“Agreed,” said Kirov, literally rubbing his hands with anticipation. “Just getting Kharkov back again would be a great victory,” he said. “We have lost Rostov and the entire Donets Basin. Volgograd cannot be far behind. Yet in compensation we will get Voronezh and Kharkov.”
“That is the plan,” said Zhukov, though we have neither at the moment. Getting to Kursk this quickly is certainly noteworthy, but by now the enemy will be pulling in every reserve they have to try and stop us. Word is that the SS Korps is being moved north.”
“That is correct,” said Berzin. “They moved the 5th SS Division two days ago, and smaller corps assets. The 3rd SS is beginning to arrive now.”
“So you see why I have decided to reinforce Rokossovsky’s Southern Group. What we could use now is one more army to assure we don’t thin out too much as we move south. 3rd Guards Army is up near Samara, but I plan no offensive action there for some time.”
“Then move it here,” said Kirov. “We’ll deal with Volkov later. I want everything we can muster here for this offensive, and it still amazes me that you suddenly have all these armies available when only two months ago you were telling me your Operation Uranus was everything you had saved for this winter offensive.”
“It was,” said Zhukov. “That is where these shock armies in the Southern Group came from. The new mobile formations were a long time building, and 60 days ago I could not use any of them as they were being formed. They were only just starting to build up their brigades with good armor deliveries. Now we have them, and so now we will use them. Mister General Secretary, I have every hope to take Kharkov within 30 days.”
“What about the SS? What about all those new German Tiger tanks? They have been a real nemesis.”
“The SS? Tiger tanks? Not this time. The forces I have assembled in these two shock groups are massive. We have two tigers of our own out there, Timoshenko and Rokossovsky, about to meet and be harnessed to Jupiter’s mighty chariot. And if Steiner gets in my way, I will deliver his head on a platter.”
Part XII
The Cauldron
Chapter 34
The first German counterattacks were still defensive in nature, aimed at trying to blunt or simply slow down the Soviet advance on Prokhorovka. Model had shifted 10th Panzergrenadier Division towards Kursk, largely to stave off being surrounded on that flank. The 60th Panzergrenadiers were already fighting there against 1st Shock Army, and now the 13th Panzer Division arrived from the south and went right into action alongside those other two divisions.
The Russian armies that had closed around Model’s 2nd Panzerarmee like a vise relented that day, though there was a good deal of hooting and gibing from their lines directed at their enemy. They had taken a pounding all summer, and now they were returning the favor.
In defiance, just before dawn, every German squad that had a weapon with tracer rounds chambered one, and fired it straight up into the sky. To the pilots in German planes who saw it, the sight created a breathtaking outline of the massive pocket that had been formed by the Soviet offensive, stretching from Voronezh west, nearly all the way to Kursk, which was now taken by the Russians. Model’s new HQ was at Stary Oskol, in the very center of that pocket, where the rail line came up from Kharkov.
That was Model’s lifeline, and it was now being guarded by a very powerful force. It had taken Steiner all of ten days to pull his divisions together near Rostov and find enough rolling stock to get them on the trains. Now, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd SS were finally assembling near Belgorod, and the Wiking Division was already posted further east on the river near Novy Oskol to assist the Reichsführer Brigade opposing the Siberian 5th Shock Army. With Hitler fretting and fuming, Manstein flew to Belgorod to confer with Steiner and plan the defense.
“Do you have enough to stop them?” he asked Steiner.
“I have my full Korps up now, though twenty-five percent of it has already been pulled into the defense against their southern pincer. And remember, I left Grossdeutschland and the Brandenburgers with you, so this isn’t the hammer we used to beat them senseless last summer. That said, with the three divisions I have at Belgorod, I am confident I can save Kharkov.”
“Well, I have some good news for you. I’m pulling Grossdeutschland from its reserve position in the south, and the Brandenburgers are coming too.”
“Indeed?” Steiner smiled. “That is good news. Then who will take that city for Hitler?”
“It will be up to the infantry divisions. The Brandenburger Division is now mostly that, but it has four brigades—good motorized infantry. We’ll mate it with some of the special tank units we’ve been building and it will remain a formidable force.”
“How soon will these additional troops be here?”
“Two or three days. In the meantime, I’d advise staying right where you are. Let them keep pushing, but when you attack, it will likely be towards Kursk. We need to throw Hitler a bone. He’s been howling like a mad dog at OKW. But what we need even more is something on the other side to attack in conjunction with your offensive.”
“Is there anything available?”
“24th Panzer Division has been rebuilding at Odessa for the last 30 days, and a few of the divisions we sent to the North Front might be combat ready. Getting permission to use them is the key. I may have to fly to OKW and make another personal intervention.”
“General, I wish you good luck. Frankly, pulling my Korps out of that hell hole at Volgograd did me and the men a great service. I couldn’t see that then, but I know it now.”
“Correct. This is the best mobile Korps on the field, and you must always think that way. Blitzkrieg, Steiner, blitzkrieg. Never accept a battle of attrition when you can find a way to maneuver, even if it means you must temporarily yield ground to the enemy. This is something Hitler simply cannot grasp. He is still fighting the last war, where every trench line was fought over day and night. At times, yes, we must be stubborn. Look at Model! That man is a master of defense. He should have pulled out seven days ago, but Hitler would not permit that. Yet he held when he had to, and that has given us the situation we face at this moment. So you will strike towards Kursk, but the good thing here is that we still have a decent road and rail line from Prokhorovka up to Model. He isn’t cut off yet, and he can still fight. You can take that road right towards his headquarters and then swing west towards Kursk, a backhand blow when you do so. Slap that northern pincer right across the face, and see how they like it.”
Saying and planning were one thing, doing those things on the field of battle another. The Russian forces were still in high gear, and Zhukov’s statement to Sergei Kirov concerning the strength of the two pincers he had in motion was no idle boast. Steiner was probably correct in his assessment that he could stop that northern pincer with the three SS divisions he already had preparing to attack. Taking Kursk would be another matter. The great northern bear claw was now composed of no fewer than six tank corps, with a seventh on the line and pushing west instead of south to pose an additional threat.
As for the southern pincer, its main problem now was the lack of bridging equipment. Most of that was still back at the Don, and there were not enough bridging units to come forward with the advance. The Oskol River was now the main obstacle, but 4th Guard Tank Corps used its organic bridging engineers to shore up the ice and get a brigade across. More pontoon regiments were on the way, but the rail lines could not get them close enough to arrive easily. They had to disembark east of the Don, then cross that river and move by truck, and that would take several days.