France Fights On (English Translation) - Thread II - To the continent!
- Thread starter Wings
- Start date
13/06/44 - Occupied Countries
June 13th, 1944
RSI
The Duce dreams...
Salo - Benito Mussolini sends his son Vittorio to Milan to talk to Cardinal Schuster, with a document entitled ‘Proposals for talks from the Head of State’. Mussolini is hoping to negotiate with the Allies! His initial conditions? To accept only Allied (read: non-Italian) forces on the Po plain. They would receive the full support of the RSI forces fighting against the ‘subversive elements’ there.
Like with many others in occupied Europe these days, the fascists are dreaming aloud of a last-minute reversal of alliance and a common front by all the European powers against the Red Peril. Mussolini even adds in this document, and most seriously of all: ‘We would like to know the fate reserved for the members of the government and for those who will have had command functions in the Italian Social Republic’...
Returning state
Stormy weather! - Operation Zuzana
Insurgent Slovakia - Things are definitely not getting any better. During the night, ‘coalition’ Slovak troops (since they were now a mixture of very different units) launch an assault on Tisovec, in the face of the Reich's territorial forces and the most mobile elements of the Horst-Wessel. Paratroopers, (more or less) armoured vehicles, professional soldiers, the Masaryk armoured train... And yet the decision is not taken!
In fact, the Axis seems to have absorbed the shock - which was, after all, predictable - and are now fiercely defending this communications hub set in the middle of a very narrow valley (1,000 metres on average), taking advantage of a topography that favours all the defenders, whatever their nationality! Of course, we cannot yet speak of failure. But the position remains contested, and therefore open to enemy reinforcements from the south. Even more seriously, the road to Červená Skala, i.e. the rear of the 6th Battle Group Zobor (Lt-Colonel J. Černek), also remains under threat. There are already reports of infiltration... The massive collar blow therefore seems to have become a simple spike hit. It would take several to break the Nazi shell. But time is on the Germans' side.
At the same time, however, reinforcements are needed to the west! The 4th Battle Group Moray (Colonel Mikuláš Markus) and the 3rd Battle Group Gerlach (Colonel Pavol Kuna) have recovered somewhat as a result of the enemy's fatigue and the effective actions of several elements, including the voltigeurs of the Foch Battalion (Lieutenant Georges Barazer de Lannurien). In this case, around the Kremnička narrows - on the edge of the southern suburbs of Banská Bystrica. But the situation remains extremely fragile.
Fortunately, the weather also helps the Slovaks a little - the weather and the sudden stretching of the German lines of communication, which are already under considerable strain. Otomar Kubala's Hlinka Division, instead of fighting, prefers to increase the number of acts of violence against the supposed rebel sympathisers still hiding around Zvolen. In a stifling atmosphere of backbiting and score-settling, many a drama will unfold in a doorway suddenly opened in the rain. This... surge of enthusiasm is, of course, detrimental to effective action in all sectors of the front where the Guards are fighting. But don't let the Germans worry, Kubala insists! In this area, like in so many others, his services are zealous in getting straight to the point.
Finally, all this offers a respite to the defenders of the northern front - 1st Battle Group Kriván (Lt-Colonel Jozef Tlach) and 5th Battle Group Ďumbier (General Emil Perko). The latter have deployed to new positions running from Donovaly to Harmanec - a sector with a succession of valleys, peaks and passes (up to 972 metres). We should be able to hold out here... if things don't break down behind us. So many wasted opportunities for the 1st Czechoslovak Army since its uprising!
The Slovaks don't know it, but in Tisovec, Obergruppenführer Hermann Höfle also has his reasons to be upset. In this case, it is the delay of the SS-Panzergrenadier Brigade Horst-Wessel. Its leader, Oberführer August Trabandt, informed him that, all things considered, his unit would not really be in the combat zone until tomorrow the 14th at the earliest. This is due to unforeseeable transport problems caused by the bombing raids that are still going on!
RSI
The Duce dreams...
Salo - Benito Mussolini sends his son Vittorio to Milan to talk to Cardinal Schuster, with a document entitled ‘Proposals for talks from the Head of State’. Mussolini is hoping to negotiate with the Allies! His initial conditions? To accept only Allied (read: non-Italian) forces on the Po plain. They would receive the full support of the RSI forces fighting against the ‘subversive elements’ there.
Like with many others in occupied Europe these days, the fascists are dreaming aloud of a last-minute reversal of alliance and a common front by all the European powers against the Red Peril. Mussolini even adds in this document, and most seriously of all: ‘We would like to know the fate reserved for the members of the government and for those who will have had command functions in the Italian Social Republic’...
Returning state
Stormy weather! - Operation Zuzana
Insurgent Slovakia - Things are definitely not getting any better. During the night, ‘coalition’ Slovak troops (since they were now a mixture of very different units) launch an assault on Tisovec, in the face of the Reich's territorial forces and the most mobile elements of the Horst-Wessel. Paratroopers, (more or less) armoured vehicles, professional soldiers, the Masaryk armoured train... And yet the decision is not taken!
In fact, the Axis seems to have absorbed the shock - which was, after all, predictable - and are now fiercely defending this communications hub set in the middle of a very narrow valley (1,000 metres on average), taking advantage of a topography that favours all the defenders, whatever their nationality! Of course, we cannot yet speak of failure. But the position remains contested, and therefore open to enemy reinforcements from the south. Even more seriously, the road to Červená Skala, i.e. the rear of the 6th Battle Group Zobor (Lt-Colonel J. Černek), also remains under threat. There are already reports of infiltration... The massive collar blow therefore seems to have become a simple spike hit. It would take several to break the Nazi shell. But time is on the Germans' side.
At the same time, however, reinforcements are needed to the west! The 4th Battle Group Moray (Colonel Mikuláš Markus) and the 3rd Battle Group Gerlach (Colonel Pavol Kuna) have recovered somewhat as a result of the enemy's fatigue and the effective actions of several elements, including the voltigeurs of the Foch Battalion (Lieutenant Georges Barazer de Lannurien). In this case, around the Kremnička narrows - on the edge of the southern suburbs of Banská Bystrica. But the situation remains extremely fragile.
Fortunately, the weather also helps the Slovaks a little - the weather and the sudden stretching of the German lines of communication, which are already under considerable strain. Otomar Kubala's Hlinka Division, instead of fighting, prefers to increase the number of acts of violence against the supposed rebel sympathisers still hiding around Zvolen. In a stifling atmosphere of backbiting and score-settling, many a drama will unfold in a doorway suddenly opened in the rain. This... surge of enthusiasm is, of course, detrimental to effective action in all sectors of the front where the Guards are fighting. But don't let the Germans worry, Kubala insists! In this area, like in so many others, his services are zealous in getting straight to the point.
Finally, all this offers a respite to the defenders of the northern front - 1st Battle Group Kriván (Lt-Colonel Jozef Tlach) and 5th Battle Group Ďumbier (General Emil Perko). The latter have deployed to new positions running from Donovaly to Harmanec - a sector with a succession of valleys, peaks and passes (up to 972 metres). We should be able to hold out here... if things don't break down behind us. So many wasted opportunities for the 1st Czechoslovak Army since its uprising!
The Slovaks don't know it, but in Tisovec, Obergruppenführer Hermann Höfle also has his reasons to be upset. In this case, it is the delay of the SS-Panzergrenadier Brigade Horst-Wessel. Its leader, Oberführer August Trabandt, informed him that, all things considered, his unit would not really be in the combat zone until tomorrow the 14th at the earliest. This is due to unforeseeable transport problems caused by the bombing raids that are still going on!
14/06/44 - Eastern Front, Start of the Second Cluj-Debrecen Offensive
June 14th, 1944
The art of using Slovaks
Operation Dukla-Carpathian
3rd Ukrainian Front, on the Galician front - Unfortunately for the Germans, who are still struggling on these wooded hillsides, the sun has returned and the Sturmoviks are out this morning, adding to the difficulties of the defenders.
On the left flank of the XVII. ArmeeKorps (Otto Tiemann), the 389. ID (Walter Hahm) still contains - but with increasing difficulty - an exhausted 61st Army (Pavel Belov). It is only advancing behind a rolling barrage of more or less mobile artillery... but it is advancing. The small village of Duplín falls, isolating Svidník and threatening to cut the German division in two. The road to Chotča can only be held under the tracks of the Hetzers of the 277. StuG Abt (Major Wolfgang Ernst).
And on the right, the 1st Shock Army (Andrei Vlassov) has finally pushed aside the 218. ID (Viktor Lang) and approaches Breznica and Pakostov. If the Axis does not find reinforcements very quickly, the overrun of the defences seems imminent.
Hungary, whatever the cost
Operations Schwabenwall and Cluj-Debrecen
Schwabenwall (1st Magyar Army and German tanks), Guruslau depression - Sânmihaiu Almașului falls. Cleared of the remnants of the 47th Army - fleeing towards Cluj-Napoca, for those not already there, the men of the 1st Hungarian ID (Gusztáv Deseö) begin to advance towards Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) via Kerelőszentpál (Sânpaul), where the 19. Panzer (Hans Källner) and the 502. schw. Pz Abt (Major Horst Richter-Rethwisch) await.
German steel is struggling with the remnants of Ivan Lazarev's 2nd Armoured Corps. The latter is now very worn out, but it is more often than not relieved by the 8th Mechanised Corps (Vladimir Baskakov), which now receives support on its right from the 16th Armoured Corps (Andrei Getman) of Kravchenko's 5th Tank Army. As a result, the assault stalls. The panzers advance to the outskirts of Magyarnádas (Nădășelu)... but they need reinforcements.
At the same time, on Källner's left, the 17. Panzer (Karl-Friedrich von der Meden) and the 10th Hungarian Infantry Division (Frigyes Vasváry) - which should have supported the 19. Panzer - come up against the rest of the 5th Tank Army towards Vechea: the 4th Armoured Corps (Mikhail Fomichkov) and then the 9th Mechanised Corps (M.I. Savelyev). And it hurts... Especially with the rain falling everywhere, flooding the optics and preventing reconnaissance. More than once, Leopards in too much of a hurry are ambushed by platoons, companies - or even an entire regiment! - of T-34s.
Meanwhile, safe in Cluj, Ivan Bagramian plans to launch his 59th Army (Ivan Korovnikov) and 38th Army (Kyrill Moskalenko) against enemy lines tomorrow. With a bit of skill, who knows whether they might not even break through through Tihău towards Baia Mare (Nagybánya, Neustadt) and lock up the advanced German left at Dej in a vast new cauldron?
The Armenian doesn't know it, but his project is in trouble. Not because of his troops, but because of German reshuffles! Hermann Breith's III. Panzerkorps begins to disengage and retreat towards the Mesteacăn Pass, leaving behind the troops of the 8th Hungarian Corps (Major-General Jenö Halmaji Bor): 8th ID (Árpád Maltary) at Dés (Dej), 1st and 2nd Mountain Brigades around Bethlen (Beclean) and 5th ID (Zoltán Algya-Papp) at Nagyiklód (Iclod).
On the other hand, the 6th Hungarian AC (Major General Kornél Oszlányi) is to support the 8th CA: its 10th ID is already in front of the former positions of the 8. Panzer and its 27th ID (András Zákó) marches quickly towards Doboka (Dobeschdorf, Dăbâca) to help the 10th.
On the way, the Panzermänner retreating in the rain count many of the smoking carcasses from the previous day, and sometimes (often...) the hastily dug graves of their late Kamaraden. All for nothing! The Magyars, for their part, are hardly reassured by the German explanations of a necessary intervention in the Lake Balaton region and even less by the vague promises of imminent reinforcements. They suspect, with the sagacity born of habit, some Teutonic trickery. Yet Greater Hungary has to be liberated!
Front of the 11. Armee, Apuseni Mountains - Georg-Hans Reinhardt largely shares von Arnim's thoughts. His poor 11. Armee, martyred during the retreat from Brașov, is once again under assault!
In the valley leading up to the Bucium Pass, near Galați*, the 225. ID (Ernst Riße) and the 215. ID (Bruno Frankewitz) of the XXX. ArmeeKorps (Philipp Kleffel), barely arrived and significantly weakened, are attacked by the 9th Army (Vasily Glagolev), supported by the machines of the 12th Mechanised Corps (Dimitri Ryabyshev). Further north, the 328. ID (Joachim von Tresckow) is itself under attack from the Romanians under Petre Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Avramescu. Nothing insurmountable... but nothing easy to solve either, except by preparing to send in the army's only two reserves, the 376. ID (Herman Frenking) and the 12. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division (Herbert Kettner) - two remaining units that would probably not be enough to tip the balance in the event of determined enemy action.
Meanwhile, what was to be his armoured reserve begins to move towards Cluj-Napoca from Huedin, with the XLII. AK (Frank Mattenklott)... Misery! In short, the nightmare begins onceagain.
Front of the 17. Armee, Iron Gates region - Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's instincts have not deceived him, accustomed as he was by now to close calls and other worries of fate. His 17. Armee is once again targeted by the Soviets!
They attack the Mureș gorges. Despite their fatigue, the topography and the rain, they charge headlong like a herd of cattle, but a big herd! This sector is defended by the XI. ArmeeKorps (Joachim von Kortzfleisch) - or more precisely, by two of its three divisions, the 342. ID (Heinrich Nickel) and the 83. ID (Theodor Scherer). Two divisions, then, but only worth a normal one.
For the moment, of course, the exhausted, hirsute but still motivated Landsers hold out. The assault is on Mintia, the north bank of the Mureș, with the logical aim of isolating Diemrich (Deva, Déva) and the 83. ID, while opening the door to the rear of the 11. Armee. The problem, once again, is that Fyodor Tolbukhin is sending in a lot of men: the 6th Guards Army (Pavel Batov) plus the 14th Army (Valerian Frolov), with the 18th Army (Andrei Gretchko) and the 6th Guards Armoured Corps (Alexander Shamshin) still behind... to start with. And in the face of this rising tide, Nickel and Scherer's infantrymen can count on little more than the 14. Panzergrenadier under Erich Schneider, a few StuGs and a large mordeau from the XLVIII. ArmeeKorps (Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach).
That's still better than Gustav Gihr and his 95. ID - perched on the Transylvanian Iron Gate pass, the latter sees Vladimir Kolpakchi's 62nd Army, supported by a number of armoured vehicles, advance from Hațeg towards Peșteana. And behind the 95. ID, for dozens of kilometres, nothing to support it, apart from the...captured T-34 of the 20. Panzergrenadier under Georg Jauer. A bad feeling runs through the minds of a few classically trained officers: we are all close to Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa, the Roman colony that grew out of the Dacian capital, destroyed by Drajan's hordes in 102 AD. The barbarian invasions begin again...
Arad - Faced with a substantial - albeit still relative - deterioration in the situation on the Transylvanian front, Gotthard Heinrici obtains from the Waffen-SS the immediate activation of the 17. SS-Freiwilligen Kavallerie-Division Maria Theresa (Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen SS August Zehender). Although not yet fully operational, the unit moves camp towards the Deva sector, in order to lend a hand to the 17. Armee. They're certainly not well trained or equipped - but they seem really motivated. What's more, it has had a good reputation since April 13th.
Poland in despair
New friendship (to be consolidated)
Lublin - Marshal Zhukov does not appreciate General Nikolai Bulganin's friendly proposal at all - not at all. Busy as he is with all the tasks he has to accomplish, the rugged Russian has absolutely no desire to burden himself with a unit of little military value - from his point of view - and of perfectible, even dubious, loyalty. So, taking advantage of the fact that he still retains an undeniable aura and authority in the ranks of the Red Army, he says, definitively: ‘Let this... 1st Polish Army go north, to good Rokossovski. He'll know what to do with it’.
Having said that, Zhukov returns to his desk, his maps, his coat, his car and looked at his calendar. One date often catches his eye: June 22nd. A date recently confirmed during a trip to Moscow, with Stalin, the Stavka and Vassilevsky - who has definitively handed over his 1st Ukrainian Front to Ivan Petrov. Fortunately, Zhukov thinks, gets got on well with Aleksandr, despite all the... prejudices. Because the stakes are high. A few figures on his desk: 2,203,000 men, 4,529 tanks, 2,517 assault guns, 13,763 artillery pieces, 14,413 mortars, 4,936 anti-tank guns, 2,198 Katyusha and over 5,000 aircraft. Even shared with that scumbag Konev, that's a lot of people.
Tankist (Evgueni Bessonov)
Ongoing training
There are signs that can't be mistaken: our commanders have us ferociously polishing our No. 33 ‘Stalingradskiy traktornyy zavod’, as well as all the regiment's carts. Between overhauls and ammunition loads, we were shown a film about the heavy Löwe tanks (some call them T-VIII Super-Tigers), which caused a few problems last March. These heavyweights withstand almost all frontal hits, except for the latest IS - and even then!
Fortunately, they're slow, their mechanics seem fragile and they can be drilled fairly closely on the mantlet, under the turret, behind the turret, or even right on the flank - if you're really close! - Preferably after they have been stripped. The comrades of the 53rd Guards Brigade destroyed four of them just like that, without even realising what they were. One of them was taken almost intact - we're shown it from every angle.
Unimpressed, Andrei comments: ‘Iron, it's iron, nothing more than ours!' Me: ‘Keep it anyway, just in case.' Him: ‘Sasha, Nikita, are you up for it?' Approval. ‘Then we won't shoot any more. Fyodor, all you have to do is zigzag!'
* Nothing to do with the port in Romanian Moldavia, on the lower reaches of the Danube, which is much better known!
The art of using Slovaks
Operation Dukla-Carpathian
3rd Ukrainian Front, on the Galician front - Unfortunately for the Germans, who are still struggling on these wooded hillsides, the sun has returned and the Sturmoviks are out this morning, adding to the difficulties of the defenders.
On the left flank of the XVII. ArmeeKorps (Otto Tiemann), the 389. ID (Walter Hahm) still contains - but with increasing difficulty - an exhausted 61st Army (Pavel Belov). It is only advancing behind a rolling barrage of more or less mobile artillery... but it is advancing. The small village of Duplín falls, isolating Svidník and threatening to cut the German division in two. The road to Chotča can only be held under the tracks of the Hetzers of the 277. StuG Abt (Major Wolfgang Ernst).
And on the right, the 1st Shock Army (Andrei Vlassov) has finally pushed aside the 218. ID (Viktor Lang) and approaches Breznica and Pakostov. If the Axis does not find reinforcements very quickly, the overrun of the defences seems imminent.
Hungary, whatever the cost
Operations Schwabenwall and Cluj-Debrecen
Schwabenwall (1st Magyar Army and German tanks), Guruslau depression - Sânmihaiu Almașului falls. Cleared of the remnants of the 47th Army - fleeing towards Cluj-Napoca, for those not already there, the men of the 1st Hungarian ID (Gusztáv Deseö) begin to advance towards Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) via Kerelőszentpál (Sânpaul), where the 19. Panzer (Hans Källner) and the 502. schw. Pz Abt (Major Horst Richter-Rethwisch) await.
German steel is struggling with the remnants of Ivan Lazarev's 2nd Armoured Corps. The latter is now very worn out, but it is more often than not relieved by the 8th Mechanised Corps (Vladimir Baskakov), which now receives support on its right from the 16th Armoured Corps (Andrei Getman) of Kravchenko's 5th Tank Army. As a result, the assault stalls. The panzers advance to the outskirts of Magyarnádas (Nădășelu)... but they need reinforcements.
At the same time, on Källner's left, the 17. Panzer (Karl-Friedrich von der Meden) and the 10th Hungarian Infantry Division (Frigyes Vasváry) - which should have supported the 19. Panzer - come up against the rest of the 5th Tank Army towards Vechea: the 4th Armoured Corps (Mikhail Fomichkov) and then the 9th Mechanised Corps (M.I. Savelyev). And it hurts... Especially with the rain falling everywhere, flooding the optics and preventing reconnaissance. More than once, Leopards in too much of a hurry are ambushed by platoons, companies - or even an entire regiment! - of T-34s.
Meanwhile, safe in Cluj, Ivan Bagramian plans to launch his 59th Army (Ivan Korovnikov) and 38th Army (Kyrill Moskalenko) against enemy lines tomorrow. With a bit of skill, who knows whether they might not even break through through Tihău towards Baia Mare (Nagybánya, Neustadt) and lock up the advanced German left at Dej in a vast new cauldron?
The Armenian doesn't know it, but his project is in trouble. Not because of his troops, but because of German reshuffles! Hermann Breith's III. Panzerkorps begins to disengage and retreat towards the Mesteacăn Pass, leaving behind the troops of the 8th Hungarian Corps (Major-General Jenö Halmaji Bor): 8th ID (Árpád Maltary) at Dés (Dej), 1st and 2nd Mountain Brigades around Bethlen (Beclean) and 5th ID (Zoltán Algya-Papp) at Nagyiklód (Iclod).
On the other hand, the 6th Hungarian AC (Major General Kornél Oszlányi) is to support the 8th CA: its 10th ID is already in front of the former positions of the 8. Panzer and its 27th ID (András Zákó) marches quickly towards Doboka (Dobeschdorf, Dăbâca) to help the 10th.
On the way, the Panzermänner retreating in the rain count many of the smoking carcasses from the previous day, and sometimes (often...) the hastily dug graves of their late Kamaraden. All for nothing! The Magyars, for their part, are hardly reassured by the German explanations of a necessary intervention in the Lake Balaton region and even less by the vague promises of imminent reinforcements. They suspect, with the sagacity born of habit, some Teutonic trickery. Yet Greater Hungary has to be liberated!
Front of the 11. Armee, Apuseni Mountains - Georg-Hans Reinhardt largely shares von Arnim's thoughts. His poor 11. Armee, martyred during the retreat from Brașov, is once again under assault!
In the valley leading up to the Bucium Pass, near Galați*, the 225. ID (Ernst Riße) and the 215. ID (Bruno Frankewitz) of the XXX. ArmeeKorps (Philipp Kleffel), barely arrived and significantly weakened, are attacked by the 9th Army (Vasily Glagolev), supported by the machines of the 12th Mechanised Corps (Dimitri Ryabyshev). Further north, the 328. ID (Joachim von Tresckow) is itself under attack from the Romanians under Petre Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Avramescu. Nothing insurmountable... but nothing easy to solve either, except by preparing to send in the army's only two reserves, the 376. ID (Herman Frenking) and the 12. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division (Herbert Kettner) - two remaining units that would probably not be enough to tip the balance in the event of determined enemy action.
Meanwhile, what was to be his armoured reserve begins to move towards Cluj-Napoca from Huedin, with the XLII. AK (Frank Mattenklott)... Misery! In short, the nightmare begins onceagain.
Front of the 17. Armee, Iron Gates region - Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's instincts have not deceived him, accustomed as he was by now to close calls and other worries of fate. His 17. Armee is once again targeted by the Soviets!
They attack the Mureș gorges. Despite their fatigue, the topography and the rain, they charge headlong like a herd of cattle, but a big herd! This sector is defended by the XI. ArmeeKorps (Joachim von Kortzfleisch) - or more precisely, by two of its three divisions, the 342. ID (Heinrich Nickel) and the 83. ID (Theodor Scherer). Two divisions, then, but only worth a normal one.
For the moment, of course, the exhausted, hirsute but still motivated Landsers hold out. The assault is on Mintia, the north bank of the Mureș, with the logical aim of isolating Diemrich (Deva, Déva) and the 83. ID, while opening the door to the rear of the 11. Armee. The problem, once again, is that Fyodor Tolbukhin is sending in a lot of men: the 6th Guards Army (Pavel Batov) plus the 14th Army (Valerian Frolov), with the 18th Army (Andrei Gretchko) and the 6th Guards Armoured Corps (Alexander Shamshin) still behind... to start with. And in the face of this rising tide, Nickel and Scherer's infantrymen can count on little more than the 14. Panzergrenadier under Erich Schneider, a few StuGs and a large mordeau from the XLVIII. ArmeeKorps (Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach).
That's still better than Gustav Gihr and his 95. ID - perched on the Transylvanian Iron Gate pass, the latter sees Vladimir Kolpakchi's 62nd Army, supported by a number of armoured vehicles, advance from Hațeg towards Peșteana. And behind the 95. ID, for dozens of kilometres, nothing to support it, apart from the...captured T-34 of the 20. Panzergrenadier under Georg Jauer. A bad feeling runs through the minds of a few classically trained officers: we are all close to Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa, the Roman colony that grew out of the Dacian capital, destroyed by Drajan's hordes in 102 AD. The barbarian invasions begin again...
Arad - Faced with a substantial - albeit still relative - deterioration in the situation on the Transylvanian front, Gotthard Heinrici obtains from the Waffen-SS the immediate activation of the 17. SS-Freiwilligen Kavallerie-Division Maria Theresa (Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen SS August Zehender). Although not yet fully operational, the unit moves camp towards the Deva sector, in order to lend a hand to the 17. Armee. They're certainly not well trained or equipped - but they seem really motivated. What's more, it has had a good reputation since April 13th.
Poland in despair
New friendship (to be consolidated)
Lublin - Marshal Zhukov does not appreciate General Nikolai Bulganin's friendly proposal at all - not at all. Busy as he is with all the tasks he has to accomplish, the rugged Russian has absolutely no desire to burden himself with a unit of little military value - from his point of view - and of perfectible, even dubious, loyalty. So, taking advantage of the fact that he still retains an undeniable aura and authority in the ranks of the Red Army, he says, definitively: ‘Let this... 1st Polish Army go north, to good Rokossovski. He'll know what to do with it’.
Having said that, Zhukov returns to his desk, his maps, his coat, his car and looked at his calendar. One date often catches his eye: June 22nd. A date recently confirmed during a trip to Moscow, with Stalin, the Stavka and Vassilevsky - who has definitively handed over his 1st Ukrainian Front to Ivan Petrov. Fortunately, Zhukov thinks, gets got on well with Aleksandr, despite all the... prejudices. Because the stakes are high. A few figures on his desk: 2,203,000 men, 4,529 tanks, 2,517 assault guns, 13,763 artillery pieces, 14,413 mortars, 4,936 anti-tank guns, 2,198 Katyusha and over 5,000 aircraft. Even shared with that scumbag Konev, that's a lot of people.
Tankist (Evgueni Bessonov)
Ongoing training
There are signs that can't be mistaken: our commanders have us ferociously polishing our No. 33 ‘Stalingradskiy traktornyy zavod’, as well as all the regiment's carts. Between overhauls and ammunition loads, we were shown a film about the heavy Löwe tanks (some call them T-VIII Super-Tigers), which caused a few problems last March. These heavyweights withstand almost all frontal hits, except for the latest IS - and even then!
Fortunately, they're slow, their mechanics seem fragile and they can be drilled fairly closely on the mantlet, under the turret, behind the turret, or even right on the flank - if you're really close! - Preferably after they have been stripped. The comrades of the 53rd Guards Brigade destroyed four of them just like that, without even realising what they were. One of them was taken almost intact - we're shown it from every angle.
Unimpressed, Andrei comments: ‘Iron, it's iron, nothing more than ours!' Me: ‘Keep it anyway, just in case.' Him: ‘Sasha, Nikita, are you up for it?' Approval. ‘Then we won't shoot any more. Fyodor, all you have to do is zigzag!'
* Nothing to do with the port in Romanian Moldavia, on the lower reaches of the Danube, which is much better known!
14/06/44 - Occupied Countries
June 14th, 1944
Still occupied France
Students who died for France
Marcilly-en-Villette (Loiret) - A dozen lifeless bodies are discovered in a field at Cerfbois. The victims were members of the Vélite-Thermopyles network, which had been set up around young baccalaureate holders in preparatory classes at the Collège Stanislas. The BCRA had ordered them to join the maquis at the beginning of May, but lost track of them after the landings. By ministerial decree, they were deemed ‘Dead for France’ in 1945, with posthumous promotion to the rank of FFI second lieutenant, backdated to May 1st, 1944. Little consolation for the families...
The central building of the Collège Stanislas, built in the 1960s, was named ‘Douze de Cerfbois’ in their memory. In 2006, on the death of the former headmaster, the priest Roger Ninféi, the building was renamed in his honour, but the pupils continued to call it ‘the Twelve’ for a long time.
Returning state
Storm - Operation Zuzana
Insurgent Slovakia - In front of Banská Bystrica, KG Wittenmayer starts to push again, facing the 4th Battle Group Moray (Colonel Mikuláš Markus) and the 3rd Battle Group Gerlach (Colonel Pavol Kuna) - the SS have finished pushing aside the French voltigeurs, who have fled (according to them) towards Dúbravica. With the support of Otomar Kubala's Hlinka Division, the Black Order presses on with determination, while the Slovaks seem increasingly weak and disorganised. By evening, the SS have entered the town.
This news triggers another withdrawal by the defenders of the northern front - the 1st Battle Group Kriván (Lt-Colonel Jozef Tlach) and the 5th Battle Group Ďumbier (General Emil Perko). They begin to sabotage their vehicles and flee on foot, some towards the Tatras and Mount Ostredok, others towards the east and Brezno. The commanders of the western (Jozef Tlach) and southern (Mikuláš Markus) sectors, who have been unable to do anything in the face of a disorganised mass that no longer believes in victory and is preoccupied with its own survival, see the rout approaching.
In vain, the La-5s of the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Fighter Air Regiment (commanded by František Fajtl) appear over the battlefield. Lieutenant Anton Matusek even shoots down a marauding Bf 110 to cheers. Alas - the infantryman no longer believe in it, for lack of reinforcements and support, required everywhere else.
In Tisovec, ravaged by explosions and subjected to violent bombardments (on the scale of this theatre), the 1st Czechoslovak Army fights with the energy of despair against lines of German territorials, Slovak Hlinka guards (alas!) and above all the steamroller of the SS-Panzergrenadier Brigade Horst-Wessel, which engage old (but still effective) vehicles and undisciplined (but alas numerous!) troops as they arrive on the battlefield.
Three times, the tiny town centre and its railway station change hands. But the Axis refuses to give in. And by the evening of the second day of battle, a certain discouragement can be felt. Until the night, when good news (at last) begins to circulate!
.........
Rohozná airfield, shortly after dawn - The Soviet mission has announced that it would be crowded... In fact, under a low-angled sun between mountains and clouds, a continuous line of Lisonov 2s land one after the other, crowding the mediocre improvised airfield.
On board are hundreds of parachutists, not all of them necessarily happy or reassured to be there, but who are there nonetheless: 400 land before the end of the day. Most of the men are from the 211th Brigade (Vasily Glazkov), part of Viktor Zholudev's 1st Airborne Corps. This unit is reinforced by a few survivors of the late 1st and 214th Brigades, which recently had a rather tragic turn in Bosnia.
But the Slovaks don't know that. And for them, the arrival of a substantial and professional Soviet force has the effect of a powerful euphoriant - to the surprise of their guests*. They are immediately sent to Brezno to prepare the defence of the Hron valley against the next deadly threat.
On the American side, the Green mission doesn't miss a beat. It is going to report back as quickly as possible on this spectacular deployment of force, which was rather unexpected but very real. There's no doubt that this message will very quickly reach Washington...
Ukraine between Red and Black
A brilliant idea
Wewelsburg - In his Westphalian lair, ReichsFührer-SS Himmler has a new idea: to create a Ukrainian Liberation Army! Although these Slavs are stubborn, undisciplined and inferior to the Aryans, they are true allies of the Reich. One only has to look at the negotiations - difficult, but underway nonetheless - between Bandera and these soft Abwehr men. If they had not yet been concluded, it was because the RSHA had handled the matter badly, that was all. Himmler passes the matter on to his staff with confidence and serenity.
Propaganda
Unnecessary change of camp
Transylvania - Edmund Hoffmeister commands the former 383. ID, and he received little support from his comrades - you can even say he was let down a little. He is all the more unhappy that the Reich has made him rot in a prison camp. And he lets them know it.
In front of his NKVD interrogators - who are obviously delighted with this talkative prisoner for once - the Bavarian regularly launches into endless acid diatribes against Hitler - ‘An inept leader’, the old Reich marshals - ‘All incompetents’ (even those whom the Führer has since fired), the young wolves of the Reich such as Rommel, Model et al - ‘Plotters who don't even recognise their mistakes’ and, incidentally, against the Valkyrie conspirators - ‘Amateurs who have squandered an historic opportunity! ‘.
In the months that follow, Hoffmeister would do much more than join the Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland. Like a Sovietised Lord Haw-Haw, he would host a few radio programmes, produce texts and even lend his portrait to propaganda photos for the NKVD's leaflets - which would give him a role far greater than his real importance. But this would not save him: Stalin's pardon would never come and Hoffmeister would never see his native Bavaria again. He would die in 1951 in the Asbest prison camp (Sverdlovsk Oblast, behind the Urals).
* In 1947, in his film Bílá oblaka (White Clouds), Ladislav Helge showed Major-General Zholudev being greeted as he got off the plane by a Slovak commander who jumped straight onto his neck, exclaiming: ‘You are more than welcome!' In the scenes in question, the Soviet paratroopers are very clean, very handsome and particularly disciplined - bordering on choreographed.
Still occupied France
Students who died for France
Marcilly-en-Villette (Loiret) - A dozen lifeless bodies are discovered in a field at Cerfbois. The victims were members of the Vélite-Thermopyles network, which had been set up around young baccalaureate holders in preparatory classes at the Collège Stanislas. The BCRA had ordered them to join the maquis at the beginning of May, but lost track of them after the landings. By ministerial decree, they were deemed ‘Dead for France’ in 1945, with posthumous promotion to the rank of FFI second lieutenant, backdated to May 1st, 1944. Little consolation for the families...
The central building of the Collège Stanislas, built in the 1960s, was named ‘Douze de Cerfbois’ in their memory. In 2006, on the death of the former headmaster, the priest Roger Ninféi, the building was renamed in his honour, but the pupils continued to call it ‘the Twelve’ for a long time.
Returning state
Storm - Operation Zuzana
Insurgent Slovakia - In front of Banská Bystrica, KG Wittenmayer starts to push again, facing the 4th Battle Group Moray (Colonel Mikuláš Markus) and the 3rd Battle Group Gerlach (Colonel Pavol Kuna) - the SS have finished pushing aside the French voltigeurs, who have fled (according to them) towards Dúbravica. With the support of Otomar Kubala's Hlinka Division, the Black Order presses on with determination, while the Slovaks seem increasingly weak and disorganised. By evening, the SS have entered the town.
This news triggers another withdrawal by the defenders of the northern front - the 1st Battle Group Kriván (Lt-Colonel Jozef Tlach) and the 5th Battle Group Ďumbier (General Emil Perko). They begin to sabotage their vehicles and flee on foot, some towards the Tatras and Mount Ostredok, others towards the east and Brezno. The commanders of the western (Jozef Tlach) and southern (Mikuláš Markus) sectors, who have been unable to do anything in the face of a disorganised mass that no longer believes in victory and is preoccupied with its own survival, see the rout approaching.
In vain, the La-5s of the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Fighter Air Regiment (commanded by František Fajtl) appear over the battlefield. Lieutenant Anton Matusek even shoots down a marauding Bf 110 to cheers. Alas - the infantryman no longer believe in it, for lack of reinforcements and support, required everywhere else.
In Tisovec, ravaged by explosions and subjected to violent bombardments (on the scale of this theatre), the 1st Czechoslovak Army fights with the energy of despair against lines of German territorials, Slovak Hlinka guards (alas!) and above all the steamroller of the SS-Panzergrenadier Brigade Horst-Wessel, which engage old (but still effective) vehicles and undisciplined (but alas numerous!) troops as they arrive on the battlefield.
Three times, the tiny town centre and its railway station change hands. But the Axis refuses to give in. And by the evening of the second day of battle, a certain discouragement can be felt. Until the night, when good news (at last) begins to circulate!
.........
Rohozná airfield, shortly after dawn - The Soviet mission has announced that it would be crowded... In fact, under a low-angled sun between mountains and clouds, a continuous line of Lisonov 2s land one after the other, crowding the mediocre improvised airfield.
On board are hundreds of parachutists, not all of them necessarily happy or reassured to be there, but who are there nonetheless: 400 land before the end of the day. Most of the men are from the 211th Brigade (Vasily Glazkov), part of Viktor Zholudev's 1st Airborne Corps. This unit is reinforced by a few survivors of the late 1st and 214th Brigades, which recently had a rather tragic turn in Bosnia.
But the Slovaks don't know that. And for them, the arrival of a substantial and professional Soviet force has the effect of a powerful euphoriant - to the surprise of their guests*. They are immediately sent to Brezno to prepare the defence of the Hron valley against the next deadly threat.
On the American side, the Green mission doesn't miss a beat. It is going to report back as quickly as possible on this spectacular deployment of force, which was rather unexpected but very real. There's no doubt that this message will very quickly reach Washington...
Ukraine between Red and Black
A brilliant idea
Wewelsburg - In his Westphalian lair, ReichsFührer-SS Himmler has a new idea: to create a Ukrainian Liberation Army! Although these Slavs are stubborn, undisciplined and inferior to the Aryans, they are true allies of the Reich. One only has to look at the negotiations - difficult, but underway nonetheless - between Bandera and these soft Abwehr men. If they had not yet been concluded, it was because the RSHA had handled the matter badly, that was all. Himmler passes the matter on to his staff with confidence and serenity.
Propaganda
Unnecessary change of camp
Transylvania - Edmund Hoffmeister commands the former 383. ID, and he received little support from his comrades - you can even say he was let down a little. He is all the more unhappy that the Reich has made him rot in a prison camp. And he lets them know it.
In front of his NKVD interrogators - who are obviously delighted with this talkative prisoner for once - the Bavarian regularly launches into endless acid diatribes against Hitler - ‘An inept leader’, the old Reich marshals - ‘All incompetents’ (even those whom the Führer has since fired), the young wolves of the Reich such as Rommel, Model et al - ‘Plotters who don't even recognise their mistakes’ and, incidentally, against the Valkyrie conspirators - ‘Amateurs who have squandered an historic opportunity! ‘.
In the months that follow, Hoffmeister would do much more than join the Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland. Like a Sovietised Lord Haw-Haw, he would host a few radio programmes, produce texts and even lend his portrait to propaganda photos for the NKVD's leaflets - which would give him a role far greater than his real importance. But this would not save him: Stalin's pardon would never come and Hoffmeister would never see his native Bavaria again. He would die in 1951 in the Asbest prison camp (Sverdlovsk Oblast, behind the Urals).
* In 1947, in his film Bílá oblaka (White Clouds), Ladislav Helge showed Major-General Zholudev being greeted as he got off the plane by a Slovak commander who jumped straight onto his neck, exclaiming: ‘You are more than welcome!' In the scenes in question, the Soviet paratroopers are very clean, very handsome and particularly disciplined - bordering on choreographed.
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13/06/44 - Diplomacy & Economy
June 13th, 1944
China-USSR
Keep me from my friends...
Yili district (Xinjiang) - The Nationalist forces in Yining, the capital of Yili district, are rather small. In all, around 2,000 men: a battalion of the 7th Reserve Division, reinforced by police officers and militiamen. The Yili district also has a battalion of the 128th Division, the 4th Cavalry Regiment and a battalion of border guards - but these units are scattered far from Yining. As their name suggests, the border guards are deployed all along the border with the USSR. Elements of the 4th Cavalry are scattered in various counties outside Yining. The battalion of the 128th Division was sent to Gongha county to fight the Muslim rebellion there. Worse still: no one is really in command of the district units since Cui Yinchun (commander of the 1st Cavalry Division) and Qiao Gen (district governor) were thrown into prison in Dihua (capital of Xinjiang) by Sheng Shicai in his latest U-turn!
It was not until the beginning of the month, during a visit by Du Defu, Brigadier General of the 7th Reserve Division, that Dihua was warned of the catastrophic state of the Nationalist troops in the district. The governor of Xinjiang, Wu, decided to send his director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Deng Xianghai, to Yining to take charge of things from a political and administrative point of view, while General Zhu Shaoliang sent General Cao Riling at the head of a column of reinforcements (an infantry battalion and an artillery company) to bring the situation under military control. In fact, neither Zhu nor Wu took seriously what was happening in Gongha, ‘scuffles caused by a gang of... bandits’. The replacement of Sheng Shicai can only have brought back serenity among the local population, can't it?
But at Gongha, the battalion of the 128th was soundly beaten and today 5,000 rebels organised into three battalions are marching on Yining from the south-west, south-east and north. Fatih's men have been joined by fully Soviet-equipped partisans led jointly by Abd el-Karim Abbas and Peter Alexandalov, a former Tsarist officer who has been reconciled since the Civil War with the Communist regime that now governs the Motherland. On the outskirts of Yining, the rebels are greeted by several hundred locals who have just collected weapons directly from the town's Soviet consulate, supposedly representing a country friendly to China... And when the Nationalists send out a reconnaissance plane, it is shot down by machine guns posted on the roof of the consulate in question!
Policemen, militiamen and elements of the 7th Reserve Division are pushed around and, as in any good pronunciamento, the rebels take over official buildings such as the police station and the District Administrative Office. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, the fate of the insurrection remains undecided...
China-USSR
Keep me from my friends...
Yili district (Xinjiang) - The Nationalist forces in Yining, the capital of Yili district, are rather small. In all, around 2,000 men: a battalion of the 7th Reserve Division, reinforced by police officers and militiamen. The Yili district also has a battalion of the 128th Division, the 4th Cavalry Regiment and a battalion of border guards - but these units are scattered far from Yining. As their name suggests, the border guards are deployed all along the border with the USSR. Elements of the 4th Cavalry are scattered in various counties outside Yining. The battalion of the 128th Division was sent to Gongha county to fight the Muslim rebellion there. Worse still: no one is really in command of the district units since Cui Yinchun (commander of the 1st Cavalry Division) and Qiao Gen (district governor) were thrown into prison in Dihua (capital of Xinjiang) by Sheng Shicai in his latest U-turn!
It was not until the beginning of the month, during a visit by Du Defu, Brigadier General of the 7th Reserve Division, that Dihua was warned of the catastrophic state of the Nationalist troops in the district. The governor of Xinjiang, Wu, decided to send his director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Deng Xianghai, to Yining to take charge of things from a political and administrative point of view, while General Zhu Shaoliang sent General Cao Riling at the head of a column of reinforcements (an infantry battalion and an artillery company) to bring the situation under military control. In fact, neither Zhu nor Wu took seriously what was happening in Gongha, ‘scuffles caused by a gang of... bandits’. The replacement of Sheng Shicai can only have brought back serenity among the local population, can't it?
But at Gongha, the battalion of the 128th was soundly beaten and today 5,000 rebels organised into three battalions are marching on Yining from the south-west, south-east and north. Fatih's men have been joined by fully Soviet-equipped partisans led jointly by Abd el-Karim Abbas and Peter Alexandalov, a former Tsarist officer who has been reconciled since the Civil War with the Communist regime that now governs the Motherland. On the outskirts of Yining, the rebels are greeted by several hundred locals who have just collected weapons directly from the town's Soviet consulate, supposedly representing a country friendly to China... And when the Nationalists send out a reconnaissance plane, it is shot down by machine guns posted on the roof of the consulate in question!
Policemen, militiamen and elements of the 7th Reserve Division are pushed around and, as in any good pronunciamento, the rebels take over official buildings such as the police station and the District Administrative Office. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, the fate of the insurrection remains undecided...
14/06/44 - Diplomacy & Economy
June 14th, 1944
¡ Plus ultra!... or ¡ Una, grande, libre!
A popular suitor
Estoril, Portugal - Preparing to embark for Mexico, where he is to take part in the meeting of the Cortes in the company of a small handful of Cedist deputies, José-Maria Gil-Roblès, Don Juan's ‘Minister of Foreign Affairs’ and former leader of the CEDA, comes to greet the man he now considers to be the King of Spain. Juan III reminds him of the purpose of his diplomatic mission in what is likely to be hostile territory for him.
With Germany retreating on all fronts and its defeat imminent, Franco's downfall seems inevitable. Gil-Roblès, in his capacity as a former member of parliament, is asked to present to the Cortes the plan drawn up by the future Juan III. It is a National Union in the shadow of the Crown, of course. It would be up to Gil-Roblès to convince the parliamentarians that this was the most reasonable solution for a bright future for Spain. The Pretender to the Crown's representative outside Spain left the latter's office, somewhat troubled by the magnitude of his task, while Don Juan calmly goes about his business.
Serenely, because the Count of Barcelona is convinced that obtaining the support of parliamentarians is not the only card in his hand, far from it. A few days ago, he was discreetly approached by Ramon Serrano Suñer, the cuñadissimo (Franco's ‘brother-in-law’), no less! And the former rising star of Franco's regime discussed with him the possibility of a Phalangist coup d'état that would oust Franco and put Don Juan on the Spanish throne! Juan III has not yet mentioned this to his Council, but he can only be delighted at the way positions are evolving... Don Juan does have a small thought for Gil-Roblès, who will only have the support of two of his former cedist loyalists and whose mission promises to be an arduous one. However, he should be helped by the undermining work that Prieto has been carrying out on the ground for months, and there is a good chance that he will achieve at least partial success.
‘It will be difficult for Gil-Roblès, but I wasn't going to send them Latapié!’ exclaims the Count of Barcelona to himself. The prospect of seeing Latapié plead his case before the Cortes draws an amused sneer from Juan III... It is true that Eugenio Vegas Latapié, who now acts as Prime Minister to the Pretender, had planned in July 1936 to have the President of the Republic, Azaña, assassinated to avenge the death of the far-right deputy Calvo Sotelo, and then to organise a suicide attack using mustard gas in the middle of a meeting of the Cortes! Only the National Movement's coup d'état put an end to his sinister plans...
China-USSR
Keep me away from my friends...
Yining (Yili district, Xinjiang) - A dozen Soviet military advisers (in Red Army uniform!) set up several machine guns on a bridge to the north of the town to prevent the arrival of Nationalist reinforcements. Leskin's White Russians (more Russian than White in this case) are stationed on the various roads leading to Yining to cut off the town from the outside world. A force of 3,000 Kazakhs and Kyrgyz under the command of Soviet General Skaub (from Tashkent), including armoured vehicles, arrive in the town to help the rebels who are still fighting the nationalist forces there.
¡ Plus ultra!... or ¡ Una, grande, libre!
A popular suitor
Estoril, Portugal - Preparing to embark for Mexico, where he is to take part in the meeting of the Cortes in the company of a small handful of Cedist deputies, José-Maria Gil-Roblès, Don Juan's ‘Minister of Foreign Affairs’ and former leader of the CEDA, comes to greet the man he now considers to be the King of Spain. Juan III reminds him of the purpose of his diplomatic mission in what is likely to be hostile territory for him.
With Germany retreating on all fronts and its defeat imminent, Franco's downfall seems inevitable. Gil-Roblès, in his capacity as a former member of parliament, is asked to present to the Cortes the plan drawn up by the future Juan III. It is a National Union in the shadow of the Crown, of course. It would be up to Gil-Roblès to convince the parliamentarians that this was the most reasonable solution for a bright future for Spain. The Pretender to the Crown's representative outside Spain left the latter's office, somewhat troubled by the magnitude of his task, while Don Juan calmly goes about his business.
Serenely, because the Count of Barcelona is convinced that obtaining the support of parliamentarians is not the only card in his hand, far from it. A few days ago, he was discreetly approached by Ramon Serrano Suñer, the cuñadissimo (Franco's ‘brother-in-law’), no less! And the former rising star of Franco's regime discussed with him the possibility of a Phalangist coup d'état that would oust Franco and put Don Juan on the Spanish throne! Juan III has not yet mentioned this to his Council, but he can only be delighted at the way positions are evolving... Don Juan does have a small thought for Gil-Roblès, who will only have the support of two of his former cedist loyalists and whose mission promises to be an arduous one. However, he should be helped by the undermining work that Prieto has been carrying out on the ground for months, and there is a good chance that he will achieve at least partial success.
‘It will be difficult for Gil-Roblès, but I wasn't going to send them Latapié!’ exclaims the Count of Barcelona to himself. The prospect of seeing Latapié plead his case before the Cortes draws an amused sneer from Juan III... It is true that Eugenio Vegas Latapié, who now acts as Prime Minister to the Pretender, had planned in July 1936 to have the President of the Republic, Azaña, assassinated to avenge the death of the far-right deputy Calvo Sotelo, and then to organise a suicide attack using mustard gas in the middle of a meeting of the Cortes! Only the National Movement's coup d'état put an end to his sinister plans...
China-USSR
Keep me away from my friends...
Yining (Yili district, Xinjiang) - A dozen Soviet military advisers (in Red Army uniform!) set up several machine guns on a bridge to the north of the town to prevent the arrival of Nationalist reinforcements. Leskin's White Russians (more Russian than White in this case) are stationed on the various roads leading to Yining to cut off the town from the outside world. A force of 3,000 Kazakhs and Kyrgyz under the command of Soviet General Skaub (from Tashkent), including armoured vehicles, arrive in the town to help the rebels who are still fighting the nationalist forces there.
15/06/44 - Eastern Front
June 15th, 1944
Baltic Sea
Naval Commandos
Port of Kronstadt - ‘While the Baltic fleet could of course only play a... distant role in future battles for the Vistula, East Prussia remained a prime target for it, and perfectly accessible. Having never been imprisoned in Leningrad, she had been able to play an important role in previous operations and intended to make Kœnigsberg its major base on the western Baltic after the war.
But the port still had to be seized virtually intact. This meant quickly neutralising the enemy's defences - the Allied experiments on the French coast, widely reported by a press that was far too well-informed by Soviet standards, were the perfect example not to be followed.
So, yes, obviously, intelligence. But how to obtain it? In this area, it had to be said that Captain Vladimir Evstigneev's little feat had had an effect. Chief Petty Officer N.S. Kadurin's section could see itself repeating it - but in a much bigger way, of course’.
(Commandos in the Baltic and Danube: Soviet Naval Spetsnaz in World War II, Yuri Strokhnin, Naval Institute Press, 1996
The art of using Slovaks
Dukla-Carpathians
3rd Ukrainian Front, on the Galician front - The positions are still evolving at an exasperatingly slow pace - but also inexorably. However, the rain and the fatigue of the Soviets save the day for the Axis.
The 89. ID (Walter Hahm) nevertheless has to abandon Svidník under pressure from the 61st Army (Pavel Belov). The 218. ID (Viktor Lang) appears to be definitively isolated in the Volika sector by the 1st Shock Army (Andrei Vlassov), which reaches Pakostov. Finally, in the centre, the 277. StuG Abt (Major Wolfgang Ernst) multiplies its ambushes in an attempt to slow down the 20th Armoured Corps (Pavel Poluboiarov). Without attempting any clever manoeuvres, the latter forces it to retreat as far as Stropkov, using the tactic of the bulldozer that pushes back the rubble with its blade.
Hungary, whatever the cost
Operation Schwabenwall... and counter-attacks
Guruslau depression (1st Magyar Army and [less] German armor) - The battle for Cluj-Napoca has begun - to get in... as well as to get out: the German-Hungarian forces clash head-on with the Soviets over a vast arc from Gilău to Bonțida, as both sides try.
In the west, the 13. Panzer (Helmutt von der Chevallerie) and the 560. schw. PzJ. Abt (Major Rudolf Markowz) attack from Huedin due east towards Gilău. But these two Panzerwaffe units are of... average quality and already, moreover, significantly worn out by last month's operations. No doubt they are followed by the XLII. AK (Frank Mattenklott), which officially has to support them to occupy the ground. But in reality, his three divisions, already weakened, are on the verge of exhaustion from running in all directions, and they are unlikely to play a leading role here. Especially as his right flank, theoretically covered by the XXX. AK (Philipp Kleffel), but whose extreme anemia is well known!
The Panzer IV, JagdPanzer IV and StuG III of the 13. Panzer, supported by the 24 Nashorns of the 560. schw. PzJ. Abt, pour in on the flank of the 8th Mechanised Corps (Vladimir Baskakov) and the remnants of the 2nd Armoured Corps (Ivan Lazarev), already in combat with the 19. Panzer (Hans Källner) and the 502. schw. Pz Abt (Major Horst Richter-Rethwisch). They receive welcome support, as does the 1st Hungarian Infantry Division (Gusztáv Deseö), which comes up behind them, hobbling along to the sound of cannon fire!
Faced with the risk of being enveloped - only a risk, but a risk all the same! - Andrei Kravchenko does not compromise and pulls back the right wing of his 5th Tank Army from Vechea. Leaving the 4th Armoured Corps (Mikhail Fomichkov) to face the 17. Panzer (Karl-Friedrich von der Meden) and the 10th Hungarian Infantry Division (Frigyes Vasváry), the 9th Mechanised Corps (M.I. Savelyev) crosses the hills as far as Sânpaul, to hit the rear of the left flank of Källner and Richter-Rethwisch. Assaulted on two sides, the latter soon find themselves in some difficulty. Deseö's Magyar infantry - very poorly equipped - is not going to be able to do much! A rather confused melee ensues, until the artillery and support squadrons of the 38th Army (Kyrill Moskalenko) appear at Baciu and Florești. At the same time, the 59th Army (Ivan Korovnikov) for its part advances towards Chinteni - where Mikhail Fomichkov has retreated - and comes to avoid a possible tactical setback to Kravchenko's armour. And behind all this, the mass of Red artillery rumbles over the frontoviki following the T-34s.
Thus, in Cluj-Napoca, two infantry armies save (or at least relieve) Andrei Kravchenko's tanks. Kravchenko, who had already seen himself cutting the fascist centre in two through Tihău, as proposed the day before by Bagramian, is somewhat displeased. But the Armenian has mourned a brilliant turnaround in the situation. On balance, he prefers to consolidate his positions, rallying the 47th Army (Filipp Zhmachenko) to his left and the 16th Army (Leonty Cheremisov) - or what is left of it - to his right. Glory will have to wait. Time is clearly on the Red Army's side - even for that scumbag Fyodor Tolbukhin, but that's another story.
To sum up, the reaction of the 2nd Ukrainian Front seems to be well and truly blocked in front of Cluj-Napoca. It is a pity for Heinrici that Schwabenwall's left flank is making very little progress... On this side, the Hungarian troops feel a little too alone (they are already understrength, with six battalions per division instead of the theoretical nine) to exploit the opportunity presented to them. The 11. Panzer is not announced until tomorrow. In the meantime, the Magyar infantrymen march on, with enthusiasm (of course), (professional) caution but also, already, a form of recklessness - their units form an extremely fragile salient.
Instead of charging forward, Major-General Jenö Halmaji Bor's 8th Corps tries to consolidate its positions. The 8th Infantry Division (Árpád Maltary) has only just begun to leave Dés (Dej), liaising with its colleagues who are trying to exploit it. The 5th ID (Zoltán Algya-Papp) moves down to Bonchida (Bonisbruck, Bonțida), following the 27th ID (András Zákó), which tries to help the 10th ID and the 17. Panzer in the vicinity of Kolozsborsa (Borschen, Borșa). But it does not have the resources to do so... and soon comes up against the 59th Army (Ivan Korovnikov). As for the two mountain brigades (Ferenc Lóskay and Sándor Makray), they continue to advance east of Bethlen (Beclean), as far as Magyarnemegye (Nimigea de Jos) and Somkerék (Șintereag) respectively, in both cases on the approaches to Beszterce (Bistritz, Bistrița). Faced with these somewhat isolated attackers, the 16th Army regains its strength. Without stopping them, it slows them down with some effectiveness. It is doubtful that these brigades can go much further. Their assault certainly pleases the staff officers on the map - but it has no strategic perspective because of a lack of resources.
And the Hungarians can hang on to the ground they've won back if they like! In the long term, they are no match for them and they know it. The weather is getting heavier and heavier, the rain heavier and heavier and the clouds ever more threatening. But the most worrying thing for the Magyars is what is happening further south, towards Yugoslavia.
Front of the 11. Armee, Apuseni Mountains - The 11. Armee continues to fight in difficult terrain, today like yesterday, against half of the 4th Ukrainian Front. A small half, to be sure. But it does not even have the equivalent of a ‘normal’ ArmeeKorps to do this.
On the left, near Lunca, the 328. ID (Joachim von Tresckow) hardly has to move at all when it switches from the 11. Armee and to the 17. Armee. It continues to face alone - and with relative success - the Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies of Petre Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Avramescu. The easiest opponent, shall we say...
This convinces Georg-Hans Reinhardt to send his best reserve - Herman Frenking's reconstituted 376. ID - not towards Tresckow's division, but in support of the 225. ID (Ernst Riße) and 215. ID (Bruno Frankewitz). The latter are already beginning to lose ground in the Galați sector and as far as Pătrăngeni - with Zlatna to come tomorrow, no doubt. Admittedly, the battle is fierce*. But Reinhardt, who didn't even have time to really specify his Hauptkampflinie, knows where a step-by-step retreat without support to the passes leads....
As for the 12. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division (Herbert Kettner), a last resort of very little value, remains for the moment in Albac, with the 191. StuG Abt.
Front of the 17. Armee, Iron Gates region - On Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's side, it would be an understatement to say that things are going well.
In the Mureș gorges, the 342. ID (Heinrich Nickel) and the 83. ID (Theodor Scherer) are still hanging on to Bejan as best they can. The 342. ID still has to start retreating significantly from Diemrich (Deva, Déva) towards Mintia, in an attempt to maintain a coherent front. The push of the Russian masses is irresistible...
Fortunately, help is not far away. Von Arnim orders the 14. Panzergrenadier (Erich Schneider), the 190. StuG Abt (Hauptmann Dieter Bender), the 228. StuG Abt (Hauptman Wilhelm von Markowitz) and even the remnants of the XLVIII. ArmeeKorps (Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach). They will arrive tomorrow... at best.
Given enough time! Over the Germans' heads, the Sturmoviks roar all day long, strafing with impunity almost every strong point in the defence, attacking the smallest trench with bombs or rockets, while behind them, seemingly uninterrupted lines of twin-engine Tu-2s hit the columns of supplies and reinforcements (including armoured vehicles) that are struggling up to the front. The rain that returns at the end of the afternoon offers a welcome respite. Until tomorrow?
And of course, in the midst of all this ancient drama, nobody is really worried about the 95. ID (Gustav Gihr) any more; still alone against the 62nd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi) and now fighting without support or a sense of retreat between the ruins of Sarmizegetusa and Zeicani. Behind it, at Caransebeș, the 20. Panzergrenadier (Georg Jauer) has not even moved yet, we wait to see if it will not be needed elsewhere. It would probably not be in the Herkulesbad sector (Herkulesfürdő, Băile Herculane), where the 335. ID (Siegfried Rasp) alone holds what the Axis still has of the Carpathians. Besides, it's not as if the Iron Gates are the best place to break through, is it?
Desolate Poland
New friendship and new friends
Moscow - Both the Kremlin and the Lubyanka have received General Nikolai Bulganin's report. In both cases, the masters of the establishment have decided, perhaps brutally (as is an understandable local tradition), that we need to be more proactive.
In the coming weeks, in addition to the NKVD services - already at work with the former members of the Lublin committee - the Red Army would send to Poland hundreds of ‘Loyalists’ from the rare sections of the Polish Communist Party that had not been purged and who had been judged physically unfit (or politically too valuable...) to join the Berling army. The role of these returning exiles is simple: to identify all the members of the AK and the administration who had sworn allegiance to the government in exile (the other exile!) and who are clearly incapable of adapting to the new authorities to come. A substantial task, all the more so as it extends to released prisoners of war (those who have not been sent to the West...).
At this stage, however, no purge is planned. It would be premature: the rebellious Polish nation might not accept too harsh a treatment, believing itself protected by its forces under foreign command. But in the Kremlin, as in the Lubyanka, there is time. And even time to sort out the command of the 1st Polish Army, which might not have been possible in other circumstances. As the capitalists say: ‘Trial by combat’.
* The Bulzului monastery, already in ruins, will disappear altogether - so much so that today we can't even locate it!
Baltic Sea
Naval Commandos
Port of Kronstadt - ‘While the Baltic fleet could of course only play a... distant role in future battles for the Vistula, East Prussia remained a prime target for it, and perfectly accessible. Having never been imprisoned in Leningrad, she had been able to play an important role in previous operations and intended to make Kœnigsberg its major base on the western Baltic after the war.
But the port still had to be seized virtually intact. This meant quickly neutralising the enemy's defences - the Allied experiments on the French coast, widely reported by a press that was far too well-informed by Soviet standards, were the perfect example not to be followed.
So, yes, obviously, intelligence. But how to obtain it? In this area, it had to be said that Captain Vladimir Evstigneev's little feat had had an effect. Chief Petty Officer N.S. Kadurin's section could see itself repeating it - but in a much bigger way, of course’.
(Commandos in the Baltic and Danube: Soviet Naval Spetsnaz in World War II, Yuri Strokhnin, Naval Institute Press, 1996
The art of using Slovaks
Dukla-Carpathians
3rd Ukrainian Front, on the Galician front - The positions are still evolving at an exasperatingly slow pace - but also inexorably. However, the rain and the fatigue of the Soviets save the day for the Axis.
The 89. ID (Walter Hahm) nevertheless has to abandon Svidník under pressure from the 61st Army (Pavel Belov). The 218. ID (Viktor Lang) appears to be definitively isolated in the Volika sector by the 1st Shock Army (Andrei Vlassov), which reaches Pakostov. Finally, in the centre, the 277. StuG Abt (Major Wolfgang Ernst) multiplies its ambushes in an attempt to slow down the 20th Armoured Corps (Pavel Poluboiarov). Without attempting any clever manoeuvres, the latter forces it to retreat as far as Stropkov, using the tactic of the bulldozer that pushes back the rubble with its blade.
Hungary, whatever the cost
Operation Schwabenwall... and counter-attacks
Guruslau depression (1st Magyar Army and [less] German armor) - The battle for Cluj-Napoca has begun - to get in... as well as to get out: the German-Hungarian forces clash head-on with the Soviets over a vast arc from Gilău to Bonțida, as both sides try.
In the west, the 13. Panzer (Helmutt von der Chevallerie) and the 560. schw. PzJ. Abt (Major Rudolf Markowz) attack from Huedin due east towards Gilău. But these two Panzerwaffe units are of... average quality and already, moreover, significantly worn out by last month's operations. No doubt they are followed by the XLII. AK (Frank Mattenklott), which officially has to support them to occupy the ground. But in reality, his three divisions, already weakened, are on the verge of exhaustion from running in all directions, and they are unlikely to play a leading role here. Especially as his right flank, theoretically covered by the XXX. AK (Philipp Kleffel), but whose extreme anemia is well known!
The Panzer IV, JagdPanzer IV and StuG III of the 13. Panzer, supported by the 24 Nashorns of the 560. schw. PzJ. Abt, pour in on the flank of the 8th Mechanised Corps (Vladimir Baskakov) and the remnants of the 2nd Armoured Corps (Ivan Lazarev), already in combat with the 19. Panzer (Hans Källner) and the 502. schw. Pz Abt (Major Horst Richter-Rethwisch). They receive welcome support, as does the 1st Hungarian Infantry Division (Gusztáv Deseö), which comes up behind them, hobbling along to the sound of cannon fire!
Faced with the risk of being enveloped - only a risk, but a risk all the same! - Andrei Kravchenko does not compromise and pulls back the right wing of his 5th Tank Army from Vechea. Leaving the 4th Armoured Corps (Mikhail Fomichkov) to face the 17. Panzer (Karl-Friedrich von der Meden) and the 10th Hungarian Infantry Division (Frigyes Vasváry), the 9th Mechanised Corps (M.I. Savelyev) crosses the hills as far as Sânpaul, to hit the rear of the left flank of Källner and Richter-Rethwisch. Assaulted on two sides, the latter soon find themselves in some difficulty. Deseö's Magyar infantry - very poorly equipped - is not going to be able to do much! A rather confused melee ensues, until the artillery and support squadrons of the 38th Army (Kyrill Moskalenko) appear at Baciu and Florești. At the same time, the 59th Army (Ivan Korovnikov) for its part advances towards Chinteni - where Mikhail Fomichkov has retreated - and comes to avoid a possible tactical setback to Kravchenko's armour. And behind all this, the mass of Red artillery rumbles over the frontoviki following the T-34s.
Thus, in Cluj-Napoca, two infantry armies save (or at least relieve) Andrei Kravchenko's tanks. Kravchenko, who had already seen himself cutting the fascist centre in two through Tihău, as proposed the day before by Bagramian, is somewhat displeased. But the Armenian has mourned a brilliant turnaround in the situation. On balance, he prefers to consolidate his positions, rallying the 47th Army (Filipp Zhmachenko) to his left and the 16th Army (Leonty Cheremisov) - or what is left of it - to his right. Glory will have to wait. Time is clearly on the Red Army's side - even for that scumbag Fyodor Tolbukhin, but that's another story.
To sum up, the reaction of the 2nd Ukrainian Front seems to be well and truly blocked in front of Cluj-Napoca. It is a pity for Heinrici that Schwabenwall's left flank is making very little progress... On this side, the Hungarian troops feel a little too alone (they are already understrength, with six battalions per division instead of the theoretical nine) to exploit the opportunity presented to them. The 11. Panzer is not announced until tomorrow. In the meantime, the Magyar infantrymen march on, with enthusiasm (of course), (professional) caution but also, already, a form of recklessness - their units form an extremely fragile salient.
Instead of charging forward, Major-General Jenö Halmaji Bor's 8th Corps tries to consolidate its positions. The 8th Infantry Division (Árpád Maltary) has only just begun to leave Dés (Dej), liaising with its colleagues who are trying to exploit it. The 5th ID (Zoltán Algya-Papp) moves down to Bonchida (Bonisbruck, Bonțida), following the 27th ID (András Zákó), which tries to help the 10th ID and the 17. Panzer in the vicinity of Kolozsborsa (Borschen, Borșa). But it does not have the resources to do so... and soon comes up against the 59th Army (Ivan Korovnikov). As for the two mountain brigades (Ferenc Lóskay and Sándor Makray), they continue to advance east of Bethlen (Beclean), as far as Magyarnemegye (Nimigea de Jos) and Somkerék (Șintereag) respectively, in both cases on the approaches to Beszterce (Bistritz, Bistrița). Faced with these somewhat isolated attackers, the 16th Army regains its strength. Without stopping them, it slows them down with some effectiveness. It is doubtful that these brigades can go much further. Their assault certainly pleases the staff officers on the map - but it has no strategic perspective because of a lack of resources.
And the Hungarians can hang on to the ground they've won back if they like! In the long term, they are no match for them and they know it. The weather is getting heavier and heavier, the rain heavier and heavier and the clouds ever more threatening. But the most worrying thing for the Magyars is what is happening further south, towards Yugoslavia.
Front of the 11. Armee, Apuseni Mountains - The 11. Armee continues to fight in difficult terrain, today like yesterday, against half of the 4th Ukrainian Front. A small half, to be sure. But it does not even have the equivalent of a ‘normal’ ArmeeKorps to do this.
On the left, near Lunca, the 328. ID (Joachim von Tresckow) hardly has to move at all when it switches from the 11. Armee and to the 17. Armee. It continues to face alone - and with relative success - the Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies of Petre Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Avramescu. The easiest opponent, shall we say...
This convinces Georg-Hans Reinhardt to send his best reserve - Herman Frenking's reconstituted 376. ID - not towards Tresckow's division, but in support of the 225. ID (Ernst Riße) and 215. ID (Bruno Frankewitz). The latter are already beginning to lose ground in the Galați sector and as far as Pătrăngeni - with Zlatna to come tomorrow, no doubt. Admittedly, the battle is fierce*. But Reinhardt, who didn't even have time to really specify his Hauptkampflinie, knows where a step-by-step retreat without support to the passes leads....
As for the 12. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division (Herbert Kettner), a last resort of very little value, remains for the moment in Albac, with the 191. StuG Abt.
Front of the 17. Armee, Iron Gates region - On Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's side, it would be an understatement to say that things are going well.
In the Mureș gorges, the 342. ID (Heinrich Nickel) and the 83. ID (Theodor Scherer) are still hanging on to Bejan as best they can. The 342. ID still has to start retreating significantly from Diemrich (Deva, Déva) towards Mintia, in an attempt to maintain a coherent front. The push of the Russian masses is irresistible...
Fortunately, help is not far away. Von Arnim orders the 14. Panzergrenadier (Erich Schneider), the 190. StuG Abt (Hauptmann Dieter Bender), the 228. StuG Abt (Hauptman Wilhelm von Markowitz) and even the remnants of the XLVIII. ArmeeKorps (Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach). They will arrive tomorrow... at best.
Given enough time! Over the Germans' heads, the Sturmoviks roar all day long, strafing with impunity almost every strong point in the defence, attacking the smallest trench with bombs or rockets, while behind them, seemingly uninterrupted lines of twin-engine Tu-2s hit the columns of supplies and reinforcements (including armoured vehicles) that are struggling up to the front. The rain that returns at the end of the afternoon offers a welcome respite. Until tomorrow?
And of course, in the midst of all this ancient drama, nobody is really worried about the 95. ID (Gustav Gihr) any more; still alone against the 62nd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi) and now fighting without support or a sense of retreat between the ruins of Sarmizegetusa and Zeicani. Behind it, at Caransebeș, the 20. Panzergrenadier (Georg Jauer) has not even moved yet, we wait to see if it will not be needed elsewhere. It would probably not be in the Herkulesbad sector (Herkulesfürdő, Băile Herculane), where the 335. ID (Siegfried Rasp) alone holds what the Axis still has of the Carpathians. Besides, it's not as if the Iron Gates are the best place to break through, is it?
Desolate Poland
New friendship and new friends
Moscow - Both the Kremlin and the Lubyanka have received General Nikolai Bulganin's report. In both cases, the masters of the establishment have decided, perhaps brutally (as is an understandable local tradition), that we need to be more proactive.
In the coming weeks, in addition to the NKVD services - already at work with the former members of the Lublin committee - the Red Army would send to Poland hundreds of ‘Loyalists’ from the rare sections of the Polish Communist Party that had not been purged and who had been judged physically unfit (or politically too valuable...) to join the Berling army. The role of these returning exiles is simple: to identify all the members of the AK and the administration who had sworn allegiance to the government in exile (the other exile!) and who are clearly incapable of adapting to the new authorities to come. A substantial task, all the more so as it extends to released prisoners of war (those who have not been sent to the West...).
At this stage, however, no purge is planned. It would be premature: the rebellious Polish nation might not accept too harsh a treatment, believing itself protected by its forces under foreign command. But in the Kremlin, as in the Lubyanka, there is time. And even time to sort out the command of the 1st Polish Army, which might not have been possible in other circumstances. As the capitalists say: ‘Trial by combat’.
* The Bulzului monastery, already in ruins, will disappear altogether - so much so that today we can't even locate it!
15/06/44 - Occupied Countries
June 15th, 1944
Returning state
Storm! - Operation Zuzana
Insurgent Slovakia - Although the arrival of the Soviet paratroopers certainly gives a boost to the very shaky motivation of the Slovaks, their contribution is nevertheless somewhat limited - these four hundred men, even if they are elite, cannot claim to be able to turn around a very compromised situation on their own.
The atmosphere is one of collapse and desolation when the SS of KG Wittenmayer - still accompanied (or followed?) by a variable number of Otomar Kubala's Hlinka guards - finally enter Banská Bystrica in the sticky rain. The 4th Battle Group Moray (Colonel Mikuláš Markus) and the 3rd Battle Group Gerlach (Colonel Pavol Kuna) flee eastwards. They try to set up a barricade in the Hron Gorge near Slovenská Ľupča - still with the voltigeurs of the Foch Battalion (Lieutenant Georges Barazer de Lannurien) on their left, at Poniky.
The fall of Banská Bystrica obviously dooms all the men of the 1st Battle Group Kriván (Lt-Colonel Jozef Tlach) and the 5th Battle Group Ďumbier (General Emil Perko), who are unable or unwilling to join their compatriots. The Hurban train set on fire, all their heavy equipment destroyed, the survivors scatter, some to continue the fight in the Tatras, some simply to hide somewhere. Perko joins the friendly lines at Ľubietová with his small staff. Tlach flees with a few followers to Ružomberok, perhaps in search of the Soviet lines.
The three operational zones decided on by Ján Golian just four days ago have thus come to an end. This collapse allows many previously dispersed Axis units to reorganise and concentrate: the 178. PanzerGrenadier Tatra (Lt-General Friedrich-Wilhelm von Loeper) - finally off the Bartoška road! - but also the dreaded, albeit weakened, SS-Osttürkisher-Freiwilligen Kavalerie-Brigade (Arved Theuermann) and the sinister Sonderkommando Dirlewanger (Oskar Dirlewanger) - who are now free to unleash their skills in the surrounding area.
A disaster, a debacle. And yet, it could have been worse. Much worse. The rapid deployment of the first elements of the 211th Parachute Brigade (Vasily Glazkov) stabilises the lines for the night. But the Soviets feel a little more alone every hour, due to the absence of reinforcements today. Yes, maybe we didn't do Glazkov such a big favour by sparing him Sarajevo!
At the same time, the situation in Tisovec is stagnating. The rebel forces - the 2nd Battle Group Fatra (Colonel Michal Širica), the 2nd Airborne Brigade (Lt-Colonel Jaroslav Vedral-Sázavský), the Masaryk armoured train and the 1st Armoured Brigade - are no longer making any progress, even if they had been remotivated, against the German-Slovaks, but above all against August Trabandt's SS-Panzergrenadier Brigade Horst-Wessel. Admittedly, it can be said that this unit is still running in - it is still struggling to get all its elements to the front because of logistical problems... and even disciplinary problems. But its equipment puts it well up with the troops of the 1st Czechoslovak Army. Admittedly, the lines aren't moving much today, due to exhaustion and lack of ammunition. Nonetheless, it looks like the end of the road...
The sex of angels
8 Porchester Gate (London) - His Excellency Nichols is delighted to announce to the Czechoslovak delegations that the Red Army has literally just come to the aid of the Slovak insurrection ‘with even greater resources and a spirit of solidarity’. However, the Soviets are still not saying much about the real impact of sending these famous paratroopers into the field - this kind of action has been tried recently, with results that did not really live up to expectations... So it's best to be cautious.
What is important, however, is that the message sent to Czech and Slovak politicians is clear and transparent: get along before you are forced to. This applies in particular to Edvard Beneš's men - who have a tendency these days to forget that he is only as good as Moscow wants him to be.
Operation Bowery - Who tries nothing...
Rohozná airfield (Slovakia), Rome and Washington DC - James Gaul and James Holt's Green mission naturally informed their superiors in Italy of the arrival of Soviet paratroopers via short-wave radio... And in Rome, they are quick to pass on the news to the top echelons of the organisation headed by William J. Donovan.
The news triggers a... mood swing, almost a Pavlovian reflex that might not have occurred in other circumstances. So it is that at the end of the morning, Washington sends an order to Europe (where the sun is about to set) that is unexpected for some, hoped for by a few others, but in any case has been anticipated for a long time: ‘Launch operation Emerald’. Without further clarification - which means immediately!
Crushed Poland
The list
Plaszow concentration camp (Warsaw region) - Oskar Schindler has finished his list. He presents it to his friendly SS correspondent, Amon Göth. He frowns even more when he realises that there are slightly more than the twelve hundred souls negotiated three days earlier. So, since they're pretending to negotiate with him, Göth negotiates. And hard. The sum he has to pay for his consent is... high. Very high, in fact. But the SS has its costs, and he has to justify the disappearance of a certain number of his prisoners, even though his own hierarchy has just ordered him to send as many people as possible to Auschwitz as a matter of urgency, for ‘treatment’.
It's a gruelling task, too: in addition to the administrative workload and the shortages to be managed, Göth often has to do the work himself! He has decided to execute every fifth prisoner in a working party whose member has escaped, and he carries out some of these executions himself! He also keeps an eye on his prisoners from his balcony, wearing his Tyrolean hat and armed with his shotgun: quite often, he shoots like a rabbit a prisoner who displeases him or who doesn't seem to be working fast enough. Unless he unleashes his two dogs, Rolf and Ralf (a Great Dane and a German Shepherd) on one or other slacker, that'll save feeding them tonight*.
But hey! On the other hand, giving Oskar a few hundred heads will make room for the Hungarians arriving from Budapest. So, one thousand two hundred and seventy-five? Perfect. Are we agreed? Good, I'll send for these people, it'll take two or three days. And to seal our deal, I'm inviting you to dinner this evening. With my wife and dogs.
Subjugated Hungary
Shoah: a true (thwarted) professional
Budapest - Six days after his last decisions, it's time for Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Höss to take stock. Unfortunately! Once again it is very negative. In fact, apart from the now proven incompetence of his honourable local correspondents, the ongoing military campaign (which is literally sucking the life out of rail transport) and the incessant bombing raining down from all directions are constantly knocking out his precious production plans.
And that's only if you try to respect them! In fact, at the moment, despite the obvious goodwill of ministers Károly Beregfy and Gábor Vajna, all his requests and detailed instructions are coming up against a wall of stupidity and chauvinism. Frankly, does Nemzetvezető Ferenc Szálasi need to wave ‘Magyar sovereignty’ around in such circumstances, really?
In truth, in six days, just 6,000 people were shipped out. The remnants of the ghetto, that's all. Edmund Veesenmayer can preach patience if he wants (and perhaps push his own agenda?), but Höss, with a sad and dejected look on his face, takes note of the obvious: in Hungary, it is impossible for him to do his job properly. So he heads back to the General Government (or what is left of it), simply leaving behind a few subordinates whose job it would be to fill the few available trains as best they can and then get them on their way to their destinations as soon as possible.
All these Magyars have to do is make do with their Jews! If they feel like it, they can even try to use traditional methods to solve the problem, like in the days of the Spanish Inquisition, those backward people! That would give them something in common with the Ustashi. At this idea, Höss painfully raises an eyebrow - the comparison certainly wouldn't please the Hungarians!
* One of the prisoners saved by Schindler, Poldek Pfefferberg, said: ‘When you saw Göth, you saw your death’.
Returning state
Storm! - Operation Zuzana
Insurgent Slovakia - Although the arrival of the Soviet paratroopers certainly gives a boost to the very shaky motivation of the Slovaks, their contribution is nevertheless somewhat limited - these four hundred men, even if they are elite, cannot claim to be able to turn around a very compromised situation on their own.
The atmosphere is one of collapse and desolation when the SS of KG Wittenmayer - still accompanied (or followed?) by a variable number of Otomar Kubala's Hlinka guards - finally enter Banská Bystrica in the sticky rain. The 4th Battle Group Moray (Colonel Mikuláš Markus) and the 3rd Battle Group Gerlach (Colonel Pavol Kuna) flee eastwards. They try to set up a barricade in the Hron Gorge near Slovenská Ľupča - still with the voltigeurs of the Foch Battalion (Lieutenant Georges Barazer de Lannurien) on their left, at Poniky.
The fall of Banská Bystrica obviously dooms all the men of the 1st Battle Group Kriván (Lt-Colonel Jozef Tlach) and the 5th Battle Group Ďumbier (General Emil Perko), who are unable or unwilling to join their compatriots. The Hurban train set on fire, all their heavy equipment destroyed, the survivors scatter, some to continue the fight in the Tatras, some simply to hide somewhere. Perko joins the friendly lines at Ľubietová with his small staff. Tlach flees with a few followers to Ružomberok, perhaps in search of the Soviet lines.
The three operational zones decided on by Ján Golian just four days ago have thus come to an end. This collapse allows many previously dispersed Axis units to reorganise and concentrate: the 178. PanzerGrenadier Tatra (Lt-General Friedrich-Wilhelm von Loeper) - finally off the Bartoška road! - but also the dreaded, albeit weakened, SS-Osttürkisher-Freiwilligen Kavalerie-Brigade (Arved Theuermann) and the sinister Sonderkommando Dirlewanger (Oskar Dirlewanger) - who are now free to unleash their skills in the surrounding area.
A disaster, a debacle. And yet, it could have been worse. Much worse. The rapid deployment of the first elements of the 211th Parachute Brigade (Vasily Glazkov) stabilises the lines for the night. But the Soviets feel a little more alone every hour, due to the absence of reinforcements today. Yes, maybe we didn't do Glazkov such a big favour by sparing him Sarajevo!
At the same time, the situation in Tisovec is stagnating. The rebel forces - the 2nd Battle Group Fatra (Colonel Michal Širica), the 2nd Airborne Brigade (Lt-Colonel Jaroslav Vedral-Sázavský), the Masaryk armoured train and the 1st Armoured Brigade - are no longer making any progress, even if they had been remotivated, against the German-Slovaks, but above all against August Trabandt's SS-Panzergrenadier Brigade Horst-Wessel. Admittedly, it can be said that this unit is still running in - it is still struggling to get all its elements to the front because of logistical problems... and even disciplinary problems. But its equipment puts it well up with the troops of the 1st Czechoslovak Army. Admittedly, the lines aren't moving much today, due to exhaustion and lack of ammunition. Nonetheless, it looks like the end of the road...
The sex of angels
8 Porchester Gate (London) - His Excellency Nichols is delighted to announce to the Czechoslovak delegations that the Red Army has literally just come to the aid of the Slovak insurrection ‘with even greater resources and a spirit of solidarity’. However, the Soviets are still not saying much about the real impact of sending these famous paratroopers into the field - this kind of action has been tried recently, with results that did not really live up to expectations... So it's best to be cautious.
What is important, however, is that the message sent to Czech and Slovak politicians is clear and transparent: get along before you are forced to. This applies in particular to Edvard Beneš's men - who have a tendency these days to forget that he is only as good as Moscow wants him to be.
Operation Bowery - Who tries nothing...
Rohozná airfield (Slovakia), Rome and Washington DC - James Gaul and James Holt's Green mission naturally informed their superiors in Italy of the arrival of Soviet paratroopers via short-wave radio... And in Rome, they are quick to pass on the news to the top echelons of the organisation headed by William J. Donovan.
The news triggers a... mood swing, almost a Pavlovian reflex that might not have occurred in other circumstances. So it is that at the end of the morning, Washington sends an order to Europe (where the sun is about to set) that is unexpected for some, hoped for by a few others, but in any case has been anticipated for a long time: ‘Launch operation Emerald’. Without further clarification - which means immediately!
Crushed Poland
The list
Plaszow concentration camp (Warsaw region) - Oskar Schindler has finished his list. He presents it to his friendly SS correspondent, Amon Göth. He frowns even more when he realises that there are slightly more than the twelve hundred souls negotiated three days earlier. So, since they're pretending to negotiate with him, Göth negotiates. And hard. The sum he has to pay for his consent is... high. Very high, in fact. But the SS has its costs, and he has to justify the disappearance of a certain number of his prisoners, even though his own hierarchy has just ordered him to send as many people as possible to Auschwitz as a matter of urgency, for ‘treatment’.
It's a gruelling task, too: in addition to the administrative workload and the shortages to be managed, Göth often has to do the work himself! He has decided to execute every fifth prisoner in a working party whose member has escaped, and he carries out some of these executions himself! He also keeps an eye on his prisoners from his balcony, wearing his Tyrolean hat and armed with his shotgun: quite often, he shoots like a rabbit a prisoner who displeases him or who doesn't seem to be working fast enough. Unless he unleashes his two dogs, Rolf and Ralf (a Great Dane and a German Shepherd) on one or other slacker, that'll save feeding them tonight*.
But hey! On the other hand, giving Oskar a few hundred heads will make room for the Hungarians arriving from Budapest. So, one thousand two hundred and seventy-five? Perfect. Are we agreed? Good, I'll send for these people, it'll take two or three days. And to seal our deal, I'm inviting you to dinner this evening. With my wife and dogs.
Subjugated Hungary
Shoah: a true (thwarted) professional
Budapest - Six days after his last decisions, it's time for Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Höss to take stock. Unfortunately! Once again it is very negative. In fact, apart from the now proven incompetence of his honourable local correspondents, the ongoing military campaign (which is literally sucking the life out of rail transport) and the incessant bombing raining down from all directions are constantly knocking out his precious production plans.
And that's only if you try to respect them! In fact, at the moment, despite the obvious goodwill of ministers Károly Beregfy and Gábor Vajna, all his requests and detailed instructions are coming up against a wall of stupidity and chauvinism. Frankly, does Nemzetvezető Ferenc Szálasi need to wave ‘Magyar sovereignty’ around in such circumstances, really?
In truth, in six days, just 6,000 people were shipped out. The remnants of the ghetto, that's all. Edmund Veesenmayer can preach patience if he wants (and perhaps push his own agenda?), but Höss, with a sad and dejected look on his face, takes note of the obvious: in Hungary, it is impossible for him to do his job properly. So he heads back to the General Government (or what is left of it), simply leaving behind a few subordinates whose job it would be to fill the few available trains as best they can and then get them on their way to their destinations as soon as possible.
All these Magyars have to do is make do with their Jews! If they feel like it, they can even try to use traditional methods to solve the problem, like in the days of the Spanish Inquisition, those backward people! That would give them something in common with the Ustashi. At this idea, Höss painfully raises an eyebrow - the comparison certainly wouldn't please the Hungarians!
* One of the prisoners saved by Schindler, Poldek Pfefferberg, said: ‘When you saw Göth, you saw your death’.
16/06/44 - Eastern Front
New
June 16th, 1944
The art of using Slovaks
Dukla-Carpathians
3rd Ukrainian Front, on the Galicia Front - The German system cracks. In the morning, taking advantage of the fact that the 389. ID (Walter Hahm) - hard pressed by the 61st Army (Pavel Belov) - has still not completely moved towards Šarišský Štiavnik, and that, on its left, the 1st Shock Army (Andrei Vlassov) is covering it in front of the 218. ID (Viktor Lang), the 20th Armoured Corps pushes aside the remaining defenders in front of it and begins to descend towards Vranov nad Topľou. Advancing under a roaring Sturmovik umbrella, Pavel Poluboiarov's tanks threaten to break through to the plains and envelop Košice from the right - or even reach the Bodrog, if we have much imagination.
However, the Axis no longer has any reinforcements to stop the enemy - the 277. StuG Abt (Major Wolfgang Ernst) has just twelve operational vehicles! As a result, the HG A and then HG B staffs break out in a cold sweat.
However, the Soviet breakthrough (obtained at a particularly high price) offers no prospect of exploitation in the short or medium term, due to the lack of a second echelon. However, to know this, you would need to know the state of the Soviet forces... and how little interest Ivan Konev shows in the matter. Nevertheless, in Berlin like in Budapest, a point appears on the map, pointing dangerously towards Hungary, or even towards the rear of Schwabenwall, which it seems to threaten with a gigantic envelopment.
The news of the infiltration of T-70s into the Bystré sector (on the road to Prešov...) does nothing to ease the anxiety, quite the contrary. The XVII. ArmeeKorps (Otto Tiemann) is visibly unable to recover and Walter Weiß's 8. Armee has... not much in the way of reserves (three StuG Abteilungs so damaged they are barely worth one!), so reinforcements have to be found nearby. Anything, but quickly. At the end of the day, the OKH is going to do what is necessary.
Hungary, whatever the cost
Operation Schwabenwall
1st Magyar Army and German tanks, Guruslau depression - Schwabenwall appears to be bogged down in front of Cluj-Napoca, now that the attackers are facing almost the entirety of Ivan Bagramian's 2nd Ukrainian Front. The Axis is no longer advancing - or worse, retreating. Worse still, the Reich's precious panzers are once again trapped in a painful battle of attrition, as they lack the means to win the battle quickly.
Far to the west, on the right wing of the offensive, the XLII. AK (Frank Mattenklott) - the equivalent of an infantry division by 1942 standards - painfully tries to support the advance towards Gilău of the 13. Panzer (Helmutt von der Chevallerie) and the 560. schw. PzJ. Abt (Major Rudolf Markowz). However, due to a lack of manpower, air support and (to a large extent) energy, this contribution is far from sufficient to upset the 5th Tank Army (Andrei Kravchenko) - and more particularly the 16th Armoured Corps (A.I. Getman) reinforced by the 8th Mechanised Corps (Vladimir Baskakov). The latter continues to be supported by the left wing of the 38th Army (Kyrill Moskalenko), and even by part of the 47th Army (Filipp Zhmachenko), which is beginning to show some signs of recovery. In the rain, the exchange of fire continues, with casualties, both men and armoured vehicles, but with no significant result.
In the centre, the Axis is also unable to coordinate with its right to recover from the flank taken the previous day - faced with the threat of the 9th Mechanised Corps (M.I. Savelyev), the 19. Panzer (Hans Källner) and the 502. schw. Pz Abt (Major Horst Richter-Rethwisch) have to withdraw towards Topa Mică. Wanting to maintain the link with von der Chevallerie at all costs could have led to the panzers being cut in two by the hills in the Crucea Cubleș sector. As a result, the gap with Chevallerie is now occupied only by the 1st Hungarian ID (Gusztáv Deseö), which proves a little... light for such a task. In short, Savelyev and Moskalenko's right (38th Army) once again has some freedom to maneuver, envelop and wage operational warfare - albeit on a small scale.
That left the left of the great battle in progress - north-east of Cluj-Napoca. Here, the 4th Armoured Corps (Mikhail Fomichkov) is still somewhat alone against the 17. Panzer (Karl-Friedrich von der Meden) and three Hungarian divisions: the 10th ID (Frigyes Vasváry), the 27th ID (András Zákó) and the 5th ID (Zoltán Algya-Papp), the last two having come down from Dés (Dej). The combined strength of these forces stretches from Vechea to Bonchida (Bonisbruck, Bonțida) - all localities that are now contested. Although the reinforcement of Ivan Korovnikov's 59th Army prevents a breakthrough or an overrun from the east, it is not enough to regain the initiative. Artillery barrages and static defence lines follow one another, wave after wave, with no strategy other than to tire out the enemy. We'll see who breaks first.
Finally, on the eastern flank of Schwabenwall, the situation is surprisingly calm, due to a lack of resources - if not interest - on the part of the belligerents. The 16th Army (Leonty Cheremisov) is still in tatters, but it regroups to defend Bistrița (Beszterce, Bistritz). On the other side, the two Hungarian mountain brigades can only see that they are isolated and unable to advance further than Szálva (Salva) and Sajómagyarós (Șieu-Măgheruș) without more support. Behind them, however, there is only the 8th ID (Árpád Maltary). And it is literally alone: at this hour, it is the only link between units 80 kilometres apart!
In short, the Red Army has succeeded in splitting up the German efforts and preventing the three branches of the right of the ‘Swabian Wall’ from converging - while the left of the Axis attack is still stagnating, with no prospects. What a pity for Bagramian that he does not have the means to inject armoured troops into any of the intervals!
Schwabenwall rear lines (former positions of the 1st Hungarian Army) - For the Germans, the good news of the day is the arrival at the Mesteacăn Pass of the 11. Panzer (Wend von Wietersheim). Still covered by bad weather, it hurries towards Dés (Dej), where we would see what is most relevant to ask of it. We certainly expect a lot from this unit - for example, to make up for the work that an armoured corps withdrawn from operations has not done for three days. What's more, it is already going to correct an anomaly: allowing the Hungarians to form the entire left wing of a major offensive was certainly controversial - in Berlin as much like in Budapest [and even today, among certain rather chauvinistic Magyar historians!]
To counter Schwabenwall
Front of the 11. Armee, Apuseni Mountains - A difficult but more or less controlled situation for Reinhardt's 11. Armee on both axes of the assaults it is undergoing.
To the north, in the Lunca sector, the battle remains static between the 328. ID (Joachim von Tresckow) and the 3rd and 4th Romanian Armies (Petre Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Avramescu). In this narrow valley (less than 2 kilometres), the Latin traitors try to overrun, but they lack the artillery and support to do so. TACAMs are scarce, the Royal Air Force seems less and less present (due to a lack of spare parts for its aircraft!) and the antique R-1s reported from the front are not going to make the difference. So there is little for Reinhardt to fear in the short or, no doubt, medium term.
On the road to the Bucium Pass, however, things aren't going so well - the fault of Herman Frenking's 376. ID, which only arrives on the scene this morning. In the meantime, the 225. ID (Ernst Riße) and the 215. ID (Bruno Frankewitz) have to give up their positions as far as Zlatna to the 9th Army (Vasily Glagolev), under the shells of the 12th Mechanised Corps (Dimitri Ryabyshev). Nothing we can't stop... for now. But behind Zlatna, the valley opens up - the Reds would have more opportunities to flank. So they really need to stop here. Here and now, while we're at it.
But there's something even more worrying on the right of the 11. Armee is the situation of the 17. Armee. So much so that Georg-Hans Reinhardt has to send his last reserve, the 12. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division (Herbert Kettner), reinforced - because it has to be! - by the 191. StuG Abt (Hauptmann Alfred Müller).
Front of the 17. Armee, Iron Gates region - The fight for the Mureș Gorge continues with unparalleled steadfastness and ferocity. Faced with Fyodor Tolbukhin, who sends practically everything he has - 6th Guards Army (P.I. Batov), 14th Army (V.A. Frolov) and 18th Army (A.A. Gretchko), while waiting for the armour! - von Arnim does his best, plays... and loses, to a certain extent.
The 342. ID (Heinrich Nickel) and the 83. ID (Theodor Scherer) of the XI. ArmeeKorps (Joachim von Kortzfleisch), has to retreat to a Boz-Brănișca-Vețel line before being annihilated. This line is only held by the interventions of the 14. Panzergrenadier (Erich Schneider) and the 190. StuG Abt (Hauptmann Dieter Bender) and 228. StuG Abt (Hauptmann Wilhelm von Markowitz) - who commit troops and machines to the sound of cannon fire as they arrive along the road to Timișoara. Behind them are the remains of the two divisions of the XLVIII. ArmeeKorps (Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach). These remnants will no doubt try to weigh, like an extra piece of meat tips the butcher's scales. The advance of the 4th Ukrainian Front, almost concentrated on a single axis and indifferent to losses, seems irresistible. Already, the right flank of the 11. Armee is compromised.
As for the right of the 17. Armee... Before being submerged, the 95. ID (Gustav Gihr) has to withdraw towards Zeicani - and probably, tomorrow, towards Bucova. No reinforcements can be expected here: the 20. Panzergrenadier (Georg Jauer) moves up towards Lugosch (Lugos, Lugoj), while the 335. ID (Siegfried Rasp) is still alone (dangerously alone...) guarding the Poarta Orientală.
Romanians in the Soviets
Le bal des maudits - ‘The battles for the Apuseni mountains are tough - very tough indeed. Harder than those for the Argeșel valley, because here the enemy is well entrenched facing us, and fears neither the air force - alas absent - nor an overrun. And yet we are advancing. A few dozen metres, for nothing, a rock, a spur, what shall I say: a piece of forest clinging to the relief.
No doubt. But this piece of forest is Romanian. And Lieutenant Lucian Hasdeu gives his all to ensure that our faith carries us through and overcomes the obstacles. A noble task... Alas, faith cannot do everything. In our Vladimirescu, the casualties can be counted in dozens. It's even worse on the side of the Oituz și Mărăști or the Horia, Cloșca și Crișan. And I'd like to say that I sense brotherhood on the side of the repentant units - but the Third Army is keeping its artillery a bit to itself, it seems to us.’
The art of using Slovaks
Dukla-Carpathians
3rd Ukrainian Front, on the Galicia Front - The German system cracks. In the morning, taking advantage of the fact that the 389. ID (Walter Hahm) - hard pressed by the 61st Army (Pavel Belov) - has still not completely moved towards Šarišský Štiavnik, and that, on its left, the 1st Shock Army (Andrei Vlassov) is covering it in front of the 218. ID (Viktor Lang), the 20th Armoured Corps pushes aside the remaining defenders in front of it and begins to descend towards Vranov nad Topľou. Advancing under a roaring Sturmovik umbrella, Pavel Poluboiarov's tanks threaten to break through to the plains and envelop Košice from the right - or even reach the Bodrog, if we have much imagination.
However, the Axis no longer has any reinforcements to stop the enemy - the 277. StuG Abt (Major Wolfgang Ernst) has just twelve operational vehicles! As a result, the HG A and then HG B staffs break out in a cold sweat.
However, the Soviet breakthrough (obtained at a particularly high price) offers no prospect of exploitation in the short or medium term, due to the lack of a second echelon. However, to know this, you would need to know the state of the Soviet forces... and how little interest Ivan Konev shows in the matter. Nevertheless, in Berlin like in Budapest, a point appears on the map, pointing dangerously towards Hungary, or even towards the rear of Schwabenwall, which it seems to threaten with a gigantic envelopment.
The news of the infiltration of T-70s into the Bystré sector (on the road to Prešov...) does nothing to ease the anxiety, quite the contrary. The XVII. ArmeeKorps (Otto Tiemann) is visibly unable to recover and Walter Weiß's 8. Armee has... not much in the way of reserves (three StuG Abteilungs so damaged they are barely worth one!), so reinforcements have to be found nearby. Anything, but quickly. At the end of the day, the OKH is going to do what is necessary.
Hungary, whatever the cost
Operation Schwabenwall
1st Magyar Army and German tanks, Guruslau depression - Schwabenwall appears to be bogged down in front of Cluj-Napoca, now that the attackers are facing almost the entirety of Ivan Bagramian's 2nd Ukrainian Front. The Axis is no longer advancing - or worse, retreating. Worse still, the Reich's precious panzers are once again trapped in a painful battle of attrition, as they lack the means to win the battle quickly.
Far to the west, on the right wing of the offensive, the XLII. AK (Frank Mattenklott) - the equivalent of an infantry division by 1942 standards - painfully tries to support the advance towards Gilău of the 13. Panzer (Helmutt von der Chevallerie) and the 560. schw. PzJ. Abt (Major Rudolf Markowz). However, due to a lack of manpower, air support and (to a large extent) energy, this contribution is far from sufficient to upset the 5th Tank Army (Andrei Kravchenko) - and more particularly the 16th Armoured Corps (A.I. Getman) reinforced by the 8th Mechanised Corps (Vladimir Baskakov). The latter continues to be supported by the left wing of the 38th Army (Kyrill Moskalenko), and even by part of the 47th Army (Filipp Zhmachenko), which is beginning to show some signs of recovery. In the rain, the exchange of fire continues, with casualties, both men and armoured vehicles, but with no significant result.
In the centre, the Axis is also unable to coordinate with its right to recover from the flank taken the previous day - faced with the threat of the 9th Mechanised Corps (M.I. Savelyev), the 19. Panzer (Hans Källner) and the 502. schw. Pz Abt (Major Horst Richter-Rethwisch) have to withdraw towards Topa Mică. Wanting to maintain the link with von der Chevallerie at all costs could have led to the panzers being cut in two by the hills in the Crucea Cubleș sector. As a result, the gap with Chevallerie is now occupied only by the 1st Hungarian ID (Gusztáv Deseö), which proves a little... light for such a task. In short, Savelyev and Moskalenko's right (38th Army) once again has some freedom to maneuver, envelop and wage operational warfare - albeit on a small scale.
That left the left of the great battle in progress - north-east of Cluj-Napoca. Here, the 4th Armoured Corps (Mikhail Fomichkov) is still somewhat alone against the 17. Panzer (Karl-Friedrich von der Meden) and three Hungarian divisions: the 10th ID (Frigyes Vasváry), the 27th ID (András Zákó) and the 5th ID (Zoltán Algya-Papp), the last two having come down from Dés (Dej). The combined strength of these forces stretches from Vechea to Bonchida (Bonisbruck, Bonțida) - all localities that are now contested. Although the reinforcement of Ivan Korovnikov's 59th Army prevents a breakthrough or an overrun from the east, it is not enough to regain the initiative. Artillery barrages and static defence lines follow one another, wave after wave, with no strategy other than to tire out the enemy. We'll see who breaks first.
Finally, on the eastern flank of Schwabenwall, the situation is surprisingly calm, due to a lack of resources - if not interest - on the part of the belligerents. The 16th Army (Leonty Cheremisov) is still in tatters, but it regroups to defend Bistrița (Beszterce, Bistritz). On the other side, the two Hungarian mountain brigades can only see that they are isolated and unable to advance further than Szálva (Salva) and Sajómagyarós (Șieu-Măgheruș) without more support. Behind them, however, there is only the 8th ID (Árpád Maltary). And it is literally alone: at this hour, it is the only link between units 80 kilometres apart!
In short, the Red Army has succeeded in splitting up the German efforts and preventing the three branches of the right of the ‘Swabian Wall’ from converging - while the left of the Axis attack is still stagnating, with no prospects. What a pity for Bagramian that he does not have the means to inject armoured troops into any of the intervals!
Schwabenwall rear lines (former positions of the 1st Hungarian Army) - For the Germans, the good news of the day is the arrival at the Mesteacăn Pass of the 11. Panzer (Wend von Wietersheim). Still covered by bad weather, it hurries towards Dés (Dej), where we would see what is most relevant to ask of it. We certainly expect a lot from this unit - for example, to make up for the work that an armoured corps withdrawn from operations has not done for three days. What's more, it is already going to correct an anomaly: allowing the Hungarians to form the entire left wing of a major offensive was certainly controversial - in Berlin as much like in Budapest [and even today, among certain rather chauvinistic Magyar historians!]
To counter Schwabenwall
Front of the 11. Armee, Apuseni Mountains - A difficult but more or less controlled situation for Reinhardt's 11. Armee on both axes of the assaults it is undergoing.
To the north, in the Lunca sector, the battle remains static between the 328. ID (Joachim von Tresckow) and the 3rd and 4th Romanian Armies (Petre Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Avramescu). In this narrow valley (less than 2 kilometres), the Latin traitors try to overrun, but they lack the artillery and support to do so. TACAMs are scarce, the Royal Air Force seems less and less present (due to a lack of spare parts for its aircraft!) and the antique R-1s reported from the front are not going to make the difference. So there is little for Reinhardt to fear in the short or, no doubt, medium term.
On the road to the Bucium Pass, however, things aren't going so well - the fault of Herman Frenking's 376. ID, which only arrives on the scene this morning. In the meantime, the 225. ID (Ernst Riße) and the 215. ID (Bruno Frankewitz) have to give up their positions as far as Zlatna to the 9th Army (Vasily Glagolev), under the shells of the 12th Mechanised Corps (Dimitri Ryabyshev). Nothing we can't stop... for now. But behind Zlatna, the valley opens up - the Reds would have more opportunities to flank. So they really need to stop here. Here and now, while we're at it.
But there's something even more worrying on the right of the 11. Armee is the situation of the 17. Armee. So much so that Georg-Hans Reinhardt has to send his last reserve, the 12. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division (Herbert Kettner), reinforced - because it has to be! - by the 191. StuG Abt (Hauptmann Alfred Müller).
Front of the 17. Armee, Iron Gates region - The fight for the Mureș Gorge continues with unparalleled steadfastness and ferocity. Faced with Fyodor Tolbukhin, who sends practically everything he has - 6th Guards Army (P.I. Batov), 14th Army (V.A. Frolov) and 18th Army (A.A. Gretchko), while waiting for the armour! - von Arnim does his best, plays... and loses, to a certain extent.
The 342. ID (Heinrich Nickel) and the 83. ID (Theodor Scherer) of the XI. ArmeeKorps (Joachim von Kortzfleisch), has to retreat to a Boz-Brănișca-Vețel line before being annihilated. This line is only held by the interventions of the 14. Panzergrenadier (Erich Schneider) and the 190. StuG Abt (Hauptmann Dieter Bender) and 228. StuG Abt (Hauptmann Wilhelm von Markowitz) - who commit troops and machines to the sound of cannon fire as they arrive along the road to Timișoara. Behind them are the remains of the two divisions of the XLVIII. ArmeeKorps (Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach). These remnants will no doubt try to weigh, like an extra piece of meat tips the butcher's scales. The advance of the 4th Ukrainian Front, almost concentrated on a single axis and indifferent to losses, seems irresistible. Already, the right flank of the 11. Armee is compromised.
As for the right of the 17. Armee... Before being submerged, the 95. ID (Gustav Gihr) has to withdraw towards Zeicani - and probably, tomorrow, towards Bucova. No reinforcements can be expected here: the 20. Panzergrenadier (Georg Jauer) moves up towards Lugosch (Lugos, Lugoj), while the 335. ID (Siegfried Rasp) is still alone (dangerously alone...) guarding the Poarta Orientală.
Romanians in the Soviets
Le bal des maudits - ‘The battles for the Apuseni mountains are tough - very tough indeed. Harder than those for the Argeșel valley, because here the enemy is well entrenched facing us, and fears neither the air force - alas absent - nor an overrun. And yet we are advancing. A few dozen metres, for nothing, a rock, a spur, what shall I say: a piece of forest clinging to the relief.
No doubt. But this piece of forest is Romanian. And Lieutenant Lucian Hasdeu gives his all to ensure that our faith carries us through and overcomes the obstacles. A noble task... Alas, faith cannot do everything. In our Vladimirescu, the casualties can be counted in dozens. It's even worse on the side of the Oituz și Mărăști or the Horia, Cloșca și Crișan. And I'd like to say that I sense brotherhood on the side of the repentant units - but the Third Army is keeping its artillery a bit to itself, it seems to us.’
16/06/44 - Occupied Countries
New
June 16th, 1944
Returning state
Storm! - Operation Zuzana
Banská Bystrica (repressed Slovakia), during the day - The German-Slovak forces, now freed from having to attack dispersed along three axes, gather in and around the town - to the great misfortune of the latter! Not only Heer troops, but also those of the Waffen-SS, its auxiliaries, its disciplinary dregs and even its local allies pour into the streets!
In such circumstances and with such units, Obergruppenführer Hermann Höfle cannot seriously claim to be pushing towards Brezno today to put an end to this ridiculous story that had been going on - incredibly! - for two months. However, he has already sent the KG Wittenmayer eastwards, reinforced by mechanised elements of the 178. PanzerGrenadier Tatra (Lt-General Friedrich-Wilhelm von Loeper). They inform him of the presence of a sort of roadblock towards Slovenská Ľupča, manned by a bunch of Slovaks... and French (heaven knows what they are doing there!). Do these opponents have any pride? That'll come tomorrow!
Meanwhile, in Tisovec, August Trabandt's Horst-Wessel team has finished concentrating. In the meantime, one last push and, in a day or two, this whole rotten shack will collapse.
.........
Radvanski Manor (Banská Bystrica), 18:00 - At last, it's going to collapse - that's what Höfle thought until he got a call, not from the Schutzstaffel, alas, but from the OKH. A certain Major-General Horst Freiherr Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels, from the Operations Department. He has just given him an order that is, to say the least, strange... From Guderian, of course, but Höfle - citing parasites on the line - still wants it repeated.
- This instruction is clear and unambiguous, Obergruppenführer, I shouldn't have to repeat it: withdraw the Tatra and Horst-Wessel from operations. They are to be redeployed immediately to the Košice sector.
- Zum Befehl, Herr General! But... we were going to eliminate the Slovak traitors!
- You've already brought them down. You're talking about Banská Bystrica, aren't you? Their pitiful little attempt is over. All you have to do is clean up the debris with the rest of your troops.
Höfle, unlike many others, is not a man to question orders. The Führerprinzip, all that sort of thing... But he already suspects that under these conditions, this bizarre campaign might not be over tomorrow after all.
Operations Bowery then Emerald - Who tries nothing...
Rohozná airfield (Slovakia), Rome and Washington DC - After the rain comes the good weather, as the saying goes. And like the storks that return in spring, it's busy this morning at the Slovak airfield!
First there is a noria of Soviet Lisonov 2s, duly escorted, which have come to bring another 500 paratroopers from the 211th Brigade - Vasily Glazkov had spent the night insisting on reinforcements... with a vengeance. But next to the twin-engined planes with the red star appear around thirty of their twins: C-47s with a white star. These too are escorted - but not announced.
Obviously, the two air forces have not coordinated at all - an incident between the escort fighters is narrowly avoided, not least because the fighters don't really know who they're escorting... And, in the absence of any air traffic control, Li-2s and C-47s almost collide on several occasions in what is being used as a runway circuit... All the twin-engined aircraft manage to land, but some of them have been circling for a long time while additional parking areas arehastily cleared between the Czechoslovak La-5s, the woods and the wrecks.
And on board the American aircraft, surprise: no boxes of ammunition or stretchers for evacuating the wounded, but two hundred men from the operational groups of the 2677th Regiment OSS. Commandos (in the British sense of the word) who have come to lend a hand. The ‘green’ mission turns into an emerald... Provided you don't try too hard, and adapt to local conditions. One American sergeant explained that he and his platoon even have to unload their equipment alone! But hey, it's war and we're in an exotic country, right?
Obviously, the Soviets are (discreetly) furious at this excess of bad taste. Golian, who clearly understands where all this is leading, makes a mental note not to deploy these two groups in the same place. Let's hope they obey! All the same... For the first time in quite a while, he's beginning to think that he has a chance - a small chance - of not losing his skin in this affair.
A friend in need
Hôtel Matignon, Paris - The French Republic obviously takes little interest in the Slovak uprising. But that doesn't stop the 2nd Bureau from doing its job, in particular by submitting a report on the famous Foch battalion, a few hundred Frenchmen lost in Central Europe, but apparently commanded by a charismatic leader whose brilliant name compensates somewhat for his modest rank: Lieutenant Georges Barazer de Lannurien.
Initially, the plan is to repatriate them. The Armée de l'Air has the means to do so, via Yugoslavia, with method... and a lot of old planes. But there is a problem, which means that today Frère himself calls his minister. Who, after an aghast pause, advises him to speak directly to... "The case should interest him. He should be interested..." sighs Paul-Boncourt.
- So they're refusing to leave?
- Indeed, Monsieur le Président du Conseil [recently, Frère found that it would be obsequious of him to give Mon Général to De Gaulle]. This Barazer de Lannurien is categorical. He speaks of fraternity of arms, loyalty to his comrades in arms... and of a cause worth defending.
- Defended by whom, General? [The President of the Council has not neglected the rules of military politeness...]
- Well, surprisingly, these days, by quite a few people! The enemy fields Germans, regulars and SS, as well as Slovaks. Opposite them, in addition to our Slovaks and a few Czech pilots, there are several hundred Soviets, a handful of British and, it seems, in the last few hours, a few hundred Americans.
- I see... What a stew! But that lieutenant... Barazer... represents the honour of France over there!
- Er... If you like...
Aubert Frère can already sense that the General has another one of his great tricolour ideas.
- But if he's representing France in Slovakia, he'll need stripes to match. Get him to prepare for a captain's licence - he's obviously learned on the job, and it'll look more serious, until something better comes along.
- It'll be done. Hmm... Is there anything else you can do for him and his... unit?
- I think I'll make him take his patent in person. I'll get an old friend to organise something. And then... Oh, don't worry about it, but I'm going to ask Weiss [General Pierre Weiss, commander of the 1st Air Army in the Balkans] if some of his Mustangs can fly from Belgrade to Slovakia...
"He's thought about it," smiles Frère over the phone. He remembered that we have a fighter squadron there and two ground support groups with Czech pilots...
Subdued Hungary
The Russian season
Hungary - Taking advantage of a certain lull in the rainfall during this decidedly wet spring, the VVS launch a series of attacks on all the logistics centers in Hungary. Most of the Red Pumas are held back by escort missions for the Me 210s and the few new Bf 110 G6s of the 103 vadászrepülő-ezred József (colonel Heppes Aladár and major József Kovács), which are trying to support the 1st Hungarian Army (major-general Ferenc K. Farkas). As a result, only 12 aircraft take off from Veszprém to oppose the Reds. Or at least they try to!
In fact, the wind is blowing hard over Vesprém, and more importantly, it is turning without warning! Gusts of wind buffet three of the Bf 109s as they take off, causing them to wallow on the edge of the runway, without any damage to the pilots. The nine remaining aircraft circle the airfield for 55 minutes, waiting for guidance that never comes, before finally landing. Too many targets, no doubt!
Returning state
Storm! - Operation Zuzana
Banská Bystrica (repressed Slovakia), during the day - The German-Slovak forces, now freed from having to attack dispersed along three axes, gather in and around the town - to the great misfortune of the latter! Not only Heer troops, but also those of the Waffen-SS, its auxiliaries, its disciplinary dregs and even its local allies pour into the streets!
In such circumstances and with such units, Obergruppenführer Hermann Höfle cannot seriously claim to be pushing towards Brezno today to put an end to this ridiculous story that had been going on - incredibly! - for two months. However, he has already sent the KG Wittenmayer eastwards, reinforced by mechanised elements of the 178. PanzerGrenadier Tatra (Lt-General Friedrich-Wilhelm von Loeper). They inform him of the presence of a sort of roadblock towards Slovenská Ľupča, manned by a bunch of Slovaks... and French (heaven knows what they are doing there!). Do these opponents have any pride? That'll come tomorrow!
Meanwhile, in Tisovec, August Trabandt's Horst-Wessel team has finished concentrating. In the meantime, one last push and, in a day or two, this whole rotten shack will collapse.
.........
Radvanski Manor (Banská Bystrica), 18:00 - At last, it's going to collapse - that's what Höfle thought until he got a call, not from the Schutzstaffel, alas, but from the OKH. A certain Major-General Horst Freiherr Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels, from the Operations Department. He has just given him an order that is, to say the least, strange... From Guderian, of course, but Höfle - citing parasites on the line - still wants it repeated.
- This instruction is clear and unambiguous, Obergruppenführer, I shouldn't have to repeat it: withdraw the Tatra and Horst-Wessel from operations. They are to be redeployed immediately to the Košice sector.
- Zum Befehl, Herr General! But... we were going to eliminate the Slovak traitors!
- You've already brought them down. You're talking about Banská Bystrica, aren't you? Their pitiful little attempt is over. All you have to do is clean up the debris with the rest of your troops.
Höfle, unlike many others, is not a man to question orders. The Führerprinzip, all that sort of thing... But he already suspects that under these conditions, this bizarre campaign might not be over tomorrow after all.
Operations Bowery then Emerald - Who tries nothing...
Rohozná airfield (Slovakia), Rome and Washington DC - After the rain comes the good weather, as the saying goes. And like the storks that return in spring, it's busy this morning at the Slovak airfield!
First there is a noria of Soviet Lisonov 2s, duly escorted, which have come to bring another 500 paratroopers from the 211th Brigade - Vasily Glazkov had spent the night insisting on reinforcements... with a vengeance. But next to the twin-engined planes with the red star appear around thirty of their twins: C-47s with a white star. These too are escorted - but not announced.
Obviously, the two air forces have not coordinated at all - an incident between the escort fighters is narrowly avoided, not least because the fighters don't really know who they're escorting... And, in the absence of any air traffic control, Li-2s and C-47s almost collide on several occasions in what is being used as a runway circuit... All the twin-engined aircraft manage to land, but some of them have been circling for a long time while additional parking areas arehastily cleared between the Czechoslovak La-5s, the woods and the wrecks.
And on board the American aircraft, surprise: no boxes of ammunition or stretchers for evacuating the wounded, but two hundred men from the operational groups of the 2677th Regiment OSS. Commandos (in the British sense of the word) who have come to lend a hand. The ‘green’ mission turns into an emerald... Provided you don't try too hard, and adapt to local conditions. One American sergeant explained that he and his platoon even have to unload their equipment alone! But hey, it's war and we're in an exotic country, right?
Obviously, the Soviets are (discreetly) furious at this excess of bad taste. Golian, who clearly understands where all this is leading, makes a mental note not to deploy these two groups in the same place. Let's hope they obey! All the same... For the first time in quite a while, he's beginning to think that he has a chance - a small chance - of not losing his skin in this affair.
A friend in need
Hôtel Matignon, Paris - The French Republic obviously takes little interest in the Slovak uprising. But that doesn't stop the 2nd Bureau from doing its job, in particular by submitting a report on the famous Foch battalion, a few hundred Frenchmen lost in Central Europe, but apparently commanded by a charismatic leader whose brilliant name compensates somewhat for his modest rank: Lieutenant Georges Barazer de Lannurien.
Initially, the plan is to repatriate them. The Armée de l'Air has the means to do so, via Yugoslavia, with method... and a lot of old planes. But there is a problem, which means that today Frère himself calls his minister. Who, after an aghast pause, advises him to speak directly to... "The case should interest him. He should be interested..." sighs Paul-Boncourt.
- So they're refusing to leave?
- Indeed, Monsieur le Président du Conseil [recently, Frère found that it would be obsequious of him to give Mon Général to De Gaulle]. This Barazer de Lannurien is categorical. He speaks of fraternity of arms, loyalty to his comrades in arms... and of a cause worth defending.
- Defended by whom, General? [The President of the Council has not neglected the rules of military politeness...]
- Well, surprisingly, these days, by quite a few people! The enemy fields Germans, regulars and SS, as well as Slovaks. Opposite them, in addition to our Slovaks and a few Czech pilots, there are several hundred Soviets, a handful of British and, it seems, in the last few hours, a few hundred Americans.
- I see... What a stew! But that lieutenant... Barazer... represents the honour of France over there!
- Er... If you like...
Aubert Frère can already sense that the General has another one of his great tricolour ideas.
- But if he's representing France in Slovakia, he'll need stripes to match. Get him to prepare for a captain's licence - he's obviously learned on the job, and it'll look more serious, until something better comes along.
- It'll be done. Hmm... Is there anything else you can do for him and his... unit?
- I think I'll make him take his patent in person. I'll get an old friend to organise something. And then... Oh, don't worry about it, but I'm going to ask Weiss [General Pierre Weiss, commander of the 1st Air Army in the Balkans] if some of his Mustangs can fly from Belgrade to Slovakia...
"He's thought about it," smiles Frère over the phone. He remembered that we have a fighter squadron there and two ground support groups with Czech pilots...
Subdued Hungary
The Russian season
Hungary - Taking advantage of a certain lull in the rainfall during this decidedly wet spring, the VVS launch a series of attacks on all the logistics centers in Hungary. Most of the Red Pumas are held back by escort missions for the Me 210s and the few new Bf 110 G6s of the 103 vadászrepülő-ezred József (colonel Heppes Aladár and major József Kovács), which are trying to support the 1st Hungarian Army (major-general Ferenc K. Farkas). As a result, only 12 aircraft take off from Veszprém to oppose the Reds. Or at least they try to!
In fact, the wind is blowing hard over Vesprém, and more importantly, it is turning without warning! Gusts of wind buffet three of the Bf 109s as they take off, causing them to wallow on the edge of the runway, without any damage to the pilots. The nine remaining aircraft circle the airfield for 55 minutes, waiting for guidance that never comes, before finally landing. Too many targets, no doubt!