Audacity has its merits in time of crisis.
The rest of Balck’s division was sorely needed. The Soviet attack continued through the night of the 18th, which was very uncharacteristic, and at dawn another big push was mounted by all flanking units. Steiner would have no breakfast that morning in Surovinko. The Guardsmen of the 1st Motor Rifle Brigade had moved south of his position and began infiltrating the town. By 11 AM on the 19th Steiner’s HQ defense company was engaged with the Russian troops just three blocks away. He had no choice but to move east, hoping the road was still open there.
There was now no point in holding a town that was so badly compromised. Its remaining supplies had been trucked east the previous day, and now it remained to be seen whether the Wiking Division could withdraw from the ever compressing pocket of defense that it had thrown up in the last two days.
When Balck learned how bad the situation was, he spurred on. “Come on men! A night march is good for soul, and it saves blood! We move out immediately.”
Manstein promised to keep him advised on any reports he received. Now he had some bad news for him. The 46th Infantry Division was having trouble west of Oblivskaya. When Steiner pulled out the Reichsführer Brigade, elements of the 3rd Shock Army had slipped through the gap in the line and compromised the 46th Division flank. Now Balck realized that, before he could do anything about Steiner’s situation at Surovinko, he had to clean up the mess west of Oblivskaya.
Thankfully, the news that General Walther Lucht was bringing in the 336th Division that morning was very well received. That division could help stabilize the left flank, but it would be some time getting into position. Given operational authority, he got on the radio to General Haccius with the 46th and asked him to fall back and try to form a hedgehog position with the remainder of his division. Then he went looking for his incomparable Hauser in the recon battalion.
“Hauptmann,” he said quickly. “I need you on the left. Get to this town, Popov, and hold it. 46th Infantry is falling back to the right of that town, and 336th Infantry should be coming up on the left soon. I’ll get them posted to cover Chern. Hold that position until I call code blue. Then come east on the road to Oblivskaya. If I give you code red, then you are to move to a position southwest of the town. That will be the assembly point for our division if we have to dance. In the meantime, I have to go kill a tank brigade or two. Good luck!”
Balck’s first order of business that day was to shore up and secure the left flank of the army. He reasoned that he could not hope to counterattack east unless the threat to the general line of communications running back through Chern to Morozovsk and Tatsinskaya was neutralized. At that moment, the chief threat to the left of Oblivskaya was Volsky’s 4th Mech Corps. It had taken some time to get south, getting hung up in a firefight with Beck and the SS recon units at Popov, the very place Hansen was now closing on with the division recon battalion.
Now Balck recalled the troops he had slipped into Oblivskaya by rail just in time to stop that haphazard cavalry incursion. He wanted both fists, a full division attack, in any engagement he undertook. Volsky’s 4th Mech was next on his dance card. Schwerepanzer 502 was already dueling with this formidable force, and they had identified a new Russian tank, very strong, with powerful long range fire and very good armor. This was the new Kirov tank that Beck had run across earlier, and it was going to be a dangerous opponent in this and any other engagement where the Soviets could deploy credible numbers of this new AFV.
Volsky’s recon battalion had been in the lead, pushing through Popov before it ran into a firestorm. Hansen’s battalion had just reached the town to stop that advance, and not long after, Balck’s troops came in from three sides. With him, he brought a company of heavy Elephants that was on the main road to Oblivskaya, grinding its way toward the enemy with that impenetrable 200mm frontal armor, nearly eight inches thick. Also called the ‘Ferdinand’ by the Germans, it was a true Panzerjager, with a new updated 88mm gun with higher muzzle velocity and better penetrating power than the original 88. It could tear right through the best armor the enemy had.
The Elephants went head to head with the new Kirov heavy tanks, and in a close range duel, the extra 90mm of frontal armor they possessed over their adversary mattered a great deal. Their one liability was the fact that the Ferdinand was a fixed mounted gun, with no turret, so it had to be facing the target directly to get good hits. In the narrow streets of Popov, that was not a factor. Seven of 24 Kirovs were knocked out, the brigade forced back to reorganize. Balck’s Lions then engaged the 55th Tank Brigade, mostly T-34s, and killed eight of 36 tanks, and a heavy KV-II. Volsky’s Corps was pushed back, but the Russians operated with newfound skill. The 86th Mech Brigade fell back, regrouping, and then came forward again with the tanks for another try. They joined the 11th Heavy Tank Brigade for a counterattack on 5th and 6th companies of Balck’s Panzer Regiment.
At the same time, the throaty shouts of Uraaaaah were heard to the west, and 61st Pioneer Battalion saw a thick wave of Russian infantry charging the left flank of the action. A battalion of 111th Panzergrenadiers was already in a hot firefight with the Russian 356th Rifle Division, and now three more regiments were rushing the flank. These were troops of the 3rd Siberian Shock Army, a formation that had been advancing to cover the right flank of the Soviet attack, occupying ground given up by the 46th Infantry as it withdrew. When The Germans halted their withdrawal, effecting a linkup with 336th Division on their left, the 3rd Shock Army massed four rifle divisions to surge against the line. Another column, the 2nd Shock Group, was strung out for miles on the road south to Morozovsk, where Eric Manstein stooped over the maps with increasing concern.
His Army HQ and supply center at Morozovsk was now under direct threat, and now he made a risky decision. This is what they want, he reasoned. This is the whole intent of this attack, Morozovsk, Oblivskaya, Surovinko. They could turn south and west towards the Donets, but I do not think they have the force to go that far. So I am ordering Wietersheim to disengage the 9th Panzer Division and send it here. In the meantime, how to defend this city?
I have three battalions of reserve infantry here, an engineer battalion and some machinegun troops with the Luftwaffe service ground troops and flak. That should be enough to form a screen that could delay the enemy advance. It will have to do.
He looked at the map, seeing the similarity to the advances the enemy made in their Operation Mars. They have learned, he thought. They now operate their mechanized units in pairs, and instead of frontal attack, they use their mobility to enfilade the flanks. They have enough infantry to swarm and fix the line of defense, even against good divisions like Totenkopf and the Wikings. And the appearance of these fresh Guards Rifle Divisions is unsettling as well. Those are tough troops, undoubtedly culled from the cadres of veterans that survived our onslaught last year. They fight night actions now, and do so with increasing skill. Their artillery is being augmented by these fast moving rocket batteries running with their mech units.
Yes, they have learned, and they have been very stubborn here, holding Steiner off for six weeks in the approach to Volgograd. At this rate, I may not be able to keep my promise to Hitler to deliver that city by Christmas. Where is my infantry? The last thing I want to do is order Steiner to get into a street fight with his SS divisions. If given a moment to breathe I will begin swapping out what remains of Hansen’s infantry, and replacing Steiner’s troops east of the Don. But I will need that breath of air first, and at the moment, Sergie Kirov’s boys have taken us by the throat.