At the same time, he summoned at Air Vice Marshall in charge of the Southern Sector, and told him to do everything possible to interdict the German supply line over the Manych Canal. To that end, the airships Taskent, Taraz and Sarkand transported their airmobile companies behind the German lines and landed to conduct raids, if only a demonstration of the vulnerability of that LOC. The Germans had clear air superiority, but those airships could climb to heights where no German fighter could follow, and then they could choose just the right time in the dead of night to quickly descend and deliver their assault squads.
The rail line was a life saver, in spite of attempts by the Luftwaffe to interdict it. By the 19th of April, Karimov had labored mightily to save his own head, and as much of the army as he could. He now had eight rifle divisions and four smaller brigades north of the Kuma to begin operations aimed at uprooting the German 3rd Panzergrenadier Division. Three more divisions were being moved from Armenia and Georgia, and now only the 3rd Army was still trying to hold the line near the Terek, with scattered elements of the Kalmyk Army along the Kuma Bridgehead line. That position would soon collapse, and a full-scale retreat to Groznyy would begin.
General Manstein was also looking at the map, quite pleased with what he had accomplished in just a few weeks. His infantry was moving on the Terek, and his 1st Panzer Army had performed brilliantly, unhinging every enemy defensive line with its skillfully executed maneuvers. The enemy finally saw the danger, and they have massed everything they could find to try and stop me, he thought. 3rd Panzergrenadiers got over the Manych Canal and put the fear of the Lord into them. Now they are scrambling to defend Astrakhan.
At the moment, my mobile forces are about equidistant from those two widely spaced objectives, Astrakhan and Baku. It’s clear that they don’t want me moving north. They have compromised what might have been a very solid defense here in the south to try and protect the approaches to Astrakhan. So it seems that someone, most likely Volkov, has made his choice. He isn’t stupid. He can read a map as easily as I can, and knows that he cannot hold both cities. I am 40 kilometers from cutting his armies off, so he is trying to pull as many divisions out as he can now.
As for Baku, I may eventually get there, but it will not be as easy as it looks. On one side are the mountains, on the other side the Caspian Sea. As send 11th and 17th Armies south, with each mile we gain, the open terrain is compressed a little more by that geography. The will be attacking into a funnel created by those mountains and the sea. With every mile, the enemy defensive front compresses, and it can therefore be held with fewer and fewer troops. It will be no place for my Panzer Divisions, as there will be no room to maneuver there. So how to proceed here?
I have orders to take Baku, but they say nothing about Astrakhan—at least not yet. That city is a major oil producing site, and also acts as the gateway to more developments and resources on the North Caspian shore. Success has many friends, and Hitler must be elated that his miracle worker has delivered the Caucasus as promised. How long will it be before I get orders to move on Astrakhan?
I do not wish to go there, and frankly, it would take a major effort to just get over the Manych in force. That river is impenetrable over most of its length, kilometers wide and surrounded by deep water marshes. It can only be crossed in three places, the Manych Canal where it meets the Kuma River, the road and rail bridges at Divnoye, and the sector near Salsk and Proletarskaya. The first two are defended, and we control the last.
So how would I operate if ordered to continue to prosecute the war against Volkov? I would attack at Divnoye in conjunction with a drive on Elista from the north and west, where the Rumanians are posted. Volkov uses Elista as a forward depot and air field, so I will have to take that place soon. There are no good German troops available. Could the 3rd Rumanian Army do this? We shall see. Perhaps I could stiffen that force by adding in 22nd Panzer Division, but that unit is in deep reserve. Otherwise, I would have to shift a division from the south, and this seems my best option at the moment. Thus far, the Russians have been accommodating. We know they’ve been building up, but do they have plans to attack along the lower Don? If so, where might they come? I may need to leave 22nd Panzer where it is.
There were always questions like this in his mind. The long hiatus of winter was ending, particularly in the south, and he knew that operations would soon begin again. In late 1942, Georgie Zhukov had thrown one offensive after another at the Germans between Volgograd and Kharkov, but Manstein, with the able services of men like Steiner and Hermann Balck, had parried each and every one. Steiner had fought to hold open a corridor to Model at Voronezh, butting heads with strong Soviet armies south of Kursk. Then winter imposed its freezing hand on the battlefield, Hitler gave up Voronezh, and Manstein went south to eventually learn he would now have to fight both enemies and allies alike.
The campaign had been a complete success, and now he could sense that things were winding down towards an inevitable conclusion. His 17th and 11th Armies would grind their way into Groznyy, of this he had no doubt. Whether they could then go all the way to Baku remained to be seen, but Manstein had no intention of using his five mobile divisions there. His effort now was to get to the most favorable position possible, and then find a way to extricate those valuable troops, just as he had done after reaching Volgograd. In truth, he did not really wish to go to Baku, nor did he want to keep any of these five good mobile divisions in the Caucasus, but orders were orders.
First things first, he thought. I must take Groznyy and then move aggressively for Baku, but I need to reposition my mobile forces to a more central location. As for 3rd Panzergrenadier Division, it’s position north of the Manych Canal is becoming somewhat precarious. So I will order General Graser to consolidate and then simply defend that bridgehead. I am not going to Astrakhan by that route, some 250 kilometers. If I must drive on Astrakhan, then I will move mobile forces to Zimovinki by rail to get them all north of the Manych. From there, the only obstacle will be the desolation of the Kalmyk Steppe—balkas, stone fields, salt pans, marshes, deep sand. It is no place for an army, and even when we cross it, half of Astrakhan is on the other side of the Volga. My panzers might get there, but that is the last place I would want to send them. In fact, I want them back north of the Don as soon as possible. Let us hope the Führer is satisfied with Groznyy and Baku….
Part VII
Red Star Rising
“Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.”
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.