Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

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7538
March 18th, 1943

Spring awakening

The weather is starting to deteriorate, making motorized travel and aviation interventions more and more difficult.
.........
Berlin - Eager to prove the value of his units and to outdo Gœbbels and Himmler, who seem to him to take too much importance lately, Göring proposes to the OKH to send one of his Luftwaffen-Feld-Divisionen (LFD) to reinforce the strength of the 6. Armee in front of Kiev.
The idea of such a deployment arouses mezzo voce jeers from the German high command, especially from von Kluge, who does not consider the LFDs to be valid front-line formations. Hitler is less demanding and accepts the offer of the Luftwaffe commander. The 4. LFD thus receives during the day its transfer order for Novograd-Volynski.
.........
Medzhibozh-Derazhnya pocket -Manstein has a good vision of his opponent's device. The arrival of the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reveals that the Soviets are fully aware of the precariousness of the situation of the 1st Front ...and offers very interesting prospects for the continuation of operations. Annihilating the bulk of two Soviet fronts could not only destabilize this entire portion of the front, but perhaps even clear the road to Kiev. However, the Führer does not see it that way: before any breakthrough, it is necessary to annihilate once and for all the enemy concentrations.
North of the pocket, Schmidt relaunches his attack. Goloskov falls in the middle of the day, opening two roads to Medzhibozh and Derazhnya. The 2. Panzer moves to the second one, the 4. Panzer to the first. The German intentions are to push east of Medzhibozh these two armored divisions (the 7. Panzer waiting in the north) in order to cut the retreat of the garrison. But the Soviet resistance and the rise in temperature which thaw the Buzhok marshes, north of the city, slow down the German progression and allow most of the threatened soldiers to flee. The fall of Medzhibozh, reported during the evening briefing in the Kremlin, causes a black anger of Stalin, but Shapochnikov manages to convince him that the city was in any case indefensible.
In the south, the remnants of the 58th Army are now surrounded in and around Derazhnya. At nightfall, Shcherbakov takes it upon himself to allow the volunteers to attempt a sortie, but the Germans are on the lookout. Under the fire of the German artillery, the evacuation turns into a disaster and only a few hundred men, isolated or in small groups manage to reach the Soviet lines after days, even weeks of wandering.
In the city itself, equipment and supplies are destroyed. Confident in his forces, Kempf takes advantage of the situation to redeploy the 24. Panzer to the east: the unit captures Volkovintsy [Vovkovyntsi], eighteen kilometers east of Derazhnya.

2nd Ukrainian Front
Battle of Kamenets-Podolski
Passages of the Dniester
- While the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front (16th and 59th Armies, Bogdanov's armored corps) is trying to build bridges over the river (the Luftwaffe, which did not have enough means, did not intervene) and organizes the first crossings, Bagramyan receives Stalin's approval for his operation against Kamenets-Podolski.
His two armies have to march on each side of the Dniester by bad roads - the region being singularly devoid of really passable axes - to get closer to the city. The 59th Army will advance south and take Khotin, while the 16th Army and Bogdanov's armor will go north. Once reunited north of the Dniester, the two armies attack Kamenets-Podolski from the east and south. The German garrison, occupying the citadel built in a meander of the river, will have to choose between flight and annihilation.
 
7539 - End of Operation Great Saturn
March 18th, 1943

Great Saturn
Operation Aster

The still operational Tigers of the 502. schwere Panzer Abt are the last German heavy vehicles to cross the Dniester. The last passages of German and Romanian soldiers are carried out at a run under a heavy fire. Dozens of men drown in the panic of the last minutes, while the bridges are destroyed one after the other.
By mid-morning, there are no formations of the 11. Armee on the left bank of the Dniester. At the cost of a few hundred killed and the abandonment of a significant part of the heavy equipment, Reinhardt succeeded in his gamble. Certainly amputated from the divisions eliminated in the previous days, his army aligns itself along the river between Rybnitsa and Tiraspol. But he already has to send troops further north to cover the north of Bessarabia, while the 46. and 72. ID complete their journey towards the lower Dniester to face the 18th Soviet Army. Congratulated by Antonescu, who comes to see the work accomplished in person, Reinhardt also receives a phone call from Halder. Halder tells him that he should go to Rastenburg as soon as possible to report to the Führer on the latest operations in his sector.
The end of Aster also marks the end of Great Saturn.

Siege of Odessa
Kubanka (northeast of Odessa)
- Despite the fierce resistance of the Romanians, the Soviets attack again, in the same place as the day before. It must be said that they have little choice. East of Odessa, most of the front line follows the Adzhalykskiy liman and there is only a narrow strip of land between it and the Gulf of Valykyi Adzhalysks'kyi that allows the tanks to participate in the fight.
Like the day before, the clashes are marked by a massive use of artillery. However, a new actor intervenes during this new day.
Ilyushin Il-4s attack artillery-resistant targets with bombs. However, they face a powerful flak, which shoot down several of them, and even Bf 109s bearing the Romanian ensign. However, these aircraft are too few in number to overcome the escort of La-5 fighters that stand guard.
But despite the guns and aircraft, the Soviets make only minimal progress.
.........
Gnilyakovo (northwest of Odessa) - Here too, the fighting is a continuation of the previous day... but it is much more favorable to the Red Army. Indeed, although the Romanians facing the 18th Army are as fierce as those opposing the 51st Army, the terrain is less favorable to the defenders on this front. As a result, the Soviets slowly reduce one position after another.
.........
"Having experienced heavy fighting a few days earlier, the company of Capt. Aksonov's company was rested, while it received replacements for lost men and equipment.
The day before, the political commissar Bolotchinov had come, smiling, to entrust him with "a special mission". He was not alone, but accompanied by Roman Karmen. Having never met the famous reporter, Dimitri was surprised to meet a young man with a narrow face, dressed in an officer's uniform. Only the presence of a camera worn in a saltire was the only thing that stood out in his military outfit. But his first conversation with the author of the Spanish Chronicles and China Fights had made Dmitri Aksonov uncomfortable. Certainly, he knew that Comrade Karmen was an experienced war correspondent. This...journalist knew how to turn battles into epic stories capable of arousing the enthusiasm of the Soviet crowds. Dimitri was not born yesterday, he knew that things had to be arranged in order to be presented to the public.
But was this really journalism?
Dimitri looked at the Romanian trenches as the cannon thundered... real artillery pieces firing at the enemy! The battle was going on all around them. However... this position had been taken a few days earlier. But today, once again, the Soviets were attacking, firing ... with blanks. On the other side, the Romanians returned fire in the same way. They were real Romanian soldiers, prisoners of war brought by trucks the day before, playing their own role.
Truth and fiction were mixed.
Dimitri looked towards Roman Karmen, who was filming the "Romanian trenches". Everything was scripted. Now the defeated were coming out of the trenches with their hands raised, their faces turned towards the ground, as if sheepishly. In fact, Karmen had had the ground ploughed, forcing the soldiers to look at their feet so as not to stumble. Dirty, disheveled, the Romanians were pathetic. Unlike the Soviets, who were clean-shaven and who had just received clean uniforms.
In editing, the scene that had just been shot would probably be interspersed with others, and the whole thing would be presented as a news report.
This was Soviet realism..."
 
7540
March 18th, 1943

Italian Front
- Beginning of operation "Viper". If General Lee had succeeded, at the beginning of the month, to impose an operational pause in order to replenish the 5th Army's logistical stocks, he only got two instead of the six weeks he had requested.
The 36th US-ID attacks along the coast towards Orbetello, accompanied by the 601st Tank Destroyer Btn and the 91st Cavalry Btn. At the same time, the tanks of the Old Ironside infiltrate east of Capalbio. If the breakthrough is successful, the division would fall back to the west to push on to Grosseto. Meanwhile, under a powerful air umbrella, the 34th US-ID, supported by the 752nd Tank Btn, overruns the Monte di Castro on both sides in the direction of Manciano.
The air umbrella in question is provided by the 65th FS of the 57th FG, where Capt. Roy Thomas makes the play of the day. In the early morning, he intercepts and shoots down a Bf 110 on reconnaissance. During a second mission on the front with his group, he adds three victories to his record. "It was like a dream," he told journalists who came to interview him the next day. "We were on top of them, and on my first burst, I saw the wing of a 109 come off. They formed a defensive circle, but we broke it and in the dogfight that followed, a second 109 that was maneuvering in a candlelight pattern to escape put itself in front of me: I fired a long burst and it instantly burst into flames. Finally, when they broke off the fight, I strafed a third kraut, then followed it as it lost altitude and eventually crashed."
The front is also coming alive among the Italians. While the Testa di Ferro and the Trento continue to fight against the stubborn Germans, the Cremona and Friuli, supported by elements of the corps artillery, attack on the other side of the lake, on the Bolsena-Orvietto line.
On the French side, the relief of the 3rd armoured division continues with the rise to the front line of the Brosset Brigade and the divisional artillery of the 83rd DIA. The French armoured division is now almost completely cleared and regroups towards Todi (only its artillery continues to be engaged). The Brosset Brigade is engaged in place of the Magnan Brigade, which needs a rest.
The British 46th ID cleanses Monteleone di Spoletto and its surroundings. Meanwhile, the 133rd Brigade of the 44th Infantry Division attack on another axis, in an area that had been calm, from its positions north of Amatrice in the direction of Accumoli. Effectively supported by artillery and aircraft, the infantrymen march on Route 4, east of the city, in the early evening.
A little further east, the 5th Indian Division fights hard all day against the 6. Gebirgs Division. The road is the only axis of progression along the very steep hills; the Indians' progress is slow, although the mild weather makes movement easier.
Near the Adriatic coast, the fortifications of the San Marco Pass are taken over by Commando n°3, which had infiltrated the rear while the 2nd South African Brigade led the assault on its southern slopes.
 
7541
March 19th, 1943

Kiel
- The largest German naval base has been a favourite target since the beginning of the war. The density of the anti-aircraft cover is therefore also the most important in the sector, especially since the usual guns are added to those of the warships. The Danish island of Falster is once again used as a bifurcation point for the Halifax and Lancaster, some of which hoped to disorganize the German defense by pretending to head for Rostock. But if the night fighters, although well helped by a clear sky, struggle to find the bombers - thanks to the VHA jamming transmitters which precede them - the Flak of Kiel is not fooled and takes a heavy toll amidst the British squadrons once more.
Once again, civilian and military personnel in Peenemünde are awakened by the warning sirens, but to their great relief this alarm does not materialize.
 
7542
March 19th, 1943

Quonset Point
- Lagadec: "Another SNJ on the belly! Unforgivable from one of the chibanis of the 3F. André Jubelin had a memorable outburst, the first since he became the boss of 3F. There will be others, I assure you... "
 
7543
March 19th, 1943

Stockholm
- The famous Danish physicist Niels Bohr, whose mother is Jewish, meets with King Gustav V of Sweden to convince him to accept the arrival of Danish Jews in his country.
The meeting is positive: the King seems to be won over to the cause defended by the physicist. It is true that, for months, Prime Minister Hansson and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Günther had already been working in this direction.
 
7544
March 19th, 1943

Alger
- General René Olry, Chief of Staff of the French Army since January, knew that in accepting this position he would have to deal with difficult issues. But he expected to have to arbitrate delicate choices of strategy, equipment or doctrine, and even to be involved in tense debates with the political authorities - he did not expect to have to deal with the ego crises of some of his generals... Yet Besson had warned him! The case of Giraud, of all people, would be difficult to settle. And here it is again on his desk, in the form of an article in the new evening paper, none other than Le Monde.
Olry thought that the problem had been solved: appointed Inspector General of National Defense at the end of January, Giraud was promised harmless activities such as long inspection tours (preferably far from the fighting) or writing reports on subjects of little importance. This was to misunderstand the character. On his return from Greece, Noguès had certainly convinced him to start by taking a well-deserved vacation with his wife, in the Moroccan south - but Giraud had reappeared in Algiers after only three weeks, in great shape and with a tanned complexion, in search of missions.
Olry had then discreetly worked to limit his activities to regions where he would not have the opportunity to get too close to the Allied generals, especially the British. But after two or three inspections of French divisions in training in Algeria or Tunisia, Giraud had begun to bombard the National Defense Staff with critical reports: there were too many personnel assigned to support services rather than to combat units, the level of experience of the cadres was mediocre (the "Waterloo of the stars" and the retirement of the oldest officers were thus criticized in a thinly veiled way), the coordination between the Army and the Air Force was insufficient (Giraud obviously regretted the independence of the Air Force, although it had been acquired well before the war), some (American) equipment was not as good as that of May 1940... and finally, the place allocated to the American troops in NAF was excessive, leaving the French units very cramped. These recriminations, which had a limited audience, had no concrete consequences, but they had forced Olry to spend some of his valuable time calming his fellow airmen or colleagues or the civilians of the Ministry, irritated by these unjustified and unconstructive criticism.
But Giraud did not stop there! Having obviously too much time available, he had started accepting invitations to dinners in town and in various salons where politicians, diplomats, industrialists and journalists. The whole of Algiers was rustling General Giraud's criticisms, both of the personality of the new President of the Council (whom he continued to treat with the same morgue and the same disdain as during their time together in Metz), the operations (if he was to be believed, it would have been necessary to land in Dalmatia, Istria or Veneto, or even in Salonika), the conduct of the war (alas, by handing over command to the British in the Balkans or to the Americans in Italy, one could not expect better...) and even on the government's policy, which was far too tainted with socialism! Olry and Noguès had discreetly reminded Giraud to his duty of reserve, but without effect.
The article in Le Monde that is spread over Olry's desk is the last straw. It was obviously blocked by the censors, but what it reveals is very disturbing. Henri Becquart, one of the most right-wing politicians in the Assembly of Elected Representatives of the Republic, now shows himself publically supporting General Giraud in his criticism of "the demagogic policy of the government towards the Indigenous people, the consequences of which will catastrophic for the position of France, not only in Indochina, but also in North Africa after the war".
Olry understands that this is too much; he has to act before the cabinet of the President of the Council himself. He knows that he has only a few hours to come up with a solution to the "Giraud problem": a complex problem, because in the army as well as in public opinion, Giraud remains a well-known name, always a symbol of professionalism and willingness to fight until victory, thanks to his romantic escape and his victories in the Peloponnese and Andros. The character cannot be simply retired or locked up in a closet! We will have to be creative...
 
7545
March 19th, 1943

Cochinchina
- The "crazy Bonze" Hyunh Phu So, leader of the Hoa Hao sect, had been put under house arrest by the French, but the Japanese freed him in October 1942. The Nipponese showered him with gifts, hoping to gain the support of his 15,000-strong sect. In fact, in the months that followed, two real combat units were created, armed and trained by the Japanese. The first one was placed under the command of Nam Lua (better known by his nom de guerre of Tran van Soaï), the second under that of Naï Ngoan (known as Lan Than Nguyen).
However, the Mad Bonze only apparently rallied to the invaders. His cult is based on the respect of the ancestors and the independence of the country, but the Japanese flouted both. Thus, Hyunh Phu So began negotiations with both the French and the Vietminh, preferring to ally himself with the colonizers (who respect the ancestors) and the communists (who defend the independence of the country).
Today, the Hoa Hao throws off the mask. The followers massacre their Japanese instructors and join the Vietminh maquis in the Cantho area.
 
7546
May 19th,1943

Buna pocket (operation Postern, phase 3)

Triangle sector
Lieutenant Wilkins pulls the trigger on his MP Owen as the Japanese straighten up and rush towards him. The spray of bullets opens a succession of scarlet craters in his opponent's chest. He is not even dead when other Japanese step over his body to pounce on the Australian position, threatening to overwhelm the defenders.
Seeing a black object leaping over the improvised entrenchments, the officer throws himself to the ground. Moans and groans are heard after the explosion, replacing the much more reassuring staccato of the FM posted at the left corner of the perimeter.
We need to withdraw.
Wilkins gives orders and several soldiers launch their "Mills bombs" in the direction of the Japanese who are advancing through the trees. The grenades cause death among them; taking advantage of the lull that follows, half of his men run with Wilkins toward a mound of earth emerging from the muddy jungle. Once there, the lieutenant directs fire on the Japanese positions. Covered by this fire, the rest of the Australians fall back in turn.
At stake in this rotten jungle is a piece of the trail linking Buna to Soputa.
The Japanese continue to press the Australians who have just been pushed back, but their new position is easier to defend and they receive reinforcements.
Soon, the Japanese counter-attack to the right of the mound held by Wilkins and his men, in the jungle but also along the track. The shooting is only getting more violent.
.........
One knee on the ground, his eye glued to the sight of his Lee-Enfield, Sergeant Melchiott waits, controlling his breathing. Sweat is pouring down his face and his nose is itching like crazy, not to mention the
not to mention the insects buzzing around him. But he had to ignore
But he had to ignore the discomfort. Japanese soldiers were coming from the left side of the track. And their main attack
main attack is around the knoll to go after Sergeant Potts' men on the right. This means that
means they have to cross the trail. That's why Melchiott is waiting for them.
An explosion sounded nearby, drowning out for a moment the fireworks coming from that direction.
Just then, three Japanese try to cross the runway. Melchiott reacts with a moment's delay, but manages to hit the
Melchiott reacts with a moment's delay, but manages to hit one of the three in the chest. The man collapsed, while the other two continued to run.
the other two continue to run. The sergeant removes his sticky cheek from the butt of his gun and is able to mop up his face. Playing the breech of the Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk III, he ejects the casing and re-arms it. Then the waiting starts again. The only variation in this sequence is that, every five shots, he has to replace the magazine.
.........
Sergeant Potts, to Melchiott's right, not only stops the enemy attack, but he also launches the counter-attack. And the red-haired, flame-spotted man commands his men the only way he knows how: by example. Machine gun in hand, he marches in front, greeting with a burst of fire any movement in the vegetation. At this rate, he wastes a lot of ammunition, but he kills two Japanese before he and his men come up against the defenders. The latter, supported by FMs and grenade launchers, break Potts' charge.
.........
Sergeant Stark's squad follows Potts' squad fairly closely. Hearing the volume of fire up front, Stark yells to rally his men and get them to push forward. Soon they are in the middle of a fierce battle. Many bodies lie in the mud, men running from tree to tree, changing places after firing.
In the chiaroscuro of the jungle, the Japanese look like devils who materialize in the light and melt into the shadows. The confrontation is surreal.
After an hour, the Japanese disappear without warning. A strange silence falls on the battlefield. If it weren't for the death rattle and the smell of cordite in the air, one would think it was a bad dream.
 
7547
May 19th, 1943

Attu
- Troops of the 38th US Infantry Regiment advance methodically through Massacre Valley, while the 13th Canadian Brigade, knowing that "the damn Yankees" are catching the Japanese, attack regardless of the icy rain that had begun to fall again.
In between, Colonel Yamasaki makes arrangements. He sets up roadblocks on the trails leading up from Chichagof Harbor to the passes, with a mission to get killed on the spot. For him, he is reorganizing all the rest of his men. With them, he intends to throw the Americans into the sea - or at least break through to their supply depots and destroy them, while killing as many of the enemy as possible. It seems that within a few days he had acquired a certain respect for the professionalism of the Canadians and would rather take on the Yankees!
 
7548
May 19th, 1943

Spring awakening
Medzhibozh-Derazhnya pocket
- The quadrilateral held by the Soviets is shrinking as if it were skin deep.
At dawn, Kempf's forces seize Derazhnya without much fighting. They find only burning warehouses and a few thousand exhausted men. Shcherbakov, who did not want to abandon his men, is among the prisoners. He is immediately sent to Lvov and then, after interrogation, to an oflag in Germany. The images of his capture will appear in a prominent place in the weekly bulletin distributed by the German propaganda in the cinemas of the Reich the following week, arousing the fury of Stalin*.
Kempf does not want to linger. He steals his remaining tanks and launches them towards the north-east by bad roads east of the Volk river in order to participate in the fall of Letichev.
Indeed, Letichev is now the last point of passage for the retreating Soviets. The city attracts all those who want to get out of the pocket, but also the six German armored divisions at Manstein's disposal. Well, he has them on paper, because the German general also has logistical problems. The sustained offensive carried out for a good week wears out the mechanics and drains the fuel reserves. Several PanzerDivision commanders have already warned him of the reduction of their resources. Nearly one third of the tanks are out of action or under repair. In addition, the infantry is beginning to suffer: several tactical encirclements have failed due to a lack of personnel to seal the pockets. The recourse to the Hungarians is not totally satisfactory: lacking motorized transport, the soldiers of the 7th Corps do not stick to the German vanguards. As for the 4th Corps, it ensures the defense of Manstein's left flank, an essential task but one that prevents it from being used elsewhere. It is thus necessary to finish, and quickly.
Everything is decided at Letichev in a few hours. Zhukov sacrifices the 5th Guards Army (of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, withdrawn from Vinnitsa with Rybalko's armored corps to help the 1st Ukrainian Front) and what remains of Rybalko's tanks, while fully engaging what remains of the air armies engaged at the beginning of Great Uranus. He thus gains the time necessary to extract the big ones from Pukhov. However, the Soviet riflemen had to flee only with their light weapons while the German artillery and air force are unleashed and the Tiger guns are emptying their lockers on the fleeing vehicles.
The junction between the 7. and 23. Panzers east of Letichev does not bring an end to the fighting.
Throughout the night, fighting continues in the Verbka forest, in the marshes along the Volk and in the surrounding villages. Frontoviki and Landsers kill each other in the middle of burning isbas. The tension is extreme and there is no quarter given in both camps (after the war, Kempf will be accused of having given - orally - the order not to take prisoners, which he will fiercely deny until his death).
When the sun rises on March 20th, the Medzhibozh-Derazhnya pocket has ceased to exist.

2nd Ukrainian Front
Battle of Kamenets-Podolski
Passages of the Dniester
- Khotin being too far and too well guarded, the 59th Army falls back on Ust'ye [Ustya] and cross the river in its turn. In the north, the 16th Army advances on a forced march towards Kamenets-Podolski. In the city, the garrison is on the alert but is not fully informed. If the commander of the 321. ID expects the arrival of the 16th Army, no one thought to warn him about the progress of the 59th Army.
 
7549
May 19th, 1943

Siege of Odessa
Kubanka (northeast of Odessa)
- General Batov's forces spend the day reorganizin. However, their powerful artillery continues to shell and counter-battery fire until dusk...
"The International K-7 "Inter-truck", supplied by the American Lend-Lease Convoys, stopped with a metallic creak. Other similar machines were already parked around in the abandoned fields, riddled with shell craters, which testified to heavy fighting.
Each truck carried on its rear platform an assembly of sixteen rails supporting as many rockets, hence their name: BM-13/16. BM for land vehicle launcher, 13 for 132 mm M-13 rockets, 16 for the number of rails. The trucks deployed four stabilizers, then slowly the rail jacks put the BM-13/16 in firing position.
A few minutes passed. The Katyusha of the Special Guards Mortar Regiment remained motionless, while the ammunition men were busy removing the safeties and priming the warheads containing 4.9 kg of explosive. Other trucks had approached, loaded with more rockets. Further on, the officers were taking cover under a camouflage net. Around them, radios and field telephones allowed them to receive and transmit orders and instructions.
It all started at once.
An orange flame erupted from one of the rails and a rocket rose, followed by a trail of dark smoke. This first shot was clearly audible, not unlike the sound of a fireworks rocket going off, rising with a sharp, blasting note. Others followed and soon merged into a dull roar.
The orange flames now rose steadily, shooting into the blue. The trucks were surrounded by swirls of gray-black smoke that convulsed in the midst of the air. The strident projectiles were now shooting towards the Romanian lines to sow death."
.........
Gnilyakovo (northwest of Odessa) - On a staff map, units are often represented by a square or triangular symbol. However, in the field, the same unit forms rather a column. For one rarely engages the entire front division. The most battles between two formations see their "points" confront each other and each pause is used to replace the units in point which suffered by others fresher. Thus, in a modern army, where combat power is based on fire rather than shock, the accumulation of losses initially only slightly reduces the density of fire, especially in defense, all the more so as this was essentially ensured by collective weapons (FM, machine guns, mortars) and divisional weapons (artillery), generally well sheltered.
This is why, in modern warfare, a unit remains as powerful in defense after several days of deadly fighting as it was at the beginning. Until the moment when there are simply not enough people to hold the line. The collapse of the defense is then something brutal. One day the unit resists without faltering, as if the losses suffered were only a scratch, the next day it collapses like a house of cards.
This is exactly what is happening today to the 10th Romanian Infantry Division. When the Soviets attacked at first light, they met at first the same resistance as the day before, but suddenly the shooting became sporadic and the trenches which had resisted until then fell one after the other. To the human losses suffered by the violent fights of the previous days, a contagious moral collapse is now added to the human losses suffered by the Romanians, bled to death by the violent fights of the previous days. The soldiers leave the second or third line trenches to run in the direction of trenches to run in the direction of Odessa, while those of the first line positions, already invaded, leave their bunkers with arms raised, all springs broken.
The rest of the day is spent cleaning up and chasing down the fugitives. In the evening, the 10th Romanian ID ceases to exist.
 
7550
May 19th, 1943

Italian Front
- The 36th US-ID arrives in the immediate vicinity of the town of Orbetello. The town is surrounded, but the particular topography of the place makes it difficult for the Texans. However, the news is good in the American camp, since the tanks of the 1st Armored finally break through to the next compartment of terrain. While Combat Command A pivots west, CCB presses toward Manciano to threaten the flank of the 252. ID facing the 34th US-ID.
On the Italian front, the news of the day is the entry of the men of the Friuli Division at Bolsena. To the west, the Trento and Testa di Ferro continue to be pushed back to the edge of what the Italians call "the bloody forest".
Knowing that Magnan's men had failed on the slopes of Monte Martano, General Brosset tries to avoid throwing his brigade against a wall. He also asks for artillery shelling and aerial bombardments for 24 hours in order to soften up the defenses. The assault would take place the next day.
The progression is slow in a landscape of snow-covered hills for the 46th ID, which is engaged on two axes at the same time. On road 471, in direction of Poggio Domo, the 138th Brigade is stopped by a traffic jam at Usigni. On its side, the 137th Brigade finally reaches Castel San Giovanni. It is able to turn the German position thanks to information given by the Italians, which was verified before being exploited. It takes more than 150 prisoners forced to lay down their arms.
The 44th British ID cleans up the Accumoli sector since the early morning. But the presence of an enemy division at this place is not to the liking of General Walter Horlein, who is commanding the Grossdeutschland. So he assembles a Kampfgruppe to mount a counter-attack, but on the way, the convoy is attacked by Italian partisans near the village of Capodacqua - this attack on a military convoy is a first for the Italian Resistance. Unfortunately, in retaliation, the inhabitants of the village - about a hundred of them - are gathered in the square and shot. The delay inflicted on the Grossdeutschland is, however, fraught with consequences, since the attack is postponed until the following day.
In the mountains to the east, the fighting continues. At the end of the day, the 5th Indian Division reaches less than a kilometer (as the crow flies...) from the village of Acquasanta.
In the sector of the Vth AC, the South Africans now have a direct view of the town of Ascoli Piceno. The latter is an ancient medieval city built at the confluence of the Tronto and its tributary, the Castellano. But the Germans have firmly established themselves there and the British command decides to wait and see.
 
7551
March 20th, 1943

Peenemünde
- The improvement of the weather allows the Germans to launch a series of test shots, this time in front of test firings, this time in front of an audience of Reich personalities who normally had to decide in favor of one or the other of the two "weapons of reprisal" to recommend mass production. Chaired by Prof. Waldemar Petersen, director of the AEG (Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft), the Commission for the Long Range Firing includes among others Albert Speer, minister of Armaments (who succeeded Fritz Todt, who died in a plane crash), Generals Milch and Galland for the Luftwaffe, and von Axthelm for the Heer. But the first two shootings, those of the Fi 103, sponsored by the Luftwaffe, are catastrophic: the machines crash a few hundred meters away from their ramps! Smiles, on the other hand, in the camp of the Heer, when the shooting of the first A4 succeeds fully, the rocket falls 700 m from its target located 280 km away, in the open sea. The second shooting is however a half failure, the missile travelling only a few kilometers.
The meeting that followed discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the two devices. If the rocket has a clear advantage, its cost and its weak availability because of the time necessary to its construction put back in the race the flying bomb of Fieseler. The complementarity of the two weapons is also underlined. The next morning, another launch of Fi 103 will make a smile appear on the faces of the aviators, the machine covering 234 km.
.........
Schwerin - Last stage of Whitebait, the city of Schwerin is targeted by the RAF, officially as a Nazi stronghold... and unofficially for its proximity with Usedom. In fact, the route of the crews resembles the one of the day before, the bombers turning a little before Falster to take a course making them skirt the German island of Rügen to enter the country before turning due west to Schwerin. Meanwhile, the crews of the Victoria and Lincoln VHA of Sqn 109 fly over Hamburg then Kiel before returning, dropping some bombs at random, at the same time as leaflets inviting the German population to leave the place ! All this while emitting strong jamming on the frequencies used by the command of the night fighter.
The moon being full in a cloudless sky, even very disorganized by the maneuvers and the radar jamming of the British, the German crews devote themselves ferociously to an often fruitful hunting, and the sky is filled with new colors, those of tracers, explosions and flames. A spectacle that some people attend in privileged, toasting a cigarette while observing the sky since an almost secret Baltic island...
 
7552
March 20th, 1943

Northern Italy
- The discussions in Lugano last month between members of the Resistance (mainly officers of disbanded units that escaped the Germans) and representatives of the Allied countries, result in the decision to give weapons to the Partisans, despite the reluctance of the British (for fear of the communists) and French (for fear of diverting means intended for the French Resistance, especially in Provence).
The very first airdrop of weapons for the Partisans in Northern Italy takes place today. Until then, these Partisans had to make do with weapons and equipment taken from the Germans or the Fascists. The delivery is relatively modest, hardly enough to arm about thirty fighters, but many others will follow...
 
7553
March 20th, 1943

Quonset Point
- The arrival of the first SBD 5s, scheduled for this date, is delayed by about a month. Indeed, this version of the Dauntless only went into production in February.
Lagadec: "The crews of the 5F are beginning to train by willingly allowing themselves to be "requisitioned" for counter-reception and delivery flights for the US Navy.
It is true that they are more than qualified for these tasks! Same thing for the mechanics who enjoy the kindness of the Douglas workers."
 
7554
March 20th, 1943

Paris
- Fernand de Brinon, Minister of Justice of the NEF, appoints Maurice Gabolde and Raymond Lachal, two magistrates who had been part of Laval's cabinet, to head "exceptional courts" in Toulouse and Montpellier. For more than a month, in fact, the actions of the "Bolsheviks at the orders of Moscow" and of the "terrorists in the pay of London" have multiplied. The state of insecurity in these regions is further increased by the struggle between the SONEF and the Crusaders of Reconstruction, who do not hesitate to denounce each other as accomplices of the Resistance to the occupying authorities. For a long time, Laval hesitated to accept the appointments of these two loyal advisors, who had been with him since September 1940. Nevertheless, his Minister of Justice praised so much "the actions of public health that they could carry out in the interest of the Fatherland, and in the name of the President of the NEF" that Laval finally agreed. However, he begins to wonder if he had done the right thing when the announcement of these appointments in the Council of Ministers was greeted by a sneer from Marcel Déat: "Are you sure about Toulouse and Montpellier? Isn't it rather Limoges that you meant? Since the Sahara is not at our available to us... ".
This jab only confirmed what many of us had understood, but that Pierre Laval, petrified, was only beginning to discover: he found himself more and more isolated. (Gaston Bergery, Diary).
This maneuver reveals that Doriot gained even more weight within the NEF. Indeed, he had succeeded for some time in bringing Fernand de Brinon into his camp. The latter, de Brinon, considering that Laval's time had passed, preferred the former communist militant, judging him much more energetic and efficient than Marcel Déat, who was a little too "Third Republic" for De Brinon's taste, who had been a supporter of a France-Germany agreement since the Thirties.
 
7555
March 20th, 1943

Elphinstone Island, facing the southeast coast of Burma
- Journal of Jean-Marie de Beaucorps.
"What a surprise it was for us this month to see our supplies being brought to us, not by small local ships, but by the famous Surcouf of our National Navy, which majestically surfaced in front of our island!
In addition to the equipment, she disembarked an engineer section of a Burmese brigade, which we brought on the site of Wachaung in about ten days. Their orders are similar to ours, but I imagine that they are not here on a pleasure trip. I do not have the gift of foresight, but sooner or later the British are going to make a big landing in this area. It's good to finally see something happen in relation to our mission, to know that we are useful."
 
7556
March 20th, 1943

Buna Pocket (Operation Postern, Phase 3)

Old Strip and Duropa Plantation sector
A few days earlier, when the attack on the Triangle had become dangerous, the Japanese HQ had withdrawn some of the troops facing the 25th Brigade in the south to counterattack northward. General Kenneth Eather, whose men continue to harass the Japanese positions, have not failed to notice that the defenders were no longer showing such that the defenders are no longer as pugnacious. With his characteristic coolness and stubbornness, Eather has carefully mapped the Japanese positions and estimated their weak points. His orders are always to create a diversion to hold as many Japanese as possible, but he feels he could do much more.
Today, it is no longer a diversion that he seeks. He decides to commit all his forces. It would be make or break, but Eather is confident.
The infantry attacks at first light, without artillery preparation, to surprise the Japanese. Surprised they are, but their resistance proves equal to what the men of the 25th Brigade had already experienced and the first Australian wave is stopped under fire from machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars and 70 mm cannons. But the second wave then launches an assault, after a brief shelling by mortars and the brigade's 25 RPGs, and above all, with the support of the few tanks remaining in the brigade, for once grouped together - four Sentinels and a Matilda.
The violence of the fighting reaches a peak. The entrenched Japanese defend themselves with everything they have and die rather than surrender. Australian losses are high, but the bunkers forming the keystone of the enemy's position are taken. In spite of the shells of various calibers that continued to rain down, press photographers are there and immortalize soldiers posing in front of two emblematic wrecks of the confrontation: a 75mm anti-aircraft gun used as an anti-tank and taken over by the infantry, and a light Ha-Go tank that a Sentinel has just swept away.
After a brief pause, the Allied air force intervenes. B-25s escorted by P-40s - the Americans are not very precise, but (for once, the Australian soldiers grumbled) they spare the
the Allies' ranks and confuse the Japanese. The five Australian tanks take advantage of this. They attack head-on, covering each other. Despite the sacrifice of a Chi-Ha tank, a new 75 mm gun is crushed without having had time to fire and the bunkers of the second line are taken by storm.
Eather apparently studied the lessons of the German Blitzkrieg. Three of the tanks will probe the defenses that are still holding while two Sentinels, accompanied by two infantry companies, head for Buna airfield - the Old Strip. The field is taken without difficulty, the defenders are easily swept away. But, of course, it is empty except for the remains of a Ki-43.
The Japanese react to try to clear the positions that have just been surrounded.
Attacks and counter-attacks follow one another throughout the day. Methodically, the Australian tanks crush the nodes of resistance one by one.
In the evening, the Japanese defenses between the Old Strip and the Duropa plantation are destroyed.
 
7557
March 20th, 1943

Interallied Headquarters (Nouméa)
- Dressed in his impeccable white uniform, Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, in charge of amphibious operations for the VIIth Fleet, presents to Admiral Halsey the plan drawn up by his staff which should allow him to complete the control of the Solomon Islands. And by "present", we must understand: explain, to defend and validate each phase of the operation. Not so easy, even with the support of his direct superior, Vice Admiral Kinkaid, who was appointed commander of the new VIIth Fleet on March 15th and arrived in Nouméa on March 18th! Because the commander of the SOPAC theater does not wear his nickname of "Bull" for no reason, and his mood is all the worse because he is frustrated with playing second fiddle. Indeed, the Southwest Pacific is now only a relatively secondary theater, as the King-Nimitz conference definitively confirmed on January 17th. The confrontation with the Nihon Kaigun, which will probably take place further north, in the Central Pacific, will be of much greater importance.
After a week of conspicuous sulking in protest at this gross mistake - not him, Halsey, the command of the decisive thrust against the Yellows - the temperament of the "Bull" took over and he demanded that Turner present him with a detailed plan as soon as possible. The latter was embarrassed, but by dint of diplomacy, he managed to present this plan only after the arrival of Kinkaid, in order to avoid him a certain humiliation (and to avoid alienating his immediate boss).
Thank God, the plan is clear and the geography implacable. The first place to land is on the beaches of New Georgia, the main island of the eponymous sub-archipelago. This volcanic group which also includes the islands of Kolombangara, Vangunu, Rendova and Vella Lavella, is located roughly in the middle of the Solomon archipelago, stretched from northwest to southeast of New Guinea.
The southwest coast of New Georgia - more than 70 kilometers of jungles and white sand beaches - is separated from the small islands of Rendova and Tetipari by a "channel" called Blanche Channel. This "channel", closed by numerous coral reefs, opens to the open sea oonly by one significant pass, the Blanche Channel, in the south-east of New Georgia, whose depth reaches 1,100 meters. It is obviously there that we will land.
An air and naval base will be installed at this strategic location. The only small shadow to the picture, it will be necessary to cross the volcanic reliefs that divide the island in two to go and destroy the Japanese airfields and anchorages located on the northeast coast.
This should be quite easy, as the disproportion of forces seems overwhelming: the XIV Corps of General Griswold (who succeeded Alexander Patch) will land two infantry divisions of the 6th Army. Admittedly, the 43rd ID is not very experienced, but the 23rd Americal ID had taken Guadalcanal. In addition, there will be the Corps' artillery and tanks, and, in reserve, another infantry division, the 24th ID (composed of rookies, it had just arrived at Guadalcanal). Turner regrets the absence of a Marine division, which Nimitz wants to preserve for the conquest of the Central Pacific, but the "Grunts" of the 4th Marine Raiders Battalion will have the opportunity to show what they can do. On the other hand, intelligence reports on the island indicate less than 3,000 men are present: a garrison installed there in October 1942. The sector is held by the 38th Division, reinforced by the 8th SNLF, but the majority of its forces are on Kolombangara, which will be dealt with later.
To crush the Nipponese on the island, the staff obviously relies on a considerable firepower. In the air, the planes based at Henderson Field, in the Russell Islands and in New Guinea, about 750 aircraft. The Japanese could only really count on Rabaul's planes - by the time the operation was launched, if Lae was not taken, its airfield will at least be at risk, the Australians have promised that much. At sea, Vice Admiral Kinkaid's VIIth Fleet will support the operation. It is mainly composed of cruisers and destroyers, but also escort aircraft carriers, and it is reinforced by part of the ABDAF - Turner relies in particular on the French cruiser Jeanne-d'Arc, where he was beginning to make his home and whose facilities (and, according to some, cuisine) he appreciated. The European ships are to be engaged only to a minimum, both to spare them and to keep the operation "purely American" (orders from Admiral King...).
A force of cruisers (Rear Admiral Walden Ainsworth) is to come closer, for covering and fire support missions, and a mixed squadron of light cruisers, destroyers (Rear Admiral Aaron Merrill) would lay minefields to block the path of any Japanese reinforcements. Finally, eight submarines from SubSQUA 8 (Rear Admiral William N. Downes) are posted as lookouts. Obviously, it is doubtful that the Japanese mobilize the Combined Fleet to defend a square of jungle, but you never know...
But "Bull" Halsey does not intend to stop once New Georgia is in his hands and the allied planes based on it. What he wants is to crush the Japanese himself, and, thanks to a series of brilliant results, to change the mind of Nimitz and the brass in Washington, who understand nothing about this war. Turner is therefore asked to ignore King's orders, which are not to go as far as Rabaul, New Britain, and to be content to smother the Japanese base. However, the next steps are not yet determined with precision - Kolombangara, Vella Lavella, Bougainville?
In any case, the whole operation is named Operation Cartwheel. Halsey insists that everything must go through him: this operation must put him back in the limelight. It will have to be done quickly: New Georgia had to be attacked in mid-June and secured within two weeks. Cartwheel's first step will be Operation Toenails. Turner risks a smile: how else to say that it will be a small and insignificant thing...
 
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