“That will not be an issue, as we have nothing there to threaten those flanks, and they will soon know that. Yet if they continue south they will be cutting the vital roads and rail lines that Heinrici depends on to supply 4th Army. That spearhead could turn at any time.”
“If this is a prelude for another request to abandon Belgorod, you may as well forget it,” said Hitler.
“I understand your reluctance to yield that ground, but please do consider the following proposal. Dietrich is on the line containing the Saltov bridgehead, and with the Reichsführer Brigades are merely watching his back along the river. Those are elite mobile troops that could be used to stop this advance in the north, but who will hold the segments of the line they now defend if we give them that mission? The answer is obvious, even if it may be uncomfortable in the short run. The only reservoir of infantry is in 4th Army, and it must adjust its lines to free up at least one division to take the place of 1st SS. Heinrici presently still has three divisions east of the Donets. Allow them to move to the more defensible positions on the west bank, and fewer troops can hold that ground. Once Dietrich is relieved, he can move to intercept and crush this enemy spearhead.”
Hitler rubbed the bridge of his nose. Yielding any ground rankled him, but the image of Sepp Dietrich, his old personal bodyguard, leading the Life Guards of Adolf Hitler on the attack was very compelling. As it was a minor adjustment in the line, he gave Zeitzler permission to do as he had suggested.
“But Belgorod will not be abandoned like Oboyan. I am done with handing out candy to the Russians. If they want that city, then let them pay for it in blood.”
“Very well.” Zeitzler turned and gave the order, putting the emphasis first on what he knew Hitler wanted. “Belgorod is to be designated a fortress and held at any cost Then he quietly told a staff officer to signal Heinrici to make the further adjustments to his line and pull those divisions back west of the river.
“Now then,” he concluded. “We must look at the situation closer to Kharkov. Knobelsdorff has stopped this thrust from the south, but a strong attack is developing from the direction of Chuguyev, and we have little in hand to deal with it.”
“Why doesn’t Knobelsdorff simply send one of his divisions?”
“Because that will dilute the striking power of his Korps, which is already one division light, as 6th Panzer has yet to arrive.”
“It is coming…. What about Himmler’s new division? It is already deployed, and he spoke very highly about it.”
“It has fought hard to hold its lines but the weight of two strong enemy armies is becoming too much. I would order those troops to adopt an elastic defense with maneuver and counterattack instead of linear defense, but the division is only now getting its baptism of fire. It may not be able to do as I suggest.”
“Then leave it where it sits. Let them fight and hold the line. Send a personal message to this Wagner and tell him the Führer is watching his division, counting on it to hold. That will put the fire into them.”
Static, unyielding defense was always best in Hitler’s mind. Yet slowly, purposefully, the enemy had been chipping away at the walls the Führer would build, and something had to give.
Part X
Stemming the Tide
“On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”
Chapter 28
In the early hours of April 16th, General Markian Mikhailovich Popov smelled the clean, rain swept air that he knew so well, and he smiled. The Ukraine. It is high time that we returned here. We have missed the wheat, the endless fields to feed our people, the breadbasket of the Rodina.
His spearheads had reached their first objective, seizing a good bridgehead over the Middle Donets. The 2nd Shock Army under Vlasov was on his left, its lines now screening Balakleya and points east along the river. His own 7th and 10th Tank Corps were in the Andreyevka Bridgehead, reorganizing after the long march from the Oskol, and waiting for word from Zhukov.
He had pushed out a recon battalion as far south as Mikhaylovka, about 25 kilometers from his crossing point on the river. It was completely empty, save for a few families of peasant farmers who eagerly embraced the visitors as liberators. He had used the time to resupply and refuel his tanks, though they had seen little fighting. His was an exploitation force, meant to find the holes in the lines and push through to gain ground. Far off in his mind, he could see the wide deep bend of the Dnieper River, and it was his hope that one day soon he would see it with his eyes again. And all he had to do was go there. Nothing was opposing him or barring his way. All he needed was the order to move from Zhukov, and the fuel
He sat, content for the moment to consolidate his Shock Group, and indulged himself in a good cigar for reaching his primary objective. By mid-day, word came that there was a German recon company 15 kilometers to his south at Lozovenka. Aerial reconnaissance had also spotted a stronger German force near the twisting bend in the river west of Izyum. It was reported to be at least regimental strength, with tanks and APCs; undoubtedly sent there to protect the flank of the light German infantry division still holding above that large river bend.
That was all in the domain of 2nd Shock Army, except for that single company spotted to his south. Yet he was curious. He had his own recon troops at Mikhaylovka, and he sent word for them to take the road to Lozovenka and see what was there.
Meanwhile, 2nd Shock Army was making preparations to engage that light infantry force above the bend. It was never intended that they would cross the Donets, and so they were woefully short on bridging engineers, having to borrow two battalions from the adjacent 63rd Army to the east. One was trying to repair the blown bridge at Balakleya, which was now under 2nd Shock Army’s command.
At Popov’s urging, Vlasov had ordered two cavalry divisions and the 327th Rifle Division over the river at Balakleya to extend the bridgehead and allow the mobile units to move west. So Vlasov’s 2nd Shock Army was split. Those three divisions were south of the Donets in the western segment of his front, and the remainder of his forces were still north of the river to the east of Balakleya.
Popov waited, growing more impatient, until orders were finally received in the late afternoon. “Consolidate bridgehead, conduct local recon operations, which may include reconnaissance in force to cut the railway line linking Kharkov and Pavlograd. Report any concentration of enemy forces encountered.”
I have already completed the first two items on this list, so now I will cut that rail line. It was no more than 20 kilometers to the west, just beyond the town of Alexeyevskoye, and he already knew that road was open. So he tapped General Burkov’s shoulder, the commander of 10th Tank Corps, and ordered him to proceed with that recon in force.
“Take your entire Corps,” he said, perceiving no real threat to his position at the moment. Now all he had to do was report that regiment spotted to his south, and his orders for the day would stand fulfilled. He was feeling good that day, even though he was still somewhat eager to get on with his war. The rest of 2nd Shock Group, a motorized Rifle Division and a good Mech Corps, was only 30 kilometers to his northwest. So Popov was feeling fat and sassy that day, and did not yet perceive the peril that was so very close at hand.
The “regiment” spotted that day was actually part of General Paul Hausser’s 2nd SS Division. The entire division was there, all formed up for operations, and the “recon company” Popov was now investigating belonged to Eicke’s 3rd SS Totenkopf just a little southwest of Hausser’s Das Reich. Steiner had his full Korps assembled, well fueled, and ready to rampage north at Manstein’s next word.