It was a fair point.
“Ok then, Brad. You sort your forces out, dropping back towards the Rhine only if you must, and only as a last resort. Tie in with Devers and McCreery. I will speak to both now, Devers first. I will also speak to Alexander and see if he will cut some more forces out to send around Switzerland to secure the bottom end of the Rhine.”
A staff Captain placed a sheet of paper in front of Ike and retreated. Scanning as he spoke, Ike was able to pass on some good news.
“It seems we have some more Air coming on line too. We are steadily making good our losses. According to what is in front of me now, we are at 70% of pre-action numbers and climbing.”
“Well that’s just fine and dandy, but we are going to need those boys to do miracles, Ike.”
“Yes indeed, Brad, as they’ve been doing since day one.”
Placing the paper back on the table, Eisenhower concluded his call.
“Get it done, Brad, and blow everything as you fall back. Every rail junction, every bridge, every airfield, every supply dump. Leave them nothing, and hinder their advance to the maximum.”
“Will do, Ike. Good day to you Sir.”
“Good day to you, and good luck, General.”
Pausing to sign off the aircraft replenishment report, Eisenhower communicated the decision to his staff and commenced his calls to the senior commanders.
The four Germans sat opposite Eisenhower, their coffees untouched, impassively listening as he described the military decisions taken that afternoon, decisions that would temporarily condemn the greater part of Germany to Soviet occupation.
The Tech-4 sat in the corner, making her normal record of the meeting.
For the benefit of Dönitz and Von Vietinghoff, a military map had been prepared and Eisenhower rose from the table to approach it. The two German officers took their cue and joined him, whereas Speer and Von Krosigk watched on.
Ike quickly went through the situation that had been updated at 5 o’clock to include the threat to Augsburg and fall of Frankfurt, as well as the withdrawal from Nürnberg. There was no way to dress up the disaster that was unfolding in these men’s homeland.
He mapped out the ongoing withdrawal, ending on the most upbeat note, namely his decision not to fall back to the Rhine immediately but to set up other lines to the east, buying time to make sure the great water barrier was as impregnable as it could possibly be.
Eisenhower finished and stepped back as Goldstein finished his translation, permitting the two to do their own closer examination.
Dönitz swept a hand over south-west Germany and fired a question at Von Vietinghoff.
Goldstein spoke.
“Herr Dönitz asks if it is truly necessary to concede so much ground, Sir.”
Eisenhower went to move forward, but was beaten to it by Von Vietinghoff.
The ex-General jabbed a finger at a few places on the map and spoke swiftly, so much so that Goldstein had not even started to translate before he was finished.
“Herr Von Vietinghoff says that no defence can be sustained for long at any of the points he indicates, despite the assurances you have just given, and that the Rhine is the first and last line that can be manned and held in time. A slow gradual withdrawal is the best solution.”
Eisenhower nodded and inclined his head to acknowledge Von Vietinghoff’s understanding of the military position. He also realised that something had just been said that he simply had not properly understood himself until that moment.
“First and last line indeed, gentlemen. We will stop them on the Rhine, and then we will roll them back.”
Goldstein ended his translation and waited for the response.
It came from Von Vietinghoff, and was in perfect English.
“To the Polish Border and beyond, Herr General.”
Eisenhower’s words were repeated back at him, at a time when such an advance seemed impossible to contemplate.
The two Germans returned to their seats, offering up a small explanation of the situation as they saw it for the benefit of the two politicians.
When they had finished, Eisenhower drew hard on his cigarette and stubbed it out before he posed the big question.
“I have been hearing good reports about your soldiers and their willingness to serve. I wonder when we might see some forces free to send forward into action?”
Eisenhower had heard a number of reports, not all of which were good. ‘Agents provocateurs’ within the ranks causing trouble, and there had been desertions by a number of men from the forming up camps. Even a report of a bloody fight near Emmerich, which ended with over forty men dead and hundreds hospitalised.
‘Maybe that is why I feel like I do?’
It was Speer that spoke up, and he candidly confirmed every rumour Eisenhower had heard to be true, detailing additional problems, as yet unsuspected by the Allied Commander. Polish troops, the least forgiving of the Allies, had ransacked a German holding barracks in San Bonifacio near Verona. The Polish troops were outnumbered and quickly resorted to firearms, the resulting fire fight leaving eighteen Poles and forty-nine Germans dead, with dozens more injured on both sides.
Throughout the German forces, a common problem had emerged. German officers had fought long and hard, bound by their oath to the person of the Führer, Adolf Hitler. The Council had immediately instigated a new oath to the state of Greater Germany. Soviet agents amongst the officers had caused great unrest on the matter, citing the unconstitutional nature of the Council that was enforcing the new oath.
In Jülich, the unrest had developed into violence, resulting in the deaths of seven officers. More violence had flared in Freiburg, where another five men were lost. Speer confirmed that GeneralOberst Guderian was engaged in a tour of the forming-up camps, and at each he openly retook the oath as an example, dealing with the concerns of officers head-on, and with great success.
Whilst it was good for Eisenhower to hear that the Council was doing its bit, the important question had not been answered. Not wishing to interrupt, he eased himself in his chair and went for another cigarette.
It was Dönitz who did the job for him. Leaning across to Speer, he tapped the folder in front of the former Minister of Munitions and spoke softly.
Speer conceded with a nod of the head and opened the folder, extracting a set of papers, which he offered up to Goldstein.
When the report was in Eisenhower’s hands, Speer read aloud in German, which Goldstein at first translated but a raised hand from Eisenhower stopped him, the General’s own copy of the document being typed in English.
Eisenhower scanned the list, conscious of Speer’s voice in the background, but distracted by the content before him.
Organised on 1944 lines, the forces presently assembled should have represented a lifeline to a hard pressed Eisenhower.
But.
‘Get a grip General! Snap out of it, and don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.’
Eisenhower cleared his mind and felt the better for it.
The full tank division was most welcome, as was the motorised infantry one. However, a further nine complete infantry formations was the eye-catching figure that leapt up at Ike, albeit that the units were spread from Holland down to Italy.
One of the formations was a complete 1945 formation, the 319th Infanterie Division, which had served for four years as the garrison for the Channel Islands.
Another of the divisions was heavily motorised with a tank element and represented a former Panzer-Grenadiere style division, now named the Europa Division. With the sole exception of that unit, the other German divisions carried the nomenclature of their former deployment.
Scanning down the list, it was obvious that some support elements were missing from one or two of the formations but, all in all, he was being given an Army of eleven divisions, plus change, all fit to go in harm’s way.