General Katukov’s troops were ready for action. The three mobile corps in his own army were still in good shape, and now he would inherit the last surviving member of the old 5th Tank Army, the 29th Tank Corps, and his new 5th Guards Mech. As five mobile corps were too much for a single army staff to coordinate, he would now reassign forces to build two separate tank armies, and the newcomer would be called 5th Guards Tank, in honor of the old army that had died to give it birth.
So even though the Germans had delivered a very heavy blow with their abortive Operation Zitadelle, largely destroying the operational capability of the 5th Shock Group, it was a case of Hercules versus the Hydra. STAVKA still had considerable resources, long husbanded by Zhukov over the long winter lull where January through March of 1943 saw little action on the East Front. The Soviets had taken the enemy blow, and were now delivering a strong counterattack aimed at encircling Kharkov, Operation Rumyantsev.
Phase II of that plan was about to begin.
Part VI
Confrontation
“Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand….”
Chapter 16
The attack in the north would come like two great waves, a tsunami of steel and fire. Gorodov’s 21st Army, now renamed 6th Guards, would provide the infantry shock aimed at retaking Tomarovka. To the east was Chiukov’s 8th Guards Army, which would bypass Belgorod. That town would then be assaulted by the 5th Guards Army, the only formation still intact and with good combat power from the old 5th Shock Group.
Behind these three strong infantry armies, was Mikhail Katukov’s 1st Tank Army, to make the breakthrough and initial exploitation. He would retain his 6th and 31st Tank Corps, but take for himself the newly arriving 5th Guards Mech Corps. For the newly forming 5th Guard Tank Army, he relinquished his 3rd Mech Corps, which would join the 29th Tank Corps. To bring this new army up to strength, STAVKA released the newly rebuilt 17th Tank Corps, now renamed 4th Guards, and it was one of the new structures that would have its motorized infantry regiment converted to the ZIS-42 Halftracks.
Katukov was very eager to get into action and see what 5th Guard Mech Corps could do with the new B.M.P. infantry fighting vehicles. They were the only formation on the field to have that carrier, and this battle would be a good test of its capabilities. Yet 5th Guards Tank Army was still organizing, and so he would wait until June 1st to begin his attack in the north.
While the Russians were planning this new attack, Manstein was busy in the south near Kharkov. He was slowly building up a considerable force capable of stopping the enemy offensive, but he was unaware of the threat looming in the north. The Germans thought they had taken the measure of the foe in that sector. Knobelsdorff’s 9th and 6th Panzer Divisions had a rough time against Katukov, but they were able to conduct a fighting retreat in good order. Then he got a call from Manstein again, asking him to detach Balck’s 11th Panzer Division.
“What will I hold with here?” Knobelsdorff protested. “Balck’s Division is still near full strength. That was my ace in the hole.”
“I know, but we gave them a hard blow up there. I do not think they will be able to do anything more on your front for some weeks. We have pulled Salmuth’s 10th Korps off the line, and General Kempf will send you the 167th and 168th Divisions in return. Use them to build a second line behind your main front, and then you can rest those two remaining panzer divisions for a few days.”
What Manstein did not reveal was the fact that Salmuth’s Korps had been in action against the Soviet 3rd Shock Group, and both his divisions had been worn down. Manstein knew they would have little offensive capability, but they could still hold on defense. 11th Panzer would make a nice addition to his armored grouping in the south, and he got the much better end of the deal he had brokered with Knobelsdorff.
Now things were looking a little better for him. The Soviet penetrations over the Donets had at least been contained. That said, the German “Donets Line,” as Hitler was now calling it, was only that in name. They only held a 30-kilometer segment of the upper Donets, from Belgorod south. The Russians were over the river to a depth of 10 to 15 kilometers from Volchansk all the way south to Chuguyev, which they had just taken. Now Manstein had to see if he could push them back while still holding on to Kharkov, and finding a way to reinforce the Donets Bend from Zimyev down through Andreyevka to Izyum.
The General drafted a terse message to OKW, covering his intentions with the thin veneer of a document in writing. It read: “Under the condition that Kharkov will be held at all costs, as Armeegruppe Commander, I am assuming freedom to operate in a manner best designed to defeat the enemy and throw him back.”
Hitler read it in silence when Zeitzler handed it to him. He watched the map updates with growing concern and an inner simmering anxiety. On the morning of May 31st, the Red Tide had again reached the village of Borovoye south of Kharkov. And there was fighting at Rodin on the main road from Chuguyev. They had reclaimed all the ground they had been driven from during Manstein’s dramatic counteroffensive in April. He could feel, and clearly see on that map, that something had changed in the war on the Ostfront. What the Soviets took, they more often than not held. What they lost, they now came to reclaim, and once again, they had their eyes fixed on Kharkov.
They were trying to envelop the city from the southwest, with a report coming in from Aleksandrovka, about 25 kilometers from the city, that a strong Soviet tank corps was now attacking in force. It was later identified as Kuznetsov’s 1st Guard Tank Corps, the most powerful in the army, and defending at Alexsandrovka, the Germans had posted Feld Ersatz Battalion-A, a ragtag band of walking wounded that acted as a replacement unit. It was the best the Soviets had against the worst the Germans could offer, and the result was a foregone conclusion.
Right behind the heavy tanks and Guardsmen of Kuznetsov’s spearhead, he had sent the 10th Tank Corps in support, so this was a very strong left hook. Yet lurking in the heart of the city, the Germans had troops of higher caliber, the Grossdeutschland Division, coiled like a steel spring and ready to strike out in any direction. Manstein ordered Hörnlein to re assemble the entire division there, with most of the heavy Ferdinands attached. He then sent KG Deckard south to shore up the flank of Sepp Dietrich’s 1st SS.
That division was now heavily engaged all along its extended front, and facing both 1st and 2nd Guards Mech Divisions. The battle for Kharkov was going to be like a clash of Titans, the hardened gladiators from either side hammering at one another all along the tight defensive perimeter that extended some 15 kilometers out from the city.
In addition to that Ace he had in hand, General Manstein still had two more cards to play. He had another high face card with the arrival of the Wiking Division from Dnipropetrovsk where it had been taking on equipment. The fighting at Alexandrovka had cut the rail line to the city, so it would be approaching the battle from the south, on Kuznetsov’s left and rear flank if he advanced on Kharkov. That was a division that would be certain to force the dogged Russian General to look over his shoulder.