by Gee, Colin
6th Cavalry had fallen back to Erlangen, 14th Cavalry displacing to Altdorf, east of Nurnberg.
9th US Armored and 9th US Infantry had been withdrawing all night and many of the 9th Infantry’s units were crammed into the defensive perimeter of Nurnberg itself. 9th Armored units were passed on through to reassemble around Ansbach to the south-west. The intention was to make the division available to hit back if possible.
In addition, Ike noted 12th US Armored units moving into a line centring on Bad Windsheim, probably for the same purpose.
16th US Armored had not managed to hold and was totally ineffective, its units split up and without proper leadership, resulting in disorganised but bitter clashes throughout the whole area east of Nurnberg. Some modest resistance seemed to be in place on the main highway but Soviet troops were already through Amberg and fifteen miles further west, having relieved paratroopers dropped the day before to secure the bridges over the Vils, a major tributary of the Donau.
Regensburg was still the scene of bitter fighting as elements of the 99th US Infantry, supported by stragglers from 16th Armored and 102nd Cavalry, strove to hold back the 5th Guards Tank Army driving in from the northeast and a portion of 2nd Shock Army that had sub-divided at Wernberg and was now hammering at the city from the north.
90th US Infantry were under pressure on the Donau line, just holding at Straubling and Deggendorf. 26th US Infantry were still bloodying the Soviet drive at Passau, but at a cost. It had been detected that Vilshofen to the west was undefended and a reduced Regimental Combat Team [RCT] was being quickly switched to defend the river crossings there.
Linz was under immense pressure, with street fighting of great intensity going on all night in the southern suburbs. Units of the 65th and 80th US Infantry divisions were engaged in hard fighting and it was this and the situation south of Linz that meant that the victors of Kefermarkt had to withdraw. More than that, the corps commander was trying to disengage all of the 11th US Armored to act as his reserve, ready to prop up Passau, Linz or Wels if needed, or as everyone thought, when needed.
Steyr had fallen in the night but not without a serious fight with the 80th US Infantry, from which unit the report was that a Soviet Cavalry unit had been bled dry.
In general there had been some night bombing by Soviet aviation regiments but nothing of note, and Mosquito NF30’s from the Amiens based 219 Squadron RAF had had some rare success, getting in amongst some PE-3m night fighters and shooting down ten without loss.
At sea there was bad news and good news, in that another destroyer had been lost as the Royal Navy tried to extricate itself from the trap it had been lured into east of Denmark, and there were reports that a troop transport recently turned back to France had been torpedoed and sunk. That was yet to be firmed up but if true it suggested that loss of life would be great and units expected to be inserted back into the order of battle would not be available. On the plus front, two submarines believed to be Soviet had been prosecuted and sunk off Norway, adding to the one sunk following the attack on the Devonshire.
A Soviet minesweeper that had been on a brief goodwill visit to Gibraltar had been bombed and damaged by coastal command aircraft operating from the same base. The stricken vessel beached itself on Spanish territory and the surviving crew of the T-112 were being interrogated by the Spanish Authorities, themselves no lovers of communism.
Eisenhower took everything in as the briefing was delivered, making a note here and there but not interrupting. After some discussions with his staff, orders were issued for various commands.
To McCreery an update on the general position was attached to a reminder of the need to hold Hamburg and Bremen, as well as a request for information on the availability and intended commitment of the Polish and Canadian units in Holland. There was also a private message for McCreery’s eyes only which was sent by separate fast courier.
His staff was still working with Bradley’s boys to work out where the line could be established so Ike could not advise McCreery further.
Nurnberg was a problem with no easy solution and Ike feared that he would have to turn the city over to the Russians soon to avoid huge losses by being outflanked and cut off. Schweinfurt, Bamberg, and Regensburg were all key and their continued resistance bought time.
Linz was sticking out like a sore thumb now and he kicked himself for not seeing it yesterday, perhaps buoyed a little too much by the excellent defeat inflicted at nearby Kefermarkt. There was danger there and he made sure the Corps commander was aware of the big picture and the risks to his command.
His orders issued, Eisenhower attended to those who waited on further instruction or needed his eyes on a report of importance. Ike took no break except the frequent pause to light a cigarette or the rarer opportunity of a coffee.
One report covered the return of units that had been stood down and were on their way home, now being turned for the fast return trip back to a Europe once again at war.
“Too slow Colonel, too damn slow. I want these units in France given all-priority to get forward. Bring me an update on our calendar as soon as you have it. And I mean all-priority son.”
The Colonel saluted and was on his way before Ike could return the formality.
The report also contained clearer information on the sunken troop transport had been confirmed and it seemed likely that over thirteen hundred experienced US soldiers had been lost to a torpedo attack from an unknown submarine.
A Brigadier General had been waiting, already briefed by Eisenhower to await his signal before presenting his information. The summons came and Eisenhower took his first look at the full brief from the Pacific Theatre of Operations.
Far from being of little interest to him, he noted immediately that it contained some very bad news indeed.
“General, has this had time to reach my army commanders yet?”
A quick check of the watch and the officer confidently replied.
“I doubt it will have reached General Clark yet but General Devers and the British will have it for sure and General Bradley is on his way here directly sir.”
“Thank you John. Make me up a further…” he paused doing the mental arithmetic, “…three and ten copies respectively by 1300 please.”
A salute and the man was gone.
Eisenhower said nothing, reading every word and developing his assessment further.
So absorbed was he that he burnt his fingers on the cigarette he was holding.
Licking the small blisters and then lighting another, he inhaled deeply, reading on and contemplating the implications as he went.
Bradley, looking extremely tired but in a pristine uniform strode in quietly, acknowledging a man here and there.
Ike became aware of his arrival and waved a hand, inviting the General to take the weight off his feet in the comfortable chairs. No orders were needed to ensure coffee appeared for the two.
Bradley was holding his copy of the Pacific report.
Ike gestured angrily with his copy, “You read this then Brad?”
“Yes Sir I have and if that is all true we are worse off than I thought.”
Eisenhower stubbed out his cigarette and started to address the issues raised.
“I haven’t finished it yet but we can do that together. OK, so firstly we have large units of Japs appearing out of the blue at Attu and Kiska in the Aleutians, the submarine base on Guam, the naval anchorage at Ulithi, the airfields on Saipan and many attacks on our forces in Okinawa, some of which are unusual in their nature and giving MacArthur the jitters”
He looked up, brow knotted.
“I wish they would be more specific on that. What do they mean by unusual in nature?”
Bradley shook his head slowly and offered a slight shrug. Ike continued.
“These attacks seem to originate from Soviet merchant and naval vessels on recognised business or goodwill visits. Even looks like some of our own freighters have been used, ones from the supply run into Vladivostok. So
Soviet vessels transported Japanese troops into the heart of our defences and let them run riot. Attu and Kiska seem to be holding but there were many casualties. Eniwetok and Ulithi Atoll have taken big hits. They are not naming names but they seem to have lost at least a carrier, a battleship and two cruisers plus change.”
Eisenhower shook his head, knowing Guam was badly hit and submarines and experienced crews were lost. Big losses in B-29’s as they ran amok all over the airfields on Saipan, as well as losses in air and ground crew. Somehow they attacked Chengdu and did the same to the Chinese based Superforts.”
Eisenhower gestured angrily with the report once more.
“And Okinawa, not so many losses indicated and nothing major but there’s that damn ‘unusual in nature’ again Brad.”
Both men took hold of their coffee and took a moment’s pause before plunging back into the meat of the report.
“Japanese units starting a huge offensive in China, tanks, infantry, the works. Chinese communist divisions moving aside and not resisting them?”
A cigarette appeared and was lit, breaking up Ike’s flow.
“They don’t have those kinds of resources do they? No fuel to speak of, little armour of note.”
Bradley looked straight-faced at his commander.
“You haven’t read Colonel Gould’s submission in the addendum have you Ike?”
Bradley thumbed through the papers and found what he was looking for immediately.
“Permit me to read this. It’s been cleaned up a bit and only has the salient information.”
He cleared his throat and read word for word.
“Report from John F Gould, Lieutenant Colonel. US Army Air Force.
14th US Air Force, China, Attached –. xxx Fighter Group,xxx Fighter Squadron.
I must qualify my report by stating that I was a P47 Thunderbolt pilot engaged in ground attack and interdiction in the ETO from March 44 through February 45.
Whilst on aggressive operations in support of ground troops in the xxx area, xxx Province, China I was directed to conduct ground strafing runs on infantry and tanks attacking friendly positions at xxx.
Casualties were successfully inflicted upon enemy ground troops but the enemy attack was successful as our flight did not possess weapons capable of stopping the enemy tanks.
The armoured vehicles I engaged were definitely German tanks of the Panzer IV and Sturmgeschutz type, and my flight was taken under fire by at least two self-propelled quadruple 20mm weapons mounted on German halftracks acting in close-support.
On return to our base, we encountered enemy aircraft returning from a raid. Lack of ammunition meant we could not engage but these types were positively identified by Major Deng Ho as Petlyakov-2’s in Soviet colours.
Signed,
J.F.Gould
Colonel.
Report ends.”
Eisenhower looked physically shaken and did not speak, all the time looking down at the page in the report that he had found as Bradley started his recital and then followed word by worrying word.
Finally, he composed his thoughts.
“So that put’s the fox in the hen house for sure. Damn Brad. Goddamn.”
Eisenhower tossed the report on the table, exchanging it for his pack of cigarettes and lighter.
Breathing in the calming smoke, he summarised his thoughts.
“The Soviets have this sown up don’t they? Obviously, they have a pact with the Nips who are party to all of this. If they have given the Japanese all the German equipment they have captured, which is what I assume they have done, in one stroke they have eased their own logistics and massively increased the striking power of the Nip army. Want to bet they have lots of other hardware like artillery, anti-tank guns, machine guns, the complete works?”
Bradley had the advantage of reading this report as he journeyed over from his own headquarters but he was pleased his boss was on the same wavelength as himself.”
Eisenhower paused, searching for information hidden in the deep recesses of his overworked mind.
“We have a Soviet document indicating a rough outline of their commitment to the Manchurian offensive somewhere don’t we? If I recall there were extensive forces involved, and I bet they are removed from the ORBAT of their forces in Europe that we are working to at this time.”
This suddenly took a direction Bradley had not gone as yet.
“I think we need to revise our estimates on what forces we are facing Brad. Unless I’m way off, I suspect that the reds have a whole lot more hardware opposing us than first thought.”
Eisenhower stood abruptly, clutching his jaw with one hand and flipping up a cigarette with the other as he continued, a disjointed humming sound coming from his throat, almost as if he was thinking out loud. He seemed to be staring at some distant horizon before humming and staring ceased.
He summoned an aide.
“Captain Horton, find the Soviet briefing document on their Manchurian Operation please. Quickly Captain.”
Turning to Brad, he continued without so much as an intake of breath.
“They will place some forces in the Pacific, to show willing and able to support their new friends, as well as protecting their back door. So figure that about….”
He suddenly became aware he was musing aloud and focussed on Bradley standing beside him.
“….about one-third of the force we expect to be committed there.”
It was not a statement as such, and Bradley quickly did the calculations from his memory of the report and nodded his agreement.
“That is a lot of hardware and manpower that we haven’t allowed for.”
Bradley ventured an idea.
“Assuming that they are not in position because of the risk we might discover them then perhaps this is one which might interest Tedder and the bomber boys? The Reds have gotta move them somehow. Road, rail, whatever, the heavies might be able to keep them at arm’s length if they are in transit and their march routes are vulnerable.”
Eisenhower saw the sense in that and summoned an aide, gave him a verbal order to pass on, knowing he was just wrecking a whole lot of quality work done by Tedder and his staff ,who were creating a plan to govern air operations in the coming days.
“So we also cannot guarantee extra resources coming from the States, nor from the Pacific, as the Nips are suddenly frisky and well-armed.”
Bradley audibly sighed.
“You gotta hand it to them, they have worked this one out well Ike.”
There could be absolutely no disagreeing with that.
“Betcha one thing though.”
Bradley nodded to himself as he searched for a memory and found it.
“There will be an opening, an omission, an error that we can exploit. After all, history shows us that there are no invincible armies.”
Eisenhower’s punctuated laugh stopped many a staff officer in mid-task, wondering what could possibly cause the supreme allied commander to laugh on such a black day.
“And we will find it Brad,” and with a rare display of open emotion Ike slapped Bradley on the shoulder and turned to the first of a line of officers with paper in their hands.
During their conversation in the Secretary-General’s office on the morning of 12th June, Beria had handed Stalin a document detailing ‘DIASPORA- Intentions’ and called his attention to Page seventeen, addendum F.
This addendum detailed the captured German equipment that could be transferred to the Japanese Army for their use against the Chinese initially and subsequently the Pacific Allies.
Throughout the war, the Red Army had captured significant amounts of Wehrmacht hardware of all types and it was these trophies of war that were now in the hands of the Japanese.
It was an impressive list indeed.
Moving such a large quantity of tanks, vehicles, weapons and munitions would normally attract much attention but the few Allied spies who were in a position to observe the narrow gauge trains running to the Far E
ast solely reported numbers of tanks and carriages, not knowing that concealed under tarpaulins were German Tanks not Russian ones. It also suited the Soviet love of Maskirova that the clandestine switch of captured axis equipment could be covered easily as the intended move of the Russian Armies slated for the non-existent Manchurian Offensive.
A subsequent hand-written submission from an NKVD General indicated that the Tiger II B’s, the so-called King Tigers, proved impossible to transport clandestinely and so they were retained in Europe.
Operation Diaspora, the military plan for the Far East, was simple in its conception and beautifully crafted.
Initially no Soviet ground forces would be employed. Sufficient training had been given to the eager Japanese to allow them to fight with their new acquisitions, although most of the vehicles required field modification for no other reason than the difference in size of your average German and your average Japanese.
Whilst the training was rudimentary, it was felt enough to overcome the light vehicles in the possession of the Chinese Nationalist Army under Chiang-Kai-Shek. Battles would increase efficiency and by the time anything substantial from the American arsenal came their way it was expected that the new tankers would be able to cope well enough. Some Soviet ‘observers’ went with Japanese ground units just to provide some guidance on capabilities and use until it was felt they could cope alone.
Vast tonnages of German ammunition had been captured during the four years of the Great Patriotic War and the Russians, being the Russians, had never thrown any of it away. Now most of it was here, stockpiled ready for the attack in China. Large numbers of German weapons were similarly handed over, increasing the firepower of Japanese infantry units tenfold. Sub-machine guns were a rarity in the Emperor’s Army but now they were numerous enough for every senior NCO and many officers to carry one. Tired and cumbersome Nambu machine guns were mainly replaced with tried and trusted MG34’s and 42’s and many riflemen were able to swap their modest Arisaka rifles for the efficient killing machine that was the Kar98K rifle.
