Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (48 page)

Ike moved closer to his Chief of Staff
,
who spoke candidly.

“
Munich
is lost, that we must accept, but we can form a line
...
Stuttgart
to
Ulm
...
and south on the
Iller
River
to the border,” he pointed at the map, sweeping imaginary lines to better convey his words, “Dropping back onto the Austrian Border where natural defences will help us.”

Eisenhower could see that possibility
,
but the question of time was crucial and he put the question out there.

“That depends on who we can put in harm’s way to stop them
,
Sir.”

Ike shook his head.

“Not a lot immediately. We have
one hell of a problem with the French.”

The
CoS
understood the ‘French’ issue only too well, but misconstrued the problem.

Eisenhower continued.

“Some of their units are simply not up to the job. The ones they formed from the FFI mainly.”

Smith could only nod as he had stated his reservations about the worthiness of these units in March, even with
Germany
in its death throes.

“Not only that but they changed the designation of one of their units, two to five, so we thought we had an additional armoured division because they didn’t make it clear.”

Smith was not a great lover of the Gallic allies.

“What else is coming to the party then, Sir?”

“The Germans, but they are not there at the moment.”

Eisenhower looked around before whispering conspiratorially.

“The Spanish, but again, not at the moment.”

General Smith frowned in surprise.

“I thought that was...”

He trailed off, reading the look in his
commander’s
eyes.

“I will bring you up to date on that one later
,
General,” stepping
back
as a written report was
offered
to him by a newly-promoted Major.

Eisenhower cast a swift eye at the report, intending to properly examine it later
,
but stopped in his tracks.

“Anne-Marie, is this accurate?”

Turning back to Eisenhower, the CWAC officer smiled.

“With regard to targets hit, the reconnaissance photography has not yet been done.
With regard to the friendly casualties, wholly accurate, Sir.”

Eisenhower nodded, sharing her smile, and passed the report to Smith.

“According to that, our British cousins sent out seven hundred and sixty-four aircraft last night and all but six of them returned home. Six!”

By the standards of the German War
,
it was incredible. By the standards of the present conflict
,
it was the firmest indication yet that the night now totally belonged to the Allies.

Smith broke the momentary euphoria.

“What do the Swiss say
,
Sir? Do they trust this guarantee?”

Momentarily off track, Eisenhower looked puzzled, then realised that his
CoS
was back on subject number one.

“Yes they do Walter. Historically, no-one touches
Switzerland
,
as you know, and it is the devil of a country to cross in peacetime, let alone with the Swiss Army nipping at your heels.”

Smith grimaced.

“It is a risk but if they do try it, the journey will be long and hard for them, giving us time to prepare something.”

The grimace seemed set to the man’s features, drawing concession from Eisenhower.

“If we cut out two of the newly arrived divisions to babysit the western Swiss border, that should be sufficient for us to take whatever risk this poses.”

“And our German Allies? What do they think of the possibility of more land in communist possession?”

On that Ike could speak with direct knowledge.

“They are already reconciled with the main defence line on the
Rhine
. They understand that we have to concentrate our assets as soon as possible
,
and need a secure defensive line from which to operate.”

“So
,
I must ask again
,
Sir. What else can we bring to this now?”

Smith’s uncompromising approach had served Ike well in the past and he welcomed the support the General brought to his headquarters.

“OK Walt. I can move 92nd Infantry
,
in fact they are already moving. The Brazilians are very keen to get involved for political reasons back home I think. They too are moving as we speak.”

“There are two tank-destroyer groups that can get there quickly and I am sure I can shake loose some armor support from both Devers and Alexander.”

“Can we trust the foot soldiers, Sir?”

“Truth is, I’m not sure, Walt.
The Brazilians did well but were not badly tested. The 92nd did ok but, again, not as they will be tested now.”

“We need to give them some back-up then
,
Sir. What’s in the back pocket?”

“The Brits are moving two division but they won’t be quick enough. Our dough’s the same
,
unless I take risks and move in someone already tasked
.”

Smith checked the map before he spoke.

“And the Eagles?”

It was Eisenhower’s turn to grimace.
The 101st was the only unit in 18
th
Airborne Corps that was at full strength and had not seen any fighting
in this war
.

“I was keeping the 101st up my sleeve for offensive ops, Walt.”

Smith remained silent, pursing his lips, as much in a sign to Ike as it was a marker that his brain was working the problem.

Eisenhower pre-empted him.

“Is this where you tell me that if we don’t nip this in the bud, we may not have the offensive option?”

Major-General Smith enjoyed an excellent relationship with Eisenhower, but that didn’t mean he was going to push it too hard.

“The Eagles would have the ball for a week tops, Sir. After that, we drop them back
into 18
th
Corps
and rest them, ready for whatever you have in mind.”

Ike wondered if his
CoS
knew he had nothing presently in mind offensively
,
and had been talking in general and future terms.

“I think we may have told those boys something like that before, but,” sighing deeply, the decision made, “Ok. Cut the orders and get the machine working. Group the three divisions and ha
nd them to Devers. I will speak with Jake directly.”

Smith started to wind up, dragging staff officers towards him as he began translating Eisenhower’s wishes into proper orders.

A telephone rang in the headquarters office of the 101st US Airborne Division, the legendary ‘Screaming Eagles’.

Within four minutes, telephones all over the camp were sounding, as the order was relayed from the top, cascading down through all levels of command.

The noise level increased as a camp of troops engaged in training and lectures transformed itself into an airborne division about to go into combat.

The new commander of 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment replaced the receiver and took a deep breath.

Of all of his division, he was the only
101st trooper
that had seen combat since hostilities began
and lived to tell the tale
, and his experience had been close-up and personal with
Soviet
Paratroopers.

Major Marion J Crisp was going back to
the
war.

The drive
forward
from Lühdorf had started with
fourteen
running tanks, in various stages of disrepair, lights knocked off, fenders ravaged, external items destroyed. Only one of the IS-III’s
had not sustained damage.

As the advance progressed, tanks
fell
out as mechanical difficulties
took their toll. T
he unreliability of the IS-III
was its
its greatest downfall,
and on this line of march, it
claimed tank after tank.

By the time the 6th [Independent] Guards Breakthrough Tank Regiment entered recently liberated Buxtehude, there were only seven runners left, the others decorating various points of the road from whence they
had come, engines and transmissions failed under the strain
. Admittedly, the new
ly appointed
regimental commander’s tank had not broken down
, but that was no comfort to the dead man, killed with his crew by a German
Panzerfaust
on the approached to Elstorf.

Command of the unit now fell to a Captain
,
who organised the survivors into two
platoons
of four and three, himself in charge of the former, the latter falling under the command of Acting/Senior Lieutenant Stelmakh.

Fig #42
- Battle of Nottensdorf- the battlefield.

Allied forces - 1st Polish Armoured Regiment of 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, and 1st Polish Highland Battalion, and 2nd Platoon of 1st Polish Independent HMG Squadron, both of 3rd Polish Infantry Brigade, and 1st Polish Motorised Artillery Regiment, and A Squadron of 10th Polish Mounted Rifles Regiment, and 2nd Radar Section of 1st Polish Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, all of 1st Polish Armoured Division, and Fallschirmjager Batallione ‘Perlmann’, all of British XXX Corps, and 209 & 210 Batteries of 53rd Medium Regiment RA, all of 21st Army Group.

Soviet
Forces - 1st and 3rd Battalions of 46th Mechanised Brigade, and 2nd Battalion of 376th Howitzer Artillery Regiment of 21st Breakthrough Artillery Division, and 72nd Penal Company, and 1st and 2nd Companies of 517th [Separate] Tank Regiment, and 3rd Battalion of 66th Engineer-Sapper Brigade, all of 11th Guards Army,
all of
1st Baltic Front, and 6th [Independent] Guards Breakthrough Tank Regiment
[Temporari
ly attached to 11th Guards Army
]
,
of 2nd Guards Tank Army, 1st Red Banner Central European Front,

25-pounder and 105mm high-explosive rounds commenced dropping on Nottensdorf and its environs on the stroke of 1pm precisely.

Formed up in the small German town were elements of the 11th Guards Army, about to launch their own attack, timed for an hour later.

The Soviet Mechanised battalions were arranged in line, which meant that the forward 1st Battalion bore the greater brunt of casualties. The tank-riding infantry were particularly badly hit, and frightened men ran in all directions seeking shelter from the barrage.

The battalion’s tanks, T34/85’s suffered less as they dropped back to the back edge of the town, leaving only two of their number behind.