Kharkov 1942 by Robert Forczyk

Author:Robert Forczyk
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Kharkov 1942: The Wehrmacht Strikes Back
ISBN: 9781780961583
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

14 May

14 May brought another warm, sunny day and the Luftwaffe made the most of it. In addition to more fighters, StG 77 returned from the Crimea with about 100 Ju-87 Stukas and these were directed to support the LI AK counterattack against 38th Army. Overhead, the VVS retreated, stung by the loss of another eight fighters and unable to compete with Luftwaffe Bf-109 Experten. With local air superiority in hand, 3. and 23. Panzer-Divisionen, supported by two infantry regiments, continued their attack. The 23. Panzer-Division was able to encircle a rifle regiment from the 81st Rifle Division and reach the Babka River without much difficulty, but the 3. Panzer-Division became involved in a protracted battle with the 124th and 226th Rifle Divisions around Nepokrytaya. It was not until 1730hrs that Kampfgruppe Schmidt-Ott recaptured the town and the last Soviet infantry retreated behind the Babka. During the day, Moskalenko committed his remaining armour in driblets, accomplishing little but the loss of ten more tanks. The counterattack by LI AK had been a complete success that removed the 38th Army from the Soviet offensive line-up.

Despite this German victory, the Soviet northern group was still in a position to inflict a great deal of damage. The centre of XVII AK’s sector was in a state of flux, with a 12km-wide sector west of Peremoga held by only four battalion-size remnants from the 294. Infanterie-Division. Ryabyshev advanced against this thin grey line with four rifle divisions (169, 175, 244 and 13th Guards) and two tank brigades (57, 84), but was forced to leave the 90th Tank Brigade to defend Peremoga against LI AK’s Panzers coming from the south. The remnants of Gruppe Winkler delayed as best they could but abandoned Veseloe and fell back towards the Murom River. Ryabyshev’s forces advanced 4–6km but failed to crush Winkler’s rearguard. At this point in the battle, Ryabyshev faced only remnants between his spearheads and Kharkov, but lacked the reserves or exploitation force to complete the victory. Timoshenko’s decision to hold back armour and divert second-echelon forces to deal with the German counterattack now robbed the entire northern offensive of its one chance for decisive success.

Ryabyshev hoped to get the 38th Rifle Division back into the fight, but its attack on Gruppe Grüner in Ternovaya failed completely. Grüner was able to receive aerial resupply from the Luftwaffe as well as numerous Ju-88 bombing missions from KG 51, which stiffened morale in his encircled command. Ryabyshev severely miscalculated when he believed that a single rifle division without tank support could eliminate the German garrison in Ternovaya. Instead, Ryabyshev had to settle for merely containing Grüner, which simply tied up his resources. Further north, Gordov’s 21st Army continued to advance. The 227th Rifle Division and 10th Tank Brigade boldly pushed 6km west into an area where there were no German forces, while the 293rd and 76th Rifle Divisions enveloped the German 79. Infanterie-Division Stutzpünkte in Murom and Grafovka. A great deal of AOK 6’s success in resisting the Soviet northern offensive was owed to the tenacity of the 79.

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