Bob Carruthers - Tiger Command!

“The advance Vorausabteilung will operate much further forward than usual, providing combat reconnaissance in strength, and will be supported by a battery of Sturmgeschütz. The Vorausabteilung will seize the bridge in a surprise attack. This group will be followed by a heavily reinforced attack group, and this main Angriffsgruppe will incorporate a force of fifty tanks, advancing to the jump-off point by forced marches, with its infantry riding on tanks.

“The Luftwaffe assures me that they have destroyed large concentrations of enemy armour which they discovered in the open. We do not therefore anticipate strong armoured resistance. However, the main attack by the Angriffsgruppe will only go ahead in the event that the bridge is seized and a wide perimeter is held by the Vorausabteilung. It is vital that the bridge is secured. A strong detachment of anti-tank guns and infantry has therefore been detailed to advance as a bridge guard. In the event of a strong Russian counterattack, the consequences of being trapped on the other side of the river do not bear thinking about.”

Voss’s plan was necessarily a simple one and, initially at least, all appeared to proceed smoothly. By the evening of the 5th of July, the most advanced elements of the Vorausabteilung had reached the vicinity of the bridge and had concealed themselves in readiness for the assault. The force chosen by Voss for this important assignment consisted principally of an army bicycle company and a platoon of Waffen SS assault engineers. An SS cavalry battalion awaited nearby, ready to add its mobility to the coming battle. This detachment was to assemble and, supported by the battery of assault guns, take possession of the bridge and keep the crossing open for the main attack group.

As soon as the bridge was secure, the main Angriffsgruppe would come rushing up from its jump-off point, five kilometres to the rear. The main Angriffsgruppe was to follow the advanced detachment and push on through, towards Chersoniev. A defensive force, the Verteidigungabteilung, was tasked with guarding the bridge. It consisted of one platoon of light infantry howitzers, one anti-tank platoon, and a company of infantry.

Plans for the support of the advance by strong artillery, emplaced as close to the front as possible, had been put into readiness for action. From its bridgehead positions, the battery of assault guns attached to the Vorausabteilung advanced detachment was to cover the dash to the bridge and assist in its seizure and the subsequent advance beyond.

It has often been said that the best laid plans do not survive the first five minutes of contact, but Voss had good reason to curse as things began to go wrong, even before contact. The reinforced bicycle company and the assault engineers had arrived at the jump-off point only to find that the battery of assault guns which had been ordered to the bridge had not yet arrived. The incomplete Vorausabteilung waited as precious hours of pre-dawn darkness vanished.

“Where the hell are they?” barked Voss at his radio operator.

“No report as yet, sir!” The operator knew it was a rhetorical question and continued with his quest to make sense out of what was becoming a confused situation. The time was not entirely wasted.

“Sir, the forward reconnaissance elements report that a weak enemy force with machine guns is holding the southern end of the bridge. However, at the far end, the Ivans are well dug in with concrete emplacements. The assault guns will certainly be needed.”

This report triggered a frantic series of calls to find the location of the Sturmgeschütz. Finally, a report came back.

“It appears the commander took the wrong route… he estimates a four hour delay.”

“Damn these children!” bellowed Voss. “Well, it’s his funeral. The attack will have to commence in full daylight…”

Eventually, the Sturmgeschütz arrived, and amends were made as they effectively threw their weight into the attack. With their help, the Vorausabteilung succeeded in throwing the enemy back and seizing the bridge. The concrete emplacements at the far end of the bridge were no match for the high-explosive rounds blasted into the firing slots from murderously short range, although reports were coming in of a few isolated individual Russian soldiers who continued to fight stubbornly from the woods beyond the bridge. It was clear that the main enemy force had withdrawn to the east, and they continued to harass the rapidly advancing Vorausabteilung from that direction by means of rifle and machine-gun fire.

Meanwhile, Voss now learned that the Angriffsgruppe, too, had been somewhat delayed by skirmishes with enemy snipers and isolated groups of partisans on this side of the river, and would be late in arriving. In order that the attack of the main body should not be held up because of this delay, Voss desperately ordered the main body to force march the remaining two kilometres, before the bridge could be reoccupied by stronger enemy units.

As he waited and seethed in frustration, the first prisoners arrived. Under interrogation from Voss himself, the disorientated and terrified prisoners stated that the Ivans were not intending to mount an immediate recapture of the bridge. Their statements were at first regarded as incorrect, especially in view of the general estimate of the situation. However, a short time later, an air observation report came in that enemy motorised forces were indeed retreating, and this appeared to confirm the prisoners’ statements.

Voss now decided to go forward himself, and quickly ascertained that enemy artillery, which he reckoned to be one medium battery, was shelling the road south of the bridge as far as the regimental command post. Voss took heart from the fact that the sound of battle indicated that the enemy was not resisting stubbornly.

In order to force the attack forward, Voss rushed to the bridge to rendezvous with the fast-approaching main Angriffsgruppe. He wanted to ensure that they immediately surged on to engage the enemy. He received a new and disconcerting report that signal flares, indicating enemy tanks, were now going up from the wooded area on the other side of the bridge.

The situation appeared to have changed. Were the Ivans about to reverse their plan? A further unconfirmed report arrived◦– what appeared to be an enemy tank concentration had been spotted in the woods to the south, and was now being engaged by the artillery.

At the same time that all of this was going on, messages began arriving from the advanced detachment saying that fire from enemy artillery, tank guns, heavy mortars, and infantry howitzers, in addition to well-aimed rifle fire, was preventing any forward movement. Some elements had got as far as the woods beyond the river; there, however, they had been stopped by enemy machine-gun fire. Consequently, though the assault guns were on the far bank, no infantry or engineers were firmly emplaced as yet. Voss therefore ordered the available artillery to switch targets and engage the enemy on the north bank.

As Voss waited and seethed, the situation became increasingly confused. The enemy artillery fire increased; it was estimated at forty heavy, eighty medium, and ninety light pieces. Furthermore, it was reported that the enemy was installed in field fortifications in the woods beyond the far bank, and that numerous light tanks were engaging the attacking force. The most advanced German infantry was involved in stubborn close combat with the enemy in foxholes and small trenches.

No report that the Vorausabteilung had succeeded in moving forward was forthcoming.

“Where the hell are those reports?” bellowed Voss. “What’s happening over there?”

The only good news was a subsequent report which confirmed that the assault guns had got across the river, expended their ammunition, returned to resupply, and then crossed again with more ammunition. It could not change the general picture that a continuation of the attack did not appear to promise success under the methods employed so far. Moreover, it was ascertained that the main Angriffsgruppe had lost much time in its advance by deploying across open terrain and that it was still lagging behind; early assistance from this battalion was not to be expected for another hour.