Thankfully, Harmon was up to the task. He had been the man tapped by Eisenhower himself in the real history to go and backstop General Fredendall, the acting commander of II Corps, and even relieve him if necessary. He had found Fredendall in a drunken stupor, hidden away in an underground headquarters up an isolated ravine, some 80 miles behind the front. There he had been drawling orders over the field phone and radio, trying to run the battle from a map, not once visiting the actual front to see what Eddy or Anderson were contending with.
In this history, Harmon was going to be the man to rescue Fredendall’s Corps again, which had nominal command of both the 3rd and 9th Infantry Divisions. And yes, Fredendall was nowhere to be found at the front. He had established his HQ at Ain Malila, 75 Kilometers from the nearest unit he theoretically commanded, and on the road north to Constantine from Batna. That was, after all, where Fredendall thought he was to take his two infantry divisions, before Patton changed the plan and ordered them to move east and south, along the road to Tebessa.
Fredendall was perturbed at that, for now he had to move his HQ, but three days after the order, he had not yet accomplished that small task. His staff had suggested Ain Fakrour, a town now about 40 kilometers from the front line of action, but Fredendall didn’t think it had facilities he could use, even though it was right on the main rail line from Constantine.
“There’s no air field there,” Fredendall had complained.
“But sir, there isn’t one here either,” said his G2.
“Well we’ve got a good rail line here.”
“Yes sir, and there’s a rail line at Ain Fakrour too.”
“Aw hell,” said Fredendall in his southern drawl. “Patton went through there, and those damn tanks of his probably tore those tracks up real good. Nuthin’s comin’ down that line for at least two weeks. We ought’a stay right where we are.”
So Fredendall didn’t move, both his divisions were now under heavy enemy pressure, and 2nd Armored was the only reserve that might have a chance at saving the situation.
Up on that road to Souk Ahras, elements of Harmon’s CCA ran right into that German tank battalion. Brigadier Gaffey was the man leading the attack, and he had three companies of Shermans totaling some 39 tanks, and two more companies of M5 Stuarts all backed up by two batteries of 75mm guns mounted on halftracks, the American T30 HMC. Not sure what he was up against, he sent his armor in until it was hotly engaged by the combined arms of KG Huder, (190th Pz Battalion), with 18 PzKfw IVF2’s, 12 Marders, three of the new 88mm Nashorns, and two Tigers. This force also had two platoons of motorcycle infantry, which had been acting as its recon element.
Damous was in a mountain pass on the rail line between Souk Ahras and Tebessa. The Germans opened fire, the five 88mm guns on those Nashorns and Tigers doing immediate harm. The hard crack of the gun, and its high velocity, raised the hackles of the men in the lead Shermans, which were hit and easily penetrated. Three were knocked out almost immediately, and when the men in those M5s saw what had happened to them, they quickly lost their ardor for the fight.
“Damn!” said one driver. “Did you see what those kraut guns did to the lead platoon? If one of those hits us, it’ll go right through one side and out the other.”
“Tigers,” said the tank commander. “You just use our pop gun on that infantry, but get us into good defilade. Maybe they won’t see us.”
The Germans did see them, but it was a IV-F2 that put an end to that tank as the driver tried to maneuver into a nearby gulley to get hull down. The Germans had a slight elevation advantage, so they were actually depressing their gun barrels to hit the American tanks on the turrets. Huder didn’t like that American artillery, so he called for support from a nearby artillery unit, and would get fires from eleven 105mm guns in reprisal.
When Patton learned about the blocking position on the road he wanted north, he acted without a second thought. Major General Oliver’s CCB of 1st Armored had pushed through Charpinville to the east and had been sparring with elements of the German 334th. He reasoned that fight could wait, and the German infantry did not pose any immediate threat to his flank. He got on the radio to Oliver.
“Bug?” He said, calling Oliver by the name he often went by. “George Patton. Be sure you leave something to cover the road to Bou Khadra, but otherwise, I want you to pull out of that business at Charpinville and take your whole combat command back west to Grid 4C. Gaffey’s there with a group from 2nd Armored and he’s got a fight on his hands. You’ll be the cavalry arriving to settle it. Now move fast, and hit ‘em hard. This will mean everything.”
Then even though it galled him to do so, Patton got on the phone to Montgomery. “Monty? Look we’ve got a bit of a situation here. The Krauts are hitting us pretty hard. So far we’ve identified five Panzer divisions, two up north hitting Fredendall’s Corps, and three more coming up through Kasserine and Thelepte. Now I think they’re trying to pinch my whole outfit off and isolate us from communications with your army. Well, I’m not going to stand for that. What’s your situation on the coast.”
“Rather thick,” said Montgomery. “They’ve two divisions dug in on very good ground, and it’s been tooth and nail. I’ve just moved up 10th Armored from Army Reserve. I was hoping to send it up behind 43rd Wessex, but the 133rd Motor Brigade was sent in earlier to probe through the passes toward Gulema. I don’t need to remind you that was where your infantry should be.”
“Right…” said Patton, not wanting to get into a tiff here, as he was coming with hat in hand and needed Montgomery’s support. “Look Monty, II Corps is getting hit hard, but they’re fighting. They’re holding. Now this is the main event down here. If you swing 10th Armored down you could clip the Hermann Goring Panzer Division right on the flank. I’m building a strong armored force further east at grid C4. I want to go to Souk Ahras and bag this entire northern pincer. Once we kick the Germans in the ass, you’d be free to roll right on up to Gulema. Hell, you could even go right up to Bone on the coast. That’ll put the fear of the lord into those two Jerry divisions you’re up against. So what do you say? Are you up for a fight here? Come on down and have a go at the big fellas. If we stop this attack, the Germans are finished. They’ll have to pull back into Tunisia.”
Monty was looking at his map. It was an audacious plan, but one much better suited to a mobile division like 10th Armored than commitment to the fight on the coast. He might break through there, but then again, he might find the Germans remain a stubborn foe, and would not have it said that he was stuck like a bug in a rug along that coastline. “Very well, Patton. I’ll issue the order, but mind you… 10th Armored will remain under British control.”
The division Monty was sending was very strong, with two large armored brigades, the 8th and 24th, each with a mix of Churchills, Valentines and some Crusader IIIs. Both tank brigades had a single battalion of infantry attached, and there was the 133rd Infantry Brigade, already engaged near Ain Regada with the German 756th Mountain Regiment. The armor would take the road through Ain Fakrour, which would bring it down behind the US 3rd Infantry.
The key element in this battle was that the American infantry was fighting more than running. It was not like the rout Rommel and von Arnim had inflicted on the Americans in the real history. The GI’s had landed at Casablanca, and then fought their way all the way through Morocco and Algeria to reach this position. They were still not the resilient force that they would be later in the war, but they had been toughening up, and Patton had been instrumental in imposing strict discipline, in spite of Fredendall’s slovenly displays.