Nemesis (29 page)

But all
that was about to change.

The
Airborne screen was the 3rd Battalion of the 201st “Kirov” Airborne Brigade,
commanded by Lt Colonel Kovalev. They had managed to get air lifted into a
small airfield about 8 kilometers north of Orel before the Germans overran the
place. Now they fell back, in seeming disarray, but in actuality they were
operating under pre-planned orders, hoping to lure the German tanks after them
to the farms just outside the town, where Lavrinenko waited with his comrades
in something quite different.

The new
T-34 was just beginning to arrive at designated units along the front. Most
were held in reserve areas, where the remnants of the old Mech Corps had been
consolidating and converting to the new structure discussed by Kirov and
Berzin. Yet there were a few assigned to independent brigades, and two of them
were now sitting astride the path of the German advance, the 4th and 11th. They
had been cleverly hidden in and behind farm houses, large bales of hay, and
harvest silos, with numerous dummy tank positions also erected to try and fool
the
Stuka
pilots that swept down during ever major German advance. Other
tanks lay concealed in the nearby woodland, and now their carefully laid ambush
was sprung.

The
crack of the 76mm gun on the new Soviet tanks was sharp and harsh on the cool
morning air, and the Germans, with equal cool, quickly spotted the muzzle
flashes in the distance, over a full kilometer away. These were not T-60s, and
formation leader Colonel Heinrich Eberbach first thought they must be well
concealed KV-1 tanks, with a decent 76mm gun. His ‘Vorausabteilung’ was the
advanced detachment leading the way to Mtsensk on the main road, and it
consisted of 36 tanks, a pair of 88s, a small gun detachment from the artillery
regiment, a platoon of motorcycle infantry and 1st company from Pioneer
Battalion 79.

The
KV-1 had been encountered before, and the Germans had learned to respect it,
finding it invulnerable to most every tank gun they had. Only the dread 88s
could hope to knock one out at range, and in after action reports, German
inspectors had found knocked out KV-1s that had sustained thirty to forty hits
from lighter 37mm and 50mm guns, and still fought on before the 88s finished
them off. Thankfully, these tanks were always deployed in small numbers and the
Germans were not overly concerned. They were also slow and cumbersome, which
made them easy to outflank. The German Panzer IIIs swept around them like
jackals hunting a bison, and usually prevailed. Their superior numbers would
usually decide the day.

That
day, Eberbach had a mix of both Panzer III-Js and a few Panzer IV infantry
support tanks. The first crack of the guns had been reported correctly, for it
was three KV-1 tanks under Sergeant Antonov that had opened the battle on the
German flank, firing from the woods. A halftrack was hit and exploded, the
shock of the attack riveting the German tankers as they quickly wheeled right
off the road to engage. The KV-1s had always been tough when encountered, but
they were too often accompanied only by lighter tanks. That was not the case
this time. Lavrinenko’s platoon at the farm was near Antonov, and his four T-34s
soon joined the action. Then the entire tree line opened up, as the rest of the
Soviet brigade under battalion commanders Gusev and Burda began to attack.

The
Germans suddenly realized that the Airborne troops had
only been deployed to hold and lure them on. Now the main threat was revealed, and
they quickly lost several Panzer IIIs to drive home the lesson. Eberbach stopped
before a small stone bridge, squinting through field glasses at the woods
astride the road ahead. Something told him there was trouble ahead, an instinct
that prickled up from time to time, and he had learned to heed its warning.

A
veteran on the First World War, he had been wounded by a French bullet that
took his nose, and the surgeons had decided to fashion a new one for him made
of rubber. His food never tasted the same after that, but that rubber nose
still served him well in other ways. It was never cold in the wind, and at
times like this, it still had the scent of battle. Yet he needed to know more.

“What
is the problem?” he asked a Sergeant.

“The
lead squadron chased some light infantry out of those woods, but they ran into
a couple enemy tanks—KV-1s from the sound of the guns.”

Eberbach
looked around. “That stream will make a quick flanking maneuver more difficult.
Better bring up the 88s.”

“That
had always been the German trump card against the tough Russian heavy tanks.
The KV-II was even more of a behemoth, though they seldom encountered them.
Eberbach had heard rumors that the British had a new tank as well, something
that the 88s could not even stop, which gave him a real shudder. But thus far,
no such beast had shown up in the Russian camp, and so he played out his trump,
hoping to make a quick end of things here.

The 88s
came up, along with a pair of 10.5cm artillery pieces, which could also knock
out the heavier Russian tanks if they got a good hit. The game was slowly
escalating, up through higher caliber guns to counter ever thickening armor.
Eberbach noted a small wooded ridge on his flank, as the gunners got into
position and began firing at the KV-1s. The 105s disabled one heavy tank, and another
was put out of action by the 88s, along with two T-60s that had come on the
scene. Then the enemy suddenly sprung into action, maneuvering to attack the
German guns, and, as Eberbach watched the speedy Russian tanks sprint to get
into a better firing position, he knew he was not dealing with the same awkward
tank divisions his men had beaten time and time again. But what were they? The
swept out from another wooded area to the north, rolling swiftly and easily
over the sodden ground, and they were not T-60s. Two stopped and he saw the
turrets turn to engage his 88s, while the crews were struggling to turn the big
guns to face this new threat. With a sinking feeling he knew these had to be
the new enemy T-34s, yet they were seldom seen in such numbers, maneuvering
rapidly to flank the 88s. They were Germany’s premier anti-tank weapon, yet
cumbersome to move and deploy, and basically a stationary target once in action.

Eberbach
cringed when the first 88 was struck by a direct hit, the heavy gun mount
literally lifted off the ground. To his great surprise, the Russians were
firing from well beyond a thousand meters, and the second gun was also lost
within minutes. He ran to a platoon of Mark IVs on the road leading to the
bridge. “Move! Get after those damn tanks!”

On the
other side of that action, Dmitri Lavrinenko watched from his hidden position
within a tall bale of hay at the edge of the farm. Samohin’s platoon maneuvered
as planned, and he got those guns, but here came the German tanks.

“Track
left,” he said to his gunner. “Make your range 1.2…. Fire!” He was pleased to
see a hit with the very first round, and soon after, the other three tanks in
his platoon opened up

“Left
five degrees, range 1000… Fire!”

In a
matter of minutes he had scored two kills, and now he decided to move, ordering
his driver to back out of their concealed position. He gave a similar order
over his radio headset, grateful that his tanks finally had radios. The platoon
executed a quick turn, put on speed following Dmitri’s tank, and sprinted to
their next planned firing position, a low rise that covered a road.

In this
tiny little duel, a relatively small island action in the raging sea of war on
every side, the Germans would make the acquaintance of Lavrinenko and his
comrades in their new T-34s, and lose ten tanks in thirty minutes time. Six
were completely destroyed, with four others badly damaged, but hauled off for
repairs. The two 88s that had successfully engaged were also taken out, along
with one of the two 105mm guns, and several half tracks and prime movers. It
would cost the enemy at least 9 tanks to achieve that result, the three KV-1s,
four T-60s and two of the new T-34s, but nothing like that had happened
before—an enemy tank force that could not only match, but completely stop a
well equipped German mechanized
kampfgruppe
, inflicting as much damage
as it had received.

While a
sharp check, it was not really a devastating loss, and the Germans had managed
to inflict equal harm on the enemy before nightfall. Yet they took a hard
lesson—their foe was learning how to fight them, and now the enemy had a formidable
new tank in the T-34 that made new tactics like those employed by Lavrinenko
and Samohin possible. Like the KV-1, it was able to engage the Panzer IIIs at
long range, and forced the German tankers to close to 500 meters to have any
chance of a kill, and then only if they could somehow flank the Russian tanks.
That soon proved a difficult task, for the wide tracks of the T-34 gave it
excellent open field maneuverability, and good speed.

After
the action, Guderian was told the enemy had a tank that was better than
anything in the entire Panzergruppe, which was humbling to realize. It was a
psychological check more than a hard physical loss, for in these altered
states, it was still only August, and Guderian’s force was far more robust than
it had been when this battle was fought in Fedorov’s history. The battle had
one further aftershock when it was reported by Guderian to OKW. It cemented
more than ever the need for rapid upgrades to the primary German armor, for now
a most important decision was about to be made, one that would decide the
entire future course of the war.

Firstly,
Guderian had ordered Eberbach north simply as a reconnaissance in force, and
more to scout the condition of the road than anything else. Taking Mtsensk was
simply an adjunct to that aim. Yet, after being stopped outside the town,
Eberbach called for support from the rest of the division, and more troops were
sent to settle the matter. When they got there, they found that the Russian
tankers had been reinforced with the arrival of the 6th Guards Rifle Division,
and a real battle was now on the menu.

That
night Eberbach consulted his map, seeing that a shallow river wended its way
through the Mtsensk, meandering on east of the town for many miles. He
advocated a more coordinated attack, and Division commander Langermann agreed.

“We got
a good bloody nose this morning,” he said. “What was the problem?”

“T-34s,
and a good number this time. We got six or eight, but I think they have a full
battalion here. The rest were the same old fare, but they did have KV-1s as
well.”

“You
lost two 88s?”

“Those
damn T-34s,” said Eberbach. “They move very quickly, and we can’t hurt them
with our 50cm guns unless we get in close. But it was
how
they moved
that startled me—very precise—a well planned ambush. Someone out there knows
what he is doing.”

“They
had to have learned something by now,” said Langermann. “Very well, tomorrow we
bring up the Panzergrenadiers.”

The
following morning KG Seiden came up with two battalions of 12th Panzergrenadier
Regiment. They quickly joined Eberbach for a second attack up the main road, and
were successful in pushing through Voin, Gorolevo and the small hamlet of
Svboda. The enemy para units were falling back towards hill 879 west of
Mtsensk, stopping in orchards to deploy briefly, then retreating again in a
well coordinated withdrawal. Eberbach was on that side of the action, with a
company of engineers and the 4th Motorcycle Battalion. But his tanks had pushed
on up the road to Mtsensk, and soon were in another sharp duel with the 4th and
11th Tank Brigades as they entered the town.

Katukov
had fallen back there to regroup that night, summoning Bonder’s 11th Tank
Brigade, which was in local reserve at the northern fringe of the town. Now in
the closer quarters urban engagement, things were a little different.
Eberbach’s Panzer IIIs proved more maneuverable, and the shorter range duels had
evened the odds. The Germans were able to maneuver through the narrow streets
and get good positions for side shots on the Russian tanks, most of which were
still the familiar T-60s in Bonder’s group.

In the
meantime, KG Dorn had come up last, with two more battalions from the 33rd
Panzergrenadier Regiment. These were quickly sent east in an attempt to envelop
the town, but they soon ran into the 10th Para Brigade dug in on the northern
side of the river. In little time, the entire division was engaged, with
Eberbach slowly fighting his way into the town.

Katukov’s
4th Tank Brigade losses were not that severe, with 5 T-34, a KV-1 and three
T-60s destroyed. But his supplies were dwindling, and that night Eberbach
mounted a daring raid on the depots for Bondar’s 11th Brigade, destroying much
needed ammunition in a brief, midnight sortie that the Russians never saw
coming. With the 5th Guards now taking over the defense of the town, Katukov
took his brigade up the road to Tula to regroup at Chern. It was a prescient
move, for the following morning Guderian’s 3rd Panzer Division began arriving
from Orel.

Seeing
that the fighting ahead would completely block movement on the main road that
day. KG Wellmann of the 3rd Panzer moved north instead, until they found a serviceable
bridge near hill 670, at a small hamlet called Tarkunovka. There they crossed
to scout out the possibility of sweeping the entire division up around the
battle at Mtsensk, intending to envelop it from the north and rejoin the main
road to Tula at the same time. The movement would take them well beyond the action,
and the place Wellmann was fingering on his map was called Chern.

*

The
fighting continued for a third day at Mtsensk, as the
Germans were forced to clear the town block by block, and with heavy
casualties. I/35th Panzer battalion in Eberbach’s group had suffered the most.
It had started the three day battle with 46 medium tanks, which included a
company of 10 PzKfw-IVDs that had joined his KG. By the end of the third day it
had only 19 of 36 Panzer IIIs, and 7 of 10 IV-Ds remaining—over 40% casualties
in the vital medium tank category. Only three light tanks were lost, but the
total tank loss in the battalion 20, a cold number to report when Eberbach met
with Guderian.

“What
about II Battalion,” asked Guderian, obviously concerned.

“They
weren’t involved in the street fighting tonight, and so losses there were
relatively light—only five tanks, but four of them Panzer IIIs. The enemy armor
is withdrawing, and I think we gave as good as we got, but this was a hard
fight.”

“And at
the end of a very long road,” said Guderian. He could see the fatigue in
Eberbach now, the lines on his face, soiled uniform and crumpled hat all adding
to the impression of a man who had been simply worn down. And for the first
time, Guderian thought he saw the glimmer of fear in the other man’s eyes. That
would be the real enemy, he knew—fear. Up until now his tankers had reigned
supreme, but now they had finally met their nemesis, and then some.

Eberbach
continued. “KG Seiden was in the town, and is now very low on supply. KG Dorn
had a better time of it on the right. They pushed over the river and are poised
to take this high ground in the morning, It overlooks the road north of the
town, and I think the Russians know we have them now. Yet this was supposed to
be a simple reconnaissance!”

“3rd
Panzer is coming up from Orel,” said Guderian, hoping to put some spirit back
into Eberbach, but he could see the man would do better with some good food and
rest. “Don’t push things in the morning. Let’s see how stubborn they want to be
when they see 3rd Panzer on their right flank. Then I think they will give us
this place.”

“Yes?
Well it would be nice if OKW gave us some new tanks. If it goes like this every
time we run into those T-34s…”

“I will
plead your case soon enough,” said Guderian. “Halder wants to see me at OKW and
I leave tonight. 3rd Panzer will move in front now. Rest your boys and see if
you can get any of those lost tanks running again. There’s been a lot of talk
about new tanks for us soon, though I haven’t seen even one. We shall see if
Halder knows anything.”

Eberbach
would eventually get six of those 20 disabled tanks running again, but his
regiment had suffered a hard blow. He did not know it yet, but the action he
had led was the opening round of what would soon transform into the last big
push by the German Army to try and win the war in 1941—
Operation Typhoon.

*

On
the morning of the fourth day, it was out of the frying pan
and into the fire to Katukov’s intrepid tankers. They had spent the short night
in Chern, repairing tank treads and other light damage, scrounging for fuel and
ammunition, and taking stock of what was left of the mobile force. Dmitri
Lavrinenko had started on his astonishing run of tank kills, getting six of
those twenty German panzers, and his comrade Konstantin Samohin had five kills.