Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1943-1945: Red Steamroller

However, Fominykh’s tankers failed to spot a battery of concealed assault guns, which blasted the lead Soviet tank battalion from the point-blank range of 300 metres. Then von Manteuffel committed Langkeit’s Panzer-Regiment Großdeutschland in an expertly-executed counter-attack, which virtually slaughtered the remainder of Fominykh’s T-34s. As the Soviet attack ebbed, Langkeit’s Panzers came under long-range fire from 13 JS-2 heavy tanks from the 14th Guards Separate Heavy Tank Regiment.³⁶ Langkeit brought up Oberleutnant Fritz Stadler’s eight Tigers and the first battle between the latest Soviet and German heavy tanks began at a range of over 2,000 metres. Technically, the Soviet 122mm D-25T gun had better penetration than the German 8.8cm KwK 36 at this kind of range, but the Soviet tankers lacked the training to achieve accuracy over this distance. Von Manteuffel saw rounds from the Tigers strike the enemy heavy tanks, but they ‘all bounced off.’ The IS-2 had a much lower rate of fire than the Tiger and only eight BR-471 APHE rounds each, so they fired sparingly. Stadler decided to move in closer and probably told his crews to switch to Panzergranate 40 APCR with tungsten cores.[45] This time, from a range of about 1,800 metres, the Tigers were able to destroy four IS-2, which caused the rest to retreat. Langkeit aggressively ordered a company of Pz IVs to pursue the retreating enemy heavy tanks and they were able to close within 1,000 metres and knock out a few more with shots into the rear armour.

While von Manteuffel was focused on his left flank, two more Soviet rifle divisions and General-major Ivan A. Vovchenko’s 3 GTC tried to overrun his Füsilier-Regiment. Langkeit sent his other company of Pz IVs to this sector and von Edelsheim also sent part of an armoured Kampfgruppe, which resulted in Vovchenko’s tankers being hit on both flanks and losing more than 30 tanks in a one-sided action. Ironically, Shumilov’s 7 GA achieved some success west of Tirgu Fromos, where the 8th Guards Airborne Division and the 18 TC succeeded in routing the Romanian 6th Infantry Division. However, Korne moved a battlegroup of his armoured division to prevent a complete collapse in this sector and Konev failed to reinforce his success here.

Northeast of Tirgu Fromos, the Soviet 27th Army attacked the right flank of Füsilier-Regiment Großdeutschland and a regiment from the 46.Infanterie-Division with three rifle divisions. Bogdanov supported the attack with about 120 AFV, including 16 JS-2s from the 6th Separate Heavy Tank Regiment. This attack achieved some success, penetrating over 5km into the German line, which caused Bogdanov to commit Dubovoi’s 16 TC to exploit the perceived gap. Before noon, the JS-2s drove into the town of Facuti and began to engage German artillery and headquarters troops. This was a tense moment for von Manteuffel, whose own armour was fully engaged at this point. However, von Edelsheim committed both his Kampfgruppen, which attacked into Dubovoi’s exposed flank with about 40 tanks and assault guns. Two of Dubovoi’s brigades were shot-up, losing perhaps 40 tanks, and the rest of the corps was routed. Amazingly, Kirchner’s LVII Panzerkorps had repulsed Konev’s offensive and inflicted heavy losses upon the 2 TA and 5 GTA, amounting to about 150–200 tanks and self-propelled guns.³⁷ Out of about 36 tanks engaged, Großdeutschland lost six tanks destroyed and eight damaged.

Konev refused to accept that Kirchner’s defence around Tirgu Fromos was still solid and decided to renew the attack on 3 May. Massing his remaining armour, infantry and artillery, Konev tried to bash his way through Kirchner’s lines on a narrower front, but the 8.8cm flak guns from Großdeutschland inflicted a ‘tank slaughter’ upon Rotmistrov and sharp counter-attacks by the Großdeutschland, 24.Panzer-Division and Kampfgruppe Beiermeier from Totenkopf repulsed every Soviet attack. After two days of combat, Konev had fewer than 200 AFVs still operational, but he tried again on 4 May; this final surge only resulted in more needless casualties and left’s Konev’s exhausted and depleted forces over-extended. He decided to shift to the defence and pulled Rotmistrov’s 5 GTA back to refit. Bogdanov’s 2 TA was reduced to just 35 tanks and 12 self-propelled guns.³⁸ Sensing the weakness of Konev’s front-line units, Kirchner mounted two combined-arms counter-attacks with infantry, panzers and some air support on 7 May, which caught the Soviet 7 GA and 27 Army flat-footed. Both Großdeutschland and 24.Panzer-Division were able to recover some key terrain and inflict painful losses on Konev’s forces. Following this success, both sides shifted to the defence in northern Romania.