That would be the most serious breakthrough achieved that day, and just south of that breach, Grossdeutschland was pushing right up the main road to the newly built suburb of the city, Novo Kirovka. It had built up west of the river in the vicinity of the Oil Tank Farm, Nail Factory, and Water Works, and a new Red Square had also been built there opposite the ferry to Krasnaya Sloboda, the heavily fortified mid-stream island that stood as the first barrier of defense against any attack across the Volga from the east.
That area of the city had once been named Yelshanka, but now that district was moved south, closer to Beketova. The push by the Grossdeutschland Division, if successful, would be cutting off all of Shumilov’s 64th Army, largely opposed by Volkov’s troops, which were content to simply sit there and wait for the Soviets to withdraw. They had been unable to move their enemy for years, and thought they would do no better now, yet with the Germans in the game, they would eagerly occupy ground their newfound ally forced the Russians to yield. Shumilov could not hold his present positions with Grossdeutschland behind him to the north.
All Chuikov had to try and stop this formidable attack was the 45th Rifle Division, understrength and low on supply. So the field phones at Chuikov’s HQ near the old Army Barracks were ringing off the hook. His four rifle divisions between the aqueduct and Gumrak airfield were being swamped, and now they were attempting to fall back towards the city. A hole had developed south of Gumrak, where 36th Guard Division had been overrun and nearly destroyed by the Brandenburgers. Shumilov’s troops to the south were now exposed, and would be forced to give up more ground, falling back towards the heavy urban areas closer to the river.
“Shumilov!” said Chuikov over the telephone line. “We cannot hold astride the road to Novo Kirovka. You must get your men back to the city!”
“Don’t worry,” came the reply. “I have two light tank brigades as a mobile reserve. They will cover the main road while I get the infantry back. But who will hold the center?”
“39th Guards is in the Worker’s Settlement. I will try to bring in the 37th Guards tonight on the river barges.”
“Under Volkov’s guns?”
“They won’t expect it. We’ve been running three or four barges a night on supply lifts. They’ve seen them, fired a few rounds of artillery, but made no real effort beyond that. I think I can get the men through. As it stands, I may not be able to get much back from the outer defense line west of the city, so we need those guardsmen.”
“What about the 13th?”
“They’re in the factory district, and the Germans are pushing for Rynok, so that is where they will stay.”
“And the Volga Rifles?”
“Up on the aqueduct line, what’s left of them. They came over the Don three days ago north of Vertyachi to help hold the aqueduct. As long as we have that, then we can get supplies fairly close to the city from the north, and ferry them in each night. It’s our only option. We’ll lose Gumrak Airfield by tomorrow.”
“Very well,” said Shumilov. “My army is still reasonably intact. I will reposition to hold Novo Kirovka.”
“What about Beketova?” Chuikov cautioned. “If we give that up, then everything on Sarpinskiy Island is good for nothing.”
“I’ll leave two divisions there. Volkov’s boys will have to fight if they want winter quarters. I’ll not hand it to them. It was enough that we had to give up our fortified lines at Krasnoarmeysk!”
“Good,” said Chuikov. “Then you will be responsible for Yelshanka and Novo Kirovka, and God be with you. We got word from a cavalry reconnaissance brigade near the railroad bridge to the south. Volkov is relieving the German SS division that was holding near Nizhne Chirskaya. It’s heading north, so keep that in mind. I assume you will be moving your headquarters soon?”
“Tonight,” said Shumilov. “I will call you with the new location after we are set up.”
That night the position of the 62nd Army west of the city collapsed, with 45th, 95th and 112th Rifle Divisions virtually destroyed, and 36th Guards reduced to a single regiment, the division HQ overrun and captured. The remainder of the division would never see friendly lines again. Shumilov waited for cover of darkness to withdraw, his forces folding back and extending their lines towards Novo Kirovka to the north. His 13th Tank and 66th Special Rifle Brigades arrived there just in time to find the recon elements of the Grossdeutschland Division probing at the outskirts of the city.
As dawn came on the 22nd of October, elements of both 1st SS and the Brandenburgers had Gumrak Airfield surrounded, where the stubborn 72nd NKVD Brigade still held out in the fortified pillboxes around the complex. The Germans were pounding them with heavy artillery, being careful to avoid directing fires on the airstrip itself. Seeing what was happening, the NKVD Colonel Rybayev got on the radio and begged Chuikov to fire his guns at the airfield, in effect, calling friendly artillery down on his own position to attempt to damage the field. Chuikov refused. He could fire those guns any time he wished, and would not do so with brave men still fighting for that ground.
Further north the rest of the Brandenburgers, and elements of 1st SS, were consolidating after a hard night’s fighting. They advanced towards the city, coming upon the Pyolomny Ravine and finding it undefended. The enemy had withdrawn towards the Kirov Flying School and the old Army Barracks where Chuikov had his HQ. Needless to say, like Shumilov, he was also moving his headquarters that day. 1st SS was now widely dispersed, having pushed right through Gorodiche and Alexsandrovka to approach the gnarled fingers of a balka that extended up from the Airfield Settlement. At the end of one withered branch of that feature, a stone rampart had been erected that extended in an arc to the south, covering the Flying School.
There were the remnants of 36th, 37th and 39th Guards Divisions, each reduced to about a regiment in size now, and together combining to form a new Provisional Guards Division. The Guardsmen were just starting to dig in behind that wall, ready for a fight. On their right, the relatively fresh 308th Siberian Division had just arrived from the Factory District. Chuikov decided he could not concede the ground remaining east of the city unfought, and he had nothing else to plug the line. This still left him the 13th Guards at the factories, which he deemed an adequate defense. Even though Volkov’s troops had been very static in recent months, there was always a threat at his back.
Immediately north, the 193rd Division had not been engaged by Das Reich, and so it withdrew intact, taking up new defensive positions screening the Barrikady Worker’s Settlement, their right flank manned by troops from the tough 10th NKVD Division. Then came the Samara Rifles, a unit that had come all the way from that city, tramping over the Aqueduct bridge, like knights arriving at a beleaguered Castle just as the enemy siege engines were being pulled forward to attack. There were now deploying west of the large bunkers that had been called the Mushrooms, heavy concrete bunkers that had been built during the Volkov wars. Behind them, the 2nd Volga Rifles were finally arriving near Rynok after a three-day march from the Don, and they would be the northernmost defenders, their mission to keep open the one road and access to the Volga itself in that sector.
Now Steiner reassessed his position, seeing that Das Reich was strung out from Orlovka all the way back to Samafalovka on the main rail line. So he ordered the 75th Infantry Division to mop up what was left of enemy resistance and then begin moving north. He would position that division on the northern shoulder opposite the aqueduct defense line, and in so doing, free up Das Reich for the push towards Rynok.