“The Führer will be pleased. You are two weeks ahead of schedule.”
“I’m sure he will. But Halder… Keep an eye on this. Things have been quiet, and we presumed they had played out all their trump cards in that Chir operation. They pulled out those Shock Armies, and things got even quieter.”
“We received intelligence that they are being moved up around Moscow to the Kalinin sector,” said Halder.
“Yes… I read that too. But what if they aren’t going there? What if they rolled them into a new offensive plan? We will speak again on this. Notify me if you learn anything more.”
Three hours after that phone call the entire front in the Rossosh sector erupted. Every division on the line was under heavy attack, forced into hedgehog defense and calling frantically for armor support. The ‘something more’ Manstein could smell on the cold December wind was becoming much bigger than anyone imagined.
In the sector that had been fought over so bitterly since Guderian’s offensive of 1941, the Soviets threw 16th and 38th Armies supported by two tank corps at Tula. There the German 110th Infantry was overrun, the 183rd shattered and falling back with the 197th retreating on its right. Tula fell late on the 16th, and the Soviet armor surged through openings created by the retreating German infantry and raced for the Oka River. There the 214th Tank Brigade forced a crossing at Alexin, where nothing more than a small contingent of German military police barred the way.
Just beyond the bridge, a train had arrived from the Kalinin sector, and the men of the 389th infantry disembarked as the enemy tanks appeared. The infantry rushed forward, panzerfaust teams being the only immediate AT defense, and bravely engaged the enemy armor while the engineers desperately backed the train off to avoid having the rolling stock shot to pieces. The 387th division had disembarked some miles back, and it was now coming up on the right, which gave the Germans a critical mass of decent infantry to stop that enemy thrust and organize a counterattack to try and eliminate this bridgehead. Everything else east of the Oka was ordered back over the river.
Further south, the Russians took Plavsk, and had a fast moving cavalry division approaching Mtsensk by the 18th. Behind it, a long column of tanks and AFVs in the 3rd Guard Mech Corps was pushing for Orel. That was there the water was spilling over the top of the dam, for far to the east, the German line stretched in a wide arc like a great shield, down to the upper Don, to the position beyond Voronezh, and then down to the Don Bend area near Rossosh and the enemy Boguchar Bridgehead. It was all the hard won territory Rundstedt had taken in the Summer Offensive, and now the question arose as to whether any of that ground could be held.
The stubborn defense of the German 12th Infantry Korps had held Lipetsk for three days, completely throwing off Zhukov’s timetable for a crossing of the Don there. He had a lot of force on the roads stretching all the way back to Tambov. To the south, Model’s defense in front of Voronezh was masterful, with the 24th Panzer Korps mounting timely counterattacks in a very active battle. 3rd Panzer held onto Anna until the 18th, when Model consolidated his positions, ordering it back.
Model notified Halder that Voronezh was in no immediate danger, but requested more mobile support. “This is what happens when you pull nine divisions out of the army and leave us with the bare necessity. I had to put all six panzer divisions on the line. Where did all that infantry go after we took Voronezh?”
“Ten divisions went to Manstein. The Führer is goggle eyed to smash the last of the enemy resistance in the south, particularly at Volgograd. And you know very well that the panzers were shifted to Armeegruppe Nord.”
“Volgograd? That’s useless! We don’t need it.”
“From a military standpoint, you are certainly correct, but there are political considerations. Hitler wants it, Volkov wants it even more.”
“Well it is no concern of mine,” said Model. “Aside from the fact that all that infantry could be put to better use elsewhere.”
“Particularly in the north,” said Halder. “They are rolling us back to the Oka, so your northern flank will be turned in a matter of days. Screen Voronezh as long as you can. I have sent the three divisions of 46th Panzer Korps, and three more infantry divisions, to see if we can at least slow them down in the north, but they are already approaching Mtsensk.”
“Do you know the price in blood we paid for that sector? What about Tula?”
“It was occupied two days ago. Your army is the only segment of the front still intact. The Führer is counting on you, but you should know there is a big breakthrough at Rossosh to the south, so they may be contemplating a pincer operation, with your forces in the middle.”
“I can’t do anything about that,” said Model. “Frankly, if they break through there, then I think they want Kharkov.”
“Manstein isn’t sure about that, but it will be his problem. In the meantime, stand firm. I’ll get you all the support I can.”
For once Manstein was inwardly glad that it was Halder scrimping for infantry and other reserves. He had raided the cupboard fairly well in recent months, pulling Steiner’s SS out of Volgograd and collecting ten infantry divisions there. Now the earlier theft of 14th Panzer Korps also paid him good dividends. It was his first reaction force against the Boguchar bridgehead attack, stabilizing and shoring up the southern shoulder. Yet the enemy did not want to turn in his direction, and he inwardly sensed that.
They tried me in those earlier offensives, he thought, and they know I have all of Steiner’s divisions at hand to stop any further attempt they make against the lines of communication to Volgograd. Here I am, securing that ground when it is needless to do so. We should have just yielded the city to Volkov and let him deal with it, but I think Hitler is thinking beyond this battle to the end of the war. The political reasons he mentions involve our control of the lower Volga after the war, and that is why Volkov want that city.
The campaign in the Donets Basin is now concluded. Donetsk fell last night, which leaves me ten more divisions in the 17th Armee that will be looking for work. Hitler’s expectation was that I would take Steiner’s Korps into the Kuban, but I wonder if that would be wise given the scope of this big enemy offensive. I think Hitler wants the Kuban for the same reasons he wanted Volgograd. If he can get direct control of the oil there, all the better, and he knows Volkov is waiting to occupy that entire area after we break the enemy defense. Steiner would get the job done faster, but I could just as easily send Rouff’s 17th Army into the Kuban. It has the mountain divisions, and good artillery. So I have decided. Steiner moves north, Rouff south.
As for this offensive, what exactly are the Russians up to here? This drive out of Boguchar looks like they want Kharkov, but they still would have two rivers to get over before they could threaten that city. Turning north and aiming for Kursk might serve them better. Those same rivers would cover their left flank, and such a thrust would be the southern pincer against Model’s 2nd Panzer Armee. This is what I think they are doing, which means Kharkov must be occupied by a strong Knight.
Manstein was already looking several moves ahead, beyond the winter, to the spring counteroffensive that would surely answer this impudent attack by the enemy. It would not take him long before he determined just where he would find that strong Knight. He turned to a staffer, waving him over.
“Herr General?”
“Get me General Steiner on the telephone. I have new orders for him.” Manstein would soon learn that Steiner had delivered Rostov as he promised, and Steiner would soon learn that in grateful thanks, his SS Panzer Korps was going into reserve for a much needed refit—at Kharkov.