Between Giants by Prit Buttar Read Free Book Online Page A

independent rifle divisions. To his south, Starikov’s 8th Army had 112th and 117th Rifle Corps and two independent rifle divisions, as well as a force of brand-new ‘Josef Stalin’ II tanks. These heavyweight vehicles had first seen action in the fighting near Kursk the previous year, and at 46 tons were substantially heavier than the ubiquitous T34s. However, their 122mm gun was hampered by a relatively low muzzle velocity, reducing its penetrative power. The ammunition for the gun came in separate parts, with the shell and propellant being loaded separately, giving it a low rate of fire, and in any case, with only 28 rounds of ammunition in the tank, its ability to engage in sustained warfare was limited. In total, the two Soviet armies had over 54,000 men, compared to barely 22,000 Germans. Obergruppenführer Anton Grasser, commander of Army Detachment Narva, advised higher commands that without reinforcements, he was unlikely to be able to hold on for long.
    Meanwhile, there had been a further change of personnel at Army Group North. Friessner and his chief of staff, Generalleutnant Eberhard Kinzel, had both been replaced. The new commander was General Ferdinand Schörner. As a junior officer in the First World War, Schörner was highly decorated for repeated bravery. He continued to serve as an officer in the inter-war Reichswehr, and commanded an infantry regiment in Poland and France in the opening campaigns of the war. He led a division on the Finnish front during the opening of Barbarossa , rising to command XIX Mountain Corps before taking command of XL Panzer Corps in the Ukraine in 1943. Here, he established a reputation as a hard, determined commander, who imposed iron discipline on his men. Nevertheless, his corps fought effectively around Nikopol, and in early 1944 he commanded 17th Army in the Crimea, before rising rapidly to take control first of Army Group South Ukraine and now Army Group North.
    Schörner was popular with Hitler, as a man who could be trusted to hold a position with the sort of iron resolution that Hitler often complained was missing from many of his generals. A physically intimidating man, he sometimes showed considerable imagination in how to get the best from his troops. During the fighting in Sevastopol in 1944, he issued an order that any soldier of 17th Army who succeeded in destroying a Soviet tank at close quarters would receive a leave pass. Given the parlous plight of the German forces in the Crimea, this represented one of the few ways of getting out alive, and it is likely that it inspired many infantrymen to engage Soviet tanks at considerable risk to themselves. Later in the war, his ruthless use of field courts martial to arrest, try and execute anyone regarded as a deserter often resulted in completely innocent men being needlessly killed. On one occasion, a senior NCO was ordered by his commander to go back from the front line to the division’s repair workshops, and then to return to the front with repaired fighting vehicles. Unfortunately for the NCO, his instructions were verbal, and despite his protestations, he was summarily convicted and executed. 24
    Like Model, Schörner was able to use the trust placed in him by Hitler to carry out withdrawals that would have attracted the anger of the Führer if any other commander had attempted them. He endorsed Grasser’s opinion that Army Detachment Narva was in a perilous position, but was unable to provide any reinforcements – Hitler had ordered him to assemble forces with which Army Group North could counter-attack towards the south, in an attempt to restore Army Group Centre’s lines. For the moment, Grasser would have to do the best he could.
    The Soviet commanders intended to give the Germans as little time as possible to prepare their new positions. They hurried their men forward, trying to take advantage of any weakness in the German line after the destruction of Seyffard , and with considerable aerial and