The last ride of the axis an alternate 1942 timeline

[cardcarrier]

Hello ah.com,

This will be my second attempt at submitting a timeline to the forum. I learned a great deal from the constructive criticism that was given by the community and have done much reading over the last few months to try and develop this

General background and markers:
This timeline will begin in and around 5/24/42, with all other war efforts and force dispositions occurring as we are familiar with up to that point.
This is a mid war axis military timeline; it is categorically not an axis "victory" timeline

Areas covered:
An alternate operation venice and aida in north africa
Knock on effects creating alternate scenarios for case blue and the 1st battle of Rhzev
general economy of forces available for the last ride of the axis

Areas not covered:
The pacific
specific naval matters/battles

The state of the board 3rd week of May 1942

North Africa:
Rommel's forces had the best supply situation they had experienced in Africa to date, this stemmed from a variety of factors including but not limited to:

1. The Luftwaffe and Reggia Aeronautica had launched over 10,000 sorties against malta during the spring, destroying nearly all the fuel supply on the island and forcing significant food rationing (malta was only 1/3 food self sufficient in this era and depended on cargo ships to bring food to sustain the civilian population and the garrison); it was remarked by general Kesselring that they had run out of targets to bomb on malta at this point
2. Bengahzi port which had been extensively sabotaged the previous year during the British retreat from operation sunflower, had been largely repaired
3. The axis was making some clandestine use of Vichy ports in Tunisia (this was of mixed blessing because while Tunis and Bizertte could ease some of the port congestion, it involved considerable fuel burn and time to bring supplies forward from there)
4. The British Alexandria fleet had lost the use of Valiant and Queen Elizabeth following frogmen mine attacks in late 1941 which left them in a difficult position to challenge the Regia Marina; The British navy at this time faced extreme stress/demand on it's units not only in the North African theater, but also in the battle of the atlantic, and the red hot war in the pacific

Rommel's forces where due to go on the offensive 5/26 in his proposed operation Venice; this battle was a significant axis victory where they enjoyed the following advantages (which may be mentioned in passing in the timeline but are all original timeline incidents)

1. Tactical and strategic surprise (Rommel had received orders for his offensive to begin in August which had been deciphered by project ultra and passed on to Cairo GHQ), however Rommel in this battle as he frequently did throughout the North African campaign did not act in accordance with orders from Rome and Berlin. General Ritchie and Auchinlek's HQ believed the intel they had been given up to this date and where preparing their own offensive which they planned to launch prior to what they expected Rommel's jump off to be
2. Complacent to non existent recon by the desert air force (which only had 1 aircraft up the day the offensive started) which lost track of Rommel's mobile divisions at the outset of the battle and failed to warn rear area units of axis ground advances
3. Poor radio discipline by British and commonwealth forces which allowed Rommel's 621st radio intercept company to locate headquarters units and obtain other valuable battlefield intelligence
4. Abwehr and MIS penetration of the American Code Black system being utilized by the American Attache to Cairo HQ Colonel Bonner Fellers. Bonner Fellers had been granted "full access" as part of an agreement between the US and the British, and his messages where passed to Rommel's mailbox which gave him extensive knowledge of British dispositions and counter attack plans as they developed in the battle which he abused heavily
5. The British and common wealth formations where largely new/raw formations as their veteran divisions had either been withdrawn to the middle east to rebuild after operation crusader or transferred to the Pacific
6. The British defensive plan was a poorly thought out series of static defensive boxes which where not mutually supporting, and the troops did not have standing orders/contingency plans of what to do in the event of axis troops surrounding their boxes from the rear other than to await relief by armor
7. The main 8th army supply dumps at El Adem and Gambut including corps headquarters where poorly screened against a bold thrust from the south, this included the main desert air force landing grounds supporting the army in Libya
8. Significant stockpiles of axis munitions had been captured by the 8th army during operation Crusader in December 1941 in the El Adem area, the 8th army did not burn these in the 6 months they held the area, and per point 7 they where poorly screened from the south and offered axis mobile formations the opportunity to live off the land deep in the British rear if they could fight their way to El Adem
9. London on the heels of bad news from the Pacific was prone to interfere with the Army's handling of the battle and had limited confidence in Neil Ritchie and the 8th army staff and would be likely to interfere in their handling of the battle

Eastern Front:
By selecting our point of departure as the 3rd week in May we are joining the tail ends of several major battles
Generals Kliest and Paulus are in the process of locking their death grip on army group Timoshenko in the Donbas in the 2nd battle of Kharkiv in which the Soviet army would lose 300,000 men and much army equipment (including thousands of army vehicles)
General Manstein was nearing the end of operation buzzard hunt which was the final nail in the series of disasterous Soviet offensives at Kerch which had cost their army over 500,000 men. This was going on with the final ground work being laid to end the siege of sevastopol which would cost the Russian army an additional 120,000 soldiers
Further north Army Group's center and North had conducted much line straitening and built extensive defensive lines during the spring, and had finished relieving several pockets, notably at Demyansk the previous several weeks
The calamity of Kharkiv and Kerch zapped nearly all immediately available Soviet military power in the south, leaving them vulnerable to the long planned operation blue which had the objectives of taking Stalingrad on the Volga River and capturing the oil producing regions of the Caucuses; both of which where incredible operational distances from the main axis supply nodes that had been carefully built up over the winter

Balance of forces: As we know 50+ divisions were tasked to participate in case blue, the Panzer Army Africa (abbreviated as PAA for the balance of the timeline) had 10 active divisions (7 italian 3 german (1 Italian division forming at Tripoli))) reserves where scarce as the crisis of the heavy defeats in the Soviet winter counter offensive and the need to rebuild the PAA and Army Group South forces for their planned offensives stripped the pantry bare. Although new divisions such as the Herman Goering tank division where under construction and high quality divisions like 6th panzer division, 1st ss division and other formations where being rebuilt they would not be ready for operations until the late fall. The only formations readily available who where not on garrison duty where those forces earmarked for the near ready to launch and cancelled at the last minute operation Herkules which included specialist airborne/marine units specialist armor and half a dozen infantry divisions with limited mobility.

I look forward to sharing this with the forum and your feedback - CC

 

[cardcarrier]

Chapter 1.0

5-24-42 23:59 hrs STAVKA military HQ Moscow, Soviet Union, Reporting back to American President Roosevelt and Joint Chiefs of Staff; Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Michela senior USA army military attache to the Soviet Union CC: Ambassador Standly

Urgent update and personal observations

On Kerch front fighting even by hold out pockets has now ended, Axis divisions completely control Kerch!
Total losses are enormous, our on hand observer captain Nimmer who was successfully able to evacuate out on the sea lift estimates 200,000 casualties since May 5th alone of which upwards of 75 percent might be prisoners
Captain Nimmer estimates total Soviet losses in the Kerch front since the start of the new year as greater than 500,000 men
German 11th army forces are seen redeploying their infantry, artillery and airpower assets towards sevastopol now that they have secured Kerch front
Kerch front has demonstrated numerous deficiencies since the start of the new year namely grave command difficulties/impasses between the Stavka, local ground forces commanders and Premier Stalin's office leading to conflicting and poorly prepared operations.
Divisions at Kerch front requesting authorization to retreat at varied times throughout the battle where not given those permissions until it was too late, and often they where sent into "counter attacks" which where ordered with little understanding of the tactical situation, namely the constant exposure to overwhelming axis airpower and massed artillery
Soviet air and shipping losses in the black sea support the kerch front are very heavy, much of the defeat there is owed to the high sortie tempo generate by the german air force not only above the fortress itself, but dominating the sealanes to sink the resupply and troop ships
The Kharkov front nearing it's final death throws!
Premier Stlain's previous rejection of General Vasilevsky's requests to withdraw the exposed spearheads have now come home to roost along with the refusal to dispatch additional reserves to stiffen army group Timoshenko
Our local observer Lieutenant Ott advises Timoshenko's army has already lost over 900 armored vehicles and great quantities of military equipment, mostly to air attacks or overzealous charges into german anti tank artillery gun lines
Lieutenant Ott advises several additional German divisions of their 6th army are rapidly moving up and all the bridges over the Donets have been destroyed by the German air force
Lieutenant Ott advises that all forces opposite Kharkov will be fully encircled by the 6th an 1st german tank army as early as this evening, and with their overpowering control of the air, escape even in small groups will be extraordinarily difficult
Lieutenant Ott advises that due to heavy interdiction of supply lines by the German air force that supplies of ammunition, food and fuel are extremely low in the penned in divisions of Timoshenko's army group
This battle along with showing many of the same command problems noted at Kerch has shown that some of Russia's hastily raised conscript armies are not up to the task of mobile offensive warfare, loss of vital equipment in these operations continues to be staggering
The Stavka and the front generals, including Timoshenko gravely underestimating the number of available German mobile tank divisions facing their southwest fronts
The Stavka and the front generals, including Timoshenko gravely underestimated the sortie tempo of the German air force and their ability to operate under heavy air attack
German ground forces from their II corps are confirmed to have made contact with their besieged divisions at Kholm and Demyansk, unfortunately as with the southern fronts these operations to attempt to finish off 8 German divisions lead to very heavy losses for the Russian army, exposed in the open high sun to the German air force, but on the plus side they claim over 200 German transport aircraft shot down in these operations
German forces of their 9th army might be preparing for a counter attack in the Rhzev area
It is possible or even likely that once the 6th and 1st tank armies complete the Kharkov operation that they will be freed up to march north with the 9th army for a decisive push on Moscow for their summer campaign, especially with large parts of Soviet army manpower melting away the last month
All hands in the Stavka and in premier Stalin's office are a serious mixture of anger and despair today
It is more than fair to say, and this should be passed on to our other attaches and our allies that the 1st German tank army has come down on the Ukraine like a hammer on a pane of glass.
Colonel Faymonville refuses to answer my questions about how much lend lease equipment is being consumed in these operations, he refuses the same questions from the ambassador
Colonel Faymonville refuses to answer my questions about the lack of training Russian units are receiving on western supplied equipment, which begs a question if it is going to be lost so readily on the battlefield at such little loss to the axis would it not be better in the hands of American divisions or our other allies or should different equipment be sent
Colonel Faymonville simply puts his head down accept the Stavkas equipment requests without question and shovels our factory's fruit into the fire without taking an ounce of responsibility as to it's deployment
It is shaping up to be a very difficult campaign season in Russia this summer

end transmission

 

[cardcarrier]

Chapter 1.1

5-24-42 23:59 hrs Panzer Army Africa Command Post Bengahzi Libya GeneralOberst Erwin Rommel Commander PAA, Oberst Siegfried Westphal chief of operations, Hauptman Alfred Seebohme commander 621st radio intercept company, major general Aziz commander 101st motorized infantry division "Trieste"

General Rommel was conducting once of his final briefings in advance of his planned offensive against Neil Ritchie's 8th army. His 3 German and 6 of his Italian divisions gradually moved into their assembly areas at Tmimi and Bir Halegh where they would conduct phase one of his operation Venice. Phase one would be Rommel's "feint to the north" which would involve his mobile divisions driving in circles opposite the 50th British division and the 1st South African divisions at Gazala, augmented by 2 dozen trucks which had aircraft engines mounted on the rear beds which would kick up great clouds of dust to make the British believe he was assembling great quantities of armor for an assault;

The 3 mobile German divisions and the Ariette tank division would then disappear to the south covered by darkness for his "bold right hook: where they would sweep around the entirety of Ritchie's Gazala line and drive deep in the British vitals. The PAA was so far enjoying operational surprise as this was confirmed by air observations, radio intercepts organized and deciphered by Seebohme's platoons, and Rommel's "good source" Colonel Bonner Fellers the US senios attache to Cairo GHQ. None of them reported any heightened alertness, if anything they didnt expect Rommel to attack until the end of the summer, where they where planning to launch their own pre-emptive offensive. Rommel had other ideas and was committed to beat them to the punch. His intelligence sources had confirmed confirmed via multiple layers that the main 8th army supply depots and air support bases where located at El Adem and Gambut with most British armor either directly in reserve behind Gazala or east of Tobruk, and these where the schwerpunkt of the offensive. Rommel intended for the 90th light division under Generaleutant Kleeman to lead a lightening drive towards El Adem supported by the 15th panzer division, after El Adem was secured 90th light would then continue on to the coast at Gambut with the objective of seizing the main desert air force landing fields, and the 8th army rail head

General Rommel saw this plan as being able to replicate the successful German attack on France of which he had been a key part in the spring of 1940. The DAK's push to the rear would be covered by a frontal attack from the 5 Italian infantry divisions against the northern half of the Gazala line, which it was hoped would pin the British infantry and some of their armor to their defensive positions. Rommel then hoped to defeat the isolated British armor to the east before turning back to defeat the Gazala troops in detail

Progress with a last minute change to his battle plan was why General Aziz was at his headquarters now. The 621st had caught radio messages from a lost British supply convoy going to a positions which they had not previously identified at Bir Hachim, high altitude air recon and subsequent unintended leaks by Bonner fellers had confirmed that this area was held by the 1st French brigade under general Konig. This position was a critical to the success of Rommel's "bold right hook" because it controlled an intersection of most of the roads/trails towards the British rear areas and laterally behind their defensive lines, the possession of which would allow Rommel's plan to come to fruition. This position appeared heavily defended by artillery, block houses, anti tank guns and extensive minefields. For the last several nights the Ariette division, which had based itself around the small village of tengeder and was moving up silently guide by the stars to gradually remove mines, scout routes of advance and locate targets for artillery and airstrikes. General Rommel had worked out with general westphal (kesselring's chief of staff, no relation) for a maximum first light effort to be made by the luftwaffe against the fortress area on the morning of the 26th which would coincide with Ariettes attack. Additionally the 21st panzer division would take a shorter right hook to attack the French from the rear before moving on to support the 15th and 90th deeper in the british rear operational areas

The security of the DAK's supply lines and communications with the rest of the panzer army depended on quickly overwhelming Bir Hakiem at the outset of the battle, Rommel was confident that if he could gorge on British supplies at El Adem with clear lines to the rear, that he would be able to maintain the initiative throughout the battle.

It had been a difficult journey to this point for Rommel and the axis armies. In the middle stages of operation Crusader Rommel's army had lost incredible amounts of equipment and good infantry in a series of poorly executed maneuvers against the 8th army, that forced him to withdraw back to El Agehlia where his campaign had originally begun in the spring of 1941, Ritchie in turned had vastly overextended himself trying to chase Rommel (whilst the DAK had received an emergency shipment of 55 replacement tanks) and in turn was crushed in a counterattack which once again drove the 8th army back east of Bengahzi, where both sides had been digging in for the last 3 months. Rommel's superior, field marshal Kesselring had personally seen the sorry state of the DAK's supply network and army and had ordered his II fleigerkorps along with considerable Italian air force assets to suppress Malta into near starvation conditions, including rendering its airfields unusable and driving the Force K naval force; this in turn had largely opened the supply lines to Tripoli and Bengahzi, with air support in effect more than 90 percent of Rommel's supply ships where getting through and his army was able to be rebuilt back to 90k men.

Kesselring however didn't agree with launching venice this early, instead he had agitated for his planned operation Herkules where axis troops would be landed on Malta to establish to remove the bone from army's through. Troops had been trained for months, the Italian navy and air force drilled hard to support the mission, German and Italian airborne regiments had been put on alert.

A year earlier Rommel believed wholeheartedly in such an operation, and agitated for it repeatedly and even offered to command the landing troops himself to try and clear his supply lines, now on the basis of intelligence and his own personal observations he had come out as decidedly against the operation, because British aircraft from Eastern Libya and Egypt where now and would even more so in the future be able to bomb his ships in Tripoli and Bengahzi harbor from bases they already had, without needing to have air units on Malta. With this knowledge General Rommel was convinced that the only path to success for the DAK lay in pushing the 8th army out of Libya and ultimately out of Egypt and capturing more North African ports to feed the army; Rommel hoped that by defeating the 8th army and moving his umbrella of air superiority east that he could make his supply ports more viable in his rear, but in knowing that the united states had entered the war, and the difficulties in front of the army in Russia despite it's apparent success in it's spring counter attacks, he knew this was his last chance; this would be the last ride of the axis

 

[cardcarrier]

Chapter 2.0

05-26-42 23:59 hrs British 8th army and Middle East HQ Cairo Egypt Reporting back to American President Roosevelt and Joint Chiefs of Staff; Colonel Bonner Fellers, American military attache to MEGHQ

The Panzer Army Africa has gone over to the offensive!
This offensive comes as a complete surprise to GHQ because their intelligence organs had reported Rommel was not going to resume his offensive until August at the earliest
Ground forces report very large tank columns assembling opposite Gazala
Troops at Gazala report artillery bombardments and dive bomber strikes and probes by shock infantry platoons
Troops at Gazala report powerful sand storms along no mans land
Troops at Gazala report large numbers of axis aircraft overhead
Desert airforce reports extensive raids against their fields
Powerful artillery barrages reported at Bir Hacheim
Hundreds of air strikes reported at Bir Hachiem
Contact lost with 1st French Brigade HQ at Bir Hacheim
Contact lost with 3rd Indian motorized brigade HQ south of Bir Hakiem
Ritchie ordering northern armored reserves to move closer to Gazala to stiffen British and South African infantry
Ritchie ordering southern armored reserves to standby for orders once Rommel's main line of advance is located
Many 8th army formations where in middle of long rest/refit/retrain period in anticipation of their own prepared August offensive, so some marshaling time to make them ready for battle may be needed
Many 8th army formations are being lead by new commanders and will be tested against Rommel's desert veterans for the first time in this battle
Formations all along the line report heavy axis air attack and slow desert air force response
Desert air force staff officers advise more rigorous air effort will be put up at first light including recon flights to locate Rommel's columns to direct eventual counter attacks
Privately one staffer told me they only had one recon aircraft up today which was shot down
Ritchie's staff especially the chief of staff general Smith want to aggressively counter attack Rommel' s armor in the open once it can be fixed

Urgent 2nd update!
Contact not restored with 1st French Brigade, 22nd armored sending recon platoons to investigate
Contact not restored with 3rd Indian Brigade, 22nd armored sending recon platoons to investigate
some 8th army staffers believe the the luftwaffe has some how located a number of their radio relay stations in the desert and knocked them out, disrupting 8th army communications
Contract lost with 7th armored headquarters in southern reserve.
Inconsistent wild reports of axis armor at Gazala
Inconsistent wild reports of axis armor at Bir Hacheim
Inconsistent wild report of axis armor and motorized infantry by the 4th tank brigade deep in rear areas
Ritchie due to loss of some contacts and uncertainty of the above defers ordering his his armor to move; he orders all infantry on gazala line to hold positions
There is considerable bickering among the staff as to how Rommel's offensive preparations where missed, blame is passed all around including to intelligence services back in London
Heavy sand storms reported west of Sidi Muftah
Heavy sand storms reported south of Sidi Muftah
High axis aircraft activity reported throughout the western desert
Desert airforce promises 250 sorties tomorrow
Axis aircraft from Crete bombing Alexandria and Suez tonight
Major Oswald will go forward some GHQ officers to Tobruk tomorrow get figure out where to get direct eyes on Rommel's attack the 8th army's counters


end transmission

 

[gallen95]

Chapter 2.0

05-26-42 23:59 hrs British 8th army and Middle East HQ Cairo Egypt Reporting back to American President Roosevelt and Joint Chiefs of Staff; Colonel Bonner Fellers, American military attache to MEGHQ

The Panzer Army Africa has gone over to the offensive!
This offensive comes as a complete surprise to GHQ because their intelligence organs had reported Rommel was not going to resume his offensive until August at the earliest
Ground forces report very large tank columns assembling opposite Gazala
Troops at Gazala report artillery bombardments and dive bomber strikes and probes by shock infantry platoons
Troops at Gazala report powerful sand storms along no mans land
Troops at Gazala report large numbers of axis aircraft overhead
Desert airforce reports extensive raids against their fields
Powerful artillery barrages reported at Bir Hacheim
Hundreds of air strikes reported at Bir Hachiem
Contact lost with 1st French Brigade HQ at Bir Hacheim
Contact lost with 3rd Indian motorized brigade HQ south of Bir Hakiem
Ritchie ordering northern armored reserves to move closer to Gazala to stiffen British and South African infantry
Ritchie ordering southern armored reserves to standby for orders once Rommel's main line of advance is located
Many 8th army formations where in middle of long rest/refit/retrain period in anticipation of their own prepared August offensive, so some marshaling time to make them ready for battle may be needed
Many 8th army formations are being lead by new commanders and will be tested against Rommel's desert veterans for the first time in this battle
Formations all along the line report heavy axis air attack and slow desert air force response
Desert air force staff officers advise more rigorous air effort will be put up at first light including recon flights to locate Rommel's columns to direct eventual counter attacks
Privately one staffer told me they only had one recon aircraft up today which was shot down
Ritchie's staff especially the chief of staff general Smith want to aggressively counter attack Rommel' s armor in the open once it can be fixed

Urgent 2nd update!
Contact not restored with 1st French Brigade, 22nd armored sending recon platoons to investigate
Contact not restored with 3rd Indian Brigade, 22nd armored sending recon platoons to investigate
some 8th army staffers believe the the luftwaffe has some how located a number of their radio relay stations in the desert and knocked them out, disrupting 8th army communications
Contract lost with 7th armored headquarters in southern reserve.
Inconsistent wild reports of axis armor at Gazala
Inconsistent wild reports of axis armor at Bir Hacheim
Inconsistent wild report of axis armor and motorized infantry by the 4th tank brigade deep in rear areas
Ritchie due to loss of some contacts and uncertainty of the above defers ordering his his armor to move; he orders all infantry on gazala line to hold positions
There is considerable bickering among the staff as to how Rommel's offensive preparations where missed, blame is passed all around including to intelligence services back in London
Heavy sand storms reported west of Sidi Muftah
Heavy sand storms reported south of Sidi Muftah
High axis aircraft activity reported throughout the western desert
Desert airforce promises 250 sorties tomorrow
Axis aircraft from Crete bombing Alexandria and Suez tonight
Major Oswald will go forward some GHQ officers to Tobruk tomorrow get figure out where to get direct eyes on Rommel's attack the 8th army's counters


end transmission

Keep going, enjoying.

 

[cardcarrier]

Chapter 3..0

05-27-42 23:59 Panzer Army Africa Command Post 8 miles north east of Bir Hacheim Libya GeneralOberst Erwin Rommel Commander PAA, Oberst Siegfried Westphal chief of operations, Hauptman Alfred Seebohme commander 621st radio intercept company,

Rommel even 30 years deep into his military career had never stopped loving catching the enemy by surprise, the only thing that had changed had been the scale.

The Trieste division had silently swept paths in the defensive minefields around Bir Hacheim the previous several nights, and the French and 8th army attention had been drawn by his frontal assaults against the divisions at Gazala, and the many circles of his armor in front of them. Trieste had stayed hidden in the south and backed by over 650 luftwaffe/regia aeronautica strikes had rolled through their swept paths with attached assault guns and other self propelled artillery pieces well forward. The airstrikes had been extensively planned in advance utilizing Hauptman Seebohm's direction finding assets which lead to successful direct strikes against the Brigade and several subordinate battalion headquarters which killed General Konig and much of his command staff, the subsequent confusion and suppression by the airforce had allowed the Trieste to penetrate deep into the box, isolate many strong points and compel the French troops to surrender.

Parallel to this the Ariette division had driven further south over night, bypassing Bir Hacheim and the minefields and caught the encampment of the 3rd Indian motorized brigade asleep and destroyed them in concentric attacks driving a few terrified survivors fleeing to the east. The Ariette had captured the brigade headquarters in tact, securing numerous secret documents including minefield maps which where rapidly disceminated in the PAA. The 21st panzer division with Rommel and Seebohme's headquarters riding at their head had also pushed south, bypassing the mine fields and then executed their planned rapid left curl to bring the 1st French Brigade under fire from the rear. General Aziz's headquarters which was already making powerful progress against the defensive box relayed coordinates to the panzer troopers which allowed the Italians and Germans to encircle the surprised strong points, break them with direct fire/air strikes and keep pushing on to the heart of the box. By the middle of the day, the box had been destroyed and the axis commanded all the road and trail intersections in the area and where reorienting their next line of advance to the north and east

15th panzer had advanced further east of the Ariette and had surprised many forward elements of the 4th British army tank brigade, capturing many tanks which the crews had left behind to collect breakfast and morning tea. They where now continuing their driving to the east mostly bypassing the weakened 4th brigade

90th light had enjoyed the best success so far, they had driven far to the east and south, with their half tracks making best speed, and aided by light aircraft and one of Seebohme's direction finding platoons had over-run the 7th armored divisions headquarters, capturing it's commanding general and numerous maps of the 8th army's defensive positions; general Kleeman then gave the division the spurs when he realized there was nothing between the British 30th corps headquarters and his mechanized infantry. The 90th lights fast moving battalions surged north east capturing William Strafer Gott's headquarter whilst it was in the middle of limbering up and burning documents; 10 miles further on the XIII corps headquarters narrowly missed also being scooped up by Kleeman's infantry as they heard the frantic cries for help from Gott's HQ as it was overrun but in turn left in such a hurry that they failed to burn the army supplies at El Adem. And it was here that Kleeman had largely achieved 1 of Rommel's main battle objectives for the western desert. The airfield was quickly overrun by 90th light's armored cars which destroyed 45 machines on the ground, and the 8th army supply dumps were captured; representing 3/8ths of the 8th army's supplies for it's planned offensive, even more shocking to the Generaleutant where intact huge stockpiles of axis munitions which had been left behind in December and where now available to restock his cartridge pouches and ammo racks along with the rest of the DAK once they could reach this area or be visited by Kleeman's quartermaster platoons. His booty for the day already included 8 captured generals and there was still more on the horizon

Despite marching for nearly 48 hours strait the 90th light, refueled courtesy of the British empire and with bellies full of 8th army rations was relieved at El Adem late in the day by the 15th panzer division's panzer regiment which had maneuvered itself in Kleeman's wake spurred on by his directions and the slow reaction/disorganization of the 4th tank brigade. Kleeman's recon platoons whilst awaiting relief had ventured some distances from El Adem and destroyed numerous 8th army radio relay stations and had found there were only isolated British supply columns between them and the sea. The 90th light set out again after dinner racing at top speed to the north east, with the loss of the radio networks and the capture of XXX corps headquarters sowing mass confusion in the 8th army's rear areas, and by 9pm the most advanced elements of the 90th light reached the 8th army's main rail head and supply depots at Gambut, for the second time in 12 hours Kleeman's armored cars caught numerous aircraft on the ground destroying them with rapid 20mm fire, effectively destroying the desert air force command and control in the western desert and capturing 60,000 gallons of aviation fuel. Kleeman's shutzen regiment captured numerous rear area supply officers when it bombarded and over-ran the 8th army rail head, seizing the remaining 5/8ths of the 8th army's offensive supplies, and the recon battalion pushed on past midnight, reaching the sea; cutting the via balbia; in effect cuttiing off resupply to all 8th army formations at Tobruk and Gazala. Kleemans troops collapsed in their vehicles and his feet felt heavy in his sand covered boots, but he had indeed done it; he was Guderian at Abbeville in near exactly the same position 2 years before the question was, would the British get away this time?


Author's notes:
All divisions north of Bir Hacheim and the feint to the north including the use of sand storm trucks are historical
Luftwaffe superiority of the outset of the battle is historical
Large scale surprise by the DAK and extensive knowledge of British dispositions is historical
Over-run of the 7th armored HQ is historical
Failure of the XXX corps to evacuate is fiction, they ran away from Kleeman in OTL and missed being scooped up by about an hour
XIII successful evacuation is historical
XIII failure to burn supplies including left over axis supplies is historical
Ariette's maneuvers and defeat of the 3rd Indian brigade is historical
Capture of minefield maps and other secret documents is mostly historical
The entire attack against Bir Hacheim here is fiction created in the ATL where the Axis have become aware of it's location, extensively scouted it and worked out a sophisticated surprise attack on the fortress which destroyed its command and control and rolls up the box; Trieste is not "lost in the desert" for the first 48 hours of the battle as it was historically; 21st panzer instead of it's historical fast drive on the 22nd armored brigade instead loops it's forces further west to help Trieste break the box whilst the 8th army was still reeling from the surprise of the attack, where distracted by the attacks in the north and didn't know where the DAK was; this maneuver lets the two divisions and the airforce overrun the box and open up all the roads in the south
With Bir Hacheim broken and his supply lines in the south usable, Rommel doesn't order 15th panzer division and 90th light division to stop and instead they continue with the original operational plan which has the 15th panzer relieve the 90th light at El Adem and allow 90th light to drive into the 8th army's heart at Gambut and seize the railhead
Historically with a slower rate of advance the 90th light destroyed numerous aircraft on the ground at El Adem and Gambut
Historically there was nothing but isolated LOC troopers between 90th light and gambut/the sea when they captured El Adem, the railhead was ~2 hours march time from 90th lights El Adem hedgehog position and the sea was 3 hours away
Rommel's encirclement is utter tissue paper, far more than France 1940; but 8th army CCC is devastatingly impacted including large scale loss of communications, capture of senior officers and loss of the supply net; as well there was no coherent 8th army plan of what to do in the event of being cut off by DAK fast columns let alone having them seize all of the army main supply depots and capture all their commanding generals

 

[Gudestein]

Fantastic to have this back in a new form. I really enjoyed Rommels luck the first time.
Two questions:
1: Is there any POD in the Soviet Union so far?
2: How can it be you are back. I thought you got banned (on something that in my opinion could be a misunderstanding)?

 

[cardcarrier]

Fantastic to have this back in a new form. I really enjoyed Rommels luck the first time.
Two questions:
1: Is there any POD in the Soviet Union so far?
2: How can it be you are back. I thought you got banned (on something that in my opinion could be a misunderstanding)?

Re: Russia
Kerch is otl
2nd battle of kharkov is otl
Relief of demyansk and kulm is otl
Repositioning of 11th army to finish Sevastopol is otl

Michelas description of the 1st panzer army coming down on the Ukraine like a hammer on glass is a historical quote and michela and faymonville are the historical figures attached to the stavka and had an extremely antagonistic relationship. There will be points of departure/fictions arising from their roles and relationship

I will use Michela as the primary story telling character on the eastern front. North Africa will be split as story telling between fellers and Rommels hq

You won’t really see much departure from otl on the eastern front until the middle of June. During the time period of now until then much of them we have the historical siege of Sevastopol and the deception operations in the 9th army’s sector to make the stavka believe the decisive effort would be made on the Moscow axis and not in the south…. Rommels alternate history advances in Egypt which you are probably familiar with from my previous attempt will trigger a reevaluation of efforts on the eastern front prior to the blau 1 offensive at which point you will see a significantly different case blue

I apologized to the moderators for the mis understanding and my atrociously worded items at the time and apologize for the implication that they gave which I never intended

 

[cortz#9]

Welcome back.
Will be following this.

 

[Gudestein]

Indeed, welcome back. I’ll be following. I like the new POD.

 

[cardcarrier]

Chapter 3.1

05-28-42 23:59 hrs British 8th army and Middle East HQ Cairo Egypt Reporting back to American President Roosevelt and Joint Chiefs of Staff; Colonel Bonner Fellers, American military attache to MEGHQ

Urgent update:

The 8th army is in a serious battle crisis in the western desert!
The desert airforce was finally able to locate most of Rommels divisions today
Desert airforce staff officers report massive disruption to their basing structures and supplies of fuel, bombs, ammunition and long range drop tanks with the axis capture of Gambut and El Adem fields
Desert airforce staff officers report numerous pilots, ground crews and essential staff killed captured or wounded when the DAK over-ran their primary fields
Desert airforce staff officers report significant degradation of their operational capabilities and sortie rates due to the loss of the main landing fields, especially in the skies furthest to the west of the 8th army's battle zones
Yesterday was black Wednesday for the 8th army according to all GHQ staffers
Our best estimate estimate of events so far is that Rommel large assemblies of armor and storming of the positions at Gazala was a ruse covered by a powerful sand storm; and that under the cover of sand and darkness his mobile striking elements slipped away far to the south bypassing General Ritchie's defensive minefields, where they then conducted powerful attacks backed by much of their army artillery and airforce against the French brigade at Bir Hacheim and against other forces and overwhelmed them
This opened up much of the road/trail network in the southern part of the western desert and allowed the DAK to march their battle groups on to the 8th army supply networks and capture them, and to overrun and capture many headquarters units, and to destroy significant parts of the 8th army's communications network
8th army staffers rate comms system north of Bir Hacheim as 65 percent in tact
8th army staffers rate comms system south of Bir Hacheim as 10 percent in tact
8th army staffers privately tell major hillaire that the desert airforce lost 50 percent of it's tactical effectiveness above tobruk and 80 percent of it's effectiveness above Gazala
8th army staffers advise loss of Gambut removes ability to fly in emergency supplies to Malta
Communiques from London practically smoke with questions as to how the army left Gambut and El Adem poorly screened and implored Ritchie to counter attack with his great material superiority which lead to the black Wednesday events
Communications with 7th armoreds surviving companies was patchy yesterday but they where ordered to assemble in best/fastest order and counter attack German concentrations at El Adem, unfortunately due to loss of many of their headquarters and the loss of the desert airforce's bases, the division was subjected to many air strikes in the open and counter attacked by the 15th panzer division whilst it was still forming and appear to have taken heavy losses
Ritchie's 22nd and 2nd armored brigades were ordered to counter attack Rommel's concentrations at Bir Hacheim whilst leaving the balance of his brigades to backstop his divisions still under assault in the north in the words of major Oswald who observed these attacks having moved up from Tobruk
"The brigades were committed piecemeal once at a time with little artillery support and constantly harassed and monitored by Rommel's aircraft and lost heavily to Rommel's gun lines where they could be located and there heavily counter attacked by German tanks in their weakened state. Many squadrons of both brigades where completely wiped out and made little dent in Rommels "front line" and worst of all Rommel was able to use the Bir Hacheim minefields to canalize the counter attacks into killing zones which very much allowed him to husband his forces" The divisions with Ritchie's permission withdrew back towards Knightsbridge to reform and drop off their wounded, which leaves Rommel in possession of much of the lateral lines behind the 1st and 50th divisions although the knights bridge box should shield from any aggressive moves he makes to the north
Ritchie plans to reorganize his defeated tank regiments tomorrow and work out a new plan of attack to drive Rommel off his supply lines
Ritchie requests freedom of action from London to utilize the 2nd SA division at Tobruk to dislodge axis troops at Gambut, this is denied, London demands that Tobruk and Gazala not be unmasked
Auchinlek and his chief of Staff Smith advocate for pulling the remaining battalions of the 1st armored back for a concentrated attack against El Adem or Gambut, but there are issues with this, as they are far from these areas, having moved into the defensive box areas on Monday, and with Rommel straddled on the supply lines moving the divisions, exposed to his air superiority in this sector of the front may leave them weakened to fight the DAK and subject to heavy defeat without ability to restock fuel or munitions; these concerns also weigh heavily on Ritchie in regards to having another go at the DAK around Bir Hacheim
Ritchie has asked the GHQ staff to prepare a staff study under the plan tentatively named "freeborne" which would call for all his divisions north of Bir Hacheim to rapidly withdraw east out of the encirclement along the via balbia and withdraw to the Egyptian frontier, taking the Tobruk garrison with them; where they might be able to re-establish air parity again
Although Ritchie has lost many tanks in the actions of the last several days we still assess him as being at parity with Rommel in armor and having more infantry, his primary issues are the exposure to the axis air forces at Gazala and his inability to restock munitions and inability to maintain clear chain of command with his divisions as the axis dive bombers and armored cars are specifically targeting the radio relays the 8th army depends on to operate in the western desert
London has not been briefed on freeborn yet
Oswald advises that Richie just wants it as a contingency for now and is hopeful the army will regain it's balance and restore its supply lines in the next 48 hours and might be able to cut off some of Rommel's regiments far in the south and force them to surrender

end transmission

 

[cardcarrier]

Chapter 4.0

5-29-42 23:59 hrs STAVKA military HQ Moscow, Soviet Union, Reporting back to American President Roosevelt and Joint Chiefs of Staff; Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Michela senior USA army military attache to the Soviet Union CC: Ambassador Standly

Urgent update and personal observations:

Captain Nimmer has relocated to general Petrov's group in the Sevastopol fortress
Captain Nimmer advises numerous German airgroups have reoriented themselves from the fighting at Kharkov and Kerch, and are becoming more active above and around the Sevastopol fortress
The Stavka has been desperate to keep the fortress for several reasons including protecting the fleet anchorages for their black sea squadron being overrun by axis ground troopers, protecting their valuable mineral/petroleum producing regions screened from german ground troops, and using it as a spring board for counter offensives against the axis southern army group
Unfortunately the axis airforces already have superiority over the fortress areas and are pushing that advantage, sinking many ships and destroying much war materials that are attempted to be landed at night
Captain Nimmer also advises that a small axis squadron of coastal submarines and fast attack torpedo boats have become active in the area and are threatening the communications to the fortress
Captain Nimmer advises there are approximately 135k men in the fortress which he regards as very vulnerable to additional axis encirclement movements as we have seen throughout the spring
Captain Nimmer spoke with a VVS recon pilot who advised that the German 11th army is assembling a vast armada of heavy railroad artillery to smash the fortress
He also advises numerous companies of German armored vehicles are being deployed to the area, and that several divisions of their infantry have been deployed from their victorious drive on Kerch
If the fortress where to be defeated this would eliminate all Soviet forces west of the Don river in the southern theater and largely render the Romanian oil fields safe from air raids by the VVS
If the fortress where to be defeated and the Germans simply screened the Kerch strait against reintroduction of Soviet troops that as many as 8 German divisions along with many air squadrons and their siege train would be freed up for further operations in the summer and fall campaign seasons
Parallel to the great struggles the Soviets are facing in the south, both our own and their intelligence organs have been picking up disturbing signs of a major German offensive towards the capital, staged primarly by their 9th army and 2nd panzer army in the Rhzev area. Soviet interrogation officers and recon troops have picked up orders issued to the panzer divisions for them to prepare for an attack towards Moscow
The Stavka and our own sources agree that this is where the main German effort will be, now that they have defeated all available Soviet mobile reserves in the Ukraine
Now that Army Group Timoshenko has been destroyed the German 4th and 1st panzer armies are available to drive on the capital from the south during the summer and try to destroy the main rail networks that feed all the fronts, this could cause all level of war disaster upon Russia if they are successful
Colonel Faymonville is shoveling the fruit of America's factories into rebuilding Soviet divisions in the north to counter these moves, it is the opinion of the attache office and the ambassador's office that these great efforts of the American worker continue to be poorly deployed and even more poorly supervised, and we advocate for bringing the lead lease office under the supervision of the ambassadors office and also for the relief of Colonel Faymonville who if not incompetent might be compromised by the Soviets in some way either via his lifestyle choices or political persuasions, it is urgent that the lend lease not be squandered so gravely in the future
Premier Stalin is relieving some members of the Stavka and some army commanders in response to the heavy failures in the south, especially with the envelopment of army group Timoshenko, which conveniently leaves out the Stavka and Premier Stalin's refusal to let the Army withdraw when their flanks became threatened
The Soviet civilian population is being put hard to work to dig trenches and anti tank ditches along the main possible routes of advance to the capital from the south
It will take several months for fresh reserves to be built up, and if the failures of the spring are not to be repeated they must be far better trained than the last set that were put on the attack

end transmissions

 

[Aber]

Chapter 4.0

5-29-42 23:59 hrs STAVKA military HQ Moscow, Soviet Union, Reporting back to American President Roosevelt and Joint Chiefs of Staff; Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Michela senior USA army military attache to the Soviet Union CC: Ambassador Standly

Urgent update and personal observations:

I don't think that the Allies ever had this level of detail from the Soviet Union, except possibly Martel.

 

[cardcarrier]

Chapter 5

05-30-42 23:59 hrs British 8th army and Middle East HQ Cairo Egypt Reporting back to American President Roosevelt and Joint Chiefs of Staff; Colonel Bonner Fellers, American military attache to MEGHQ

Urgent update and personal observations:

Due to chaotic battle situation briefings are disjointed and off schedule, will report back to chain of command 2-3 times per day as necessary or ordered
Previous desert airforce estimates as to their ability to recover from DAK battalions overrunning the constellation of airfields around Gambut and El Adem where gravely overoptimistic
GHQ and desert air force staffers privately confide that the axis has had near total air supremacy west of Tobruk since the outset of the fighting, this has had severe effects on General Ritchie's divisions, especially those forming up for counterattacks against the DAK
General Axis superiority is letting low flying German aircraft locate 8th army battalions and subject them to escorted dive bomber attacks, especially on their softer skin supplied echalons
GHQ staffers are frantically trying to assess how much of the 8th army's fuel reserves Rommel might have captured when taking the rail heads and collapsing rear areas
GHQ staffers are trying to assess their current CCC losses which we ourselves estimate to be extensive; XIII corps leadership is gone, many brigade and division headquarters have been specifically targets or either raids by fast mechanized groups or pin point air strikes, this has been coupled with extensive axis attacks against the radio relay network of the 8th army in the western desert. GHQ reports near total loss of comms with all units south and east of Bir Hakeim, and less than 15 percent effective communication with troops along the coastal road
Counter attacks against El Adem and Bir Hakeim, when they where able to launched at all report heavy defeat at the hands of prepared axis anti tank fronts and their airforce
Italian line divisions have also pierced the Gazala minefields in and around Sidi Muftah and isolated the 150th brigade from the defeated battlegroups which have withdrawn to Knightsbridge
The 8th army has largely lost contact with the DAK on the southern trails and paths after their withdrawls, but there are reports of significant German armored columns headed to the east
GHQ staffers believe Rommel will leave the troops along the coastal road to "wither on the vine" since he is in possession of the supply system and is in the process of repeating his "dash to the wire" where he will drive with his mobile divisions to the frontier to threaten Egypt
Fuel and ammunition supplies along the coastal road are precious and perilous due to Rommel's capture of the rail head and the ability of the divisions to safely withdraw for Ritchie's operation freeborn is not certain, especially in the armored divisions
Ritchie has asked London for permission to utilize the Gazala garrison to relieve the Sidi Muftah garrison and for the Tobruk garrison to counter attack the German spearheads at Gambut and Belhamed to re-establish a supply corridor back to Egypt; London has not made a decision yet, but their previous orders where emphatic that Gazala and Toburk where not permitted to be unmasked or abandoned
Royal navy staffers have privately and openly stated that seaborne resupply Tobruk in the manner of the 1941 siege is not possible and that all vessels are either committed or under repair
Royal navy staffers are privately telling our staff that the 8th army is defeated and needs to withdraw to the Egyptian frontier to reestablish air parity and their supply networks
The above in our opinion puts us into agreement with general Ritchie and the Navy that operation Freeborn should be immediately authorized and that all efforts should be made to extract the army and as much equipment as possible out of Rommel's bag
There are wild reports and estimates of remaining British armor north of Bir Hakeim, Major Oswald is preparing our own middle case estimate in lieu of getting trustworthy answers based on his visits to the front and comparison to lend lease receipts
In Oswald's opinion and per some whispers from GHQ staffers only the 32nd tank brigade is still in fighting order but they are the farthest from Rommel's spears rushing to the border and have been cut off from all resupply for 4 days, it may be a fair assessment that they might only be able to fight one battle with the state of supply as it is without experiencing the same crisis as their sister formations in the south
Auchinlek and smith are agitating for the 32nd to break the hold on the 150th brigade after the battalions at knights bridge reform from their repulses and hopefully have them bolstered by the troops at Gazala if London will release them for mobile operations and then for them to withdraw in freeborne
GHQ is privately reviewing if Rommel might have captured valuable military secret documents when smashing HQ units and the army rail head
A GHQ staffer privately advised me that a full load of the army's June payroll cash was on hand at Belhamed for distribution which may have been scooped up by Rommel's armored cars
There is great consternation in the GHQ about how Rommel was able to get at the throat of so many headquarters units and slip into the rear undetected so easily, it is clear to us that his sources of air ground signals and other intelligence have clearly been underestimated as was his total combat strength and ability to return to the offensive
A GHQ staffer privately told me that the penetrations at Sidi Mufta are not only a dagger at the army's belly, but confirm to him that Rommel captured maps of the minefields and is systematically avoiding them or penetrating them in weak sectors for indirect advances to the rear to decapitate the brigades
That same staffer tells me in his opinion Rommel has taken 15,000 prisoners and knocked out 450 tanks, and that Rommel either has parity or slight superiority in tanks in the western desert; he also discloses that are very significant numbers of wounded troops pulled back into the knightsbridge box, and with the Germans sitting on the supply nodes there are few options to evacuate them
There are wild unconfirmed reports of Tobruk being shelled
There are wild unconfirmed reports of German armor roaming the perimeter at Tobruk
There are wild unconfirmed reports of uboats landing supplies over the beach to the axis east of Tobruk
There are wild unconfirmed reports of massive numbers of German squadrons transferring into Gambut including air portable infantry from the mainland or Crete
If Rommel's airforce is indeed going to be active at Gambut this makes operation Julius planned for 2-3 weeks from now vastly more risky as not only could his squadrons attack the alexandria element, but they could also home in the Italian fleet to seek decisive battle with the convoy which under the circumstances of the Royal Navy's available assets would probably be defeated
Failure to execute Julius could have dire effects on the civilian population and military garrison which is already near the end of their rope on rationed food stuff and on miniscule supplies of fuel and other military necessities
In our staff's personal opinion the British armored corps has demonstrated little ability to coordinate their arms, and the armored attacks have had little artillery support and been widely separated from their infantry with the loss of so much of their command network any further counter attacks, except possibly to retrieve their 150th brigade if that might be possible are putting more of their troops in harms way. Our staff feels freeborne should start tonight taking everything out of gazala and tobruk that there is fuel for and burning the rest
GHQ staffers are privately furious at Ritchie and Smith for the debacle of unburned axis supplies at El Adem
GHQ staffers are privately furious at Ritchie and Smith for the lack of standing orders to the mobile troops and the infantry garrisons as to what to do in the event of loss of comms with high command or German troops cutting them off
There are wild unconfirmed reports of axis armor at Sidra and Elsash ridges north and west of the 150th brigade which is as at odds with their known hedgehog positions elsewhere and Rommel's presumed dash to the wire
I have tried asking numerous staffers and general smith if Knightsbridge box could survive a direct assault with it's large numbers of wounded and beaten battalions, no one has a true answer
I have tried asking numerous staffers and general smith if they expect 150th brigade to be assaulted and if it can survive an assault which caused much heated argument and led to my removal from the room although I could hear shouting about the 150th having already consumed much of it's artillery ammunitions against columns racing to the rear south of them
Ritchie Smith and Auchinlek have been on duty 48 consecutive hours and it is pushing strain on the sharpness of their nerves
Auchinlek is calling up his reserves of tanks from depots in Egypt towards the frontier; what formation(s) and how they might be fed into is still wildly uncertain
Auchinlek is demanding greater efforts from the desert airforce to shield the army in it's counter attacks and it's possible ultimate withdrawl
Desert air force staffers chafe hardly at this orders and fume that the army didn't protect their main landing fields and headquarters from axis ground assaults
Desert air force staffers respond that because of the loss of much of their fuel/bombs/drop tanks/spares/ammnitions and significant numbers of pilots and machines on the ground that they are at an insolvable disadvantage in the western desert; they advise only one of their machines, the American supplied Kittyhawk has sufficient range, with drop tanks to fly from fields at the frontier and engage in short combat above Tobruk, and even within that they advise that the fighting is consuming drop tanks too quickly, and putting too much stress on the long range fighter pilots; they advocate strongly for the army to pull back and give them time to reorganize
Auchinlek has requested emergency shipments of drop tanks via London and to me to press on the lend lease coordination officers
Questions of how many more days can the air force operate above Tobruk at even moderate capacity are met with silence
Questions of how soon until they can operate west of Tobruk (where most of the army is) are met with a stonewall of silence which buttresses our opinion that the army needs to withdraw
Some of the high stress and calamity in the GHQ is permeating the entire riverfront in Cairo, Auchinlek tries to remind staffers that Rommel may have ears in town to keep up professionalism
The next 48 hours will be life and death critical to the 8th army's position in Libya

end transmission

 

[ivanotter]

where did this one die? it is a new way of looking at it.

 

[Gudestein]

where did this one die? it is a new way of looking at it.

Lets hope it isnt dead. I really liked version 1 and the POD is working a bit better now.

 

[cardcarrier]

Chapter 6

06-02-42 23:59 hrs British 8th army and Middle East HQ Cairo Egypt Reporting back to American President Roosevelt and Joint Chiefs of Staff; Colonel Bonner Fellers, American military attache to MEGHQ

Urgent update and personal observations:

Briefings are off schedule or being missed entirely due to chaotic battle situation, will report back to USA COC 2-3 times per day as necessary or ordered
Rommel's armored cars and dive bombers have continued to destroy the 8th army's communications network in the western desert
Comms efficiency south of Bir Hacheim less than 10 percent
Comms efficiency north of Bir Hacheim except Gazala and Tobruk less than 10 percent
Loss of most of the radio relay network and many headquarters units severely limits General Ritchie's ability to manage his divisions
Inability to maintain steady communication with ground forces, requires more efforts to be made of desert air force recon aircraft to give general Ritchie a clear vision of the battlefield, but these flights are difficult to obtain due to loss of main landing ground in Libya and stiff Luftwaffe opposition; this had lead to frequent loss of contact with Rommels divisions, especially at night
Lieutenant Colonel Oswald reports back from his visit to the front that repeated attacks on dug in axis gun lines on Elsash ridge involved running a gauntlet of Rommel's escorted dive bombers before being roughly handled by his cannons. This lead to all attempts to relieve the trapped brigade at Sidi Muftah failing
GHQ analysis of Rommel's intention and the location of his striking power proved gravely incorrect HE DID NOT REPEAT HIS DASH TO THE WIRE!
Following the failure of the attacks on Elsash Ridge Rommel's armor counter attacked the weakened brigades and rolled up the knightsbridge defensive box
A GHQ staffer privately told me that the 8th army has lost at least 27,000 men since the start of Rommel's attack and at least 600 tanks
That same staffer says that the 150th brigade is too low on ammunition to break through the Italian divisions ringed around it, who have seemed content to just bombard them instead of storming the box to date
Oswald and I are now of the opinion the 150th brigade is lost and British forces on either side of it are too weak to relieve them, and all the attacks that tried proved poorly coordinated and disastrous
Oswald and I are now of the opinion that Rommel will not wait to starve out the 150th box, but will instead storm the box to free up those Italian divisions so they can displace north to attack the balance of Ritchie's boxes belonging to the Northumbrian division and the 1st south african division and try to cut off Gazala
Wild inconsistent reports of numerous axis aircraft rebasing themselves at Gambut
Wild inconsistent reports of Rommel receiving reinforcements not picked up by intelligence
Wild inconsistent reports of axis tank columns all along the Tobruk perimeter (Oswald and I continue to be incredulous towards reports of Rommel's armor reaching the via balbia anywhere other than Belhamed)
Wild reports of Tobruk being shelled and bombed
Wild reports of axis ships operating off and east of Tobruk
Wild reports of "hundreds" of axis tanks at Arcoma!
Ritchie has emphatically requested London release troops at Gazala to execute operation freeborne
Ritchie has emphatically requested London allow Tobruk garrison be released for potential evacuation or at least to clear axis troops out of Belhamed and restore access to the coastal road and the military railroad back to the frontier
Royal Navy staffers continue to advise that resupply of Tobruk in the manner of 1941 is impossible due to lack of resources
Desert air force and Royal Navy staffers largely endorse freeborn and privately confide the army is defeated and troops along the coastal road are in significant danger
Our own staff feels that if the reports of Rommel's tank divisions reaching arcoma are true that this represents a mortal threat to the entire 8th army position along the Gazala line, and that freeborne should be executed immediately and that London is not clear on the gravity of the situation
Our own staff feels that Ritchie is in error thinking he can clear off axis troops at Belhamed with the Tobruk garrison; this consists primarily of the 2nd south african division, which is a raw untested division which we have not previously rated highly and it is not currently known how much strength Rommel has in the area and there are unconfirmed reports of him receiving unknown reinforcements
South african staffers had heated exchanges with general smith when the reports of Rommel reaching Arcoma came in! They shouted that these reports are accurate and that several of their headquarters stations have been attacked and that they want Auchinlek to authorize freeborne on his own authority
A south african staffer told me privately that Rommel being in strength at Arcoma means he could defeat their 1st division in detail due to it's exposed positions at Gazala and then turn on the 2nd division at Tobruk
GHQ staffers have multiple conflicting estimates of their own remaining armor to the north and west of Arcoma
GHQ staffers have multiple conflicting estimates of their own remaining armor in the former corps HQ areas around El Adem
GHQ staffers have multiple conflicting estimates of remaining fuel and ammunition in the armored squadrons that are still battleworthy throughout the western desert
GHQ staffers are shocked by reports of axis recons in force against the Tobruk perimeter whilst they know of the heavy fighting having been ongoing at Knightsbridge
Desert airforce promises of continued or renewed sortie rates especially west of Tobruk have proven unreliable and are no small reason for Rommel's apparent battlefield victory
GHQ staffers are now fairly certain that Rommel has captured many secret military documents when he overran brigade HQ's and has complete knowledge of the Gazala minefields and the road network
GHQ staffers privately have told me that Rommel has captured much of the 8th army fuel reserves in tact including much aviation fuel
GHQ staffers privately have told me that Rommel has captured a number of active duty and reserve truck companies in rear areas and many tanks in running order
GHQ staffers privately tell me that Rommels armored cars have proceeded along the military railroad and the via balbia from Gambut and taken Bardia and Sollum in tact which did not have garrisons
GHQ staffers have wild inconsistent estimates of Rommel's losses which Smith says are "heavy"
GHQ staffers have gotten reports of new Italian armored vehicles at Elsash ridge which are apparantly very effective and well commanded
Bombardments and shock troop probing at Gazala has continued

end transmission

Notes and fill ins to cover Fellers fog of war:
Rommel has used Fellers leaks to preposition his gun lines behind sidi muftah on elsash ridge to beat off all counter attacks in a manner similar to the OTL battle of the Cauldron, these counterattacks where poorly lead and organized like their otl analogue
The 15th panzer division and 90th light have continued to hold El Adem and Belahmed and using Fellers leaks/continued disorganization in the British southern armored reserves from their decapitation strikes to beat off counter attacks (this is more successful than OTL)
The Trieste and Trento divisions are wrapped around the 150th brigade
the 4 remaining Italian line divisions are still opposite the balance of the 50th division and the 1st south african
The ariette and 21st panzer after after defeating the counter attacks toward Sidi Muftah launched concentric attacks on the defeated forces withdrawing to knightsbridge (this is mostly OTL but slightly more successful for the axis due to them having secure supply lines), the Knightbridge box has been rolled up with most being taken prisoner
Ariette and 21st panzer are now in and around Arcoma stradled firmly behind the main divisions at Gazala, which means the British and South Africans cant withdraw along the coastal road without fighting their way through those two divisions; from positions at Arcoma Rommel can shell every remaining brigade along the Gazala line from the rear

 

[cardcarrier]

Chapter 7

06-03-42 23:59 Panzer Army Africa Command Post Arcoma Libya GeneralOberst Erwin Rommel Commander PAA, Oberst Siegfried Westphal chief of operations, Major Alfred Seebohme commander 621st radio intercept company; Field Marshal Albert Kesselring commander OB sud

The last week had been as exciting as May 1940 in France for 4 star general Rommel. It was with extreme gratitude that he promoted Seebohme to Major. His tireless radio triangulation/interception/listening posts had been no small part of his victory to date. Seebohme had located numerous British command posts and his lieutenants had been well forward with the DAK's most advanced armored car companies steering them on to airfields, command posts, radio relay stations and British supply dumps.

When Rommel reflected on his campaign 2 years before, his attack for operation venice was a very close sister to General Manstein's operation Sickle; he had demonstrated a powerful attack in the north and sent his mailed fist deep into the enemy supply zone in the south, it was bold, it was risky, it worked. Kleeman had maneuvered between and around everything and reached the coast, establishing a firm lodgement at the desert air force HQ at gambut, and the 8th army rail head at Belhamed. This not only significantly weakened the staying power of British divisions in the western desert but also let the DAK and the PAA as a whole live off the land as fast Kleeman's quartermaster platoons could drive water, fuel and appropriated trucks to their sister divisions. Kleeman's lodgement was a shoestring of shoestrings, but Rommel had managed many such advances in his career, and in that moment of decisiveness his superior had come through

Albert Kesselring had come to be the theater commander after a difficult stint in Russia the previous year. He and Rommel had served together with little incident in France but now Kesselring was his direct superior. When Kleeman had reached the coast last week Kesselring had flown forward in his own personal aircraft and seen the skinny desperate nature of the encirclement, remarking that based on his experience in Russia all encirclements are tissue paper when they form, and that decisively pouring on resources would make the difference between the British leaking out of the bag, or being driven into prisoner cages he put his command to work. Kesselring at this point commanded the only axis divisions in reserve not earmarked for the defense of allied landings in Europe or for the planned operation Blue in southern Russia. Namely the divisions set aside of his meticulously planned and prepared operation Herkules, an attack on Malta.

Kesselring had intended to stop Rommel once he reached the frontier in order to launch his attack on Malta to more permanently secure the supply lines to Tripoli and Bengahzi so that Rommels forces could have a more sustainable presence in Libya, but when he saw that Kleeman and Vaerest where now squatted upon the supply network of the entire 8th army of 10 divisions, supplied for a 2 month army offensive, he knew the equation had changed, and that Rommel had found the Schwerpunkt. His chief of staff Westphal (no relation to Rommel's chief of operations) had cut orders to the 164th infantry division (soon to be renamed 164th light africa division) to be flown from Crete to Gambut and be mated to captured British gear at Belhamed, The 164th had seen combat in the balkans and used some British left behind equipment on Crete the previous year, so they were uniquely qualified to be mated to Kleeman's loot and boost his hold on the area; as well the heavy disruption to the desert airforce (along with confirmation from Bonner Fellers of their difficulties) made the environment as reasonably safe as possible to bring them forward with fighter escorts.

Westphal was mobilizing other forces as well on the field marshal's orders. The German 2nd paratrooper division "Ramcke" and the Italian parachute division "Folgore" received warning for immediate transfer to Libya, these units where full strength and had been through a grueling training regime getting ready to jump on Malta, but would instead be used to bolster Rommel's infantry regiments now that he seemed to have Ritchie on the ropes, the main limit was aircraft availability which OB sud back in Rome worked vigorously, begging, borrowing, transfering and outright stealing squadrons from France, Germany, the Balkans and Norway to maintain the high tempo of operations that operation Venice depended on for success, the paratroopers would take some time to arrive but might still see some fighting. Westphal also worked his commando supremo counterpart to put the San Marco special marine infantry regiment, the 10th special Italian tank regiment and the "livorno" assault and landing division on alert for deployment to Rommel's army as soon as shipping or aircraft would allow. Kesselring organized the quartermaster platoons of 164th to be landed first with the task of shaking out british gear to mobilize the division with British trucks and arm them with appropriated British field and and anti tank guns. They would also aid Kleeman and Varaest efforts to send supplies to divisions fighting at Gazala

It wasn't all easy or all administrative whippings, Rommel's deputy, the commander of the DAK Ludwig Cruel had been captured very early in the fighting after his pilot got lost and landed among the northumbrian division thinking it was the Ariette division. Kesselring with Rommel's blessing had taken command of troops along the Gazala line and using captured maps had grabbed the Trento division and the Trieste division by the belt buckle had them burst through the Gazala minefields and wrap themselves around General Haydon's 150th brigade, greatly improving the security of Rommel's supply lines which where detouring around the minefields, but facing harassing fire from the 150th.

His command also kept a tight grip on the air force, aided greatly by the large scale destruction of the desert air force on the ground by the 90th light, Kesseling's JU-88s and JU-87's rained hell on Ritchie's division, some stuka pilots making 10 sorties a day in the long summer sunlight. This was exacerbated by Fellers reports which detailed where and when Ritchie's divisions were marshaling for counter attacks, Kesselring's bombers met these assemblies with bombs and cannons in heavy numbers. He was thrilled when Rommel reached Arcoma cutting the via Balbia behind the strong British/Commonwealth divisions at Gazala and much of the remaining British armor, but also stunned when Ulrich Kleeman reported that he had extensively reconned the South African positions around Tobruk and assessed that they were very week and might fall in a quick assault. Field Marshal Kesselring salivated at the thought of capturing Tobruk and it's harbor in tact, it would remove at least 1/3 of the traffic from Tripoli and be delivered much closer to the front, and an Athens-Crete-Tobruk shipping route could safely bypass malta and have very strong air cover available for the transport ships

He conferred with Rommel at Arcoma who had landed in Napoleon's central position, having largely cleaved the 8th army in two. Reports from Fellers continued to indicate the British would not release the troops from Gazala or Tobruk for mobile operations to drive Rommel off their supply lines. Thus Rommel had time to make a decisive push against Gazala or Tobruk with his core mobile divisions and defeat that position before turning on the other. The tought of bagging the two big divisions at Gazala was just as appealing as taking Tobruk, as it would add to Rommel's already impressive haul of 26,000 prisoners (with the DAK counting another 6,500 kia on the battlefield) and destroy a significant part of the 8th army's core strength and loosen up resistance to future DAK offensives towards Egypt. Where Kesselring had mixed feelings, Rommel had a score to settle, Tobruk had been a thorn in his side since the day he landed in Libya, and he didn't want a place to land his supplies as far forward as possible, and reading Kleeman's intelligence reports he was confident he could take the former fortress as it seemed to be poorly manned and fallen into disrepair

The generals received a final briefing on one of Seebohme's other projects, operation Salaam which saw the introduction of their agent Von Eppler reaching Cairo utilizing a secrete code devised from the novel Rebekkah. Seebohme had just gotten confirmation from Eppler that we was safely in the city and was making contact with sympathetic local Egyptians

 

[faddllz]

interesting tl.... watched

 

[Gudestein]

Very nice its posting again. Is Rommel going for Tobruk before clearing the British cauldron? Thats interesting. Anything changed in relation to operation Salaam?