Then in walked Manstein, his cheeks red with the cold night air. He found Hitler leaning sullenly over the map table, a noticeable twitch in his right arm. Without even looking at him, Hitler spoke: “Why are you not at the front? What are you doing here?”
It was the first time he had snapped at Manstein that way, and Halder, who had come along when the Führer moved, tried very hard to restrain a smile. Yet Manstein remained cool, ignoring Halder, and focusing his attention on Hitler. He simply walked slowly up to the map table, removed his gloves and set them down, and then leaned in beside Hitler, who was eyeing him with sidelong glances as he did so.
“Ah,” he said with a definitive tone. “Just as I expected. Von Rundstedt piled on. He sent Hoth in right behind Model—good for quick yardage, but now he has no southern pincer to bag all these troops he leaves in his wake. It is clear what must be done.”
Hitler had been squinting through the fog of his anger trying to ascertain what to do himself for some hours, tapping the map, muttering under his breath, casting about for staffers and shouting them down whenever they would speak. Yet now, strangely, when Manstein spoke, he quieted, looking at the general for the first time.
“I see you have correctly positioned the one tool I will need now,” said Manstein. “And look, you have cleaned up that mess at Kirov. There is your answer for von Rundstedt’s dilemma. Well done, my Führer. It is obvious that my plane ride here was for naught. Seeing these dispositions, obviously carried out on your personal orders, is most encouraging. With your permission then, I will move Wietersheim’s 14th Panzer Korps immediately, and we will put a complete stop to this Russian Summer offensive over the upper Don. I have already sent in Kempf’s 48th. Excellent divisions, but frankly, he is too slow. May I suggest von Knobelsdorff as a replacement?” Now he clucked, shaking his head as he stood upright. Hitler stood with him.
“Did they think they could fool you with this nonsense?” he said to Hitler with a wry smile. “Not at all. We’ll cut them to ribbons. I will restore the situation immediately, and then Steiner can get back to business as usual.”
Halder’s jaw fell open, his eyes widening, but he waited to see if the werewolf would throw himself upon Manstein as he had every other officer that had approached him in this mood.
“You came here to consult with me on this?”
“Of course. I would have ordered Wietersheim’s troops to move this morning when Steiner informed me of what was happening, but one does not pick up a knight and move it without a good appraisal of the overall situation. The infantry you have ready at Kirov will be exactly what von Rundstedt needs. He can feed it onto the positions he has had to hold with his Panzergrenadiers, and relieving them, he regains his mobility and striking power. Infantry, my Führer. One must always have a balanced force in the attack.”
“I have already sent him two divisions,” said Hitler matter of factly.
“Of course. Now send the rest. It looks to me like you have readied Forster’s 6th Korps, and Heitz with the 8th Infantry Korps. They can take the trains through Orel immediately. Don’t worry about them after that. Model will know exactly what to do when he receives your gift—a good sturdy shield so he can get moving again. As for me, I need a hammer, and von Wietersheim is the only force for the job just now. 14th Panzer Korps will do nicely.”
“But my Führer…” Halder’s voice appealed from across the room, though he did not approach the map table.
“What now Halder? More protests? Can’t you see we are busy here? Where are those adjutants and staff officers? I’ll need runners for these orders at once!” An hour earlier, Hitler had threatened to have the next man that brought him bad news shot, and since that time, the junior officers had kept their distance.
“You realize that is the last Army reserve we have?” said Halder.
“Of course I realize that. And what good is a reserve if it simply sits about when the enemy attacks like this?” He looked at Manstein now. “You may call von Wietersheim directly. Get him moving east at once.”
“I have already taken the liberty of seeing that the necessary rolling stock is available,” said Manstein. “Thank you, my Führer. Just give me a week and I will send you good news.”
That was that. Manstein’s personal intervention had worked its magic yet again, much to Halder’s chagrin. He had it in his mind to take those panzers and move them up to a point just south of Kursk, intending to strike northwest towards Voronezh. Instead, von Manstein had wheedled them away in just five minutes!
So it was that the last of the Valkyries would take wing that night, four good divisions in the hands of an able commander. Wietersheim had fought with Hoepner on the drive to Moscow, getting there when Guderian failed in his wide envelopment strategy. Now Hitler envisioned him as a kind of unfailing remedy, particularly when this notion was seconded by Manstein. The Führer had been hesitating about those divisions, not knowing exactly where he should send them.
Now he knew.
Chapter 8
Kurt Ruschel stopped in his Panther, opening the hatch to get a better look at the ground ahead. He had come up on the slopping banks of a narrow stream, one of the few terrain features he might use in this otherwise flat ground. The infantry assigned to his Kampfgruppe was just now arriving behind him, and he signaled that they should take up positions along the stream. He had a mind to then move his Panthers back, a platoon of 12 tanks, and wait for the enemy to try and force their way over the stream. Then up came a Kubelwagon, and he turned to see an officer stepping out, striding quickly towards his tank.
“Hauptmann,” the officer called. “What are you doing here?”
Ruschel suddenly saw this was no mere officer, it was Hermann Balck, and he was well forward, right at the point where the enemy attack was expected. He saluted immediately. “Sir, I want to spring an ambush here. My men can take cover in the depression of the stream, and I will move my armor about 300 meters back.”
Balck looked the ground over. “Wrong,” he said simply. “Their optics may not be worth much, but they will still see your tanks at that distance. You don’t hold the line of a water obstacle from only one side like that. Send two platoons of infantry 200 meters forward and have them dig in on the other side of the stream. Then put your tanks down there in the depression—they’ll be hull down. Hold the last platoon of Panzergrenadiers in reserve on this side of the stream. If they hit your forward infantry with tanks, they reveal their intention to cross here, and then you pop up with your Panthers and give them a nasty surprise.”
That advice worked for Ruschel’s KG, but Balck would tailor his commands to the unique composition of each KG he encountered, and he always led from the front. A good commander up front at the critical spot with a reliable radio was worth three Generals in the rear areas at their desks with field phones. This is why Balck, like Rommel, was constantly on the move, motoring from one point to the next. He would make an assessment of the situation, then radio back to his Chief of Staff behind the lines to tell him what orders to issue to various elements of his division.
He wanted his troops lean, fast and light, thinning out excess vehicles in the division, which he said would only clog up the few available roads. These he sent to a vehicle pool at the rear, and then used them to replace damaged vehicles in his maneuver elements. In the same fashion, Balck would never use his Feldersatz Battalion as a standalone unit if he had one. Instead he would use those troops as direct replacements for his line infantry battalions, which was the correct employment of that battalion as he saw things. In this way his line battalions would have what he called resilience in combat, and be kept up to strength.