The Valkyrie Option

by Markus Reichardt

  The Germans were sticking to a tight schedule and making the most of the advantage that good staff work and the initiative gave them in their retreat. Every day they gathered up whatever they could from a stretch of land between 15 and 35 kilometers wide and retreated. The German units based in southwest France and thus furthest away from Germany simply kept going so as to join the general retreating front somewhere in central France. But they would not be rushed. Allied soldiers, in particular the French had found out that they would not be rushed. Many, not just the French had probed eagerly for weakness during the first few days after the retreat had begun. They had found that very determined rear-guard action would ensure that the retreat stayed a retreat; a phased day-by-day movement across France at the pace that Rommel and his commanders wanted. A pace that kept the German army living off the land rather than drawing on supply convoys.

  With no French wine cellars to liberate, morale started sagging almost immediately. The reaction of most soldiers was straightforward and phlegmatic. Since the enemy was retreating anyway there was no need to risk a hero's death for any particular piece of ground. Others, mainly young ambitious officers vented their anger at being denied glory at their troops. Within days the first cases of serious assault on officers were on their way to the military courts. One of them was on Eisenhower's desk.

  Eisenhower felt like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an on-coming train. The politicians had made a decision to play it safe for the moment. What they wished was for - after nearly 5 years of war - was a minimum of further casualties. None of them cared that by the time the Allied forces had followed the Germans back to their own border and winter had set in, it was very likely that Allied forces would be too demoralised to continue the struggle if it came to that. He had made the point rather forcibly to Churchill and that miserable Irishman Alanbrooke. He had implored his bosses, especially the President and the usually more far-sighted George Marshall to consider just how badly the range of available options was shrinking as they crawled towards the German border and the Siegfried line. It did not seem to matter. The President was thinking of re-election and seemed happy to avoid casualties in Europe for the moment. He was getting enough from the Pacific. Even though Marshall agreed with him, the American Chief of Staff could not change the course of events. It was as he told his commander 'damn difficult continuing the war without a real enemy.'

  A real enemy. In his heart Eisenhower was sure that the Germans had not yet ceased to be that. They were manoeuvring, making use of the space they had won in a lighting war in 1940. The German regime may have changed but the war was not over. All those thousands of Allied and yes American soldiers who had died pushing the Germans out of Africa and Sicily would not be dishonoured by this whimper of an end. Patton saw that too. Initially he had been aghast at his subordinates idea, now it offered possibly the only way out of a miserable impasse that threatened to turn this crusade for freedom into just another European slugging match with pre-determined outcome. Patton saw the need to end this war as a victory, not like Brooke and Monty who had somehow become obsessed with husbanding British manpower so as to preserve their precious colonial empire in the post-war world.

  Since that encounter he had been going over Patton’s plan from a variety of angles, for there was something bothering him. And eventually he had hit upon its weakness. Patton had made two critical assumptions: that the German will to fight was diminished and that Us air power and logistics would more or less remain at his disposal even if he truly outran the main line of advance. If he encountered stiff resistance he would improvise and fight his way through, but in prolonged bad weather and without air power he would struggle to sustain it. Doubts began eating at Eisenhower’s innards and he had quietly explored a variety of means in which he would be able to support Patton if things went wrong. His first thought naturally had been the use of paratroopers but there again it came down to weather. First Allied Airborne Army was his only real reserve by now. But if bad weather starved George Patton’s advance of air support, it would also limited any help US paratroopers would be able to provide. It was all so frustrating.

  Furious Eisenhower closed the file on his desk. The file of a request for a court-martial of an NCO. The man, a veteran of both campaigns had assaulted his young battalion commander when the latter had repeatedly pulled a weapon on the men to restart their pursuit of the Germans. The assault had halted the unit in the tracks and cost the officer a broken jaw. The Germans, less than two kilometres away had calmly dropped a major bridge and stopped allied troops in their tracks for three days.

  The phone rang. A shrill interruption of his thoughts but one for which Eisenhower was almost grateful for. There was always the chance of good news. Simultaneously he reached for the phone and for another cigarette.

  'General Bradley, Sir' his aide was short, as always.

  'Yes General, what good news have you got for me today. ?'

  The humour was lost on Bradley who went straight to the point.

  'General Eisenhower, does General Patton have any special orders or … missions?'

  The Allied-Commander-in Chief sat up straight. Had Bradley found out what George was planning? It could spell the end of the only way that American, indeed Allied honour had out of this miserable mess. Bradley was too professional and too straight-laced not to interfere if he knew what Patton was truly planning. The rivalry between the two men was widely known, their characters too different for much co-operation or compromise. Bradley the low-key calm professional quietly looked down on Patton who from his first day in combat in World War One had initiated a long series of personal clashes with officers of all ranks due to his innate propensity to go arbitrarily beyond the spirit of his orders and frequently beyond his rank or the strength of the forces at his disposal.[69] It was this trait that the politician in Eisenhower counted on to legitimate whatever outcome Patton would present him with.

  'Other than trying to talk something resembling sense into our French allies, General Patton has no special orders or mission other than to follow the German retreat across France. Same as you General. I gave him like yourself the order to pursue with vigour.' It was the truth - Patton had no orders - but as they say in court, not the whole truth. Damn he had not even been able to level with his Chief of Staff Bedell smith about Patton’s venture.

  Bradley considered the tone of the answer for a moment. 'General, you may want to look into General Patton's activities. If I didn't know better I'd say he's preparing for his own private offensive... 'He gave his commander a chance to respond. ' He's collecting fuel, tank munitions and armoured personnel carriers from a number of units and concentrating them just behind his advancing front line. Almost none of his troops have seen battle because of the postponement of Operation Cobra. And yet they are armed as if they were going to charge right to Berlin on their own.'

  Eisenhower was grateful that Bradley could not see him at this moment for his friend would have noticed the lack of colour on his commanders face. Bang on target, Omar. If only you know.

  'Is that the case? Well, what do you want me to do. ?'

  'General if you could send someone there on official business to find out, I would appreciate it. His actions have deprived some of my units of fuel and I'd at least like to know that there's more to this than George playing soldier behind the lines. He's done this a couple of days in a row and there have been some scuffles among the supply teams. '

  Before Bradley could warm to the topic, Eisenhower cut in. ‘I assume that this goes beyond the general shortages we are experiencing as a result of Admiral King's rerouting of almost everything we need to the Pacific. But anyway, that’s not the point. Consider it done, General. I will send someone with enough clout to do so official sniffing as well as some unofficial sniffer dogs and have him get back to you within three days. He will report to you personally about George's antics, if there are any.’

  Shit that was too easy. Eisenhower could hear Bradley stepping
back. The Commander in Chief had a difficult job in keeping the egos under his command in balance and on a leash. Normally a request like Bradley's would have required a lot more discussion. This was not pattern and it would be noticed. Damn. Damn me for my carelessness and damn you George for putting me on the spot. Subtlety was not George's strong point.

  There was silence on the other end of the line. Then Bradley took a deep breath. 'Thank you General I look forward to hearing from your man.'

  Eisenhower fumbled with the receiver and then with the cigarette. Well there it was. Three days. Patton had three days in which to make his strike for glory. After that all bets were off.

  Almighty and most merciful father, we humbly beseech thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for battle.

  Patton’s chaplain ordered to seek divine intervention

  to lead a communal prayer by his commander[70]

  August 11th

  South of Le Mans

  France

  The men of the Eighth Tank Battalion of the Fourth Armoured Division were streaming onto the open field that served as their parade ground that day. The news was that some general officer would make an announcement. Al Irzyk on the Combat B (CCB) unit joined in the stream of men heading for the open area from among the trees where they had parked their Sherman tanks. Any news was better than the charade they had been going through for the past two weeks. Since no-one in the United States Army seemed to feel the particular need to die for the possession of ground that the Germans were certain to vacate within 24 hours anyway, the initiative of movement had passed to the Wehrmacht. True, a few angry advance parties had gotten into fire fights with German sappers in order to stop the destruction of a bridge, an overpass, or more important the looting of a wine cellar. Beyond that however, everyone was trotting along as in a badly organised parade with no reviewing podium; at a pace determined by what was still the enemy. It was frustration and Al just like everyone else had had just about enough of this.

  If there would be an announcement maybe it would be to tell them that the war was over, that everyone would leave the Germans to head off to fight the Russkies and that Al and every other GI Joe would be happily on his way back to the United States of America in time to grope their sweathearts for Christmas.

  A murmur ran through the ranks as they converged on the open ground where someone had driven a Sherman into the field. Al was tall for a tanker and could see over most of his fellow tankers heads. On top of the Sherman stood their battalion commander Tom Conley, the divisional commander General Wood and another officer - a General by the sight of it. As Al approached he saw the reason for the murmurs, the other man was no-one but old Blood' n' Guts himself George Patton.

  Patton watched the GIs assemble and his blood pressure rose. He turned to Wood ' these guys look like shit - where's their posture their sense of pride. They look like they've been pulled out of a bar - after hours ! he grumbled under his breath. ' General these men are as frustrated at you about what's happening. Like the rest of Third Army they have not yet been fighting the enemy.' Wood grunted,' You tell 'em what you told me and they'll follow you right into Moscow, Sir.'

  Patton intended to make the speech of his life. His mood was already buoyant, The day before he had already visited the men of 6th Armoured and 90th Infantry Division. None of the men had seen combat in Normandy by then and were chafing at the bit to either fight or go home. As with the men of the other two divisions Patton used Eisenhower’s vague instruction as the basis for his plan. In a few short sentences he outlined how he saw the situation. What he thought should be done about it.

  “Now I am putting this one down real simple and straight. The top brass are still talking and thinking. But we have been given an order to pursue with vigour. And all the while the krauts are doing what they want to do. They have taken the initiative. They are the ones who are bloody well telling you where you go, how far you go and when you do it. That isn't bloody war. That’s a goddamn joke. Guys you came to do a job. I'm telling you that I am here to do that job if you follow me. Together we will sweep the godforsaken krauts out of their smug routine. We'll kick Rommel's ass while we're at it and we will head for the Reich.

  What I am asking is nothing more or less than whether you men are going to do your duty and end this war on our terms and with honour. Will you fight so that we can all go home for Christmas?”

  The roar of approval swept over him. Patton straightened up and held out his hand for silence. 'Thank you I see that your General was right. You guys have balls. Tomorrow the Germans will find that out too!”

  The next morning a force of 620 American tanks and more than 18 000 men headed westwards out of the Third Army’s base camps between Le Mans and Orleans. Their advance caught the German rear guard napping. Complacent after more than a week of placid allied acquiescence to the pace of their retreat, the outposts were quickly overwhelmed and American tanks rolled westwards before much of a warning could be given. Behind them came the determined men of Third Army: Their target Chalons, a key railroad marshalling yard just south of Reims. If they captured the town and the yards, then at least half the German tracked vehicles in France faced a choice of having to drive back to the Reich, a process that would take longer than the promised withdrawal deadline. Only one other major line led back to the Reich in northern France and that went through Paris. If he succeeded, Patton would force a surrender in France or the resumption of hostilities.

  Early August,

  The Eastern United States Seaboard

  Theirs were the kind of faces people would pass every day in the street and yet never remember. And that was exactly why the two balding monks had been chosen as emissaries by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State to carry a message from the Holy Father. A message the Holy Mother Church did not wish to commit to paper. From allied-controlled Rome they had travelled on Vatican diplomatic passports via the Spanish capital and the Azores, suffered through a long transatlantic flight which had taken them across to Brazil and then northwards across the Caribbean to Miami where they had boarded a train. They had left the train in Washington for a meeting with the Papal Nuncio in the United States and a day later had headed northwards where they had gotten off at Boston’s Main station and taken a taxi to the offices of the Cardinal of the Catholic diocese of Boston, the pre-eminent Catholic diocese in the United States. From there they had headed southwards again and arrived at New York’s Central Station from where they took a taxi to a meeting with Cardinal Spellman of New York. They had the same message for Spellman as for the other churchmen. However, the New York meeting had been delayed in order for another man, Mayor LaGuardia of New York City and the Catholic politician closest to the President to be present.

  The message from Rome was rather simple. The death of Hitler had removed the need for the western Allies to fight Germany. Hitler had been evil; Germany was not. The German churches had gained substantially in standing through their general opposition to the Nazis. The new German Government, supported by both its Catholic and Protestant churches, had relinquished any territorial ambitions and had asked for peace negotiations in order to concentrate its efforts on stemming the Bolshevik tide threatening to engulf the Balkans and all of eastern Europe. Both regions contained substantial Catholic populations who would fall under the atheist rule of the Kremlin if Germany were completely crushed. The two areas of greatest concern were Poland and Croatia. While the Church had little interest in the terms of the peace agreement, it was imperative that the Western Allies cease military operations against Germany so that Berlin could concentrate on stemming the Bolshevik tide. England, recognizing the dangers of Bolshevik rule over Eastern and South-eastern Europe had already suspended military operations. The president alone, with his policy of unconditional surrender, stood in the way of saving Eastern Europe from the domination of the atheists in the Kremlin.

  Beyond this overriding fear Rom
e also had humanitarian concerns, namely that a suspension of military operations would facilitate the relief efforts aimed at dealing with the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons being released from German camps and factories before the advent of winter when hardships would increase.

  Finally there was a more practical concern of the destructive effect that the mobilization of the American economy had had on the Catholic American family. Nearly 3 million American women had found work in the armaments industry or other formal employment taking the jobs vacated by men drafted into the military. The Roosevelt administration had funded a vigorous recruitment campaign provoking a fierce reaction among social conservatives and Catholics alike. In April 1943 the Catholic World had editorialised that ”The principal evil in women’s work is that it alienates the life of the wife from the life of the husband and gives marriage as much permanence as room sharing of two freshmen at boarding school.” The sooner the economy demobilized, the sooner women would be able to return to the proper role as wives, mothers and home keepers. The faster this happened the less the lasting disruption to family values.

  Within two days the message had reached the President and his advisors. Adjusted for American context it stated that Catholics might find it difficult to support the Democrats in the upcoming election if the administration’s continued insistence on unconditional surrender led to Bolshevik dominance over the Catholic peoples such as those of Poland and Croatia. In effect the Vatican had put a question mark on over 12 million Polish-, Croatian-, and Italian-American and other catholic votes. Coming on top of Eleanor Roosevelt’s persistent pacifist and humanitarian pressure, the phone call from Mayor LaGuardia was decisive; Roosevelt’s resolve began to crumble. The fact that none of his spy network’s was feeding him anything useful on the new crowd in Germany did not help. Roosevelt’s dream of removing Germany from the great power game in Europe was running out of options.