Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (71 page)

The
Soviet
s were taking big chunks out of the front line and the Allies were falling back in front of them, his Generals doing a difficult job in difficult circumstances, and doing it extremely well.

Eisenhower held off calling some of his senior men, leaving them to do their job uninterrupted.

He opened his second pack of the day and inhaled the smoke, watching as a small problem became a huge problem and red arrows spread like a virus towards the
Ruhr
.

By the time he lit another cigarette the situation was clear; awful
,
but crystal clear.

He suddenly became aware of an USAAF Lieutenant holding out a handset to him.

“General Bradley, Sir. It’s urgent.”

Of that
,
Eisenhower had little doubt.

After a brief outline of the situation, reinforcing the visual image conjured up by the map in front of him, Eisenhower sought
answers to Bradley’s problems
, and found none
without pain.

With some reluctance, Eisenhower announced his decision
.

“OK G
eneral. I get the picture and I understand your choices, limited as they are.”

Ike scribbled an order as he spoke, relaying the contents to a worried Bradley.

“I am ordering the 18th Airborne Corps to be placed under your command. Use them wisely
,
Brad
,
and try and give them back to me intact. I will scare up some more assets to help plug the gap but I
agree.
N
ow is the time for Guderian and our German allies to take some strain.”

He signed the document and dotted the signature so forcefully as to penetrate the paper and mark the exquisite walnut table top.

“I will contact both Guderian and Ridgeway,” he thought quickly, “And in that order too, telling them to take their orders from you. Anything else you need from me
,
Brad?”

A few staff officers had gravitated towards Eisenhower, understanding that there was about to be a burst of activity.

Eisenhower laughed a laugh that held no amusement whatsoever.

“Miracles are not within my purview I’m afraid, Brad.
One moment.
”

Eisenhower held out his hand
to receive a report he had been waiting on
. Swiftly reading it
, Ike nodded
in satisfaction.

Placing it on the table, Eisenhower refocused on the 12th’s Commanding General.

“I will certainly tell Air to prio
ritis
e you for now, but there is a lot going on
,
Brad.”

Obviously Bradley wanted to get about his business, now he had some extra assets to play with.

“OK Brad, you do that. I will tell both to contact you immediately. Get your boys in line safely
,
General.”

He looked at his watch, his face betraying a modest calculation.

“Sure thing, Brad.
Now, get it done. Good luck
,
General.”

The written order was given up to be typed, and another two were quickly issued.

Two telephone calls were made.

Eisenhower was never quite sure why it was, but his dealings with the Germans often made him feel inferior.

‘Maybe that’s part of it?’

In this instance,
it may have been
because Guderian had expected such an order
,
and had started to make some adjustments to his forces already.

By the time he put the phone down on Ridgeway, the map threw up another problem.

Stuttgart
was surrounded.

“Get me
General Devers
on the horn
,
please.”

             
Knocke and Lavalle were sat discussing a delicate problem when they were interrupted by an insistent knocking on the door.

Both men
were handed seperate
message
s
,
and both men were long enough in the tooth to know what
they were before they read them
.

Dismissing the messenger, Knocke pulled out a map, angling it so that Lavalle could examine it with him.

The two worked in silence, making the calculations, imagining the move and all the pitfalls it held.

Finally, Lavalle
moved back, pouring two Perrier
s
,
and passing one to his Brigade Commander.

“Santé, Ernst.”

Knocke acknowledged the toast and took a sip before putting his glass down.

“Distance of about
ninety
kilometres to the present line, one hundred to break through?”

Lavalle concurred.

“Will they hold
,
Sir?”

“The Algerians are a tough bunch
,
Ernst. They will hold.”

The order had given specific instructions on what was expected of them once they got to the
Stuttgart
area
,
but little of substance on how to get there
,
and what assistance they might expect.

“Right then, Ernst.
Take the
two
ready
units of
‘
Alma
’
under your command
,
and get
your
Brigade ready to move as soon as possible. I will organise some support and get the information we will need.”

Lavalle took another look at the map, examining a rough route pencilled in by Knocke.

“That seems appropriate, but I think the bridges at
Pforzheim
are down?”

Without the merest hint of superiority
,
Knocke shook his head briefly.

“Back up yesterday
,
Sir
. T
wo bridges
, both
capable of bearing my Panzers.”

And without the merest hint of offence, Lavalle acknowledged the information.

‘Well, he is the best, isn’t he?’

“How long
,
Ernst?”

Taking a look at his watch and another sip of water, Knocke did a swift calculation.

“I can have Camerone rolling within the hour, Sir.”

             
At 192
5 hrs
,
the first units of ‘Camerone’ moved out of their laager and through the small town of
Malsch
, heading to the sound of guns
,
and the relief of
Stuttgart
.

On a man to man basis, the German ground soldier consistently inflicted casualties at about a 50 per cent higher rate than they incurred from the opposing British, Canadian and American troops
under all circumstances
. This was true when they were attacking and when they were defending, when they had local numerical superiority and when, as
was
usually the case, they were outnumbered, when they had air superiority and when they did not, when they won and when they lost.

Colonel Trevor Nevitt Dupuy, US Army.

             
The movement had been swift and uneventful, save for the incredulous
looks from
local
s,
drawn to the passage of German tanks through their village or town.

‘Camerone’
,
and its additions from ‘
Alma
’
,
had arrived in darkness and efficiently secreted themselves, completing the task just as the first rays of the new day made themselves known.

The commander of the Stuttgart Garrison had made his plans
for the breakout,
and these had been relayed to the relief force.

Thankfully the man knew his job and there was nothing to criticise in his proposition.

All call-signs, fire free zones
,
and routes of advance were thoroughly briefed
,
and that left the task of the tactical break-in battle to the skills of Ernst-August Knocke and his commanders.

The mission had changed, from one of
relief to evacuation
,
but it had come as no surprise
,
and made no difference to the Legion dispositions.

Lavalle had secured standing air protection for the battleground to keep
Soviet
Shturmoviks at bay
,
and even some ground-attack assets to suppress the
Soviet
artillery.

To their front lay the small town of
Dagersheim
, the centre of the escape route planned by the French General commanding the 3rd Algerian Division
. Not just the Algerians, it was now known,
as a
plethora of smaller units had withdrawn into the city as the
Soviet
pressure built.

The Algerians, supported by some American armour
,
would strike
towards
Sindlefingen at 090
0 hrs
, with a view to opening up the main road out
,
and expanding
the hole
sideways as much as possible.

Once that was achieved, the
Algerians
would fold inwards, funnelling their soldiers out of
Stuttgart
to the relative safety of allied lines.

Some would stay behind, volunteers or pressed men, in order to cover their
comrades’
departure.

‘Camerone’ had merely to advance two miles and smash the outer ring of the encirclement, widening the hole to the
north
-west and south-east as much as possible
,
whilst
ensuring that the flanks were held against any efforts to reseal the pocket.

Considering that the unit had been hastily put together
,
it was superbly equipped and well supplied.

Although Knocke was hugely responsible for that, the abilities of his officers and Lavalle had greatly contributed to the efficiency that had
been
quickly developed and maintained.

Inside the Rathaus on Hauptstrasse, a final assessment was being made, based on yesterday’s aerial reconnaissance photos.

Cigarette smoke hung lifelessly in the air, despite the huge hole in the wall beside the large table, a product of a near-miss in some American barrage the previous April.

On the
reconnaissance
photos there seemed to be a few tanks in an area of interest.

“I can only agree
, Rolf;
where there are four there are probably more. None the less,
it seems
we will face mainly infantry and anti-tank guns.”

The Germans were used to doing things on the hoof and with little reconnaissance and were not fazed by the
likelihood
of surprises.

Fig #48
- Relief of
Stuttgart