“Enough to tighten one’s collar,” said Steiner. “What about Winter Storm?”
“We’ve take Surovinko, destroyed three Guards divisions and two of the three Tank Corps they had there, and now we have forced the withdrawal of their 3rd Guards Rifle Corps, relieving the pressure on Oblivskaya. In all this action, 3rd SS has been exemplary. They saved that town, standing like a rock, and now, with the heavy panzers adding weight to their attack, they have been unstoppable. The only question is what to do next? If we do stop this attack on Morozovsk, that will be the best we can accomplish for the moment. Pushing it back is beyond our means without substantial reinforcement. I could take 3rd SS and send it west, or leave it where it is. The latter option will probably guarantee a breakthrough to Kalach.”
“The other two divisions cannot get through?”
“Possibly, if I at least leave one of the Schwerepanzer units there. But you could also prepare an assault group to break out of the Kalach bridgehead at an appropriate time.”
Steiner considered that, rocking on his heels. “My men are very well occupied as it stands,” he said. “Das Reich is driving for the Volga Bridge, but they are fighting very hard to try and stop us. To allow that division to concentrate, I had to extend the lines of Leibstandarte and put the entire division in a defensive posture. I even had to commit all the Korps level assets to beef up Das Reich. This is no easy fight.”
“Nor is it the battle I wanted here,” said Manstein, “particularly not for your Korps. You will not reduce that city easily, or quickly. I think you have already seen this, and your men have not even worked into the heart of the city yet. However, if we can inflict a decisive check on the enemy here, west of the Don, then we would be free to make some prudent changes. I have six infantry divisions out here. They should all be east of the Don fighting for Volgograd. You have five of our very best mobile divisions in that kessel, and they should be here, smashing each and every attack the Russians throw at us.”
“Yet I promised the Fuhrer I would deliver this city,” said Steiner.
“And Rommel promised him all of Egypt,” said Manstein quickly. “You must put aside your personal pride in that. Now we do what makes best military sense. Clear? Winter Storm proved what we can do. At the moment, our forces are simply not balanced, and the enemy is taking good advantage of that. I intend to correct it.”
“Then how do we proceed?” asked Steiner. “The forces I have are barely enough to cover the frontage. The city is over 80 Kilometers long.”
“Can you clear the Volga Bridge to allow for Volkov’s 5th Army to cross?”
“That is the plan,” said Steiner. “I think another day or two will do the job.”
“Then his troops can form up opposite the Soviet 66th Army along the aqueduct. We need to redeploy in such a way as to allow you to build a strong force at Kalach. I’ll leave the particulars of that to you, but establish a force there capable of breaking out through 24th Army. I will continue with Winter Storm, and when the time is ripe I will signal to begin your breakout operation. Let us call it operation Thunderclap. Once we link up, reestablish communications and a good supply line, then your situation will look a little brighter. We can begin swapping in the infantry I have accumulated in trade for your mobile divisions.”
“Operation Thunderclap,” said Steiner. “I like that. Herr General, I will do as you ask. It may mean temporarily suspending the operations currently underway with Grossdeutschland and the Brandenburg Division, but I can build a strong force for Kalach. And Totenkopf? It would be nice if it was there to greet us when we break out.”
“No I think I will move it west, General Steiner. I want the SS Panzer Korps out of that mess. We should never have committed that force to a big street fight like this. So you come to Totenkopf.” He smiled. “They’ll be waiting for you. But first, it is imperative that you gain control of the Volga Bridge.”
Chapter 26
Steiner’s attack had continued through the 28th of October, with Das Reich summoning troops from the Deutschland Regiment that had been watching the aqueduct line. They were relieved by three battalions of 11th Army Pioneers that had come up from the Don sector after Volkov sent men to keep an eye on the river. So the precious infantry moved like pawns to hold key sectors and enable the mobile forces to move and strike—exactly the opposite of what Manstein wanted.
The addition of that fresh SS regiment put more steam into the attack towards the Volga Bridge, and now the lines of battle were drawing the shape of a man’s head, all the troops of 2nd Volga Rifles posted from Rynok north. The narrowing neck of ground where the Surchaya Balka wrinkled down to the bridge was the throat, and then the arc of the Samara Rifle Division the chest of the defense to the south. The SS Korps pioneers and assault gun battalions kept up heavy pressure on that chest, enabling Das Reich to take hold of the throat and attempt to choke the breath out of the enemy.
Some of the leading elements that had made the initial breakthrough from De Führer Regiment, and the supporting panzers, were now running low on ammunition, so the arrival of the Deutschland Regiment was just what the attackers needed. The Germans had pushed to within four kilometers of the bridge when the first battalion of the 13th Guards arrived from the Tractor Factory. It was followed by the 137th Tank Brigade, with 19 T-60s, eight T-34s, and six late model KV-1 tanks. The reached a balka separating Spartanovka from the approaches to the bridge, and began to deploy for a counterattack about 2000 meters behind the Guards.
All along the river, the thunder of artillery resounded from the gorges and cliffs. Many of the shore batteries positioned from the Rynok Ferry north had been turned about to rain fire on the crucial sector, and from across the river, Volkov’s guns answered by opening a preparatory barrage on the heavy concrete bunkers that defended the west end of the bridge.
East of the bridge, an unseen buildup of troops was assembling, the men of Volkov’s 12th Orenburg Guards Division. And just a little south, at the ferry sites along the river at Volkovskiy, another crack unit was quietly using the darkness to load weapons and supplies aboard their assault barges. Such a cross river attack had never been possible while the defenders of Volgograd could stand their watch unbothered by other foes. Now it was mustering with a real chance of success. Ivan Volkov had been receiving regular reports from the front, and when he learned of the German thrust towards the bridge, he immediately ordered well laid plans to be pulled out of the General’s briefcases and put into motion. He was ready to send this heavily reinforced division over that bridge, and to land those Marines on the river banks to the south, where that balka ran to meet the river a kilometer north of Spartanovka.
On the morning of the 29th, the troops crouched in the low fog that hung over the river, the restless vapor of their own breath seeming to feed and build the mist. Their adrenaline was up, for before them lay the massive steel girders and bed of that bridge, fully two kilometers wide. With silent hand movements from their officers, the first of the rifle squads began to rush forward onto the approached to the span. They would pass their own heavy defensive bunkers, MG posts and concrete guard towers, their movement rustling the fog like wind. The farther they went, the farther from their own defensive shore they would be, and now the sappers took the lead, the men trundling forward with long metal tubes that looked like Bangalore torpedoes.