Winter Storm (13 page)

“You
have made the preparations concerning Moscow that we discussed earlier?” Kirov
now carefully avoided using the word evacuation.

“I have
made quiet arrangements,” said Berzin, “and moved security personnel discretely
to key areas of the city. The tension is mounting. We’ve kept the able bodies
working on the inner defense ring, but people talk. They see everything
leaving, and nothing arriving, and if things progress, they will soon hear the
sound of battle on their doorstep. A general panic is not out of the question.”

“I suppose
you are correct about my leaving under these circumstances.” Kirov thought for
a moment. “Where are the units of the Moscow Military District?”

“At
Elektrostal, just east of the city, and they should be able to move soon.”

“Excellent.
Move them into Moscow. I think we will arrange a little parade, right through
Red Square. I want every unit of that force to participate. That should buck up
morale. And we must do everything possible to rally those encircled troops in
the Kirov Pocket…” He grimaced when he finished. “That was once something I put
my pencils and small change into. Now this whole calamity is being written into
the history books, and with my name on it all. Well, it will be held. When they
speak of it in days to come, that cauldron will be synonymous with courage, and
ultimate victory. You say you have pulled the 24th Siberian Army off the outer
defenses?”

“Yes
sir, it is assembling closer to the city of Kirov.”

“Then
use it as a fire brigade. Use it to counterattack any significant enemy penetration
against that pocket. The Siberians stopped the Germans earlier, just like the
1st Shock Army stopped Guderian.”

“I was
on the radio with Rakutin earlier this morning,” said Berzin. “That is exactly the
plan.”

“Good
then. Those men must fight. They must give us the time we need to organize the
defense of Moscow. The longer they hold out, the better. Every day they resist,
is one more day we have to get reinforcements from the east. And if they do
hold, then we’ll come for them, by God. I want Zhukov to make that a top
priority in any plan he may be devising for a counterattack.”

“The
general will be informed,” said Berzin, knowing that Zhukov would have a mind
of his own on this situation in any case.

“What
about 1st Tank Army,” said Kirov, moving quickly to thoughts of any planned counteroffensive.

“Another
two weeks,” said Berzin.

A
silence fell over the room again, as both men stared at the map, so different
from the one they had leaned over just days ago in their last meeting.

“We can
stop them,” said Kirov, mustering his resolve. “The Siberians proved that twice
already. If our own troops could fight like those men, then we would be
drinking much more vodka than tea today. Alright then, move the first army
available to the Mozhaysk Defense line, and tell them to dig in deep. I want
those defenses well manned. Then we’ll see how much the Germans still have to
throw at us. They have to be feeling the effects of all this fighting. They
must be nearing exhaustion by now.”

Berzin’s
silence was testimony enough on that matter. They both knew the Germans would
keep coming, even beyond the point of utter exhaustion. They were that damn
good.

“And
now what about Volkov?” Kirov brought the matter up as an afterthought,
something of little concern that he nonetheless decided to consider.

“He’s
good at re-occupying ground we’ve given back to him,” said Berzin. “He’s taken
Zimovinki, but not Kotelnikovo. And there’s no way he’ll ever get over the Don
in that sector. Moving the 50th Army out of there was the smartest thing we’ve
done. In the south, he’s pushed out through Belorchensk, but hasn’t the
strength to really threaten the Taman region, let alone Krasnodar. We can hold
there indefinitely. In the center, he’s fighting for Kropotkin on the Kuban,
but we think we can hold that line too. He hasn’t even been able to seriously
threaten Salsk. And up near Volgograd, we’re putting the squeeze on his little
offensive, and he’s barely holding his ground there now.”

“Good,”
said Kirov. “Keep squeezing. If we can reduce that bridgehead soon, then all
those troops could be put to much better use elsewhere. God knows, we may need
them in Moscow if things get any worse. Tell me they won’t, Grishin. Tell me
we’ll hold.”

“We’ll
hold….” Berzin allowed himself a moment of comradery with the General Secretary
now. “We’ll stop them, sir …. Somehow.”

“I hope
so,” said Kirov. “Because this is just the calm before the storm.”

Part V

Roads Not Followed

“There are roads which must not be followed, armies which
must no be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not
be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.”

―
Sun Tzu,
The Art of War

“Operation Teifun” is
developing in a truly classic pattern. Guderian has pushed through Mtsensk
beyond Orel, and is now advancing into completely empty space. Hoepner has
broken through the enemy positions and has reached Mozhaysk…”

War Diary of General Franz
Halder

The
jubilant mood expressed by Halder in his notebook in no
way reflected the gloom in the numbers he had typed just a few moments before
writing that. He had just tabulated the casualties to date in the campaign,
18,235 officers, 532,804 NCOs and enlisted men, figures that represented 16.2%
of the entire army in the east. The Germans had lost 122 times the ten year
total KIAs for US troops in the Iraq War, and they had sustained these losses
in 90 days. Russian losses were perhaps three times worse. This was war as it
had never been seen before on this earth, and perhaps would never be seen
again…

The
Russians had somehow managed to fill that empty space that was once in front of
Guderian, compliments of Vladimir Karpov. The fighting for Plavsk was back and
forth for the next two days. The Siberian Guards had arrived, strongly
reinforcing the remnant of the 1st Special Rifle Corps, and retaking the town.
But on the morning of September 7th, Eberbach mustered his two tank battalions
and stormed in again, supported by KG Seiden on his right, and KG Wellmann on
his left. This coordinated attack by six German battalions was enough to take
two thirds of the town back again, though a regiment of 5th Guard Rifle was
still holding the eastern third, and the town square they had fought so hard
for the previous day.

KG
Munzel’s attempt to surge over the thin river had had not produced the results
Model was hoping for. The German panzers sloshed through the shallow streambed,
the tank treads grinding on the thin gravel, and then climbed slowly up the far
bank, as the infantry of KG Westhoven crossed to support them. Beyond the river
they came upon the short rail spur that had been used the previous day to rush
in elements of the 17th Siberian Rifle Corps. They pushed across, tearing up
the rail line as they went, and were on the verge of breaking through when the…
Uraaah…
of Fresh Soviet riflemen echoed through the low flat valley.

The
18th Siberian Guards had been rushed to the scene, leaping from their trucks
about two kilometers east and forming up to make an immediate attack from
march. Further north, Loeper’s 10th Motorized Division was now making the
acquaintance of the 91st Siberian Guards, which mounted a similar attack to
reinforce the 17th Corps, soon under pressure from elements of two German
divisions. These timely arrivals were enough to shore up the Russian defense,
and even push the Germans back in placed, particularly in te area south of
Plavsk.

There
the arrival of the 8th Cavalry Corps behind Kuzma Podlas troops was a much
needed support, and late that afternoon the cavalry mounted a daring charge,
surging out from Ulyanovka, sabers held high by the officers as the Cossacks
spurred their mounts on. It was more theater than real military operation, for
the machine gun made such attacks all but suicidal. Yet that night, with the
attack supported by two rifle divisions, KG Dorn of 4th Panzer was very hard
pressed. The enemy was attempting to break through to the hamlet of Molochnyy
on the main road back to Gorbachevo. Dorn’s two battalions had support from a
couple Panzerjager companies, and the division artillery pool, which fired now
to secure its own fate, as this attack was aimed right at the artillery parks.

Darkness
halted the Russian attacks, and a disconsolate lull fell over the line, with
both sides too tired to do much of anything that night. Over exposed companies
fell back and consolidated, others moved up and took a little ground in places.
The Germans had the copper mine at Chirkovo, and most of Plavsk, but little
else to crow about. 24th Panzer Korps had been stopped, which was exactly what
Sergie Kirov hoped to accomplish by spending this valuable reserve. Yet the
situation would soon begin to change again, for Hermann Hoth’s promise was
arriving with the leading elements of the fresh 7th Panzer Division, and the
veteran unit was eager to get into the fight.

“Where
do you want me,” said von Funck, who had taken the division in hand when Rommel
went to Africa, and fought it well in the opening months of Barbarossa,
particularly in the crossing of the Neman River. His unit helped close the
Minsk pocket on one side before being pulled off the line to refit with new
tanks.

“Langermann
and Model have been stopped here along this river by a strong Russian Army,”
said Guderian, who drove over to greet the 7th Division commander and welcome
him to the field of battle. “This river runs north from Plavsk for about 25
kilometers before it bends west. Right there at that bend, there is a thick
orchard that was scouted by the Lehr recon battalion yesterday. They pushed
through, but encountered two or three regiments of light infantry, so they
pulled back to consolidate, and the sector was quiet yesterday. I think we’ve
pulled in most of their reserves to the fight for Plavsk, and the 10th
Motorized sector. That area near the orchard is ripe for attack. If you can
push on through, swing up through those light woods beyond, and take this
hill—830 on my map. That should give you a good view of anything else in the
vicinity. If you can turn east and push for Shehekino, or get further north to
flank Tula, all the better. That will unhinge their entire defense south of that
city, and they will have no choice but to fall back.”

“Consider
it done, Herr General. We won’t get their until late this afternoon, but I will
attack from march and push on after dusk if necessary.”

As
always, Hauptmann Hans von Luck was riding in the vanguard with the division
reconnaissance battalion. His unit was the first on the scene, the tip of the
spear, and right behind him was Oberst Keller with the newly outfitted panzer
regiment. Each of his two leading medium battalions had about 20 of the new
Leopard light/medium tanks that were to replace all the Panzer III series,
though there were still 40 of the IIINs in the regiment. These were augmented
with an up-gunned version of the better armored PzKfw IVF1, with a longer
barreled 76mm gun. Reinhardt’s III Battalion had the only Big Cats on the field,
with 22 Leopards leading the way for the 36 PzKfw-55L Lions.

Von
Luck was going to open the battle for the division, getting his recon battalion
quickly into action just west of the thick orchards Guderian had pointed out.
His vehicles had no trouble with the narrow river, which was little more than a
glorified stream, mostly swelled now by the rain of the previous day. They
found the 18th and 19th Ski regiments waiting for them, but when Keller’s
panzers sloshed through the stream bed and pushed into the light woodland
beyond, the enemy soon realized they were in trouble.

The
Russians had only three 47mm AT guns, and they could not make even the
slightest impression on the new German armor. The tanks rattled forward,
machineguns spitting out tracer fire that scored and blackened the trees, with
main guns blasting away at gun positions and any resistance that seemed
determined to try and hold. Keller’s lead battalion, and Stumpmeyer’s
following, did most of the fighting. By the time Reinhardt’s Big Cats arrived,
the 18th Ski Regiment had broken, and was falling back towards Hill 830. But
they would soon find that place no haven from the storm that was now breaking
on them.

As the
light faded, Von Luck decided to take advantage and pushed his fast moving
recon battalion north towards the hill. He got there first, and found that the Russians
had reacted quickly, for his flankers soon spotted light tanks approaching from
the east. Von Luck was on the radio immediately, notifying Oberst Keller that
he was now behind enemy lines, and facing armor, even if it was nothing more
than the antiquated T-40 and T-60 Russian tanks that had formed the mainstay of
their light battalions in the early stage of the war.

“Now
you get your chance to test your new panzers against enemy armor,” he finished,
and then was out to get his AT defense established in case the Russians had any
ideas about taking this high ground. The Soviet armor had spotted the Germans,
but were none too keen on making a night attack on that hill. Unlike most other
high points in the area, this one had steeper slopes, and von Luck had his
battalion in a hedgehog on the southeast flank of the hill. The Russians
decided to take up defensive positions as well, and so things settled down to
light patrolling.

That
night the whole of 7th Panzer Division came up, and the engineers improved the
river crossing by laying a light bridge for the vehicles. Now that it was
concentrated, the Russians would be facing real trouble in the morning when the
Ghost Division moved again. Stumpmeyer’s Battalion supported the
Panzergrenadiers in a prepared assault on the Russian infantry. Keller and
Reinhardt went after that tank unit, shattering it in minutes when the Russians
had their own dose of tank shock this time. The light guns on the T-40s bounced
harmlessly off the German armor, and for the first time in the war, the
Russians heard the low growl of Germany’s new steel Lions. 7th Panzer broke
through with little difficulty, and engineers scaling the heights of Hill 830 reported
that they could see nothing at all to their north and east.

Word
passed quickly down the line, and the Russians were moving just as Guderian
predicted. Kuzma Podlas was ordered to move his corps into a blocking position,
and the Guards pulled out of Plavsk, retiring smartly as covering forces moved
in to hold and give them time to slip away. Konev could see what was happening,
and knew his defense at Plavsk had now been fatally compromised. He wanted his
best divisions back at once, the riflemen moving to the main road to mount
their trucks, as all three of the Siberian Guards units had ample transport.
The 17th Siberian Rifle Corps remained in place, but Konev had five divisions
moving by mid day, all hastening north to try and block the German advance
towards Tula.

Once
again, it was the sudden appearance of that single division pulled out of
Hoth’s Panzergruppe, and its lethal combination of penetrating power, shock,
and maneuver, that was to unhinge the entire Soviet defense. What had looked to
be a slogging battle of attrition the previous day, with Plavsk changing hands
three times, burned and blackened by fire, its streets stained with blood, was
now going to transform into a wild, swirling fight that would careen north
towards the heavily built up areas of Tula and the large outlying town with the
impossible name of Shehekino. And that day, the 9th of September, both Guderian
and Schweppenburg left their respective headquarters at Mtsensk and Orel, and
came forward to meet at Chern. The 24th Panzer Korps was an armored cavalry
outfit again, and the world’s most experienced tank men wanted to get forward
in the saddle and give their horses the whip.

“That’s
done it,” said von Schweppenburg, a Captain in the Cavalry during the First
World War, he had led the 3rd Panzer Division into Poland, and taken the XXIV
Korps into France. “A taste of the good old days to see 7th Panzer out in front
again.”

“Yes,”
said Guderian, but they will try to hold the line in front of your two
divisions. Don’t bother trying to punch through. I want you to swing up and
follow the 7th Division. They’ve given us back our battle of maneuver, and that
is how we should fight now. Head north. Bypass Tula if we meet strong
resistance. They will either have to follow us or sit with their samovars as we
take Alexin and Serpukhov. That will ring the bells in Moscow.”

But how
will we keep the forward units supplied? Tula commands all the good roads and
the rail net as well.”

“Leave
that to me.” Guderian seemed confident that he could manage the problem.

“Then
you don’t want Plavsk? Eberbach fought hard for that place, and we finally
pushed them out.”

“Of
course, we need that town. The rail line passes right through it. Tell
Langermann to keep up the pressure there today, but Model will disengage and
swing up behind the lines of 10th Motorized this morning. Loeper can extend his
front to cover the gap. Model will follow 7th Panzer, and then tonight,
Langermann can pull out under cover of darkness and follow Model. I’ll move the
267th Infantry up to hold Plavsk.”

“Very
well, Herr General. But let us hope they have no more surprises up north.”

“They
got a surprise of their own this morning,” said Guderian with a smile. “Hoepner
has taken Mozhaysk, and he’s punched right through their outer defensive ring.
The lead elements of 11th Panzer are now threatening Naro-Fominsk.
Unfortunately, we have nothing but infantry south of that penetration, so there
can be no pincer operation contemplated. That said, Hoepner will have two good
roads to Moscow on that axis. This may be over before we even reach the Oka
River up north.”

“All
the better,” said von Schweppenburg. “These rains are slowly turning the ground
into a sea of mud. It remains passable for now, but another two weeks of this
weather and we’ll need three good roads to Moscow to have any chance of ever
coming near the place. But we will do our part. I’m told the heavy battalion in
7th Panzer is very near Tula now. It is just a question of time.”

The
roll of thunder served to underscore Schweppenburg’s remark. An old soldier
would have taken it for enemy artillery, but this time it was just another
storm threatening. Neither man knew which was worse, the rain of fire from the
Russian guns, which seemed to be a constant feature of these battles, or the
rain from the sky that was slowly bringing on the Rasputista, the time of no
roads. A Panzer Korps needed those roads, for it relied as much on its ability
to maneuver as it did on the striking power of its armored vehicles.