During the day the Red Air Force was more active in the skies above the ground troops than the Luftwaffe. Soviet fighters strafed the roads between Korsun, Steblev, and Shenderovka, causing Stemmermann to ask on the radio, at 13.25hrs, where the Luftwaffe was. The Soviet fighters continued attacking ground targets in the pocket, without being hindered by German fighters. At 14.45hrs Stemmermann again radioed to ask why nothing was being done to stop the Red Air Force. Less than an hour later the Luftwaffe representative at 8th Army staff replied that only a few fighters had been able to take off from the airfield, to escort transport aircraft and also to patrol at Steblev. He also reported that two groups of Stukas, with 40 and 15 aircraft respectively, had attacked northwest of Yurkevka, in support of XXXXVII Panzer Corps.566
The Luftwaffe continued to concentrate on supply deliveries, which were vital to the armored spearheads in III and XXXXVII Panzer Corps, since ground conditions precluded supplies being moved by road. Heinz Lampe was a radio operator on board a Ju-52, which, on 12 February flew toward Lisyanka to drop fuel for Kampfgruppe Frank. After a short briefing, Lampe and the rest of the crew climbed on board the aircraft. Another Junkers, piloted by staff sergeant Kern, took the lead when they set off on the mission. By flying low the pilots of the slow transport aircraft hoped that they would escape detection by Soviet fighters. With 10 barrels of gasoline on board, any fighting would be dangerous indeed. Lampe could easily distinguish the signs of recent fighting on the ground: he saw burnt out houses, tanks, and other vehicles. There were no beacons or any other navigation aids, so the air crews had to rely on their experience to find the places where they should drop the fuel barrels.567
The air crews kept a watchful eye out for enemy fighters, but also scanned the ground. No fighters, enemy or friendly were detected, but soon troops on the ground could be discerned. Lampe saw German tanks engaging Soviet forces. Fortunately the Junkers were not detected by the Soviet troops on the ground. Clearly the front line had been reached, which was confirmed when a white flare was fired from a German tank. However, the Luftwaffe crews realized that they had only reached the flank of the III Panzer Corps. Only a few minutes remained before they reached Lisyanka.568
The Junkers aircraft continued at an altitude of only 150 meters and Lampe clearly saw corpses of Russian soldiers, killed horses, and burning vehicles littering the ground below. Soon three or four German tanks appeared. They fired a white flare and this time the two transport aircraft were on target. Feverishly Lampe began to untie the fuel barrels, but almost immediately the aircraft shuddered. It had been hit by machine-gun fire. The mechanic, Sergeant Ehrlich, hurried to help Lampe. They pulled two barrels to the opening and waited for the horn that would sound when they had reached the exact spot where the barrels should be released. Lampe cursed the machine-gun fire, which still raked the aircraft, when finally the horn gave the signal for them to push out the barrels. Lampe saw the parachutes work properly and the barrels landed safely close to the tanks.569
Several fuel barrels remained, however, and the aircraft flew another turn to release more of them. Just when they were to push the barrels out of the aircraft, the rear gunner was hit in the back, but he could still walk and made it to the forward part of the aircraft. Lampe and Ehrlich sweated while they struggled with the heavy barrels, and Lampe thought it was real donkey work to drag the barrels to the door. On the second turn they managed to get three barrels out, but the “bolshevik fire” became more and more intense. Still there were two barrels remaining, far forward in the machine. Lampe ran forward to the pilot, Staff Sergeant Golbik, and shouted in his ear: “One more turn, at the lowest level.” The last two barrels lacked parachutes, requiring the aircraft to fly as low as possible. Fortunately it seemed to be more difficult for the Soviet gunners to aim when the Junkers flew extremely low, and Lampe and Ehrlich successfully shoved the remaining barrels out of the aircraft.570
Lampe grabbed a first-aid kit and rushed to the wounded gunner. While bullets still hit the machine, he began to bandage the gunner, who was not seriously wounded. As a precaution Lampe radioed to the base that an ambulance should be available when they landed. After taking care of the gunner, Lampe inspected the aircraft, to see what damage the machine-gun fire had caused. The only serious damage he could find was a loss of fuel. One of the fuel tanks of the aircraft left a small stream of fuel in the air. The other Junkers also showed similar damage. However, as they had gotten out of reach of the Soviet fire, and the distance to the base was not excessive, there was no undue cause for alarm. Both of the Ju-52s landed safely and an ambulance took care of the wounded gunner. There were many holes in the aircraft, but the following day Lampe and his comrades were in the air again, to drop more supplies to the troops on the ground.571
The air supply operation in support of the III Panzer Corps involved dropping almost seven tons of ammunition for Tigers and Panthers, plus 37 cubic meters of fuel. As the complete rounds for Tigers and Panther weighed about between 10 and 20 kilograms, and the fuel capacity of the tanks were slightly less than one cubic meter, this was a welcome contribution.572
At 18.35hrs Wenck and Speidel spoke over the telephone about the situation. Wenck explained that due to the destroyed bridges at Lisyanka it had not been possible to make much progress during the day. Tomorrow an attempt would be made to advance toward Dzhurzhentsy. Speidel emphasized that had the 24th Panzer Division, which inexplicably had been withdrawn, been available, it could have been used to expand the bridgehead at Yerki. The lack of the division was sorely felt. At least, Speidel continued, the limited attacks that had been made had attracted enemy reinforcements. Thus some kind of success had been achieved.573
Due to the German attack at Khilki and Novo Buda, Konev decided to commit Selivanov’s cavalry corps, which suffered from serious shortages of fuel. Many vehicles were stranded along the muddy roads and could not take part in the ensuing action. Only gradually did the corps get into position to counterattack the German forces that had captured Novo Buda, Khilki, and Shenderovka. Otherwise no major changes seem to have taken place among the Soviet forces on 12 February. Perhaps the top commanders were busy reorganizing, due to Stalin’s order as to how the command responsibilities should be divided.574
CHAPTER 16
“Now or Never”
As we recall, Breith had given a “now or never” order for 13 February. Bäke’s Panzer regiment played the most important part in the attack, and in the morning it rolled forward, with its Tiger battalion to the left and its Panther battalion to the right. Forces from the 16th Panzer Division advanced on Bäke’s left flank. The initial aim was the crossroads east of Chesnovka, but first Dadushkovka had to be captured, where the 2nd Tank Army had prepared defenses in and south of the village.575
Almost immediately the Germans caught a glimpse of two T-34s before they disappeared in a small depression. Sensing that his opponent might be up to something, Bäke called for air support. At Uman a Stuka-Staffel had already taken off, and through the wireless set in his command tank Bäke was able to direct it toward the suspected Soviet position. He ordered the 503rd Tiger Battalion to continue forward as soon as the dive bombers had attacked, while the Panthers to the right conducted a flank move.576