In the last gasp of the German offensive the SS Corps had gained a bridgehead over the Donets at Mikhailovka, south of the
Staryi Gorod (Old Town) of Belgorod. The commander of Voronezh Front, Army Gen.
N. F. Vatutin, made repeated demands of Lt. Gen.
M. S. Shumilov, commander of 64th Army, that this bridgehead be eliminated. While it only contained about 9 sq. km. of firm ground it did compromise the Red Army defenses along the river. On April 16 two regiments of the 73rd Guards made a last effort to retake Mikhailovka, but failed. Following this the division set out to construct a system of defense in this sector according to the plans of the rest of the Army. On the night of May 4/5 the division was relieved of its first echelon positions by the
81st Guards Rifle Division and moved back to the Corps' second echelon; at this time the 73rd Guards was the weakest division of the 7th Guards Army with 6,824 personnel on strength. Over the following months the Corps was deployed on the Army's right flank with the 81st Guards on the right (north) flank, the
78th Guards Rifle Division on the left, and the 73rd in reserve. The division fortified a line from outside Sheino to Miasoedovo to the "Solovev" collective farm to the Korenskaya Dacha wooded ravine to outside Nikolskoe. The rifle regiments were arrayed in a single line and the 153rd Guards Artillery was deployed to support the 81st Guards, which was heavily reinforced with other artillery units as well. By the start of the German offensive on July 5 the division had been able to rebuild its strength closer to establishment. It now had 8,617 personnel, 864 horses and 103 motor vehicles, and was equipped with 3,675 rifles, 2,241 sub-machine guns, 441
light and 140
heavy machine guns, 165
antitank rifles, 48
light, 64
medium and 20
heavy mortars, 45
antitank guns, 12
76mm regimental guns, 21
76mm cannons and 11
122mm howitzers. 7th Guards Army came under attack from
Army Detachment Kempf, part of Army Group South, and 25th Guards Corps specifically faced the
7th,
6th and
19th Panzer Divisions of Gen.
H. Breith's III Panzer Corps. 6th Panzer was partly deployed in the Mikhailovka bridgehead facing the 81st Guards, while the 19th Panzer was positioned to attack at the boundary of the 81st and 78th Guards in the direction of Miasoedovo, which was covered by the 73rd Guards; the latter was also an objective of 7th Panzer. The overall German plan was to link up with the II SS Panzer Corps which was attacking the
6th Guards Army to the north, and encircle and destroy the Red Army forces in between. Overnight on July 4/5 a sapper of the German
168th Infantry Division deserted and was brought to General Safiulin's 25th Guards Corps headquarters, where he reported that the offensive would begin in the morning. At 0330 hours a preemptive artillery bombardment began against Army Detachment Kempf; the 153rd Guards Regiment fired 306 76mm and 87 122mm shells at the German assembly areas which helped to disrupt the concentration of 6th Panzer into the Mikhailovka bridgehead. During the morning the 81st Guards was successful in repulsing both the 6th's and 19th Panzer's assault groups but to the south bitter fighting was underway on the boundary with the 78th Guards where several dozen tanks of 7th Panzer from the
Solomino area had broken through to the
Razumnoye railyard and the rifle battalion holding Nizhnii Olshanets was partly encircled. Colonel Kozak was alerted to intervene according to per-battle plans, either by counterattack or by backstopping the 78th Guards. Before noon he had assembled his division on a line running from the woods north of the "Batratskaya Dacha" State Farm to the woods south of there. Orders for the counterattack arrived from Safiulin at noon:In addition Kozak received operational control of the 161st Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment and the 315th
Guards Mortar Regiment. The assembly of this group of forces went slowly, including the mobile units. At 1500 hours the columns of the 209th and 214th Guards Regiments were only nearing the "Batratskaya Dacha" State Farm and still had more than 5 km to cover on foot. Most of the attached artillery had failed to arrive in the division's sector even by 1900 hours. Even as Kozak's troops were moving up the 7th Panzer Division kept advancing and after 1500 combat was already going on in the depth of the 78th Guards' defenses. By 1700 Nizhnii Olshanets was completely isolated and the lead panzers were closing on Krutoi Log, the main defensive position in the sector. However, heavy artillery fire was slowing their progress.
Battle for Krutoi Log Just as the lead tanks of 7th Panzer reached the Razumnoye - Krutoi Log road Colonel Kozak was located at the forward observation post of the 78th Guards on Hill 209.6, 2.5 km northeast of
Gremyachy. Kozak sent out several reconnaissance teams, one of which reported that Krutoi Rog had fallen and that 25 tanks, mounted with infantry, had arrived on the eastern outskirts of the village. This proved to be mistaken but on its basis Kozak made a number of important decisions as recorded in the divisional combat diary:While subsequent events are difficult to follow, this was a change to the mission of the 167th Tanks which had been preparing to advance with the latter two rifle regiments toward Krutoi Log. Instead it attacked alone at 1730 hours toward Razumnoye with 27
T-34s and 5
T-70s. In heavy fighting over 2 hours and 30 minutes with German tanks backed by artillery 20 T-34s and 4 T-70s were destroyed or knocked out. German losses are disputed; seven
Tigers were claimed but this appears unlikely. Kozak reported that at about 1850 hours the headquarters of one regiment of the 78th Guards was moving into the church in Krutoi Log, that units of 7th Panzer had taken Hill 164.7 and several tanks had entered Generalovka. To counter these moves he committed the remnants of the 167th Tanks and the 3rd Battalion of his 209th Guards Regiment which by 2200 hours had freed the village and the hill. The day's fighting ended at about 2300 hours. For July 6 General Shumilov initially issued orders to create a shock group based on the 73rd Guards in order to counterattack the III Panzer Corps but lost confidence in this plan in large part due to the lack of artillery on this axis; as one example the 153rd Guards Artillery Regiment was still in the 81st Guards' sector although Shumilov soon ordered its return to the 73rd. As well, sometime before midnight orders came down from I. V. Stalin to General Vatutin to cancel various counterattack plans across the Front. Colonel Kozak also made a number of decisions to strengthen his antitank defenses. He ordered the remaining 12 T-34s and one T-70 of the 167th Tanks and the 22 SU-122s of the 1438th SU Regiment to dig in on the south and southwest fringe of the woods lying 1 km north of Krutoi Log to create an antitank region in the positions of the 209th and 214th Guards Regiments opposite the front of the 7th Panzer. At the same time the 201st Tank Brigade had arrived on the division's left flank along with the 1669th Destroyer Antitank Artillery Regiment and the 1529th Heavy Self-propelled Artillery Regiment (
SU-152s): these began to set up a second antitank region in the area of the "Poliana" State Farm to cover the boundary with the
213th Rifle Division. The German attack opened at around 0400 hours with a powerful artillery preparation including heavy gun and
Nebelwerfer fire against the left flank of the 81st Guards and the sector of the 78th and 73rd Guards which lasted almost two hours. Among the most important objectives for Army Detachment Kempf at this point were Razumnoye and Krutoi Log which were splitting its advancing corps and hampering the advance of the 7th and 19th Panzers with flanking fire. The latter village was in the sector of the
106th Infantry Division. That division's Infantry Regiment 240 was ordered to take it from units of the 78th Guards that had fallen back to it the previous day while a detachment of 7th Panzer's Panzer Regiment 25 was to attack positions of the 73rd Guards in the direction of Hill 191.2. By about 0730 hours the 209th and 214th Guards Regiments joined combat in the sector from Generalovka to Hill 164.7 to Hill 191.2 which was between the first and second Soviet fortified belts. German tanks first conducted a brief reconnaissance-in-force against the center of Lt. Col. V. I. Davydenko's 214th Guards, which was held by Cpt. Andrei Antonovich Belgin's 3rd Battalion; this was quickly repelled. Next, both regiments were attacked. The 209th Guards on the right flank under Lt. Col. G. P. Slatov was struck by 30 armored vehicles and up to a battalion of infantry in the direction of Generalovka. This regiment was backed by a powerful artillery grouping, including the 1438th SU Regiment and surviving tanks of the 167th Regiment. Its commander later wrote:The second attack against the two regiments was very strong. According to the divisional history there were 96 tanks in the
panzer wedge rolling toward them and Hill 191.2 held by the 211th Guards Regiment. Heavy direct and indirect artillery fire separated the German infantry from the armor and as the boundary between the 209th and 214th was reached the tanks were hit by
Katyusha rockets. According to Colonel Kozak's after-action report these two regiments fought off more than four attacks by the 7th Panzer over five hours. A critical situation soon took shape in the area of Hill 187.4 as 28 German armored vehicles broke through to its foot. Lt. Colonel Davydenko ordered up the 1438th SU Regiment which went into action at 1000 hours, trading losses with the German grouping until it fell back. Meanwhile, elements of Infantry Regiment 240 broke into Krutoi Log from several directions. The defenders, the 225th Guards Regiment of the 78th Guards Division, reported that the German infantry were "totally numb to everything and were advancing literally head-on with no regard for losses." Prisoners were taken following hand-to-hand combat on some sectors, many of whom proved to be drunk on alcohol. Although accounts differ, it appears that the regiment had been encircled by 1100 hours and soon received orders to break out, although due to disrupted communications not all companies received these orders. These difficulties were made worse by attacks from
Il-2 aircraft ordered by Colonel Kozak, who was unaware of the true situation in the village. Remnants of the 225th Guards managed to fight their way out to friendly lines by 1500. By midday 7th Panzer had succeeded in seizing both Krutoi Log and Razumnoye but had failed to create a breach in the defenses of the 73rd Guards. Kozak reported:The 214th Guards Regiment had taken the brunt of the attack and during this fighting three of its men would become Heroes of the Soviet Union. The commander of its 3rd Battalion, Captain Belgin, organized the defense which went on for 13 hours, repelling up to 11 German attacks, accounting for about 600 German infantry and 14 tanks, one of which he destroyed himself. Belgin was killed during the battle. The commander of Belgin's 8th company, Cpt. Ivan Vasilievich Ilyasov, took over the battalion after Belgin and his senior adjutant were killed and continued to issue orders even after being wounded when his command post was partly destroyed; he lost his life when he was crushed by a German tank at his post. The commander of the battalion's signal platoon, Sen. Sgt. Sergei Petrovich Zorin, making his way between German vehicles, restored 12 breaks in his field telephone lines. Once his equipment was completely destroyed he carried four combat reports from Belgin to Lt. Colonel Davydenko, returning each time and knocking out a tank with an antitank grenade on one trip. Zorin survived the battle only to be killed by German artillery fire on August 24 near
Merefa. Today a monument to all three men stands on Lenin Street in Krutoi Log.
Fighting near "Batratskaia Dacha" At 2200 hours Kozak reported to General Safiulin (in part):Overnight the left-flank regiment of the
94th Guards Rifle Division was moved into the second echelon behind the positions of the 73rd Guards. Safiulin's orders from General Vatutin for July 7 were to hold his Corps' line. Before dawn the 106th Infantry went on the attack with up to a regiment, supported by 13 tanks towards the Koren River in the sector held by the 211th Guards Regiment, backed by remnants of two regiments of the 78th Guards and reinforced by the 201st Separate Tank Brigade (British
Matilda and
Valentine tanks). By 0500 hours this had been driven back with the loss of four German tanks knocked out. A further attack began at 0700 by was focused on the 78th Guards and captured the "Poliana" State Farm at the boundary of the 24th and 25th Guards Corps. The fighting for this point, Gremiachii and the Machine Tractor Station went on through the morning with all three changing hands several times. At 1300 hours a further strong attack by the 106th Infantry toward the "Poliana" State Farm began, involving up to a regiment of infantry and 17 tanks. The 2nd Battalion of the 211th Guards Regiment, suffering significant losses and unable to withstand the attack of superior forces, began retreating in the direction of
Churayevo, 4 km to the southeast and exposing the flank of the 78th Guards' 225th Guards Regiment. In order to restore the position General Safiulin personally assembled the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 211th Guards, the 225th Guards Regiment and a battalion of the
213th Rifle Division and launched a counterattack at about 1600 hours toward Gremiachii and the Machine Tractor Station, with fire support from the 201st Tanks and the 1529th SU Regiment. After a 10-minute artillery preparation and an hour of close-in combat this grouping retook what remained of the hamlet. Having brought up reserves the 106th Infantry returned to the attack but failed to recapture this position. Over the course of July 7 the 73rd Guards lost 142 men killed and a further 832 wounded. In the German planning for the following day the III Panzer Corps was to exploit the break between the 81st Guards, which was now partly encircled, and the 73rd Guards by driving north towards the 4th Panzer Army. To this end the 7th Panzer was to maintain an active defense along the fronts of the 73rd and 94th Guards. While on the Soviet side considerable effort went into a plan of counterattack by most of 7th Guards Army this was largely overtaken by events. At midnight Colonel Kozak reported:While the division had regained little ground through the day it had effectively tied down the 7th Panzer and 106th Infantry. On the other hand its morale was being impacted by the continuous combat; over July 7 and 8 the blocking detachments of the 92nd NKVD Rifle Regiment reported having detained 332 men of the division. On the morning of July 9 the strength return of the division showed 5,985 men present. As the III Panzer Corps ground northward toward
Melikhovo that day the division remained in its flank guard role; it was now being supported by the
15th Guards Rifle Division which had been allocated to 25th Guards Corps. In the afternoon of July 10 this division moved into the Corps' first echelon of defense. At about the same time 78th Guards began a further effort to retake the two state farms which soon ran into trouble due to heavy German fire. The commander of the 15th Guards ordered two battalions of his 44th Guards Regiment to attack towards the farms. The attack began well, catching units of the 7th Panzer during a redeployment. In the course of an hour the 44th Guards pushed the German grenadiers back 300-500m into the depths of the "Batratskaia Dacha" State Farm before they began to offer strong fire resistance. To prevent the attack from bogging down it was reinforced with the 214th Guards Regiment while General Safiulin ordered the 97th
Guards Mortar Regiment to support it with rocket fire. At 1855 hours five launchers fired a salvo of 78 M-13 (4.9 kg of high explosive each) at a concentration of German infantry and armor in the area of the woods 1,000m west of "Batratskaia Dacha" Farm which "blanketed" the target. While the weakened 214th Guards was unable to make headway the 44th Guards had advanced 1.5 km by day's end, reaching the western outskirts of the State Farm but unable to take it completely. The 214th Guards reported 78 men killed or wounded, two heavy machine guns destroyed and 4 horses killed. During July 12 General Shumilov sought to distract Kempf's forces from their mission by launching counterattacks towards his forward supply base at Krutoi Log. The main attack was to come from 7th Guards Army's right wing consisting of the 73rd Guards and
270th Rifle Divisions backed by the 201st Tank Brigade and artillery reinforcements. Overnight the division reported 4,593 men available for duty, 48.6 percent of authorized strength (2,051 riflemen and sappers; 1,547 artillerymen; remainder service personnel). These were armed with 194 light and 52 heavy machine guns; 67 mortars; 14 antitank guns; 10 regimental guns; plus 12 76mm cannon and 10 122mm howitzers in the 153rd Guards Artillery Regiment. The first attack by the 73rd and 15th Guards against elements of the
198th Infantry Division was halted in its tracks by 1040 hours with the 73rd Guards suffering particularly heavy casualties while gaining about 400m of ground. In the afternoon it resumed its attack jointly with the 213th Rifle Division and advanced a further 2.5 km. The 209th Guards Regiment crossed the road between "Batratskaia Dacha" State Farm and the Gremiachii Machine Tractor Station before bursting into the woods 2 km northeast of Krutoi Log where it remained in heavy combat until after dark. Colonel Kozak reported losses of 840 men killed or wounded during the day. This day also marked the end of the end of the German offensive, with Hitler ordering its suspension during the evening. ==Into Ukraine==