“The Turks weren’t shooting at him,” said Zeitzler. “But that cannot be said for Volkov.”
“How many divisions does this free up?” asked Kluge.
“Twenty,” said Zeitzler, a light in his eyes like a man finding gold. There was a noticeable relief among them all, as if all the tension in the room had oozed away in the wake of the Führer.
“Twenty divisions,” said Manstein. “And four of them good Panzer Divisions. As the Führer was kind enough to give me first pick, I choose 3rd Panzerkorps, if only because it is closer in Syria than the 47th is in Baghdad. Hube will come in vary handy if I bring him up on the southern shoulder of this bridgehead. But I also need infantry. How many line divisions are there?”
“Six,” said Zeitzler. “You will want to split them in two, but may I suggest the following disposition? You take Hube as you wish, and then 47th Panzerkorps will go to Kluge with 3rd and 4th Panzer. Take any three line-infantry for your front, General Manstein, and the remaining three will go into OKW Reserve to be used when most needed. Let us send Kübler to Italy with the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Mountain Divisions, along with the two Fallschirmjager Divisions in Student’s command. I would like to place 6th Mountain Division in the Crimea—a nice cupboard to tuck it away, while keeping it close to both the Caucasus and the Donets Basin. The SS Prinz Eugen and the 104th Jager Divisions can go back to anti-partisan duty in Serbia and Croatia. As for Cyprus, it will be hanging out like a sore thumb, so let us put the 78th Sturm there.”
“We should evacuate that island,” said Kluge.
“Perhaps, but it has useful aerodromes that allow us to cover Northern Syria. If the British do get any notion of advancing to that frontier, we at least have some foil with the Luftwaffe.”
“You might think so,” said Manstein, “but we did not have air superiority in either Syria or Iraq, so if the British do cut a deal with Turkey, nothing we have on Cyprus will impede them. I see it as nothing more than another liability, tying up a good infantry division or two with garrison duty. See if you can work on that with Hitler.”
“Very well,” said Zeitzler. “Then the 78th goes to either Rhodes or Crete. Both those islands shield Greece, and Hitler is quite nervous about a British move into the Balkans.”
“He should not worry. The British will not invade the Balkans. To do so, they would first need to reduce Crete and Rhodes, then invade and occupy Greece.”
“Yet what if Turkey was as gracious to Churchill as he was to us? Can you imagine them gaining free passage through Turkey, and then lining up their forces on the Turkish border to invade Bulgaria?”
“It will never happen,” said Manstein. “You heard the Führer. We will wreck those rail lines and it would take them months to rebuild a logistical network through Turkey. Besides, even if they were on the Turkish border, it would be a year before they became a threat to us.”
“They could move up the Black Sea Coast and be behind our Dnieper line,” said Zeitzler.
“Well, they’ll be quite late. It’s 600 miles from the Turkish border to the Dnieper. At this moment, the Soviets are only 90 miles from that objective. Which army do you think will get there first?”
“A good point,” said Zeitzler. “Yet suppose the Allies go for Vienna instead? The Russians are 900 miles from there at this moment. The Turkish frontier is only 660 miles.”
“Let us wait and see where the Soviets are by the time the British are marching through Istanbul,” said Manstein with a grin.
That ended the discussion concerning the Balkans.
“I think we have only assigned 19 divisions,” said Manstein, going over the list in his head again.
“Very astute,” said Zeitzler. “Not counting the Brandenburgers, we are still left with 10th Motorized from Iraq. I would like to hold on to that one as well. There are any number of places where it might be useful.”
“Is it converting to a Panzergrenadier Division?”
“Not yet. There is still something to be said for a good fast infantry division. We’ll leave it that way, but find some Panzerjagers to give it some defense against armor.”
“How long will 24th Panzerkorps be away?”
“Perhaps a month. The 24th Division is in fairly good shape, the 22nd practically wrecked. The 23rd is in the middle, both numerically and in terms of its overall condition.”
“It will at least be good to know that we have all three in Germany,” said Manstein, “because we will need them sooner than we think.”
“Indeed. Then we have covered everything,” said Zeitzler. “The only card left unplayed in this hand is the Brandenburg Division, and the Fuhrer will undoubtedly keep it close to his chest. I realize that you get only two divisions, General Kluge, but at the moment, the crisis is in the south. Is this agreeable?”
“I have no objection,” said Kluge. “I am sure that the Field Marshal will remember my generosity should I ever need him.”
“I will indeed,” said Manstein. “And I also see that we have left nothing for Untergang —all the better. Do you really think the Führer means to launch this offensive? These five extra divisions will come in very handy on my front, but they will be barely enough to hold the line and allow me to build a mobile reserve. Ivan has tried us twice, and he still wants Kharkov. He is already at the front door, and knocking loudly.”
“Yes, unfortunately, Hitler means to attack towards Leningrad,” said Zeitzler. “He has plenty of infantry, but those six mobile divisions will not get him very far. Three of them are old motorized infantry divisions converted to Panzergrenadiers. However, there are divisions refitting in Germany, notably the 24th Panzer Korps, and they will most likely be committed to this attack. Then he has that hodge-podge that Himmler scraped together. How has the Nordland Division performed?”
“It is a stubborn defender,” said Manstein, “but lacks the skill necessary to make it a good offensive division.”
“Well, Himmler may come calling for it before July. Keep that in mind. He wanted it as part of his new SS Korps for Untergang, and I think he has delusions of seeing it lead the way to Leningrad.”
“Zeitzler,” said the Field Marshal, “if you can drag your feet on this ill-conceived plan, I suggest you do so. The Soviets will have multiple lines of defense waiting for that offensive.”
“Possibly,” said Zeitzler. “It may end up a lot of percussion without any real music. I certainly don’t think it will get very far, but perhaps that is what the Führer needs to make him understand the seriousness of our situation on this front. How did we get here, gentlemen? Eighteen months ago, we were burning Moscow!”
“I think Beria started that fire,” said Manstein. “At least this is what I have learned. And I think if Hitler tries to light another one in Leningrad, he will be courting more than a rude awakening. The Soviets will be waiting for him, and after they stop him, don’t think they will just sit and congratulate themselves. If these offensives toward Kharkov teach us anything, then we had better learn the lesson, and the Führer had better learn it as well if he wants to be the head “School Master.”
Chapter 26
Montgomery would lose the argument surrounding his Sicily invasion, but win one small consolation prize concerning Malta. The fact that Churchill still endowed it with a position of great importance for the future security of British interests in the Med, made its capture a foregone conclusion. Britain had reclaimed the Rock of Gibraltar, and now she would reclaim Malta as well.