Chapter 712: Weather
“We have a firmer faith than our enemy! This allows us to endure heavier losses than them,” Rokossovsky said, his hands behind his back as he stood in front of the blood-stained German map, his tone calm and unruffled. His troops had captured this heavily defended German position half an hour ago, but at the heavy cost of a full twenty thousand soldiers.
The two sides had fought repeatedly for the nearby positions. In the end, the Soviet Red Army had achieved its greatest victory since the beginning of the war. They had captured nearly 3,000 German soldiers and seized 4 150mm heavy cannons, 4 105mm cannons, and 2 75mm anti-tank guns, among other weapons.
The military band had set up its equipment on the still-smoky position and began to play and sing for the exhausted soldiers who were still pressing forward. If Akado were here, he would have heard a familiar melody, a very familiar song.
“When the pear blossoms bloom across the land, a soft gauze floats on the river, Katyusha stands on the steep bank, her song like the bright spring light.” A group of Soviet female university students stood in a neat line on top of a trench, singing this newly written love song to the Red Army soldiers who were rushing towards a more distant direction. On New Year’s Day, January 1, 1939, this song was sung for the first time among the Soviet troops. It immediately spread like wildfire and became one of the most popular songs in the Red Army.
Rokossovsky was very satisfied with the current attack speed of his Guards Army. The Soviet meteorological department predicted that the bad weather would last for about 10 days, which was undoubtedly a very favorable condition for the Red Army, which was about to attack Kiev. After all, their air force was no match for the German Air Force.
“We have lived on this land for thousands of years. This is our advantage! We know the cold here, we understand the snowfall here. Standing here and feeling the cold wind blowing down my neck, I know that this terrible snowfall will last for at least a few more days,” he said to his aide with full confidence. “And our opponents have clearly still underestimated the harsh weather conditions here in the Soviet Union.”
Even if they were more fully prepared, the German army could only barely manage to prevent the arrival of winter from affecting their combat operations. The Soviets, on the other hand, could take advantage of this harsh weather. They knew how to use these strange climates. This was an extension of the advantage of the terrain, the terror of the home ground advantage.
Despite having all the advantages, Rokossovsky’s heart was still shaken by the tenacity and strength of the Germans. He had carefully prepared an attack that he thought could tear through the German lines, but now it had only broken through their defense line. The difficulty of the offensive far exceeded his plan, and he still didn’t even know how many such tough opponents the Germans had.
He had knocked out a German infantry division at the cost of two of his own. Although he had achieved the greatest victory since the beginning of the war, he knew that this exchange was not enough to be trumpeted as a great victory. The Red Army had to commit more troops and make greater sacrifices to completely tear through the German defense line opposite them.
Rokossovsky walked out of this underground shelter, which had originally been a German frontline command post, and felt the cold wind on his face. “List… this German general is really a tough opponent. He still hasn’t given up his position. What are you waiting for? That distant Guderian? Or that incompetent Kluge?”
The news from the other direction was not very reassuring. Guderian’s troops had already captured a large area of Soviet territory as if in a race. The most powerful armored army of the German army, Army Group G, had already cut in between Kharkov and Donetsk. Now, Timoshenko, who was in charge there, still couldn’t judge whether the Germans were going to head north or south.
Kluge’s army group had done nothing on List’s flank, making it hard to remember that there was a mediocre general there. This man, who had become a frontline general of the Empire by relying on his obedience to Akado, was still a warm, good-natured old man. In the place where he was, even the Soviet Red Army opposite could breathe a sigh of relief. He was simply a peace ambassador in wartime.
“Send a telegram to General Zhukov. Assure him that by noon tomorrow, my troops will have entered Kalinkavichy,” he said to the deputy following behind him as he walked through the trench that had been cleared but was still covered in bloodstains. “Order the entire army to accelerate its advance! Colonels and above must personally lead the charge! Division and corps commanders, if they cannot capture their objectives on time, will be executed by military law without trial!”
At this very moment, on the other side, List was staring at the operational map in front of him with a worried, bitter expression. It showed that two of his divisions had been routed by the Red Army, and another had been completely annihilated. An hour ago, he had just sent a telegram to the General Staff about the complete destruction of this division.
Army Group E was gradually heading towards destruction. In List’s jurisdiction, he had even organized the rear garrison troops into combat units. These new recruits, armed with only rifles, were all sent to the front to supplement the heavily damaged divisions. But the entire Army Group E was still unable to make ends meet, and its attrition had reached an outrageous level.
Every division in this army group had suffered more than five percent attrition, some as high as twenty percent. Two divisions had lost more than half their strength, and one was completely wiped out. This did not even include the ammunition and supplies consumed at the front. The losses were already so great that the German army had never seen anything like it.
Ring ring ring! The phone suddenly rang. List picked it up, and Akado’s voice came from inside: “Good afternoon, General List. This is Akado Rudolph.”
Clatter! List quickly stood at attention and then replied respectfully, “Long live the great Führer Akado Rudolph! My Führer! What can I do for you?”
“It’s very simple! I just heard the loss report for Army Group E. I feel I must personally give you this call. I want to know, do you have the confidence to hold your position for 10 days?” Akado’s voice came through the headset. It was clear that he was also concerned about how much the battle situation north of Kiev would deteriorate.
“My Führer! I can guarantee that my troops can hold on for another 10 days, even 11 if necessary. But if the nearby reinforcements don’t start moving in advance, I’m not sure if they can arrive in time in this bad weather to reinforce the already routed Army Group E,” List said with great concern. “At that time, I’m afraid you will lose the entire Army Group E, and even Kiev behind it.”
There was a moment of silence on Akado’s end. Just as List thought the line had been disconnected, he slowly spoke, “I have a way to reinforce you with 20,000 men within 10 days, and they are well-trained elites. But this force will only appear in Kiev, and nowhere else. You just need to continue to retreat, little by little, according to the plan.”
“Preserve your strength as much as possible, and then wait for the moment of victory, Your Excellency, my General! Victory will surely belong to the Third Reich!” After saying this, Akado hung up the phone.
“I really want to know, if I can’t hold off the enemy’s attack, then will the backup plan we’ve prepared be useless… At a time like this, the Führer personally called me and asked me to hold on in this direction for 10 days.” Putting down the phone, List once again moved his gaze away from the chaotic maps and muttered to himself, “But what’s the use of me holding on here without any follow-up support preparations?”
Akado had called List and asked him to hold on for 10 days, which List was somewhat confident he could do. But he had not yet received the specific designation of the troops coming to reinforce him, nor had he received any news of the movements of the neighboring army groups. This made him very worried. He was worried that his army group would suffer unbearable losses, and he was also worried that his rout would make the situation in the entire southern region unmanageable.
“Have the five rotating divisions move to the front! Don’t hold back any ammunition reserves! Give me one last hard fight on the final defense line! Then abandon Kalinkavichy and retreat towards Ovruch!” Calling his chief of staff and some nearby corps and division commanders, List gave the order according to Akado’s request. He was preparing to move his defense line to between Korosten, Malyn, and Ivankiv. This would give Army Group E at least two more days to rest and reorganize, and would also allow List to leisurely arrange his defense line in these cities.
“Have those replacement soldiers watch the prisoners of war build the new defense line! I’ll give you one day. You must build up a defense line in these places that is sufficient for us to hold for more than three days!” List said to his men, pointing at these cities.
And so, a large-scale retreat began. The German army abandoned the defense line they had held for two days and retreated to Kalinkavichy behind them. There, their rear guard fought a brutal encounter battle with three divisions of the Red Army that had caught up to them, and at dawn, they gave up the important city of Kalinkavichy.
The Soviet Red Army was advancing triumphantly on the northern front. It seemed that Kiev was already under their guns. Rokossovsky gave the order to continue the attack, ignoring the full 200 T-34 and KV-1 tanks of various models that had broken down and been abandoned on the road. The Red Army, having occupied Kalinkavichy, continued to advance south, charging towards their new objective—Ovruch.
Published: 2025-09-21T03:18:53.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-03-05T18:59:45.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c712-weather-139372672
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