Once again, Popel jumped into his car and raced off to check the situation up front. Traveling along the darkening road, he described a surreal feeling: “When, after the hustle and bustle of headquarters, reports, lambasting, and howling of engines, you find yourself on a quiet road, soaked by the early evening sun, a strange feeling comes over you. Is it possible that nothing happened—no bombings, dusty tanks, unshaven officers, a woman cradling a bloodied head of her child? Maybe it’s a dream, some nightmare?”[40]
He caught up to a strange procession:
A lieutenant and two privates, all armed with rifles, are escorting a heavy-set man with raised hands, his uniform blouse unbelted. The prisoner is barely moving his feet—apparently, he already gave up on life.
“Who is that?”
“A spy, Comrade Brigade Commissar. We are taking him to be shot.” The “spy” turns towards me:
“Nikolai Kirillych, my dear…”
The chief of artillery of our corps, Colonel Chistyakov, runs towards me. He is so flustered that he can not talk. The lieutenant explained for him. “No documents, no car. Was asking about some howitzer regiment. He’s got colonel’s rank tabs, but his gut is as big as bourgeois’.
“And who are you?” The lieutenant names a regiment of railroad escort troops, presents his ID card. He is fully convinced in righteousness of his actions.
Several minutes later, taking the still-shocked Colonel Chistyakov away from the over-zealous lieutenant, Popel found out what happened. While traveling through Lvov in a lone car, Chistyakov was ambushed by either Ukrainian nationalists or German commandos. He had to jump out of the car, leaving his field bag with documents behind. While making his way out of town, the good colonel ran into the lieutenant and his two men.[41]
As Popel was moving with the advance units corps and rescuing lackluster colonels, Lieutenant General Ryabyshev was chivvying forward the main body of the VIII Mechanized Corps.
The columns were moving at top speed. Unfortunately, the tractor-towed corps artillery was falling severely behind; the difference in speed was slowing down the overall concentration of forces. Since [I] wanted to go into combat supported by artillery, [I] had to call for halts. Often, we were forced to stop because our columns were subjected to enemy air attacks.[42]
Shortly after 2000 hours, after passing Busk, General Zhukov’s car caught up with Ryabyshev’s headquarters. After listening to Ryabyshev’s brief situation report and plans for the next day’s battle, Zhukov departed for Tarnopol and headquarters of the South-Western Front.
Unbeknown to the command of the VIII Mechanized Corps, German aerial reconnaissance spotted its concentration in the evening of June 25. The next morning it would have to attack into alerted and prepared antitank defenses.
Tarnopol, Headquarters of the South-Western Front
Since his arrival at the South-Western Front in Tarnopol, General Zhukov was constantly on the move, cajoling and bullying commanders into getting their troops to the front faster. At around 1700 hours, when the outcome of the fight around Voinitsa and Lokachi still hung in the balance, he telegraphed Potapov and requested the update on the situation.
Potapov reported that while the situation around Kovel was stable, the XXVII Rifle Corps was practically shuttered east of Vladimir-Volynskiy. Its 87th Rifle Division was fighting largely surrounded, and there was no news at all about the 124th Rifle Division. Approaches to Lutsk were being held for now, but there were no reinforcements available to shore up threatened sectors. Potapov was especially concerned that the Germans would attack Lutsk from the south, forcing him to fight on two fronts. Potapov was urgently requesting reinforcements, especially in aviation.[43]
In his turn, Zhukov informed General Potapov of the overall situation on the South-Western Front, with particular emphasis being given to the German breakthrough at the juncture between the Fifth and Sixth armies and their push to Brody. He added that the VIII and XV Mechanized Corps would be attacking the German spearhead from the south. The intent of this maneuver was to destroy the enemy group of forces operating around Berestechko. This would allow the Soviet forces to reestablish the integrity of the border and, in their turn, to attack in the direction of Lyublin.
Furthermore, Potapov was to ensure that Kovel was firmly defended, the encircled 87th Rifle Division was to be assisted by any means possible, liaison officers were to be sent to all major subordinate units, and situation reports were to be submitted every two hours. Also, in response to Potapov’s report that the 152mm cannons of his KV-2 tanks did not have armor-piercing ammunition, Zhukov advised him to use the concrete-piercing ammunition. In conclusion, Zhukov expressed his belief that Popatov and his commissar, Member of the Military Council Nikishev, would accomplish their task.
The Military Council of the South-Western Front now had to decide whether to continue the attack on June 25 with just the XV Mechanized Corps or halt operations for one day and wait for complete arrival and concentration of IV, VIII, IX, and XIX Mechanized Corps. However, with Zhukov being present at the headquarters of the South-Western Front to ensure that Moscow’s attack orders were being carried out, there wasn’t much decision-making leeway available to Kirponos, Purkayev, and Vashugin. The XV Mechanized Corps and whatever units from the IV and VIII Mechanized Corps that reached vicinity of Brody were to attack on the 25th.[44] Kirponos and his staff were not aware yet that the IV Mechanized Corps became largely entangled in fighting along the front of the Sixth Army and would not be able to take part in the general counterattack. Only one of its divisions, the 8th Tank, would make the belated entry into the fray south of Berestechko.
Kirponos’orders read:
The main mission of the right-flank armies of the South-Western Front for June 25th, 1941—destruction of the mobile enemy group of forces… and for the 8th, 15th and 4th Mechanized corps to reach the region of Voinitsa-Milyatin-Sokal. Besides destroying the main (Sokal) enemy group of forces, this maneuver [will] neutralize the threat of encirclement of the main body of our 5th Army by the enemy.
The units of 8th, 15th and 4th Mechanized Corps are to take up starting attack positions during the night of 24th–25th of June…. At exactly 0700 hours on June 25th, 1941, the mechanized corps are to go onto offensive and, destroying the mechanized and infantry enemy units, by 1200 hours accomplish the immediate mission.[45]
This attack was to be supported by three Soviet air force divisions.
CHAPTER 9
Piecemeal Forward, June 25
JUNE 25 WAS A DIFFICULT DAY for the South-Western Front, resulting in the loss of the important cities of Lutsk and Dubno.
The command group of the South-West Front recognized the danger which the German armored group operating in the area of Berestechko and Dubno posed to its sector. There was a real danger that after passing Dubno, the German mechanized forces would turn south, attempting to envelope the bulk of the armies of the South-Western Front still holding the Lvov salient.