July 30th, 1943
Operation Zitadelle
Sector of the 3. PanzerArmee - Moving without prior reconnaissance along the right bank of the Pripyat river, the 208. ID attacks Chernobyl. Pieckenberg plays on the surprise effect and wins. Not having detected the arrival of the enemy and losing their commander, the defenders give up and withdraw a few kilometers to the south. However, the Landsers do not go much further, as the arrival of the Soviet air force calms any desire to take advantage of their success. Just one company crosses the river to secure the eastern bank.
At Narodichi, the previous day's airlift gives only a brief respite to the remnants of the 57th Army.
The imperative to commit all available aircraft to the battle further southeast forces Trofimenko, supported by Vatutin, to order a withdrawal. Thanks to his radio, Gagen, however, obtains enough air support to break through to the east and south-east and to allow the few thousand survivors who could still make it to the woods.
From there, they could try to reach Ivankov, sixty kilometers to the east. Too happy to be able to go to the great battle, the 68. ID will probably not try much to hold them back. After all, what are a few thousand fugitives worth when the division could run to Malin to force the issue!
In the sector of Malin, precisely, supported powerfully by artillery and aviation, Vatutin orders Kryushenkin's cavalry corps to go on the offensive with Bogdanov's and Rybalko's two armored corps. The objective is clear: to push back the Panzers towards the west by counting on their exhaustion and give some air to the defenders of Malin.
Covered by everything that could send a shell, drop a bomb or strafe, the attackers advance two to three kilometers east of Golovky. A painful progress, but a huge success compared to the perpetual retreat of the last weeks.
In response, Model does not remain inert and launches his three panzer divisions in counter-attack, with the support of all the remaining Tigers. The lost ground is recaptured... but at an extremely heavy price. At the end of the day, the 504. sPz Abt reports that it has only nine tanks operational. And the 501. sPz Abt only six! Further north, Morozovka is also lost and then recaptured, generating new bloodshed.
Scraping to the bone depots and services (there are long ago no more permissions), the staff of the 3. PanzerArmee still finds something to make up for the losses in personnel - cannon fodder sent to the front line to spare the infantrymen. At the end of the evening, Model learns from the FHO the presence of a new Soviet armored corps further east (the 21st Corps, still in reserve of the Stavka and which had not received the order to move). This discovery reinforces the concern of the commander of the 3. PanzerArmee. But how many more Soviet tanks will he have to destroy?
.........
Sector of the 6. Armee - The breakthrough of the 4th Shock continues despite an attempt of counter-attack mounted urgently by the 9. ID and the 210. StuG Abt. The counter-measures taken the day before had nipped it in the bud in the preparation phase.
Vatutin receives the order to retake Korosten. However, the tanks of the 4th Shock are only fifteen kilometers from Bondarevka, on the railroad linking Korosten to Novograd-Volynskiy.
Cutting this one would respect perfectly the Soviet dogma of the attack in depth and would cut one of the feeding arteries of the 3. PanzerArmee. Cutting a bloody path between the remains of the 302. ID and the 79. ID, Maslennikov's mobile groups charge towards Bondarevka, block a supply train defended by two armed wagons and disperse the defenders. Bludgeoned by the air force and pinned down by the risk of seeing the 11th Armored Corps arrive, the 56. ID does not move.
The arrival of the Soviets at the gates of Korosten is a new catastrophe for Paulus.
Isolated, the 79. and 56. ID have no other choice than to try to pass through the enemy tanks to link up again with the 9. ID, or to entrench themselves west of Korosten.
But the news is just as bad for Model: all or almost all of its resources are being used against defenses in front of Malin, east of Korosten, he has nothing to try to push back the 4th Shock. Only OKH and Kluge still have some reserves. Reluctantly, Model calls his superior and makes himself sweet, something sufficiently rare for Kluge to take note. The 23. Panzer can only be mobilized on the express orders of the Führer, so the head of Zitadelle can only send the 203. StuG Abt, which is transferred to the 3. PanzerArmee within forty-eight hours. In the meantime, Model has to make do with a Kampfgruppe created with elements of its 246. ID and some StuG IV barely repaired and removed from the 5. Panzer.
In the south, the 37th Army has obviously finished eating its black bread and is finally showing its advantage. Deprived of the support of the 9. ID, the 294. ID, drunk with blows, retreats more and more in disorder. Totally atonic, Chales de Beaulieu (168. ID) doesn't help his neighbor and doesn't even answer radio calls, prompting an officer of the 6. Armee to be sent to the scene to determine if the unit still exists! Isolated and with no illusions about what to do next, Block takes the only acceptable decision by abandoning Ryzhiny and withdrawing to his lines of July 23rd. At least we can save Volodarsk while waiting for the final victory of the 3. PanzerArmee!
.........
Battle of Zhitomir - Both banks of the Kemenka River are now completely occupied by units of the 5th Shock Army. With no hope of driving them out and under pressure, Mahlmann and Usinger appeal to their respective superiors. The case of the second is quickly settled: Manstein giving his green light, the 223. ID evacuates the western quarters it was still holding and joins the rest of the LIX. ArmeeKorps, still caught by the throat of the 1st Shock Army. But the 147. ID depends on the XXIX. ArmeeKorps, thus of the 6. Armee.
Harassed by Branderberger, who commands the XXIX. AK, Paulus concedes with a little lip service the authorization to withdraw. This allows at least to support the 332. ID and to shorten the front line.
The abandonment of Zhitomir is thus validated at the level of the two armies... but at the higher echelons the thing is more difficult! If Kluge pretends to be convinced by Paulus' chief of staff, at the OKH, Heusinger and Zeitzler shouts loudly and demands to cancel the withdrawal. Passing through tortuous channels and possibly led astray by unfortunate hands, this counter-order does not reach its addressees until much too late. The two divisions had already withdrawn.
Noting the departure of the Germans, Chernyakovsky transmits the information without delay to Rokossovsky... and to Beria, in his capacity as commander of the NKVD troops troops who also fought in the city. It is a good way to return the elevator to an influential person, a guarantee of serenity in the Soviet system. Once the elements of infantry and artillery that had been trapped for many days in the city, the victorious forces can take on new tasks: to continue the clearing operations west of the city and to build temporary bridges over the Kemenka and Teterev rivers. The price of success is that Rokossovsky has to give back the 5th Shock and the 17th Armored Corps, returned to Vatutin.
The retreat to the northwest of the 332. ID opens a door for an attack in the depth west of Zhitomir thanks to the tanks of Lelyushenko. But taking advantage of the opportunity could build a German salient around Berdichev. However, this prospect displeases all Soviet leaders. Too much progress here could be paid for elsewhere.
Moreover, Vatutin has another idea in mind: to send the 17th Armored Corps north to help clear Malin. The 5th Shock would be more than enough to expand the liberated terrain around Zhitomir. The 17th Corps has to coordinate with the 26th Army and the 5th Shock with Vlassov's 1st Shock. This one, southwest of Zhitomir, manages to advance north-west by pushing back the 205. and 304. ID and the SS of the Galizien despite a fierce resistance.
.........
Sector of the 8. Armee - Manstein fully sees the strategic impasse in which he has trapped himself. Two of the three SS panzer divisions are isolated about thirty kilometers west of Bila Tservka and above all, about fifty kilometers east of the other German units. Hausser advanced in depth, but he could only form a finger of gloves, which we wonder in Rastenburg why the Soviets have not yet sectioned it. Zeitzler assumes that the Red Army is finally running out of reserves, while Guderian, scornful, asserts that it is rather a question of stupidity and tactical ineptitude. If the XXVII. AK of Weiß does not manage to break out of Berdichev to support Hausser, an effective and quick way to get the SS out of there must be found.
Looking for the solution, Weiß decides to cover his right flank. Straining his divisions (125. ID, 132. ID and 141. ID), he seizes Solotvin [Staryi Solotvyn] and Bolshiye Moshkovtsy [Velyki Moshkivtsi] thanks to a series of misunderstandings between Soviet cavalrymen and airmen, thus covering the northern part of Chervone.
South of Hausser's breakthrough, at Kazatin, the LAH dryly repulses a disjointed assault by the 1st Armored Corps. Indeed, the 1st Guards Armored Corps has to cover Kashperovka against a new attack of the 11. Panzer, Katukov leaving about fifty tanks in the affair, against seven at Balck. Rudolf von Ribbentrop's crew distinguishes itself by destroying two T-34s and a T-50, which earns him the congratulations of his regimental commander.
Furious, Rokossovsky has to admit that his plans had been thwarted because the enemy has once again seized the initiative. One more proof that it is important not to underestimate him. As a result, he is again in danger of missing the means to push back Weiß' units.
In Skvira, Hausser thinks long and hard about his own situation. He had moved too fast and too far into the Soviet system. In accordance with the orders, he infiltrated and rode, rolled and rolled again from victory to victory... But to continue to rush headlong in this way is no longer possible! His experience and his sense of reading the OKH communiqués show him that in the north, Model has not reached the Dnieper. From Himmler, he knows that on his left, the 6. Armee has not reached the outskirts of Kiev and that Weiß is far from having taken Fastov. Finally, by Manstein, he knows the pressure undergone by Kempf, on his right. In summary, he is alone or almost alone, certainly with two elite divisions, but in the middle of the Ukrainian steppes and facing an opponent who has pulled himself together. The radio intercepts are unequivocal: it is a fully manned armored corps, equipped with additional artillery and infantry. Even poorly led, this force is more than capable of blocking the road for at least forty-eight hours, enough time for the Red Army to reinforce itself, or even to cut it from its bases to make him a spell. To withdraw thus appears as an option - all the more attractive because in addition to saving his tanks, Hausser could give a welcome boost to Balck and his own LAH, falling on the backs of the 4th Shock Army and Chanchibadze's and Katukov's armored corps. Leaving his officers to write a recommendation that he would transmit to Manstein the same evening, Hausser returns to the most urgent matter. He orders the Totenkopf to redeploy quickly northwest of Skvira to welcome the new arrivals, while the Das Reich continues the systematic elimination of the nests of resistance in the city.
On the other side, aware of the enemy's superiority in terms of tanks, Volkov slows down his progression until he stops at about five kilometers. There is no question of risking his precious 22nd Armored Corps in a frontal assault as glorious as useless. Zhukov validates a tactic in two stages: using artillery and rocket launchers to soften up the defenses, then attack by sending the heaviest armored vehicles and infantry in front, the medium tanks on the flanks. Air defense aircraft (PVO) would provide ground support, as the tactical forces are too busy elsewhere. Their pilots have no experience in this field, but Volkov believes they will do more damage to the enemy than to his own forces - and at least, they will avoid any interference from the Luftwaffe.
The ball starts at 05:30 with salvos sent by the two regiments of BM-13/16, followed closely by the shells of the Soviet tubes. The SS note a certain inaccuracy of the bombing, and even more the visible inexperience of the planes which follow. The regimental logs of the Totenkopf will report the same evening a success rate much higher than the norm of the Flak batteries, against aircraft flying too long in their field of fire, or even crashing to escape the fire of their guns. Noticing himself the lack of efficiency of his supports, Volkov orders however the attack. Advancing in point, the KV-85 of his independent armored brigade represent good targets for the Panzers, but they are accompanied by SU-122 self-propelled engines firing large explosive shells, which are very dangerous for anything that is not solidly armored. T-34s and T-50s frantically run to the left and to the right to escape the German pointers while looking for firing positions. This constant ballethowever, only gives them a slightly longer life expectancy than usual.
Several hours of confrontations leave the Volkov group weakened, but far from being out of combat. Using smoke to protect their recovery teams, the Soviet tankers are able to recover a good part of their damaged tanks. Among the SS, one watches with concern as the number of shells in the lockers decreases. The deliveries undertaken several days ago, are far from covering the consumption (and losses)... All the more so as if the PVO have difficulty in adapting to air-to-ground missions, they are clearly more skilled in air-to-air and makes havoc among the light planes which are trying to deliver 75 or 88 mm shells crammed into the fuselage. The destruction of two Storch and a Caproni (ex-Italian) almost under Hausser's nose highlights the limits of the process.
At nightfall, Hausser makes contact with Manstein, who takes his proposal very badly.
Abandoning Skvira and withdrawing the SS PanzerKorps would represent the pure and simple failure of Zitadelle, even if the maneuver allows to eliminate two opposing armored corps in an encirclement. However, the head of the 8. Armee judges that Hausser had done his job and he takes into account his membership in the SS, an important element in an army and under a regime where factionalism is essential to the internal balance of power. On the other hand, Manstein is furious with Paulus, Model and especially Kluge. He considers that the latter has not supported him, has done nothing but follow his ideas... and plots behind his back, ready to drop him, even to accuse him as soon as he will be certain that the Ostheer will not reach Kiev. It remains to make Zeitzler and the OKH admit that this withdrawal is in no way an abandonment of Zitadelle, just a tactical maneuver intended not only to destroy the last Soviet reserves, but also to establish the starting positions for the final push towards Kiev. Or something like that. Manstein is confident that he will be able to convince Hitler of the validity of his theses. In the meantime, Hausser is preparing to... attack in another direction.
.........
Operation Koliushka - The 2nd Ukrainian Front and the 10th Army in particular receive a message from Comrade Stalin. What an honor... and what terror!
"Comrade Golikov advised me of particular difficulties in his sector. It seems that discipline is not the first quality of some elements of the 2nd Ukrainian Front and that this is hindering his advance. But let Comrade Bagramyan be reassured: while he will continue his progression, I will entrust the management of his rear to two specialists who will be in charge of bringing order and purging those who deserve it. Comrades Mekhlis and Shcherbakov are already on their way. Be sure to work with them, for the sake of everyone."
The imminent arrival of the men sent by Stalin electrifies Golikov and his 10th Army. Indeed, the arrival of Mekhlis is shocking. Terrified at the idea of meeting one of the damned souls of the Vojd (even if the man has lost a good part of his powers since the beginning of the war), the soldiers have given up looting and are now in pursuit of the Korpsabteilung B - but in such a haphazard fashion that they only facilitate its retreat.
Retreating in drawers, mining here and strafing there, Weidling's men massacre the Soviet groups that are too far ahead, instilling fear in the others. In short, the 10th Army is held at arm's length!
Meanwhile, von Arnim is able to talk with the Hungarians. The leader of the 2. PanzerArmee shows them that the good use of the few reserve units of his army could benefit everyone, provided that they play as a team.
Reassured by the good holding of Weidling and by the apathy of the 3rd Army (turned towards the north), the Hungarians of the 4th Corps agree to let go of the 20. Panzergrenadier (Jauer), until then stationed in front of Vinnitsa to deter a new Soviet attack. Jauer can thus immediately go to reinforce the German and Hungarian defenses against the offensive of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In exchange, von Arnim places at the disposal of the 4th Corps the 189. ID. He also agrees to ask Kluge, but especially the OKH, to assign him the 2nd Hungarian Armored Division. Very diplomatic, the chief of the 2. PanzerArmee does not say anything about his doubts about the efficiency of the Hungarian tanks against the Reds. In any case, there is a serious lack of armored vehicles and the OKH stubbornly refuses to give up the 23. Panzer.
We might as well do with what we have! While sparing the susceptibility of his allies, von Arnim suggests to act in two phases, first to help the 257. ID (against which the threat of an infiltration is the most obvious) then the 19th Hungarian ID. The proposal is soon accepted.
At Rakhny Lesovvye, the 2nd Shock Army neutralizes a new assault of the 202. StuG Abt by ravaging its starting positions with its artillery. The 257. ID rejected to the west, Galitsky introduces his armor along the railroad line leading to Zhmerinka [Jmerynka], part of his infantry following on foot or mounted on every possible vehicle. Advancing about ten kilometers, the vanguards seize Pen'kovka [Pen'kivka] while in the east, the Germans urgently evacuate Krasnoye [Krasne], the former headquarters of the XLIX. AK.
By breaking through here, Galitsky aims not only to isolate the 4th Hungarian Corps as well as the 94. ID and Korpsabteilung B, but also to destabilize the 2. PanzerArmee by threatening its nerve center, in Zhmerinka. However, the move is risky: Pfeiffer is already trying to close the breach by attacking Sledi, forcing the 2nd Shock to divert important forces in addition to those protecting its left flank facing 202. StuG Abt.
On the 16th Army side, the Chargorod woods are reduced to matchsticks, their defenders forced to flee or die on the spot. Giving a rifle to all personnel able to fight or at least give their lives against a little time, the commander of the 19th Hungarian ID slows down Lukin's progression. All villages between the forest and Chargorod are conquered after fierce and similar fights: preliminary bombardment, arrival of the infantry with a few tanks or light self-propelled vehicles, which were soon attacked by anti-tank guns and snipers, new bombardments this time more intense, encirclement of the place and hand-to-hand assault, the whole leading to the destruction of almost all the houses. However, the breakthrough of the 16th Army is too narrow, which creates organizational problems, as the Soviet infantry cannot deploy properly. Lukin has to personally explain to his subordinates the need to expand the base of the breakthrough, first to Politanka [Politanky] in the west and then to Dolzhok [Dovzhok] in the east.
Opposite, the 59th Soviet Army does not seem to move, the general commanding the 20th ID decides to send reinforcements to the 19th to try to prevent the 16th Army from spreading on its left, with some success. This does not prevent Lukin's advanced elements from penetrating the outskirts of Chargorod in the late afternoon, before being rejected by a counter-attack.
