“I see,” said Manstein. “What, pray tell, does he command, Herr Himmler?”
“I am moving several of the SS formations assembling for the Leningrad operation into KG Wagner to form a fire brigade unit for this situation. At the moment, this will be the Nordland Panzer Division, and one more motorized infantry brigade, the Wallonian.”
“Nordland Panzer Division?” Manstein was still nonplussed.
“It consists of two Panzergrenadier regiments, only with three battalions each, like a proper SS division. To that I have added Panzer Regiment Nord. While I have had to equip it with the F2 Panzer IV model tanks, as soon as more Panthers are available, it will transition to that model.”
“I see…. Most enterprising,” said Manstein. “But these troops have no experience, and I daresay little training for a situation like this.”
“I have corrected that. The men have been training for the last six months, and I have seen that they have adequate equipment. Now what they need is experience, correct, my Führer?” He turned to Hitler to bypass what he perceived as a stack of objections forming in Manstein’s mind. Hitler was the one man he needed to convince here, but the Führer frowned.
“I was very pleased when you came to me with the news of these new divisions,” he began, “but I thought it was clear that these troops were to be assigned to the Leningrad Operation, and remain with Armeegruppe Nord.”
“That operation is still months away,” said Himmler. “Don’t you sharpen a good knife before you use it? You saw what my men did in Spain when they were needed there. If the army had provided a few more divisions, I have no doubt they would still be there, instead of the British. This division is fully formed, and what these men need is real live training, the kind that can only come from actual combat in the field. This is a perfect situation for that, so let us kill two birds here with one stone. Let my men help stop this Russian drive on Kharkov, and they will become fanatical veterans in the process. Then, when the really big operation begins in the Summer, they will be honed sharp as a razor’s edge, and ready for that action. I am told that Dietrich has already stopped this drive towards Kharkov. Now let Wagner deal with the other pincer. It is just the perfect situation for them to prove themselves on the field.”
Hitler raised an eyebrow. “Interesting,” he said, always pleased to find new units he could pencil onto the map. He had been sleepless with worry over this Russian offensive, inwardly railing at his Generals for their perceived incompetence, though he never used that word with Manstein. Yet where Steiner went, the situation soon became stable thereafter. The SS had broken through to Volgograd, linked up with Volkov as planned. They had stopped the Russian Uranus and Saturn offensives, then moved to take Rostov before coming north to intervene at a crucial moment and halt the enemy advance on Kharkov, and they saved Model. The thought that he now had another SS unit on the scene to move about like a good chess piece was very appealing.
“My Führer,” Himmler pressed his argument when he saw Hitler thinking. “With Steiner on one side, and KG Wagner on the other, we will smash the last of this enemy offensive and certainly restore order. I beg you—let me send these men. They are the SS! They will not let you down, nor will they yield any ground you ever order them to hold. Rest assured of that.”
Hitler’s eyes moved about the map table. “Move them here,” he said with an air of finality, tapping the map at Kharkov. “Stop this second enemy pincer, and then push it back where it came from. If you can do that, Herr Himmler, then you will have proved your worth here again. You may give the orders immediately.”
Hitler had just ordered this new, untried division to stop six Soviet Armies! Himmler smiled, saluting again, for he had already ordered his men onto the trains, confident that he could persuade the Führer. Now he was glad he would not have to countermand those orders, and that his Waffen SS would continue to be the last ditch defenders of the Reich, and earn the lavish allocations of equipment that he could demand for his new full scale divisions building in France and Germany. It was all in a day’s work for Himmler, but this was the easy part. Now, he had another problem.
His men had to stop the Russians.
Manstein wanted to again point out that these troops had little experience, and a black SS uniform and six months training would not make them soldiers tough enough for a situation like this. He had a fist full of reports from that front, identifying all the enemy units being poured into that sector. Himmler had no idea what his men would soon be facing, then again, Manstein had nothing he could send there himself, so this was at least a stopgap measure that he could welcome. He had been pulling in Military Police battalions and rear area flak units to try and fill holes in the lines, and desperately needed troops, frustrated to no end over the fact that there were 20 infantry divisions and four mobile divisions in the Caucasus that were now sorely missed on the Don Front. So he said nothing. It was either this, or nothing, and the latter option would mean Kharkov would likely fall within a matter of days. If Himmler’s new Kampfgruppe could at least slow the enemy down, or forestall that, it would at least be something.
So the trains would soon deliver this most unexpected reinforcement, which he could further augment by moving up his last reserve, Korps Raus, with two good infantry divisions. Himmler’s new men in black would get their chance to learn how to fight. Over 70% of them were foreign volunteers, from rebellious former members of the French Foreign Legion, to surly Poles, dissident Czechs, and even some Hungarians. Himmler had looked for the tough and brutish sort, many with criminal backgrounds, all looking for some place to direct their anger and ill-mannered ways. It had taken the six months in training just to forge them into units where discipline from Waffen SS veterans and small groups of experienced German troops seeded in each battalion would build cohesion. One thing was certain about them—they were men that could fight, and now all that was needed was the proper technique.
“These new troops change everything,” Hitler began, finding fresh wind in his sails.
“But it is only one division,” said Manstein, “even if it is well padded.”
“It is an SS division,” Himmler reminded him.
“In name only,” said Manstein. “I propose that this new Kampfgruppe be sent to relieve Dietrich, and then I can use a real SS division to check the central pincer.”
Himmler had no objection. “How the troops are used is an operational matter I will leave up to you.”
“Good,” said Manstein, his eyes looking over the map. Now he had to recompute a new firing solution on the fly, for it was clear that Hitler had seized upon this unexpected reinforcement as a reason to buttress his insistence that Model and Heinrici should hold their ground. That could soon spill over to Paulus, so Manstein had to press his attack here before he could ever hope to do so on the field.
“In light of this new development, this is what I now propose. Do not send KG Wagner to Kharkov, but instead send it here, to Chuguyev. That is where they must cross the Donets if they want Kharkov. Very well, let Model stand his ground. I will use Leibstandarte for the counterattack if it can be freed up, but I will still need to have General Heinrici adjust the lines of his 4th Army to do what I plan. He should consolidate his line in this heavy wooded country around Volchansk. Dietrich cannot stop that second pincer alone, not even with the assistance of the Reichsführer Brigades and this new division from Himmler.”
“Then I will get you more panzers,” said Hitler, prompting the general to raise an eyebrow.”