“Choose your poison,” said Zhukov. “On the Voronezh Front, they are trying to pocket those armies we spoke of earlier. I suggest we attempt to extricate them, withdrawing through Burnurlinkova while we still can. The rail line south from there is already cut in at least one place. If not, then our entire line south of the Don in those bridgeheads will soon be under threat.”
“Do it. Save those troops. Cover your bridgeheads. They are the only force we have that can stage a creditable attack, the only eggs we still have in the nest.”
“And Volgograd?”
“Could you move some units from your bridgeheads to help defend the city?”
“It would take time,” said Zhukov. “We still hold the Don crossing at Golubinskaya. That road allows us to feed units into the defense north of Martinovka, easing the pressure on the city. I could send 4th Shock Army there instead of sending it to the Voronezh Front. Choose your poison, Mister General Secretary. I can do one or the other, but not both.”
Kirov rubbed his chin. “Berzin? Do you have an opinion on any of this?”
Berzin cleared his throat. “I know you have a strong psychological bond to Volgograd, and not just because half the city in the south has been renamed Novo Kirovka. But in my mind, the Voronezh Front is the more serious situation. If the German advance is not halted there, it will unhinge the entire line south of the Don, and foil the General’s plan for Operation Uranus as well. Send Yeremenko north.”
“Agreed,” said Zhukov. “Voronezh is the real crisis at the moment.”
Kirov shook his head. “And without 4th Shock Army, what chance does your Operation Uranus have?”
“A good offensive needs three things,” said Zhukov. “It needs mass, like water behind a dam. It needs shock to break that dam, and then it need speed to exploit the breach and penetrate as deeply into enemy territory as possible before he can react. With 4th Shock Army, Operation Uranus gets all three of those things. Without it, the battle becomes nothing more than a spoiling attack, just like Operation Mars.”
“Yet even that saw us get tanks as far south as Morozovsk.”
“For a day. Without support, they had to withdraw, and without 4th Shock Army, nothing would get that far in any case.”
Kirov had to decide. “Two balloons,” he said, prompting Berzin to look at Zhukov quizzically. But Kirov explained. “The first is this big group here, the armies south of Voronezh that we just pulled back over the Don. Now this German drive to the north threatens to pocket them. The second balloon is the big buildup you have labored to create in our Serafimovich Bridgehead. You say it is ready to strike, but now we stand here contemplating how best to minimize its chances by stripping Yeremenko’s troops away to send them north, or east to Volgograd. Well, we will do neither.”
“I don’t understand,” said Berzin. “We must do something, and quickly.”
“We will. Time to let the air out of both balloons. General Zhukov, those armies under threat south of Voronezh—pull them back as you have suggested. Form your line anew running from Voronsovka in the south, where Katukov is dealing with this infantry pincer. Then anchor it on Burnurlinkova, and run it up to Arkangelskoye. This will cover your Don bridgeheads and buy us time. It is mid-October. Winter must come soon, and god help us if it is late.”
“General Winter?” said Zhukov. “Oh, he is never late. In fact, he may arrive early this year. That volcano that erupted in the Pacific has had some rather dramatic effects on the weather. Very well, Mister General Secretary, I will do as you order. But the second balloon? Do I send 4th Shock Army north to stop Model, or to Golubinskaya to support the defense north of Volgograd?”
Kirov kept staring at the map. “General,” he said. “This operation you have planned for winter. Could it be launched early?”
Zhukov raised an eyebrow. “The ground in the south is still firm,” he said, thinking. “Mother Rasputista was not so generous there. So yes, the armies are ready, and I suppose I could attack at any time.”
“Haven’t the Germans strengthened their line after your abortive Mars offensive?”
“They have. The 14th Panzer Korps is in the Bouguchar sector, and one of their SS divisions has moved to the line south of Perelazovski opposite the Serafimovich Bridgehead.”
“Will it prevent this attack from succeeding?”
“It will be a rock in the stream, but the infantry on either side will be the target of our breakthroughs.”
“And the aim of this operation?”
“To get to the main road and rail lines along the River Chir. All their supplies are in depots there—Morozovsk, Oblivskaya, Surovinko. If we take those, or even any one of the three, we cut Steiner’s offensive off at the root.”
“Can’t he get supplies from Volkov’s territory south of Volgograd?”
“He might get some gasoline, but Volkov does not manufacture the ammunition and equipment he needs to sustain his operations.”
“Very well, then attack. Use 4th Shock Army as you have already planned. The best defense is a good offense. I see no merit in dissipating the power you have labored so hard to build up there, so attack, General, and may God go with you.”
Katukov’s defense on the southern pincer against the German 17th Army was masterful. He contained the breakthrough, and was counterattacking when the retreat order was given to pull those five armies out of that imminent pocket. The men fell back under a protective artillery barrage, dragging any guns and equipment they could move through the mud.
To their north, the breakthrough by Model’s 2nd Panzer Army looked far more serious than it was. The German offensive was played out. They were advancing still because they had virtually nothing in front of them, though supplies and fuel shortages were already stopping units in the field, where they would sit for hours, sometimes days, waiting for the trucks to catch up and bring the gasoline.
The panzer divisions were all intermingled with one another, and losses had been very heavy with the constant fighting. 33rd Motorized Regiment of 4th Panzer Division, for example, was one of the better supplied in the Schwerpunkt. Out of 150 rifle quads in various sub units, it now had about 75 remaining, a staggering 50% casualty rate. Other regiments were much worse off. 26th Motorized Regiment in the 24th Panzer Division had 45 squads left. Those in the 17th Panzer and 36th Motorized Divisions fared little better. Most of the panzer regiments were still at about 60% strength, but it was lack of fuel, munitions, and the endless mud that was slowing their operations to a crawl. The men that remained were tired, and as worn out as their equipment.
In spite of this, Model was not yet finished. He had a plan.
Chapter 26
The stunning German drive east of Voronezh had been possible only because of the infantry coming up to hold the shoulders of the breakthrough. It mostly deployed along the southern shoulder, giving 2nd Panzer Armee the freedom to continue to attack. Hoth had to deploy on the northern shoulder, as infantry in his sector was now forced to encircle the city of Voronezh itself, where 16 Soviet divisions sat in a small pocket.
Even though his divisions were worn out, Model worked to keep his advance rolling, taking fuel from one division and giving it to another. 4th Panzer had been in the lead, under Heinrich Eberbach, “Willy Rubber Nose” as he was called. Model wanted to keep his spearhead sharp, and he gave Eberbach the gasoline to keep moving his division through the expanding gap in the front. He swung south, ironically toward another town called Kalach, about 70 miles north of Boguchar on the Don.