The combination of fast moving Mech Battalions in the 1st Guard Mech Corps, supported by three strong Guards Rifle Divisions meant the Luftwaffe could not prevent a crossing near Zimyev. By the afternoon of the 15th, it was already advanced 5 kilometers deep. Then word came that Soviet tank columns had attacked the 173rd Reserve Division and captured Andreyevka on the Middle Donets. They were also approaching Balakleya some distance downstream. These were the fast moving columns of the Popov Shock Group, intending to secure bridgeheads at both those cities and await orders to proceed. Needless to say, the news of all these bridgeheads over the Donets enraged Hitler at OKW.
“Where are the panzers I have sent?” his anger rising quickly. “Panzers, panzers, panzers!” He pounded the table with his fist. “Why do I not hear of any counterattack by Knobelsdorff? What is Manstein doing in the Don sector? I gave him the free hand he wanted there. Where is he now? Where is Steiner?”
Zeitzler tried to explain that a heavily mechanized Korps like that takes time to pull itself together after an action and then move 200 kilometers by road or rail to a new assembly point. He mollified Hitler by reminding him that Knobelsdorff was assembling three divisions near of Kharkov, and a counterattack was imminent. 11th Panzer was in the city, and the 9th would arrive later that evening by rail. In the midst of all these reports, the crisis with Model’s 2nd Army was completely lost. Hitler only had eyes for Kharkov, and with each position update, he grew more and more tense, his temper hotter, his anger more biting.
Serious situations only get attention when they slip down the treacherous slope of trouble to the edge of complete disaster, and that was to be the case that day. As the Staff officers at OKW studied the map, updating positions with new reports, it was beginning to look like the Soviets were going to now attempt a double envelopment of Kharkov.
If the breakthrough at Tomarovka continued south as expected, it would have good defensible ground on its right flank along the Vorskla River, and with Model ordered to continue to hold the Oboyan Salient, he could not muster any troops to threaten it. The only consolation the Germans had there was the fact that Tomarovka was 80 kilometers north of Kharkov, and it would take time to reach the city. In the south, the 1st Guards Army at Chuguyev and points south was an even more dangerous threat to the city, and only needed to push another 30 to 35 kilometers to reach its objective.
Model had been frustrated with the silence from OKW, believing he had no recourse other than to begin making preparations to hedgehog the northern end of the Oboyan Salient. He sent instructions to Siebert to move his headquarters to Kurasovka, a town about 18 kilometers south of Oboyan. He was to assume command of the three divisions that made up the nose of the salient, the 299th on the left, 72nd at Oboyan in the center, and 294th on the right. The two divisions on the wings were to make ready to fold back and close their lines at Kurasovka.
“Sorry you get the luck of the draw,” he told Siebert, “but it does not look like I’ll get permission for a general withdrawal. I’m going to have to fold back the lower ends of the salient tomorrow, orders or no orders. If you have Army level assets, get them southwest to General Hell. You may take your own supply columns and Korps artillery. You’ll need them. Hold on as best you can. I can promise you we’ll do everything possible to get to you in time, but be prepared to hold for a while.”
“What about the 46th Division. It’s west of the 299th, and still on the River Psel.”
“I’m going to move the regiment nearest the breakthrough tonight, but I may not be able to get that one out either. In that case, it’s yours. I’ll inform you tomorrow.”
“299th sent a regiment to the right shoulder. Should I leave it there or bring it back to join its division?”
“I’ll make that decision tomorrow. I will do my best to get Manstein to intervene here. Maybe OKW will listen to him if they insist on ignoring me.”
That plea had prompted Manstein to make a heated call to Zeitzler. “You will have Oboyan, for what it’s worth, but you will lose an entire Korps of good infantry for that. What is going on there? Come to your senses. We must conduct an elastic defense!”
“I agree with you completely,” said Zeitzler, but we cannot persuade Hitler. He insists that the entire line of the Psel be held.”
“Well I do not have the time to fly there and haggle with him. Do your best, Zeitzler. Try to get Model a free hand. Whisper sweet nothings in his ear if you must.”
“When can I report a counterattack is underway? That would help calm him down.”
“Soon. Totenkopf is only now arriving on the trains from Kramatorsk. I will need to concentrate before we move. Tell the Führer that I am making a personal request that Model be allowed to reorganize his defense and save that Korps. We’re going to need it. And tell him not to worry. I will stop Zhukov here just as I stopped him last November.”
Seeing those pincers developing on the map was the medicine that finally moved Hitler from his order for obstinate defense to a more flexible approach. Zeitzler again pointed out the great liability represented by the Oboyan salient.
“Other than to hold terrain, that city is presently useless, as is all the ground in this salient. It has been fatally compromised by this incursion at Tomarovka. Should that pincer turn north, it would pocket half of 2nd Army, but I do not think that is where it is headed. It will continue south, and constrained as he is to hold that useless ground, Model can do nothing whatsoever to stop it. The same can be said of 4th Army on the right closer to Belgorod. If you do not maneuver on defense, then you yield all initiative to the enemy. Knobelsdorff cannot move in two directions at the same time. He must choose one pincer or another for his counterattack, and that will most likely be here in the south. That leaves Model in limbo, and Heinrici could easily be cut off as well.”
Hitler stared at the map, as if it was there to do nothing more than irritate him. Zeitzler knew he was on shaky ground, but tried one more time.
“My Führer, if you let Model maneuver out of that trap, then he can probably muster two or three divisions on the right shoulder of that northern breakthrough. If we could free up even one Panzer Division, a good strong counterattack could be mounted to cut off the enemy breakthrough. It would be your master stroke that would stop that entire offensive in the north—assuming you have the nerve and will to let Model give you that opportunity.”
That last bit was the sugar, and then Zeitzler waited, knowing that the person who spoke next would lose this argument. It was Hitler.
“Very well,” said the Führer. “This was my plan all along, but it was necessary to see that Model held his ground to determine the enemy’s intentions. Now that is perfectly clear, and so I will authorize the measures you suggest here and deal with the situation.”
Hitler had covered his tracks, laying claim to everything Zeitzler had said as if it were his own plan, something he had held in abeyance for the right time, and no one would ever say otherwise.