communications, that he will be forced to concentrate on repelling it, abandoning his main task,” I went over to the map and took the pointer in my hand. “I propose that a secondary counterstrike be launched from the south by the Bryansk Front, and that the main efforts be concentrated on Kleist's northern flank by launching a counteroffensive from Sychovka to cut the supply lines of the Wehrmacht's First Panzer Group.”
“What you are proposing is a blatant gamble. We’ll have to bet it all on one strike. If it doesn't succeed, we'll simply have nothing left to stop Kleist.”
“Boris Mikhailovich, you know yourself that throwing the reserves under Kleist's tank roller we won't be able to stop him anyway. We may be able to delay the enemy's advance a bit, but with the same disastrous result at the end.”
“I repeat the question,” said Shaposhnikov with pressure, “why are you so sure of the success of the counterattack?”
“Comrade Marshal, I ask your permission to lead the advanced breakthrough group – the same tank brigades reinforced with chemical troops. On the spot I will be able to pinpoint the weakest part of the German defense. We’ll cut a corridor in the chemical barrier, and then the armies of the Kalinin Front will develop success. The Germans do not believe in our ability to act effectively in a chemical contamination zone, and they don't expect a strike on their northern flank. We should not let this opportunity slip away. It's likely that we won't get another chance.”
Chapter 4
Hitler strode nervously along the long table covered with maps. The gloomy interior of the large meeting room was designed in the style of a medieval castle. Normally the Führer liked this environment, but now he felt a growing irritation.
“The unprecedented concentration of effort on the Moscow direction forced us to withdraw our best divisions from other parts of the front, especially from Leningrad region and from the south of Russia,” General Halder continued his report. “This gave the enemy the opportunity to undertake a number of offensive operations, and our weakened units were unable to effectively resist them. Near Leningrad, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive against Army Group North. Under the threat of encirclement, von Leeb's divisions were forced to abandon Tikhvin and retreat to the western bank of the Volkhov River. Due to the lack of reserves, which had been moved to reinforce von Kleist's troops, the Russians managed to cross the river in several places and gain a foothold. The most difficult situation was at the Kirishi bridgehead, which our 16th Army was trying to hold on the eastern shore. The enemy managed to force General Field Marshal von Leeb to evacuate the bridgehead. During the retreat, part of our troops defending Kirishi[3] were surrounded.”
Hitler knew all this, but he did not interrupt the Chief of General Staff. A weekly general report on the situation on the fronts became a tradition that Fuhrer saw no point in breaking.
“In the south we lost Rostov and Taganrog[4]. Without von Kleist's tanks, the stability of our defense was undermined, and after the Russian crossing of the Don we managed to stabilize the front only on the west bank of the Mius River, where the enemy managed to seize two small bridgeheads, for which now fierce fighting continues. Crimea became another point of extreme tension of our forces. In Kerch and Feodosia the Russians landed marines with a total of up to 50,000 men. Despite heavy losses, they managed to gain a foothold there and attack our troops from the seized bridgeheads. General von Manstein ordered the 46th Infantry Division and the Romanian Mountain Regiment to hold their positions at all costs, but the numerical superiority of the Russians quickly resulted in these forces being cut off on the Kerch Peninsula and almost completely annihilated[5].”
“These are the inevitable costs of a major war,” Hitler could not help but interrupt Halder, “Our losses are only temporary. Once Army Group Center is unblocked and we regroup and resupply, we will regain all lost territory. Move on to the situation in the Moscow direction, Colonel General.”
“At the moment the offensive of von Kleist's first tank group is progressing successfully,” said Halder in a noticeably more cheerful voice. “Competent use of chemical weapons allowed our armored divisions to quickly break the resistance of the Russians in the zone of the main strike and secure the flanks of the tank wedge against enemy counterattacks. The troops note the clear superiority of the Wehrmacht over the Red Army in terms of preparedness for action in chemical warfare, but the resistance of the Soviet troops to the effects of poisonous substances was somewhat higher than we had expected.”
“Thank the Abwehr, General,” bellowed Hitler, completely "forgetting" that he himself had authorized the use of sarin gas in a special operation prepared by the intelligence service. “Thanks to their adventure, we gave the Russians an extra week to prepare. I repeat my demand! All those involved in this unforgivable mistake must redeem themselves with blood!”
“The culprits have been identified, my Führer, and action has been taken on them,” General Yodl immediately responded, “Now they are already mending the consequences of their actions in the trenches on the Eastern Front.”
The rubber of the gas mask, hardened by the cold, bent badly. Kurt Knispel knew that if he didn't warm it up under his overcoat, it would be impossible to put on his gas mask. The chemical warfare in conditions of encirclement and 30-degree frost was a real hell for the troops of Army Group Center who found themselves in a pocket.
Two days ago they were read Hitler's address and announced that von Kleist's valiant tankers had already crushed the outer front of the encirclement and were less than a hundred kilometers away from Rommel, Goth and Göpner's armies, buried in the ground and snow. The Wehrmacht command promised them a quick rescue in a cheerful tone, emphasizing that the Führer had given orders to use all the means available to Germany, including the most modern chemical weapons, to break through to the encircled troops.
Knispel immediately disliked the mention of poison gases. Kurt himself did not take part in World War I – he had not even been born yet – but he had repeatedly heard the stories of veterans who had experienced that nightmare. None of the soldiers in the Moscow Pocket needed to be told that things did not go quite as planned for Army Group Center, to put it mildly, but Kurt could not imagine that things were so bad that Hitler would dare to use combat chemicals. Nevertheless, the Führer decided to do so.
The chemical warfare did not reach the encircled armies immediately. Apparently, it took some time for the Russians to get over the shock of the mustard gas, phosgene, and cyanogen chloride shells and bombs falling on their heads. They recovered fairly quickly, though.
The first chemical attack on the front line of the encircled German forces was delivered by Soviet heavy howitzers. Knispel was already used to the fact that the Russians had a clear shortage of shells, especially large caliber ones. However, they seemed to have a lot of chemical ammunition in reserve, and instead of the usual sparing shelling of late, the Reds dropped many hundreds of "suitcases" of mustard gas and lewisite on the German trenches.
The Russians did not use light-volatile gases. Apparently, their commanders believed that they were not very useful, and saw their main task as the chemical contamination of the area, through which the surrounded could try to break through to their own.
Kurt carefully crumpled the corrugated tube between the gas mask box and the mask with his fingers and shook out the ice frozen from his breath. He assembled the gas mask, checked to see if the rubber blades in the breathing valve were frozen, and, writhing in disgust, pulled the still-cold mask over his face.
Knispel's tank burned up in the battle near the Rogachev Highway. He was the only survivor of the crew. The burns he received were painful, but not dangerous, and a week and a half later Kurt
In real history, during the Tikhvin strategic offensive operation, which lasted until the end of December 1941, the Red Army failed to take Kirishi. The Kirishi bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Volkhov River was held by the Germans for almost two years, and it was a serious threat to the Red Army because of the possibility of renewed German offensive towards the Svir to join the Finnish troops.
In real history, Rostov-on-Don was also liberated by the Red Army during the Rostov offensive, held from November 17 to December 2, 1941, but Soviet troops were not able to take Taganrog, although such a task was put before the advancing armies. As a result, Taganrog was liberated only in August 1943 after two years of occupation.
Kerch-Feodosiya landing operation in real history began on December 26, 1941. The German infantry division and the Romanian regiment defending the Kerch Peninsula were able to avoid encirclement and retreat in an organized manner. Despite a successful start, the Soviet troops that landed subsequently suffered a heavy defeat. The Red Army suffered heavy losses and was forced to abandon the Kerch Peninsula again. The remnants of the Crimean Front (10–13 thousand soldiers) retreated to the Adzhimushkay quarries, where they continued to resist until the end of October 1942. In the reality of this book the landing at Kerch and Feodosia was two weeks earlier due to the more favorable situation, which arose due to the encirclement of Army Group Center near Moscow and the weakening of the Wehrmacht grouping in the Crimea because of the redeployment of German forces to supplement Kleist's Panzer Group.
