“If he had pushed through to the coast,” he would later explain to Wavell, “then I would have dug in and dared him to do anything more about it. We had enough at Nofilia to last three more days, and I would have thrown everything I had at him to break out if necessary. He may think he’s beaten me. Well, he certainly stopped me, at least for a time, but here I stand, and there he goes. That’s all that matters.”
Chapter 17
Hundreds of miles to the west, another restless General was chafing at the bit, George Patton. He had set out to flank the German defense of Algiers, but the Germans brought up their 10th Panzer Division, counterattacked, and stopped him at M’Sila. They had even taken the place, which angered him to no end. He knew that if he had his whole corps up and ready, he could push them out, which is why he went looking for Terry Allen of the 1st Division, the last to arrive on the scene.
With the Big Red 1 finally up, Patton ordered an immediate counterattack to retake M’Sila, and by the 11th of October, he had a battalion of the16th Infantry Regiment supported by tanks and more infantry from the 1st Armored in that town. As he surveyed the scene, he could clearly see that the Germans were trying to disengage.
“That’s the spirit!” he said to General Allen, knowing when to praise as well as when to hound an officer on the field. “That’s my fighter. I told you we could kick their behinds out of M’Sila. Those two Kraut tank battalions just high-tailed it east on the road to Barika. They’ve got a railhead there, and I want it.”
At that moment, a barrage of artillery fire came in on the American positions again, sending many men to ground, but Patton and Allen stood firm, leaning over a map spread out on the warm hood of a jeep.
“That’s just covering fire for their retreat,” said Patton, exonerated and pleased with what his troops had accomplished. “So we want Barika, and I want 9th Infantry to keep pushing on that ridge overlooking the valley to the north. That’s good ground up there. See how it frowns on this rail line from Ben Mansour? That’s the main line east. This other one here up through Bougie will dead end at Fort Melila northwest of Constantine. So I want the 9th to cut that line off. Then I’ll send both armored divisions right through this open country east to Barika. I’ll want your boys right along with them.”
“That’s a good distance east,” said Allen. “Do we have the fuel?”
“No but I’ll find it. Then, once we get Barika, I’ll establish our forward depot there, and we’ll push northwest to Batna.”
“Looks like some pretty rough country.”
“Damn right it is,” said Patton. “It’s these goddamn mountains. Well, they didn’t stop the Romans. Old Constantine the Great was one tough hombre. They named that city after him, and from Batna, we can push right up the rail line and take the place. Then the Limeys can push on up the coast to Bone, and I’ll turn east again for Tebessa. That’s right on the Tunisian border, a perfect place to set up shop for the next phase of the campaign. Hell, from there its only 150 miles or so to the coast. We can blow right through Tunisia and cut the Germans in two. That will cut off Rommel’s retreat before he gets a mind to come this way.”
“Rommel? You itching to tangle with him, General?”
“Why not? He’s been stuck at Mersa Brega for a good long while, or so Ike tells me. Now they say he’s gone and given the British another bloody nose east of Sirte. Looks like we’ll have to step up and finish the job. Our new Allies can’t seem to get things done.”
That was vintage Patton. In one brief session with a map on the hood of that jeep, he had already planned his entire march to victory through Algeria to the Tunisian border, and from there across Tunisia to Sfax. He would soon learn that it was easier to make his plans that it would be to carry them out. The German Army was by no means beaten here yet. Von Arnim was fully capable of holding any ground he chose, but he had a problem too—Adolf Hitler.
“So what do we do?” said the General. Von Arnim was now nominal commander of the 5th Panzer Army, charged with the defense of all Algeria against a combined British American force that was strengthening day by day. Kesselring was now the overall theater commander, with Rommel his sturdy knight in the east, fresh off his victory against the 8th Army.
“That is the question of the hour,” said Kesselring. “I certainly know what we should do, but given this stand fast order from Hitler, the situation gets a little more complicated. Look how our line is stretched out all along the Tellien Atlas Mountains. It runs from Blida, just south of Algiers, and all the way east to M’Sila.”
“The British have taken Blida,” said von Arnim.
“Yes, and the Americans have just taken M’Sila. Now… We’ve got one good rail line that connects all the way through to Constantine, and the Americans are very close to it here, near Mansourah. That’s where I’ve posted KG Barenthin on this ridge to stop them, but Fisher in 10th Panzer Division says they brought us yet another infantry division, and a good one this time. He doesn’t think we should continue to hold as we are, and I fully agree. I’ve ordered him to break off his attack at M’Sila, but to keep that rail line well covered.”
“If you want to get east, now is the time we should do it,” said von Arnim. “Wait any longer and they will find a way to cut that rail line. “Look… We ought to set everything up this way. Anchor the defense on the coast at Les Falais, just east of Bougie. Run the line through Setif, and then tie it off at Batna. There’s no easy way around that southern flank if we hold there. The ground is terrible.”
“Yes, I see this quiet clearly, but we still have the question of Hitler’s order to hold Algiers.”
“Well look what Rommel did! He just flew to OKW himself and got everything he wanted. Why don’t you go there and spell this out, just like Rommel. I’m sure you could easily get the support of Keitel and Jodl; Halder as well.”
“I could have them all in my back pocket, but that may not move Hitler one inch. He isn’t happy with what’s been going on in Russia. Winter is coming, and you know what happened last year. He wants that city on the Volga and the Russians are holding on to it like a dog with a bone.”
“So now he wants us to do the same here, at Algiers? The British already have troops in the city. 327th has only been fighting a delaying action there. General Kesselring, this American General, Patton, he’s a real firebrand. He can surely read a map just as we can, and mark my words, he’ll push hard to cut that rail line soon, if he isn’t already.”
Kesselring nodded heavily, pursing his lips with frustration. “I have already had to send half of the Herman Goring Division to support Fisher. Soon I’ll have to send the other half, and then there will be no mechanized force to backstop the defense at Algiers.”
“We should just abandon the place,” said von Arnim. “We should move east now while we can, orders or no orders. We could simply say that we were forced to do so, that the British just keep moving more and more troops over from their forces in Spain. I’ve already positioned the rolling stock.”