An hour into the battle Rommel had pushed the British back several kilometers, but many of his tank companies had been forced to halt, virtually out of ammunition. He sent those that had replenished forward to continue pressing the attack, but the British Army was like an onion at this point, with layer after layer of troops in the rear echelons. There were lines of AT guns, AA Guns, then the Royal Engineers. After that came the armored cars of the 7th Armored Division, held in reserve behind Nofilia. Behind them were the 6th Raja Rifles and 8th Gurkha battalions, both 8th Army reserve troops that had been among the first to arrive here. The Panzers kept coming, but there always seemed to be another layer to the defense yet unfought.
The charge of the 501st heavy battalion was like the Old Guard being sent in at Waterloo. Then the word came that Rommel had feared, and he knew his time here had run out. Almásy was on the radio, still dueling with British armored cars on the flank, and now reporting that the 1st South African Infantry Division was arriving like the Prussians on the right flank.
At that moment, Rommel was still 15 kilometers from the coast road, his tank companies depleted, fuel becoming an issue, and with an unbroken enemy still fighting doggedly in front of him. It wasn’t Kinlan and his unstoppable heavy tanks that would put an end to his attack that day, it was simple common sense, something that he had embraced after his many defeats. The old Rommel might have persisted, and to no real successful end there. The new Rommel knew that it was time to be gone.
We’ve hurt them, he thought. I stopped their advance, pushed them back, and showed them I can still box their ears if I decide to. Now, however, we need to get west. With a twinge of reluctance, he gave the order for all units to break off the attack and withdraw towards the depot stores at Al Hunjah. The artillery was to lay down a covering barrage, and then pack up and head west immediately.
As the Germans disengaged, fighting small firefights to do so, O’Connor was trying to ascertain what was happening. There was a lot of confusion on the battlefield, which stretched some ten kilometers wide at the point of the main attack. Smoke from guns and burning vehicles mixed with the dust kicked up by all the maneuvering to throw a complete pall over the landscape, and beneath it, Rommel was moving from one unit to the next in a fast Kubelwagon, pointing out the direction he wanted his columns to go.
The disengagement was slow, but the British had been beaten up enough that they held back, thinking to take the time to reorganize their own lines and bring up water and fresh ammo from the depot at Nofilia. That had been the footrace Rommel lost when he first came this way, and the dance that men like Popski, Reeves, and those SAS Commandos played on that flank was instrumental in allowing O’Connor to get to his supply point before the Germans. Added to that, O’Connor’s own understanding of what Rommel was doing enabled him to know exactly where he was going to need to make his stand. He had wisely stopped to stand his ground and fight, and while chastened and bruised, he had the final satisfaction of knowing that Rommel could not move him further.
“If he had pushed through to the coast,” he would later explain to Wavell, “then I would have dug in and dared him to do anything more about it. We had enough at Nofilia to last three more days, and I would have thrown everything I had at him to break out if necessary. He may think he’s beaten me. Well, he certainly stopped me, at least for a time, but here I stand, and there he goes. That’s all that matters.”
Chapter 17
Hundreds of miles to the west, another restless General was chafing at the bit, George Patton. He had set out to flank the German defense of Algiers, but the Germans brought up their 10th Panzer Division, counterattacked, and stopped him at M’Sila. They had even taken the place, which angered him to no end. He knew that if he had his whole corps up and ready, he could push them out, which is why he went looking for Terry Allen of the 1st Division, the last to arrive on the scene.
With the Big Red 1 finally up, Patton ordered an immediate counterattack to retake M’Sila, and by the 11th of October, he had a battalion of the16th Infantry Regiment supported by tanks and more infantry from the 1st Armored in that town. As he surveyed the scene, he could clearly see that the Germans were trying to disengage.
“That’s the spirit!” he said to General Allen, knowing when to praise as well as when to hound an officer on the field. “That’s my fighter. I told you we could kick their behinds out of M’Sila. Those two Kraut tank battalions just high-tailed it east on the road to Barika. They’ve got a railhead there, and I want it.”
At that moment, a barrage of artillery fire came in on the American positions again, sending many men to ground, but Patton and Allen stood firm, leaning over a map spread out on the warm hood of a jeep.
“That’s just covering fire for their retreat,” said Patton, exonerated and pleased with what his troops had accomplished. “So we want Barika, and I want 9th Infantry to keep pushing on that ridge overlooking the valley to the north. That’s good ground up there. See how it frowns on this rail line from Ben Mansour? That’s the main line east. This other one here up through Bougie will dead end at Fort Melila northwest of Constantine. So I want the 9th to cut that line off. Then I’ll send both armored divisions right through this open country east to Barika. I’ll want your boys right along with them.”
“That’s a good distance east,” said Allen. “Do we have the fuel?”
“No but I’ll find it. Then, once we get Barika, I’ll establish our forward depot there, and we’ll push northwest to Batna.”
“Looks like some pretty rough country.”
“Damn right it is,” said Patton. “It’s these goddamn mountains. Well, they didn’t stop the Romans. Old Constantine the Great was one tough hombre. They named that city after him, and from Batna, we can push right up the rail line and take the place. Then the Limeys can push on up the coast to Bone, and I’ll turn east again for Tebessa. That’s right on the Tunisian border, a perfect place to set up shop for the next phase of the campaign. Hell, from there its only 150 miles or so to the coast. We can blow right through Tunisia and cut the Germans in two. That will cut off Rommel’s retreat before he gets a mind to come this way.”
“Rommel? You itching to tangle with him, General?”
“Why not? He’s been stuck at Mersa Brega for a good long while, or so Ike tells me. Now they say he’s gone and given the British another bloody nose east of Sirte. Looks like we’ll have to step up and finish the job. Our new Allies can’t seem to get things done.”
That was vintage Patton. In one brief session with a map on the hood of that jeep, he had already planned his entire march to victory through Algeria to the Tunisian border, and from there across Tunisia to Sfax. He would soon learn that it was easier to make his plans that it would be to carry them out. The German Army was by no means beaten here yet. Von Arnim was fully capable of holding any ground he chose, but he had a problem too—Adolf Hitler.
* * *
“So what do we do?” said the General. Von Arnim was now nominal commander of the 5th Panzer Army, charged with the defense of all Algeria against a combined British American force that was strengthening day by day. Kesselring was now the overall theater commander, with Rommel his sturdy knight in the east, fresh off his victory against the 8th Army.
“That is the question of the hour,” said Kesselring. “I certainly know what we should do, but given this stand fast order from Hitler, the situation gets a little more complicated. Look how our line is stretched out all along the Tellien Atlas Mountains. It runs from Blida, just south of Algiers, and all the way east to M’Sila.”
“The British have taken Blida,” said von Arnim.
“Yes, and the Americans have just taken M’Sila. Now… We’ve got one good rail line that connects all the way through to Constantine, and the Americans are very close to it here, near Mansourah. That’s where I’ve posted KG Barenthin on this ridge to stop them, but Fisher in 10th Panzer Division says they brought us yet another infantry division, and a good one
this time. He doesn’t think we should continue to hold as we are, and I fully agree. I’ve ordered him to break off his attack at M’Sila, but to keep that rail line well covered.”
“If you want to get east, now is the time we should do it,” said von Arnim. “Wait any longer and they will find a way to cut that rail line. “Look… We ought to set everything up this way. Anchor the defense on the coast at Les Falais, just east of Bougie. Run the line through Setif, and then tie it off at Batna. There’s no easy way around that southern flank if we hold there. The ground is terrible.”
“Yes, I see this quiet clearly, but we still have the question of Hitler’s order to hold Algiers.”
“Well look what Rommel did! He just flew to OKW himself and got everything he wanted. Why don’t you go there and spell this out, just like Rommel. I’m sure you could easily get the support of Keitel and Jodl; Halder as well.”
“I could have them all in my back pocket, but that may not move Hitler one inch. He isn’t happy with what’s been going on in Russia. Winter is coming, and you know what happened last year. He wants that city on the Volga and the Russians are holding on to it like a dog with a bone.”
“So now he wants us to do the same here, at Algiers? The British already have troops in the city. 327th has only been fighting a delaying action there. General Kesselring, this American General, Patton, he’s a real firebrand. He can surely read a map just as we can, and mark my words, he’ll push hard to cut that rail line soon, if he isn’t already.”
Kesselring nodded heavily, pursing his lips with frustration. “I have already had to send half of the Herman Goring Division to support Fisher. Soon I’ll have to send the other half, and then there will be no mechanized force to backstop the defense at Algiers.”
“We should just abandon the place,” said von Arnim. “We should move east now while we can, orders or no orders. We could simply say that we were forced to do so, that the British just keep moving more and more troops over from their forces in Spain. I’ve already positioned the rolling stock.”
“General Montgomery is reportedly moving his headquarters forward to Algiers,” said Kesselring. “You want him to say he beat you?”
“I could care less. What I want is to get to ground I can easily defend. The defense near Algiers is already badly outflanked. We’re holding because the troops on that line are good enough to do so, and the American infantry is still green.”
“Yes,” said Kesselring. “Continue with your arrangements to move east, but keep a lid on it. As for Algiers, keep the 327th fighting there as along as possible. The minute the Allies put out that they’ve got the entire city, Hitler will explode again. At the moment, he is fixated on the East Front. We may just be able to pull off a redeployment without him noticing it too much.”
“I’m already pulling some of the air mobile troops off the line and sending them by rail to Bougie,” said von Arnim. “Kubler’s mountain troops will be next. If we do this right, then we can pull it off without much change in the daily front report to OKW. By just looking at the map, it will seem that the lines of battle remain the same, that we are holding, but the bulk of our best troops will get east, one way or another. But when the balloon finally pops?” Von Arnim gave Kesselring a wary look.
“Then we shall see. It may be that one or both of us loses our jobs here, but we will have at least handed our successors a position they can have every expectation of holding, and an army to do that. Don’t worry, General. My head is bigger than yours. I’ll be the first to go on the chopping block.”
The lines of battle did seem to hold their places on the map for the next several days, but all the while the trains were marshaling at receiving points, and the Germans were conducting one of those masterful strategic withdrawals Kesselring would become famous for. He was an expert in defensive maneuvers, and could read the ground better than any other General when it came to picking out a good place to hold, and knowing when he had to move.
The toughest thing he had to do was make it seem that Algiers was being held to the last. The 327th Infantry Division had only been at about 60% strength there, and now it was down to about six battalions. He told them to be stubborn, and it was house to house as the dogged 43rd Wessex bore the brunt of the attack, pushing into the outskirts of the city on the 13th of October. By that time, all of 22nd Luftland Division, and Kubler’s mountain troops had deftly made their way to the trains and started the journey east.
The American 3rd Division was slow to advance and take over the ground the enemy once held, all difficult high mountain country in the Tellien Atlas. By the time they did get up there, moving cautiously up the road to Ain Bessem, the Germans were long gone. In another day or two all the ground between Algiers and Bougie would be successfully evacuated, and those troops were already being posted to new positions south of Les Falaise.
Patton had clucked when a company from 13th Recon, CCB, 1st Armored, had probed out as far east to reach Barika. That report was just hours old when a battalion of the 104th Panzergrenadiers supported by tanks and KG Luder showed up to summarily evict the Americans. They had been told to screen the roads from that town to the northeast, where Kubler’s mountain troops were arriving at Batna. They would be the ideal force to hold in the hilly ground in that sector.
The German withdrawal would largely be complete by the 14th of October. The price was the 327th Division near Algiers. No more than two battalions and a company of engineers would ever get east, along with the division artillery, headquarters and some flak guns. The last four battalions would still fight for Algiers, delaying Monty’s entry there as long as possible.
Bougie itself was also abandoned, though not before the port and airfields had been subjected to demolition. The new defensive front would be anchored on the coast just east of Bougie by the 16th Regiment of the 22nd Luftland Division. 65th Regiment came next, then the Falschirmjaegers of 7th Flieger and KG Barenthin, their lines ending at Setif on the main rail running east. Another group of these tough soldiers had also just arrived at the port of Bone, under Koch, so the Germans still had plenty of good infantry.
Fairly rugged highlands ran east and south from Setif, and von Arnim positioned Fischer’s 10th Panzer Division to watch the passes. Kübler still had seven battalions of good mountain troops around Batna, and then, behind it all, Herman Goering’s troops would be the fire Brigade.
It would take Kesselring, along with the combined weight of the entire General Staff at OKW, to convince Hitler that the position they had selected east of Algiers was one they believed they could hold. The rapid advance of the Allies would now meet a much better organized defense, and 5th Panzer Army continued to build up supplies in Tunis and Bizerte.
* * *
“Hot damn,” said Patton. “We’ve got them on the run again. My boys pushed them right out of M’Sila, and we’ve just retaken Barika as well. Now it’s on to Batna. That’s the real prize. We get that, and I’ll have their flank turned again.”
“Hold on George,” came a voice, and in walked General Omar Bradley, sent in by Eisenhower to help him look things over on the front, and troubleshoot problems. He had not come on the scene until the defeat at Kasserene raised a lot of questions, but in this history, he had just been selected out by Eisenhower for this special role.
Patton turned, smiling broadly. “Brad,” he said warmly. “How are you?”
“Fine George, but it’s the army I’m here to worry about.”
“What do you mean worry? Things couldn’t be better. I was just telling Truscott here that we’ve got the Huns on the run again. Pushed them right out of M’Sila, and that was Rommel’s old outfit, 10th Panzer. Come on, have a look for yourself.” He gestured to the map.
Bradley came over to take a look, though he already knew things that Patton was not privy too. Radio intercepts and ULTRA had picked up the German intention to withdraw. The conversations between von Arnim and Kesselring had been rather transparent. He knew that Kesselring
didn’t want the fight at Algiers, but he also had to give Patton credit for keeping the pressure up on the flank, and the fighting at M’Sila had been the culmination of that maneuver on his part.
“Damn good job at M’Sila,” said Bradley. “But the British have been complaining about 34th Infantry—said they were dragging their feet in the push for Algiers.”
“Supplies, Brad. That’s all my fault. It took everything I could get my hands on to keep those two armored divisions out there moving. This is hard country—few roads worth the name, wadis and salt pans everywhere, and no rail lines feeding my move around this flank to M’Sila. That was the key. Every mile I pushed east while the Limeys were knocking on the door at Algiers, was one more mile the Germans had to hold on their flank. They tried to stop me—threw in the whole 10th Panzer Division, but our boys came out on top. Now I want this place—Batna.”
“Good lord, George. Talk about hard country. Those mountains look damn near impassible, particularly for armor.”
“The whole country is damn near impassible, but we made it all the way here, didn’t we? I’ve pushed them 700 miles in 30 days since we landed in Casablanca.”
“Outstanding, but now Ike thinks we need a pause.”
“A pause? What for?”
“As soon as we clear out the last pockets in Algiers, Montgomery wants to move two divisions over from Spain. He thinks we should coordinate our next offensive and not operate independently—Allies and all.”
“Coordinate? He’ll take a month before he decides to do anything. Allies? You let Montgomery settle in and he’ll want to run the whole goddamned show out here.”
“Well, George, your corps is strung out from here all the way back to 34th infantry near Algiers. You’ve got to consolidate, bring up supplies, and they want to land fresh tanks for the armored divisions at Algiers.”
“Well hell, we’ve got the Germans on the run, so now’s the time to keep moving. We let them settle into those mountains and it’ll be twice as hard to get around this flank.”
Thor's Anvil (Kirov Series Book 26) Page 15