Chapter 75 Battle of Kiev

In early November, the enemy once again launched an offensive against the Dnieper River front of the Fourth Panzer Army on the northern flank of the Army Group with a strong force.It is difficult to say whether this offensive has a far-reaching goal, or whether it is just to win the necessary staging space on the west bank of the river. It will soon be known whether the troops of the Fourth Panzer Army will be able to hold the Dnieper River line. In five days, it can be seen that Kiev is bound to be lost. Army Group headquarters now considered it necessary to concentrate all available forces in this area, especially the three armored divisions still en route.Because Hitler had clearly designated these divisions to be used in the lower Dnieper area, the consent of the Army Headquarters had to be obtained first.If the latter cannot make other powerful forces available to the Fourth Panzer Army, there is no other way but to abandon the Dnieper Bend.Since this fundamental question was still undecided, I flew to Base Camp on the 7th of November.

During the talks, Hitler declared that he was never ready to abandon the original proposal of the Army Group, because that was the only chance, and only in that way could Crimea be preserved.No amount of success from Kiev could solve the problems on the southern flank. I replied that if we stick to the original plan, we will inevitably have to take great risks on the northern wing.The entire position of Army Group South and Army Group A would then be in jeopardy.Nor would I want to change the plan, but now it is absolutely necessary to use the three newly arrived armored divisions on the Kiev side.

Hitler also said that for military and political reasons we must succeed in the lower Dnieper region.First, the Army should educate itself that it still has the capability to strike successfully.Second, we maintain the manganese mines of Nykop, which are absolutely necessary for the war economy.Furthermore, the enemy should not be allowed to use Crimea as a base for bombing Romania. Although I was sympathetic to Hitler's motives, I still firmly believed that the danger on the northern wing was too great.If something goes wrong with the Fourth Panzer Army, the fate of the South Army Group and the A Army Group will be doomed sooner or later.

Hitler also acknowledged the magnitude of the danger, but declared that in our present situation the risk had to be taken, and that he himself was prepared to shoulder the responsibility. Even so, I managed to get him to agree to send the 4th Armored Division of the 2nd Army to our northern flank which he had repeatedly promised to transfer to us (coincidentally, this time again it was not fulfilled), in addition to Norland SS Brigade and 2nd Parachute Division (later).Later he also agreed to use the three newly arrived armored divisions (25th, 1st and Führer's Guards) on the side of Fourth Panzer Army.However, the two armored divisions of the Fortieth Army (14th and 24th) remained in the 1st Panzer Army so that new strikes could be launched in the Sixth Army area in the future.As long as Hitler refused to withdraw the First Panzer Army westward from the dangerous position of the Dnieper Bend (that is, abandoning Nikop and the Crimea), there was no hope of using these two divisions.

In the next few days, the situation in the Fourth Panzer Army went from bad to worse.Almost each of its eleven infantry divisions is equivalent to only one regiment, so it is naturally no match for the much stronger Russian army, which had about seventeen to a full 100 infantry divisions in the first wave of offensive. Twenty, three|four tank corps, one cavalry corps.Even though the group army still has two armored divisions used as mobile reserves, it is still too weak to stop the enemy's breakthrough. After a hard fight, our army finally withdrew from Kiev to prevent the Seventh Army from being surrounded in the city.The army retreated south, and the enemy's advance was more than thirty miles before being stopped.On the western flank of Seventh Army, forty miles southwest of Kiev, is the Fastov railway junction, vital to the replenishment and reinforcement of Eighth Army, which has also fallen to the Russians. human hands.

North of Kiev, the two armies of the Dnieper were also forced to retreat westward. The Thirteenth Corps withdrew to Zhitomir and the Forty-Ninth Corps to Koroston.These two railway junctions, important for communications with Army Group Center and for the supply of Fourth Panzer Army, were reached by the enemy. Now the Fourth Panzer Army has split into three groups that are far apart.The only silver lining in this bleak situation was that the enemy's offensive had split into two separate directions, one south and the other west.As long as the Russian units advancing westward cannot turn southward and make a large-scale detour to the army group, they will still have no direct impact on operations.Before the reinforcements of the army group can be mobilized, the responsibility of preventing the enemy from making such a detour should be borne by the two armies that have been forced to retreat westward.

However, the countermeasures of the army group will not start to take effect until mid-November, and we still have to go through a few tense days before that.The plan was to prepare a counter-offensive with three new armored divisions (25th, 1st and Führer's Guards, commanded by 48th Panzer Corps) against enemy armor advancing southwest from Kiev.For now, this is the most threatening force.In the future, this armored corps should turn westward and crush the enemy troops chasing the Thirteenth Army. After success in this direction, there is also the possibility of going straight to the rear of the enemy advancing south along the Dnieper.In order to further increase the Fourth Panzer Army, Army Headquarters drew from the Eighth Army two Panzer Divisions (Third and Tenth), two Panzer Rifle Divisions (Twentieth and SS Imperial Division) and 198th Infantry Division.Of course, this would seriously weaken the Eighth Army's front, but Army Group Headquarters had to risk such a measure in order to strengthen its forces at the decision point.

Unfortunately, the 48th Panzer Corps could not complete its build-up before mid-November, and the situation southwest of Kiev had become increasingly serious, so the Army Group Headquarters was forced to use the first available armored division first, and the second The Fifteenth Panzer Division launched a limited attack on Fastov, the purpose of which was to free the concentration area of ​​​​the Panzer Corps.Here again we can see how a new division paid a huge price when it first participated in the war on the Eastern Front.In addition, the commander of the division, when leading his reconnaissance battalion to the front, was killed upon contact with the enemy.Therefore, not only could it not lead its troops to regain the Fastov railway junction, but it also made these troops who participated in the Eastern Front combat for the first time suffer serious psychological setbacks.Nevertheless, it stopped the enemy south of Kiev and saved the Dnieper front from any further detours.

On November 15, the 48th Panzer Corps was able to begin its scheduled counterattack.The first goal was achieved when the enemy tank army advancing southwest from Kiev was defeated.Then it turned west, captured Zhytomir, and relieved the oppression of the Thirteenth Army.However, the last attack of the armored army was blocked by mud along the Zhytomir|Kiev Avenue to the front and rear of the Russian Army in the south of Kiev.Even so, although the enemy forces on the west bank of the Dnieper River could not be wiped out, by the beginning of December, the crisis of the Fourth Panzer Army was finally barely overcome.This army now holds a front from a point twenty-five miles south of Kiev to the area north of Zhytomyr.XXXIX Corps remained isolated near Korostun, but was able to retake it and re-establish rail links with Army Group Center.According to the report of the 4th Panzer Army, the enemy's death toll was about 20,000.The total number of enemy troops captured by our army was only 5,000, while the number of captured or destroyed tanks was 600, 300 field guns, and more than 1,200 anti-tank guns.This fact can also prove that the equipment of the Russian army has made great progress. Among all the Russian troops encountered in front of Kiev, two or three of the infantry divisions, as well as four tank corps, a mechanized corps and a cavalry corps can be regarded as Has been seriously injured.

Unfortunately, the initial rapid retreat of the corps of Fourth Panzer Army south and west led Hitler to believe that the commander of the army must be replaced.Although I insist that the loss of the front of the Dnieper was due to the strength of the enemy and the excessive consumption of our divisions, it was not due to the improper leadership of the army commander.However, Hitler still believed that Admiral Hoss had been overworked in recent years and should take a break, so he was transferred to the officer reserve.I deeply regret his departure, but Hitler at least assured me.After he has a short rest, he will be transferred to the western battlefield to still take over the post of commander of the group army.The person who replaced Hoss was a former Austrian officer, General Rauss (Gen‧Rauss). He served successively as the commander of the Sixth Armored Division and the Eleventh Army in this army group, and he was also quite famous.