Original subtitles

It was less than a month since the great

bloodletting in the Orel salient in July

1943 had taken place and just some

months to go before the infamous second

battle of

Kiev. At the time, both the German and

Soviet armies that took part in the

battle had already suffered horrendous

casualties. The losses of tanks and

mechanized vehicles were also enormous.

As the German attack was met by a Soviet

counterattack that left soldiers on both

sides reeling like punch happy

boxers, Red Army units slowly pushed the

Germans back to their start lines with

both sides taking even more

casualties. Ground troops were exhausted

and vehicles were worn out from constant

use. Yet the Red Army was preparing to

launch its first summer offensive of the

war. In far off Berlin, there were those

at the Ober Commando Der Vermacht, OKW,

the German armed forces high command,

who scoffed at the idea that the

Russians could mount a major offensive

after the bloody nose they had received

in the July battle. The frontline

generals, however, were under no such

illusions. The commander of Army Group

South, Field Marshal Eric von Mannstein

wrote, "On the 2nd of August, we

informed OKH Ober Commando Desirez, the

German Army high command, that we were

expecting an immediate offensive against

the army group's northern front west of

Belgarod. This we thought would probably

be supplemented by an attack southeast

of Karkov with the aim of taking our

forces round the town in a Pinsir

movement and opening the enemy's way to

the DNAPR river. Von Mannstein was right

on the money. On August 3rd, all hell

broke loose as an intense artillery

barrage hit General Yugenat's LEA Army

Corps for 5 minutes. After a 30-inute

lull, a 2-hour barrage pounded the same

sector, augmented by heavy air attacks.

As the artillery ceased, infantry and

tanks of the fifth and sixth guard's

armies hit the junction of core and the

XL e panzer core, splitting the front

and driving a wedge between the two

core. The Soviet fifth guard's tank army

exploited the breakthrough. And by the

end of the day, the Russians had

penetrated up to 24 km behind the German

lines. The offensive, cenamed Rumansf,

after one of the foremost Russian

generals of the 18th century, was only

the first of several operations to

pummel the Germans. During the following

days, the Soviet 53rd Army was able to

cut the vital Belgar Karkov road,

creating major supply problems for the

enemy. On August 12th, led elements of

the step front entered the outskirts of

Karkov, finally taking the city on

August 23rd after severe fighting.

Meanwhile, General Carl Holllet's sixth

army's position on the Mias River was

assaulted by Colonel General Fedor

Ivanovich Tolbukan's south front. Within

a few days, Hallet had been pushed back

from his river defenses and the Soviets

retook the city of Tagenrog on the Sea

of Azov at the end of the month. The

August offensive had cost Army Group

South about 133,000 casualties, of which

only 33,000 were replaced. On September

3rd, von Mannstein flew to Hitler's

headquarters at Rastenberg in East

Prussia to ask for either more

replacements or permission to shorten

his lines if replacements could not be

provided. He later wrote that the

meeting proved quite profitless. The

Russian juggernaut continued to roll

forward in the first half of September.

Railway and communications lines between

Army Group South and Army Group Center

were broken when the Soviets severed the

Biance Konotop rail line. On September

4th, Hitler gave permission for General

Irvvin Janeka's 17th Army to retreat

from the Kuban to the Crimea. Further

north, the Soviet Third Guard's army

opened a 45 km gap between the first

Panzer Army and the Sixth Army, which

was closed on September 11th after 5

days of heavy fighting. On September

8th, the city of Stelino fell, followed

by the capture of Marupal on the 10th.

In essence, the Red Army was threatening

to break open the entire German Southern

Front. September 15th found von

Mannstein in another long discussion

about the deteriorating

situation. Pullbacks on Army Group C

Center's right flank had left General

Herman Hoth's fourth panzer army in a

perilous position. Von Mannstein pressed

the issue of withdrawal to the DNAPR

before a catastrophe ensued. The fate of

the whole eastern front is at stake

here, he told Hitler. Finally, Hitler

relented and gave permission for army

group south to withdraw to a line

running from Malitapal along the DNA PR

to above Kiev and then running along the

Desna River. Get the full story of the

Eastern Front and the commanders who

shaped its history inside Wetu History

magazine. ending three years of terror

in Kiev. The Soviet high command,

Stavka, was watching events closely.

When intelligence reports indicated

German preparations for a retreat, it

was generally acknowledged that the next

German defensive line would be on the

DNAR. Orders from Moscow were soon

issued. General Constantine

Constantinovich Roasovski's central

front and general Nikolai Fedorovich

Vatutin's Voron front were tasked with

converging on Kiev and destroying the

fourth Panzer army. Colonel General Ivan

Stapanovich Konv's stepf front was

ordered to advance on Kremanchug and

Colonel General Rodian Yakavlavich

Malinowski's southwest front would keep

exerting pressure on Hollit's sixth army

which occupied Army Group South's right

flank pushing him back toward Kersonen

with the objective of isolating the 17th

Army in the Crimea. Kiev had been in

German hands for 3 years. The great

battle of encirclement that took place

in the area in August and September 1941

had cost the Soviets approximately

450,000 casualties. One of the oldest

cities in Eastern Europe, Kiev is

believed to have been founded in the 9th

century. It had seen conquerors such as

the Khazars, Vangians, Mongols, and

Tatars come and go. On September 19th,

1941, a new conqueror entered what was

now the capital of the Soviet Ukraine.

As German troops marched through the

city, the soldiers were followed by the

SS killing squads of the Enzat groupin,

who rounded up the city's Jews after

parts of the city had been set alite

September 25th by troops of the Soviet

secret police, the NKVD, still hidden in

the area. The fire gave the Germans a

pretext for what became a name

synonymous with the

Holocaust. On September 29th, 30

approximately 34,000 Jews were marched

to a ravine outside the city known as

Bobby. There they were met by the men of

SS Colonel Paul Global's Sonder Commando

4A which was part of SS Brig. General

Otto Roush's Einats Grupa backed up by

SD and SS police battalions and local

police. The Jews were systematically

marched into the ravine and shot. Only a

few were able to escape. It was the

beginning of a three-year reign of

terror that Konv and Roasovski were

ordered to

end. Pressure on the DNAPR line. Their

first problem, of course, would be to

breach the DNAPR and Desna River

defenses, which were rapidly filling up

with retreating Germans. To do this,

they had to overcome fierce resistance

from German rear guards. On September

16th, Konv took Romney. Holllet pulled

his sixth army back to the Malitole

line. The following day, September 21st

saw Lieutenant General Pavl Seinovich

Rebalco's third guard's tank army

reached the eastern bank of the DNAPR

opposite Kive. Batutin immediately

ordered a bridge head to be established

on the western bank by any means. The

next day, Ribbalo's men crossed the

river north of Kiev and secured a bridge

head in the Buchanan area. Rebalco was

reinforced by Lieutenant General Sergey

Gyorgic Trophy's 27th Army and

Lieutenant General Kir Semenovich

Muscaleno's 70th Army and quickly

expanded the bridge head while fighting

off German

counterattacks. Spending the next few

days consolidating their gains, the

Soviets planned their next move. On

September 26th, two Soviet airborne

brigades were dropped into the Bookran

bridge head. dropped at night. The third

brigade landed on top of General Ottovon

Noblestof's XL8 Panzer Corps. The

ensuing slaughter decimated the Soviet

paratroopers. The fifth brigade also

suffered severe casualties during its

drop, rendering it virtually useless.

The 26th was not a total day of disaster

for the Soviets. Lieutenant General

Nikander Ivampovich Chibisov's 38th Army

forced a bridge head about 20 km north

of Kiev at Leutic. Soviet forces also

established bridge heads farther south

in the Denapropatrovsk area. The vaunted

DNPR line was beginning to crack. On

September 27th, the Russians received

another bloody nose that showed them the

Germans were still intent on holding

their river defenses. Von Kenobyltoorf

launched a fierce counterattack on the

Buchran bridge head, achieving several

penetrations in the Russian line. The

attack surprised Soviet commanders

inside the bridge head with the German

line stretched so thin a concentrated

assault was considered extremely

unlikely. During the next few days, the

German assault continued. Several Soviet

units simply ceased to exist, and many

more were mere shadows of themselves.

Fonobels almost succeeded in clearing

the entire bridge head, but the

stubbornness of the surviving defenders

and Soviet artillery superiority helped

the Red Army to maintain a fragile tow

hold. Under strength, German defenders.

By September 30th, Army Group South had

succeeded in withdrawing behind the

DNAPR. The west bank of the river was

considerably higher than the eastern

bank, which was a large flat area laced

with swamps and streams. Looking from

west to east, the Germans had an

unhindered view of the treeless step

that stretched for several kilometers.

If Hitler had allowed defenses on the

West Bank to be built earlier in the

year, the Germans would have had a

strong, heavily fortified defensive

barrier to meet the Soviets head on. As

it was, many strong points were only

half completed and were manned by

depleted and exhausted units. During the

withdrawal to the DNAPR, Army Group

South had taken severe casualties,

including more than 200,000 wounded.

Despite Von Noblesdorf's strong attack,

the average combat strength of Von

Mannstein's 37 infantry divisions

numbered about 1,000 men, about 50 per

kilometer of front. His armored and

motorized divisions were also vastly

under strength in both men and

equipment. The Russians had also

suffered during the fighting withdrawal.

Since August 26th, Roofski's central

front counted 35,000 killed or missing

and 107,000 wounded, while Vatutin's

Verone front listed 46,000 killed or

missing and 131,000 wounded. Although

fighting would continue unabated further

south, both Soviet generals knew they

needed breathing space to rest their men

and receive equipment replacements and

reinforcements before continuing the

plan to take Kiev and destroy the fourth

Panzer army. Although the Germans were

stretched to the limit, they were still

willing to launch more counterattacks

against the DNAR bridge heads. Supported

by General Curt Vander Shioaler's Elix

Army Corps, which had been transferred

from Army Group Center, Major General

Arthur Hoff's 13 Army Corps launched an

attack against the Leudic bridge head on

October 6th. After making some progress,

the attack failed in the face of Soviet

armor that had been quickly fed across

the river to strengthen the bridge head.

Establishing bridge heads across the

DNAPR to the north. Roasovski's central

front was steadily pushing toward GL,

but he was meeting increasing resistance

from General Walter Weiss's second army.

Lieutenant General Paval Ivanovich

Batov's 65th Army was leading the

advance. Since the opening of the

offensive, his divisions had been on the

move, forcing the Desna River and

heading northwest to the town of Unichae

before turning southward toward Gomel.

The city located on the west bank of the

Saj River was arguably the most

important road and railway junction on

the southern half of Field Marshall

Ernst Bush's Army Group Cent's front. If

the right hook of the effort to take

Kiev was to be in place, bridge heads

across the SG would have to be secured.

GML was about 200 km north of Kiev.

Roasovski hoped to capture the city,

breaking the German communication lines

between army group center and army group

south while establishing those bridge

heads from which he would spring when

the time came to envelop Kiev. The

Germans had other ideas. Defending the

GML area were the troops of General

Johannes Friesner's Fendi Army Corps and

General Rudolph von Roman's Venid Army

Corps. Both men were seasoned veterans

of the Eastern Front and they had

methodically prepared their defenses.

The area proved to be difficult to take.

So Batv swung part of his army to the

south, securing a couple of small bridge

heads across the s. On October 15th,

Batv's men found a weak point in the

German DNAPR defenses in the Lyv area

about 55 km south of GML. Regrouping his

forces, Batv crossed the river and

established a substantial bridge head.

Pouring more reinforcements across the

river, Batv was able to enlarge his

gains, forcing the Germans to send

reinforcements to keep the Soviets at

bay. The new bridge head enabled the

Soviets to have another dagger pointed

at separating Army Group Center and Army

Group South when the time came to

continue the advance on Kiev. While

waiting for the rest of his armies to

reorganize for the continuing DNAPR

assault, Batutin ordered his forces

inside the Bookran bridge head to launch

a new assault on the German forces

surrounding the perimeter. The same day,

Batv crossed the DNA PR at Lyv. The 27th

and 40th Armies and Third Guard's tank

army stormed the German line. Although

the Germans lacked defense in depth,

their positions around the bridge head

were strong. Using good interior lines

and having core artillery support, the

divisions of the XL weight panzer corps

temporarily commanded by Major General

Dietrich Vonultitz, the future

commandant of Paris in August 1944, held

their ground. Coming out of their start

lines, the Soviets suffered terrific

casualties as German artillery fired at

pre-plotted target areas. The Russians

regrouped again and again, but each time

they came up against the same deadly

wall of fire. They would try to break

the Germans several more times during

the next three days until the assaults

were finally called

off. Finding a new bridge

head. After it became obvious to Stafka

that the forces inside the Buchanan

bridge head were going nowhere,

tacticians in Moscow came up with a new

plan. The bridge head at Leotic, now

firmly consolidated and bursting with

men and equipment, seemed the most

likely alternative for a breakthrough.

The area around the bridge head was held

by General Ernst Abberhard Hell's A7

Army Corps. For the most part, perimeter

fighting in the area had been limited to

armed patrols clashing with each other.

When the Soviets abandoned their attack

out of Bookran, Vatutin was ordered to

again redeploy his forces. With intense

secrecy, Rabbalo's third guard's tank

army slipped out of the bridge head and

began the trek to Lutk about 150 km to

the north while other forces inside the

bridge head continued to patrol, fooling

the Germans into thinking that all three

armies were still in the area. There was

also a necessity for speed, which was

going to be difficult in the swampy

terrain that separated the two bridge

heads. Lieutenant General Andre

Grigorovic Kravchenko's fifth guard's

tank corps was the first unit to make

the move. His core had to cross several

small rivers and streams in the marshes

to reach Leutic. To accomplish this,

Kravchenko ordered his troops to make

their vehicles as waterproof as

possible. They then sped full boore

across the terrain, something that went

against the standard rules of mechanized

movement in that kind of environment.

Although he lost several tanks along the

way, he managed to get most of his core

through. Other units of Rebalco's army

soon followed, mounting German losses.

On October 29th, Stavka redesated its

southern fronts. Vatutin's Voron front

became the first Ukrainian front, while

KV's Steppy front was renamed the second

Ukrainian front. Their neighbors to the

south, the southwest front and south

front became the third and fourth

Ukrainian fronts. To the north,

Roasovvski's central front was renamed

the Bellarussian front. Parts of Army

Group South continued to be hammered

during the last days of October. On

October 24th, Lieutenant General Pavl

Alexi Rottme's fifth guard's tank army

took Crivoy Rag before it was pushed

back by General Wend von Verszheime's

11th Panzer Division.

The same day, General Maxmillion

D'Angelus's XL Free Army Corps was

almost overrun on the sixth army's

southern wing. In the first Panzer

Army's sector, Dapropatrovsk fell to the

third Ukrainian front the following day,

leaving General Maxmillian Fredericico's

CX Army Corps a shell of itself. During

those attacks, the army group suffered

losses that could not be replaced. On

June 27th, the Sixth Army's 73rd

Infantry Division, commanded by

Brigarmer General Herman Burma, had just

170 combat effectives, while Major

General Herman Recagel's 111th Infantry

Division had 200. Equipment losses were

also high. In the entire Sixth Army,

there were only 25 operational tanks and

assault guns. The German forces in the

south suffered another crippling blow

when Hitler refused to allow General

Irvvin Yaneka's 17th Army to evacuate

the Crimea. Soviet units of the fourth

Ukrainian front took the Paracop

Peninsula, effectively bottling up the

entire army and preventing it from

taking any role in the furious battles

to the north. planning Kiev's fall on a

symbolic anniversary around Kiev.

General Herman Hoth's fourth panzer army

was waging a war of strike and counter

strike. As Soviet forces in the various

bridge heads in his sector made spoiling

attacks, Hoth deafly moved his meager

reserves from one crisis point to

another. Only the bridge head at Ludic

remained relatively quiet. Rebulko's

third guard's tank army was still

secretly filtering into the area and

Stavka wanted to keep attention away

from Leutic until it was ready to

attack. Most of Rabbalo's units were

across the river by November 1st. After

a little more finetuning, Vatutin was

ready to strike. He planned to use the

38th Army, now commanded by Moscaleno,

as his spearhead, using the 50th and

51st Rifle Corps. They would hit an area

held by Colonel Paul Shyerplug's 68th

and Major General Heinrich Roth's 88th

infantry divisions after an artillery

bombardment. The 68th was only about 40%

effective and the 88th was not much

stronger. After initial contact was

made, the 23rd Rifle Corps would follow.

Kravchenko's fifth guard's tank corps

would support the attack with 100 tanks.

The orders were simple. Stalin wanted

Kiev to be taken by November 7th, the

anniversary of the Bolevik Revolution.

As dawn broke on November 3rd, more than

2,000 Red Army artillery guns opened

fire on the 7 and 13 Army Corps. German

defenses collapsed in the explosive

blasts as the shells tore them to pieces

and entire platoon disappeared. As the

barrage moved forward, the 38th Army

advanced, quickly overrunning the German

positions as bombers and fighters from

General Stefan Akamovich Krevsovski's

second air army raced overhead, hitting

positions further to the rear and

strafing anything that moved behind the

lines. The Red Army troops tore a hole

in the German line that could not be

closed. Holding Kiev at all cost about

18 km north of Leudic, Major General

Ivan Denilovich Chernikovski had built

up a bridge head at

Yasnarodka. In conjunction with the

Leutic attack, Chernikovsky's 60th army

burst out of the bridge head. His

divisions advanced west toward Zittoir,

brushing aside German resistance in the

area. In all, there were

337,000 men supported by 500 tanks in

the combined attacks. Facing them were

fewer than 150,000 Germans that had

about 50 operational tanks. The German

had been caught flat-footed. Upon

hearing first reports of the attack,

Hoth ordered Major General Gayorg Yaer's

20th Panser Grenadier Division to

counterattack. He also called on Brig

General Hasso Fryhair von Mantol's

seventh pancer division and Colonel

Verer Fba's eighth pancer division to

join the attack on the Russians

northwest flank. Even though both

divisions were vastly under strength,

von Mantoyel hit the Russians south of

Daimmer only to run into concentrated

anti-tank fire. The Germans suffered

more losses from the Red Air Force as

they tried to find a way through the

Soviet flank. Freebe and Ya's divisions

met a similar fate and were forced to go

on the defensive. Reeling under the

Soviet assault, the Germans gave way as

the Russians advanced. Hfay ordered

Major General Hinrich Roth's 88th

Infantry Division to retreat to Kiev.

His mission was to hold the city at all

costs. Moscalenko enters the city. By

the end of November 4th, the German

front around Leotic had collapsed and

Rebalco's mechanized forces were

unleashed, pouring through the gaping

holes torn open by the 38th Army. The

German withdrawal threatened to turn

into a route as Soviet tanks roamed the

battlefield, slaughtering more of the

enemy as they advanced. On November 5th,

Moscaleno's men entered Kiev. They were

met with fierce resistance as Roth's

men, occupying strong points throughout

the city, defended every block. In

street battles reminiscent of Stalenrad,

the Soviets destroyed position after

position. The fighting raged into the

night with Roth becoming one of the

German casualties. The Soviets captured

the main rail station by the end of the

day and Moscolenko announced that most

of the area was back in Russian hands

and that the enemy was fleeing. In fact,

most of the 88th had been destroyed in

the battle. On November 6th, the Soviet

general sent a report stating the entire

city had been liberated and that 6,000

prisoners had been taken. reinforced

with panzers from France. Meanwhile,

Rebalco was moving toward the city of

Fast Fastoff about 60 kilometers

southwest of Kiev. His original plan was

to keep going all the way to Hitler's

former headquarters at Vinitza, which

would have threatened the entire rear of

Army Group South. Fast fell on November

7th. Continuing on, Rebalco ran into

lead elements of Major General Adolf

Vonel's 25th Pancer Division formed in

Norway. The 25th had recently arrived

from France. It was lacking in both

training and equipment. One of its tank

battalions still remained in the west

and some of its equipment included booty

captured in

1940. Many of its experienced men had

been taken from the division while it

was still in France and shipped to

various units in the east. And some of

the men who replaced them had less than

a month's combat training. The 25th had

arrived peacemeal and Vonel's divisional

elements were scattered in several

unloading areas. The day Kiev fell,

Vonel was ordered to advance toward

Fast. Unaware that Rebalo's forces were

fast approaching, he immediately formed

a combat group consisting of two

infantry battalions, two mixed artillery

battalions, and 10 to 15 assault guns,

and began to advance toward the city.

On the morning of the 7th, he was

surprised by Rebalco's spearheads. After

losing a couple of armored personnel

carriers, the Germans were forced to

retreat in the face of superior numbers.

While this was taking place, two other

Panzer divisions were racing to the

scene in an attempt to fill the wide gap

created by the Russian assault. As

Vonchelle's combat group was taking on

Rebalco's spearhead, a combat group of

Brig General Theodore Teddy Wish's first

SS Lipstandard SS Adolf Hitler or Lah

Panser division was brought into an area

northwest of Fast to form a blocking

force in a large void in the German

rear. On November 10th, an armored

infantry battalion of Major General

Walter Krueger's first Panzer Division

arrived in Billetva with 60 armored

personnel carriers. It was followed by

the division's armored reconnaissance

battalion. They immediately began to

construct blocking positions to slow

down the advanced Soviet units in the

area, which was about 35 km south of

Fast and 80 km southwest of Kiev. The

move gave time for the XL7 Panzer Corps,

now commanded by General Hinrich

Aberbach, to assemble forces for a

counterattack. Two Soviet brigades

destroyed Vatutin's forces continued to

push westward. Chernikovsky's 60th Army

aided by Lieutenant General Nikolai

Pavlovich Pukov's 13th Army hit

Fondonder Shavalar's Liix Army Corps

which was now defending the approaches

to Kristan. On paper the core listed

four divisions but three of those

divisions 183rd, 217th and

339th were about regimental strength and

were designated core detachment C. The

detachment was commanded by Major

General August Detling, commander of the

183rd. During the next few days of

fighting, he was replaced by the

commander of the 339th Brigeneral Wolf

Gang Lang. On November 15th, Vonda

Shioaleri could do no more than fight a

delaying action against the 60th Army.

Hoff's Thorine Corps guarding the

approaches to Jaidir was also in the

same predicament. Hoth's three infantry

corps were now split with two in the

north and hell's the seventh corps in

the south. They were all retreating but

seven corps located south of Zudir was

rapidly being pushed southwest toward

the left flank of the assembling XL Wade

Panzer Corps. The gap between the

northern corps and Hell's Corps was

significant with virtually nothing to

stop him. Some historians have wondered

why Vatutin did not head straight west.

If he had, he could have driven all the

way to Bertich instead of taking the

time to take Kostan and Zidameir.

Rebalco's armored and mechanized forces

could have easily reached the area as

there were few German units deployed

there with infantry reinforcements to

protect his flanks. He could have split

army group south in half, making it

exceedingly difficult for the enemy to

mount any kind of concentrated

counterattacks.

Instead, the third guard's tank army had

been sent farther to the southwest.

Ribbalo, still hoping to reach Venita,

sent a brigade from his ninth mechanized

corps and another from his seventh

guard's tank corps out as spearheads for

the drive south. Overextending

themselves, the two brigades ran into

elements of the LH, which were heading

toward their assembly area. The Soviet

brigades were surrounded near the

villages of Popula and Pavalok about 30

km southwest of Fast on November 11th. 3

days later they were destroyed. However,

the 55th Tank Brigade commanded by the

future Colonel General David Dragunski

managed to get most of his men out of

the area on foot. The first guard's

cavalry corps took Zidameir. Farther

north, Vander Shioaleri's core was now

nearly surrounded at Corston. Supplies

had to be air dropped to the core to

keep it fighting, even as Vander

Shioaleri requested to pull back in

order to maintain some semblance of a

combat command. The request was denied

and Hitler ordered that the city be held

at all costs. Von Mannstein decided that

relieving the pressure on the LAX and

Thorid Corps was to be his first

priority in trying to stop the Soviets.

He noticed that the Russians had exposed

their left flank around Zidomir and

Coriston as a result of Ribbalo's

southwest turn. On the 12th, he ordered

an attack on the rear of the 38th Army,

although some elements of the designated

attacking force had not yet reached the

front. The Lah and First Panzer would

conduct the main assault, which was

aimed at the Brussel area some 60 km

west of Kiev. With luck, he could then

continue on to Zidameir and Coriston and

then regain the ground lost on the west

bank of the DNAPR, including Kiev. The

two assault divisions were to be

supported by the 7th Panzer and 68th

Infantry Divisions on their left and the

25th Panzer and arriving second SS Das

Reich Panzer Division on the right.

While the attacking forces readied

themselves, Vatin took precautions of

his own as his forces advanced westward.

He also saw the same danger noticed by

von Mannstein and he brought the 17th

rifle corps down from the north and the

21st rifle corps forward from the

Brusselov area to protect his vulnerable

flank ordering both core to plan for

defensive action. He also strengthened

them with additional anti-tank forces.

Eberbach sent his core into action on

the 13th. Von Mantoyel headed toward

Zitir while the LH and first panzer

drove toward Brussel. With the LH on his

right, Krueger's first panzer made good

initial advances. Crossing the small

Unova River, the first took the village

of Krive on the 14th and then advanced

with elements of the LH to the town of

Cornin about 24 km south of Brusselof.

There the Germans met the arriving

Russian corps that were being echeloned

in depth to cover the Soviet flank.

Hehard Rouse and and Herman Balk. During

the difficult fighting that followed the

initial contact, the first Panzer and LH

were stalled for a time, as was the

seventh Panzer farther north. While the

Germans regrouped on the 14th, Hitler

perceived the slowdown as due to

inadequate command. On the 15th, he

brought in generals Hehard Rouse and

Herman Balk. Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm

von Melanin then chief of staff of the

XS8 Panzer Corps later wrote General

Balk to my great joy was given command

of the Panzer Corps. With that the core

received one of the best Panzer

commanders alive. Indeed, if Feld

Marshall von Mannstein is regarded as

Germany's greatest strategist of the

Second World War, so too, I believe,

must General Balk receive his due

recognition as the best field commander

of the Vermacht.

He was not as kind to Rouse. As chief of

staff of the Panzer Corps, von Melenthan

wanted to use all of the core divisions

grouped together in a strike from Fast

toward Kiev instead of dividing those

forces. Presenting his plan to the new

army commander, he was told that it was

too ambitious.

Rouse stuck to the original two-pronged

approach, prompting von Melanthin to

write, "The history of armored warfare

and that of cavalry warfare before that

shows that the great prizes can only be

won by speed, daring, and maneuver. The

play safe school of generals was all

very well on the Western Front in 1914

to 18, but is out of place in this age

of the gasoline engine and the airplane,

Wheezerman's postumous knights cross.

Nevertheless, the German attack rolled

forward on the 15th with heavy rain

falling. With the Panther medium tank

elements of the first Panzer still on

route, the LH took the lead in the

advance on

Brusselov. At 10:05 p.m., the commander

of the first Panzer Grenadier

RGT/Lahh, SS Lieutenant Colonel Albert

Frey, reported that his first battalion

had entered the village of Solivvika

about 10 km south of Bruselof.

Heavy Soviet tank and anti-tank fire

resulted in several armored vehicles

being destroyed, stopping the grenaders

dead in their

tracks. Frey ordered SS Captain Heinrich

Hyman, commander of the Lah Assault Gun

Detachment, to send one of his companies

to help take the village. His second

company, commanded by SS Captain Emil

Visman, arrived on the scene and led an

infantry supported assault with his

guns. At the head of his company,

Visaman personally knocked out several

Soviet T34 medium tanks and anti-tank

guns before being killed by a shell that

hit his gun. The attack forced the

Russians to abandon the village, leaving

18 burned out T34ES on the field. At

1:45 p.m., Frey reported that Solivvika

was in German hands. Whisman was

postumously awarded the Knights Cross

for his actions fighting at

Brucelof. To counter the German threat

to Brusselov, Vatutin ordered

Kravchenko's fifth guard's tank corps to

move into position to support infantry

units dug in near the city. The rain

made movement of both Soviet and German

units difficult as roads turned into mud

pits. However, the Soviets with their

wider tracks were able to move their

tanks faster while the Germans still

struggled forward toward their goal.

Other elements of Rabbalo's Third Guards

tank army, sixth and seventh guards tank

corps and ninth mechanized corps were

also being moved to try and block the

German attack. Meanwhile, von Mantofl's

seventh panzer, supported by Shyerflug's

68th Infantry Division, reached the town

of Levk, about 12 km east of Jitamir,

and cut the highway to Kiev on the 16th.

The actions severed communications and

supplies between the first guard's

cavalry corps and the rest of Vatutin's

front. Fon Mantel then began to move

northwest to attack the city from an

unexpected direction. In the Bruselov

sector, the first Panzer division was

ordered to disengage and support the

seventh Panzer, leaving the LH to

basically go it alone. At 3:15 a.m. on

the 16th, SS Major Gustav Knitt's first

SS reconnaissance battalion took

Turbivka about 14 km south of Brusselov.

Moving on the rain soaked ground, Canel

launched an attack on Divven about 4 km

to the north. The attack ran into strong

Soviet resistance which forced Canid to

call of the thrust. After receiving

reinforcements from the ISS Panzer

Grenadier Regiment 2, NL renewed his

attack and took the village at 6:40 p.m.

The attack toward Brussel continued the

following day with Russian

reinforcements streaming into the area.

Wish was forced to order the LH to go

over to a defensive posture as the

Soviets unleashed counterattack after

counterattack. The Russians broke

through in several places including the

sector around the village of Kacharovo

where Freys SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment

one found itself surrounded. The

regiment assumed an all-around defense

and repulsed a total of eight tankup

supported attacks of regiment size or

greater before night fell. Schneider

heights counterattack

During the fighting, SS Corporal Alfred

Schneider distinguished himself by

holding a key position. An anti-tank

rifle troop leader. Schneiderheight and

his platoon held off several infantry

attacks throughout the night. The next

morning, the Soviets attacked again,

this time with tank support.

Schneiderheight allowed the tanks to

advance to within 60 m of his position

before opening fire and destroying one

of them. Returning fire, the Russians

forced Schneider height and his men back

with the corporal being wounded in the

process. Since his company commander had

also been wounded, Schneider took it

upon himself to launch a counterattack

with the remnants of his platoon.

Grabbing a machine pistol, he led his

men forward and regained the lost

position, allowing his eighth company to

regain contact with its neighboring

company. He and his men then repulsed

two more tankup supported attacks. with

every officer and sergeant either dead

or wounded. He took command of the

company and attacked the enemy flank.

During the attack, he was hit by a shell

fragment that almost severed his middle

finger from his left hand. After a field

dressing was applied, Schneiderheight

continued to lead his men well into the

night until he passed out from loss of

blood. His actions halted the Soviet

drive and earned him a recommendation

for the Knight's Cross, which he

personally received from Hitler on

January 16th,

1944. The fall of Zidomir. While the LH

was stuck in front of Brusselov, the

situation at Zidomir was much more

promising. The addition of the first

Panzer division had given the Germans

the punch they needed to take on the

First Guard's cavalry corps, which was

supported by a rifle core from the 60th

Army.

On the night of November 18th, an attack

by Lieutenant Colonel Adelbert Schultz's

25th Panzer Regiment, 7th Panzer

Division, broke into the city. Armored

infantry was quickly brought forward,

and during the morning of the 19th, a

sharp battle took place beneath the

onion Dome churches and centuries old

buildings that dotted the city. The

Soviets were pushed out by

mid-afternoon, leaving the city in

German hands once more. guarding the

flank. Other elements of the first

panzer reported destroying more than 20

Soviet tanks that were attempting to

reinforce the city's defenders. The fall

of Zitir changed things for both sides.

Like master chess players, Vatutin and

Rouse planned their next moves, hoping

to catch their opponent making a

mistake. In the Brussel sector, the 25th

Panzer moved up to support the LH. Also

arriving was Bring General Hans Kelner's

well seasoned 19th Panzer Division. With

the new arrivals, Rouse had Bbalk order

the First Panzer LH and 68th Infantry

Division to keep pressure on the

Soviets, pushing them eastward toward

Brussel. A combat group of the second SS

Panzer Division was also moved into the

area and attached to the Seventh Panzer

Division. While these moves were in

progress, Stavka ordered the 74th, 94th,

and 107th Rifle Corps of the First

Guard's Army to move by rail toward Kiev

and occupy a defensive line behind the

38th Army. The commander of the first

guard's army, Colonel General Vasilei

Ivanovich Khnets, was ordered to avoid

contact with the Germans unless the

situation absolutely warranted it. As

German forces slogged through the mud,

throwing themselves against the 38th

Army's defenses, knits received

permission to send the 94th rifle corps

to bolster the line. For the time being,

Soviet forces were on the defensive,

letting the Germans batter away against

their positions. With the first and

seventh panzer divisions pressing from

the west, Balk ordered the Brusselof

attack to continue. Early on November

20th, the LH moved through a sea of mud

from Vodocchi toward Brusselof. Although

some units succeeded in overrunning

several Soviet forward positions, the

attack halted at 5:45 a.m. due to heavy

artillery fire, local counterattacks by

Soviet tanks, and the horrendous ground

conditions. The Zitir detachment was now

coming within range of the Brusselov

positions. So Balk issued new orders to

his core with the seventh Panzer and

68th infantry divisions guarding the

northern flank. The first Panzer was

tasked with breaching enemy lines east

of Kol Sherovo and then turning south to

attack Brusselof from the northeast.

Kelner's 19th Panzer was charged with

taking Komaets about 6 and 12 km

southeast of Brusselof while the LH was

to continue the attack from the south.

While the Germans regrouped for this new

attack, the Soviets were far from idle.

Vatutin moved the battered first guards

cavalry corps and the fifth and eighth

guard's tank corps into new defensive

positions around

Brusselov. The Russians also kept up

heavy artillery harassing fire in the

area. During one such barrage on the

30th, the commander of SS Panzer

Regiment 1, SS Lieutenant Colonel Gayorg

Shonberger was killed when his command

post suffered several direct hits. He

was replaced by SS Major Yokim Piper,

who would later be tried for the

infamous Malmedi massacre during the

1,944 Arden's

offensive. A tactical victory for the

Germans at Brusselof. The attack

continued on the 21st. The LH moved

forward at 7:45 a.m., but after some

initial success, the SS troops ran into

heavy enemy resistance. By noon, the

attack was completely stalled. Krueger's

first Panzer also ran into problems as

it hit a strong anti-tank line dug in in

a forest. After losing several Panzer

Foys, the division's Panthers rolled

into position and shelled the enemy

line. The Soviets countered by calling

in several Illusin IL2 Sturmovic ground

assault aircraft whose pilots seemed

impervious to the rainladen skies. In

the face of such opposition, Krueger was

forced to call off his attack. The 19th

Panzer suffered a similar fate. For the

next two days, the Germans threw

themselves at the Soviet positions,

hoping to find a crack in the defensive

line. The first and 19th Panzer

divisions finally made some headway and

executed a pinser movement that all but

encircled two rifle divisions and

elements of a tank corps that was inside

Brusselof. Meanwhile, the LH made a

renewed push from the south, overcoming

heavy resistance and destroying several

Soviet tanks. Although most of the

defending troops were able to escape,

Brussel finally fell on the 24th.

Although the Germans claimed a tactical

victory, they could go no further.

The days of heavy rain made further

offensive operations impossible for the

time being. Vehicles needed overhauling

and the troops were exhausted. On the

26th, Balk received orders to

temporarily suspend his attack and form

defensive positions. The assault in the

Brussel sector was at an end, but plans

for a new offensive were already in the

works. planning an attack on the Soviet

Bulge Rouse was worried about the Soviet

forces northeast of Zitmir, particularly

Chernyakovsky's 60th Army, which had

taken up new positions that threatened

Balk's forces if a decision was made to

continue to try to retake Kiev. He

ordered the Exile Panzer Corps to once

again regroup in preparation against

what had become an inward bulge in

Balk's northern flank. The Brusselov

sector would be occupied by arriving

reinforcements since the ground

conditions were so bad that neither side

could conduct major offensive

operations. It is interesting to note

that German intelligence concerning

Soviet dispositions in the salient west

and south of Kiev was totally

inadequate. It had failed to notice the

arrival of the first guard's army and it

also failed to notice that Colonel

General Constantine Nikolai Leelza's

18th army was heading into the area.

Although the first guards and 18th army

were directly controlled by Stavka, they

would give Vatutin a strong force for

both defensive and offensive operations

in the near future. The plan worked out

by von Mannstein and Rouse had two

objectives. Vondere Chevaleriz Licks

Corps was still isolated at Kristen,

although the Luftvafa was able to get

some supplies dropped to the

belleaguered troops. An attack on

Chernikovsky's flank would force men and

material from the Kristan sector to

counter the German assault. If the

attack against the Soviet bulge

succeeded, it would also allow Ha's 13

core to link up with LAX core and

reestablish a continuous front in the

area. During the last days of November

and the first days of December, the

Germans made their way to assembly areas

around Zitamir. Once there, the units

spent the days before the scheduled

attack improving combat readiness and

scouting the best avenues of advance.

After several weeks of combat, most of

the units were severely under strength,

and few replacements were forthcoming.

On November 30th, the LHSS Panzer

Grenadier Regiment 1 had a combat

strength of 795 officers and men. SS

Panzer Grenadier Regiment 2 reported a

strength of

747. For some reason, the only unit that

had been brought up to full strength was

Fon Mantofl's 7th Panzer Division.

Reconnaissance of the enemy's main

position was almost nil due to the

weakness of infantry forces present. The

bad weather prevented aerial

reconnaissance and the Germans were

reluctant to send many ground patrols

forward when they could because the

Soviets might be tipped off about the

coming attack. Therefore, Balk's troops

were virtually in the dark about what

awaited them on the enemy side of the

battlefield. During the night of

December 5th, the German units rolled

slowly toward their jumpoff points. Balk

planned to attack Chernikovsky's right

flank defended by the 30th and 15th

rifle corps. The first panzer would hit

the Soviets just north of Jedimir with

the Lah on its right. Sharpflug's 68th

infantry would also advance on the

extreme right flank of the core. While

Balk attacked the 13th Army Corps and

Ftor Panzer Corps would pin down the

Soviet forces defending the Ratamishial

sector. Fon Mantiful's seventh panzer

was Balk's ace in the hole. Its mission

was to advance far to the left of the

first Panzer into the rear of the 60th

Army, causing a complete collapse of the

enemy defenses. The terrain and lack of

heavy bridges in the area deprived

vonantul of his Tiger detachment, which

was attached to the LH because it had an

easier avenue of

advance. On the Soviet side, Vatutin was

also busy during the time it took the

Germans to assemble.

Stavka agreed to have the 74th and 107th

rifle corps move forward and occupy

defensive positions between Brusselof

and Kiev. Leelita's 18th army with three

rifle corps was also ordered into

defensive positions. Since the Brussel

front remained stagnant, Ribbalo was

ordered to withdraw two core from his

third guard's tank army and send them to

positions west of Kiev. In addition,

Colonel General Mika Afimovic Kadakov's

first tank army had advanced units of

the army entering the area. Your message

is unbelievable. At 6:00 a.m. on

December 6th, the panzers rolled

forward. The weather had turned colder

and a light frost made the ground a bit

more passable. As the tanks moved out,

Soviet outposts were taken by surprise.

As the panzers approached, the Germans

intercepted several radio messages

calling for help. Their pleas were met

with skepticism and accusations of

vastly overestimated enemy strength. One

such reply bluntly stated, "Your message

is

unbelievable." The Seventh Panzer made

surprisingly good progress during the

opening of the attack. Although the

Soviets put up a spirited resistance in

several areas, the defense was

uncoordinated. Slicing through the

Soviet line, Von Mantofl turned

northwest for his end run behind the

Russian line. He was helped by aircraft

from the eighth air. Its commander,

Major General Hans Seidan, established

his headquarters close to the XL8 Panzer

headquarters and his air liaison were

with the spearhead of the attack,

coordinating air strikes to help the

advancing panzers. The LH also moved

swiftly, capturing the village of Stey

after a sharp fight. It then moved on,

taking Cortiva and Beij before noon.

During the afternoon, elements of the

division set out east toward

Mokranchchina and Chernyakan. As

darkness fell, the LH was still moving

toward those two objectives. Krueger's

first panzer became embroiled in street

fighting in a small town about 30 km

northwest of Radishel. It was not until

late afternoon that the town was

cleared. Meanwhile, Brigar General Hans

Peakinbrock's 208th Infantry Division,

which was attached to Balk's Corps,

moved into the area southeast of

Chernyakin, while Hal's 13 Corps

attacked Soviet positions south of

Radishel at Slipkite and

Golivan. The advance continued with more

success. The next

day, Fon Mantoel caught the 60th Army's

headquarters flat-footed, and several

staff officers were lost as the

headquarters scattered. His objectives

were the Russian bridge heads in the

Molen area which intelligence thought

were occupied by a few Soviet divisions.

Actually, there were three full core in

the area. Along with the first Panzer

and the LH, the Germans were squeezing

Chernyakovsky's forces into an

evershrinking area along the south bank

of the Ursa River. Balk had hoped to

coordinate an attack on the Malin bridge

heads by using at least three Panzer

divisions. Von Mantoyel found himself in

a tough battle at Nyanga, 12 km

southwest of Malin, as he awaited the

arrival of the

LH. At 2:30 p.m., combat group Piper of

the LH captured the rail line west of

Torchin about 40 km southwest of Malin.

He then continued on, wiping out pockets

of resistance as he moved northeast, but

he was eventually forced to call a halt

due to lack of fuel, which would not

arrive until morning.

bridge heads over the Tet and Ursa. The

first panzer continued to drive

northwest with its eyes on the Tetv

River. Hooking around Radomeishel, the

first took the village of Horbul and

then headed toward Ditonets in Mircha

with a combat group commanded by

Lieutenant Colonel Ernst Yakim Bradell.

Bradell found Ditonets defended by

determined Soviet forces. And after

heavy fighting, he reported 21 Russian

tanks, three artillery pieces, and 20

anti-tank guns destroyed. On December

8th, Bradell set out for the village of

Federka, which was also heavily

defended. The village was taken only

after savage house-to-house fighting.

After refueling, Bradell continued his

march. His advance ended on December

11th when the first reached the Tedarev

west of the village of Malaria, just

north of

Radamshell. Since the opening of his

counterattack, Balk had forced the

Russians back toward Kiev in several

sectors. Although the Ratam shield

defenses still held, the Soviets north

of the city had retreated across the

Tetarv. A move that not only threatened

the 60th Army, but also the flank of the

38th Army. Farther north, the Seventh

Panzer and Lah were hammering away at

the Soviet bridge heads in the Malan

sector, while the 13 Corps chipped away

at the Ratomshield defenses from the

south.

In spite of the strong enemy resistance,

the counterattack seemed to be going as

planned. While the Russians struggled to

hold their own in the bulge west of

Kiev, they continued to flow new units

into the area. The 25th tank and fourth

guard's tank corps, each containing more

than 200 tanks and self-propelled guns,

were funneled into the Coron and Men

sectors. The 18th Army's 11th rifle

corps was also sent forward into a

defensive line along the eastern bank of

the Teterev River to bolster elements of

the 15th and 23rd rifle corps that were

retreating across the river. Forward

elements of the 27th and 40th armies

also arrived in the Kiev area unnoticed.

In order to continue their

counterattack, the Germans first had to

eliminate the various Soviet bridge

heads along the Teterev and Ursa rivers.

Von Melanin reported one such bridge

head being destroyed by the LH and first

panzer resulting in the elimination of

three and a half Russian divisions at

Mealen. The seventh Panzer was also

successful in destroying several bridge

heads after heavy

fighting trying to close the Melenni

pocket. As German infantry divisions

moved into positions on the west bank of

the Tedarev, the Panzer units there were

pulled out of the line for a day's rest

before turning north to help von Mantol

out on the Ursa line. German forces had

recaptured Coriston and were pushing the

Soviets eastward. With the Russians

focused on the attacking forces in front

of them, Balk saw an opportunity for an

enveloping attack that could inflict

even more damage on the enemy. He

planned to use the seventh panzer as his

right hook and the first panzer and Lah

as his left. Fon Mantofl was ordered to

cross the Ursa east of Malain and form a

bridge head that would serve as a

jumpoff point for the maneuver. With the

bridge head secured, Fon Mantol waited

for the other two divisions to arrive.

Under cover of a heavy artillery

bombardment, the three divisions began

their attack on December 19th. While Fon

Mantofl swung northwest behind the

Soviet line, the LH and First Panzer

made a frontal assault on the Russian

positions around the village of Melenni

about 30 km to the west. As the seventh

Panzer turned west, the other two

divisions fought their way through heavy

Soviet defenses and continued moving

north of the Ursa. This move cut off up

to two Soviet divisions that were facing

the Germans advancing from Korastan. The

LH and First Panzer then swung northeast

hoping to link up with von Manttol which

would create a pocket around Melanie

that could be destroyed by the advancing

German infantry. It seemed like a good

plan and on the 20th things seemed to be

going on schedule for the Germans as the

Russians were again caught off guard.

The problem was that German intelligence

had no idea what Balk was facing. It was

known that the Soviets had concentrated

forces around Melany, but it was only

after a map was found on a dead Russian

major that the Germans realized the

extent of those forces. The map showed

they were going up against at least

three tank corps and four infantry

corps. On top of that, the Russians were

also pouring more troops into the area.

A report from the LA stated, "There is a

constant reinforcement for the enemy

from the east. The fact that we are

being outflanked on both sides makes it

impossible to hold on to our decision to

make a forward thrust on both sides of

the march line." The Germans continued

to try to close the

Millenn December 23rd when Balk issued

orders to stabilize the line and suspend

attacks in the area. During the

afternoon and evening, the Panzer

divisions pulled back and established

defensive

positions. Kiev's fate

decided. While German eyes were on the

thrust toward Kiev, the Russians had

also poured more reinforcements into the

Brussel sector. On December 24th, three

combined armies, two tank armies, and a

number of independent core burst out of

their positions, hitting the three

weakened Panzer divisions, 8th, 19th,

and 25th, that were facing them. They

crashed through the German positions,

creating wide gaps in the line that

could not be

closed. With the beginning of the

December 24th offensive, the German

attempt to retake Kiev was finally at an

end. The Soviets had firmly established

themselves on the west bank of the

DNAPR, something that Hitler had wanted

to avoid at all costs. Fighting would

continue to clear all German forces from

the lower DNAPR, but the costly fighting

around Kiev had so depleted the units of

Army Group South, the outcome was

inevitable. It would be several more

months before the entire Ukraine would

be liberated, but its capital would

never again be under German control.