June 17th, 1944
Baltic Sea
Red Wolves
Off the coast of East Prussia - After an initial observation phase, Soviet submariners launch a major series of actions against naval traffic between Germany, Danzig and Königsberg, torpedoing several transports. Their ambition seems to be to isolate East Prussia from any maritime links - a sure sign of a future land offensive in that direction.
Captain 3rd Class Alexander Marinesko's S-13 distinguishes itself once again, firing three torpedoes and then a fourth at a ship passing off the Hel Peninsula. Noting that his target appears to survive (none of them hit), the Soviet surfaces and fires no fewer than 39 shells from his 100 mm deck piece at his target until it bursts into flames. Then it dives again, satisfied with his result and claiming to have destroyed a 5,000 tonne cargo ship. In fact, the steamer Siegfried (5,630 tonnes) is only damaged and has to run aground*. But that's worth something.
The art of using Slovaks
Dukla-Carpathians
3rd Ukrainian Front, Galician Front - The 20th Armoured Corps (Pavel Poluboiarov) enters Vranov nad Topľou and Prešov. Poluboiarov has taken great risks, but this spectacular breakthrough has finally shaken the German defenders, who are now on the run. All night long, Walter Hahm's 389. ID runs towards Sabinov, its right wing trying to stop the Soviet tanks without any strategy or means to do so. It now retreats towards the Branisko Pass accompanied by the handful of vehicles remaining in the 277. StuG Abt (Major Wolfgang Ernst), leaving the 6. Armee to defend its own rear at Lipany and Bardejov. At the same time, Viktor Lang's 218. ID runs towards Michalovce, taking advantage, to his happy surprise, of the fact that his opponent has not decided to surround him.
It is true that, behind the fugitives, Pavel Belov's 61st Army and Andrei Vlassov's 1st Shock Army are taking possession of the ravaged terrain and are therefore moving... slowly. As a result, it is difficult for Poluboiarov to go any further until his comrades have rallied and regained their strength... if not their blood. But that's not the point.
In the center, the Axis now has to fill a gap and defend the Soroška Pass and then the road to Miskolc. And it is into this big hole that the German general staff is going to throw the SS-Panzergrenadier Brigade Horst-Wessel and the Panzergrenadier Tatra - which would arrive in the area the following night and in three days' time respectively.
Hungary, whatever the cost
Operation Schwabenwall
1st Magyar Army and German tanks, Guruslau Depression - The Hungarian-German assault on Cluj-Napoca seems to have been definitively thwarted. Admittedly, at this time, neither the Axis left nor right are in a really bad position - on the other hand, in the centre, the situation continues to worsen, revealing a great weakness.
On the Soviet left, the 16th Armoured Corps (A.I. Getman) and the 8th Mechanised Corps (Vladimir Baskakov) are still experiencing some difficulties. This is logical, as this is where the enemy is strongest. Faced with the Panzer IV and Jadgpanzer IV of the 13. Panzer (Helmutt von der Chevallerie), which are suffering increasing losses, as well as the Nashorns of the 560. schw. PzJ. Abt (Major Rudolf Markowz), the Soviet tanks nevertheless begin to advance towards Căpușu Mare and especially towards Gârbău, hitting the 1st Hungarian ID (Gusztáv Deseö) hard, with little support from the XLII. AK (Frank Mattenklott). It is true that the latter itself had to guard against the 38th Army (Kyrill Moskalenko), accompanied by the remnants of the 2nd Armoured Corps (Ivan Lazarev), which had been much abused in recent days... not to mention the strikes by the 17th Air Army (Vladimir Sudets).
In the centre of the battle, in the Topa Mică sector, the 19. Panzer (Hans Källner) and the 502. schw. Pz Abt (Major Horst Richter-Rethwisch), which no longer have any real infantry support, continue to fight, retreating across the hills towards Sâncraiu Almașului, on the road to Zimbor. After that, it is Sânmihaiu Almașului - the triumph of three days ago! But above all the critical point providing the link between the various Axis forces still manoeuvring around Cluj-Napoca... Obviously, in such circumstances - and also in these tactical conditions, clearly favourable to Richter-Rethwisch's Tigers - German steel proves very dangerous. However, it is increasingly drowned out by the masses of armour of the 9th Mechanised Corps (M.I. Savelyev) and above all the 47th Army (Filipp Zhmachenko) - which has finished rallying and is starting to push forward. At this stage, these attempts are as costly as they are fruitless. But the Axis is no longer advancing... If it is fighting, it is fighting not to retreat.
Finally, it is on the Soviet right that Schwabenwall's last chance is at stake. Ivan Korovnikov's 59th Army and Mikhail Fomichkov's 4th Armoured Corps - which has given so much over the last few days that it has been reduced to less than 50% of its original strength! - are still facing the 17. Panzer (Karl-Friedrich von der Meden) and the equivalent of a Hungarian army corps. A battle of attrition with barrage fire, strikes and counter-strikes, all interspersed with waves of Sturmoviks... The armoured vanguards intermingle, some going down towards Schucken (Zsuk, Jucu) on the direct route to Cluj, some going up towards Giula with the support of the 47th Army... For the moment, however, nothing of note results from this melee, apart from more deaths and more mountains of smashed steel to add to those already cluttering Transylvania.
It was in these circumstances that Gotthard Heinrici - who has clearly understood that allowing the Red to reinforce on his wing means abandoning his objective altogether - orders Wend von Wietersheim, whose 11. Panzer finally arrives as reinforcements, to descend towards Cluj-Napoca, in support of the 17. Panzer. With a bit of luck, it would force the decision. At worst, it would limit the damage... Of course, this decision means abandoning any eastward march from Bistrița - where the Hungarian mountain brigades have nothing serious in front of them, apart from the remnants of the 16th Army (Leonty Cheremisov) and a few elements of the 5th Cavalry Corps (Kriushenkin) that had been rushed in. Yes... But HG B no longer has the means to fulfil its ambitions. Well, the Reich's ambitions.
To counter Schwabenwall
Front of the 11. Armee, Apuseni Mountains - The increasingly visible failure of the 17. Armee on its right - while on its left, it is already taking an ArmeeKorps without making any significant gains! - makes Georg-Hans Reinhardt's position more uncomfortable by the hour. Admittedly, he still seems well sheltered in his mountains... The trouble is that all around him, his comrades seem to be cracking!
For the 328. ID (Joachim von Tresckow), the situation hardly changes. The Romanians continue - courageously or stupidly, depending on the situation - to push on towards Lunca, which they would probably reach tomorrow at the rate things are going. After that, they will have just 35 kilometres of mountain road to the strategic crossroads of Câmpeni. A hundred times enough time to die.
Towards Zlatna, it's already a bit worse. The 376. ID (Herman Frenking) is more of a hodgepodge than a division, but at least it exists. Its late arrival - but arrival nonetheless - helps to stabilise the Russian thrust, which is threatening to topple the 225. ID (Ernst Riße) and the 215. ID (Bruno Frankewitz), objectively reduced to less than 25% of their theoretical potential. But if the Slavs have suffered, if the Slavs have to breathe, the Slavs are also once again hammering the German lines, and elsewhere, in support of the 9th Army (Vasily Glagolev) - the 12th Mechanised Corps (Dimitri Ryabyshev) is already deploying its SU-122s. Clearly, the Slav has plenty of energy. And ammunition too...
Finally, to the right of the 11. Armee, on the road to the Valisoara Pass, near Ormindea and Valisoara - but unfortunately no further, as it has to be deployed urgently - the 12. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division (Herbert Kettner) throws itself in the way of the 14th Army (V.A. Frolov), which is threatening to move up towards Brad, or even to surround the whole operation. To achieve this, part of the infantry had to ride over the Marders and Hetzers of the 191. StuG Abt (Hauptmann Alfred Müller), while the rest ran behind! The entire 11. Armee now depends on the resistance of a hodgepodge of aircraft mechanics disguised as infantrymen and salvaged armour cobbled together as tank hunters. The failure of von Arnim and his 17. Armee is unacceptable!
Front of the 17. Armee, Iron Gates region - And yet, Hans-Jürgen von Arnim and his army does not lose out... Like its opponent, the 4th Ukrainian Front (Fyodor Tolbukhin), the 17. Armee continues to send battalion after battalion into the furnace, with no ‘strategic’ idea other than to break the opponent or block him.
The Boz-Brănișca-Vețel front retreats slightly towards Sârbi and Bretea Mureșană. The fault lies with 11. Armee, whose late arrival on the left of von Arnim's troops allows the Reds to seize the positions guarding the northern flank. In vain, the Luftwaffe attempts a few (undeniably) courageous, (sometimes) noticeable and (not often...) decisive interventions by sending in the Fw 190 F and Ju 87 G of the III and IV/SG.2 to chase down enemy tanks. But these support aircraft are often countered by the MiG 9s of Comrade Verchinin's 4th Air Army. The IV. FliegerKorps (Rudolf Meister) is only able to detach II/JG.52 (on Bf 109 G) as escort, due to an irritating fuel shortage. In all, 23 red stars fall, one of them to Gruppenkommander Gerhard Barkhorn, who has now scored 241 victories. But seven Stukas, four Bf 109 Gs and three Fw 190 Fs don't make it home (and two more of these over-armoured birds crash on landing).
On the ground, the fight goes on. And the 17. SS-Freiwilligen Kavallerie-Division Maria Theresa (Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen SS August Zehender) plunges into the fray with typically National Socialist enthusiasm, further enhanced by the German-Hungarian fraternity in arms... and by the recklessness associated with the youth of the fighters, which is not tempered by the experience of the veterans of the former 8. SS-Kavallerie Florian-Geyer - especially as they had only been involved in anti-partisan fighting. While waiting for the 20. Panzergrenadier (Georg Jauer), which should arrive tomorrow.
Finally, the 95. ID (Gustav Gihr) - still as isolated and ignored as ever - has to retreat towards Bucova: the thrust of the 62nd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi) is irresistible. It is inevitable - and ridiculous too, since no one is stopping it...
Romanians in the Soviets
Le bal des maudits - ‘Today, our Tudor Vladimirescu has air support! Twenty or so large Soviet-made twin-engine planes (ours, made for us by the workers of the USSR!) hit the fascist positions from quite high up with an escort of what we assume are Yaks. What a change from the royalist biplanes!
Unfortunately, the response to the ensuing assault was no less violent. It is at very high cost that we enter Lunca, with the Horia, Cloșca și Crișan on our right in the hills. Lieutenant-Commissioner Palariar, who leads the action with Lucian Hasdeu, often walks past. His genuine enthusiasm inspires us. That's why, when he's hit by a bullet, we quickly pull him to safety, bandage him up and evacuate him to the rear. And that's also why his death, announced during the night, is so keenly felt.’
(Farewell my country...once again, Vasil Gravil, Gallimard 1957)
Vistula-Oder
Foreboding
Soviet Union - The most attentive - and motivated - observers of the conflict prepare for the next major action. Vassili Grossman, returning from extended leave in Moscow, drives to the front. His car stops for petrol in Kaluga, 250 km from the capital. And he notices that the echoes of the fighting in Warsaw have already travelled around the USSR, as some had feared.
‘A little old man, a petrol pump attendant in Kaluga, full of wise judgements and inclined to philosophise like all the guards, said to us by way of farewell as he closed the door of the petrol station behind our car: ’You're going to Warsaw, there's a war going on there now, and a dirty war it seems. But only two winters ago, I nearly leaked the petrol from my tanks into the ditches before the Germans arrived. Ten years from now, the kids will be learning about it at school and they'll come and ask me ‘Grandpa, is it true that the Germans were in Smolensk?'
A sympathetic account, but a grim reminder that the USSR could have suffered even more from the war - which is far from over. Who can say what Grossman will have to say in his final notebooks?
Proletarian aviators of all countries, unite!
‘At 12 noon on the 17th, on the train heading for Łomża, in a countryside that seemed to us both more deserted and more dreary, the strength of the squadron had plummeted. Only three squadrons would operate in Poland and East Prussia during the last campaign. Three squadrons which, from June 44 to the end, were to experience the final months of this titanic war and the apotheosis of victory’.
(Captain François de Geoffre, Escadre Franche-Comté/Vistule, Charles Corlet ed. 1952, republished by J'ai Lu / Leur Aventure 1963 under the title Franche-Comté/Vistule)
Bluff
On the rear of HG A - As the Polish front rustles with activity, between those preparing to attack (on the front) and those entrenching themselves (on this side), a man with a vital mission travels the countryside and the railway lines. He has to organise transport and manage the construction of fortifications.
The Generalbevollmächtigter für Verkehrs und Festungswesen der Südostfront Poland Julius von Hallmann plays an important role. But, from a German point of view, he has (at least) three faults: he is neither a general nor a German and he is not called von Hallmann. His real name is Kazimierz Leski, a Pole, a naval engineer, a downed fighter pilot, twice an escapee and not a Jew, although he is a member of an escape circuit for Jews! This particularly cheeky fellow is an intelligence officer in a stolen uniform, with incredible glibness and aplomb. Of course, all his reports go directly, not to the OKH, but to the Allied forces, by coded radio messages.
Changing his identity like his shirt - he soon becomes General Karl Leopold Jansen, more modestly in charge of supplies at HG B - Leski survived until the end of the war, just as he had survived in Warsaw. His information undoubtedly played a (modest but real) role in the complete liberation of his country**.
Desolate Poland
Rancour
"Liberated" regions - The defectors from the NKFD and BDO are continuing their psychological warfare, led by Lieutenant-General Alexander von Daniels, who remains as energetic as ever. They have now welcomed a new recruit into their ranks: Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach, former head of the XLVIII. ArmeeKorps, who was abandoned on the road to Reghin and did not at all appreciate this twist of fate.
Likening himself to a man of the old school (he came from the very old family of the lords and barons of Seydlitz, which included generals and staff officers under Frederick the Great and Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg), von Seydlitz-Kurzbach no longer believes at all in the Reich's victory. Instead, he now wants to try and save Germany in its greatness, for the future of the nation. A somewhat naive approach, but one that fits in perfectly with the founding principles of the BDO. Besides, von Seydlitz-Kurzbach is an observer. He sees how things are going with the Poles, for example.
Special forces
Uncertainty
Schloß Friedenthal (Sachsenhausen bei Oranienburg) - The 502. SS-Jäger-Battalion completes its first phase of replenishment, thanks to the many recruitments (or requisitions) carried out at the beginning of the year. The unit is now sufficiently operational again to carry out in-depth strategic operations - and above all to enable the Reich to win, in place of those soft Brandenburgers.
However, SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny has one question on his mind - he still has faith in the final victory, of course! But he is no longer sure what role he should play in it. He and his three companies. Not just line infantry, eh?
* Repaired, it even served until 1954!
** Persecuted by the Communists but decorated many times over (Virtuti Militari, triple Cross of Valour), member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, best-selling author and Righteous Among the Nations, Kazimierz Leski died at home on May 27th, 2000 at the venerable age of 88 - which was probably the most unexpected thing for him.