CHAPTER 1

  Crumbling Europa

  The deteriorating Axis situation

  By the second half of 1946, things were coming to a head for the Third Reich. Outproduced, outmatched in numbers, and encircled, it was now fighting to see how long it would survive.

  Its only ally worth the name was Italy, and it was about to fall to the Allied forces. The Gustav Line, Mussolini's last hope, was pierced, and Manstein was in full retreat northward. With the Italians would go two million soldiers and about 20% of the overall Axis production capability. While the Reich was sure to try to occupy some parts of Northern Italy and use its excellent factories (Genoa, Milan, Venice, and Florence, to name a few), it would still be a terrible blow to the Axis cause.

  Turkey held on to dear life and was still in the fight only because the Soviets did not prioritize the Southern Caucasus front. Bulgaria and Hungary would have already left the Axis Alliance if it had not been for the Germans basically taking over and installing their own puppet government. Yugoslavia was in a state of civil war(and so completely useless), leaving only Romania. It stayed solid and true to the Reich as an ally, probably because it knew what was awaiting it when the Soviets overran the country…

  The Wehrmacht was the strongest it would ever be in the war, sporting over five million soldiers in arms, close to fifteen thousand tanks of all types, and over 12 000 aircraft (fighters and bombers). But it was outmatched by the Soviet's eight million bayonets (and countless armor and planes), American t million (the US also had one against the Japs in the Pacific and the Home country), the British two, and the Canadian one million. The Allied air numbers were also well over the 20 000 marks, while they entertained complete naval superiority so could move their troops and land at any point they chose in Europe.

  The rest of the scattered Allies counted for another two million, and the count did not include the Chinese that were too numerous to count against the Japanese. The total arrayed (nominally) against the Reich was staggering.

  In short, the Third Reich was just one step away from disaster. One such moment was unfolding in the middle of July, and it appeared that the Germans would not recover from a defeat against the Soviets, for then they would just not be able to stem the ever-increasing tide that threatened to overwhelm them.

  Corps Expeditionnaire Français

  Piercing the Pyrenes line, July 17th to July 20th, 1946

  The Pyrenes theater of war had been quiet in the last year, especially after the failure of the Port Leucates landings and the many offensives on the Mediterranean side of the Axis defenses. The Allies, recognizing that the Germano-Italians had built formidable positions, stopped their futile attacks. First, the enemy defenses were too strong, and top-of-the-line troops handled them. A strong aircover (Me-262s) also protected the Axis land forces. Powerful artillery units bombarded the Americano-British troops daily. And most important of all, the defenses were anchored into the Pyrenes Mountains.

  After their many (and bloody) failures to cross the defensive line, Allied High Command decided to change strategy and attack a much easier target: Italy. The decision enraged the French that wanted to move as fast as possible toward the liberation of their homeland. Much of Allied firepower (and heavy units) was consequently switched to the Mediterranean (Sicily and the Roman Peninsula).

  The move put a dead stop to any Allied attacks into France. The leftover forces had only been intended to hold any Axis attacks south. But the recent German troops repositioning (evacuation to the Eastern Front)changed the situation.

  At first glance, the move didn't seem too risky for the German OKW. The major Allied countries like the UK, the USA, and Canada had evacuated their most potent forces to send them to the Italian Front. But one country had left most of its firepower in Spain, awaiting the right opportunity to strike: France.

  The Wehrmacht had lost all respect for the French military after their easy victory in 1940, and as such, discounted the reports of a robust French army on the Atlantic side of their fortified line. But they should have paid more attention to the fact that France had learned some hard lessons from the disaster. Also, they had been fully re-equipped with American weapons. They had recruited new troops from the remnants of the units that had fled to North Africa in 1940-1941 and more men from their colonies. And lastly, they were VERY motivated to attack and liberate their country.

  Facing them in the area were only a handful of Axis troops, including two under-strength divisions and a brigade, all infantry. The German commander (it was still Von Rundstedt) had a Panzer division in reserve in Narbonne, mainly composed of Panzer IVJ's and some Panthers.

  The overall French commander of the "Corps Expeditionnaire Français," General Alphonse Juin, took notice of the reports that spoke of German troop evacuations. According to Allied intelligence estimates, over 80 000 able soldiers were moved out of the Defensive line and railed to Russia.

  The French General, a very capable commander that had not been part of the Metropolitan France debacle (he was in North Africa at the time), keenly took to preparing an attack from the moment the first news of Axis backward movements trickled into his HQ.

  Thru June and the first half of July 1946, the French troops were thus put into position near the roads and mountain passes along the fortification network called the outer Pyrene line by the Axis. The Todt Organization had organized the defensive add-ons because the whole area from Northwestern Spain and into France was less mountainous and deemed weaker by German strategists and experts. While most of the infantry was gone to other theaters, the artillery and field guns were still in place within the fortifications. The whole affair didn't look like a cakewalk.

  Allied high-command, Eisenhower in the lead, was also eager to exploit another weakness in the "Fortress Europe" strategy that the Germans had implemented so well since 1944. Hundreds of air assets were ordered to transfer back to the Spanish theater of war in preparation for the attack that was to be led by France and its Free-French Army.

  General Juin launched his attack on the very same day that the Wehrmacht was about to unleash its Citadel offensive in Russia. With the Moroccan 1st Infantry and the Tunisian 2nd in the lead, the French force launched itself at the defensive line after an artillery bombardment that lasted a few hours. The 1st DB division(1st French Tank Division) followed close behind. They fought the German 68th and 189th infantry divisions, comprised of soldiers on leave from other theaters and other "recuperating soldiers." The fight was sharp and intense, but it only took a few hours for General Juin's men to overpower a small section of the line, enabling the French soldiers to pour into the rear by midday on the 17th.

  So the outer defensive line was quickly taken in the first half-day of fighting because the Wehrmacht was simply too weak in numbers compared to the numerous French in that sector. OKW never really took notice of theater commander Von Rundstedt's warnings about enemy troops' concentrations, especially since they didn't believe that enemy was a serious threat.

  After the fall of a section of the line, it wasn't hard for the Allies to roll up the rest of the outer Pyrenes defenses, and by the end of the 17th, German troops were ordered to retire to the main fortifications from the city of Hendaye to the Pic the la Rhune.

  By the 19th, the French troops started to attack the other Axis positions, and again heavy fighting broke out, each side throwing everything it had at the other. The situation got so serious for the Germans that Von Rundstedt released the 77th Panzer Division from its Narbonne position (his only reserve unit) to try to stem the French tide. By that time, the Wehrmacht was utterly absorbed in the heavy fighting of the Citadel offensive, so it didn't pay as much attention as it should have to the theater commander's insistent pleas, which soon became desperate.

  For once, the Allies fought the Germans at even technological levels in terms of armor. The French 1st DB sported Sherman Firefly tanks (up-gunned 70mm version). The Nazi’s 77th Division had what was almost considered obsolete by German standards (compared to its other heavier models): The Panzer IVJ, a medium tank with a 75mm gun.

  The battle's tipping point happened at midday on the 20th when the French infantry broke thru into the city of Hendaye and was immediately counter-attacked by the Panzer Division. It looked like they would have to retreat or be obliterated when the 1st DB showed up on the battlefield to slug it out with the Axis tanks. The armored duel lasted for several hours, blasting most of the city to rubble in the process. In the end, the French overpowered the Germans, helped by their well-equipped and motivated infantry. The Allied aircrafts established complete air superiority in the sky, completing the disastrous pictures for the Third Reich in the area.

  On the morning of July 21st, two German divisions and two brigades surrendered to the French in Hendaye under a flag of truce, and the 77th Panzer rolled north in full retreat, completely gutted.

  It was only then that the OKW took notice of the news since the Reich had nothing behind the lines to stop the Allies from exploiting their breakthrough.

  Another serious problem for the Third Reich.

  East of Vinnitza

  The good old days all over again, July 18th, 1946

  The Panzer rocked again under the relentless Soviet fire. "Another hit, Colonel," said the gunner in a stunned smile. Everyone was temporarily dazed, as a hit on a tank was like having your head in a church bell when it rang. Walder didn't really notice his driver, as his ears were ringing like crazy. He was busy looking thru the observation slits. They were located in the immobile commander's cupola with six slits to see from many different angles. The slits were closed with protective glass to protect against explosions and shrapnel.

  He saw many Soviet shells explode in catastrophic maelstrom all around the units of the Heavy Panzer Battalion. One attracted his attention in particular. It was an incredible hit on the front of one of the new Jagdtiger tank killers that exploded like one big firework, half of the shell spiraling up in the air, trailing red fire. Once the smoke and fire cleared, the big monster continued forward, shooting one high-velocity round toward the Soviet tanks on the other side of the hill. The shell thundered toward a Russian tank while curving slightly. Walder switched to the following observation slit to see the result of the firing and was rewarded with a SU-158 tank opening up like a tin can under the impact of the powerful 128mm gun. It seemed only to separate in two for a second, but then the inevitable catastrophic explosion followed, with the Red Army tanks' ammo exploding. Erich thought he saw, for a moment, some human forms consumed in the hellish fire.

  And then the Konigstiger gun recoiled, making the machine shudder slightly. Another Soviet tank was hit on the side, derailing its track, and lifting it up in the air. While it was still in the process of falling back to the ground, another round from a different German tank hit its underside, making it tumble and explode at the same time.

  Walder saw that they were pushing the Communists back again. He'd tasked the battalion to take the hill, as it was an elevated position on the battlefield. First, the point was to remove the Panzer Lehr Division from a distance and from a position of height. Second, once they took the place, they would be able to do the same to their enemy and cover the rest of the Panzers that advanced eastward toward their objective city of Zolonosha on the Dnieper. They were still a long way off (hundreds of kilometers, in fact), but the offensive was going so well since the day before to give him hope that the good old days were back.

  The German forces crashed into the Soviet forces with such power the day before that the reports from all across the line were over-enthusiastic. It seemed that they'd finally caught the Red Army with its pants down. "No wonder," the tank commander thought inwardly as the driver moved the tank at full speed on one of the hill's rocky portions to cover them better from enemy shells. The damned Reds had been on the offensive for weeks on end and had sent everything they had into the vortex. They'd kicked the Wehrmacht's ass and completely overran the southern Dnieper Defensive Lines.

  It was nice to finally give some hurt back.

  Operation Citadel part 1

  The offensive's first few days in the south, July 17-20th, 1946

  The German counter-offensive opened up with a bang on the early morning of the 17th. The night lit with artillery flashes from north to south in the Ukraine, as over a million soldiers started their drive east, with bright explosions lighting their way eastward.

  The first part of the fighting was pretty easy for the Wehrmacht, as it only encountered the lead elements of the Red Army, scattered as they were and at the end of their supply tether. The Soviet offensive had already started to run out of steam since the beginning of July, so the forward-most units were easy prey during the first night and morning.

  And then, at dawn, the biggest Luftwaffe air raid of the war was launched. Everything the Germans had was thrown into the operation, and it plastered everything that moved in front of the Wehrmacht. By mid-afternoon on the 17th, the situation became desperate for the 45th and 34th Soviet Rifle corps. Two Tank divisions were smashed to smithereens by the numerous powerful German Panzers who pushed everything that dared put themselves in their way.

  On the first day, most Wehrmacht units advanced over 60 kilometers on average, a pace worthy of the best days during the Barbarossa operation. The fact of the matter was that the Russian forces were caught in the open without any defensive lines or fortifications since only the day before they'd been themselves on the offensive.

  By nightfall on the 18th, disaster was looming for the Russian Southwestern Army Front. Zhukov, close to the frontlines in recently reconquered Kiev, flew directly to the Army Front's HQ in Kirovograd and arrived early on the 18th, to a chaotic scene of disorganization and utter panic.

  It didn't take long for the Soviet Marshal to sack its commander, general Malinovski, for the man was simply not able to get his scattered forces together. By 9 AM, a new order was given for all of the forward units to fight where they were and resist the Fascists to the last bullets. Zhukov's goal was to have enough time to bring forward reserves that he called from the Soviet hinterland and also from the flanks of the offensive; units from the South Front Army Group under Tolbukin were ordered to stop their westward advance and to speed up northward to check the Germans attack from the flanks.

  So serious was the situation after only one day and a half of fighting that the energetic military commander also cabled the Caucasus and Leningrad Front to order several corps and divisions transferred to the closest railheads on the eastern bank of the Dnieper. Stalin himself was given a status report on the situation late on the 18th. It just didn't look good for the Soviets. The Germans had summoned everything they had from the four corners of their empire, and while they would pay for it in these areas, they'd made certain that they would be the strongest where it mattered.

  As the Reich offensive rolled up the Soviet line all across the Ukraine and the Luftwaffe killed and destroyed from the air with its aircraft multitude, it seemed like the war had again taken a new tone.

  Operation Citadel part 2

  The offensive's first few days in the north, July 17-20th, 1946

  The northern part of the Citadel offensive seemed to be a repeat of the dramatic turn of events unfolding in the Ukraine, with Guderian's 14 Panzer Divisions crashing into the weakened Soviet lead elements south of Minsk.

  The fact of the matter was that Zhukov and the rest of the Soviet High Command never expected the Reich to gamble so heavily on their counter-offensive by removing pretty much everything that had some punch from their other theaters of war.

  The Voronezh Front Army group was utterly shocked by the suddenness and power of the Guderian offensive that launched from the beleaguered German frontlines at dawn on the 17th. What had seemed to be a broken, retreating, and defeated force lunged back forward with a vengeance.

  While the biggest dogfight since the start of the war waged overhead (south of Minsk), the German armored and mobile units brushed aside everything in front of them, also achieving record-breaking advances like the good old Barbarossa days in 1942.

  While the situation was severe, Zhukov didn't react as strongly as in the Ukraine since the Red army could do with the lost ground it would inevitably relinquish. The land was more rugged and heavily forested, so it would not be easy to cross and exploit for the Germans and would help the Soviets either to retreat or resist in place. The very same land features that helped the Reich stem the tide the weeks and months before during the Alexander offensive would now play in the Russian favor.

  The standing orders from Stavka were for the forward rifle corps to fight right where they were, while the tank corps' jobs were to avoid any outflanking by the Germans. It assured their destruction but at the same time would save the rest since the Wehrmacht would have to destroy them before continuing their advance.

  Guderian had no such intention in terms of creative maneuvering. He only wanted to smash some Bolsheviks and so obliged Russian's wishes. He fought them toe and nails right where they were and contented himself with the destruction he'd planned for.

  By the 20th, over 250 000 Soviets troops would either have been destroyed or taken prisoners, while Axis losses amounted to about 50 000.

  Allied Conference

  More talks in Quebec City, July 18th, 1946

  As per Churchill's words in 1941, when Russia attacked the Nazis in the Middle East, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," the United Kingdom and the USA became allies of convenience with the USSR in the war that all opposed them with the powerful Third Reich.

  But both political systems could not be further apart than that. Perhaps, Eisenhower had hoped that the Stalinist state could be better than the Hitlerian dictatorship. In fact, both states were totalitarian regimes that oppressed their population.