Then he told them what British intelligence had surmised about the attack on London, and what it could mean for the future course of the war. “All that considered,” he finished, “this device was not of a very great explosive yield. Still, if it had struck a more populated area, casualties would have been a good deal higher. Now this whole thing presents two questions. The first is whether Germany has more of these weapons. We’ve seen nothing of this since February 1st, but that doesn’t necessarily mean their cupboard is empty. The second question is what this means for operations of the sort we have gathered here to discuss. Can you imagine such a bomb exploding directly over our invasion fleet, no matter which island we might choose in our deliberations?”
The silence in the room was ample testimony to the gravity of that prospect. Every man there was seeing some terrible bright flash in his mind, a force so strange and powerful that it could sweep pieces right off the chess board of battle. It was no longer a question of divisions, or naval squadrons maneuvering to overwhelm the enemy. Now they could simply be extinguished in one fell blow.
“My God,” said Patton. “Whoever dreamt this thing up must surely be in league with the devil himself. Where’s the honor in using a weapon like that? There’s no valor in this kind of war. It’s simple butchery.”
“Yes,” said Brooke, “It is, but I might also say that our own concept of strategic bombing as a means of breaking the enemy morale is quite callous. In fact, the policy calls for making the cities we target physically uninhabitable, and instilling in the population the constant fear of personal danger. The wording is quite plain in the directive laid out in September of 1941. Our strategic bombing campaign is to do two things, produce destruction, and fear of death. That’s certainly what Hitler was about when he started the Blitz, and we’re responding in kind. We started with Lubeck and Rostock in March of ’42, but those were small raids of two and three hundred planes. Now we’ve ramped it up to thousand plane raids, a continuous bomber stream to overwhelm the defenses of the target city. Operation Millennium did that over Cologne a year ago, and bomber command estimates we destroyed 60% of the town. In that light, this new weapon is no different in its aim. Last March, we put over 34,000 tons on the Ruhr. We estimate this weapon was not too much more than 1,500 tons of TNT equivalent.”
“But its use as a tactical weapon is something to consider,” said Montgomery. “A blast of that size, delivered at the right place and time, could completely unhinge an offensive.”
“Yes,” said Brooke. “Yet we have come to believe that this weapon was a prototype. We’ve no way of knowing whether they have more of these bombs ready, and we’ve teed up several countermeasures, both offensively and defensively. We’re going after their special weapons programs with much more fervor now, and we’re also going all out to get high altitude fighters. That was why they used something old to deliver this new terror to London, a high climbing Zeppelin, which was above our Spitfire ceiling when the attack was made. What this means for us now is obvious. We thought we had a decisive edge with our own conventional strategic bombing campaign, but, with this weapon, Germany is back in the game, and they don’t have to come with mass bombing raids as we do. This single Zeppelin delivered explosive tonnage that would have required us to use over 200 Lancasters. We also believe they can put this bomb on a single plane. It may even be light enough to be carried by a fighter-bomber, which means they could deliver it much more accurately if they chose to risk losing that plane. I’m also told by people in the know that the explosive yield of such a bomb can be dramatically increased. It’s just a question of how much uranium is used for fuel. A weapon could be made to yield ten times what we saw over London, or more. This is rather disturbing, to say the least.”
Admiral Tovey was sitting in dark silence, for deep within his mind, he saw the clear memory of that terrible mushroom cloud billowing up over the North Atlantic. That was the first he had seen of this weapon, though he could not trace his present life path back to that moment. There had also been another incident in the mid-Atlantic west of Gibraltar. He had been leading the fleet against the Germans, when Rodney met her fate, and a terrible explosion had gushed up from the sea, glowering over the scene for hours after that engagement. He had seen this weapon used twice, and never wished to see one again.
Patton was so very correct. There was no skill or valor in this kind of war—no strategy. The Bomb made talk of covering forces, strategic choke points, and all conventional operations of war, frivolous. The next war would simply be wanton destruction. The armed forces would exist simply to deliver their terrible weapons of destruction, and the world would burn. That Russian Captain Fedorov had told them of this. In his time, far in the future, this was the war they were facing when his ship had vanished… to appear here, where the fledgling infant demon that would one day devour his world was first given birth.
Chapter 9
It was a week before Hitler could throw off the pallor of anger and frustration that the demise of 5th Panzer Army had caused. He had lost North Africa, and knew that German forces could never fight there again. Now the Allies in the west were surely planning new offensives. Sicily would likely be the next objective, and to defend there he now had to find fresh divisions to send into Italy. Mussolini had seen all his colonial ambitions in Africa defeated, and was now a very shaky partner. Would his army continue to fight to defend their homeland? Would his navy fight?
In the event they would not stand with Germany any longer, and attempted to sign an armistice with the Allies, Hitler had ordered planning to begin for the occupation of the entire Italian peninsula, and the seizure of the Italian fleet. It would be called Fall Achse , or “Case Axis,” but was now a working plan under the codename “Operation Alaric.” It would be a plan to rapidly disarm the Italian Army in Italy, and gain control of that vital terrain.
The wolf was let in the front door by the Italians after Tunisia, for Hitler immediately promised Mussolini that he would send German troops to insure the defense of the Italian mainland. Herman Goring was rapidly commandeering new equipment from the factories, and collecting units from his Luftwaffe ground units to rebuild his Panzer Division. He promised the Fuhrer it would be ready to send to Sicily before the Allies could invade. Hitler then ordered that the collective forces that had been transferred to Sicily before the final demise of the 5th Panzer Army would be used to begin rebuilding one of the divisions lost, the 15th Panzer, only lack of ready equipment would see this division rebuilt as a Panzergrenadier Division.
The bulk of the personnel that had once made up 7th Panzer Division was already in France, rebuilding as it received new equipment, and Hitler gave orders that the 10th and 21st Panzers would also be rebuilt there, though only one of those, (the 21st) was rebuilt in the real history. But none of those forces would be ready, except Goring’s division and the new makeshift 15th Panzergrenadiers.
There were also a lot of men that had been rehabilitating in France from the vanquished Army, and Hitler ordered that they should be collected to rebuild the 90th Light Infantry Division that had been lost in Tunisia. New recruits would have to flesh out those ranks. The need to suddenly reinforce the West, in both the Balkans and in Italy, was happening at a time when OKW was trying to devise its strategy for the next phase of the war against the Soviets, and it led to a conference at OKW that would be the German equivalent of the Allied TRIDENT meeting.
* * *
The successful defensive action initiated by General Manstein in April had restored the front in the south and punished the Russians by nearly destroying two full armies, the 63rd and 1st Guards. Only the Mechanized elements of the latter had the means to evade the trap that Manstein launched with Steiner’s Korps, augmented by the 57th Panzer Korps, which he transferred from the Caucasus. The remaining rifle divisions assigned to 1st Guards Army perished in the counterattack put in by von Knobelsdorff’s 48th Panzer Korps, which then advanced on Belgorod to relieve the German units that had
been cut off there when Hitler declared it to be a Fortress.
In this action, the deep salient north of Kharkov achieved by 5th Tank Army and Katukov’s 1st Tank Army was abandoned by the Soviets. Then Knobelsdorff’s Korps, supported by 1st SS and the Reichsführer Brigades, sealed off that breach and relieved Belgorod. Unfortunately, the enemy resistance thickened north of that city, and efforts to again reach Prokhorovka and rescue Oppenlander’s 305th Division were called off.
Both sides took losses, though those of the Soviets were more severe. In exchange, they gained all the ground between the Oskol River and the Upper Donets, preferring to see their operation Red Star as a minor victory for pushing the Germans off their front along both the Psel and Oskol Rivers. They had, at one point, a very large bridgehead over the Middle Donets, and clear roads to the Dnieper, coming within 15 kilometers of Kharkov as well.
After the action was concluded, the new front extended from the western Psel above Sumy, down to Tomarovka, which was still held by Model’s 2nd Army. It then ran east to Belgorod, held by Korps Raus, before turning south along the line of the Upper Donets, with Kempf now commanding the 4th Army all the way to the big bend near Chuguyev. General Heinrici had become one of the casualties of the operation when Hitler went looking for scapegoats. He was relieved for withdrawing from his positions at the secret urging of OKW Chief Zeitzler. Knobelsdorff’s Korps remained in the north as the ready mobile reserve, with 6th, 9th and 11th Panzer Divisions, but Dietrich’s 1st SS Division would now rejoin Steiner’s Korps.
The Soviet 3rd Guards Army still retained a large bridgehead north of Chuguyev, but the Germans retook that city, and drove Kuznetsov’s 1st Guard Army, the Popov Group, and Malinovsky’s 2nd Shock Group to a line between Pechengi on the Donets bend, and Kupyansk on the Oskol River to the east. This front was anchored on the Donets Bend by the Nordland SS, deemed to be a division suitable for stubborn defense, but not one having offensive strength required to become a part of Steiner’s Korps. East of the Nordland division, the Germans placed the infantry of Group Hollidt, and 54th Korps under Fetter-Pico, backstopping that line with the 57th Panzer Korps, containing 17th Panzer, and 29th and 3rd Panzergrenadier Divisions.
Both those last two units had been send to Italy in the real history, but now they would have to remain on the Ostfront , for this area was deemed to be the most vulnerable to any new Soviet offensive. The bulk of their mobile formations had been driven back into the region between the Donets and Oskol Rivers, and there the Germans identified the mobile elements of Kuznetsov’s 1st Guard Army, with the 1st Shock Army providing the infantry to complete this 1st Shock Group. Then Popov’s mobile units joined Malinovsky to form the new 2nd Shock Group, which also contained 2nd Shock Army.
These were powerful forces, which still had offensive capability, and Manstein stated that the German front opposing them would need to be strongly buttressed by the retention of the 57th Panzer Korps in that sector. The Queen on the board, Steiner’s Korps, would become the German Strategic Reserve, and it would be placed near the major objective the enemy had sought with Red Star, the great city of Kharkov.
A meeting was now convened with Zeitzler, Model, Kempf, Kluge, and Manstein in attendance, all meeting with Hitler to decide the German strategy for the late Spring and early Summer. The decision whether or not to launch Operation Downfall in May was also riding in the balance as that conference began. That was all part of the real overriding concern, the need to gain and retain the initiative on the field in the east for the remainder of 1943. The Soviet Operation had convinced both OKW, and Hitler himself, that the Soviets were slowly developing offensive capability of an alarming strength. They could be expected to try again wherever they had failed, and now the Generals had to decide what to do. Zeitzler made the opening remarks, hoping to cement the idea the Generals had agreed upon.
“It is my belief, and that of General Manstein as well, that we should wait for the enemy to strike first, and then conduct counteroperations similar to the successful attacks made by Manstein in April.”
“Doesn’t this yield the initiative to the enemy?” said Hitler immediately.
“Temporarily,” said Manstein, “for we would again be employing the concept of elastic defense. The Russians wanted Kharkov, and they may try for it again, though I am now inclined to think they want to reach and cross the Middle Donets as their primary objective this summer. Good for them I say! In fact, I would fold back our lines if they attack with their strongest shock groups, and invite them to cross the river again, and fall right into the same trap that we used to defeat them a few weeks ago.”
“Fold back our lines? I do not like the sound of that at all,” said Hitler. “General Heinrici was all too fond of folding back his lines, and he is no longer in command of his old army.”
“Heinrici’s front on the Oskol River was not essential,” said Zeitzler, feeling he should at least defend the man. “We needed to hold the Upper Donets, and that we did.”
“Except the region north of Chuguyev. The enemy still has his foot in the door there,” said Hitler, “and he should be pushed back over the river with all speed. As for the line between the Donets and Oskol at Kupyansk, that front is now protecting very valuable terrain. The Donets must not be crossed again in the south. It is the last major barrier between the enemy and the coal mines of the Donets Basin, which also screen Rostov, the gateway to our Army Group in the Caucasus.”
“All the more reason why 57th Panzer Korps must remain there. It cannot return to the Caucasus, nor can it be made available to go to the west after this unfortunate business in Tunisia.”
“But we must find new forces somewhere,” said Hitler. “Turkey is watching these developments closely, and we cannot permit anything to threaten our position there. You may continue to advocate these risky maneuvers, General Manstein, folding back your lines in the face of an enemy attack, but in my mind, terrain yielded to the enemy is not always recovered easily, as we have seen. We may have stopped the enemy Spring offensive, but we are not on the eastern Psel any longer, are we? We are not on the northern Oskol River either. Sergei Kirov has already spoiled breakfast. Don’t go thinking I will now want to give him my lunch! I want no more talk of folding back the lines, or inviting the enemy to take anything from us he does not pay for. For this reason, I reject the notion that we should wait for him to strike us first. This conference is to decide our own offensive operations, not to contemplate defense, elastic or otherwise.”
Zeitzler and Manstein had both spoken before the meeting, and this was what they expected to hear from Hitler. They had decided that it would be fruitless to engage in a two-day struggle with the Führer over this issue, and so the conference then moved quickly to offensive options, with all eyes on the map.
“Very well,” said Zeitzler. “Then we must now decide whether Untergang should be launched against Leningrad, and if so, when that would be most prudent. General Manstein?”
“It is clear that we cannot conduct that offensive while also contemplating offensives here in the south. If Untergang is launched, that is where Steiner must go, which means we will be forced to the strategic defensive in the Kharkov Donets sector. The enemy is clearly planning his defense against any thrust towards Leningrad, and yet look at all the forces he has brought to the Donets!”
“You believe they will renew their offensive here?” Zeitzler asked the question, though he already knew the answer.
“Of course they will, which is why I proposed an elastic defense to stop them as we did in April. If Untergang is launched in May, do not think the enemy will sit quietly on our porch here while we drive on Leningrad. He will attack, and with everything he has along the Donets—aiming to seize all that valuable territory that you are keen to protect, my Führer. Our other option is to instead pre-empt his offensive here with an attack of our own, and see that to a successful conclusion, with the aim of destroying the enemy’s power to conduct further offensives here before we la
unch Untergang .”
“I agree with that proposal,” said Model. “Mine is a defensive army, but I would rather see us after the enemy than sit waiting for him to come for us again. What are the prospects for our own offensive?”
“Three options have been identified,” said Zeitzler. “The first is Operation Habicht (Hawk). It will involve an attack across the Donets north of their 3rd Shock Group bridgehead, concurrent with an attack from the vicinity of Kupyansk—a pincer operation against the large group of mobile formations that remain between the Donets and Oskol Rivers. The second option is to widen those pincers by staging the attack from a point east of the Oskol River in the south, and at Belgorod in the north. This would attempt to pocket all the enemy forces along the upper Donets as well as those on the river gap sector, a much more enterprising offensive now coded Operation Panther . Opinions?”
“The second is too ambitious,” said Model immediately. “Where would those pincers meet?”
“One would drive on Valuki from the south, the other on Stary Oskol in the north.”
“Those objectives are far apart, and so both pincers will also be widely spaced. This will become nothing more than two unsupported attacks. I vote no on such a plan, and rather prefer the tighter attack that Operation Habicht proposes.”
“I think I must agree,” said Manstein. “For Panther we would have to reinforce both 48th and 57th Panzer Korps to make them strong enough for the job, and the most likely means of doing so would be to split Steiner’s Korps in two. I would prefer to keep his forces united as one mailed fist. Furthermore, the terrain east of Belgorod does not favor an attack to the east as in the Panther Operation. We would have to cross a series of rivers, and push through heavily wooded ground. For Habicht , all we have to do is force the crossing at Volchansk, then drive that pincer southeast along the main road and rail. The southern pincer can drive past Kupyansk, and then swing to the northwest. They should meet about here…” He fingered the map, “At Verliki Burluk.”
Nexus Deep (Kirov Series Book 31) Page 8