whatisinaname
Donor
This is my second go at this Point of Departure.
Any comments welcome
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Part 1 – A Change of Mind
In the winter of 1942–1943 the Soviets conclusively won the Battle of Stalingrad. One complete German army had been lost, along with about 500,000 Germans and Axis allies, seriously depleting the Axis strength in the east. With an Allied invasion of Europe clearly looming, Hitler realized that an outright defeat of the Soviets before the western Allies arrived had become unlikely, and he decided to force the Soviets to a draw.
In February and March 1943 German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein had completed an offensive during the Third Battle of Kharkov, leaving the front line running roughly from Leningrad in the north to Rostov in the south. In the middle lay a large 200 km wide and 150 km deep Soviet-held salient (bulge) in the lines between German forward positions near Orel in the north, and Manstein's recently captured Kharkov in the south.
Von Manstein presses for a new offensive based on the same successful lines as he had just pursued at Kharkov, when he cut off an overextended Soviet offensive. He suggested tricking the Soviets into attacking in the south against the desperately re-forming 6.Armee, leading them into the Donets Basin in the eastern Ukraine. He would then turn south from Kharkov on the eastern side of the Donets River towards Rostov and trap the entire southern wing of the Red Army against the Sea of Azov.
OKH did not approve von Manstein's plan, and instead turned their attention to the obvious bulge in the lines between Orel and Kharkov. Three whole Soviet armies occupied the ground in and around the salient, and pinching it off would trap almost a fifth of the Red Army's manpower. It would also result in a much straighter and shorter line, and capture the strategically useful railway town of Kursk located on the main north-south railway line running from Rostov to Moscow.
In March the plans crystallized. Walther Model's 9th Armee would attack southwards from Orel while Hoth's 4th Panzer-Armee and Armee-Abteilung "Kempf" under the overall command of Manstein would attack northwards from Kharkov. They planned to meet near Kursk, but if the offensive went well they would have permission to continue forward on their own initiative, with a general plan to create a new line at the Don River far to the east.
Contrary to his recent behaviour, Hitler gave the General Staff considerable control over the planning of the battle. Over the next few weeks, they continued to increase the scope of the forces attached to the front, stripping the entire German line of practically anything remotely useful for deployment in the upcoming battle. Hitler first set the attack for May 4th, but then delayed it until June 12th, and again on the July 4th but on the 4th July Hitler did not order the attack to begin on and on the 9th July Hitler ordered the attack to be cancelled for no apparent reason.
The reasons for Hitler cancelling the attack are unknown, but it proved very timely, for the following two reasons.
1. Allies invaded Sicily on July 10th Operation Husky had started. Hitler ordered reinforcements consisting of the 29th Panzer grenadier Division and the Panzer grenadier Division Großdeutschland along with the XIV Panzer Corps to support the defence of Sicily with more reinforcements to follow as they became available.
2. When Stalin ordered his army’s to attack it was against the German army on the defensive, with a very effective mobile reserve available. The main thrust of the Russian attack was towards Orel in the north and Kharkov in the south.
Stalin though various spies had learned of the planned attack by the German army and the cancelling of the attack on Kursk by Hitler on the 8th July. When the Russian armies attacked they were met by very strong defensive fire from the German defenders. With the new Tiger tanks and the Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant although these tanks were not mechanically reliable when used in the attack but when used defensively they proved decisive in winning the battle of Kursk along with the normal Panzer 4’s and the German still had the advantage of manoeuvre over the Russian army.
When the Russian attack had run out of steam at the end of August 1943, the German army launched a series of probing counter attacks against the Russian line. These attacks proved to be very successful and lead to a full scale counter attack and by the end of September 1943 the German front line had been shortened also the city of Kursk had been captured.
The German army had taken a heavy body blow but had remained in-tacked. Also the German army engineers were able to repair a quite number of their tanks that had been knocked out but not destroyed back into operation thus adding to the German army tank reserve. The German tank losses were 50% and when the front line stabilised the Germans would have a much shorter frontline than at the beginning of the battle this would help create a mobile strategic reserve.
The Russian army having taken 1,550,000 casualties and lost 80% of their armour were forced in to retreat by the German counter attack. The heavy casualties was due to the fact that the armour having out run the infantry got shot to pieces by the German tanks and anti tank defences. So when the infantry did attack it was without armour support and ended up like World War 1 infantry attacks the slaughter of the Russian infantry was horrific.
A very happy Hitler would give Field Marshal Erich von Manstein command of the newly created OB East mirroring Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt OB West. This would prove useful thought 1944 and into 1945.
Down South
The Allies invaded Sicily on July 10 in Operation Husky started. Hitler ordered reinforcements consisting of the 29th Panzer grenadier Division, the Panzer grenadier Division Großdeutschland and the 26th Panzer Division to support the defence of Sicily but these reinforcements would not arrive for some time.
Already on Sicily were the following divisions 15th Panzer grenadier Division and the Herman Goring Division. This would be followed by the 1st Panzer Division that was refitting in northern Italy on the German Italian boarder, along with the 29th Panzergrenadier Division and the Panzergrenadier Division Großdeutschland would become part of the XIV Panzer Corps en route from the east.
The fighting for Sicily would see the British and American forces have the upper hand, and by the end of July the German and Italian defenders had retreated, forming a large arc from Lentini in the south though Valguarnera and up to San Stefano in the north of the island.
By the time the defensive line had been formed at the end of August the reinforcements had arrived. The plan was to attack with the XIV Panzer Corps between the British and American forces and cut them in two. To draw off as much of the American forces as possible a dummy attack would be launched pretending to try and take back the town of Caltanissetta with the 15th Panzergrenadier Division and the 26th Panzer Division.
The attack was a success and the British forces were forced to evacuate the island followed by the Americans, as their southern flank was totally gone. Even with overwhelming air power the Allies knew that is was now a matter of time before further German reinforcements would arrive after the Germans success at Kursk. It was thought that these troops could be better used for the invasion of France which was due to happen in 1944.
By the end of 1943 the Southern front was stable, with Kursk captured and Sicily secure and Italy still in the war on the German’s side.
After moping up operations the XIV Panzer Corps with the 1st Panzer Division along with the 29th Panzer grenadier Division and the Panzer grenadier Division Großdeutschland would be withdrawn to the south of France for rest and refitting in early 1944.
The remaining divisions would remain in Italy to provide security and to make sure that the Italians did not surrender.
To be continued......
Next – Part 2 – Interlude
Any comments welcome
-----------------------------
Part 1 – A Change of Mind
In the winter of 1942–1943 the Soviets conclusively won the Battle of Stalingrad. One complete German army had been lost, along with about 500,000 Germans and Axis allies, seriously depleting the Axis strength in the east. With an Allied invasion of Europe clearly looming, Hitler realized that an outright defeat of the Soviets before the western Allies arrived had become unlikely, and he decided to force the Soviets to a draw.
In February and March 1943 German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein had completed an offensive during the Third Battle of Kharkov, leaving the front line running roughly from Leningrad in the north to Rostov in the south. In the middle lay a large 200 km wide and 150 km deep Soviet-held salient (bulge) in the lines between German forward positions near Orel in the north, and Manstein's recently captured Kharkov in the south.
Von Manstein presses for a new offensive based on the same successful lines as he had just pursued at Kharkov, when he cut off an overextended Soviet offensive. He suggested tricking the Soviets into attacking in the south against the desperately re-forming 6.Armee, leading them into the Donets Basin in the eastern Ukraine. He would then turn south from Kharkov on the eastern side of the Donets River towards Rostov and trap the entire southern wing of the Red Army against the Sea of Azov.
OKH did not approve von Manstein's plan, and instead turned their attention to the obvious bulge in the lines between Orel and Kharkov. Three whole Soviet armies occupied the ground in and around the salient, and pinching it off would trap almost a fifth of the Red Army's manpower. It would also result in a much straighter and shorter line, and capture the strategically useful railway town of Kursk located on the main north-south railway line running from Rostov to Moscow.
In March the plans crystallized. Walther Model's 9th Armee would attack southwards from Orel while Hoth's 4th Panzer-Armee and Armee-Abteilung "Kempf" under the overall command of Manstein would attack northwards from Kharkov. They planned to meet near Kursk, but if the offensive went well they would have permission to continue forward on their own initiative, with a general plan to create a new line at the Don River far to the east.
Contrary to his recent behaviour, Hitler gave the General Staff considerable control over the planning of the battle. Over the next few weeks, they continued to increase the scope of the forces attached to the front, stripping the entire German line of practically anything remotely useful for deployment in the upcoming battle. Hitler first set the attack for May 4th, but then delayed it until June 12th, and again on the July 4th but on the 4th July Hitler did not order the attack to begin on and on the 9th July Hitler ordered the attack to be cancelled for no apparent reason.
The reasons for Hitler cancelling the attack are unknown, but it proved very timely, for the following two reasons.
1. Allies invaded Sicily on July 10th Operation Husky had started. Hitler ordered reinforcements consisting of the 29th Panzer grenadier Division and the Panzer grenadier Division Großdeutschland along with the XIV Panzer Corps to support the defence of Sicily with more reinforcements to follow as they became available.
2. When Stalin ordered his army’s to attack it was against the German army on the defensive, with a very effective mobile reserve available. The main thrust of the Russian attack was towards Orel in the north and Kharkov in the south.
Stalin though various spies had learned of the planned attack by the German army and the cancelling of the attack on Kursk by Hitler on the 8th July. When the Russian armies attacked they were met by very strong defensive fire from the German defenders. With the new Tiger tanks and the Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant although these tanks were not mechanically reliable when used in the attack but when used defensively they proved decisive in winning the battle of Kursk along with the normal Panzer 4’s and the German still had the advantage of manoeuvre over the Russian army.
When the Russian attack had run out of steam at the end of August 1943, the German army launched a series of probing counter attacks against the Russian line. These attacks proved to be very successful and lead to a full scale counter attack and by the end of September 1943 the German front line had been shortened also the city of Kursk had been captured.
The German army had taken a heavy body blow but had remained in-tacked. Also the German army engineers were able to repair a quite number of their tanks that had been knocked out but not destroyed back into operation thus adding to the German army tank reserve. The German tank losses were 50% and when the front line stabilised the Germans would have a much shorter frontline than at the beginning of the battle this would help create a mobile strategic reserve.
The Russian army having taken 1,550,000 casualties and lost 80% of their armour were forced in to retreat by the German counter attack. The heavy casualties was due to the fact that the armour having out run the infantry got shot to pieces by the German tanks and anti tank defences. So when the infantry did attack it was without armour support and ended up like World War 1 infantry attacks the slaughter of the Russian infantry was horrific.
A very happy Hitler would give Field Marshal Erich von Manstein command of the newly created OB East mirroring Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt OB West. This would prove useful thought 1944 and into 1945.
Down South
The Allies invaded Sicily on July 10 in Operation Husky started. Hitler ordered reinforcements consisting of the 29th Panzer grenadier Division, the Panzer grenadier Division Großdeutschland and the 26th Panzer Division to support the defence of Sicily but these reinforcements would not arrive for some time.
Already on Sicily were the following divisions 15th Panzer grenadier Division and the Herman Goring Division. This would be followed by the 1st Panzer Division that was refitting in northern Italy on the German Italian boarder, along with the 29th Panzergrenadier Division and the Panzergrenadier Division Großdeutschland would become part of the XIV Panzer Corps en route from the east.
The fighting for Sicily would see the British and American forces have the upper hand, and by the end of July the German and Italian defenders had retreated, forming a large arc from Lentini in the south though Valguarnera and up to San Stefano in the north of the island.
By the time the defensive line had been formed at the end of August the reinforcements had arrived. The plan was to attack with the XIV Panzer Corps between the British and American forces and cut them in two. To draw off as much of the American forces as possible a dummy attack would be launched pretending to try and take back the town of Caltanissetta with the 15th Panzergrenadier Division and the 26th Panzer Division.
The attack was a success and the British forces were forced to evacuate the island followed by the Americans, as their southern flank was totally gone. Even with overwhelming air power the Allies knew that is was now a matter of time before further German reinforcements would arrive after the Germans success at Kursk. It was thought that these troops could be better used for the invasion of France which was due to happen in 1944.
By the end of 1943 the Southern front was stable, with Kursk captured and Sicily secure and Italy still in the war on the German’s side.
After moping up operations the XIV Panzer Corps with the 1st Panzer Division along with the 29th Panzer grenadier Division and the Panzer grenadier Division Großdeutschland would be withdrawn to the south of France for rest and refitting in early 1944.
The remaining divisions would remain in Italy to provide security and to make sure that the Italians did not surrender.
To be continued......
Next – Part 2 – Interlude