October 4th, 1943
Operations Kutusov and Rumyantsev
Kutousov - The fox's skin
Sector from Berezne to Rovne - The order to stop Kutusov arrives from Moscow during the night - all the more easily since the leader here is now called Zhukov. The 3rd Ukrainian Front soon stops on its positions, with in front of it a 6. Armee which is just as exhausted.
The offensive of the 37th Army (among others!), started 35 days ago, is finally over.
This does not make only happy - and among the disappointed, we find in particular General Vasily Chuikov. Although obviously lucid about the state of his forces, he remains convinced that with a little rest and support, the objective set by Vatutin was accessible. Moreover, the weather is good again! For the former peasant from Tula, Kronstadt miner and Party member since 1919, there is nothing that cannot be achieved with skill and and, if necessary, by paying with his own hands*. Strongly capable of getting out of complex negotiations such as those that had once taken place in China**, he hoped to negotiate with his new boss the possibility of moving on after a certain period of time, like during the Winter War. Unfortunately for him, Chuikov was no more successful than he had been against the Finns. Obviously, Zhukov's decision was already made - his hope for success was sacrificed to other assaults.
The general will keep a very strong resentment towards the Marshal. Returned to the HQ after a two-day tour of the infantry, Vassili Grossman noted this in his notebooks.
"We are now stationed in Polivtsi, in the middle of gardens still in bloom, in a beautiful place, with violets and bright green grass. Calmness reigns. We hear the song of the birds. I was moved when I came here, I really wanted to stay with those with whom I share so many memories.
Meal at Chuikov's on the terrace of a small country house with a garden. There are there Chuikov, Krylov, Vassiliev and two colonels members of the military council.
The meeting is cold, all are dissatisfied. Unfulfilled ambitions, not enough decorations, detestation of all those who have been most generously decorated, detestation of the press. Of the film Smolensk***, they say a lot. Men of great stature and yet a heavy, execrable impression. Not a word about the dead, about the way how to immortalize those who did not return. Everyone talks about himself and his own merits.
The next morning, at Gurtiev's. Same picture. No modesty. "I have done, I have had to bear, I-I-I-I-I..." They talk about the other leaders without any respect, and to spread old wives' tales: "I was told that Lelyushenko said this and that...".
In short, the general idea is: "All the credit goes to us, the 37th Army, and within the 37th Army, to me and me alone, others have little to do with it. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity..."
But Grossman is not about to leave Chuikov's training - whatever happens next, it will probably not be announced in the press (even if it is a state press!). With general Vatutin in hospital, many destinies are changed - for better or worse.
.........
Main Clinic of Kiev - In a perfectly insulated, guarded and heated room, the hospital staff is busy with General Vatutin. It is not every day that we have a front commander as a patient! Nurses and caretakers are taking care of him while around Vatutin, a swarm of experts are busy, examining, prescribing and conciliating.
Disagreeable and haughty as only some surgeons can be, Bakulev, Vovsi, Shamov and Yudin (among others!) are not more excited by the patient's condition than their colleague General Ivan Ischenko - which does not help their mood. The leg became infected, and it is in vain that one proceeds to a crowd of injections and more or less experimental treatments. Among them, of course, are bacteriophages - but they are already thinking of using the penicillin so much praised by the capitalists. In the USSR, however, the emergency recourse to imported treatment is never a good sign! If for the moment - it is true - everything is still under control, surgeons and doctors are no less pessimistic. They have seen many similar injuries, and their prognosis is dark (see below)...
Rumyantsev - Boiling cauldrons
Ostroh sector - Still no significant progress for Andrei Vlassov's 1st Shock Army, which continues to spread out on the plain between Ostroh and Ozhenyn. The previous day's attempt was more than a warning to the German command - it was a revelation. And the 223. ID was therefore strongly urged by Walter Weiß to refocus on the south, in order to defend the positions that were useful to the 8. Armee (namely Ostroh and the road to Rovne).
It is up to the 6. Armee to defend its own area without others doing it for it!
This will be done, of course - the 331. ID will arrive in the afternoon. But these dissensions between formations of the Wehrmacht, as insignificant as they are (Manstein cannot manage everything, and besides he has other worries...) allow however the Red Army to continue to infiltrate towards the west, while seizing the woods on the outskirts of Khoriv. The pocket of the 1st Shock Army, although contained, does not stop swelling - even if Vlassov notes that the resistance is becoming increasingly stiff in the south. Could there be a reason for this?
.........
Sector from Slavuta to Iziaslav and Varyvodky - Indeed, after the traditional fighting along the Horyn - the 4th Guards pushes, the 26th Army provokes, the 5th Guards beats the steel- the Heer formations in the sector suddenly became cautious. Worse, they disengage. The LIX. ArmeeKorps of Kurt von der Chevallerie is among the first to abandon the banks of the Horyn to the 1st Cavalry Corps - to the great amazement of General Kryukov, who did not expect much from his HQ in Slavuta. Then it is the turn of the IX. AK to leave its lines at Mokrets', Mykhniv, Bilohir'ya and Varyvodky. The III. PanzerKorps covers this withdrawal as a good father, without however trying too much to rally the stragglers.
Manstein made his choice - he abandons the Geländer des Todes for the moment in order to save the encircled forces in Bar. Even if the Prussian is well aware that he will be reproached for this later (especially if the rescue fails!), he does not really see any other solution. This maneuver, as planned as it was by some in Moscow (their credit is going to benefit from it, no doubt!) is however a complete surprise at the tactical level, even operational, in both camps. On the German side, the corps commanders had not been prepared, the divisional commanders even less. And on the other side, destabilized by this unexpected withdrawal - the Axis has been fiercely defending the sector for six days already! - the 1st Ukrainian Front loses a little of its means, and gets nervous.
However, the Soviet armored vanguards are going far ahead, supported by all that Sergei Rudenko's 16th Air Force can provide. But the Luftwaffe itself has its instructions for the evacuation of the "Promontory of Death" - the entire JG. 52 intervenes and inflicted a real bloodletting to the planes with the red star, which lose 48 of their own against only 11 fighters (7 pilots recovered, two seriously wounded, one dead and one missing). Gerhard Barkhorn climbed to 172 victories - and the VVS proved unable to significantly hinder the enemy's retreat. As for the pursuit, after a few engagements in Borysiv (where the 7. Panzer gained the time necessary for the withdrawal of 205. ID and 304. ID) and at Shun'ky (where the 6. and 8. Panzer dryly countered the 1st Mechanized Corps of a Solomatin much too pressed by Remezov), Konstantin Rokossovsky does not take long to calm down the ardor of his troops.
Since the plans drawn up by the Stavka start as expected, it is not necessary to attempt to catch the Fascists off guard - any tank lost in the present circumstances will not be used for the final breakthrough. The forces of the sector therefore receive - in a veiled manner and without it being clearly explained - a surprising instruction: to push and press the adversary yes, but to try everything to destroy him no! Officially, it is of course a question of avoiding losses or waste, in anticipation of Rumantsyev's sequel - the leaders will not all be asked to obey.
On the evening of October 4th, the Heer has the situation firmly in hand - and with it the entire area north and west of the Geländer des Todes. The LIX. ArmeeKorps will join its 223. ID - it will crush (or not) the 1st Shock Army before redeploying between Kutyanka and Varyvodky. It is the least tired ArmeeKorps of the area, it is logical that it defends the break area of the bridgehead that was to be created. The IX. AK, for its part, must withdraw towards the north and the Viliya - between Ostroh and Kutyanka, Heinrich Clößner will (perhaps) be able to breathe again. And finally, at the crossroads of this complex maneuver, which Manstein plans to execute, Werner Kempf and his Panzers are going to bring in traffic. All without the Soviets being supposed to object! It is true that, for the moment, they have not tried very hard.
Nevertheless, furious and sensing a good opportunity, Fyodor Remezov prepares a new attack in force of his 5th Guards Army for tomorrow, directed to Mala Borovytsya in order to cut off the Fascists' route. The 13th Guards Rifle Division (Romitsev) will be in the lead. We'll see if it works!
.........
Yampil to Lanivtsi sector- With the arrogance of the master race, the Hohenstaufen and Totenkopf continue to grind Red in the ruins of Lanivtsi, facing Soviet fighters whose struggle looks more and more like a guerrilla war. In this daily life of chaos, where the most absolute baseness is next to the most incredible heroism, the Soviet propaganda will find a crowd of characters worthy of being placed on a pedestal.
Thus, an administrative assistant of the 9th Guards Army - who remained on the West Bank to assist the command in its most routine tasks - will be buried no less than three times in a row in the collapse of her shelter, all in the same day! Extracted from the rubble, she recovers her eternal typewriter, as resistant as she is, before going to work a little further, in a trench still intact... Finally evacuated to the east bank, Klava Kopylova - a red-cheeked Siberian woman with a solid "traditional" constitution - will be made Hero of the Soviet Union. And a member of the Party, by the same occasion.
Against all odds, the Schutzstaffel did not progress as much as expected - it even had to dig in, like its opponent, but only for the night before resuming the fight. Paul Hausser calmly believes that everything will have to be settled tomorrow - willingly and, above all, by force. It's not a strip of 80 hectares that will bother him for much longer. And on the other side, the 9th Guards Army and the 2nd Mechanized Corps are still putting pieces into the machine...
.........
Volotchysk sector - The 3rd Army, now assured of its rear and having transferred a sufficient number of 5th Corps machines to the west bank, attack the 371. ID in the direction of Kachanivka. If Semyon Krivoshein manages to break through here, Hermann Niehoff's recruits, he would then be able to initiate a turning movement to the northwest, in the direction of Ternopol, in order to envelop Pidvolotchysk on its right - and with it, its defenders: including above all the Panzergrenadier GrossDeutschland.
Obviously, this is a bit ambitious... But it nevertheless forces Walter Hörnlein to intervene, as he was preparing to head south with the 132. ID of Fritz Lindemann (detached by the XXVII. ArmeeKorps) - while waiting for the possible arrival of an armored corps arriving from the north. The panzergrenadiers dryly push back the red star armor on their starting line - and even beyond, threatening the survival of the bridgehead itself. However, on direct instruction from Manstein, Hörnlein is forced to recall his pack in the middle of the afternoon, and let the Landsers take over. He must not exhaust himself on secondary tasks, especially on his own initiative! Once again, the leader of the HG Nord-Ukraine must keep the reins short to his impetuous - but precious - motorized troops.
In the evening, the GrossDeutschland disappears towards the south, leaving the infantry to reduce alone an abscess of 2 kilometers by 6.
.........
2nd Ukrainian Front - While waiting for the "decisive reinforcements" promised by the Reich, the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary do not remain inactive. Although they still have to ensure - more or less almost alone... - the holding of the salient pointing to Bar (50 kilometers long and 80 wide), the 4th and 7th Corps prepare a first attempt in the direction of Vasyutyntsi and Zamozhne. These joint maneuvers, involving the 16th ID (Béla Ebesfalvi Lengyal) and the 202. StuG Abt (Major Dr Hans Marder) on the one hand, and the 19th ID (Ferenc Szász) and the 2nd Armored Division (Ferenc Osztovics) on the other hand, are not destined to triumph, except by accident (but the Magyars were not naive enough to hope for this).
No, this experimentation has an operational goal (to test the enemy's defenses in search of weak points) and a political goal (to show that the Hungarians were still a reliable partner for the Reich). Even if, in Budapest, there were more and more open doubts about the Final Victory and the recent funeral of Vice-Regent István Horthy (among many other Hungarians who had fallen for the Axis), did not help matters - for the moment, the regime was still concerned to maintain its propriety vis-à-vis Berlin. A matter of honor - and perhaps of survival.
Especially since, in the meantime, on the other side of the red line, things are getting more and more turbulent.
.........
Bar pocket - Indeed, subjected on their side to a beginning of pressure from the 2nd Shock Army of Kuzma Nikitovich Galitsky, who is eager to triumph, the forces surrounded east of Bar launch a succession of pikes and assaults in the direction of Zamozhne, Popivtsi and Mytky. These attacks arenot coordinated with the future operations of the Heer - and even less with those of the Hungarians. Erwin Jaenecke and Rudolf Konrad have little hope of breaking through. However, they hope to give themselves some breathing space to maneuver, and (who knows?) stumble upon a miraculous opportunity to exploit, unearthed on the basis of last night's reconnaissance.
Jaenecke, although obviously disciplined, remains on the lookout for the slightest opening. According to his estimates, he will be able to extend the available supplies for the IV. AK and XLIX. AK to two weeks - by rationing food and ammunition (this was planned), but above all by limiting operations, even by slaughtering the horses. He had the choice between staying put and slowly agonize, hoping for a helping hand, or to get restless and risk collapsing faster, hoping however to get through by force. Unfortunately for him, the delay Arnim announces for the rescue operation (a week at best) does not help him to make a decision - not to mention the abstruse instructions of "fanatical defense" regularly sent by Rastenburg, or the speeches of the radio, which already boasts about the heroism of the easternmost defenders of the Ukraine.
For today, the German operations, although promising in Noskivtsi - which is not on a direct escape route - will stop after one or two kilometers. Ivan Bagramyan had the time to fortify the main axes and calmly rolls his tanks from one hot spot to another. On the German side, they save themselves to see what happens. The next few days already look rough in the Kessel.
Fate and memories of General Vatutin
"General Nikolai Vatutin was to die in the main clinic in Kiev on November 14th, 1943, having developed gas gangrene (diagnosed on October 26th) and despite an operation performed by Nikolai Nilovich Burdenko himself - the chief surgeon of the Red Army. Contrary to what some have written, many things were tried to save him, Professor Shamov even proposed amputation of the right leg as a last resort - a solution refused by the patient but which (according to several sources) was nevertheless carried out, in vain.
It is therefore clear that Vatutin's death was anything but provoked - in any case, it is hard to see what the regime would have gained by getting rid of one of its best generals in the middle of an offensive. And even if it had wanted to, it did not need to make him agonize 45 days in hospital, with his best practitioners at his bedside... Ironically, the Soviet general fell victim to the same syndrome that had taken the life of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague - war and destiny! His funeral with great pomp in the Mariinsky park in Kiev**** was obviously the starting point of a vast Stalinist campaign to valorize the martyrdom of the Red Army fighters who heroically gave their lives to defend Ukraine against the fascist invasion.
On January 25th, 1948, the sculptor Evgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich erected a monumental statue on the tomb of the general. Museums, streets, busts and monuments dedicated to Vatutin flourished throughout the Union - even several ships were named after him*****. His house in Chepukhino (now Vatutino!) was turned into a museum - the general was a symbol for the regime to consolidate its influence on the Ukrainian SSR. However, this memorial tribute - obviously anything but disinterested! - was to come to a sudden halt with the break-up of the USSR.
From war hero, Vatutin became at once for Kiev - at his own expense - the symbol of an oppressive regime that, at best, exploited Ukraine for too many years and, at worst, attempted to exterminate its population. Elena Vatutin, daughter of the general, was not mistaken when, in May 2015, she asked in vain for the transfer of her father's ashes to the federal military cemetery in Mytishchi (north of Moscow). In 2016, when the new Ukrainian government adopted a policy of conciliatory memorial policy towards the UNO-M, Vatutin's statue was regularly vandalized by local ultranationalist movements, with signs "Executioner killed by patriots" or by spilling blood-red paint... It was the same, other memorials dedicated to the general (the one in Berdichev was destroyed in March 2018).
It must be recognized that the memory of the general did not bring back only good memories. The repression by the NKVD and the Smersh of nationalist movements and neighboring populations of the attack was particularly ferocious. The figure of 25,000 arrests and deportations is commonly advanced - for lack of reliable sources, and especially because of the contemporary instrumentalization of history, the extent of the reprisals is still a matter of debate. At most, we can say with certainty that in October 1943, western Ukraine was far from the war between the Reich and the USSR or between the UNO, the UPA and the control bodies of the Stalinist regime.
Beyond these painful controversies, what to conclude about the reality of Nikolai Vatutin's military talent, sometimes elevated to the pinnacle by the propaganda, sometimes outrageously depreciated by American historians too much influenced by the memoirs of some German generals (and first of all Manstein)? If the person concerned had not kept his position thanks to his merit alone: this merit was real, and had allowed him to obtain the position in question in the first place. If he, the most brilliant of the Red Army's generals, he was undoubtedly one of its most capable leaders. His performances testify to this.
Thus, in 2010, Robert Forczyk - a recognized expert in military history and armored combat - wrote******: "In front of Kiev, Vatutin had managed to stop Manstein's armored vanguards well before their objectives, before going on a counter-offensive that shook the German front. Vatutin had surprised the Germans at Korosten, then had largely maneuvered his opponents south of Olevsk. Then, trying to demonstrate his great flexibility, he had attempted a maneuver towards Sarny, which could not be completed.
Although he did not succeed in breaking through the lines of the 3. PanzerArmee at Olevsk, the fault does not lie with him alone. Kutousov's bastardized conception and the lack of support from Rodion Malinovsky's 3rd Belorussian Front played an equally important role in this setback and we know today that the battle of Olevsk deprived the HG Nord-Ukraine of many of its reserves, which would have been very useful further south to prevent the formation of the Bar pocket.
Had he not been killed at Matiivka, General Nikolai Vatutin would have, without a doubt, played a great role in the final collapse of the Wehrmacht in Ukraine. But no matter - by his inflexible defense against Zitadelle, he had demonstrated that Manstein's Bewegungskrieg******* did not work against a determined opponent like the Red Army, and that the latter had a number of commanders capable - in 1943 as well as later - of carrying out maneuvers that could defeat all German generals, including Manstein.
Sixty-seven years after his death, with the hindsight of time and the opening of archives, History judges that Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin posthumously triumphed over his opponent."
(Robert Stan Pratsky and Waitman Wade Beorn, Descent into Darkness: the Fight for Belarus and Ukraine - Harvard University Press, 2014 - expanded edition in 2020).
* Chuikov was wounded four times during the civil war!
** Chuikov largely contributed to the maintenance (at least theoretically) of the Chinese united front between the CCP and the Kuo-Min-Tang while he was military attaché in China from 1940 to 1942. He left this post at his own request to go to defend the Rodina in May 1942.
*** Propaganda film close to historical reconstruction, shot just after the events and which fascinated many, so well that the Soviet public believed for a long time that it was not a staged film.
**** In the presence of Vatutin's poor mother, Vera Yefimovna, who was to lose her two other sons, Afanasy Fyodorovich and Semyon Fyodorovich, in the following two months.
***** Including the liner General Vatutin, which was to explode in 1947 in the port of Magadan, killing its entire crew...
****** In his book Erich von Manstein: Leadership and Conflict Strategy.
******* German term for a maneuver designed to defeat the enemy by paralyzing his chain of command by shock and disruption - what the Americans later called Shock and Awe.