“In another two or three days we will have them bottled up east of the Don, he said jubilantly to Sergie Kirov. And we have prevented any major breakthrough towards Volgograd there as well. Now we must decide what to do next. Supplies are tighter, but at acceptable levels. There is only one situation that could be troublesome—3rd Shock Army.”
“What is wrong there?” asked Kirov. “Aren’t they ready to strike at Morozovsk?”
“They were, until a fresh German Panzer Division came on the scene—the same outfit that broke up Operation Mars—11th Panzer, and it seems it has been everywhere. It stopped the push east of Oblivskaya, then vanished. The next morning it turned up here, at Popov, where it stopped Volsky’s 4th Mech Corps right in its tracks—quite literally. Then, when 3rd Shock Army began to enfilade that position and approach Chernyshkovskiy, it suddenly appeared there and stabilize the German front. Now they have brought up a fresh Infantry Division, and another is reportedly coming into Morozovsk from the south as we speak.”
“That panzer division was reported well south near Rostov.”
“No longer. It is here again, and up to its old tricks. The only armor we have to really contest it is in Volsky’s Mech Corps, and he can be somewhat… lethargic.”
“What will the Germans do?”
“At the moment, they will fight to stabilize that front, and I do not think we have the strength there to prevent that. In fact, the flank of 3rd Shock Army is now exposed, and I would recommend we withdraw those units.”
“Withdraw? After fighting so hard to get where they are, you would ask them to retreat?”
“Mister General Secretary, you know full well the virtue of a timely strategic withdrawal. You have been ordering me to do this for the last 30 days. Yet another Panzer Division has been identified northwest of Morozovsk, the 9th. Together with the 11th Panzer, the Germans now have a formidable mobile force ready to counter-operate against that flank. They could roll it up if we do not take precautions immediately. I suggest we fold it back, while remaining anchored against the 3rd SS division at Oblivskaya. Let 4th Shock Army continue to fight there, but 3rd Shock should switch to defensive operations, its primary mission being to screen the flank of 4th Shock. Understand?”
“Then we will not take Morozovsk, or Chernyshkovskiy? We will not be able to enfilade Oblivskaya from the west?”
“That was Volsky’s job, and with this 11th Panzer Division backstopping the enemy lines there, I do not think it will be possible. We must therefore adopt our strategy to do things we can accomplish, and that is where our position around Surovinko still holds promise. Understand what we have just done—we have chased Steiner and three infantry divisions back to Kalach and trapped them east of the Don. We are pushing that other SS Division, the Vikings, south to the railway crossing north of Nizhne Chirskaya. This is a significant victory.”
“But you have not answered my question,” said Kirov. “If we do fold back 3rd Shock Army, what will the Germans do next?”
“They will undoubtedly wish to restore the line of communications to Kalach, but this I believe we can prevent.”
“What about this 5th SS Division, shouldn’t it be pursued, even destroyed? You could do that with all three of your mechanized divisions, and then try to force a crossing at that railway bridge.”
“That would be much more difficult to do than to say. No, we do not have the force to cross there just yet. It will take another reserve army to do this. Instead, I would now suggest we order all three tank Corps near Surovinko to form a new army, call it what you will, perhaps the 5th Tank Army would be good. It will make the Germans think there are four others out there somewhere.” He smiled. “They should move west immediately, and threaten Oblivskaya. This will take the pressure off our extreme right flank, and allow 3rd Shock to move as we have discussed without undue harassment. We might even take Oblivskaya with that maneuver.”
“Agreed,” said Kirov. “It is premature to think of forcing the Don under these circumstances. Alright, General Zhukov, do all these things you have suggested, and congratulations. This was a much needed reprieve, considering the situation we still face east of Voronezh. Keep me informed of your progress.”
When Zhukov left the room, Kirov looked at Berzin with a knowing glance. “We have Surovinko,” he said, “and we’ve cut the damn rail line in taking that town. Now the General thinks he can face down the forces the Germans are mustering to the west. Did you hear what he decided to call this newly established army? 5th Tank Army! The history rings true, but with an eerie echo of that depicted in the Material, an echo born of fire and pain. Didn’t this 11th Panzer Division unhinge the attacks made by the 5th Tank Army, and very near Oblivskaya?”
“Yes,” said Berzin. “I read it over again last night. It came to be known as the ‘Battle on the River Chir.’ Very strange.”
“Should we caution him?” asked Kirov.
“I think he has an abundance of caution as things stand,” said Berzin. “He knows what force he has in hand, and what it is capable of. That is what made him great.”
So it was that both sides had achieved their short term strategic goal of isolating the other. As long as the Germans still held the east bank of the Don opposite Golubinskaya, and had a watch on that river as it wound north past Vertyachi, the Russians could not reinforce the Volga defenders by that route. Now the rail line from the north was also cut, with 1st SS division firmly astride that route. Steiner was also moving 75th Infantry Division quickly over the river and then north to the Vertyachi line to relieve Das Reich. That would give him one more powerful division to throw at the defense west of Volgograd. The rest of 54th Korps was flowing down towards Kalach, over that bridge and into the self-imposed cauldron Steiner was now creating.
He reasoned that as little as one good reinforced regiment could defend that crossing point, abandoning his idea of maintaining a strong bridgehead west of Kalach, which would have required at least a full infantry division, reinforced. The river between Kalach and Golubinskaya was too wide and marshy to permit a sound military crossing, for his own engineers had scouted it thoroughly. This way he could husband as much infantry as possible to send against what he now called “the Volga Line.” He was determined to get to that city and redeem any dint in his shield that the Russian offensive may have created, particularly in Hitler’s eyes.
Come dawn on October 21st, the 16th Heavy Tank Brigade under General Alexey Rodin moved down the road that now ran south of the Chir behind Oblivskaya. Hermann Balck had shored up the 46th Division lines, and seen the successful linkup by the 336th and 305th Divisions. Now he was extricating his units from the line, regrouping his elite Ghost Division for renewed operations. His ‘Battle on the River Chir’ had only just begun. He signaled all units: Code Red.
Part XI
Awakening
Chapter 31
It took Nikolin some time to recover from what he had experienced. In the beginning, he thought he was simply hallucinating, dreaming while awake, but as those minutes passed, the feeling that all these memories flooding into his brain were real lived events began to solidify. It was as if he had been in a state of amnesia for years, or a kind of waking coma, going about his business unaware of all these things. Then, suddenly, that single trigger, the cypher code Fedorov had given him, set off this cascade of memories, and he was awakened from the dullness of unknowing in this sudden rush of awareness.