“What infantry?” said Steiner sarcastically.
“My point exactly,” said Manstein. “We got Freisner’s 102nd over just north of Kalach, but everything else in Hansen’s 54th Korps was pulled onto the line against the Serafimovich bridgehead. We are promised two fresh divisions soon, but who knows when they will ever get here. In the meantime, even though your troops are weary, we cannot just sit on our thumbs here, not while Halder is clucking over that big push east of Voronezh.”
“That’s where all the infantry is,” said Steiner. “What they sent us here was barely sufficient to hold that northern shoulder as we came east. We should have had enough in hand to push the Russians north of the Don, but their buildup there was steady and unrelenting, and as we have seen they have already demonstrated the threat those bridgeheads pose to our operations against Volgograd.”
“Balck gave them a good lesson or two,” said Manstein with a grin. “And that attack allowed me to wrangle away the 14th Panzer Korps.”
“Yes, but where is it now?” Steiner tapped the map. “It’s right on the line in the Boguchar sector, along with all the infantry they gave us. I even had to put the 3rd SS on the line, which is one reason these last 40 kilometers were such a slog. If we had the infantry, I’d be in the city by now.”
“That is the last place I would prefer to see your divisions,” said Manstein. “This is the best mobile shock force in the army. It should be used in the breakthrough role, and then pulled out. Under the circumstances, as we have nothing in hand to relieve your troops, they will simply have to push on to the city. If we ever do get those two infantry divisions, they will relieve you. Now then, what is the plan?”
“Drive east on the road,” said Steiner. “They moved in a Guards Rifle division in front of the Brandenburgers. That will be my first order of business.”
Manstein looked at the map. “Steiner, that is the real problem. As long as they still have the rail lines leading north, and that crossing at Golubinskaya, they will be able to constantly feed in reinforcements. I would recommend that we strike north first and eliminate those supply corridors to isolate the city. You have 1st and 2nd SS holding the shoulder north of the road back to Kalach. Take Das Reich and attack north, then a little hook west to the river near Golubinskaya. At the same time, the 75th Infantry Division should begin an attack along the west bank of the Don, aiming at those crossing points from that side.”
“It won’t get through,” said Steiner stoically.
“Then reinforce it. What about the Wiking Division? It’s been sitting at Oblivskaya for nearly two weeks.”
“They were worn out,” Steiner explained. “That division forced the crossing and took the bridge at Kalach. I’ve been resting and rebuilding those regiments.”
“Can they still fight? If so, move them right behind the 75th. Hansen can also throw in Army assets—artillery, engineers, a couple Stug battalions. There’s only one enemy rifle division on the line there now. They should get through.”
“Very well, and what about Leibstandarte?”
“It will move north, on the right shoulder of Das Reich at the outset. When that division swings left, Leibstandarte swings right. It’s objective is to cut that damn rail line.”
“That is all of 30 kilometers from their jumping off point!”
“The Brandenburg Division will join in on the right,” said Manstein. “It will attack with Grossdeutschland, and get through that Guards Rifle division you spoke of easily enough. Then the Brandenburgers will move northeast to support Leibstandarte. Grossdeutschland can continue along the road east. So you see? The main attack is against the enemy’s lines of communication, not directly into the city. Once we have cut those lines, then we reorganize for the city fighting. Hopefully, we will have that promised infantry by then.”
“A good plan,” said Steiner. “But let us hope it doesn’t take us another two weeks. Winter is coming.”
“All the more reason to isolate the city before the snows set in.”
Steiner shook his head in agreement. “Herr General,” he said. “I suppose the enemy is thinking the exact same thing. Suppose they stage another offensive from those bridgeheads? You know that is what they are planning for their big winter offensive.”
It did not take any great imagination to reason that, but Steiner was going to see his prediction come true much sooner than he expected.
Chapter 27
With new orders, the 4th Shock Army was leaping off the trains, fat, fresh, and ready to attack. The battle hardened Siberian troops deployed quickly and moved back to their assembly point for Operation Uranus. By nightfall on the 16th Yeremenko had established his headquarters in Perelazovskiy. The Army had four rifle divisions, a cavalry division, four tank brigades and numerous ski troops. They would not yet wax their boards, but 4th Shock Army would put the mass, shock and speed into Zhukov’s planned attack.
The main breakthrough force would be the few tank and mech corps that Zhukov had husbanded for this operation. He had 1st Tank Corps, 4th Mech Corps, and the newly reorganized 24th and 25th Tank Corps. 4th Shock Army was the follow on force, intending to exploit any breakthrough obtained.
Even as this force was preparing to attack, word came that the Germans had opened a new attack on both sides of the Don as it flowed down towards Kalach. Manstein’s plan was underway, not knowing that a much bigger Soviet offensive was gearing up to the west of that attack. The 167th Rifle Division was closest to the river on the western side, its lines anchored on the riverside hamlet of Mostrovskiy. 690 Assault Pioneer Battalion supported 3rd Battalion of the Germania regiment there, and just west of that attack, 2 battalions of that regiment pushed forward with the support of the 190th Stug Battalion from 11th Army reserve. The main effort would be made along that road, the most direct route to Golubinskaya where the Russians had built a new road bridge over the Don to communicate across the river to forces of the 64th Army defending there.
In order to use that road, it was first necessary to take a high hill that overlooked the scene, number 584 on the maps, its flanks wrinkled by balka runoff channels clotted with scrub and low undergrowth. That job was given to the 75th Recon Battalion and 741 Pioneers, which moved up the hill in the pre-dawn hours, launching a quick attack that stormed the position as the sun began to come up. Once in command of the hill, two battalions of the Nordland SS Regiment moved up to the left, where the remainder of the 167th Rifle Division had been positioned on the ground leading up to that hill. Behind this attack, the entire Westland Regiment waited with the long column of assault boats and bridging units. The Germans wanted to be able to quickly establish communications across the river with Das Reich if their plan succeeded.
The Russians knew that road had to be defended, and the call went out to Rokossovsky at his headquarters with the 24th Don Army. “We need your help,” said General Rodin. “It they get to Golubinskaya, we will have no choice but to blow those bridges. That means everything south of that town on the other side of the river will be cut off and forced to withdraw.
A veteran of the fighting the previous winter at Moscow, Rokossovsky, gritted his steel teeth and looked at his list of reserves. “I have several units that came in by rail two days ago from Saratov,” he said. “They aren’t much, all understrength, but I can send you a few light tank brigades, and engineers.”
“Anything would help, but it needs to be quick!”
What General Rodin received that day were the light tanks of the 9th, 10th and 12th Brigades. To call them brigades was a misnomer, as each unit was little more than a battalion in actual strength. They had been sent to Rokossovsky to form the nucleus of a new tank corps as more reserve units arrived, but were just waiting in his Don Security Group to receive tanks. At the moment, they still had 35 T-70s, and 18 T-34s between the three units, about the same number that might be in a single tank brigade. Yet tanks were tanks, and Gille’s Wikings had none to oppose them. Instead they sent the two Stug Battalions that had been attached to his assault, and a close range duel ensued, with the German Stug-IIIs being more than a match for the Soviet light tanks. The T-34s were tougher to knock out, but there were not enough of them to pose a serious threat.