“Where?” Hitler’s eyes played over the map.
“The most likely spot would be here, along the line of the Don. That is undoubtedly why they are trying to establish bridgeheads there, and so our infantry must operate to reduce those positions and push the enemy north of the river at the earliest opportunity.”
“48th Panzer Korps is in reserve,” said Halder. “It can be used to break any stubborn resistance south of the river, and then stand as a fire brigade for the winter, for yes, they will certainly attack there when the snows come again.”
“But we will stop them,” Hitler smiled. “We will stop them just as we stopped their last offensive. Gentlemen, carry out this plan to the letter. Once we take Volgograd and Rostov, then Sergei Kirov is finished. Now then—when can we expect to destroy what remains of his forces in the Kirov Pocket?”
“That should still be considered a secondary objective,” said Halder. “Resistance is collapsing there, but it will take some weeks to mop everything up. It’s work for the infantry, as we are repositioning our mobile forces for further operations to the east. We already have Orel back, and we will shortly begin the offensive to retake Tula in the north, then Kursk in the center, with our final objectives being Lipetsk and Voronezh. After that, they will have very little left—no major industrial centers worth mentioning—except Leningrad.”
Halder glanced at Manstein, for the two men had clashed the previous year when Manstein was elevated to overall commander of Army Group South, and so many troops were taken from Group Nord. Leningrad still sat well behind the front lines in the north, the one major Russian city that had been spared the ravages of war.”
“That will be work for next year,” said Hitler, “assuming they survive our summer offensives. Admiral Raeder just smashed a big convoy bound for Murmansk, and with our strong base at Nordstern operational, he promises me he will stop them all. So the Soviets will soon feel us choking the breath out of them, and I would be most surprised if they do not collapse before year’s end. You see? All that doom and gloom last winter is forgotten now. Even Guderian is in better spirits, and I have him supervising all the upgrades for the Panzer Divisions. Given that the situation is favorable, he has asked me to withdraw certain divisions to France for refitting. Do you object?”
“How many divisions?” asked Halder warily.
“Three, perhaps four at the most. The British and Americans show no sign of bothering us in France any time soon, but they will get around to it one day. In that instance, we should have a mobile reserve in the West.”
“Agreed,” said Halder. “With your permission, I will meet with Guderian to discuss this further, and we will select the most suitable divisions.”
“Well enough.” Hitler was in such a good mood that he did not stick his thumb in the pie, much to Halder’s relief. It was Manstein, he knew, though he hated to admit that. Manstein’s cool presence, his unshakable morale, his keen eye for strategy, had an equally calming effect on Hitler. At the height of the crisis the previous December, it had been Manstein, arriving on a cold windy night, who had intervened in a badly deteriorating OKW staff meeting with the Führer, and within an hour, he had settled everyone down, established a plan for holding operations, and laid out how the spring counterattack would unhinge all the Soviet gains in due course.
Yes, while I juggle numbers, pour over casualty lists, manage the logistics, Manstein pushes divisions around the map and gets the Führer clucking like a fat hen. Yet one day we will have to address the matter of Leningrad, for that will surely be the last refuge of the enemy if they continue to resist into 1943. This war is far from over. Let us hope our miracle worker delivers on the promises he makes here today. Oil deliveries by late September? I will personally drink a cup from the first arrivals if Manstein manages that.
Of course, Halder would never say that aloud, not to Manstein, and certainly not to Hitler. No, he would simply do what was necessary now, provide the infantry requested if possible, and keep a firm hand on the 48th Panzer Korps.
What about Army Group Center, thought Halder? Manstein promises to deliver Volgograd and all of Volkov’s oil, and he wants the infantry to fight in the cellars and sewers of the city. I will send him 48th Panzer Korps, and the divisions needed to hold the line of the Don, but as for von Seydlitz and the 51st Korps, I will need that for Armeegruppe Center, so that is where it will go. If Manstein actually gets to the city, I will find the infantry for him somewhere else. Hitler will never have to know about it, and will likely forget the names and numbers discussed here in any case.
Something tells me that the one thing we can be sure of in all these plans was Manstein’s statement about the uncertainties of war. Surely the enemy has plans of their own. Might they have recovered enough to act before winter?
We shall see….
The Germans seemed to be advancing into thin air, meeting only scattered resistance at Millerovo from a Soviet engineer battalion, but otherwise simply sweeping over the steppe country in the vast open spaces between the two great rivers flowing east. The weather was clear and warm, and the troops were in high spirits, with memories of the bitter winter of 1941 behind them. Long columns of vehicles followed the thin tracks of the roads, and many simply rolled off over the open country, as the ground was flat and firm. Elsewhere, Hansen’s 54th Infantry Korps was trudging over the grassy steppes, and slowly advancing on the long winding course of the Don as it flowed east. As they approached, enemy planes were spotted, and some made brief strafing runs to register their protest, though these attacks inflicted few casualties.
Kempf’s 48th Panzer Korps began to flow into Kantirmirovka with two infantry divisions, artillery, flak, engineers and other service troops. The first two Panzer Divisions assigned to this Korps had also arrived, the 11th and 23rd. Halder proposed that the two infantry divisions follow the SS for ready infantry support, but that the panzers should be retained behind the line of infantry that was now screening the Don. There the Soviets continued to move troops into several bridgeheads, the nails that these panzers would soon have to begin hammering down to clear the enemy from the southern bank of the river.
Kempf moved forward to observe the enemy positions, and seeing signs of earthworks and entrenchment, he immediately ordered both his heavy divisions forward to begin the attack. He soon found that he was up against far more than a simple bridgehead operation. The Soviets already had most of Cherevichanko’s 9th Army south of the river in a vast bridgehead served by roads and bridges from Verkhne Mamon and Boguchar. He quickly got on the radio to Steiner with the SS Korps.
“Look over your shoulder,” he said. “There is a substantial bridgehead south of the Don at Boguchar, and now Hansen is reposting he’s come up against similar forces further east approaching Veshenskaya and Serafimovich.”
“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” said Steiner. “Our main body has already reached Morozovsk.”
“Just be wary. This could be the makings of a planned counterattack. These are army level formations, not merely a few divisions.”
That was an understatement, for just east of Kempf’s operation, General Lukin had his 58th Army in position south of the Don to cover the crossings at Kasanskaya. Further east, the bulk of the 2nd Siberian Shock Army under Vlasov, the Heroes of Moscow, had also crossed between Veshenskaya and Zomovsky, and there was a similar operation underway at the big bend in the Don near Serafimovich involving Yeremenko’s 4th Shock Army. If any of these formations had been correctly identified, the Germans would have certainly realized that something big was in the offing. As it was, it was high summer in the Don Basin, and General Felix Martin Julius Steiner was already far off to the south, his mind fixed on the approach up the shallow river valley of the Chir.