“Manstein thinks they want Kharkov.”
“Apparently….”
“Anything more I should know?”
“Only that the Führer wants Kharkov too, so we’re here to restore order and make sure he keeps it.”
“Very well,” said Knobelsdorff. “Are your men in good positions?”
“Of course.”
“Then we’ll wait and see what they throw at us. But be ready to move to a fast operational counterattack on my order. Will we have any infantry freed up?”
“The Luftwaffe Korps that was hit on the Oskol River line has all but evaporated, and most of the Osttruppen as well. Raus is at Poltava with two divisions, and he’s been told to get his men ready to move by rail, but I’ve heard nothing further about that.”
“Then no infantry.” Knobelsdorff cocked his head to one side. “I suppose we should get used to that. What about Model?”
“The Führer has ordered him to hold his front. Heinrici is refusing his right and moving troops back to screen Belgorod. Manstein is trying to get permission to withdraw the entire 4th Army, but who knows how long that will take. At the moment, the only other units in theater are the two Reichsführer Brigades at Volchansk. They’ll be watching our back, but Manstein has it in his mind to send my division east after we stop this pincer. With Balck coming to Kharkov, it would be nice if he came along too. That attack over the Oskol river is their main push.”
“Then we’d better get busy.” Knobelsdorff pulled off his gloves, tugging slowly at them, finger by finger. “With my two panzer Divisions, and the two SS units, it seems I’m more than a Korps now.”
“Herr General,” said Dietrich, “You’re a full Panzer Armee!”
“It not going to be mine,” said Knobelsdorff. “It belongs to Hoth—4th Panzer Armee. The only question is what will we do with it once we have it assembled?”
“Do you want me to send out a reconnaissance in force?”
“No I think we’ll wait tonight. Balck will be all morning getting off the train at Kharkov. Let them come. Things get strung out in an advance like this, and well scattered. When they get here, they’ll find we’re well concentrated and ready for action.”
“You plan to attack?”
“That remains to be seen. We’ve got the river, and that will serve for the lack of infantry here for a time. I’ll put my word in on Manstein’s behalf and make the same request to OKW that Heinrici should withdraw. Until we know more, we’ll just lie on the ropes, but be prepared to counterpunch.”
“This city is a sore thumb,” said Dietrich. “Yes, it’s a good place to defend, but a pity it’s east of the Donets. Heinrici is pulling back fast, whether he has permission or not, and he promises me the 168th Infantry will watch the north flank. Another division will probably reach the Donets and cross late tomorrow. The thing is this—there isn’t a bridge behind us here. I had to throw up pontoons to get supply in, and it wasn’t easy. The river is receding, but this is the confluence of several tributaries, and it is still very wide in places. Frankly, I’d just as soon give them the city and retire behind the river, but I thought we might need a bridgehead. I’ve used all the bridging equipment I have, and I could use more pontoons if Model has them.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Knobelsdorff was taking all of this in, his mind working as he considered the situation. “Sepp,” he said quietly, never moving his eyes from the map. “This is going to get worse before it gets better. Make sure you build good bridges.”
Part IX
The Salient
“Man, everywhere and at all times, whoever he may be, has preferred to act as he chose and not in the least as his reason and advantage dictated.”
Chapter 25
The initial northern breakthrough of Operation Star, was beginning to bog down against the stubborn defense being put up by Model. Just when they thought they might seize a valuable prize in Kharkov, up came that German Panzer Division. The 22nd was worn out, but it still had about 48 tanks, all Pz-IIIN and IV-F2’s. It had not received any Lions, but did have several companies of the lighter Leopard and Lynx recon tanks, which could help against infantry even if they were largely ineffective against the T-34’s.
It ran right into the Russian 25th Tank Corps, and was enough to stop it in its tracks when supported by 56th Infantry Division from Heinrici’s 12th Korps. His 39th Division had fallen back through Belgorod and moved up to extend the German line out to Tomarovka, and slowly, Model had scrapped together ad hoc units to try and fill that gap. Yet the Russians had not one but three tank corps in this attack, and by April 15 when Knobelsdorff arrived, they had begun bringing up more elements of the 5th Shock Army infantry, and several Guards divisions.
Further east, 5th Shock had several brigades of light tanks organized loosely as a mechanized cavalry division, and they swarmed over the infantry of the 56th Division, pushing up the road from Melkhovo and Korocha. Division Commander Ludek had to use his Feld Ersatz Battalion to put in a counterattack and try to stop those light tanks short of Belgorod, but the situation put that fighting behind the right flank of 22nd Panzer.
Further south, near Volchansk, the 21st Army had forced a small penetration that prompted the 168th Division to make a strong counterattack. So the Soviets were keeping up strong pressure in the effort to take Belgorod and flank Volchansk to the north. The shield, now a combination of troops from 2nd and 4th Armies, had been dented, but it was still holding.
Yet this was no more than a sparring match in the north. As Dietrich had warned, the main event was in the east, and it was coming in behind a weather front, crossing the empty gap between the Oskol and Donets—cold steel at the edge of hard rain.
The tide rolling west from the Oskol looked like it was going to come crashing onto the stony defense of Sepp Dietrich at Volchansk, but as they approached the Donets, most of the mobile formations executed a turn to the south. The large 1st Shock Army moved to screen off Volchansk, its lines extending some 18 kilometers south, all along the bridgehead Dietrich had occupied. An attack developed at Volchansk itself, but Dietrich soon realized that this was a masking and holding force, and no attempt was being made to reduce his bridgehead.
Further south on the Donets, there were two decent crossing points at Verkhne Saltov and Stary Saltov. These were held by General Franek’s 196th Infantry Division from Heinrici’s 10th Korps, and here the Russians moved up their powerful 3rd Guards Army. It would take infantry to force those crossings, and it would be a battle pitting concentrated Soviet Guards Brigades against German battalions, again on a front of approximately 18 kilometers.
South of the 196th, the Donets made a wide hairpin bend around heavy woodland northeast of Chuguyev, which was the main road and rail crossing leading to Kharkov. In this bend, there were also several crossing points, at Martovaya on the northern portion of the bend, Pechengi at the deepest part of the turn, and then at a few locations as the river flowed almost due west in a winding course for Chuguyev. This area was assigned to 3rd Guards Army, and it was here that Himmler’s new SS Division had been posted. The dark SS man had wanted to sharpen his knife, and it was about to get a severe test.