* * *
If there had been another Corps in reserve, waiting to exploit those gaps, that might have been true, but Patton had nothing in reserve at all. Those troops were all fighting in the Pas-de-Calais now. Everything was committed, and that was going to bring some relief to von Rundstedt that night. He learned that the enemy had broken through just north of Grand Luce, 25 kilometers southeast on the road to Le Mans. They were also over the Sarthe north of the city. With only Panzer Lehr in reserve, he could commit that division to try and stop one of these penetrations, but not both. He simply needed more troops, and he called the only man who might have them.
“General Guderian, I thank you for that surprise gift of the Panzergrenadiers, but it was barely enough to hold back the storm. They have broken out to either side of Le Mans, and I might only stop one of those thrusts. Is there anything else you can send me?”
“I have the Brandenburgers ,” said Guderian, “but nothing more. However, Kluge asked me to meet him in Paris soon. He said something about a new brigade out of Germany, though I think he intended that it go to the 15th Army.”
“Down here I think both sides are wishing they had troops now fighting in the Pas-de-Calais,” said von Rundstedt. “I’m not sure what Patton may have in his back pocket, but you know how aggressive he is. If you can spare a couple brigades from the Brandenburg Division, it would help me cover the roads to Chartres. They are wide open now.”
“Very well, I will do what I can. We’ve been shadow boxing with the British, but I think the entire front needs to move further north. You might think about moving Student’s Korps closer to the Loire.”
“I will consider that,” said von Rundstedt, hopeful that he might at least get a few more mobile brigades. But what was Kluge up to? He knew the man had been at Aachen, routing traffic to 15th Army. Von Salmuth even got the 2nd Panzer Division when it completed its refit. He also knew that Himmler had released the Nordland SS from duties in Berlin after the Eagle’s Nest conference allayed fears of a clash with the army.
“When you meet Kluge,” he said, “tell him I have my hat in the ring for the Nordland Division. If Patton does have a reserve to exploit these gains, then we will soon be looking at a major breakout here. In that event, a general withdrawal to the Seine would be our only option.”
“Let us hope it does not come to that yet,” said Guderian. “But that is all the more reason to move Student north.”
Student had three excellent Para divisions on the Cher River, a tributary that flowed south of the Loire before joining it west of Tours. The 361st and part of the 276th were also on the Cher, east of Tours adjacent to Student. So von Rundstedt made the decision to begin moving Student north as Guderian suggested, and contacted General Sheleinitz of the 361st and ordered him to use the bridge at Amboise, about 25 kilometers east of Tours, then to reestablish his line on the Loire. The troops slipped away, using the one good road through heavy woods, and they were not disturbed by man, beast, or fighter bomber. That night, the bridge at Amboise was blown.
Von Rundstedt had a decision to make, and he contacted Bayerlein. “Fritz,” he said, “I think I will need you to move south again. Cover the roads to St. Calais, and see if you can dance with that Schwerpunkt that pushed north of Grand Luce.”
Von Rundstedt had moved his last knight.
Thus far he had seen the 352nd Division shattered, the 132nd all but destroyed, and both 7th and 116th Panzer Divisions reduced to battle weary kampfgruppes . Those losses had been redressed with the arrival of 77th and 91st infantry, and the two Panzergrenadier Divisions, but he was still looking for all the help he could find. Sometime later, Guderian would call him again and say that Kluge had found something for him.
“Good,” said von Rundstedt. “May I ask what he is sending?”
“General,” said Guderian. “You will have to see it with your own eyes to believe it. Come to Paris, tonight….”
Part III
Hercules
“Hercules is born to wars,
Those that honor such a calling,
Must not sit and gape at stars,
Till they see their foes a falling…”
—Dame Vertue
Chapter 7
At OKW, Zeitzler was looking over the roster of new divisions forming for the 27th Welle. There were five formed now, two months earlier in this history. (59, 64, 226, 232, 237). All had been sent to the West in the old history, but he was wondering whether that would be enough. The casualty figures coming in from the main front in France were sobering, particularly among the Panzer divisions, and he knew that all three armies in France would need support, and quickly.
The entire 24th Panzerkorps had been reduced to three small KGs since the Allied invasion of Southern France. Now, 7th Panzer joined the ranks of the broken and lost, and the once new 116th Windhund Division was now 40% understrength. All the SS units were weakening, and the only division that had been ready in May in Germany, the 2nd Panzer, was already on the line in the Pas-de-Calais.
The Army needed some way of countering the fast moving enemy armored divisions, but the lack of air support doomed his Panzers from the moment they began the journey to the front. Yet the Army was not without reserves. The shift of many Soviet Armies east against Orenburg had been a godsend. Looking over the armies on the Ostfront , he took a head count and saw that Armeegruppe Mitte , under Model, now had 43 divisions in spite of the tragic loss of the entire 2nd Army—12 infantry divisions perishing in the Moscow Pocket. They were dearly missed.
Manstein in Armeegruppe Sud still had 50 divisions, even after transferring many divisions to the West. There were also 14 divisions in Armeegruppe Nord , but that formation was soon to be folded into Model’s command. Four divisions stood in the Ostfront Reserve, bringing the total in the East to 111 divisions, plus another twelve from the Rumanian and Hungarian Armies to make a total of 123. Of these, 25 were mobile divisions. In the real history, there were 160 divisions on the Ostfront at this time.
In the West, there were now 77 divisions, with 14 being mobile divisions. Ten more were in Norway, 15 in Italy, for a total of 102 Divisions against the historical deployment of only 75. That meant that 27 divisions had already moved West from the Ostfront , and the Generals at OKW were still looking at sending more, because the threat was clear and present.
There were now 15 Allied divisions in the Pas-de-Calais and 45 more on the front to the south. That was 60 divisions against a handful that were actually in France in the real history at this time. All this arose from Marshall’s dramatic decision to push for, demand and then order an invasion of southern France in September of 1943 as opposed to committing more troops in a fruitless campaign in Italy. Two thirds or more of France was already liberated, when in the real history, the Allied armies controlled only a narrow strip along the Normandy coast.
“At the moment, we no longer need the heavy metal in the east,” said Manstein. “The Soviets are merely working to gain the line where they plan to stage the next offensive. But I do not think they will try the Dnieper in the coming months. At the same time, the West is critical now, particularly after these landings in Northern France. So we have good time to rest the Panzers, but many divisions are just sitting in Russia, waiting for the summer. Perhaps we should strongly consider releasing the Ostfront reserve mobile divisions to the West.”
“Himmler has already released the Nordland Division.”
“Big of him,” said Manstein. “Yet that will not be enough. We could send 9th Panzer from the reserve, and then I am told that 10th Panzer will complete its refit this month as well.”
“Agreed,” said Zeitzler. “One thing of interest… Guderian spoke with me earlier about the Brandenburg Division. He thinks it is too unwieldy now—five brigades. He suggested that each brigade form the nucleus of a new Panzer division, and that we collect the odd Panzer and Panzerjager brigades we deployed in the east earlier to find a ready pool of armor.”
“Many
of those are worn down,” said Manstein.
“Yes, and we will not have the Panzers to rebuild them. I like Guderian’s idea. It would put a hard core of steel, with elite troops, at the heart of five new divisions. The only catch will be getting it to a reserve area, off the line, so we can do this.”
“Do what you think best,” said Manstein. “I think this would be a good plan if it could be done.”
“Very well,” said Zeitzler. “Model was supposed to get 9th Panzer, and you had your eyes on the 10th, so you both lose out if I send those divisions west. Will it be enough?”
“I’ve looked at the casualty reports for the mobile units,” said Manstein. “7th, 24th, 25th and 26th are shells now. I think the 7th should be withdrawn and rebuilt. The remaining three, should pool all their equipment, and we’ll be lucky to get one division there—call it the what you will. Frankly, I think both Model and I should be able to relinquish one more mobile division.”
“Ah,” said Zeitzler. “You want to send me Grossdeutschland?” He smiled, knowing Manstein would hold on to that division for dear life.
“I was thinking along the lines of a fast motorized division. I think I could give up the 29th.”
“I need something with a little more clout.”
“Then perhaps Model can accommodate you. I hear that Himmler has finished outfitting the last of his monstrosities. What does he call this one?”
“You mean the Wallonian SS Panzergrenadier Division. I don’t think I can use untried troops like that, given the situation in France.”
“Then why not send it to school. Send that division, and the Feldhernhalle SS Division to Steiner. He will be the perfect head master. He won’t need three veteran SS Panzer Divisions for the next two or three months. Take one for France, and then give him those newly raised SS divisions to train with his korps. It will do them some good, and maybe by the time we need them, they will know what they are doing.”
“A good point,” said Zeitzler. “I will raise the matter with Steiner.”
So it was eventually decided to send the 2nd SS Das Reich Division west. That would increase the SS units in France to eight divisions, forming a complete SS Panzerkorps for each key sector, the north and the south. III Korps would be formed in the north, with 1st and 10th SS Panzers, and the 17th SS Panzergrenadiers. In the South, II SS Panzerkorps with then have 2nd, 9th, 12th, 16th Reichsführer and the SS Nordland Division. That reinforcement, and the addition of 9th and 10th Panzers, would now strongly support the effort in the West. With them would come all five infantry divisions of the 27th Welle.
“There,” said Zeitzler. “That is nine more divisions for France.”
“If need be I could send five more infantry divisions,” said Manstein. “They are just building fortifications around Kiev on the Dnieper, and that segment of the river is still behind our front line.”
“I will keep that in mind,” said Zeitzler. “We may need them to ply their craft in getting the Siegfried line into shape. Well, I had better cut these orders. Let us see if we can bring these two Allied offensives to a dead halt. There is already trouble brewing in the south.”
“Patton?”
“And O’Connor,” said Zeitzler. “They are both threatening a major breakout towards Paris, so these reinforcements will be in the nick of time.”
There were presently ten Panzer brigades in the East, and the decision was made to dissolve them as independent units and assign them to speed the refitting of proven Panzer divisions in the field. Three would stay and refit divisions in the East, but all the others would be withdrawn to the West, where they would form a ready pool of tanks and Panzergrenadiers to replenish losses in the Panzerwaffe there. This would allow divisions like the 7th, 24th and 116th to get back on their feet quicker, and also serve to infuse the SS divisions there with much needed equipment replacements.
In spite of staggering losses, Germany still had a strong and resilient military, at least on the ground, and it was going to soon bloom with these reserves flowing west. Its difficulties can be attributed to the rising strength of its enemies, but even though its divisions were weaker in sheer manpower strength, there were many more of them than prior years. The army was actually as strong as ever, in sheer fighting power, and in spite of the great Allied effort to break resistance in the West, the Wehrmacht was about to undergo a remarkable renewal there.
More and more divisions were raising in Germany, a new concept planned for the eventual defense of the homeland. They were called “Volksgrenadiers,” the people’s warriors, and the first 15 of an eventual 78 new divisions were now being raised. Based on a structure of only six battalions, their firepower in small arms and machineguns was increased to make them primarily suited to defense, forsaking offensive power and concentrating those heavier arms with the mobile divisions. Many would be sent to man the Siegfried line, hoping to make good the old boasts of its impenetrable strength.
There was also one more unit that was not yet on Zeitzler’s roster, moving by rail on the 12th of May to arrive in Paris. It would be secreted away in the underground station of Port Molitor. That had been built for southbound traffic many years earlier, but it had never been used, aside from providing a place to store unused engines and rolling stock. It was perfect for what Kluge had in mind, a quiet place to hide his new Wunderwaffe Brigade away, and then brief both von Rundstedt and Guderian on what he now had in hand. Security was perfect there. It was safe from Allied fighters and bombers, and there were no street level entrances to the station. So that was where the Generals were bound now, for a revelation that would shake them both to the core.
* * *
Guderian stood before the new tank, his eyes glowing with awe. The hull was simply designed, yet marvelously compressed to give the tank a low silhouette. But it was the turret that amazed him. It was massive, as wide as the main body of the tank, and extending two thirds of the length. The long barreled gun spoke of power and range, and when he was given a primer on what this tank could do, he was truly shocked.
“You are telling me that this vehicle weighs over 62 tons, and yet it can travel at a sustained speed of 68 KPH? That is faster than any of our medium or light Panzers, and nearly twice as fast as our Schwerepanzers . And that gun…. It looks to be much bigger than an 88—something in the class of 120mm like the Führer ordered for the Schwerepanzers .”
“Correct,” said Berg. “And with it, I can engage the enemy as far away as 5000 meters, though most of our work will be done at 3000 meters or less.”
“Astounding. You say you can also fire accurately while moving at high speed?”
“The turret and main gun are stabilized, and can remain locked on target over any terrain, and at any speed. We would be happy to demonstrate this later.”
“Well,” said Guderian, smiling with a shrug. “The war Gods of Valhalla have certainly smiled on us with your coming. It is all to much to grasp, or even consider believing—and yet, there sits the most awesome fighting vehicle I have ever set eyes on.”
Like all the others before him, seeing was believing for Heinz Guderian. He saw in that dreadful new tank the epitome of all his dreams when it came to the development of the Panzerwaffe , and that was, in fact, exactly what he was looking at. It was a monster from the distant future, unaccountably here, in Germany’s darkest hour of need. Once, the British had been the recipient of this gift of fire, now it came to Germany, inexplicably, because not even Berg could say how he came to be here.
“You say you were simply making a rail transfer in your own time, and… found yourselves here? Utterly mind boggling!”
“Believe me, we are still bewildered ourselves.”
There would be long hours in the quiet underground station where Berg and Guderian would move among the ranks, with Gunther Kluge beaming ear to ear at their side the entire time. Germany had a new warrior. It was as if Siegfried himself had materialized to bring the wrath of Valhalla down upon their enemies.
“I wonder if I might persuade you to go back, and then return with a few fighter planes from your time,” said Guderian glibly.
Berg smiled. “Yes, we have already seen the difficulties of fighting under the enemy’s air power. As strong as that tank appears, it is not invulnerable. The Americans scored a lucky hit, and a thousand pound bomb wrecked my lead Panzer as we moved into action briefly in the Pas-de-Calais. Aside from that, we engaged two enemy armored divisions, and stopped both penetrations. Now I understand things are difficult to the south.”
“To say the least,” said Guderian. “This General Patton is relentless.”
“I must tell you that the history we see playing itself out here differs markedly from that recorded in our time. There were landings in southern France, but not until well after the cross Channel operation—and that was aimed at Normandy, not the Pas-de-Calais.”
“Interesting,” said Guderian. “But how could that be possible?”
“Think of it as just one more leaf on this oddly colored tree,” said Kluge. “We are faced here with an armful of impossible things, but who has the time to sort it all through? What we do know, is the grim reality of those Schwerepanzers . They are here, as solid as the steel that made them. The war is here with them, no matter how it turned out once in your history books. I think we will never know the answers to all the questions we have about this, but perhaps we can do a little more editing on that history while you are here. Then again, who knows. Maybe this is all a strange dream, and Heinz and I will awaken to find you and all your men have vanished. Before that happens, I can only say we are deeply grateful for your loyalty and support. Now then… We have a battle to fight. This Patton has broken through the lines of 7th Army.”
Breakout (Kirov Series Book 38) Page 6