Ironfall

Chapter 19

Manstein had good reason to want those mobile divisions north of the Don. Winter had finally released its icy grip on the land, and three weeks of mud had passed with the Spring thaw. Now, in mid-April, the ground was drying out and the Soviet Army was planning two Spring offensives, hoping to catch the Germans before they could complete offensive preparations of their own. All things considered, the Soviets were facing a much more difficult task than they had before them in Fedorov’s history. The German forces arrayed under Manstein’s command were considerably stronger than they were in the old history.

To begin with, there had been no disaster at Stalingrad. Manstein pulled his best Panzer Divisions out of the fight for Volgograd, and sent in ten infantry divisions. When those troops had reduced the Soviet defense there to a tiny strip along the Volga near the factory district, he then turned over the whole operation to Volkov. All those divisions, along with many extracted from the Voronezh pocket, were now the forces he commanded in the Caucasus. That campaign had achieved startling results, overwhelming the weary and supply starved divisions the Soviets had left behind there, and then driving Volkov’s forces all the way to edge of Groznyy.

The German army had proved itself to be a potent and dangerous force. It had not taken the staggering losses it sustained in the real history at Stalingrad, and instead of desperately trying to patch together a front that had been completely shattered between November of 1942 and February of 1943, Manstein commanded forces and lines of battle that were solid, well provisioned, and backed by strong reserves.

In the real history, the SS Panzer Korps was only now beginning to form as a strong cohesive fighting force that it would become, but in these Altered States, Steiner had commanded those divisions from the outset of Operation Blue, driving all the way to Volgograd, and then forming the backbone of the defense against Zhukov’s winter offensives. He had a hardened and highly skilled force, and for the last month his three remaining divisions had been in reserve, receiving new tanks, equipment and replacements.

So the Spring of 1943 found the German army unbroken, raging through the Middle East, and yet still as strong as ever on the Ostfront. Paulus was alive and well, and his 6th Army had never died the agonizing death it experienced at Stalingrad. That saved 40 German and Axis allied divisions from destruction, and made a major difference in the prospects for 1943. Even as Manstein focused his own attention to the battle in the Caucasus, the Don Front was strongly held by good German divisions, with a few weak spots that had been filled by Luftwaffe Field divisions formed into several Korps. The whole region was still looking for a definitive battle that might form a turning point in this campaign, and both sides were churning through possible offensive plans for the Spring.

Through the long winter months of January and February, the opposing armies had dug in and worked to replenish their forces. Now the Russians were again ready to go on the attack, and Zhukov had outlined a grand offensive scheme he wanted to launch in April. The plan was both daring and complex, and it would test the limits of the Soviet commanders’ ability to coordinate large mobile forces in the field over multiple fronts.

He met with Sergei Kirov and his intelligence Chief Berzin at their headquarters in Leningrad to explain the plan. “Kharkov,” he said at the outset. “That is the primary objective.”

“Not Rostov?” said Kirov.

“Old hat,” the General replied quickly. “We’ll return to that sector in good time, but we must have Kharkov if we are to ever have any chance of getting over the Dnieper.”

“The Dnieper? Isn’t that a far reach for us now?”

“It is, but it must remain the primary strategic objective of our effort this year. We tried to liberate the Donbass last year, but failed; so now we will strike the line farther north. The liberation of Ukraine will begin by seizing one of its greatest cities, Kharkov.”

“Show me how you want to proceed,” said Kirov, gesturing to the table map.

“Very well,” said Zhukov. “Manstein is deep in the Caucasus choking Ivan Volkov, and that is a gift we never expected to receive in this war. While the political situation has ruled out alliance with Volkov, given the military reality of the situation, that is what we have now. Our forces cannot coordinate with each other, but we have one common enemy, and so we must take every advantage of that. Last winter, our forces were strongly concentrated here after the reduction of the Voronezh pocket.” Zhukov pointed to the region southwest of Voronezh near Kursk. “We pushed hard for Bryansk, but the winter conditions prevented any real concerted effort. Now, with the Spring, we are ready to try again, only this time, it will be Kharkov.”

“With Rokossovsky?”

“Correct… And Vatutin.”

“Can we manage an offensive from two fronts at the same time?

“We will soon find out, but I have I have every confidence that we can succeed. To begin with, this is not the army the Germans defeated with their Operation Barbarossa. Both our Generals, and the troops they now command, have gained much experience, particularly in the use of our armor. Last year we enjoyed one advantage in that our tanks were found to be superior to those of the enemy. They hit harder, moved faster over open terrain, and we were able to get them out in sufficient numbers to matter. Our Tank Corps concept was only just being introduced at the time of the Tula operation, now it has been adopted across the entire army. We no longer operate the armor in packets embedded within the Rifle Division armies. Now over 80% are fielded in these new Tank and Mech Corps.”

“So the task is to learn how to coordinate them in an offensive,” said Kirov.

“Correct, but we cannot yet fight as the Germans do.”

“What do you mean?”

“They avoid frontal engagements, concentrate everything at the point of penetration, and often utilize the strategy of the double envelopment to create a battle of encirclement.”

“Yes,” said Kirov with a shrug, “a million of our soldiers learned that they hard way.”

“We cannot fight as they do,” said Zhukov. “Our strategy must be adapted to the structure of the army, the capabilities of our soldiers and Generals, the terrain we fight on, and our objectives. So I have begun to attack on a broad front, with multiple thrusts, or perhaps one or two larges offensive pushes. The Germans fight to destroy our forces, and do not mandate terrain objectives. They gain ground only after destroying our armies, as we have seen. By contrast, we are fighting to liberate the Soviet Union, and so recapturing terrain is our principle objective, and we seek to destroy the enemy because he opposes us as we pursue that purpose. They seek a decisive decision with each operation, we instead seek to wear our enemy down by mass and attrition. This is why we pushed to develop more artillery. Now our armies will be supported by two or three times the number of guns in our offensives compared to 1941. We break through with the shock of those guns and the massing of our armor.”

“But they have managed to stop us at every turn.”

“True, but they pay a price for that. While they are rapidly introducing new and better tanks, their forces are now fighting on many fronts, and it is no longer easy for them to concentrate for big offensives. So our strategy must be to keep up relentless pressure, and this is why we attack in the south. There the terrain is broken by a series of parallel river barriers, the Don, Donets, and Dnieper. Our plan is to attack on a broad front, but with concentration in key areas to achieve breakthrough and threaten envelopment of their forces. Their natural defense would be to withdraw to the next defensible position—the next river—which then gives us all the terrain between those two walls of water. Our objective here is to move from the Don to the Donets, and liberate everything in between.”

“We could not do that in the south last year.” Kirov remained understandably skeptical.

“True, but things have changed. Their invasion of the Caucasus took twenty divisions with it, and many will have to stay there for some time. Last November we tried out the concept of the massed Shock Group—multiple armies focused on a strong concentric thrust. They stopped us, but had to use their very best mobile divisions to do so. This time we play out that strategy with multiple thrusts, aiming to overtax their defense.”

“Do we have sufficient forces for this?”

“We do. I have reorganized the offensive power of the army into several Operational Shock Groups. They are generally composed of one Shock Army, and a new Guards Army forged from the veteran divisions of the first two years of fighting. A Tank Army could also be substituted for one of the other armies, or added to an existing group to create more striking power for deeper operations. Three Groups have been assembled for this operation, and renumbered so all the armies assigned to a given group would share the same numeral designation. The front will still be held by the regular field armies, and these Shock Groups will move up just prior to the onset of the attack.”

“So you will not attack from the Don Bridgeheads?”

“Only as a feint. The Germans must cover and hold Rostov to protect their position in the Caucasus, so any attack from our lower Don bridgeheads will be certain to produce a strong reaction. I will use that against them this time, and launch a spoiling attack threatening Rostov. Last year we fought hard to reach the Oskol River. That is where our main attack will come from now, and with the objective of liberating all the ground between the Oskol and Donets. Phase II is to then force the upper Donets along a broad front, all with the aim of taking Kharkov. Phase III, should the opportunity present itself, might be a deeper penetration beyond the Donets.”

“Show me on the map.”

“Very well, we start where the enemy expects us to come, the lower Don. That attack will only be meant to pull in the enemy mobile reserves, and then it will be withdrawn. But while it is underway, the real operation begins here, east of Prokhorovka. I have planned a series of successive blows against the German. This is the 2nd Army along the Psel south of Kursk, and on its right is their 4th Army defending the line of the Oskol River. I will attack them both, and with three primary objectives. The first is to eliminate these two German 2nd Army strongpoints at Oboyan and Prokhorovka. This will launch first, conducted by the 5th Shock Group. Initially, it will seem to be a local operation, but a day later we will throw two more shock groups over the Oskol River—here, between Novy Oskol and Valuki, at the southern end of their 4th Army’s line. This is the main push for Kharkov, and it will be further augmented by a special mobile group under General Popov, which will push for the Donets. I am designating this whole operation as Krasny Zvezda. ” (Red Star).

Kirov cast a wary glance at Berzin, but said nothing. That was an eerie echo of the name given to Popov’s ill-fated operation east and south of Kharkov in the real history, intending to flank that city and drive on to the Dnieper. Called Operation Star, it had overextended itself, and was eventually defeated by a stunning counterattack put in by Manstein, his famous “Backhand Blow.” It was as if Zhukov had read the same “material” that Kirov and Berzin had been using to guide them through the war, though they knew that was clearly impossible.

“And the third objective?” asked Kirov.

“Assuming all goes well and the opportunity presents itself, Poltava. After reducing those strongpoints, the 5th Shock Group will move on Kharkov as well, and once it arrives there, all forces will reorganize and form one concerted thrust at Poltava. Kharkov then becomes the forward depot to support our operations against Poltava, and we use that city as a springboard to the Dnieper this summer. This attack will then threaten to cut off everything the Germans have to the east, the Donbass, Donets Basin and the Caucasus. You see? We will not have to fight for the Donbass this year, though I will launch a spoiling attack there, intended only to pull in enemy reserves. Once we have Kharkov and Poltava, the Germans will simply have to give all the rest to us to avoid being cut off. We will not have to grind our way through the heavy built up industrial region of the Donets Basin, because once we reach Poltava in force, that sector is completely flanked. We can go right to Kremenchug, or anywhere east of that city, and threaten to cross the Dnieper.”

“I see…. And General, what will the Germans do about this?”

“That remains to be seen, but we will keep considerable reserves in hand to deal with it, the 2nd Shock Group.”

When the General departed for the front, Kirov gave Berzin a strange look. “Uncanny,” he said. “He comes to us with the same plan—the same name, and even with Popov leading that thrust in the south!”

“It certainly has a very dark rhyme to it,” said Berzin.

“And a dark ending as well,” said Kirov. “What if this General Manstein does the very same thing he did in the Material? Popov’s attack becomes a disaster. I don’t see how this attack can succeed. The German 6th Army is still in the Donbass. Shouldn’t we destroy it first, as in the Material?”

“Zhukov seems to think we can bypass it,” said Berzin. “And he may be correct.”

“Assuming that, do you believe the Germans will just sit there while we go raging into Kharkov and on to Poltava?”

“They might do exactly that. You forget Hitler. He went to war with Volkov for a very good reason—he wants that oil, and now that his troops have reached Groznyy, he can smell it. Maykop was just the appetizer. The fields at Groznyy are much bigger, and from there, he can see both Baku and Astrakhan. He won’t give any of that up easily, so he’ll hold on to the Caucasus at any cost.”

“But that means they will also have to hold the lower Don region to cover Rostov, and the Donets Basin as well. Isn’t Rostov the more important objective now? It was in the Material.”

“Perhaps,” said Berzin. Rostov was already secured by the time this operation was launched in the Material—but only because of the German defeat at Stalingrad. That was Zhukov’s intention last winter with Operation Saturn. Then he played that wildcard with Operation Jupiter, and it shifted the gravity of the whole campaign further north. The Offensive aimed at Bryansk did the same thing. It concentrated most of our offensive power in the Voronezh sector. Moving those armies about is no simple matter. So Zhukov plays the game from where he stands, and in that light, this plan makes perfect sense. Remember, the army was fairly well spent when Operation Star was launched in February of 1943 according to our documents. That isn’t the case here. General Winter was so severe this year that he forced us all to sit and wait. Now the army is well rested, and with fresh troops and the best tanks and equipment we could give them—not those hand-me-down Matilda’s Popov had from the British Lend Lease Program. Things could turn out differently, and if this plan does work, it would compromise all the German positions to the east of Dnipropetrovsk, just as Zhukov suggests.”

“Yes…” said Kirov. “If it works. I’m a bit nervous about this one. See if we can scare up something more in the way of a reserve. This General Manstein is not to be underestimated.”

Chapter 20

The sector chosen for the northern attack was just east of the city of Prokhorovka, an old Cossack rail station on the Moscow Kharkov rail line that was built by an engineer named Prokhorov. The town was in ruins, many homes and buildings burned out rubble, but it had been fortified by German Engineers, and was protected by a thick belt of minefields.

About 12 kilometers to the west on the River Psel, was Krasny Oktyabr, (Red October), which was chosen as the breakthrough zone for 5th Guards Army. About five kilometers southeast of Prokhorovka, the heavy defensive works thinned out at another red town, simply called Krasnoye. That was now the nest of KG Schubert an independent unit in Model’s new 2nd Army. His 305th Infantry Division held Prokhorovka, and KG Schubert was the last unit under Model’s direct control at Krasnoye. From there, the German line would stretch southwest to the Oskol, with the 4th Army under General Heinrici. So Schubert was right on the seam between the two armies, commanding a small Kampfgruppe composed of three more battalions, the 161st Panzerjager, 21st Armored Car, and 221st Pioneers.

Oberst Kristen Shubert had passed an uneasy night, his well-trained ear certain that he could hear the dull rumble of distant vehicles moving in the night. He asked for the latest Luftwaffe recon report, but learned that no enemy forces had been seen on the roads to the north that day. Yet he could not shake the feeling of inner anxiety the morning, after a fitful and restless six hours of sleep. So he resolved to visit the forward edge of the town, touring the bunkers and having a look for himself. It was not long before when he saw the dark lines of Russian infantry emerge from the misty steppe land north of the city, and immediately ran to the nearest command bunker to get to a radio.

“Artillery!” he shouted. “There are swarms of Red infantry coming at us!”

The code word launching the attack was very simple that morning, and it was sent in the clear on the radio: “Red, Red October!” It was more than a battle cry hearkening back to the Revolution. In fact, it was announcing the names of the two villages singled out as breakthrough zones. The enemy coming at Schubert was the 5th Shock Army, meant to be the eastern pincer for this initial operation aimed at eliminating the Prokhorovka strongpoint, and 5th Guards Army was moving up to begin the attack to the west at Krasny Oktyabr.

The Pioneers had no organic artillery of their own, and nothing more than mortars, which were already starting to pop off and range in on the advancing enemy. But Schubert put in a call to 2nd Army Artillery, which he knew was positioned in range. Soon the rounds of 10.5 and 15cm guns were starting to fall, mostly on the 24th Rifle Division. Then calls came in from 10th Luftwaffe Field Division, positioned just outside the town to the west. They wanted help, and Schubert knew this attack was more than a simple poke and prod against the line when stragglers from that unit began filtering into the town near his bunkers. There was power behind this operation. He could feel it in the rumble of the earth, hear it in the dull growl of heavy engines, and the movement of many trucks. The woodland to the north was suddenly teeming with enemy infantry.

That power was the entire 5th Shock Group under General Rokossovsky’s Voronezh Front. Wherever a breakthrough was needed, Zhukov called on the Rock. He would lead with a strong attack from 5th and 15th Guards Rifle Corps, six guards rifle divisions in all, and this was only the leading edge of the storm, meant to find, engage and fix the positions of the enemy on the line. Behind them came the breakthrough wave, Kortzov’s 5th Shock Army, and behind it was Rybalko’s 5th Tank Army, with three tank corps. This last army was not moved up to the front until the night before the attack, and every effort was made to conceal the buildup in the dark woodland east of Prokhorovka.

There were two other Soviet armies in this sector, Kharitonov’s 6th Army to the west covering the German fortified town of Oboyan, and Kazakov’s 69th to the southeast. These forces were mainly to be tasked with holding the shoulders of the breakthrough zone, but they were strong formations, particularly the 6th, with six rifle divisions and a number of independent brigades and cavalry units. It would begin making attacks along the lines of Model’s 5th Korps to keep it from maneuvering to oppose the breakthrough sector. The rifle divisions made attacks all along the line, as far west as Oboyan, which had been a fortified strongpoint held by the Germans all winter. Once a breakthrough was obtained near Prokhorovka, the main axis of the attack was to be southwest, skirting past Belgorod, and then on to Kharkov. In making this maneuver, the Russians would be threatening all the divisions in Model’s 2nd Army to the west, which was now on the line in a wide arc above Belgorod, stretching all the way to Sumy like a great steel shield.

As Zhukov had explained, the attack was intended to seem like an isolated event. And it wasn’t Model that Zhukov was really threatening, but 4th Army under Heinrici. Only the western pincer would launch from the vicinity of Prokhorovka. The real danger would come when the second pincer launched from the Oskol, on the southern end of 4th Army, a much stronger attack. At the same time, a second operation dubbed “Operation Comet” would make a strong spoiling attack on the Middle Don to hopefully pull in mobile units behind the front there, and prevent them from moving northwest against Operation Red Star.

There was no question that the little town of Krasnoye would fall, as it did on the morning of April 10th when Oberst Schubert and his pioneers were forced from their nest as the heavy guns of the 5th Tank Destroyer Brigade began pummeling their positions with 122mm HE rounds. Falling back from the village, they soon were met by elements of the German 305th Infantry, which had been posted as local reserves. Schubert’s little Kampfgruppe was well scattered now, but he learned his second pioneer battalion had not yet been attacked.

Krasny Oktyabr also fell just before dawn, and that became the most serious breach in the line. The 24th and 25th Tank Corps were waiting to push through, and the growl and rattle of the tanks joined the boom of artillery as they attacked. A frantic call came in from General Oppenländer of the 305th Infantry to his 5th Korps commander, General Siebert at his HQ, and it was necessarily brief—Russian tanks had broken through west of Prokhorovka and his HQ at Komsomets was being overrun. That was 10 kilometers behind Prokhorovka, where the rail line snaked its way northeast towards the town. (See map for 5th Shock Group Operations).

“They hit us on both flanks! Word is that we’ll have a breakthrough on the right as well. I must go, they are right on top of us!”

Siebert knew Oppenländer to be a steady hand, which was why his division had been posted in that fortress town, but it was clear that this was something more than anyone expected that morning. He barked orders to get any local Korps assets moving to Komsomets, then he got on the telephone to Model.

Reports kept migrating up the chain of command, and eventually went directly to Manstein, who was busy looking over maps on the battle for Groznyy when the signal came in. Initially, he was not overly concerned, since the action seemed confined to the vicinity of Prokhorovka, and appeared nothing more than chest thumping from the other side. Yet the question always lingered when a quiet sector of the line suddenly became active. Was this something big, or merely a local head butting as often happened along the extended front?

Reports began to come in, slowly filling out the details of what was happening. It looked like an operation to pinch off one of the dimples in the line. That could mean the Russians were trying to tidy up the front, which meant Oboyan might be next. Seeing that Model’s 5th Korps under Siebert was involved, he decided to get on the telephone and contact the 2nd Army Commander at his HQ.

“Model? What is happening up there? Are the Russians trying to spoil my party?”

“Someone rang the doorbell early this morning,” said Model. “A strong attack has developed since. They overran Schubert’s KG this morning, right on the edge near the Army boundary with Heinrici. Now they have their foot in the door and a strong right shoulder pushing hard.”

“Tanks?”

“At least three corps reported. One is trying to get around Siebert’s flank near KG Schubert, and two more have broken through west of Prokhorovka. They’ve reached the rail line and spoiled Oppenländer’s breakfast.”

“Then you believe they are just trying to isolate the bastion at Prokhorovka?” Manstein probed for Model’s assessment of the situation.

“You know Zhukov,” said Model. “When he commits a full tank army, he means business. This is no spoiling attack. It has some depth. We have reports of units from three separate armies already involved, and one is a Guards formation.”

“Anything happening further west along your lines?”

“Not yet,” said Model. “I’ve been watching my other flank, but there’s no activity there. Thus far, this appears to be an isolated attack, but with a lot of mechanized units. It could be a prelude to something more.”

“Any word from Heinrici?”

“Nothing. His 56th Infantry Division was just to the right of this attack on Schubert, but aside from some pressure there, his entire front is quiet, all the way to the Oskol River, and then down to Valuki—dead quiet.”

“Which is somewhat strange,” said Manstein. “This may be a bull, but so far it only has one horn if they intend anything more with this.”

“What do you want me to do?” asked Model. “24th Panzer Korps is long gone, off to Germany for the refit. My problem now is that I’ve had to put damn near every division on the line to hold the front, so I’ve very little in reserve.”

“Dietrich is at Kharkov,” said Manstein.

Sepp Dietrich was indeed posted there, and with all of his 1st SS Leibstandarte Division. “If this is something big, then tell Oppenländer to give them Prokhorovka if they want it. You have my permission to make any adjustments to your line that you deem necessary. I’ll notify Dietrich. Otherwise, hold your front. If those tanks continue south, then they want Belgorod; and if they want that, then they’re after Kharkov.”

“A pity they sent all my Panzer Divisions home last month to refit,” said Model.

“Not all of them. 22nd Panzer moved back to Poltava to get ready for the trip home, but it looks like that will have to be delayed. I’ll alert them to the trouble, but for now, let’s see what develops. I’ll contact you tonight.”

Oppenländer’s situation became more serious hour by hour. Both the red villages had been taken, his flanks penetrated and pushed back, and he was perhaps two hours away from finding his whole division in a pocket centered on Prokhorovka. Siebert finally got hold of him again by radio, finding that he had moved his HQ just east of the rail line near Belenkino. That was where most of the divisional and Korps support artillery had been positioned, which had been firing nonstop for the last hour. With permission to withdraw in hand, he now had to decide whether he could pull the maneuver off. Oppenländer and his entire division, had escaped the carnage of Stalingrad, finding this post with Model’s 2nd Army to be a lucky reprieve from the heavier fighting—until now.

It seemed that fate was capricious and vengeful, and was conspiring to put the division into a little pocket all on its own. Moving men from long held defensive bunkers was never easy. His division would become scattered, exposed to attack the whole time, and it would likely be days before he could get it back in any semblance of order. Yet if he left the men in place, they might find themselves in an enemy POW camp soon, or worse. He decided to stand his ground, ordering his division to assume all around defensive positions and ride out the storm. The division artillery was sent north, into the pocket that would now form. The Korps artillery he sent south, hoping there would be better use for it when the Army came back to relieve him. Oppenländer then ordered his staff north towards Prokhorovka, saying nothing to their wide-eyed stares. When a staff Lieutenant complained under his breath, he turned on the man with an angry rebuke.

“That is our division fighting up there, and we will fight right alongside them. Understand?” The General had seen far worse in the first war, and he had the medals on his chest to prove it.

Model was a whirlwind once he knew what was happening. Heinrici’s 12th Korps near Prokhorovka was already starting to fold back its left flank, with 56th Infantry there still under heavy pressure. The 305th was already pocketed, and there was now a gap in the front 20 kilometers wide. The only division Model had in reserve was the 102nd, but it was well to the west, south of Sumy. His right flank was now Siebert’s middle division, the 294th, and Siebert himself was already motoring northwest with his HQ to avoid being overrun. His problem was that “Festung Oboyan” was now sticking out like a sore thumb where the River Psel made its turn to the southeast. As long as he was charged with holding that city, he would have to hold that flank. The first thing he did was to put in a call to General Hell in the 7th Korps, the center Korps of the three that made up 2nd Army.

Learning that Hell still had s single regiment of the 299th in reserve, he ordered him to send it east immediately to shore up Siebert’s right flank. Then he looked to Schmidt’s Korps for the one major reserve he still had in hand. Friesner’s 102nd Infantry Division was behind Sumy, and he told Schmidt to send it to Siebert.

“I know it’s a long march, but the situation demands it.”

“General,” said Schmidt. “I just unloaded my latest supply delivery at Nizhnaya. That’s what Friesner’s men were doing. I’ll put them all right on that train and simply send it east.”

“Perfect!” Model was elated. “That rail comes right to me here at Tomarovka, and this attack might be heading my way. So send it here, Schmidt. Heinrici has a division screening Belgorod, and with the 102’nd we might just be able to throw up another defensive front. Get it moving as soon as you can. And if you can spare any Sturmgeschutz Battalions, send them as well.”

What Model really needed now was the power to counterattack, but that would only be possible if he could mass at least three infantry divisions, or get his hands on a Panzer division. Knowing the 1st SS Division was at Kharkov was a good consolation, but all that had happened up to this point was but a prelude.

At dawn on the 11th of April, the other shoe fell. Zhukov launched his second pincer from the Oskol River between Novyy Oskol and Valuki. The attack in the north would be made by Shurkin’s 63rd Army, and the Popov Mobile Group, with two Tank Corps and a column of three motorized brigades. To their immediate south, in the center of the breakthrough zone, the entire 1st Shock Army under Yeremenko would focus on one point in the line near Volokonovka, and just south of that, all of Kuznetsov’s 1st Guards Army would cross the river. This force had 1st Guard Tank, 1st Guard Mech, three Guards Rifle Divisions, the 81st Motorized, six other rifle divisions, and a lot of heavy artillery. It would be strongly supported on the left by Morozov’s 3rd Shock Army, and down near Valuki, where the five divisions of 3rd Guards Army would force a bridgehead there. Gagen’s 58th Army held the southern flank of this intended breakthrough zone, and Shurkin’s 63rd Army would hold the north shoulder. This was a much bigger attack than the attack near Prokhorovka, and once it got over the Oskol River in force, there was good open country to the west.

The full scope of Operation Red Star would soon become apparent. (See map for Red Star General Plan).

Chapter 21

Manstein had been keeping one eye on the situation in the north, while he monitored the progress of the assault over the Terek River east of Groznyy. The sector west of that city was a maze of heavy fortifications, and he had been hammering at them for three days. Yet his real hope was on the cross-river operation east of Groznyy, as it would unhinge this defense by threatening to flank the entire city. He had every confidence in Model’s ability to handle this attack near Prokhorovka. Then he got the news of the second Soviet offensive.

So… The other horn of the bull, he thought. They always come in pairs. It is obvious that they are now attempting a pincer operation against 4th Army, but that is an awful lot to chew on. Heinrici has seven decent infantry divisions, and they are well rested. Model’s army is even stronger, completely rebuilt over the winter, with three strong infantry Korps—ten divisions. If this attack had come in February, he would also have all of 24th Panzer Korps in reserve, but for now, the 22nd division will have to do.

Model is concentrating his reserves near Belgorod and his HQ at Tomarovka, right in the danger zone; always on the scene where the trouble is. It would put him in a position to counterattack that northern pincer if it continues south, but he’ll need panzers. Yet this attack over the Oskol is a matter of some concern. It seems a good deal bigger than the one in the north…. So they are trying to pocket 4th Army, and this pincer is strong enough to move on Kharkov as well. That will be a tall order. Do they think they could really pocket the whole of Heinrici’s 4th Army, and take Kharkov as well?

The answer to that got more complicated when the enormity of Operation Red Star emerged from the misty eastern shores of the Oskol River. There, the morning stillness was broken by the roaring thunder of the Breakthrough Artillery Division assigned to prepare the offensive. This division alone had 48 mixed guns in the 122mm to 152mm range, and another 48 super heavy 203mm howitzers. It would be joined by all the various army artillery, the thump of the mortar brigades and the hiss of well over 100 Katyusha rocket launchers, well over a thousand guns.

Covered by that intense bombardment, the line of the river was soon seething with Soviet infantry. Pontoon Engineers were dragging pre-assembled bridging units down to the river, where battalions were already crossing with assault boats. They were screened by woodland along the river, which stretched in a wide bend from Novyy Oskol, down to Valuki, where it made a sharp turn to the southwest, passing through Urazovo before flowing down to Kupyansk. It would continue south, eventually meeting the Donets about 10 kilometers southeast of the major crossing city of Izyum. One day Zhukov hoped to take that, but not this day.

The iron was falling on the weakest sector of the German line, held by the 1st Luftwaffe Field Korps with three “Divisions” that were really regiments in actual size. To their south as the river flowed to Valuki, the Osttruppen gathered from the 2nd and 4th Armies were patched into the line to fill gaps. The massive storm of steel and men that Zhukov was now throwing at this thin line was certain to break through, and from there, golden opportunities lay ahead, the first prize being Kharkov as planned.

The attack created a huge rip in the line, thick with rifle divisions, motorized battalions and then the powerful tank brigades crossing the bridges in the pre-dawn hours. By sunrise, the bridgehead over the Oskol was 7 kilometers deep and nearly 30 kilometers long from north to south. The Osttruppen were native Russian “volunteers,” mostly pressganged into makeshift battalions and used to watch rear areas and report on their brothers in arms engaged in partisan warfare. They were turncoats to be sure, but their ranks were salted with Czechs, Hungarians, Poles, Serbians and even dissident Turkomen troops that had fled from Volkov’s regime. Needless to say, when the real heart and soul of the Soviet Army showed up, they had no stomach for the fight, and wanted to divest themselves of any association with the Germans as soon as possible, melting away and pretending to be woebegone peasant farmers simply caught up in the storm.

Heinrici had put them on the line because he wanted to keep at least one good German Division behind his front as a reserve. He had thought the wider watercourse of the river near Valuki would offer them protection, but the Soviets were well prepared to make the crossing. The price Heinrici paid for this oversight was the quick collapse of the line from Valuki north. The Luftwaffe troops were putting up resistance near Volkonovka, but they were being flanked by the Popov group to the north, and 1st Guards Army to the south. Heinrici had ordered the single German division he had in reserve to move northwest and screen the approaches to Belgorod, so when this second storm broke, he had nothing he could send south to his right flank.

There was one mobile unit that might react, the two Reichsführer brigades at Volchansk, where a fan of several tributary rivers converged to flow into the northern Donets. That was a theater reserve, technically now part of Steiner’s SS Panzer Korps, so to use it, he would have to get permission from Manstein. The General had his eye on it that morning as he looked over the map.

Volchansk, thought Manstein. That is where this big attack over the Oskol must eventually go, and then we’ll see if they actually plan to cross the Donets in that sector. The Reichsführer is there now, and it would be a good place to send Dietrich. From there, he could also support Model’s defense of Belgorod, so that is where Leibstandarte must go. With the Reichsführer Brigades, I will have a little iron in hand, but it will take more than that to stop this offensive. I have Hausser’s 2nd SS at Izyum, and Totenkopf is further south at Donetsk. That is the force I will need, all of Steiner’s Korps.

But it was not to be. It is said that bad things come in threes, and that proverb would be proved true the following morning on the Middle Don.

On the night of the 12th, Zhukov staged his surprise attack with the leading echelons of his main forces assembled for Operation Comet. As one division general after another was awakened in the night, the telephones were soon ringing off the hooks. A picture as black as night began to emerge as staff members in the Rostov HQ updated the large wall map. The entire line of the lower Don, from Boguchar to Bokovskaya, was under attack.

The left flank of that line was not strong, with the Luftwaffe 2nd Field Korps anchored on the river near Boguchar, a reserve infantry Korps in the center, and the 1st Luftwaffe Field Korps on the right. The latter two were under attack, along with the independent 17th Infantry Korps, as well as the 51st Infantry Korps. Those last two formations were under 6th Army control, and so now Paulus would be involved.

What is Zhukov up to here, thought Manstein? This third offensive is very broad, over 150 kilometers wide! And like the attack on the Oskol, they are falling hard on the weak points in the line. This was well planned. Those Luftwaffe divisions won’t hold, so that means they will probably break through east of Millerovo by tomorrow morning. That is a key rail junction town, and the last bastion before the Donets crossings between Voroshilovgrad and Belaya Kalivta, and this is undoubtedly where this offensive is headed. If they get over the Donets, then I have Rostov to worry about, and that cannot be permitted.

Very bold, he thought. Yet they may be trying to do too much here. If they had combined these offensives, then they would have had a real bull in the ring. As it stands, they might allow me to defeat these attacks in detail. All this happens just as I was ready to begin my offensive towards Elista. That Don sector had the divisions much more widely spaced, and with very little behind the main line. So this is dangerous. This whole operation so deep into the Caucasus is equally dangerous. Kleist is a good man, and he can handle the army here well enough, but for now I think I must turn my attention to the Don Front sector, and the upper Donets.

I must first get Model a little help by sending him back his 22nd Panzer Division. That goes to Belgorod, in a good position to assist Dietrich when he moves on Volchansk. Hopefully we can contain that breach in a few days, but that failing, those divisions will be well positioned for a counterattack. Then it is time I spoke with Steiner. It looks like 2nd and 3rd SS Divisions cannot go north as I had hoped. We will need to stop this third offensive. As for this attack planned for Elista, I think it is ill-advised until I determine the full scope of the Russian plan. Who knows, there may be something else out there that will rear its ugly head in the next week. I must be cautious now. For the moment, I will trade a little space for time, readjust line along the lower Don, and then see about marshaling the reserves needed to stop these enemy drives. First things first—I must defend Rostov, and the Donets must not be crossed.

Even as Manstein deliberated, a messenger came in to hand him a signal from OKW. When he read it, all he could do was smile, shaking his head. Hitler wanted to know how soon preparations would be complete for the drive on Astrakhan! This message was obviously old, drafted before these offensives had begun. He called for an adjutant, telling the man to send a reply indicating that, in light of the three Soviet offensives presently underway, he was suspending any operation aimed at Astrakhan until the situation could be assessed and brought under control. Needless to say, still heady with the wine of imminent victory, Hitler did not want to hear anything of the kind.

That afternoon, Manstein ordered Grossdeutschland Division to suspend preparations for the attack on the enemy fortress line northwest of Elista, and he signaled General Schilling to put his 17th Panzer Division on the rail line near Divnoye. The war with Ivan Volkov would simply have to wait. He contacted Steiner immediately.

“We have a situation developing that could become serious soon,” he told him. “I want you to move Totenkopf from Donetsk to Millerovo immediately.

“What about Das Reich? ”

He also had a bull with two horns, but now he had to choose where to place this last piece on the board. If he sent Das Reich North to fight with Leibstandarte, he could definitely stop that northern attack towards Kharkov. Yet in Manstein’s mind, the greater threat was the attack against Paulus in the south. So he ordered 2nd SS to follow Totenkopf to Millerovo. He needed two fists in that fight, at least until he could get Grossdeutschland on the trains. Korps Raus was in deep reserve near Kirovgrad south of the Dnieper, so Manstein could send that to Kharkov to bolster the defense of the city if it became threatened. It only had two good infantry divisions, augmented with a Stug battalion, werfers and engineers, but it would have to do.

In the south, the situation went from bad to worse, on the line of the Don. General Polsten reported that two of his reserve infantry regiments had been completely overrun, and a huge gap had opened in the line. On his right flank, what was left of it, the entire 1st Luftwaffe Field Korps had collapsed and was retreating to the south. On their right, Schneken’s independent 17th Korps had been forced back, the 181st and 182nd divisions suffering heavy casualties. His last division, the 260th, was trying to fight its way out of a pocket on the upper Chir.

The situation prompted Manstein to mate both 2nd and 3rd SS, and now he was rushing the Grossdeutschland Division north on the trains through Rostov, and all without stopping a moment to clear this move with OKW. They would begin reaching Millerovo on the 14th, and with those three divisions, he hoped he could put in a credible counterattack and stop this attack.

Then he got news that Hitler himself was coming to the front to meet with him. Like a dark crow circling over carrion, the Führer wanted to personally intervene in the crisis, flying in to Zaporozhe, and requesting that Manstein meet with him there. It was the last thing the General needed at that moment, but he boarded a plane in spite of the urgency of the moment, leaving instructions with his Chief of Staff as to what he wanted done.

When the meeting came, in spite of handshakes and strained smiles, the tension in the room was palpable. Hitler began by asking why the Army intelligence group had not detected the enemy buildup to report it in a timely manner.

“That is a good question,” said Manstein, “but I am not the one to answer it. If any intelligence was gathered, it was certainly not presented to me. I had to hear the reports from Model before I knew what was happening, and by then this offensive was already underway.”

“Well, what is happening? Why has so much ground been lost along the Don?”

“That question I can answer—because four of the ten regiments receiving the attack have all but been destroyed. The enemy began this offensive on the tenth near Prokhorovka north of Kharkov. Since then it has evolved to a series of blows against the line, the second along the Oskol river north of Valuki, and then this attack emerging from the middle Don.”

“Those enemy bridgeheads should have been destroyed long ago. Why wasn’t this done?”

“Because I was tasked with taking Volgograd, and for no good military reason, I might add. Yet I did so as ordered. After that we had to send twenty divisions into the Caucasus that were once on this front preparing to drive the enemy north of the Don. If they were still here now, instead of fighting our former ally, then this attack could not have been prosecuted.”

“Push was coming to shove with Volkov,” said Hitler, wagging a finger. “War was inevitable. There were both economic and political considerations, but chief among them was the oil I have tasked you with securing. It is clear that Volkov has gone running to Sergei Kirov for aid and support. That is undoubtedly what is behind this new Soviet offensive, but it must be stopped.”

“I am already marshalling the resources required for a counterattack,” said Manstein.

“Steiner?”

“Of course, but these attacks are widely spaced. That creates certain difficulties, but also offers opportunities.”

“What is your assessment of the situation?” Hitler seemed calm and controlled, but Manstein could perceive the slight tremor in his hand, a small twitch in his right eye, and a general weariness on the man.

“It is a strong attack, apparently aimed at Prokhorovka as it began, but the real strength is in the center, along the Oskol River from Novyy Oskol to Valuki. I have already sent Dietrich to support the defense of that sector, but this second pincer from the Oskol is a very serious threat. He won’t be able to handle it alone, and before I can stop it, I must first deal with the situation on the lower Don. Steiner will bring the rest of his Korps here.” Manstein pointed out the location on the map. “Millerovo. I have already taken the liberty of moving Grossdeutschland Division there as well.”

“Yes, and I was not happy about that,” said Hitler. “Movement of any major formation like that must be brought to my attention for approval.”

“I am sorry to say that there was no time for that. Moving a division the size of Grossdeutschland is no small matter. It requires a lot of rolling stock, and I had to act quickly.”

Hitler was willing to excuse that transgression, but it led to an inevitable question. “What of the operation against Elista?”

Manstein’s answer was not welcome news.

“It will have to be cancelled, or at the very least, postponed.”