CHAPTER 11. RESPONSE STROKE
August 31, 1942
Volkhov Front, command post of the 8th Army.
At the command post of the 8th Army, stretching out "in line", the arriving leadership of the Volkhov Front was met by the army commander, along with his chiefs of staff and artillery. Next to them stood the commander of the 4th Guards Rifle Corps, Major General Hagen, who had been specially summoned to the meeting. Having greeted the generals dryly, the front commander went into the dugout. He was followed by the chief of staff of the front Stelmakh and a member of the Military Council, army commissar of the 1st rank Zaporozhets. Entering the room, Meretskov took off his cap, placing it on the edge of the table in the center of the room. His expression was sullen and did not promise the 8th Army commanders anything good. After waiting for everyone to take their places around the table, Kirill Afanasyevich turned to the army commander.
- Philip Nikanorovich, the attacks of the 8th Army are getting weaker and weaker every day. Starting on the third day of the operation, the offensive slowed down considerably. Your army broke through the enemy defenses on a front of five kilometers and plunged into its battle formations at a distance of up to seven kilometers, but on this the matter came to a standstill. What's the matter?
- Comrade General of the Army, in order to suspend our offensive, the fascists began hastily to pull individual units and subunits from other sectors of the front to the breakthrough site, sharply increasing the density of fire, - Starikov answered, trying to speak calmly. - They threw everything that was at hand into battle, brought up their artillery and redeployed here almost all of the aviation based near Leningrad. The resistance of the enemy troops is increasing every day. Intelligence reports that a new German infantry division has appeared at the front, which has just arrived to them from the Crimea. Reinforced by the tanks of the 12th Panzer Division, withdrawn from the Nevsky sector of the Leningrad Front, it attacked our units on the move. Heavy oncoming battles are going on. Enemy aircraft are constantly hanging over our battle formations. In addition, the Germans simply bombard our advancing units with shells and mines …
- Was it a surprise to you that the enemy would pull reserves to the place of our breakthrough and remove additional units from other sectors of the front to deliver counterstrikes against the army? Meretskov interrupted him sharply.
“Not at all, comrade front commander,” the army commander replied, lowering his voice. - We took into account in the plan of the operation the possibility of such retaliatory actions by the enemy, but the fresh division of the Germans from the strip of the southern front and such a strong air support provided to their troops came as a surprise to us.
Kirill Afanasyevich was silent for a while, then turned to the commander of the artillery of the 8th Army.
- General Bezruk, your artillery includes about 600 guns and ten Katyusha regiments. How could it happen that such a strong artillery group of the 8th Army, which before the start of the offensive was 2 times superior to the enemy's artillery, could not pave the way for the infantry?
- Comrade Lieutenant General, the army artillery headquarters planned the preparation of the attack, the support of the infantry and tanks to capture the strong points located on the front line, - responding to Meretskov, the major general was noticeably nervous. - But we could not initially plan the support of the battle in depth, due to the extremely tight deadlines for preparing for the offensive.
- In the opinion of the front artillery command, you, first of all, violated the principle of massive use of artillery in the main direction, - the front commander raised his voice and looked at the major general. - All reinforcement artillery was almost evenly distributed among divisions with a density of 70 - 100 guns per kilometer of the front, while the total number of guns and mortars participating in the offensive could provide the creation of a density of 150 - 180 guns on the main direction of the strike. one kilometer. Shooting is mainly conducted not at targets, but at areas, while the enemy's fire system remains intact! And the attacking infantry pays with their blood for your mistakes, not being able to complete their tasks after that!
Perhaps this photo can be titled as "Beat the enemy with his own weapon!" When, in the battles of 1941-1942, units of the Red Army began to seize serviceable or easily repairable German tanks, these vehicles began to be actively used to supplement tank units. In some cases, it was possible to equip entire units with a similar technique, up to individual tank battalions, inclusive. The photo shows the captured Pz. III Ausf. J and its crew, under the command of senior sergeant N. I. Baryshev, from the 107th separate tank battalion of the 8th army of the Volkhov front (summer 1942).
Silence fell again in the dugout, interrupted only by the distant sounds of the front-line cannonade. Trying to defuse the situation, Major General Stelmakh turned to the chief of staff of the 8th Army.
- Peter Ivanovich, what do you know about this new division of the Germans from the Crimea? When she arrived here, was she deployed alone or with any other units?
- Information about this division is extremely scarce. This is the 170th (according to other sources - 180th) infantry division, arrived at the front just a few days ago and on August 28 already attacked the advancing units of our army, - Major General Kokorev indicated on the map the estimated area of arrival of the German division at the Mga station. - According to the testimony of the prisoners, the unit was replenished with people and equipment during the rest in the Crimea. She arrived alone, or as part of any associations, we do not know for sure yet. The only thing that can be said is that there is now an increase in the intensity of the work of enemy artillery, including heavy ones. This gives reason to believe that, perhaps, parts of the reinforcement were attached to this division, up to the corps level (18).
(18) - in fact, it was about the 170th Infantry Division, from the 30th Army Corps of the 11th German Army. Having unloaded at the Mga station, she was the first of the troops under the command of Manstein to engage the advancing Soviet units.
- We still lacked the appearance of some additional German corps at the front! - with undisguised irritation, Meretskov said sharply. - Immediately inform Headquarters about the appearance of this division in the zone of our front and ask for assistance in obtaining intelligence information about the possible redeployment of troops to Army Group North from other directions. Philip Nikanorovich, - the front commander again turned to Starikov. - How do you assess the capabilities of your army to continue the offensive?
- Kirill Afanasyevich, our troops suffered heavy losses in five days of fighting. The enemy, on the other hand, managed to significantly tighten his defenses in the area of the breakthrough, - the general made a short pause, then continued. - I believe that the successful continuation of the operation will be impossible without additional forces.
- What will be the opinion of the front chief of staff? - Meretskov asked Stelmakh a question.
- I agree with the commander of the 8th Army, Comrade General of the Army. It is necessary to bring the troops of the second echelon into battle, - Grigory Davydovich turned his gaze to the commander of the 4th Guards Rifle Corps, who all this time was silently standing next to him.
“Comrade front commander, the corps entrusted to me is in readiness to advance to the front lines and continue the offensive,” General Hagen cheerfully reported to Meretskov.
- Well, Nikolai Alexandrovich, you will receive the corresponding order soon. And one more thing, - Meretskov looked in the direction of a member of the Military Council of the front, an army commissar of the 1st rank of Zaporozhets. - Alexander Ivanovich, I ask you to inform the Military Council of the Leningrad Front about our decision to bring the second echelon into action. Inform them that the enemy is hastily transferring its reserves, located at the junction of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, to the sector of our offensive, and is also withdrawing troops from many sectors of the Leningrad front. Thus, the most favorable moment for the start of active actions has now come for the Leningraders.
- Let's do it, Kirill Afanasevich. I hope they have enough strength to deliver their counterstrike, - answered Zaporozhets.
For some time the generals discussed the details of entering the second echelon into battle, after which they hastily left the command post in order to start organizing the decisions made. Soon the troops of the 4th Guards Corps, overcoming the vast swamps of the Sinyavinsky swamps, began to advance to the front line. The Soviet command made its next move, hoping to turn the tide in their favor. The bloody millstones of battle accelerated their run, ready to grind more and more lives and destinies.
3rd September 1942
Volkhov front, the location of the field
medical battalion of the 265th Infantry Division
Sitting on a small bench near one of the medical tents, Orlov watched the leaves of a lonely small birch tree swaying in the wind. One could see how some of them were already touched by the autumn yellowness, which began to draw their intricate patterns. From time to time the tree swayed and sagged, gusts of air tried to rip at least one of its leaves, but all of them still tenaciously held on to the mother's branches. It was cool, but Alexander did not wear a tunic - his wound after the operation was just beginning to heal, and the coolness of the September wind had some anesthetic effect on her. Therefore, he was wearing only trousers and a light underwear white shirt for release, which also made it possible not to take it off when dressing.
A short middle-aged soldier came out of the opposite tent, leaning on a stick. Noticing Orlov, the fighter walked towards him, limping heavily on his left leg.
- Brother, can you find a cigarette? The soldier asked, sitting down heavily on a bench.
Orlov took a cigarette from his pocket and handed him one of them.
- Thank you, - he thanked and introduced himself, - my name is Vladimir, Gubar.
"Orlov, Alexander," Orlov replied, shaking the hand extended to him.
- How long have you been from the front line? - Vladimir asked, taking a deep drag.
- A few days. The wound is not dangerous, I will be returning to duty soon.
“But yesterday I was slightly hooked by a splinter,” he nodded at his bandaged leg, so I won't “sunbathe” here for a long time. True, I can’t run yet,”he grinned.
- What is there, at the front, you hear? - asked Orlov.
- Yes, they say the 4th Guards Corps went into battle. Little by little, but we gnaw through the defense of the Germans. Ours are already near Sinyavino, seven kilometers left to the Neva, no more. So let's give the "Fritz" the heat!
German map showing the critical situation in the bottleneck for the defense of the 18th Army by the end of September 3, 1942.
At that moment, the sound of an approaching car was heard. At the end of a long clearing appeared a "lorry", with a large red cross in a white circle painted on the cockpit. Bouncing on the uneven ground of the road, she drove up to one of the tents of the medical battalion. A girl jumped from the cab of the car to the ground, who immediately asked the nurses standing nearby and walked quickly but lightly towards Orlov and Gubar, who were sitting on the bench.
The slender figure of the girl, emphasized by a tight-fitting tunic and beautiful blonde hair slightly developing in the wind, immediately attracted the attention of men. For several minutes they watched her approach with interest, admiring the graceful gait of the stranger. Imagine Alexander's surprise when he finally recognized her as a recent guest of his fighters.
- Nastya! Orlov called out to her when she was about to enter the neighboring tent.
The girl turned around and, seeing Alexander, stopped. Then, thinking for a moment, she nevertheless turned around and, with some timidity, went up to him.
“I wish you good health, Comrade Major,” she greeted with an embarrassed smile.
Now it was Orlov's turn to shake off. There were no insignia on it, but he could not admit that now an ordinary private was sitting in front of Anastasia.
- Hello, - Alexander got up from the bench and walked closer to the girl. Their gazes met, and Orlov felt how he again falls under the enchanting effect of her huge eyes.
- Are you injured? She asked, gently touching his hand.
- Yes, they don't keep healthy people here, - the former major smiled in response.
There was a short pause.
- Well, I'll probably go, I still have to go to the dressing, - I heard the voice of Gubar from behind, tactfully deciding not to interfere with the couple standing in front of him.
- Good luck, Volodya, - Orlov shook his hand.
When the limping fighter disappeared under the nearest tent, Alexander turned back to the girl.
- How did you get here? Where is our 2nd shock?
“Our army, including the medical battalion, is still there,” Anastasia replied with a little shrug. “But they say that soon we will be sent to the front line, since the fighting there is strong, the losses are big,” she added, lowering her voice. - And I ended up here because we received some especially necessary medicines at the front warehouse for our medical battalion, and literally at the last moment it turned out that some of them were urgently ordered to be handed over here, so we had to make such a big "detour".
- Personally, I am very glad that you had to do it, - said Orlov and again looked into the eyes of the young girl.
- I need to run, Comrade Major, - Anastasia smiled. “I hope you get well soon,” she paused briefly, then added, “and you can write to me about it.
With these words, she took out a small piece of paper and a pencil from her breast pocket. Quickly scribbling a few lines on it, she handed it to Orlov. Taking this yellowish leaf in his hand, Alexander for a moment felt the warm touch of her gentle fingers.
- Goodbye, Comrade Major, - said Nastya and, quickly turning around, hurried towards the medical warehouse.
Orlov looked after her for a while, then he turned his gaze to the piece of paper in his hand. On it, in neat female handwriting, was the address of a field post.
Separate medical and sanitary battalions (medical battalions) were entrusted with one of the most important tasks in the conduct of combat operations - the evacuation of the wounded from the areas of hostilities and the provision of first qualified medical aid to them. It was this kind of medical assistance, provided on time, that saved the lives of many soldiers and commanders. Unfortunately, not everyone was able to help. In the photo - the doctor of the medical battalion of the 178th division E. F. Bill. Next to him are nurses - P. V. Akimov and V. G. Lukyanchenko, Kalinin Front, 1942 (photo by V. A. Kondratyev)
ARTICLES FROM THIS SERIES:
Fiery radiance (1st part) (site "Military Review")
Fiery radiance (part 2) (site "Military Review")
Fiery radiance (3rd part) (site "Military Review")
Fiery radiance (4th part) (site "Military Review")
Fiery radiance (5th part) (site "Military Review")
FROM THE AUTHOR
Dear readers of the Military Review!
With the publication of this chapter, I finish acquainting site visitors with my book. Unfortunately, I cannot now tell you when and where it will be published in full, but I will definitely inform everyone who will be interested in reading the rest of it.
I would like to express my gratitude to the administration and staff of the site "Military Review", whose work allowed me to carry out my publication. Special thanks to all members of the forum who participated in the discussion of the book, for your feedback, criticism, wishes and suggestions. In conclusion, I would like to give a list of the literature I used when writing my work and a list of Internet resources with the help of which I was able to supplement the book with photographs, diagrams, maps and other useful information.
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Internet resources
COMBAT ACTIONS OF THE RED ARMY IN WWII.
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MILITARY LITERATURE
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At Stalin's reception. Notebooks (journals) of records of persons taken by I. V. Stalin (1924-1953)
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Hartwig Pohlmann. 900 days of fighting for Leningrad. Memories of a German Colonel
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Tank troops of Nazi Germany, PHOTO. QIP. RU
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"Tigers in the mud"
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Excerpts from entries in the war log of the headquarters of the operational leadership of the Wehrmacht from August 12, 1942 to March 17, 1943
WWW. E-READING. LIFE
Hasso G. Stakhov. TRAGEDY ON THE NEVA. The shocking truth about the blockade of Leningrad 1941-1944
WWW. P-PORFIR. RU
Olga Patrina / Porfir Publishing House, a selection of photographs by Viktor Kondratyev
