Hitler had raged about the withdrawals on the upper Donets when that situation finally became apparent, but seeing these counterattacks slowly halting the enemy offensive, he had begun to recover his composure.
So all Zhukov’s attacks had been stopped or contained, and in the south, where there was still gaping hole along the Donets, he did not dare to move any further to exploit the situation. Popov had moved back north of the Donets when 63rd Army was routed, and now Malinovsky was shoulder to shoulder with him, the two groups waiting while Steiner and the Grossdeutschland Division battled against 2nd Shock Army.
“Should we move now to support Vlasov?” Popov had asked in a terse signal.
“Stand fast with Malinovsky,” came the reply.
Even Zhukov had men he had to answer to, and this was such a time. He left his front HQ and flew to Leningrad that night to make his report and consider how to proceed. Weary from the long journey, he greeted Sergei Kirov and Intelligence Chief Berzin on the grey morning of the 18th of April. He unrolled the battle map with grave silence, then adjusted his hat and spoke.
“I regret to inform you that Operation Red Star had not been able to achieve its primary objective. Our troops fought bravely, and fought well, but there was sufficient resiliency on the other side to bring this offensive to a halt.”
“But Popov was over the Donets,” said Kirov. “He had open roads all the way to the Dnieper.”
“I stopped him,” said Zhukov, “and that was fortunate. This attack the enemy threw at 63rd Army was very strong. I have had to commit my last mobile reserve and then recall Popov to create a force sufficiently powerful to have some chance of contesting it. 63rd Army has been routed, and 2nd Shock Army is now heavily engaged. It will not hold much longer, and then I expect this strong enemy counterattack will begin moving towards Chuguyev.”
“Steiner?”
“Who else…. And he has their elite Guards division on his right, with fresh units arriving from the Caucasus. The fighting with 2nd Shock Army is still underway, but there are now five enemy mobile divisions reported in action there. The initiative had passed to the enemy, so now we must decide how to proceed. We have two options. The first is to use our mobile reserves, combined with the Popov Shock Group, and counterattack. The advantage would be that we protect Kuznetsov’s position south of Kharkov, and that of the 3rd Shock Group as well. The disadvantage is that we expend our last reserve. If our attack is defeated, then we have no further mobile reserves in this entire theater.
“The second option?” asked Berzin.
“To take what we have gained and consolidate our position.”
“Then we will not get Kharkov?” Kirov folded his arms.
“Not immediately as planned. We are very close south of the city, and now we must do what we can to preserve that position.”
“Can a counterattack with Popov and Malinovsky succeed?”
“We might, but there will be heavy losses to those armored formations. We may have enough to stop this attack, but that is not certain.”
“I see….” Kirov nodded gravely. “What do you propose?”
“The situation in the south is the danger zone for us now. We reached the Donets, but I do not think we can stay there—not with this hole between Kuznetsov’s position and Andreyevka. If we counterattack, then Kuznetsov should pull back and extend his lines to cover that gap. He might even be able to send one of his mobile corps to stand as a small reserve. Then it’s up to Popov and Malinovsky.”
“Is this what you wish to do?”
“The safer play is to pull out, give up the Middle-Donets, and withdraw here, to a line between Chuguyev and Kupyansk on the Oskol River. We will try to retain the Chuguyev Bridgehead with 3rd Shock Army, but Kuznetsov, Popov and Malinovsky must all fall back and consolidate. Otherwise we invite a good deal of trouble. This General Manstein wants to roll us up from behind, and Steiner gives him the strength to do so.”
“I agree,” said Kirov. “That is the danger zone.”
“Katukov still has a deep penetration in the north. He might be able to gain more ground if I let him continue, yet that may also be trying to reach what we cannot fully grasp. In my opinion, I would pull him out as well. The Germans are building up too much strength on either side of his salient.”
“So close,” said Kirov, “and yet so far. We are 15 kilometers from the city, and cannot take it! We have driven all the way to the Donets, and cannot cross it!”
“Then let us fight to stay as close as possible,” said Zhukov. “Let us fight, and if they prevail, then we retreat if we must. But I am willing to do everything possible to preserve the gains we have achieved.”
Kirov hesitated, ever so briefly, and then decided.
“Attack,” he said. “Use Kuznetsov’s mobile units if his infantry can hold, but do anything to hang on to the Middle Donets. Pull Katukov’s 1st Tank Army and Rybalko’s 5th Tank Army out of that big penetration in the north if you think it best. Then perhaps they can become our new mobile reserve.”
“Very well,” said Zhukov. “I am sorry we could not achieve our purpose in taking Kharkov, but we will fight as best we can to hold everything else we have taken from them.”
Kirov put his hand on Zhukov’s shoulder. “Have no regrets,” he said. “This has been a solid victory. We have pushed back their 4th Army, carved up their 2nd Army, and come within a whisker of taking Kharkov. We ran all the way to the Donets! Yet as you point out, the enemy was not without resources. I consider Red Star a success, even if we could not take the city. Don’t worry, we’re that much closer, and we’ll take it this summer.”
It was not the reaction that Zhukov expected, and he felt gratified that Sergei Kirov chose only to see the good in what his armies had accomplished.
“You have my permission to start your battle in the south,” said Kirov. “Yes, hold that southern flank. I want Steiner stopped.”
Red Star had achieved much, as Walther Model would be the first to admit. He realized that the divisions left in the fortress cities at Hitler’s insistence were now as good as lost. Kharkov had been saved, but the Russians had gone far, from the Oskol to the Donets, and with good prospects to advance further until they were given pause by Manstein’s counterattack in the south. Zhukov’s caution had avoided the debacle this battle had become in the real history, and he had wisely opted to consolidate his gains instead of reaching too high on the tree for the sweeter fruit. Now the battle to see if he could hold the Middle Donets was about to be engaged.
“You see,” said Berzin when Zhukov had departed for the front again. “He avoided the trap by stopping Popov near the Donets. Manstein will not get his famous backhand blow this time around.”
“That remains to be seen,” said Kirov. “We are sending Popov into battle. Ah… but what if Zhukov had let Popov go? When he crossed at Balakleya, even I was so bedazzled by the thought that we could reach the Dnieper, that I all but forgot the outcome of that choice in the Material.”
“So we take things slowly,” said Berzin. “Small bites will still finish the beef. Zhukov was correct to stop this attack and consolidate. This further fighting in the south could be a mistake. We may lose a lot of tanks, and this summer, we could always try again.”
“You know they’ll also be planning a big offensive,” said Kirov. “In the Material, it was at Kursk, but that bulge has all but been eliminated with this attack. Assuming we can hold the Middle Donets, that may end up being the next critical sector. So why not fight for it now?”
“Then there will be no battle of Kursk,” said Berzin.