One of the simplest methods of sealing off a break-through or eliminating a penetration is the frontal counterattack. Usually, such a counterattack can be launched only if the break-through is minor and can be localized, and if both shoulders are secure. Moreover, sufficient reserves must be available to close the breach by a quick counterthrust before the enemy is able to widen the gap. Once hostile preparations for a break-through have been clearly recognized, it is most effective to move the reserves close to the rear of the threatened sector. While the reserves must be close enough for instantaneous effective employment, they should be sufficiently removed from the front line so as not to forfeit prematurely their freedom of maneuver.
In their assembly areas the reserves must be concealed from enemy observation and air attacks and must not be exposed to hostile preparation fire. Obviously, reserves should have maximum fire power and mobility; armored divisions come closest to these requirements because they combine tremendous striking force with concentrated fire power. Infantry supported by assault guns will often restore the situation so long as the break-through is local.
A counterattack is far more complicated if, before its effect is felt by the enemy, the shoulders begin to crumble, the breach is widened, and the enemy attack gains ground in depth. But even in this event, it is best to maintain the tactical integrity of the reserve so that upon commitment it can overrun the enemy infantry in one powerful thrust and regain the key positions of the former line. Only then should attempts be made to close the smaller gaps by flanking actions. As a countermeasure against the disintegration of the shoulders and as support to the flanking actions, it will prove effective to protect the open flanks of the break-through area with artillery and to assemble small local reserves behind them. Frequently one infantry company supported by assault guns will suffice for this purpose.
It would be a mistake to attempt to close an extensive breach across its entire width by overextending the attack frontage of the main reserve force. A counterattack delivered under such circumstances would not have sufficient striking power and would be in danger of losing its punch and bogging down before it reached its objective. On the other hand, a delayed commitment of the reserves will result in an expansion of the breach; then, the counterattacking force will be faced with an entirely new situation with which it will be unable to cope alone. Such a delay often leads to heavy losses which can only be offset by committing additional forces.
Whenever the enemy achieves a major break-through that causes the collapse of a wide sector of the front (thirty miles or more), the local reserves will always be insufficient to close the gap by frontal counterattack. Piecemeal commitment of individual divisions in a gap of this width will simply lead to their engulfment by the advancing hostile avalanche.
Only a strong force consisting of several corps will be able to stem the tide and halt the enemy advance in the depth of the defense or to close the gap by a counterattack. There will usually be a considerable time lapse, however, before a force of such strength can be released from other sectors and moved to the break-through area. Meanwhile, attempts must be made to narrow the breach by withdrawing to a shorter line and by strengthening the resistance in the sectors adjacent to the gap.
The German offensive to recapture Kharkov and Belgorod presents a good example of a frontal counterattack. By 23 November 1942 the Russians had closed the ring around Stalingrad and started the most powerful winter offensive of the war. Advancing rapidly, they annihilated in quick succession the Romanian, Italian, and Hungarian units along the Chir and Don Rivers and opened a 350-mile gap in the German front. This breach was equal to the total length of the western front in World War I. Initially, only isolated German divisions, committed in support of the allied and satellite forces, stood in the way of the Russians, like the stays of a corset. The bulk of the German reserves, including five fully equipped panzer divisions, were tied down in western Europe because of the invasion of North Africa by Allied forces. Some of these divisions later appeared on the eastern front. The German armies in the Caucasus, in danger of being out off, were forced to withdraw.
Their motorized units, mainly First Panzer Army, were committed along the Donets in order to strengthen the southern wing of Army Group Don. North of the gap, the Second Army was forced to evacuate Voronezh and the Don front, and its southern wing was pushed far back to the west. Gradually, two-thirds of the entire Eastern Front began to sway and crumble. Russian pressure mounted constantly and the only solution was to withdraw farther and farther to the west. The Russians poured in a never ending stream of hastily reorganized divisions and continued their drive. Three hostile armies converged on Kharkov and in mid-February 1943 succeeded in capturing this important traffic center by a concentric attack.
But their next thrust, aimed at Poltava, ground to a halt 30 miles short of the city because the Soviet troops were too exhausted to continue. Now they placed all their hopes in the Third Tank Army commanded by their most capable tank expert, General Popov. In mid-February Popov advanced practically without resistance in the direction northwest of Dnepropetrovsk with the apparent intention of reaching the Dnepr bend. His objective was to cross the Dnepr before the German forces were able to build up their defenses along the river, but it soon became obvious that his forces lacked the necessary drive. Meanwhile, the Germans were building up strength for a frontal counterattack.
The divisions arriving from the West detrained at Poltava behind a defensive screen established by Provisional Corps Raus. This corps held the line with three infantry divisions and the reconnaissance regiment of the 3d SS Panzer Division. Its other motorized elements, the Panzer Division Grossdeutschland and the Fuehrer Escort Battalion, were in rest areas west of Poltava, close to the front. They formed a mobile reserve to be committed in the event that the enemy attempted to capture Poltava by an enveloping thrust through the gap to the north. The Russians actually tried to outflank Poltava, but this danger was eliminated by German infantry supported by the reconnaissance regiment and tactical Luftwaffe units. During these actions the enemy showed definite signs of weakness and exhaustion, and the time for a major counterattack seemed to be approaching.
Quick action was indicated since the snow was beginning to thaw. Mud formed on the ground and soon all movements would become impossible. But deep down the soil was solidly frozen. Cold nights prevented a quick thaw and favored movements during the early morning hours. Meanwhile, the battle-weary German hunt-line troops were granted a short breathing spell and given the opportunity to integrate newly arrived replacements and equipment.
By 10 March 1943 the counterattack forces stood ready to jump off; their morale was excellent. The main effort was placed on the southern wing where terrain conditions favored the employment of armor. Here, the Grossdeutschland Division was assembled and given the mission of attacking toward Valki. Adjacent on the left, the 320th Infantry Division jumped off after a preparation from all guns of two divisions, supported by corps artillery. The infantry penetrated the enemy positions, mopped up a strong point on the main Poltava-Kharkov highway, and pushed the enemy beyond a flooded brook on the other side of the town.
This normally insignificant watercourse had suddenly grown into a raging torrent which brought the attack to an unexpected halt after a gain of only one mile. The tanks of the Grossdeutschland Division attempted to overcome the swift current farther upstream and finally succeeded in crossing after several hours. More than eighty tanks broke through the second enemy position on the east bank of the brook and rolled toward Valki.
Soon an improvised bridge was thrown across the brook and the attack regained its momentum. In the sector adjacent to the north, the 167th and 168th Infantry Divisions penetrated the enemy positions after heavy fighting, captured a number of villages, and attempted to establish contact with the LI Infantry Corps on the left. The reinforced reconnaissance regiment, committed between the 320th and the 167th Divisions, closed in on the enemy positions situated in the woods and penetrated deep into the forest. lts tanks advanced along the railroad tracks running parallel to the woods. By afternoon Corps Raus was making progress along its entire front and kept the crumbling enemy forces on the move.
On the second day of the thrust the corps committed all its forces in a concentric attack on Bogodukhov. For this purpose the corps zone was narrowed to 10 miles. Its width had already been reduced from 60 to 25 miles by the end of the first day. The enemy forces holding Bogodukhov were unable to resist the onslaught of the German ground troops which were closely supported by the Luftwaffe.
The city fell after brief house-to-house fighting. Corps Raus then established contact with the spearheads of the I SS Panzer Corps which had just entered Olshany, fifteen miles southeast of Bogodukhov. After annihilating strong enemy forces in the Olshany area, the panzer corps turned to the east to envelop Kharkov and cut off the enemy's route of withdrawal to the north.
While the main force of Provisional Corps Raus was to advance northward in an attempt to establish contact with the LI Corps and thereby cut off the enemy forces in the Akhtyrka area, the 320th Division was to screen the pivoting movement of the I SS Panzer Corps. Ever increasing mud and floods slowed the advance at every step. Although all bridges across the swollen Vorsida, Udy, and Lopan Rivers had been destroyed, the infantry and panzer units were nevertheless ab1e to reach their daily objectives. Many motor vehicles and horse-drawn artillery pieces, however, bogged down along the way. On the other hand, the considerably lighter artillery of the Russians and their Panje [Russian peasant) wagons pulled through everywhere and escaped the German advance.
The Grossdeutschland Division carried the main effort and reached the upper Vorskla, with the 167th Division following closely. Since the LI Corps on the southern wing of Second Army lagged far behind, no contact with that corps could be established and the enemy around Akhtyrka escaped encirclement. The continuation of the operation by a thrust on Tomarovka required the panzer forces to pivot to the east, changing the direction of their advance. They were replaced by elements of the 167th Division which were to hold a line facing north to provide flank cover. The advance toward Tomarovka was delayed because territorial gains toward the east automatically led to an extension of the open flank.
By the second day of this eastward thrust, the strong 167th Division was almost entirely immobilized along the flank. The arrival of Ll Corps had to be awaited before the eastward thrust could be resumed. The main reason for this delay was that the boundary between Army Groups Center and South ran along the Vorskla River. The Army High Command, responsible for coordinating the operations of the two army groups, was too far removed, and its decisions therefore were too slow to keep abreast of the fast-moving events at the front. Finally, the Army High Command ordered LI Corps to relieve the 167th Division. The advance continued and the Grossdeutschland Division entered Tomarovka. On its approach to the town, the division destroyed a considerable number of Russian tanks while many undamaged ones, which had bogged down in the mud, were retrieved and turned against the enemy.
It was in this action that Tiger tanks engaged the Russian T34s for the first time; the results were more than gratifying for the Germans. For instance, two Tigers, acting as an armored point, destroyed a pack of T34s. Normally the Russian tanks would stand in ambush at the hitherto safe distance of 1,350 yards and wait for the German tanks to expose themselves upon their exit from a village. They would then take the German tanks under fire while the Panthers were still outranged. Until now, these tactics had been foolproof. This time, however, the Russians had miscalculated.
Instead of leaving the village, the Tigers took up well- camouflaged positions and made full use of their longer range. Within a short time they knocked out sixteen T34s which were sitting in open terrain and, when the others turned about, the Tigers pursued the fleeing Russians and destroyed eighteen more tanks. It was observed that the 88rnm armor-piercing shells had such a terrific impact that they ripped off the turrets of many T34s and hurled them several yards. The German soldiers' immediate reaction was to coin the phrase, 'The T34 raises its hat whenever it meets a Tiger.' The performance of the new German tanks was a great morale booster.
Farther to the south, Kharkov was captured by the 1st SS Panzer Division after four days of street fighting during which Tigers again played a decisive role. The 2d SS Panzer Division turned north, advanced on Be1gorod, captured the city, and linked up with the Grossdeutschland Division which had thrust beyond Tomarovka. The capture of the two cities secured the anchors of the new German line along the Donets. Between these two points two German divisions slowly struggled through the mud in their effort to reach the west bank of the river.
The Russian elements that were able to cross the Donets were badly mauled. German reconnaissance units, advancing beyond the river, met with little resistance. Even though the German attack divisions were fully capable of continuing their drive, the overall situation and the prevailing mud made it inadvisable.
The objective of the frontal counterattack had been achieved. The breach, open for four months, was closed and the greatest Russian winter offensive was stopped. After suffering a defeat of gigantic proportions, the Germans once again held a continuous line anchored on the Donets River.
German Active Defense Against Russian Breakthroughs
German Active Defense Against Russian Breakthroughs Part 2
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Introduction
Defensive Pincers
Defense in Place with Mobile Reserves
Position Defense in Strong Points and Improvised Fortresses
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© Copyright 1995 by Mike Vogell and Phoenix Military Simulations.
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