Chapter 68 Donets' first battle

As we expected, the enemy's first blow was aimed at the front including the Donets area. On July 17, the enemy began a powerful offensive against the Sixth Army on the Meuse and the First Panzer Army on the middle reaches of the Donets.However, although the enemy penetrated to a considerable depth, they still failed to achieve the goal of breaking through. After the enemy occupied a bridgehead position twelve miles wide and ten miles deep on the west bank of the Mias River north of Kuybyshev, the Sixth Army mobilized its mechanized troops left in the Donets area as a reserve and finally stopped the attack. enemy attack.

On the part of the 1st Panzer Army, the enemy crossed the Donets southeast of Isumen along a roughly twenty-mile front, but this army brought in troops from the 24th Panzer Corps from Kharkov. The two divisions finally also prevented the enemy from advancing further south of the river. Even if we were finally able to stop the Russian offensive at the end of July, from a long-term point of view, the situation in the Donets region is still difficult to last. Therefore, since July 17, when Hitler ordered the complete cessation of operations on the Acropolis, Army Group South decided to immediately withdraw the main armored force from this wing in order to resolve the crisis in the Donets area.We hope that in the course of the battle on the Acropolis, the enemy has been severely punished, so that there is now a breathing room on the front of this part.

Undoubtedly, this decision had extremely dangerous consequences for the northern flank of Army Group, since the enemy's offensive was launched earlier than we had expected.But even though this action was a mistake, in fact, because Hitler insisted on defending the Donets area, there was nothing he could do.And in fact, the temporary weakening of the northern flank was limited to the retreat of the Third Panzer Army Headquarters and the Third Panzer Division, because Hitler now temporarily handed over the SS Panzer Corps, which was scheduled to be transferred to Italy, to the command of the Southern Army Group , to launch a counterattack in the Donets region.

Because in fact, the two army headquarters and four armored divisions scheduled to go to the Donets area can only be reached separately, so the headquarters of the army group advocated that the SS armored army should first make a short-range sharp attack to straighten out the enemy. Positions of the 1st Panzer Army south of the Donets River.Thereafter all our armored forces should be used to sweep away the huge enemy bridgeheads in the Sixth Army area and restore the Meuse front.Yet Hitler suddenly forbade any action in the First Panzer Army area, though for no reason.During the Battle of the Acropolis, Hitler had long interfered with the operations of his own army group. For example, Hitler once prevented the Kenf Army from using the strength of the 24th Panzer Army.So I think it is necessary to protest to Army Headquarters.I made the following protest to General Chaisler:

If my apprehensions about future developments are not taken seriously, if my intentions as a commander continue to be frustrated and my purpose is only to relieve difficulties for which I am not responsible, then I must assume that the Führer is lost to this headquarters Its necessary confidence too.I don't consider myself completely error-free.Everyone makes mistakes, even famous generals like Frederic and Napoleon.At the same time, I must point out that the Eleventh Army won the Crimean Campaign under the most difficult circumstances, and at the end of last year, when the South Army Group faced almost hopeless situations, it finally passed We're through.

If the Fuehrer thinks he can find any army group commander-in-chief or headquarters staff who can show tougher nerves than we did last winter, than we did in the Crimea, or on the Donets, or on the Khar If the spirit of initiative shown by Kov is still stronger, the emergency response capabilities shown in the Crimea or the Winter Campaign are greater than ours, or the ability to predict the future is better than ours, then I think It is ready to hand over the duties to them! However, as long as I remain in this position, I must have the opportunity to use my own mind. On July 30, the army group's armored forces transferred from the northern flank began to launch a counterattack in the Sixth Army area.The result was a complete restoration of the River Meath situation.The proportion of troops in this battle also proves that the quality of the German troops is excellent.In the enemy's bridgehead, the total strength of all forces amounted to sixteen infantry divisions, two mechanized corps, one armored brigade, and two antitank brigades.The German counterattack had only four armored divisions, one armored infantry division, and two infantry divisions.

In this counter-offensive and in previous Russian attacks they lost a total of 18,000 men (captured), 700 tanks, 200 field guns and 400 anti-tank guns.