The entire front between Stary Saltov and Chuguyev was therefore in a state of disruption, and he knew it would take one strong division to stabilize the situation. Then, north of that mess, opposite Volchansk, the Soviet 7th Guards Army had doggedly expanded its bridgehead. One spike after another was being driven into the wall, and they had to be hammered down. He could not do this and still have forces available in sufficient strength to launch a counterattack. However, if he did use Steiner’s divisions to push back these penetrations, they would end up on the Donets, with the possibility they could then cross as he had envisioned.
So it was that Paul Hausser’s 2nd SS Division would be sent against the 7th Guards, and Sepp Dietrich was ordered to get his troops on the trains near Belgorod and move south as soon as possible. They would flow through Kharkov that morning and continue on south to prepare a blocking position, as the enemy was expected to cross the Donets that morning. 3rd SS would have to stay in the north and hold the shoulder against 5th Guards Army.
That left the push being made by the 3rd Shock Group north of Chuguyev needing attention, and so Manstein ordered General Hörnlein to put together a Kampfgruppe and halt the enemy advance. He chose the Fusilier Regiment, augmented by two panzer companies, half the division artillery and three companies of the recon battalion. This attack would continue to pull in additional assets, but the whole of the Grenadier Regiment, and most of the Pioneers, would remain at Kharkov. Hörnlein was free with his panzers, because that morning all the Panthers of KG Decker pulled into Kharkov, with the two battalions of heavy Ferdinand Panzerjags.
That morning Mikhail Katukov accelerated his attack toward the trapped 5th Shock Group. He was relentless, using 3rd Mech and 31st Tank Corps to batter his way through the defensive lines of the 9th Panzer Division, and drive within five kilometers of the pocket. Hearing their comrades charging to their rescue, 5th Shock Army commander, Kamenko, ordered an attack to the north. His army had been weakened by days of fighting, with ammunition for the artillery nearly depleted, severe losses. 5th Tank Army was even worse off, with its 24th and 25th Tank Corps largely destroyed. But the 29th Tank Corps still had some punch, and it threw in an attack to try and break out.
The rescue of that army was going to be inevitable. The German front trying to contain those two Soviet armies to the north could not hold, and casualties and equipment losses, particularly the panzers, were mounting. Balck was advised of the situation and decided that he might do better by reinforcing the outer perimeter, instead of grinding his way through the lines of 5th Shock Army. He stopped 31st Tank Corps, in a massive tank battle at the village of Novocherkass, the heavy Lions dueling with T-34/85’s. 100th Tank brigade would lose 15 of 30 tanks in that fight, finding the new German armor just too good in spite of the many upgrades made to the reliable T-34.
Tank shock had again shifted to the Germans, and this would likely hold true for the remainder of the spring and summer until more Kirov-I models could be produced. Yet not to be outdone, Katukov shifted a full regiment of his 3rd Mech Corps against a battalion of Panzergrenadiers from 9th Panzer, and opened another small hole five kilometers to the west. The fast-moving infantry halftracks surged through the gap, quickly racing to the northern edge of the pocket. 29th Tank Corps had been concentrated there, and now the attack began from two sides.
Those mobile units would be among the first to break out, joyfully linking up with their comrades, but the slower moving infantry in the pocket would fare much worse. That night the linkup was complete, but only two rifle divisions and the Guard Cavalry would be rescued. The 300th and 315th Divisions had been completely destroyed, along with much of the artillery, three brigade sized units, and the service troops. All told, the Soviets would lose the equivalent of two Tank Corps and four rifle divisions in that pocket, but they saved Kursk, and gave the army every good prospect for the liberation of Kharkov, which was now uppermost on Vatutin’s mind.
It would soon be on Manstein’s mind as well.
Further south, Das Reich had managed to seal off the breach over the Donets west of Volchansk, but not before a brigade of Soviet tank hunters had slipped through and raced west. They split into smaller company sized units, fanning out, intent on wrecking any rear area troops they came upon. Some of Hausser’s recon companies had just come south, and they went into action against the SU-122s, overmatched on firepower, but having the agility to out maneuver the larger beasts and get good side shots with their 75mm guns. They had knocked out 9 of the Russian SPGs but then learned that one battalion had moved north towards Kazaye Lopan, where they had achieved their primary mission—to tear up the rail line between Belgorod and Kharkov.
These units had 152mm guns, and they found and routed a battalion of rail workers that had been repairing the line, then fired at the railway embankment itself, blasting segments and sending both steel and wood ties cascading into the air. This was the life line that Steiner had used to get three of his heavy divisions rapidly south, but now it was cut. It seemed a small thing, those twin steel rails disrupted over a 10-kilometer segment of the line, but it was going to matter. The Germans would suddenly realize that they had lost the advantage of interior lines, losing the ability to rapidly shift forces north and south as they had just done.
Sepp Dietrich telephoned Manstein in Kharkov, and it was not good news. “My Division is spread out over a 28-kilometer front,” he said. “We’ve halted their advance towards Kharkov, but I simply cannot concentrate to counterattack. They have two Mech Corps here, very fast and agile troops in halftracks. There are more motorized infantry coming up as well.”
“And there will be tanks coming,” said Manstein. “This is no good. Steiner’s entire Korps is spread out to deal with one crisis point after another. We should have simply given them Kharkov. If we did so, we know they would come for it and then we might mass on their northern flank and make some headway. We’re just putting out fires.”
“They’re going to get around my right flank,” said Dietrich, making things plain and simple.”
There was a long silence while Manstein considered. Bad news had piled on top of bad news. He had learned the rail line to Belgorod had been cut, and though his forces had sealed off the holes in the dike, the water was spilling over the top! To make matters worse, the Army itself was now split in two. From Hollidt’s left flank anchored on Balakleya, to Dietrich’s flank south of Kharkov, there was a 60-mile segment of the line along the Middle Donets that had a single German infantry division holding, the 36th sent from Army Group Center. That, with a few Ostruppen and Luftwaffe battalions at key crossing points, was the only thing to stop the Russians from crossing the Middle Donets and driving for the Dnieper if they choose to do so.
“Alright,” said Manstein. “Hold your line for the time being. I am going to pull back the units at Chuguyev. We’ll establish a tighter perimeter near Kharkov. Otherwise, if they go around your flank, they will be in the city in two days. Stand fast, until I can get those units back. Then be ready to move quickly when I send you the order.”
Manstein had already taken the great risk of ordering a halt to Operation Zitadelle and pulling all of Steiner’s troops out to shore up the Middle Donets. Now he was contemplating an even greater risk, and one that might very well cost him his head. He needed to give the enemy ground to reform his front with infantry, and get his panzers free to concentrate for an attack. If he had his way, Grossdeutschland Division would not have gone to Kharkov, nor would Sepp Dietrich be making his plaintive call in the night from his overextended front in the south. He would have mustered them all in one place, and if that meant the enemy would take Kharkov, so be it.