belgorod and flank Volchansk to the north. The shield, now a combination of troops from 2nd and 4th Armies, had been dented, but it was still holding.

Yet this was no more than a sparring match in the north. As Dietrich had warned, the main event was in the east, and it was coming in behind a weather front, crossing the empty gap between the Oskol and Donets—cold steel at the edge of hard rain.

The tide rolling west from the Oskol looked like it was going to come crashing onto the stony defense of Sepp Dietrich at Volchansk, but as they approached the Donets, most of the mobile formations executed a turn to the south. The large 1st Shock Army moved to screen off Volchansk, its lines extending some 18 kilometers south, all along the bridgehead Dietrich had occupied. An attack developed at Volchansk itself, but Dietrich soon realized that this was a masking and holding force, and no attempt was being made to reduce his bridgehead.

Further south on the Donets, there were two decent crossing points at Verkhne Saltov and Stary Saltov. These were held by General Franek’s 196th Infantry Division from Heinrici’s 10th Korps, and here the Russians moved up their powerful 3rd Guards Army. It would take infantry to force those crossings, and it would be a battle pitting concentrated Soviet Guards Brigades against German battalions, again on a front of approximately 18 kilometers.

South of the 196th, the Donets made a wide hairpin bend around heavy woodland northeast of Chuguyev, which was the main road and rail crossing leading to Kharkov. In this bend, there were also several crossing points, at Martovaya on the northern portion of the bend, Pechengi at the deepest part of the turn, and then at a few locations as the river flowed almost due west in a winding course for Chuguyev. This area was assigned to 3rd Guards Army, and it was here that Himmler’s new SS Division had been posted. The dark SS man had wanted to sharpen his knife, and it was about to get a severe test.

All the other mobile formations of 1st Guard Army and the Popov Shock Group had swept south and around that deep bend in the Donets, driving for Chuguyev and points south on the river. The sector near Chuguyev was defended by Korps Raus with the 106th and 320th Infantry Divisions, but the Russians had enough force to contest this whole segment of the river.

South of the 320th, they would find four minor bridges near Zimyev before the river turned southeast to make its way down through Andreyevka, Balakleya and eventually reach the major rail and road hub of Izyum. Those four crossing points were only defended by the nine battalions that made up the 2nd Luftwaffe Field Korps. Yet as the river ran on to the southeast again, there was virtually no defense at all. A single battalion, Feldersats C from Armeegruppe South, had the bridge at Bishkin some 12 kilometers from the Luftwaffe troops. The rest of the river, nearly 100 kilometers to Izyum, was being screened by two reserve infantry divisions, which had only six battalions each.

If the Soviets wanted to get over the Donets, they had plenty of opportunities to do so. The strongest attack began right there north of the big bend, on the southern end of Franek’s 196th Infantry, and against Himmler’s new volunteer Nordland Panzer Division. Wagner had neglected to blow the bridge at Martovaya, and the 48th Guards Rifle Division fought hard to gain a bridgehead there for the tank brigades of 3rd Corps right behind it. The Soviets had plenty of bridging equipment and they were soon swarming over the river at every site that looked crossable, slowly driving KG Wagner back.

It was soon clear to Wagner that it would be fruitless to try to defend the deep salient created by the river bend, and he gave orders for the division to fall back to a new line stretching between the two top ends of the big U formed by the river. There was heavy woodland in that area that offered better prospects for defense, and his line would be considerably shorter.

But fresh black uniforms and SS insignia do not make a division like those in Steiner’s Korps. The inexperience of the rank and file troops, their zeal for combat aside, was quite apparent. Wagner’s orders would be received, but not implemented in time to prevent the surge of 3rd Shock Army crossing the river along a wide zone between Pechengi and Chuguyev. Most of that sector was lightly screened by Wagner’s Recon battalion, a Panzerjager unit and one company of motorized infantry.

They were about to get steamrolled.

Zhukov and Vatutin new the terrain well, and they had planned this attack very carefully. They had no intention of trying to link up the two pincers, unless that opportunity presented itself. The breakthrough on the Oskol was so wide, and the ground so open to the west, that they had ample room to maneuver. In this event Zhukov wanted the strong infantry armies like 1st and 3rd Shock, and the 3rd Guards to cover the river and force crossing points.

“The big bend northeast of Chuguyev will be easy to take and hold,” said Zhukov. I want that area attacked by strong infantry, at least two armies. Once our guardsmen fight their way through the woods, then we can send armor through on the shortest route to Kharkov.”

“What about 1st Guard Tank Army and Popov’s group?” asked Vatutin. They’ll just have to sit there until the infantry gets us those bridgeheads.”

“No,” said Zhukov definitively. “I want them moving south, bypassing Chuguyev and looking for crossings near Zimyev. That failing, they can go for Andreyevka or Balakleya.”

Kuznetsov’s 1st Guard Tank Army went for Zimyev, and so Popov veered off south and reached the Donets late on the night of April 15th. His motorized infantry dismounted, rushing into the outskirts of Balakleya, and by sunrise, the Soviets would have that town secured.

Pushed out of the plusher quarters, the German defenders retreated over the Donets, demolish the bridges and counted themselves lucky to be still breathing.

Sepp Dietrich was on the telephone to Knobelsdorff as reports came flooding in from the south. The Russians had stormed the Saltov position, and had a bridgehead there three kilometers deep. They had also crossed well north of Martovaya, and at Pechengi to seize the entire Donets Bend near Chuguyev. Now the Luftwaffe at Zimyev reported a strong attack there.

“They are certainly persistent,” said Dietrich. “Do you still want this bridgehead at Volchansk? If we could get 4th Army back to the Donets we might shorten our lines and free up some troops to plug these holes. As it stands, the bulk of my troops are just sitting here.”

“Balck is coming up,” said Knobelsdorff.

“He won’t be enough on his own,” said Dietrich. “If I get over the river and join him, then we can do business.”

“What about Wagner?”

“That division is unreliable.” Dietrich stated the obvious. “It was sent here to get some seasoning, and instead it’s getting cooked!”

“I don’t have authority to order 4th Army to withdraw as you suggest.”

“Then pass it to Hoth…. Pass it up to Manstein,” said Dietrich. “We must do something. They’ll be on their way to Kharkov by this time tomorrow if we don’t.”

“Alright, I can give you authorization to abandon the bridgehead at Volchansk. Balck came up the road from Kharkov. He’s at Mikhaylovka. Take your division to Ternovka, but I don’t want them over the river behind you.”

“I’ll have to inform General Holts. He’s got the 161st just north of Volchansk.”

“Correct,” said Knobelsdorff, “and then he’ll have to inform the 168th on his left, and so on. We haven’t time to kick this can from Hoth to Manstein. We have to act. Get your division free for offensive action as soon as you can. Move tonight, and take the Reichsführer Brigades with you. I’ll speak with you in the morning.”

Knobelsdorff hung up the phone and then immediately informed his adjutant to get General Manstein on the line.

“Generalfieldmarshal,” he said, “It has become necessary to tighten the defensive shield around Belgorod, and to do so we needed to give the Russians Volchansk.”

“That is not a problem,” said Manstein. “We don’t need Volchansk. It’s on the wrong side of the river.”

“Dietrich agreed with that, and so I ordered him to pull out tonight. Balck is arriving, and I’m beginning to assemble my Korps between Ternovka and Mikhaylovka, northeast of Kharkov. I was planning to stop the incursion over the Donets at the Saltov position, and then reinforce that new SS division at the river bend. They’re getting quite an education.”

“Himmler paraded in to my meeting with the Führer thinking he was delivering Christ reincarnated with that unit. Well, they must learn their craft. Look after them. Tell Dietrich to take them under his wing and see what he can do with them.”

“Then Volchansk won’t be a problem?”

“Forget about it.”

“Good, and how are things coming along on the Don front?”

“Very odd. We identified their 1st Tank army here, but then it withdrew two days ago. I think they smelled Steiner and wanted no part of him. When the tanks pulled back, their infantry fell back as well. We mopped up yesterday, and I’m moving a few 6th Army divisions into the new line. I’ll be taking Grossdeutschland through Star Oblesk tonight. Steiner will move by rail from Millerovo and down through Krasny Liman. We should begin assembling in a day or so, between Izyum and the Oskol as it approaches the Donets.”

“Then that attack was just bait,” said Knobelsdorff.

“Apparently, and it pulled in some big fish down here. But that was Katukov. He slipped out the back door here, but rest assured, he’ll be delivering the mail somewhere else. Be wary.”

That morning on the 15th of April would bring a major complication to everything Knobelsdorff was planning. Model had been chafing to wriggle his way out of the necessity of holding Oboyan. It was another fortified town, like Prokhorovka, that was the north end of a big salient, but thus far, OKW was silent on his request to redeploy and shorten his lines by eliminating that bulge.

The Soviet 5th Tank Army had been dueling with 22nd Panzer for the last two days north of Belgorod, but on the night of the 15th, it seemed to simply evaporate. German troops on the line reported no activity, and experienced NCOs and officers soon realized that the Soviet armored units had simply withdrawn. But that force had to go somewhere, and that somewhere was Tomarovka, 25 kilometers to the east. The Russians had pulled out of their fight with the 22nd Panzer, and they made a night march due east to push for Tomarovka the following morning.

Model had moved his headquarters down the road to Borisovka, and when he got the news he hardly had the time to digest it when the telephones were ringing again. It was a Lieutenant in the Pioneer Battalion of 102nd Infantry Division near Tomarovka reporting that a small column of Soviet Armored cars had been seen on the road to the town. He was 2 kilometers behind the front line….

A very strong attack had opened in the predawn hours, mostly infantry at first, but now tanks from the 29th Corps were being introduced, with waves of fresh infantry behind them. It was the 7th Guards Army, the old 64th Army now redesignated as a guards unit, with freshly rebuilt divisions. It had two Corps of three Guards Rifle Divisions each, three organic tank brigades, and a lot of artillery. Model knew the Guards were always used in the breakthrough role, and that they seldom came alone. There had to be something more behind this attack, and there was.

It was Mikhail Katukov.

The mail he was delivering that day was a good chunk of the 1st Tank Army, which he had discretely pulled out of the feint towards Millerovo after roughing up the German 17th Reserve Korps. He was one of the very few tank leaders the Soviets had who could have pulled off such a maneuver—to attack, withdraw, make a quick night march to waiting trains at Boguchov, which then took his Corps swiftly by rail to Stary Oskol and on down to the outskirts of Prokhorovka. But it had not come to reduce that pocket. Instead the troops detrained with lightning speed and began moving south to file in behind 7th Guards Army, a reserve unit that had been sent over from the Central Front. It would be remembered as “Katukov’s March” in the written history of these events, and it was going to be a big headache for the German 2nd and 4th Armies.

It was already bad enough that Model had the 305th Infantry surrounded at Prokhorovka. Now the sudden shift of 5th Tank Army to Tomarovka made perfect sense. This new attack was intending to break through there and extend the deep salient achieved by 5th Tank Army, and the enemy’s intentions were perfectly clear. It was also pushing for Kharkov, and if it got there, it would well behind the 2nd Army on the Psel.

Model again sent an urgent request directly to OKW asking for permission to abandon the Oboyan salient, but got no response. It was clear to him what was happening. Keitel, Zeitzler and the other generals were most likely huddled around the situation map haggling with the Führer. After permitting Manstein to pull back Paulus and his 6th Army, and allowing 4th Army to fall back and readjust its lines, Hitler was digging in his heels. It remained to be seen whether the Generals could persuade him that this salient was of no immediate military use, and instead had become a tremendous liability for the Army.

“Look at the 305th!” Hitler would fire back. “It stands like a rock at Prokhorovka—six days now. Do not tell me that Model’s troops cannot do the same.”

Chapter 26

Zeitzler shrugged, clearly frustrated, but he resolved to try again.

“My Führer,” he persisted. “It requires five divisions to hold that salient, but this line, across its base, could be held by three. That would free up two divisions that Model would put to very good use. This is only reasonable.”

“Do not presume to lecture me,” said Hitler. “My grasp of the situation is far superior to that of any man here. Who stopped the Russians in the Winter of 1941? I did, with an iron will and enough nerve to stand my ground when it looked like the situation was on the verge of collapse. I have read all of Clausewitz, and Moltke, just as you have, General Zeitzler. So I am well aware that we will free up units if we withdraw as you suggest, yet the price is Oboyan, and all the ground between the Pena River and that city. How long do you think we can give them such terrain without having to fight for it? My Generals have been very generous—oh so very generous. You all wanted to give them back Moscow last year, but I put a stop to that, and so that city remains under our thumb.”

Exasperation. Sideward glances. The Generals had been dealing with this for hours. Every time Zeitzler would bring the discussion to the point requiring a definitive decision, Hitler would launch into a diatribe like this, and then seize upon the next situation report to simply change the subject to some other area of the front.

Unfortunately, those reports kept coming in, one crisis after another, and Hitler move the topic of discussion to another point in the line. So Model would get no permission to withdraw that day. Events would have to conspire to force the matter, and that was what was now underway at Tomarovka.

The position was right on the seam between 4th and 2nd Armies. Hunten’s 39th Division was on the right, a part of 12th Korps in the 4th Army, its lines reaching for Tomarovka from a position north of Belgorod. On the left was Friesner’s 102nd Division, now attached to 5th Korps in the 2nd Army, and its line was near vertical, reaching north along the right side of the initial Soviet Breakthrough. The Pioneer Battalion that reported those armored cars was just about the only unit in the gap between those divisions, and it was about to get a lot of bad company.

When news reached Model, he asked Heinrici if he could send the 22nd Panzer to Tomarovka, even if it meant he would have to move his infantry east to cover the ground it was holding. That was what was decided, so it was almost like a defensive back shifting laterally to follow a receiver on the football field…. But this receiver had protection, the full power of six Guards Rifle divisions pushing into the breach.

Model knew that this attack was not something a single panzer division could master, and he was sending any reserve unit he could get his hands on, which included two military police companies, and the Stug Battalions from his 6th Korps further east, moving quickly by rail to the threatened sector. General Rodt of the 22nd Panzer had no hope of attacking with any success, but he could throw his division at the left shoulder of the breakthrough zone and see if he could at least impede its progress.

Frustrated to still have four infantry divisions strung out from Tomarovka north to Oboyan, Model again sent an urgent message to OKW. “Strong new enemy attack has developed at Tomarovka. Requesting immediate permission to consolidate front along the River Pena. Situation very serious. Enemy breakthrough imminent.”

That was true almost everywhere.

The Russians were over the Donets on a wide front south of Volchansk. Their 3rd Guards Rifle Corps had obtained a bridgehead 10 kilometers wide between Stary Saltov and Verkhne Saltov, and it had become Sepp Dietrich’s first order of business after he withdrew from Volchansk west of the river. Further south, the rest of 3rd Guards Army stormed over the river in an even bigger attack and now Himmler’s new SS Division was trying to hold back that attack as well as the push by 3rd Shock Army in the big river bend to the south. Elements of that army were also mustering near Chuguyev to try and gain a bridgehead for the 1st Guards Tank Corps. This sector was being held by the 106th Division of Korps Raus, and they reported that there was also considerable movement south of Chuguyev, and that area was only being held by Luftwaffe Field Division battalions.

The combination of fast moving Mech Battalions in the 1st Guard Mech Corps, supported by three strong Guards Rifle Divisions meant the Luftwaffe could not prevent a crossing near Zimyev. By the afternoon of the 15th, it was already advanced 5 kilometers deep. Then word came that Soviet tank columns had attacked the 173rd Reserve Division and captured Andreyevka on the Middle Donets. They were also approaching Balakleya some distance downstream. These were the fast moving columns of the Popov Shock Group, intending to secure bridgeheads at both those cities and await orders to proceed. Needless to say, the news of all these bridgeheads over the Donets enraged Hitler at OKW.

“Where are the panzers I have sent?” his anger rising quickly. “Panzers, panzers, panzers!” He pounded the table with his fist. “Why do I not hear of any counterattack by Knobelsdorff? What is Manstein doing in the Don sector? I gave him the free hand he wanted there. Where is he now? Where is Steiner?”

Zeitzler tried to explain that a heavily mechanized Korps like that takes time to pull itself together after an action and then move 200 kilometers by road or rail to a new assembly point. He mollified Hitler by reminding him that Knobelsdorff was assembling three divisions near of Kharkov, and a counterattack was imminent. 11th Panzer was in the city, and the 9th would arrive later that evening by rail. In the midst of all these reports, the crisis with Model’s 2nd Army was completely lost. Hitler only had eyes for Kharkov, and with each position update, he grew more and more tense, his temper hotter, his anger more biting.

Serious situations only get attention when they slip down the treacherous slope of trouble to the edge of complete disaster, and that was to be the case that day. As the Staff officers at OKW studied the map, updating positions with new reports, it was beginning to look like the Soviets were going to now attempt a double envelopment of Kharkov.

If the breakthrough at Tomarovka continued south as expected, it would have good defensible ground on its right flank along the Vorskla River, and with Model ordered to continue to hold the Oboyan Salient, he could not muster any troops to threaten it. The only consolation the Germans had there was the fact that Tomarovka was 80 kilometers north of Kharkov, and it would take time to reach the city. In the south, the 1st Guards Army at Chuguyev and points south was an even more dangerous threat to the city, and only needed to push another 30 to 35 kilometers to reach its objective.

Model had been frustrated with the silence from OKW, believing he had no recourse other than to begin making preparations to hedgehog the northern end of the Oboyan Salient. He sent instructions to Siebert to move his headquarters to Kurasovka, a town about 18 kilometers south of Oboyan. He was to assume command of the three divisions that made up the nose of the salient, the 299th on the left, 72nd at Oboyan in the center, and 294th on the right. The two divisions on the wings were to make ready to fold back and close their lines at Kurasovka.

“Sorry you get the luck of the draw,” he told Siebert, “but it does not look like I’ll get permission for a general withdrawal. I’m going to have to fold back the lower ends of the salient tomorrow, orders or no orders. If you have Army level assets, get them southwest to General Hell. You may take your own supply columns and Korps artillery. You’ll need them. Hold on as best you can. I can promise you we’ll do everything possible to get to you in time, but be prepared to hold for a while.”

“What about the 46th Division. It’s west of the 299th, and still on the River Psel.”

“I’m going to move the regiment nearest the breakthrough tonight, but I may not be able to get that one out either. In that case, it’s yours. I’ll inform you tomorrow.”

“299th sent a regiment to the right shoulder. Should I leave it there or bring it back to join its division?”

“I’ll make that decision tomorrow. I will do my best to get Manstein to intervene here. Maybe OKW will listen to him if they insist on ignoring me.”

That plea had prompted Manstein to make a heated call to Zeitzler. “You will have Oboyan, for what it’s worth, but you will lose an entire Korps of good infantry for that. What is going on there? Come to your senses. We must conduct an elastic defense!”

“I agree with you completely,” said Zeitzler, but we cannot persuade Hitler. He insists that the entire line of the Psel be held.”

“Well I do not have the time to fly there and haggle with him. Do your best, Zeitzler. Try to get Model a free hand. Whisper sweet nothings in his ear if you must.”

“When can I report a counterattack is underway? That would help calm him down.”

“Soon. Totenkopf is only now arriving on the trains from Kramatorsk. I will need to concentrate before we move. Tell the Führer that I am making a personal request that Model be allowed to reorganize his defense and save that Korps. We’re going to need it. And tell him not to worry. I will stop Zhukov here just as I stopped him last November.”

Seeing those pincers developing on the map was the medicine that finally moved Hitler from his order for obstinate defense to a more flexible approach. Zeitzler again pointed out the great liability represented by the Oboyan salient.

“Other than to hold terrain, that city is presently useless, as is all the ground in this salient. It has been fatally compromised by this incursion at Tomarovka. Should that pincer turn north, it would pocket half of 2nd Army, but I do not think that is where it is headed. It will continue south, and constrained as he is to hold that useless ground, Model can do nothing whatsoever to stop it. The same can be said of 4th Army on the right closer to Belgorod. If you do not maneuver on defense, then you yield all initiative to the enemy. Knobelsdorff cannot move in two directions at the same time. He must choose one pincer or another for his counterattack, and that will most likely be here in the south. That leaves Model in limbo, and Heinrici could easily be cut off as well.”

Hitler stared at the map, as if it was there to do nothing more than irritate him. Zeitzler knew he was on shaky ground, but tried one more time.

“My Führer, if you let Model maneuver out of that trap, then he can probably muster two or three divisions on the right shoulder of that northern breakthrough. If we could free up even one Panzer Division, a good strong counterattack could be mounted to cut off the enemy breakthrough. It would be your master stroke that would stop that entire offensive in the north—assuming you have the nerve and will to let Model give you that opportunity.”

That last bit was the sugar, and then Zeitzler waited, knowing that the person who spoke next would lose this argument. It was Hitler.

“Very well,” said the Führer. “This was my plan all along, but it was necessary to see that Model held his ground to determine the enemy’s intentions. Now that is perfectly clear, and so I will authorize the measures you suggest here and deal with the situation.”

Hitler had covered his tracks, laying claim to everything Zeitzler had said as if it were his own plan, something he had held in abeyance for the right time, and no one would ever say otherwise.

There was an almost audible relief of the tension in the room, and Kluge simply moved his eyes, looking at a nearby adjutant, who then quickly retired to get to the signals room with the message the Generals had been chafing to send Model for the last twelve hours. “Your request to abandon Oboyan and redeploy on the Pena River is approved and should be implemented with all speed.”

The Generals at OKW did not have to tell Model what to do after that. He was perhaps the most able master of defense in the German Army, and as soon as he had that signal in hand, he went to work, his energy inexhaustible, for he knew he was now trying to save his entire army. The only question is whether or not he would have the time.

By the night of April 15th, the spearheads of 29th Tank and 3rd Mech had pushed another 15 to 18 kilometers to Borisovka, forcing Model to move his HQ northwest. It would now be possible to execute a turn to the east to flank the defense of 4th Army at Belgorod and enfilade the entire line stretching all the way down the upper Donets to Volchansk. That night the Soviet Generals on the scene met to discuss their options. Shumilov had the strong infantry force of the 7th Guards, and Rybalko and Katukov had the two mobile groups.

“We have made a clean breakthrough,” said Katukov, “and we have encountered no resistance at Borisovka. I say we should continue south on that road.”

“But it leads to Akythrya, not Kharkov,” said Rybalko. “I was tasked with moving on the main objective. Are you suggesting we split our forces?”

“No,” said Katukov. “Moving on Akythrya may threaten their 2nd Army, but you are correct. You should move southwest, but only as far as Berezovka near the rail line. Then turn due south and follow that rail line all the way to Kharkov. That will be our widest envelopment. I will take my forces south immediately. That will raise the hair on the back of their necks. I’ll take Bessonovka, and they will think I am trying to envelop Belgorod, but that won’t be necessary. They will have to give it to us if we get south quickly, just as they are now giving us Oboyan. Speed is the medicine now. Let’s beat Kuznetsov to the city!”

The two breakthroughs, each posing a host of serious threats, suddenly galvanized the German reaction. That was largely because General Manstein had left his headquarters at Rostov and moved to Slavyansk to be closer to the action he was busily planning.

The 2nd SS Division was the to arrive, moving through Slavyansk by rail to Barvenkovo south of the Donets, and then assembling for a road march towards Balakleya. The Germans had moved in Armee Detachment Hollidt, with the 50th, 198th and 336th Infantry Divisions after a long train ride from the Black Sea coast. Hollidt was then tasked with screening the Donets between Balakleya and Krasny Liman, with his main focus being the defense of the important supply and crossing city of Izyum.

That city was being slowly approached by the Soviet 63rd Army, and Hollidt posted his 50th Division north of Izyum between the Donets and Oskol Rivers. On the left of that defense was a less reliable unit, the 187th Reserve Division. It was actually on the other side of the Donets where the river began making wide bends through a heavily wooded area west of Izyum. A Regiment of the173rd Reserve Division had already been overrun at Andreyevka, its remnants retreating west and north, behind the river. The remaining regiment was at Balakleya, but it now retreated southeast to link up with the 187th.

That regiment now represented the extreme left of Manstein’s infantry shield in the south near Izyum, but Das Reich was coming up fast. Manstein wanted it to watch what the enemy was doing at Balakleya, and he expected that they might continue to push out well beyond their bridgehead, which was now widening between Andreyevka and Balakleya.

Manstein was finally on the scene, bringing Papa Hörnlein’s Grossdeutschland Division and Eicke’s 3rd SS Division. The Germans could make night marches too….

Chapter 27

Zhukov got the report around midnight, April 15th—a column of motorized troops, with armor support, was moving up towards Balakleya. This could only mean one thing—Steiner. So, he thought, they moved west very quickly, and where there was smoke, there was always fire.

The Soviets knew all the cards that were in the German hand. They had seen Manstein deftly sweep away their feint towards Millerovo, adjusting and restoring the line in three days of fast paced operations. That was exactly what he had intended, but now they had finally realized what was happening and the jig was up.

They will have three strong divisions there soon, he thought, all the rest of Steiner’s Group, including their elite Grossdeutschland. This means I must order 2nd Shock, 63rd and 57th Armies to halt and assume defensive positions until I determine what Manstein is going to do here. As for my mobile reserve, I was intending to send it in Popov’s wake. We’ve a good bridgehead over the Donets now between Andreyevka and Balakleya, and Popov reports that there is very little resistance there.

The roads are open all the way to Krasnograd and on to the Dnieper! I did not plan to cross the Donets until after Kharkov was secured, and in light of this development concerning Steiner, I think it best that I pull the reins on Popov. I can’t have him galloping on towards the Dnieper with Manstein on my flank. I will order Popov to pause and consolidate. Then we will see what develops. As for my mobile reserve—it stays where it is for now as well, right in the center of the board. One must always have a Knight handy when needed.

Another old chess player, Manstein had been playing well to Kingside in dealing with Zhukov’s gambit in the Don sector. The wily Russian General had taken a pawn, but his Knight was driven off by the Queen in the first defensive operation. Now Manstein had castled, developing a strong Rook as he did so in Das Reich. But he was not yet ready to attack. He wanted to get a few more major pieces developed, most notably, the 3rd SS Totenkopf Division, which was re-routed through Kramatorsk well south of Krasny Liman to re-coal the trains. He also had an errant Bishop he wanted to get into play, the 17th Panzer Division on its way from the Caucasus.

Hollidt was getting his infantry into position to watch the river line east of Izyum, so now the General could begin clenching his mailed fist by concentrating his Panzer divisions. Instead of immediately launching the two heavy pieces he had in a premature attack, he opted for position play, maneuvering to watch the flank of any enemy move beyond the Donets from the vicinity of Balakleya. Every move he made had to be carefully considered. The enemy pieces were raging through the center of the board, but he was building up power on the flanks.

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.