The Valkyrie Option

by Markus Reichardt

  ‘Yes Comrade General Secretary,’ Beria made a scribbled note. Stalin nodded to Kurchatov, ‘You may go Academician Kurchatov. Through Comrade Beria you will keep us informed. Regularly!’ A curt bow and the physicist with the impossible beard was gone.

  America does not produce great generals. Eisenhower was the manager

  of an alliance. If Rommel had commanded the allied armies, he might

  have got to Berlin in one push. But what did we have to gain by haste?

  Henry Kissinger [53]

  July 28th

  US Third Army Headquarters,

  Avranches Normandy

  'MEEKS' General Patton's shrill, high-pitched voice rang through the house, bringing his faithful sergeant and only true human friend scurrying while sending his only non-human friend Willie running in the opposite direction. The General was in a foul mood. At the beginning of the month he had lost a toenail to a falling heavy curtain blind. The toenail had been taken out a few days later and the wound was still troubling him. He had taken to wearing a pair of sergeant Meeks shoes - several sizes larger than his - but today even that did not seem to help. As he stumbled out of bed the wounded toe had connected with the leg of a chair and George Patton was not one to suffer in silence. Not at this stage, not with so much rage building up in him over the lacklustre spirit with which US and Allied troops crawled after the retreating Germans across France. The faithful Meeks, made a good if unjustified target. Willie had long since decided to play it safe by going silent when his masters tempers flared. With his size hiding underneath cupboards was a credible option.

  The outbreak that morning was brief since there was much to do before General Eisenhower arrived. Much indeed, Patton snarled to himself as he let the faithful sergeant shave him and serve him the usual stark G.I. breakfast. All that remained to be done was to see how the staff officers would move the troops into the areas vacated by the Germans over the past twenty four hours. Again! All without a fight! Still smarting from the fall-out that had followed the slapping incident in Sicily, Patton was convinced that the fates were conspiring to cheat him of glory. His staff kept a low profile these days. This wasn't war and General George Patton was finding once again that he was not good at doing peace.

  General Eisenhower did little to soothe his mood as he listened patiently to his complaints about the situation. When Patton came up for air, Ike suddenly leaned forward, a hand up to interrupt. What don't you tell me how you would solve the problem, Georgie.'

  'You know what I would recommend Sir.' Patton's almost spat the words at his commander. 'I recommend that we take the men of the US Army - those that ain't gone yellow - and do what we came here to do. We will tear up the retreating German lines and win this war on our terms, Sir.' Tall, erect, eyes blazing he dared Eisenhower to respond.

  The Supreme Commander Allied Forces Europe, said nothing. Instead he remained silent measuring up Patton's mood. He had come to Third Army's HQ as a result of the persistent rumours that ever since coming to Normandy Patton was organizing something out of the ordinary. Indeed the General himself had been dropping hints with the subtlety of live hand grenades over the past few days. Eisenhower was man enough to admit to himself that he lacked the feel for battle as a two-sided encounter that made Patton and Montgomery great generals. But the Supreme Commander Eisenhower understood the mood of George Patton. Having been slighted since Sicily and denied what he presumed to be his rightful share of glory by the British in his dash across Sicily, and the incident with the allegedly yellow soldier at the field hospital, he now longed for action in Normandy. So far he alone among all the battlefield commanders slated for battlefield command had been denied it since the Allied bridgehead lacked the physical room to establish all the units of his command. Headstrong, vain and lusting for glory more than almost anyone Eisenhower had ever met, George Patton was on the brink of revolt.

  'Georgie why don't we get back onto safer ground by you telling me what you think of the campaign so far.' The politician in him was setting Patton up. He could, and he would, later claim that the whole idea had been Patton's all along.

  'Well Ike,' Patton settled into a chair his helmet on his knee, I think that Monty strung you along. Every time he fails to achieve his objective, like now at GOODWOOD, he smothers us with optimistic doubletalk. I saw him in action or rather in command, in Sicily. He is an opportunist to whom phase lines and objectives only have any meaning when he's actually reached or taken them. Hell, when he couldn't get through in his first try during Husky, he sweat talked General Alexander into re-arranging the entire plan of advance so that he could try another way... not that that worked either. While I was busy tearing up to Palermo he crawled towards Messina. All along its been the same: when he finds that he cannot make his target, he'll draw up plans of his own, expediently adapted to the changed situation, and then claim afterwards that what he's has so brilliantly done in the end was exactly what he had in mind from the beginning. It’s not necessarily bad generalship, Ike, but its goddamn slow. [54] Even worse, it frequently leads us to relinquish the initiative. That’s the source of our troubles now.

  'Well George, 'Ike began slowly' why don't you spare me the boring details and give me a general idea of how one could solve this problem.' From the British, as well as his own supply chiefs Eisenhower was well aware that Patton's forces had been stocking up on fuel and munitions at a rate that suggested only one thing. Combat.

  Part of him understood Patton. Like most Americans he hated the trap that Monty had walked the Allies into, although in rare moments of fairness there were moments when he accepted that he could have done little else himself. But then too much bad blood had passed between him and Monty to admit that. When your opponents objective was to retreat there was damn little you could do to stop him from doing so. For days Ike and his lieutenants had grappled with an alternative to the ignominious pursuit that Rommel’s surprise move had reduced them to. And the frustrations told, fights among officers and enlisted ranks both had increased.

  At the same time the politician in him saw the immense advantage that could be gained by bringing the boys home with minimum casualties. Rommel was offering them victory over roughly the same timeframe as their battle plans had predicted. And they had been hopelessly behind their plans on July 22nd.

  'General, the Germans are withdrawing ahead of us in good order. By the time they reach the German border their troops will still be in good condition and they will have had time to turn the Siegfried Line into a real barrier. It will be winter by the time we get there and we have reached the end of our supply lines. Then they will have us at a disadvantage. Why it would take us at least another month or two to build the logistical base from which to continue an all-out pursuit into the Reich itself. Berlin - maybe we'd reach that in late 1945.' He paused, almost expecting Eisenhower to argue.

  Ike held his gaze. He was Patton's junior in both age and permanent rank and was keenly aware of it when they were alone. Moreover George Patton had seen action repeatedly in World War One as commander of one of the first tank units, and had excelled, he – Eisenhower - had not. Deliberately taking his time to extinguish his cigarette, Eisenhower chose his words carefully; 'Georgie, do you know that there are some at HQ who don't intend to give the Germans that opportunity. Their army is in shaky condition right now. We have bled the best of their units and we have bled them badly. More over on the move they are vulnerable. We command the air. If we hit them now, we can win this war before the winter, on our terms. All we need is someone with the determination to carry it off. '

  Uncharacteristically Patton's initial response was cautious, probing. 'Ike am I correct in assuming that while there are 'some' at HQ who think this way that there are ‘some’ British who do not ? '

  'Yes you could say that.'

  Patton was out of his chair pacing ' And you want me to do something about this - or are you just making idle small-talk. Ike be honest my scars from last time are still red.'
<
br />   'George you do realize I cannot formally order you to do this. I need ..' "a volunteer, goddamn General you got yourself a volunteer.' The shrill voice was louder than it should have been.

  'Georgie, what I can do is order to pursue the enemy with vigour. There are many in London who feel very strongly that we need to do something like this. The President agrees and is asking that we come up with something that will get Joe Stalin of his back and his nasty ambassador out of the oval office. But we and the British are still allies. They have paid for the early years of this war in blood and it's been a heavy price. They are tired and see this new lot in Berlin as a way to get their objectives without losing more lives, but they’ve forgotten the Alliance’s principles. You may have read that even the German nobles are rediscovering their foreign cousins.'

  ‘They are unlikely to find any on our side of the Atlantic. Ike, by going and sorting this out now we will save American lives.’ Cutting straight to the chase, Patton outlined his recommendation. ‘I intend to organize a mechanised column of up to corps strength and thrust forward south of the British sector. We can actually use the slow British advance to trap a large enemy force between us if we sweep into France in sufficient strength. I personally don't care where we corner them, where we ultimately force battle. The objective is to regain the bloody initiative in this theatre, not just proclaim the liberation of ground the Germans have already left. That I will happily leave to the frogs.' His hand swept across the map on the table in front of Eisenhower. 'We will keep going until we take a number of key bridgeheads over the Seine south of Paris. We will hold this and simply force the Jerry's who are still behind us to surrender. Those might just be some of their best Panzer units and you see they will not want to croak needlessly either. With everyone heading for a phoney war here in France determination will be the thing that will carry us to victory with honour.'

  Patton drew himself to his full height, his hands involuntarily resting on his two holstered Colts. 'Give me two days and I will give you a plan by which we can come out of this mess with honour and decisive victory.'

  Eisenhower pondered his warrior friend whom he had known almost since West Point days. Despite what the British said and despite Washington's equivocation, he was nervous, suddenly not trusting his instincts entirely. Patton's idea could make an already messy political situation even messier. Or it could resolve it at a single stroke. In any case it was unlikely he'd be able to hold Patton back regardless. Where was Kate when you needed her, his Irish-born driver had been his confidant for months now, helped him make difficult decisions with her common sense approach to life. He should not even have been listening to Patton. What the General was preaching was mutiny and should have been stopped there and then. Years later in his memoirs he would list a variety of factors, his frustration at having lost the initiative, his anger at Montgomery for failing to crack the German lines while he had been holding back Patton, his fury at the British commanders insolence over the events of July 22nd, his anger at the way in which the British sidestepped his authority when it suited them after Hitler’s death. Patton would do what the Brits were clearly no longer willing to.

  'You do realize that this conversation never happened, I never want to see your plan and that if this goes wrong history will judge us and you in particular harshly. With an election coming up the President is going to make you a scapegoat. The American public will not be happy if you squander American lives in vain. But history will record that you interpreted my order to pursue with vigour very enthusiastically.'

  An almost evil smile slid over Patton's face 'Yes General but they'll kiss my boots if I 'm right and end this war in glory and before Christmas. .... And I bloody well will.'

  A snappy salute and he was out of the room.

  It was only then Ike noticed that he was without a cigarette. Absent-mindedly he fumbled for another one. 'Damn it George, Good Luck.'

  28th July

  The Chancellery Berlin

  Moscow's response to Berlin's peace-feelers was delivered with great ambiguity. After initial enthusiasm and support, Radio Free Germany and other Soviet-controlled stations had taken a more reserved stance towards the Beck government. By July 24th, the comments about the role of a small officer clique which had supported Hitler's aggression and was now trying to save its skin, had become unambiguous. The Soviet radio announcers still welcomed the removal of Hitler but their exhortations were now to those who would install a progressive regime in Germany. That afternoon Schulenburg's telegram arrived in Berlin. Although he had not been turned down flat, Stalin, via deniable intermediaries, had sent a list of demands greatly beyond what he had extracted from Roosevelt and Churchill at Teheran. They amounted to Wehrmacht withdrawal from all of the Balkans and Eastern Europe in accordance with a timetable set and adjustable in Moscow. Russian troops were to be stationed in most of these countries as well as in Germany. Then there were detailed demands for reparations and the handing over of German military technology.

  After an angry debate, during which it had taken all of Beck’s and Adam von Trott's skills to point out that the door to negotiate about these demands had been left open, a haphazard counterproposal was put together, conceding Russian dominance of parts of Poland, Rumania and Bulgaria. Negotiations over reparations were also accepted.

  For the first time the reality began to dawn on the conspirators, that the removal of Hitler and his regime might be insufficient to effect the survival of Germany. Speer had been tempted to stand up and announce the potential of the streamlining measures he was taking and how they could strengthen the hand of the troops in the field, but for the moment his position was still too tenuous for promises as opposed to real good news.

  28th July

  Henschel Tank Factory

  Ruhr, Germany

  You are doing WHAT ? Staring across the dispatch yard of the massive tank factory, Hans Kehrl was almost embarrassed at the volume of his outburst. That was nothing compared impact his voice had on the mood of the Henschel Manager who had been earnestly rattling down production statistics when Kehrl had stopped in his tracks. Petite and balding Kehrl certainly cut no imposing figure but all of Germany’s armaments manufacturers knew that Speer’s number three made up for it with energy. Now he stood in the dispatch yard of the Henschel panzer factory – the third biggest in Germany – staring at a number of Tiger tanks being towed back onto the factory floor.

  The tank factory manager had taken him through the entire production process outlining the alterations to the assembly process that had taken place at the factory over the past year and the increases in efficiency they had produced. The improvements had been impressive even by Kehrl’s high standards until they had reached the despatch yard. There, clad in a grey overall stood a bearded eagerly engineer with a clipboard who in the words of the manager was responsible for signing off the Tigers. In the ten minutes Kehrl had watched, the man had walked around two Tigers and sent one back to the factory floor.

  The factory manager had made the mistake of proudly pointing out that no Tiger left the site in less than perfect condition. He then called over the old engineer to explain on what basis the Tiger had been rejected. It had turned out to be an imperfectly ground-down bolt head on the Tigers side armour. Although the Tiger was fully functional the bolt-head looked ‘unsightly’ and the Tiger was turned back.

  ‘Once a week we stop everything here to deal with all these final problems on the otherwise finished Panzers’ he announced proudly. ‘Only the best is good enough for our men at the front.’

  Kehrl could not believe his ears. Here was a key weapons producer wasting nearly five per cent of his productive capacity on aesthetics. This while the front screamed for Tigers! This was typically German he reminded himself. All those years of study at American Business Schools came flooding back. This factory should have been in the mass production business, pushing out product that was functional rather than pretty. And here they were holding back valuable Tig
ers to make them perfectly presentable. ‘You must stop this madness these Tigers once finished must go to the front immediately. Never mind the cosmetics.’

  ‘Herr Kehrl’ The factory manager thought he was on safe ground.’ You would not expect us to deliver anything but the best for our troops… in fact our delivery contract with your ministry. …’

  ‘Does not require you in any way to apply mascara and lipstick to these war machines. Where man do you think we are sending these. To the museum or the parade ground ?. We are at war and the front needs these things even if they have the odd wart. As long as they work….’

  Huffy the manager drew himself to his full height which was slightly more than Kehrl ‘ That they certainly do, this is the finest..’

  ‘Then send then out man!’

  ‘Herr Kehrl, I must take exception. You cannot come here and rewrite our contract, force us to work to a lower standard. We have a reputation to uphold. Have you any idea how difficult things have become now that we have to let all the forced labourers go?’ There are barely enough men to keep the assembly line going.’

  Kehrl knew that this was not going to be resolved publicly or verbally. Too many years of bureaucratic stubbornness stood against him here. ‘Herr Direktor, lets discuss this further in your office.’

  There was no discussion. When Kehrl reached the office, he grabbed the telephone and within a few minutes had tracked down his master Speer. It took two minutes to explain the situation. ‘Just think of what we are losing if everybody holds back five per cent of production to beautify the little panzers.’ With those words he handed the phone to a rather pale Herr Panzer Fabrik Direktor.

  Speer’s comment was short. ’Herr Direktor, Herr Kehrl speaks for me he has complete power to alter or for that matter cancel your order with immediate effect. That would not be in anyone’s interests. Please listen to his advice. The front needs every weapon you can deliver now. By next year it may be too late. Do you have any questions… No ? … Good. You have my word that within the next few days you like every supplier to my ministry will receive a directive making it a punishable offence to retain a functional weapon on site for reasons other than assembly for delivery. I assure you it will also contain clear guidance on what is to be delivered. I also want to assure you that there will be assurances to all manufacturers regarding their reputation in relation to the quality and functionality of the product. I strongly urge you to redeploy the men currently involved in the cosmetic work to weapons making.’