On to Mogilev

Hitler was obsessed with mopping up the Minsk Pocket, but Guderian was convinced the answer was not to stop and hold off any counterattack, but to strike fast to encircle the huge Soviet army gathering to the east at Smolensk. After several frustrating days halted southeast of Minsk, Guderian persuaded his superior, Field Marshal Hans von Kluge, of the wisdom of his plans and let him attack. Again the Das Reich men were in the vanguard, pushing towards Mogilev where a large Soviet force was reported to be gathering. The SS men avoided the Soviet troops, leaving them for follow-on forces, and aimed for a crossing point over the River Dnieper at Shklov. Russian aircraft bombed the bridges over the Dnieper that the SS men were trying to capture, and again engineers had to repair them before the advance could continue towards Gorki.

Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft flew ahead of the SS columns looking out for any Soviet forces that might pose a threat. Guderian then joined the SS advance on 14 July as it surged even farther into the Russian interior. In little over a month Hausser's men had travelled almost 644km (400 miles). They had not suffered serious losses, but were totally exhausted by the pace of the advance.

Das Reich on the defensive

Tanks from 10th Panzer Division took over the lead of the advance through Mstislavi and then on to Pochinok. Russians troops contested both towns and inflicted heavy casualties on the SS infantry following behind the armour. By 20 July, the 10th Panzer Division and Das Reich had carved a huge swathe through the Soviet positions south of Smolensk, driving to Yelnya, 48km (30 miles) to the east. Hoth's panzers were now moving around Smolensk, to close with the SS men and snap shut the jaws of another pincer movement.

Das Reich and 10th Panzer were now assaulted by a series of Soviet counterattacks aimed at keeping open a corridor to their comrades in Smolensk. Intense artillery fire kept German troops pinned down in an attempt to stop them advancing farther eastwards. The Soviets then sent in their tanks in a determined counterattack. The Das Reich troops clung on for two desperate days, eventually running low on ammunition. Two-thirds of 10th Panzer's tanks were knocked out in the fighting, which also resulted in 20 Soviet tanks being destroyed. Das Reich's reconnaissance battalion was again in the forefront of the fighting, surviving repeated Soviet air attacks on its positions. During these desperate battles the SS division captured some 1100 prisoners.

The Smolensk Pocket

Russian attacks continued against the Yelnya positions and did not cease even after 26 July, when Hoth's panzers joined up with German units to the west of Das Reich. The SS men were ordered to hold positions at all cost to stop the Soviets from breaking through to relieve the three Russian armies trapped in the forests to the east of Smolensk. Five Soviet infantry divisions and two tank brigades continued to batter the SS positions into early August. Guderian now turned some of his panzers southwards to crush another group of Soviet troops that were gathering around Roslavl to make a further rescue effort. The failure of this attempt only made the Soviet forces opposing Das Reich more desperate, and for another week, heavy fighting raged along its front.

prev | next