Where Hitler was obsessed with holding hard won ground, Manstein would hand it back to the enemy without a moment’s hesitation, and then lay a carefully planned ambush to tear into his scattered flank and roll up the offensive in a sweeping counterattack. In doing so, he would eventually get back all the terrain he had yielded, restoring the front as he had already done several times. This “Elastic Defense” was something simply beyond the grasp of Hitler’s mind, which was why Heinrici would see his army slowly exposed to the danger of being pocketed.
Yet Hitler’s intransigence concerning Model and the holding of Prokhorovka had a good deal to do with the dissipation of 5th Shock Group in the northern pincer. 5th Shock Army had to leave its 87th, 300th and 315th Rifle divisions behind. Zhadov also detached his 39th Guards Division, and these forces had invested Prokhorovka, where Oppenländer’s 305th Division sat in a walnut shaped pocket, completely cut off. Then, on the western shoulder of the northern pincer, the remainder of Zhadov’s 5th Guards army had been deployed to hold that flank. This removed eight divisions that had been in the breakthrough attack, leaving only four rifle divisions and the mobile forces of 5th Tank Army to continue the drive south.
Those troops were 12 kilometers north of Belgorod when they ran into Model’s hastily deployed defensive screen near the village of Ternovka. Model now had the whole of Friesner’s 102nd Division, and he had scraped together every Sturm and Panzerjager battalion he could find from Korps and Army level units. The three Soviet Tank Corps built up like water behind a thin dam, taking some time to reorganize after the drive south and start their attack. Just as it seemed that that levee would be breached, Model got news that his 22nd Panzer Division was finally arriving by rail at Belgorod.
“So, one of my lost sheep returns to the fold,” he said. “A most timely arrival. Now I have the strength to hold here, and save both Belgorod and Tomarovka.” Both were supply depot cities for the Germans, and the rail line from Belgorod also ran northwest to support the rest of 2nd Army. He did not want that rail line cut, for then he would have to rely on the rails through Lebedin and Sumy to feed the western portion of his position.
By contrast, the withdrawal of Heinrici’s 4th Army towards the Donets and Volchansk had allowed the string of Soviet Field Armies that had been opposing him to also advance. The Soviets were cracking the whip, slowly jogging west to try and create some snap near the spearheads of the northern pincer. As their line rippled west, it eventually freed up elements of the 5th Shock Army that had been watching that flank of the advance, allowing them to move west to the fight developing north of Belgorod.
Meanwhile, the attack over the Oskol River had completely overrun the Luftwaffe Korps and Osttruppen units, and it was surging southwest like a great tide, unopposed. The long columns of men and machines darkened the steppe and farmland east of the Donets. The whole region between that river and the Oskol was empty space, and the Soviet attack was flowing into it like a great waterfall of iron. The only obstacle between Zhukov’s troops and the city of Kharkov was the swollen course of the Donets, and to that barrier the Germans were rushing every available unit they could find.
KG Wagner and his new Nordland Panzer Division had disembarked from the trains west of Kharkov, and on the morning of April 12 they were marching proudly through the sullen grey streets of the city. Hermann Balck’s vaunted 11th Panzer Division was scheduled to arrive there the following morning. To the north, the Stone Man, Sepp Dietrich, had his 1st SS Division dug in east of the river, carving out a sizeable bridgehead between Volchansk and Stary Saltov. Heinrici’s 4th Army continued its withdrawal, and was now arriving at the heavily wooded zone east of Belgorod. Model’s line in the north was still on its old front, but it fish-hooked at Oboyan, bending almost due south. He made several requests to Manstein for permission to pull out of that city, which would allow him to close a big gap in the front northwest of Belgorod. If the enemy had another army, they might have swept right into 2nd Army’s communications and supply zone, but the Russians had only one more Army in reserve, and it was not in that sector.
The quiet that evening belied the storm that was coming, but with the arrival of all these new Panzer Divisions, the Germans were more than ready for a fight. The question was whether to launch an immediate counterattack, or to wait and assume defensive positions.
Sepp Dietrich had moved his 1st SS Division into the woodland south of Volchansk along the river. It was an old town, dating back to 1684 when it became the stronghold of Cossack leader Vovchi Vody, and in modern times it was called Vovchanck, partly for after its founder, and also for the river Vovcha that ran through its domain.
48th Panzer Korps Commander Otto Knobelsdorff arrived there to confer with Dietrich, the rain heavy that night on the roof of the hotel chosen for the HQ.
“So, we finally have some clout,” said Dietrich as he shook Knobelsdorff’s hand.
“What’s the situation?” asked Knobelsdorff.
“Manstein sent me Rodt’s 22nd Panzer, and it arrived this morning. I asked them to get up north and screen Belgorod. I assume you’re coming with some steel in hand.”
“Balck will be at Kharkov in the morning.”
Hermann Balck and his 11th Panzer Division was fast earning a reputation as a fire Brigade for any crisis on the front. His division moved through Bogodukhov on the trains that night, intending to stop at Kharkov and use the bigger rail yards there to unload the heavy equipment and tanks.
“Balck is a life saver,” said Dietrich. Now that his division is on hand, we have a real Panzer Korps here. Manstein has placed my division under your general control.” Dietrich smiled, preferring a slight bow of his head.
“What’s this talk about another SS Division coming in?” asked Knobelsdorff.
“Himmler’s little legion,” said Dietrich. “He’s thrown together a makeshift Panzer division he calls Nordland. It has a lot of volunteers from the Low Countries and Belgium, and to that he added the Wallonian Regiment. He got his hands on some IV-F2’s, and so now he’s calling it a panzer division. Good for him. I’m not sure when they arrive, but I expect we’ll hear about it. Himmler flew all the way to Army Group South and horned in on the Führer’s meeting with Manstein to get permission to send us his latest creation. I’m told some of the men from the Wiking Division went over to seed the regiments. If they can fight half as good as Gille’s Division, all the better for us here.”
“And the Russians?”
“Oh, they’ll be here soon too. They pocketed the 305th at Prokhorovka and drove for Belgorod, but Model had stopped them. They may be no more than 25 kilometers north of our lines now, but it’s the attack coming from the east that we need to worry about.”
“How strong are they up north?”
“Model tells me it’s a Shock Army backed by several tank corps. Siebert folded his lines back, opening the gate for the bull. Now we just have to find a way to skewer the damn thing.”
Knobelsdorff was quiet for a moment, nodding his head as he took off his gloves. He had spent the last months of that severe winter beating off a strong Soviet offensive aimed at Bryansk. Now he had another one on his hands.
“And this attack from the east?”
“They blew through the Oskol River line between Novyy Oskol and Valuki—four or five armies. They’ll be here in a day or two.”
“Five armies?”
“At least that many, and first line troops. There are two shock armies, Guards thick as fleas on a mule, and at least four or five mobile formations have been spotted.”
“Good lord… It seems I’m out of the frying pan and into the fire here. I’d better get word to Balck to work quickly. We’ll also get 9th Panzer, but it may be another day getting here from Bryansk. If they hit us with five armies, they mean business.”