Rommel is gone, beaten at his own game by that firebrand American General Patton. Now he’s in Syria tormenting General Alexander. Old reliable Wavell is gone too, off to sit as the Viceroy of all India. Monty’s got his finger in the pie up north, but I’m told he’s been stuck on the coast for months. So I’ve got to get on up there and sort things out. I’ve only the 23rd Armored Brigade left for a good heavy punch, and I managed to squirrel away some 400 tanks in that outfit. My infantry is second to none, and now I have the room to organize a proper offensive. I’m going to push hard, and by God, perhaps I’ll beat Monty to Tunis.
There came the distant sound of artillery, and he knew it was 25-pounders. The lads have found someone to get after this evening, he thought. Good for them. He leaned forward, tapping the driver’s shoulder with a smile on his face. “Come on, Johnny, let’s not miss the show.”
“Right, sir.”
General Buschenhagen of the 15th Infantry Division was waiting for a train from Tunis promising supplies. His men had been in action on the coast, fighting a stubborn withdrawal for months. They would fall back, dig in, hold the line until it was flanked inland, and then withdraw to the next position to the rear. He was sitting in his staff car by the rail line, his men enjoying a quiet smoke in the evening, waiting on that train, but it was very late.
“Sergeant,” he waved at a nearby man. “Send some men on motorcycles down the line and see what the problem is with this train, it is already an hour overdue.”
It was traveling at night, deliberately trying to avoid the attention of Allied night fighters, but they may have seen it. What he found out two hours later was even more alarming. British commandos had landed at dusk along the coast behind his lines. All the Marsch Battalions that had once been posted to coastwatcher duty had long ago been commandeered and sent into the fight near Bedja.
“How strong are they?”
“We saw what looked like battalion sized formations at two locations, in the old forts near Sidi Bermaga, and along the river coming down from Djebel Abiod.”
The General was not happy…. There were actually four Commandos that had put to sea out of Bone that evening, and they had already worked their way well inland. In effect, the General’s lines of communication back to Tunis had just been cut, and there would been no train arriving that night. The engine and two stock cars were derailed and burning in the otherwise quiet night along the coast.
If only to make himself feel that he did still have some fight in him. Nehring waited at Pont du Fahs to see which front would need his divisions. As it turned out, the open zone north of Enfidaville was much easier for O’Connor than the high country east of Highway 4. So on May 8th, he organized a counterattack, with all of 15th Panzer and most of 21st, save a small KG that he had to send to Highway 4. It hit elements of the French 3rd Algerian, battalions of US Rangers that had landed on the coast to flank Enfidaville two days earlier, and a battalion of the British 44th Home Counties Division, causing some disruption and driving to within 10 kilometers of Enfidaville again. At this time, the main effort with 51st Highland and 23rd Armor was already 18 kilometers north of the town, where the Italians attempted to keep them, by launching an attack with their Centauro and Littorio Armored brigades.
O’Connor could hear the German attack coming his way at Enfidaville, and looked to see what he had at hand to stop it. The 8th RTR was still there after mopping up some trapped units of the Trento Division, and it had about 70 tanks. He also had 1st and 7th Gordons, and all the division artillery from the 51st. So he immediately ordered those guns into action, and then sent those three battalions northwest to meet the German advance. As this counterattack developed, the remainder of the French 3rd Algerian came up Highway 2 where it joined the coast near the town, and they were able to get organized to quickly join the fight. Then O’Connor heard a distant rumble to his left, and knew that the guns of the 44th Home Counties Division had joined the action.
The Germans had thought to take the British 8th Army unawares, but O’Connor found he had ample resources to deal with the enemy attack. He also knew from dispatches that the American attack up Highway 4 was gathering steam, and might soon threaten to break out towards Pont du Fahs, so he was not concerned about the sudden German thrust. They’re making a good play, if they can, he thought, but we’ll stop them.
That attack by the US 45th Infantry Division was now the right pincer of what looked like an envelopment operation aimed at Pont du Fahs. The left Pincer was Monty pushing hard with 6th and 10th Armored for Bedja. Between them, the Germans had their most cohesive defensive line, with 334th, 337th and 90th Infantry Divisions, all backed by Tiger companies and KGs from 10th Panzer. That force had held off Patton’s 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions for days along Highway 5, but it was now being flanked on both sides along highways 4 and 6.
Nehring had no choice. He had to suspend his attack and reform a defensive line, but in doing so, he managed to extricate three battalions of Panzergrenadiers and two Panzer companies to form a regimental sized reserve Kampfgruppe. It would now stand as the only German mobile troops that were not on the line, and it would not be long before they would be needed elsewhere. One detachment was sent along the rail line from Tunis, west to Bou Arada. The second went to Medjez al Bab, the last remained at Pont Du Fahs.
As they started on their way, General von Bismarck wished them good luck. For a moment he thought of Rommel, wondering how his old commanding General was faring. Gone were the long days and nights in the Libyan Desert, and the hope that they had all carried west into Tunisia had vanished after Kasserine. He shook his head, sullen and dispirited. If Hitler allowed the British and Americans to run us out of North Africa like this, then the war was as good as lost. We had over 200 divisions on the Ostfront, and could spare only ten here. Why in God’s name did Hitler order Raeder into the Black Sea? The Sicilian Narrows were our life line to Tunis, and now getting supplies through is like trying to squeeze water out of a dry sponge. There goes the last of my mobile reserves.
Farewell, my soldiers. I expect we will all soon meet again at Tunis.
Chapter 6
Monty had Bedja on the 11th of May, and was now endeavoring to do exactly what Kesselring had predicted. He wanted to continue right up Highway 6 to Medjez al Bab, and he was using his tank battalions like battering rams against the enemy defense, smashing forward with one, then sending in another. The Germans were throwing everything they had in front of him, even HQ staff companies and support squads, but by the 12th of May the line was battered to the breaking point.
On Highway 5 as it approached the village of Testour, Patton had his 2nd Armored pushing with the 3rd Infantry division, now returned to his command by Montgomery. The British General had more forces than he could use, and his own 4th Infantry had been squeezed out of the line, waiting in reserve for the armor to make some decisive breakthrough.
For that, Monty and Patton were neck and neck, with both Highway 5 and 6 converging on Medjez al Bab, bringing their spearhead forces to a meeting point. In hard fighting, the Germans were forced to retreat towards the city, cobbling together another defensive line as they did so. When Patton learned that British troops were just a few kilometers north of “His” road, Highway 5, he deliberately barked an order at the commander of CCR of 2nd Armored.