There was an almost audible relief of the tension in the room, and Kluge simply moved his eyes, looking at a nearby adjutant, who then quickly retired to get to the signals room with the message the Generals had been chafing to send Model for the last twelve hours. “Your request to abandon Oboyan and redeploy on the Pena River is approved and should be implemented with all speed.”
The Generals at OKW did not have to tell Model what to do after that. He was perhaps the most able master of defense in the German Army, and as soon as he had that signal in hand, he went to work, his energy inexhaustible, for he knew he was now trying to save his entire army. The only question is whether or not he would have the time.
By the night of April 15th, the spearheads of 29th Tank and 3rd Mech had pushed another 15 to 18 kilometers to Borisovka, forcing Model to move his HQ northwest. It would now be possible to execute a turn to the east to flank the defense of 4th Army at Belgorod and enfilade the entire line stretching all the way down the upper Donets to Volchansk. That night the Soviet Generals on the scene met to discuss their options. Shumilov had the strong infantry force of the 7th Guards, and Rybalko and Katukov had the two mobile groups.
“We have made a clean breakthrough,” said Katukov, “and we have encountered no resistance at Borisovka. I say we should continue south on that road.”
“But it leads to Akythrya, not Kharkov,” said Rybalko. “I was tasked with moving on the main objective. Are you suggesting we split our forces?”
“No,” said Katukov. “Moving on Akythrya may threaten their 2nd Army, but you are correct. You should move southwest, but only as far as Berezovka near the rail line. Then turn due south and follow that rail line all the way to Kharkov. That will be our widest envelopment. I will take my forces south immediately. That will raise the hair on the back of their necks. I’ll take Bessonovka, and they will think I am trying to envelop Belgorod, but that won’t be necessary. They will have to give it to us if we get south quickly, just as they are now giving us Oboyan. Speed is the medicine now. Let’s beat Kuznetsov to the city!”
The two breakthroughs, each posing a host of serious threats, suddenly galvanized the German reaction. That was largely because General Manstein had left his headquarters at Rostov and moved to Slavyansk to be closer to the action he was busily planning.
The 2nd SS Division was the to arrive, moving through Slavyansk by rail to Barvenkovo south of the Donets, and then assembling for a road march towards Balakleya. The Germans had moved in Armee Detachment Hollidt, with the 50th, 198th and 336th Infantry Divisions after a long train ride from the Black Sea coast. Hollidt was then tasked with screening the Donets between Balakleya and Krasny Liman, with his main focus being the defense of the important supply and crossing city of Izyum.
That city was being slowly approached by the Soviet 63rd Army, and Hollidt posted his 50th Division north of Izyum between the Donets and Oskol Rivers. On the left of that defense was a less reliable unit, the 187th Reserve Division. It was actually on the other side of the Donets where the river began making wide bends through a heavily wooded area west of Izyum. A Regiment of the173rd Reserve Division had already been overrun at Andreyevka, its remnants retreating west and north, behind the river. The remaining regiment was at Balakleya, but it now retreated southeast to link up with the 187th.
That regiment now represented the extreme left of Manstein’s infantry shield in the south near Izyum, but Das Reich was coming up fast. Manstein wanted it to watch what the enemy was doing at Balakleya, and he expected that they might continue to push out well beyond their bridgehead, which was now widening between Andreyevka and Balakleya.
Manstein was finally on the scene, bringing Papa Hörnlein’s Grossdeutschland Division and Eicke’s 3rd SS Division. The Germans could make night marches too….
Chapter 27
Zhukov got the report around midnight, April 15th—a column of motorized troops, with armor support, was moving up towards Balakleya. This could only mean one thing—Steiner. So, he thought, they moved west very quickly, and where there was smoke, there was always fire.
The Soviets knew all the cards that were in the German hand. They had seen Manstein deftly sweep away their feint towards Millerovo, adjusting and restoring the line in three days of fast paced operations. That was exactly what he had intended, but now they had finally realized what was happening and the jig was up.
They will have three strong divisions there soon, he thought, all the rest of Steiner’s Group, including their elite Grossdeutschland. This means I must order 2nd Shock, 63rd and 57th Armies to halt and assume defensive positions until I determine what Manstein is going to do here. As for my mobile reserve, I was intending to send it in Popov’s wake. We’ve a good bridgehead over the Donets now between Andreyevka and Balakleya, and Popov reports that there is very little resistance there.
The roads are open all the way to Krasnograd and on to the Dnieper! I did not plan to cross the Donets until after Kharkov was secured, and in light of this development concerning Steiner, I think it best that I pull the reins on Popov. I can’t have him galloping on towards the Dnieper with Manstein on my flank. I will order Popov to pause and consolidate. Then we will see what develops. As for my mobile reserve—it stays where it is for now as well, right in the center of the board. One must always have a Knight handy when needed.
Another old chess player, Manstein had been playing well to Kingside in dealing with Zhukov’s gambit in the Don sector. The wily Russian General had taken a pawn, but his Knight was driven off by the Queen in the first defensive operation. Now Manstein had castled, developing a strong Rook as he did so in Das Reich. But he was not yet ready to attack. He wanted to get a few more major pieces developed, most notably, the 3rd SS Totenkopf Division, which was re-routed through Kramatorsk well south of Krasny Liman to re-coal the trains. He also had an errant Bishop he wanted to get into play, the 17th Panzer Division on its way from the Caucasus.
Hollidt was getting his infantry into position to watch the river line east of Izyum, so now the General could begin clenching his mailed fist by concentrating his Panzer divisions. Instead of immediately launching the two heavy pieces he had in a premature attack, he opted for position play, maneuvering to watch the flank of any enemy move beyond the Donets from the vicinity of Balakleya. Every move he made had to be carefully considered. The enemy pieces were raging through the center of the board, but he was building up power on the flanks.
Good chess took time, and he was behind in development. Zhukov already had an open file right down the center of the board, and bridgeheads over the Donets. Did he have the nerve to push any further? Would he try to go all the way to the eighth rank?
General der Panzertruppen, Otto Von Knobelsdorff had a good deal on his mind that morning. Korps Raus, with the 106th and 320th Divisions near Chuguyev, could not hold. The Luftwaffe troops had been shattered in the south near Zimyev, and the enemy was now across the river on a wide front extending more than 25 kilometers. They had fast mobile units that might swing beneath and behind Kharkov to envelop it, or perhaps just bore in directly for the city. (See map: “Kuznetsov Crosses the Donets.”)