05/06/44 - Eastern Front, Liberation of Cluj-Napoca
June 5th, 1944
Baltic Sea
Naval Commandos
Courland - "Captain Vladimir Evstigneev has indeed returned. That in itself is an achievement. Having failed to enter the site by road, he went to the adjoining railway complex, where he observed one wagon in particular, filled with numerous "green boxes" being unloaded.
Yevstigneev took the plunge: arriving with the jaded look of a tired handler, he slung a crate over his shoulder... and followed the group to its destination: a hall where fascists were clearly spending a lot of time stringing cables into these boxes. Clearly a radio equipment assembly plant! That's good - even if it's only a beginning, and a rather anecdotal one at that, given the scale of what's brewing in East Prussia.
Over the coming weeks, the ROSNAZ-KBF will be keen to continue its espionage missions in the Baltic, in search of these famous flying bombs... or any other information useful to the Red Army. As for the factory discovered by Evstigneev, intelligence officer Vladimir Borisov will make sure that it soon receives a visit from the air force...".
(Commandos in the Baltic and Danube: Soviet Naval Spetsnaz in World War II, Yuri Strokhnin, Naval Institute Press 1996)
The art of using Slovaks
Dukla-Carpathians
HQ of the 3rd Ukrainian Front (Rzeszów) - Marshal Ivan Konev's forces are ordered to resume their advance towards central Slovakia as quickly as possible, in the direction of Prešov. In what is already shaping up to be another arduous and bloody exercise, the 1st Shock Army and the 61st Army will receive as many reinforcements and replacements as the forces intended for the Oder offensive - a gift from the Vojd! It wasn't planned, but it's a pleasure. And it completes the provision of the 20th Armoured Corps (P.P. Poluboiarov) - previously with the 2nd Ukrainian Front, but everyone knows that this Front will undoubtedly disappear soon.
In any case, as usual, Konev - busy preparing his Glory on the Vistula - delegates to Vassili Sokolovsky. It is up to him to be efficient and brilliant for his boss, and quickly.
Hungary, whatever the cost
Operation Südwall
HG B HQ (Déri Museum, Debrecen) - As soon as Gotthard Heinrici arrives in his new premises (which still contain a few traces of their Egyptology collections, now evacuated), he realises that the situation of his army group is getting worse and worse in the face of the Soviet offensive. He therefore orders the III. PanzerKorps from Cluj-Napoca (a town that can no longer be considered safe) to its present position. It isn't ideal, of course... The panzers would have to travel 120 kilometres by road to reach their new starting positions in the Apuseni mountains and cross several small wet sections before reaching their destination.
But Heinrici doesn't really have a choice. The Hungarian railways only ever offer two routes to Transylvania, both starting in Budapest and following a common trunk line to Püspökladány. The southern route: Nagyvárad (Oradea) - Cluj-Napoca (Nagyvárad) - Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș). And in the north: Kisvárda - Szatmárnémeti (Satu Mare) - Nagybánya (Baia Mare)... then Dej and Bistrița, already conceded to the enemy.
Nagyvárad had been his favourite for a while - but this sector would soon be congested (fortunately!) by the arrival of the two PanzerDivisions from Lake Balaton. And with the massive presence of enemy bombers from all directions overhead, Heinrici is anxious not to put all his eggs in one basket. As for the Kisvárda route, it takes the panzers further away from their destination, passing through the north of the Guruslau depression, while also bringing the troops closer to the Galician front. So it really isn't the best idea. Too bad - the HG B is not so far behind... And then we'll start unloading the panzers tomorrow. It's about time! Heinrici is well aware that the retreat of his forces is becoming more catastrophic by the hour.
Cluj-Debrecen
2nd Ukrainian Front - Rudolf Konrad's XLIX. ArmeeKorps under Rudolf Konrad reaches the Iza valley via the Șetref pass - which it abandons to the enemy, since the Prislop pass has already been conceded, making this position worthless. He is now beyond the reach of enemy action. Over the next few days, he deploys his two molested divisions (88. ID under Georg von Rittberg and 94. ID under Georg Pfeiffer) around the Hera Pass, towards Petrova and Barsana, waiting to take over from the Hungarian 8th ID (Arpád Maltary) at the Yablonitsky Pass. It would probably be the 94. ID to take over, integrating the survivors of the late III. Luftwaffen-Feld-Korps, gathered here at random from disasters and whose original titles no longer cover any reality.
For the 2. PanzerArmee, Cluj-Debrecen is over: it is clear that Hans-Jürgen von Arnim, who had to fight with two infantry corps of the second rank, never had a chance of victory - even on the most favourable terrain. It is not even certain that the 2. PzA would survive the crisis... This 'armoured' army has not had a single PanzerDivision in its ranks for a very long time. However, despite all his setbacks and an increasingly sombre mood, von Arnim is not ostracised by the Nazi leadership. The OKH perhaps had the courtesy not to hold him responsible for everything... In any case, the veteran would probably soon have to be given a new command - a real one, that is.
For their part, the Soviets have no specific plans for the 2. PanzerArmee or for the Sighetu Marmației sector. Leaving the 16th Army (Leonty Cheremisov) - which has given so much, it deserves a sinecure - to hold its flank alone at Dej and Mosei (two localities it would soon reach for lack of defenders!), Ivan Bagramyan continues to focus his attention on what is happening in the centre and the south. The infernal couple formed by the 2nd Armoured Corps and the 47th Army continues to advance and seizes Cluj-Napoca. Ivan Lazarev's machines, which had appeared in the suburbs during the night, take this town of one hundred thousand inhabitants in less than a day, and without too much difficulty, as they are reinforced by a continuous stream of frontovikis that Filipp Zhmachenko has been whipping along the road since Beclean! The centre of HG B's former position has fallen: just the previous morning, the 17. Armee is still in Târgu Mureș - 65 kilometres further east as the crow flies. Since then, of course, Karl-Adolf Hollidt has rushed to evacuate to Déva, having largely anticipated the orders he was expecting... He is already in Aiud, having passed the Raul Aries south of Turda before risking running into marauding T-34s.
Cluj-Napoca (from Clus, the key) has been a strategic position since it was first colonised in time immemorial - the site has been occupied since the Neolithic period! It is the gateway to the Guruslau depression, the Roman fortress of Napoca during the Dacian wars, the County fortress, the free market town of the Hungarian Crown, the citadel christened Klausenburg by the Habsburgs, and the focus of the Romanian-Hungarian wars of 1918*.
It is therefore an excellent point of departure towards the heart of the Danube plain. The two Soviet formations are ordered to consolidate their positions there. Only the T-34s are authorised to advance towards the Poic Pass, in order to sow chaos in the enemy's ranks: already piercing the Apuseni Mountains, cutting off the retreating forces to the south from the likely reinforcements coming from the north and also studying a possible next leap towards Oradea. Destroying the Nazi forces is not their mission: Moscow is thinking big. Much broader than just the 17. Armee - even if it means letting it struggle a little longer.
In fact, the German forces still have hope! After their futile attempt at Sărățel, the 328. ID (Joachim von Tresckow) and the 560. schw. PzJ. Abt (Major Rudolf Markowz) pass Cămărașu to continue towards Luduș - losing a number of wounded and stragglers along the way, not to mention their heavy equipment. The fault lay with the country roads that have to be taken to avoid Cluj-Napoca, which is already occupied by the enemy! But by fleeing the hammer to the north, these units are getting closer to the anvil to the south...
As for Hans Korte's 13. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division, it crosses Târgu Mureș in panic: the 38th Army (Kyrill Moskalenko) is already at Reghin and, above all, Soviet armoured vehicles are appearing on its left! What had to happen happens... In the absence of any support from the 14. PanzerGrenadier under Erich Schneider - which is busy moving towards Târnăveni and then turning south towards Mediaș - the straggling columns are crushed by the 5th Tank Army. The right wing of the 4th Armoured Corps (M.G. Fomichkov), coming down from Reghin in pursuit of the enemy, cuts the unfortunate Luftwaffe infantrymen to pieces. To make matters worse, with the improvement in the weather, Stalin's Falcons strike again! If Korte manages to escape, his division ceases to exist.
Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach is caught at Reghin, along with the entire staff of XLVIII. AK, caught between the columns of the 4th Armoured Corps (M.G. Fomichkov) behind him and those of the 38th Army in front. As he hands over his weapon, von Seydlitz-Kurzbach - who is unaware that his rank protects him from most of the reprisals that regularly hits Red Army prisoners - cannot hide a certain bitterness. He had repeatedly called for an evacuation to the west and warned that his position was untenable, but now found himself abandoned like a dog by the side of the road. It wasn't long before he joined the Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland..."Ah! Ah, the first catch of the day", Kravchenko comments, increasingly delighted by the turn of events.
But all this pales into insignificance compared to the events underway in Mediaș. This locality also happens to be - unfortunately for it - a strategic crossroads between Nagyszeben (Sibiu), Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia), Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș) and Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc). This role naturally makes it the convergence point for several armoured formations present in the region.
Coming from the east, the 9th Mechanised Corps (M.I. Savelyev) arrives first from Sighișoara. Arriving from the south, it hits the 13. Panzer (Helmutt von der Chevallerie), which is closely followed by the infantry of the 12. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division (Herbert Kettner). Fortunately for the Germans, the presence of Savelyev's tanks had been brought to their attention by Hungarian reconnaissance the previous day. However, well supported throughout the morning by the 17th Air Army (V.A. Sudets), and despite a few bites from the Magyar air force, Savelyev can hope to hold on solidly in the valley of the Târnava Mare, to the right of Târnava - especially as he knows that at least part of the 4th Armoured Corps (M.G. Fomichkov) is coming up behind him.
The problem is that before Fomichkov, another formation emerges from the north, from Târnăveni: the 14. PanzerGrenadier under Erich Schneider, pursued by Vladimir Baskakov's 8th Mechanised Corps. Schneider had not anticipated the presence of this opponent at all, but the latter is even more surprised! The JadgPanzer IVs literally smash the flank of the 9th MC, which finds itself practically cut in two by an assailant trying to break through at all costs towards Târnava or towards Moșna! Part of Savelyev's corps soon finds itself in serious danger of destruction, due to a lack of support...
The arrival of Fomichkov's first tanks restores the balance. Schneider - who for a while thought he could wipe out this new enemy - releases his prey and disappears towards Moșna and an alternative route to Nagyszeben. As for Chevallerie and Kettner, the entry into the fray of the first IS-2s of Vladimir Baskakov's 8th Mechanized Corps convince them to drop the piece - Mediaș is no longer of any interest anyway. Their two divisions retreat towards Copșa Mică, trying to defend the road to Blaj as a priority - i.e. from the west - while warning the defenders of Sibiu that a very big chunk was coming their way! And they don't even see Andrei Getman's 16th Armoured Corps...
.........
4th Ukrainian Front - It is high time to abandon all positions west of the Apuseni Mountains. The mass of retreating Germans is pressing into the Olt valley.
For 306. ID of Karl-Erik Köhler, it is already too late: arriving in Șercaia in the morning - exhausted and bloodless after so much effort - it finds itself pinned down by Vasily Glagolev's 9th Army (behind it) and Vladimir Kolpakchi's 62nd Army (which had preceded it). The division is surrounded and destroyed on open ground around Părău - few survive. Köhler is not one of them.
However, the 306. ID nevertheless gained a little time for others. The other divisions of the 17. Armee arrive at Nagyszeben (Sibiu). There they meet up with the right wing of the XXX. ArmeeKorps (Philipp Kleffel) of the 11. Armee, which itself retreated from its positions on the Turnu Roșu pass in the face of a 14th Army (Valerian Frolov) made cautious by its past experiences. Above all, they are covered on the right by the XVI. ArmeeKorps (Horst von Mellenthin), which is retreating towards Bradu. By taking advantage of the terrain around Sibiu, the 11. Armee seems to be able to save the 17. Armee from destruction... as long as this monster of steel from the north is mastered.
But in every heroic story, sacrifices must be made, and the 306. ID is not enough. Wilhelm Wegener's L. ArmeeKorps under will also have to go... Hammered all morning by the Soviet air force, pursued by the vanguards of the 6th Guards Armoured Corps (Alexander Shamshin), the Romanian Armoured Corps (David Popescu), the rest of the 3rd Romanian Army and the 6th Guards Army (Pavel Batov), the corps suffers terrible losses between Făgăraș and Sâmbăta de Jos - in particular from the TACAMs and T-34s, which try all day to overtake it from the south and Recea. Wilhelm Wegener is killed in a Sturmovik raid - command then falls to Fritz Becker, whose 370. ID is the least damaged of the two divisions... It is up to him to try to get everyone back to Sibiu via Avrig - without being able to get out of the way of the enemy by crossing the Olt, due to a lack of available bridges.
As for the Soviets, they haven't even finished deploying! Last to cross the Perșani Pass, the 4th Romanian Army (Gheorghe Avramescu), the 12th Mechanised Corps (Dimitri Ryabyshev) - which have suffered some losses but was still valiant - and above all the 3rd Guards Armoured Corps (Mikhail Panov) are now heading towards Șercaia. Although at this hour, the latter two formations have barely crossed the outskirts of Brașov, arriving from a sector where the 14th Army is now nevertheless advancing... Alas, the failure of operations in the Olt Valley has forced them to make a wide diversions, followed by no less arduous a wait. It is therefore doubtful whether they can really play a role in the events to come.
The Russian season
Hungary - In the wake of its sweep the previous day, and knowing that these were undoubtedly critical hours for the action of the Hungarian airmen, the high command of the Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légierő sends the 101st Red Pumas back to Transylvania - this time reinforced by the twelve Me 210-Ca of the 103/2 század Sas (Captain László Pottyondy).
Like on the previous day, the Magyar air force heads for the Sighișoara sector, before drifting quite logically towards Mediaș, following calls from the German command. The aircraft bearing the white cross on a black background arrive at their target in the late morning, while the VVS are already in the process of withdrawing. Colonel Heppes Aladár's Bf 109s speed off to talk to the MiGs - they claim one of them, but the aircraft of pilot officer András Huszár (101/3) has to divert to Gyulafehérvár to avoid crashing.
As for Pottyondy's Me 210s, they attack - despite intense anti-aircraft fire which significantly hampers their approach. One aircraft crashes into the lines of the 13. Panzer (crew recovered). Their charge was certainly not ineffective, but it was very inadequate for what was at stake - in fact, it did nothing to stop the Soviet tanks racing towards Nagyszeben.
ÖstHeer
Substitute firefighters
Brastislava - After an initial abortive departure for the Western Front to reinforce the Axis lines, the 548. VolkgrenadierDivision (Erich Sudau) is declared operational for the ÖstHeer. After all, hadn't it already been usefully tested in the fighting against the Slovak uprising? However, instead of descending towards the great Hungarian plain as Hitler had first announced, this formation heads towards the Vistula front and HG Mitte.
Walter Model had told the Guide that he has already had to give up one of his Panzer Korps to help Kluge in Hungary. He could not, however, give up all his forces - we had seen what happened in Belarus at the beginning of the year... That is why the People's Grenadier Division is now heading north to Radom. This also says something about the state of the Reich: two major commanders are reduced to fighting over a second-rate infantry division, like two hungry dogs over the same bone.
Proletarian airmen of all countries, unite!
Franco-Soviet fraternisation
Maison Igoumnov (French embassy in Moscow) - "At the appointed hour, we all stand to attention at the embassy of His Excellency Charles Corbin. Outside it is damp. Minister Charles Tillon enters. He is followed by General Petit and Colonel Vallin. The ceremony begins at full speed. From Commander of the Legion of Honour to the modest Croix de Guerre, the Croix de la Libération and the Military Medal, there are so many people to decorate!
As Albert used to say: "It's raining bananas, you'd think you were in Constantine!"
And in this glittering drawing room, where the gold of the stripes and the silver of the mirrors shone with a thousand lights, Tillon passed by, visibly at ease, holding out his hand, having a word for everyone. Even if we don't all like him because of his reputation, we look up to him because he brings a little bit of our distant but already partly free homeland.
And when the ceremony is over, the same cry comes from all our chests: "Minister, how are things over there? What do they think of us? Is it true that the war will soon be over?"
But Petit, to whom this rather formal ceremony may seem a burden, mingles familiarly with our groups: "So, guys, Russian girls, fierce? Nice? Or both?"
We explain and he laughs. That is, until a cough, a cough that would make the chandeliers shake, reminded us of Sergeant Kormanov's presence, feminine to be sure, but not exactly enticing. Standing up to her full height, wearing the regulation large uniform skirt and a square jaw under her brown haircut, she taunts our visitor: "Fierce? I don't know. Well, with the Krauts, surely! Kind? Perhaps, depending on how you look at it, General. But courageous, yes, the proof is that they have entire air force regiments!
Before the situation could get out of hand, Charles Tillon appeared with the sense of timing of the political animal that he was.
- Ah, General! You've met Mrs Kormanov, one of my protégés - I wouldn't dare say one of my Tillonnettes, that would be presumptuous, even though I like that nickname immensely! Ahah! Times are changing and for the better, we have a lot to learn from our Soviet friends in certain areas. In fact, Sergeant, why don't you come and talk to me about it? You know, the situation in the Air Force has changed a lot in France too, over the last few months...
We watch as the politician leads the beast away, and Petit says, "That's quite an animal.
- One victory confirmed, plus two more probable.
- If they're Krauts, that's fine!
It was our turn to question him.
- Is it true that Colonel Vallin is being received in the Kremlin this evening?
- It is true. He was invited to the banquet given by Marshal Stalin on the occasion of the signing of a new diplomatic agreement.
At 20:25, Minister Tillon, Colonel Vallin and Mr Charles Corbet entered the Kremlin to the sound of cannon fire celebrating the Red Army's recent victories in Hungary. They entered through the Borowiski Gate where NKVD soldiers stood guard. Searchlights follow and illuminate the cars. They stopped in front of the Italian palace, built in the 15th century by Florentine architects and remodelled under Catherine the Great and later under Nicholas I. A red carpet covers the monumental staircase decorated with a "kolossal" painting, as the Germans would say, depicting the Battle of Irtysh.
On the first floor, to the left of the staircase, the group of Frenchmen make their way first through the flats of Ivan the Terrible and then through the session room where the Supreme Council of the Soviets sits. The walls are panelled in Caucasian walnut. High chandeliers glitter the walls with flashes of light. You walk through two illuminated lounges to the room where the Soviet government is waiting.
At 20:30, Marshal Joseph Stalin made his entrance. He walked in calmly and confidently, his face serene and powerful. He is dressed in a beige uniform tinged with pink. His tunic bears only one decoration: the gold star of the "Heroes of Labour". On each of his gold epaulettes gleams a large star. His trousers, with wide crimson stripes, are tucked into short boots. He gives an impression of strength and mischief. His gestures and gait, supple yet simple, recall his peasant origins. Behind his narrowed eyelids, which slant towards his temples, his eyes shine with a youthful, mischievous sparkle. He greeted Minister Tillon, who introduced him to his colleagues. Vallin was moved but did not let it show. And at a sign from the maître d'hôtel, Marshal Stalin joyfully exclaimed: "Let's eat!"
Each guest is presented with a full array of glasses of wine and vodka, and plates containing hors d'oeuvres. The waiters circulate, offering a variety of fish dishes, caviar, smoked and salted meats.
The toasts begin. Molotov opens. Marshal Stalin in turn raises his glass to victory, to Churchill, Roosevelt, De Gaulle, the Allies and the new-found friendship between all peoples. Vallin will not remember very well, but he will tell us that more than thirty toasts followed one another so quickly that we no longer knew who was being saluted. Stalin finally got up and spoke about the Red Army and its exploits. He concluded: "The assault force of our army is our artillery. We have seen it again: you need artillery. Artillery of all calibres. A real artillery orchestra."
And once again he raised his glass to the great Marshal Voronov, the father of artillery. The latter approached Stalin and clinked his glass against that of the marshal, who continued, pointing at Voronov: "It was he who directed the artillery. He smothered Germany with the fire of our cannons".
The French were stunned. Still standing, Stalin drank to the health of the air force and its commander, Marshal Novikov. Then to the famous aeronautical engineers, Generals Yakovlev and Migoyan. The great moment had arrived. Colonel Vallin could feel it. Stalin stared at him. Then he says: "I may be meddling in matters that do not concern me, and I apologise if I am, but I want to drink to the health of Colonel Vallin, commander of the Franche-Comté/Vistule squadron, which we hope to be able to call the Franche-Comté/Vistule Division soon."
At this point, the Marshal was seen walking briskly towards Colonel Vallin, his glass held high. Colonel Vallin goes to meet him; Marshal Stalin looks him in the eye, then crosses his arm under his and together they empty their glasses, united by this chain.
Stalin then invited the audience to watch a film made in 1938 showing the attack on the USSR by... a capitalist coalition. After various twists and turns, the USSR emerged victorious from the tournament and the film ended with this sentence: "And this is how an aggression against the Republic of Workers and Peasants can bring about the end of the capitalist world".
Stalin then asks the audience to taste the Russian champagne and turns back to Vallin: "I like the French, they fight!"
He beckoned to Yakovlev and Migoyan and the four of them began a standing discussion on the tactical use of aircraft. Vallin praised the MiG 9 which, he said, outclassed all German aircraft. He expressed doubts about the value of arming it more powerfully, as on the Yaks. He preferred the 20mm cannon to the 37mm cannon, which made the aircraft more maneuverable and flexible. Stalin, who had just praised the artillery, believed in the "Air Artillery" aircraft. He pressed Vallin with questions. The Frenchman was stubborn. He kept coming back to the maneuverability of his MiG, which prevented him from increasing the aircraft's firepower.
- We'll try it anyway," replied Stalin,
- I'm obviously speaking as a fighter specialist," exclaimed Vallin.
- What I would like to achieve," continues Stalin, "is a concentration of aviation fire with three tiers of differently armed aircraft that would prevent enemy fighters from approaching.
Vallin briefly mentions the experience of the GB 30, then willingly agrees that this concept is beyond his competence.
The evening hosted by Marshal Stalin ended at 04:30.
A few moments later, a new Franco-Soviet diplomatic agreement on cooperation in aviation and the aeronautical industry was signed by ministers Molotov and Tillon".
(Captain François de Geoffre, Escadre Franche-Comté/Vistule, Charles Corlet ed. 1952, republished by J'ai Lu, 1996)
* Cluj-Napoca was also home to many Jews. Locked up in its ghetto, 16,148 of them had been deported since April 1944. Only 468 managed to escape, despite the courageous action of the Roman Catholic bishop Áron Márton and the diplomat Valer Pop (who had been part of the Romanian delegation at the German arbitration in 1940). Along with three other people, they were made Righteous Among the Nations.
Baltic Sea
Naval Commandos
Courland - "Captain Vladimir Evstigneev has indeed returned. That in itself is an achievement. Having failed to enter the site by road, he went to the adjoining railway complex, where he observed one wagon in particular, filled with numerous "green boxes" being unloaded.
Yevstigneev took the plunge: arriving with the jaded look of a tired handler, he slung a crate over his shoulder... and followed the group to its destination: a hall where fascists were clearly spending a lot of time stringing cables into these boxes. Clearly a radio equipment assembly plant! That's good - even if it's only a beginning, and a rather anecdotal one at that, given the scale of what's brewing in East Prussia.
Over the coming weeks, the ROSNAZ-KBF will be keen to continue its espionage missions in the Baltic, in search of these famous flying bombs... or any other information useful to the Red Army. As for the factory discovered by Evstigneev, intelligence officer Vladimir Borisov will make sure that it soon receives a visit from the air force...".
(Commandos in the Baltic and Danube: Soviet Naval Spetsnaz in World War II, Yuri Strokhnin, Naval Institute Press 1996)
The art of using Slovaks
Dukla-Carpathians
HQ of the 3rd Ukrainian Front (Rzeszów) - Marshal Ivan Konev's forces are ordered to resume their advance towards central Slovakia as quickly as possible, in the direction of Prešov. In what is already shaping up to be another arduous and bloody exercise, the 1st Shock Army and the 61st Army will receive as many reinforcements and replacements as the forces intended for the Oder offensive - a gift from the Vojd! It wasn't planned, but it's a pleasure. And it completes the provision of the 20th Armoured Corps (P.P. Poluboiarov) - previously with the 2nd Ukrainian Front, but everyone knows that this Front will undoubtedly disappear soon.
In any case, as usual, Konev - busy preparing his Glory on the Vistula - delegates to Vassili Sokolovsky. It is up to him to be efficient and brilliant for his boss, and quickly.
Hungary, whatever the cost
Operation Südwall
HG B HQ (Déri Museum, Debrecen) - As soon as Gotthard Heinrici arrives in his new premises (which still contain a few traces of their Egyptology collections, now evacuated), he realises that the situation of his army group is getting worse and worse in the face of the Soviet offensive. He therefore orders the III. PanzerKorps from Cluj-Napoca (a town that can no longer be considered safe) to its present position. It isn't ideal, of course... The panzers would have to travel 120 kilometres by road to reach their new starting positions in the Apuseni mountains and cross several small wet sections before reaching their destination.
But Heinrici doesn't really have a choice. The Hungarian railways only ever offer two routes to Transylvania, both starting in Budapest and following a common trunk line to Püspökladány. The southern route: Nagyvárad (Oradea) - Cluj-Napoca (Nagyvárad) - Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș). And in the north: Kisvárda - Szatmárnémeti (Satu Mare) - Nagybánya (Baia Mare)... then Dej and Bistrița, already conceded to the enemy.
Nagyvárad had been his favourite for a while - but this sector would soon be congested (fortunately!) by the arrival of the two PanzerDivisions from Lake Balaton. And with the massive presence of enemy bombers from all directions overhead, Heinrici is anxious not to put all his eggs in one basket. As for the Kisvárda route, it takes the panzers further away from their destination, passing through the north of the Guruslau depression, while also bringing the troops closer to the Galician front. So it really isn't the best idea. Too bad - the HG B is not so far behind... And then we'll start unloading the panzers tomorrow. It's about time! Heinrici is well aware that the retreat of his forces is becoming more catastrophic by the hour.
Cluj-Debrecen
2nd Ukrainian Front - Rudolf Konrad's XLIX. ArmeeKorps under Rudolf Konrad reaches the Iza valley via the Șetref pass - which it abandons to the enemy, since the Prislop pass has already been conceded, making this position worthless. He is now beyond the reach of enemy action. Over the next few days, he deploys his two molested divisions (88. ID under Georg von Rittberg and 94. ID under Georg Pfeiffer) around the Hera Pass, towards Petrova and Barsana, waiting to take over from the Hungarian 8th ID (Arpád Maltary) at the Yablonitsky Pass. It would probably be the 94. ID to take over, integrating the survivors of the late III. Luftwaffen-Feld-Korps, gathered here at random from disasters and whose original titles no longer cover any reality.
For the 2. PanzerArmee, Cluj-Debrecen is over: it is clear that Hans-Jürgen von Arnim, who had to fight with two infantry corps of the second rank, never had a chance of victory - even on the most favourable terrain. It is not even certain that the 2. PzA would survive the crisis... This 'armoured' army has not had a single PanzerDivision in its ranks for a very long time. However, despite all his setbacks and an increasingly sombre mood, von Arnim is not ostracised by the Nazi leadership. The OKH perhaps had the courtesy not to hold him responsible for everything... In any case, the veteran would probably soon have to be given a new command - a real one, that is.
For their part, the Soviets have no specific plans for the 2. PanzerArmee or for the Sighetu Marmației sector. Leaving the 16th Army (Leonty Cheremisov) - which has given so much, it deserves a sinecure - to hold its flank alone at Dej and Mosei (two localities it would soon reach for lack of defenders!), Ivan Bagramyan continues to focus his attention on what is happening in the centre and the south. The infernal couple formed by the 2nd Armoured Corps and the 47th Army continues to advance and seizes Cluj-Napoca. Ivan Lazarev's machines, which had appeared in the suburbs during the night, take this town of one hundred thousand inhabitants in less than a day, and without too much difficulty, as they are reinforced by a continuous stream of frontovikis that Filipp Zhmachenko has been whipping along the road since Beclean! The centre of HG B's former position has fallen: just the previous morning, the 17. Armee is still in Târgu Mureș - 65 kilometres further east as the crow flies. Since then, of course, Karl-Adolf Hollidt has rushed to evacuate to Déva, having largely anticipated the orders he was expecting... He is already in Aiud, having passed the Raul Aries south of Turda before risking running into marauding T-34s.
Cluj-Napoca (from Clus, the key) has been a strategic position since it was first colonised in time immemorial - the site has been occupied since the Neolithic period! It is the gateway to the Guruslau depression, the Roman fortress of Napoca during the Dacian wars, the County fortress, the free market town of the Hungarian Crown, the citadel christened Klausenburg by the Habsburgs, and the focus of the Romanian-Hungarian wars of 1918*.
It is therefore an excellent point of departure towards the heart of the Danube plain. The two Soviet formations are ordered to consolidate their positions there. Only the T-34s are authorised to advance towards the Poic Pass, in order to sow chaos in the enemy's ranks: already piercing the Apuseni Mountains, cutting off the retreating forces to the south from the likely reinforcements coming from the north and also studying a possible next leap towards Oradea. Destroying the Nazi forces is not their mission: Moscow is thinking big. Much broader than just the 17. Armee - even if it means letting it struggle a little longer.
In fact, the German forces still have hope! After their futile attempt at Sărățel, the 328. ID (Joachim von Tresckow) and the 560. schw. PzJ. Abt (Major Rudolf Markowz) pass Cămărașu to continue towards Luduș - losing a number of wounded and stragglers along the way, not to mention their heavy equipment. The fault lay with the country roads that have to be taken to avoid Cluj-Napoca, which is already occupied by the enemy! But by fleeing the hammer to the north, these units are getting closer to the anvil to the south...
As for Hans Korte's 13. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division, it crosses Târgu Mureș in panic: the 38th Army (Kyrill Moskalenko) is already at Reghin and, above all, Soviet armoured vehicles are appearing on its left! What had to happen happens... In the absence of any support from the 14. PanzerGrenadier under Erich Schneider - which is busy moving towards Târnăveni and then turning south towards Mediaș - the straggling columns are crushed by the 5th Tank Army. The right wing of the 4th Armoured Corps (M.G. Fomichkov), coming down from Reghin in pursuit of the enemy, cuts the unfortunate Luftwaffe infantrymen to pieces. To make matters worse, with the improvement in the weather, Stalin's Falcons strike again! If Korte manages to escape, his division ceases to exist.
Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach is caught at Reghin, along with the entire staff of XLVIII. AK, caught between the columns of the 4th Armoured Corps (M.G. Fomichkov) behind him and those of the 38th Army in front. As he hands over his weapon, von Seydlitz-Kurzbach - who is unaware that his rank protects him from most of the reprisals that regularly hits Red Army prisoners - cannot hide a certain bitterness. He had repeatedly called for an evacuation to the west and warned that his position was untenable, but now found himself abandoned like a dog by the side of the road. It wasn't long before he joined the Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland..."Ah! Ah, the first catch of the day", Kravchenko comments, increasingly delighted by the turn of events.
But all this pales into insignificance compared to the events underway in Mediaș. This locality also happens to be - unfortunately for it - a strategic crossroads between Nagyszeben (Sibiu), Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia), Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș) and Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc). This role naturally makes it the convergence point for several armoured formations present in the region.
Coming from the east, the 9th Mechanised Corps (M.I. Savelyev) arrives first from Sighișoara. Arriving from the south, it hits the 13. Panzer (Helmutt von der Chevallerie), which is closely followed by the infantry of the 12. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division (Herbert Kettner). Fortunately for the Germans, the presence of Savelyev's tanks had been brought to their attention by Hungarian reconnaissance the previous day. However, well supported throughout the morning by the 17th Air Army (V.A. Sudets), and despite a few bites from the Magyar air force, Savelyev can hope to hold on solidly in the valley of the Târnava Mare, to the right of Târnava - especially as he knows that at least part of the 4th Armoured Corps (M.G. Fomichkov) is coming up behind him.
The problem is that before Fomichkov, another formation emerges from the north, from Târnăveni: the 14. PanzerGrenadier under Erich Schneider, pursued by Vladimir Baskakov's 8th Mechanised Corps. Schneider had not anticipated the presence of this opponent at all, but the latter is even more surprised! The JadgPanzer IVs literally smash the flank of the 9th MC, which finds itself practically cut in two by an assailant trying to break through at all costs towards Târnava or towards Moșna! Part of Savelyev's corps soon finds itself in serious danger of destruction, due to a lack of support...
The arrival of Fomichkov's first tanks restores the balance. Schneider - who for a while thought he could wipe out this new enemy - releases his prey and disappears towards Moșna and an alternative route to Nagyszeben. As for Chevallerie and Kettner, the entry into the fray of the first IS-2s of Vladimir Baskakov's 8th Mechanized Corps convince them to drop the piece - Mediaș is no longer of any interest anyway. Their two divisions retreat towards Copșa Mică, trying to defend the road to Blaj as a priority - i.e. from the west - while warning the defenders of Sibiu that a very big chunk was coming their way! And they don't even see Andrei Getman's 16th Armoured Corps...
.........
4th Ukrainian Front - It is high time to abandon all positions west of the Apuseni Mountains. The mass of retreating Germans is pressing into the Olt valley.
For 306. ID of Karl-Erik Köhler, it is already too late: arriving in Șercaia in the morning - exhausted and bloodless after so much effort - it finds itself pinned down by Vasily Glagolev's 9th Army (behind it) and Vladimir Kolpakchi's 62nd Army (which had preceded it). The division is surrounded and destroyed on open ground around Părău - few survive. Köhler is not one of them.
However, the 306. ID nevertheless gained a little time for others. The other divisions of the 17. Armee arrive at Nagyszeben (Sibiu). There they meet up with the right wing of the XXX. ArmeeKorps (Philipp Kleffel) of the 11. Armee, which itself retreated from its positions on the Turnu Roșu pass in the face of a 14th Army (Valerian Frolov) made cautious by its past experiences. Above all, they are covered on the right by the XVI. ArmeeKorps (Horst von Mellenthin), which is retreating towards Bradu. By taking advantage of the terrain around Sibiu, the 11. Armee seems to be able to save the 17. Armee from destruction... as long as this monster of steel from the north is mastered.
But in every heroic story, sacrifices must be made, and the 306. ID is not enough. Wilhelm Wegener's L. ArmeeKorps under will also have to go... Hammered all morning by the Soviet air force, pursued by the vanguards of the 6th Guards Armoured Corps (Alexander Shamshin), the Romanian Armoured Corps (David Popescu), the rest of the 3rd Romanian Army and the 6th Guards Army (Pavel Batov), the corps suffers terrible losses between Făgăraș and Sâmbăta de Jos - in particular from the TACAMs and T-34s, which try all day to overtake it from the south and Recea. Wilhelm Wegener is killed in a Sturmovik raid - command then falls to Fritz Becker, whose 370. ID is the least damaged of the two divisions... It is up to him to try to get everyone back to Sibiu via Avrig - without being able to get out of the way of the enemy by crossing the Olt, due to a lack of available bridges.
As for the Soviets, they haven't even finished deploying! Last to cross the Perșani Pass, the 4th Romanian Army (Gheorghe Avramescu), the 12th Mechanised Corps (Dimitri Ryabyshev) - which have suffered some losses but was still valiant - and above all the 3rd Guards Armoured Corps (Mikhail Panov) are now heading towards Șercaia. Although at this hour, the latter two formations have barely crossed the outskirts of Brașov, arriving from a sector where the 14th Army is now nevertheless advancing... Alas, the failure of operations in the Olt Valley has forced them to make a wide diversions, followed by no less arduous a wait. It is therefore doubtful whether they can really play a role in the events to come.
The Russian season
Hungary - In the wake of its sweep the previous day, and knowing that these were undoubtedly critical hours for the action of the Hungarian airmen, the high command of the Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légierő sends the 101st Red Pumas back to Transylvania - this time reinforced by the twelve Me 210-Ca of the 103/2 század Sas (Captain László Pottyondy).
Like on the previous day, the Magyar air force heads for the Sighișoara sector, before drifting quite logically towards Mediaș, following calls from the German command. The aircraft bearing the white cross on a black background arrive at their target in the late morning, while the VVS are already in the process of withdrawing. Colonel Heppes Aladár's Bf 109s speed off to talk to the MiGs - they claim one of them, but the aircraft of pilot officer András Huszár (101/3) has to divert to Gyulafehérvár to avoid crashing.
As for Pottyondy's Me 210s, they attack - despite intense anti-aircraft fire which significantly hampers their approach. One aircraft crashes into the lines of the 13. Panzer (crew recovered). Their charge was certainly not ineffective, but it was very inadequate for what was at stake - in fact, it did nothing to stop the Soviet tanks racing towards Nagyszeben.
ÖstHeer
Substitute firefighters
Brastislava - After an initial abortive departure for the Western Front to reinforce the Axis lines, the 548. VolkgrenadierDivision (Erich Sudau) is declared operational for the ÖstHeer. After all, hadn't it already been usefully tested in the fighting against the Slovak uprising? However, instead of descending towards the great Hungarian plain as Hitler had first announced, this formation heads towards the Vistula front and HG Mitte.
Walter Model had told the Guide that he has already had to give up one of his Panzer Korps to help Kluge in Hungary. He could not, however, give up all his forces - we had seen what happened in Belarus at the beginning of the year... That is why the People's Grenadier Division is now heading north to Radom. This also says something about the state of the Reich: two major commanders are reduced to fighting over a second-rate infantry division, like two hungry dogs over the same bone.
Proletarian airmen of all countries, unite!
Franco-Soviet fraternisation
Maison Igoumnov (French embassy in Moscow) - "At the appointed hour, we all stand to attention at the embassy of His Excellency Charles Corbin. Outside it is damp. Minister Charles Tillon enters. He is followed by General Petit and Colonel Vallin. The ceremony begins at full speed. From Commander of the Legion of Honour to the modest Croix de Guerre, the Croix de la Libération and the Military Medal, there are so many people to decorate!
As Albert used to say: "It's raining bananas, you'd think you were in Constantine!"
And in this glittering drawing room, where the gold of the stripes and the silver of the mirrors shone with a thousand lights, Tillon passed by, visibly at ease, holding out his hand, having a word for everyone. Even if we don't all like him because of his reputation, we look up to him because he brings a little bit of our distant but already partly free homeland.
And when the ceremony is over, the same cry comes from all our chests: "Minister, how are things over there? What do they think of us? Is it true that the war will soon be over?"
But Petit, to whom this rather formal ceremony may seem a burden, mingles familiarly with our groups: "So, guys, Russian girls, fierce? Nice? Or both?"
We explain and he laughs. That is, until a cough, a cough that would make the chandeliers shake, reminded us of Sergeant Kormanov's presence, feminine to be sure, but not exactly enticing. Standing up to her full height, wearing the regulation large uniform skirt and a square jaw under her brown haircut, she taunts our visitor: "Fierce? I don't know. Well, with the Krauts, surely! Kind? Perhaps, depending on how you look at it, General. But courageous, yes, the proof is that they have entire air force regiments!
Before the situation could get out of hand, Charles Tillon appeared with the sense of timing of the political animal that he was.
- Ah, General! You've met Mrs Kormanov, one of my protégés - I wouldn't dare say one of my Tillonnettes, that would be presumptuous, even though I like that nickname immensely! Ahah! Times are changing and for the better, we have a lot to learn from our Soviet friends in certain areas. In fact, Sergeant, why don't you come and talk to me about it? You know, the situation in the Air Force has changed a lot in France too, over the last few months...
We watch as the politician leads the beast away, and Petit says, "That's quite an animal.
- One victory confirmed, plus two more probable.
- If they're Krauts, that's fine!
It was our turn to question him.
- Is it true that Colonel Vallin is being received in the Kremlin this evening?
- It is true. He was invited to the banquet given by Marshal Stalin on the occasion of the signing of a new diplomatic agreement.
At 20:25, Minister Tillon, Colonel Vallin and Mr Charles Corbet entered the Kremlin to the sound of cannon fire celebrating the Red Army's recent victories in Hungary. They entered through the Borowiski Gate where NKVD soldiers stood guard. Searchlights follow and illuminate the cars. They stopped in front of the Italian palace, built in the 15th century by Florentine architects and remodelled under Catherine the Great and later under Nicholas I. A red carpet covers the monumental staircase decorated with a "kolossal" painting, as the Germans would say, depicting the Battle of Irtysh.
On the first floor, to the left of the staircase, the group of Frenchmen make their way first through the flats of Ivan the Terrible and then through the session room where the Supreme Council of the Soviets sits. The walls are panelled in Caucasian walnut. High chandeliers glitter the walls with flashes of light. You walk through two illuminated lounges to the room where the Soviet government is waiting.
At 20:30, Marshal Joseph Stalin made his entrance. He walked in calmly and confidently, his face serene and powerful. He is dressed in a beige uniform tinged with pink. His tunic bears only one decoration: the gold star of the "Heroes of Labour". On each of his gold epaulettes gleams a large star. His trousers, with wide crimson stripes, are tucked into short boots. He gives an impression of strength and mischief. His gestures and gait, supple yet simple, recall his peasant origins. Behind his narrowed eyelids, which slant towards his temples, his eyes shine with a youthful, mischievous sparkle. He greeted Minister Tillon, who introduced him to his colleagues. Vallin was moved but did not let it show. And at a sign from the maître d'hôtel, Marshal Stalin joyfully exclaimed: "Let's eat!"
Each guest is presented with a full array of glasses of wine and vodka, and plates containing hors d'oeuvres. The waiters circulate, offering a variety of fish dishes, caviar, smoked and salted meats.
The toasts begin. Molotov opens. Marshal Stalin in turn raises his glass to victory, to Churchill, Roosevelt, De Gaulle, the Allies and the new-found friendship between all peoples. Vallin will not remember very well, but he will tell us that more than thirty toasts followed one another so quickly that we no longer knew who was being saluted. Stalin finally got up and spoke about the Red Army and its exploits. He concluded: "The assault force of our army is our artillery. We have seen it again: you need artillery. Artillery of all calibres. A real artillery orchestra."
And once again he raised his glass to the great Marshal Voronov, the father of artillery. The latter approached Stalin and clinked his glass against that of the marshal, who continued, pointing at Voronov: "It was he who directed the artillery. He smothered Germany with the fire of our cannons".
The French were stunned. Still standing, Stalin drank to the health of the air force and its commander, Marshal Novikov. Then to the famous aeronautical engineers, Generals Yakovlev and Migoyan. The great moment had arrived. Colonel Vallin could feel it. Stalin stared at him. Then he says: "I may be meddling in matters that do not concern me, and I apologise if I am, but I want to drink to the health of Colonel Vallin, commander of the Franche-Comté/Vistule squadron, which we hope to be able to call the Franche-Comté/Vistule Division soon."
At this point, the Marshal was seen walking briskly towards Colonel Vallin, his glass held high. Colonel Vallin goes to meet him; Marshal Stalin looks him in the eye, then crosses his arm under his and together they empty their glasses, united by this chain.
Stalin then invited the audience to watch a film made in 1938 showing the attack on the USSR by... a capitalist coalition. After various twists and turns, the USSR emerged victorious from the tournament and the film ended with this sentence: "And this is how an aggression against the Republic of Workers and Peasants can bring about the end of the capitalist world".
Stalin then asks the audience to taste the Russian champagne and turns back to Vallin: "I like the French, they fight!"
He beckoned to Yakovlev and Migoyan and the four of them began a standing discussion on the tactical use of aircraft. Vallin praised the MiG 9 which, he said, outclassed all German aircraft. He expressed doubts about the value of arming it more powerfully, as on the Yaks. He preferred the 20mm cannon to the 37mm cannon, which made the aircraft more maneuverable and flexible. Stalin, who had just praised the artillery, believed in the "Air Artillery" aircraft. He pressed Vallin with questions. The Frenchman was stubborn. He kept coming back to the maneuverability of his MiG, which prevented him from increasing the aircraft's firepower.
- We'll try it anyway," replied Stalin,
- I'm obviously speaking as a fighter specialist," exclaimed Vallin.
- What I would like to achieve," continues Stalin, "is a concentration of aviation fire with three tiers of differently armed aircraft that would prevent enemy fighters from approaching.
Vallin briefly mentions the experience of the GB 30, then willingly agrees that this concept is beyond his competence.
The evening hosted by Marshal Stalin ended at 04:30.
A few moments later, a new Franco-Soviet diplomatic agreement on cooperation in aviation and the aeronautical industry was signed by ministers Molotov and Tillon".
(Captain François de Geoffre, Escadre Franche-Comté/Vistule, Charles Corlet ed. 1952, republished by J'ai Lu, 1996)
* Cluj-Napoca was also home to many Jews. Locked up in its ghetto, 16,148 of them had been deported since April 1944. Only 468 managed to escape, despite the courageous action of the Roman Catholic bishop Áron Márton and the diplomat Valer Pop (who had been part of the Romanian delegation at the German arbitration in 1940). Along with three other people, they were made Righteous Among the Nations.
