Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Chachersk region ("Suvorov-South") - North of Gomel, the Soviet forces try to push their advantage, thus facing in combat of annihilation the whole of the XLI. PanzerKorps of Josef Harpe. The 2nd Guards Army reaches Rohiń - it could do no less, given the wear and tear of the defenders. However, it has to deal immediately with the always effective delaying action of the 18. Panzer. The latter bleeds it painfully and prevents it from gaining more than 5 kilometers to the south, despite the support of the 21st Armored Corps - which still loses 50 tanks while destroying only (?) 20 panzers.
Karl von Thüngen is instructed to give up ground rather than men - he must not incinerate the Reds, but just gain time for others without depleting his own strength!
Indeed, the ride of the 7th Armored Corps, all in the north, worries Minsk as well as Gomel - the Bolsheviks should not become too imaginative in this sector, that could cause trouble. To cool down the ardor of comrade Rodin, and in spite of his obvious fatigue, the 20. Panzer attacks at Yentsy, with the support of the debris of the 17. ID and especially of 7 Tiger of the 503. schw Pzr Abt - very comfortable on this completely open plain where one can see (in good weather) up to 10 kilometers in the round. And as the Stukas of the StG.1 are also part of the party in spite of the showers, the engagement quickly turns into a complete collapse of the Soviet armored vehicles, shot if they move and bombed if they remain immobile.
On such ground, the lack of infantry - mobilized further south - is a heavy handicap...
The Soviet command, which wants to bet on a German collapse after the breakthrough of the day before, is once again cruelly misled. The 4th Cavalry Corps must retreat to Voronovka to defend the approach to the bridges and not to be surrounded, while the 7th Armored Corps courageously faces, one against five but also in very unfavorable conditions. It loses 86 machines to stop the fascist wave. Alexei Rodin's formation, reconstituted two days earlier with 200 armored vehicles, has already dropped to about 80 machines... It will probably have to be withdrawn from the front again soon. The Tiger - that the Russians call "T-6" - is definitely a very formidable beast in tactical combat.
Feldwebel Kurt Knispel is said to have personally destroyed nine enemy vehicles.
However, by evening, four out of seven of these monsters are out of action, either broken down or too damaged to continue the fight.

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Battle of Gomel ("Suvorov-South") - Another day of butchery and fruitless clashes in the city. Deprived of their armored means, and in the absence of a real air support - in any case risky, on this ground - the two Soviet armies and the XII. AK continue the fight with a manic energy regularly revived by their respective leaders and political officers. Frontovikis and Landsers are decidedly like two boxers exhausted after 13 rounds, drunk with blows but whose trainers would however refuse to throw in the towel.
The 3rd Shock Army has still not completely regained its lines of the day before - General Maksim Purkayev hopes to reoccupy the park tomorrow... However, its forces are now facing only the 45. ID (Hans von Falkenstein). This last one is however reinforced by some elements sent by its neighbor, the 31.ID (Friedrich Hossbach), but these reinforcements become increasingly rare - the 31. ID is constantly extending its lines, which is on the way to annihilation.
Facing this last formation, the 54th Army holds almost all the Sovetsky district - including the road to Retchytsa (which does not interest, for the moment, the Soviets), but especially the Kazarmennaya, which leads to Zalip'ye and then to the countryside around Gomel. This avenue is perhaps the exit from hell for the Communist forces!
General Konev therefore orders to regroup the 10th Armored Corps on the rear of the front, so that Popov and his tanks could do what they were supposed to do: exploit a breach. The latter should be created tonight, by the forces of Comrade Roginsky.
.........
"The mood has changed as we gather with a hundred other armored vehicles of the corps around the vast ruin that was once the local power plant. The tanks are numerous, sometimes new, often close to each other despite the command's instructions - we are a good target for a bombardment and Fyodor has decided to leave the engine running.
It is an understatement to say that our machine, with its anti-bottle raquettes and the stigma of the shell of the Panzer IV, attracted curiosity. Tinkering and scars are glorious symbols! Andrei now proudly claims two more fascist machines on his list of achievements - but there is no space to paint victory badges on our crate like those bourgeois aviators. A slogan suggested by the group's commissioner will suffice. And a simple word painted in white now bars our dirty green turret: "Pobieda!", Victory!" It will not be long now - this unusual concentration can only mean one thing: the command is planning something offensive soon. But not immediately, I hope! So I go back to shaving and negotiate the maximum number of shells with the quartermaster (with probably some cigarettes, even a bottle of vodka...). During this time, our driver will have his engine overhauled, our pointer will ask the help of an electrician to coax the turret motor and the supply man will sweep the gun. Then we will load the ammunition together before washing up, putting on a cleaned uniform and then lining up at the borscht wagon for our borscht ration. A hot meal, at last!" (Tankist! - To the Heart of the Reich with the Red Army, Evgenyi Bessonov, Skyhorse 2017)

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Heeresgruppe Mitte HQ (Minsk) - Believing - with some pride - that he had good news to announce about the situation in Vitebsk and Gomel, Erwin Rommel officially informs the OKH that he will come to the Wolf's Lair tomorrow afternoon to take stock of the situation in HG Mitte and to present operation "Büffel" to the responsible concerned. That is to say, Hitler, of course - the sole decision-maker in the middle of his court.
One could judge this maneuver as casual, even cavalier. But the field marshal, always riding the prestige of his victories - which is, it is true, increasingly rare on the Eastern Front - believes that he is accountable only to the Supreme Leader. Moreover, the message announcing his arrival was conveniently lost in the administrative circuits of the Reich and was to be transmitted to Rastenburg in the middle of the night. The time for the services to decrypt it and send it to the right person, the Fox will already be on his way...

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Moscow - A new trumpet call on the Soviet airwaves: the Kremlin announces "the liberation of Vitebsk, as well as the imminent recapture of Orsha, Mogilev and Gomel. These new successes, obtained at the cost of immense efforts made by the soldiers of the Red Army of Workers and Peasants, we owe them of course to our brilliant Marshal Stalin, who will be able to push back definitively the fascist dregs from the territory of the USSR before continuing to lead us to the Victory."

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Berlin - Radio-Berlin, for its part, declares, unconcerned: "In White Ruthenia, the enemy's forces continue to throw themselves en masse on our defenses, but without advancing. Despite colossal losses and massive destruction of equipment, they have not yet taken control of any remarkable locality. As in the Ukrainian sector, this frenetic action is a new proof of the feverishness as well as of the profound military incompetence of the Reds. The Reich army only deplores on its side limited losses in men as in machines, easily replaceable and which would in no way influence the general course of operations."

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Novohrad-Volynskyï sector - Under a weather hesitating once again between sun and rain, the frontovikis of the 5th Shock Army finally reach Mykolaïvka, the penultimate village on the road from Novohrad-Volynskyï to Zhitomir before the banks of the Tnya.
Moving away from the river, the main part of the army obliquely turned west and headed towards Marushivka and then Hul's'k, thus aiming openly at the railroad and the southern outskirts of their first objective.
In the morning, as he had planned the day before, Ivan Chernyakovsky let the 5th Guards Armored Corps loose, which now progresses along the railroad, hoping to seize the railway bridge in a hurry. The infantry pushes back the bulk of the defenders to the north, the tanks overlap and double from the south... a perfectly classical overrun pattern in short!
Perhaps too classic - and therefore predictable. If Erich Brandenberger is indeed less well guarded on his right and the sector of the railroad (he still has here only a division and a half reinforced by a battalion of self-propelled guns), he nevertheless channels the red armor into a corridor where they rush towards Hul's'k and the 36th PanzerGrenadier (Hans Gollnick), which had taken up its quarters there, while the remnants of the Galizien are already garrisoning a second line behind the Sluch.
In the evening, as the rain begins to fall heavily, the T-34s are in sight of their objective... The Fascist seems to be in retreat, or even absent. The surprise of the Soviets is therefore total when their first tank explodes under the anti-tank fire - but no armored rush follows: thank you Lenin, the 36th PzGr has only old Panzer III... The situation of Lelyushenko deteriorates when the 249. StuG joins the party and falls on the flank of the 5th AC of the Guard, to hope to crush the Reds between the Panzer III and the StuG. The operation fails however - with inferior armor and no air support, the Heer is not as much at the party as it used to be in the past, especially since the weather was unfavorable.
The attackers are therefore not in danger... but they are nevertheless blocked a little ahead of a Bronyky - Kykova line. The 3rd Ukrainian Front therefore plans to continue from tomorrow - in the face of prepared defenses and in the conditions dictated by the enemy, of course. This is quite interesting when you consider that Hul's'k was once part of the the fortified defense line of the Novohrad-Volynskyï region - integrated in the Stalin line! Of course, it was in 1932 and of course, the works are oriented to the west, but still, all the same...

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Barashi sector - When the 37th Army reaches Shevchenkove, it immediately undergoes the counter-attack decided by Erich Jaschke, which mobilized massive resources - on the scale of this sector of the front: 294. ID, 4. LFD, 9. ID and 210. StuG Abt "Tigerkopf", the whole charging along an arc of a circle that stretches for no less than 12 kilometers.
Divided between the fear of being surrounded and the fear of displeasing, Vasily Chuikov hesitates for a short time but finally chooses to put his army on the defensive, before retreating if necessary. The Soviet fighters are not in a very favorable position: they have only a weak numerical superiority and lack support - their artillery is still being redeployed, while the Germans are multiplying their bombardments. But to remedy this painful inconvenience, the frontovikis soon adopt a new defense strategy defined by their leader: "Embracing the adversary"! Indeed, confronted with rolling roadblocks on his positions, Chuikov orders his forces to move forward as soon as the enemy assault was launched, to favor melee and even hand-to-hand combat (where the glorious communist infantryman will inevitably show his superiority...). Faced with this unexpected attitude on the part of an adversary that they imagined to be more confused, the Germans are forced to reduce their artillery fire and their counter-attack stalls and stops after two kilometers, around Bastova Rudnya. The enemy was certainly repulsed - but it is far from being annihilated.

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Horshchyk sector - The Red Army is crossing Uzh! Or at least it tries to... Under the artillery bombardments, and in the absence of an aviation "sucked" by the events of Hrozyne, the 4th Shock Army spends the day trying to cross the river on a wide front between Puhachivka and Polis'ke, thus aiming to saturate the defenses of the XLIV. AK of Friedrich Köchling. But his attempts are far from being successful. To the west, the 79. ID (Richard von Schwerin) - although stretched and having to ensure the link with the LV. AK, itself struggling with the 37th Army not far from Barashi - firmly holds the line. And in the east, the 56. ID (Otto-Joachim Lüdecke) dug in carefully in Polis'ke, where the 11th Armored Corps breaks its teeth trying to force the southern gate of Korosten ...
This leaves the central sector, between Ushomyr and Zarichchya. This last region is under the responsability of the Korps-Abteilung D (Otto Elfeldt) - a formation whose components have seen better days... The command of the XLIV. AK did not strengthen the defense of this region, which was poorly served and densely wooded - and therefore not very favorable to the offensive.
And in any case, it could not afford it...
Ivan Maslennikov wonders if there is nothing to be gained from this situation. So he orders his reserve, the 358th and 360th Rifle Divisions, to move along this part of the river for an attempt tonight. As for the 50th Army and the 19th Armored Corps, they are requested to get as close as possible to the lines (towards Veselivka or Kovbashchyna) for a crossing and injection as soon as possible. Because for Maslennikov and his men, crossing the Uzh will already be a lot!

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Korosten sector - At the tip of what the Germans have now defined as the Schwerpunkt - not true, but can they imagine anything else? - the 5th Army of Potapov continues to fight in and around the ruins of Synhai and Hrozyne. Mikhail Potapov is not advancing - he can't afford it, while in front of him the LII. AK is now exerting pressure in the hope of allowing its encirclement and destruction by the armor. But by finding itself on the defensive, paradoxically, the Red Army regains a lot of efficiency and makes the Fascist suffer: not a step back!
On the flanks, the situation evolves according to the trends of the previous day.
In the north, the 21. Panzer of Feuchtinger now advances with the support of the Stukas of SchG. 1, forcing Bogdanov - whose 4th Guards Armored Corps had already been hit hard by the blows received the day before - to retreat after a last attempt of frontal assault which cost him more than 40 machines. Its formation will soon have to be withdrawn from operations, at least for a while. In the evening, the panzers are now at the level of Khodaky, well covered on their rear by the 10. Panzergrenadier (August Schmidt), whose machines have started to cross the Uzh. Pushed by De Angelis - and by Manstein above - Heinrich Eberbach sees himself already sowing chaos on the enemy rear... But Vatutin does not see it that way: in agreement with Rodion Malinovsky, he programs the engagement of the 20th Armored Corps of Poluboiarov to smother this fire at the first opportunity (which will be soon).
And in any case, even if Feuchtinger would continue to advance, the Heer is still far from having closed the trap... Towards Roztyazhyn, in the south, the 2nd Guards Armored Corps continues its spectacular fight with the 4. Panzer and 5. Panzer - maneuvering with skill from one opponent to the other, Pavel Rybalko shows all his talent by systematically refusing the confrontation when it seems unfavorable to him and forcing - paradoxical situation - Germans in a hurry to fight to uncover themselves instead of simply counter-attacking! The fight that followed cost the Reich 37 panzers against only 52 Russian armored vehicles. One cannot speak of success... With regret, Eberbach has to note that to make the Tiger of the 501. schw. Pz Abt run from one hot spot to the other in front of an opponent who shies away from the slow Germanic monsters does not give as good results as hoped... The Panzer VIs consume fuel and often break down without having done anything useful... So we'll have to move forward to force the Reds to really fight!
Advance? With tired formations and facing an armored corps covered by two intact armies! Indeed, Khomenko and Kreyzer should not be able to postpone their participation in the common effort much longer. Of course, Manstein is unaware of their presence - on the other hand, he would love to return to Rastenburg with a decisive victory against the Soviets, to force Rommel to back down. It seems that the Fox forces are wearing out their potential on Orsha and especially Gomel, but nothing is coming of it...
But it is obvious that the great Manstein is not in a comparable situation at all, what do you imagine?

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Narodichi sector - The changing weather reflects the mood of the Soviet formations in the sector, which continue their irregular efforts - Trofimenko's 8th Guards towards Zherev and Gagen's 64th Army towards Zelena Polyana. Once again, nothing that could endanger the Germans. But since this is not the goal...

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

South of France - A day of relaxation, or almost, the radar operators of the Wehrmacht will say (at least those who escaped the allied bombs) with only three raids.
The day begins with a new bombardment of Toulon by the 389th BG, escorted by the 82nd FG. The fighters of the JG 2 try to oppose to this raid, but they also have to face in the sector the 6th EC, escorting the 21st EB, which is going to attack the defenses of La Ciotat a few kilometers away. The air toll is five German fighters lost against two Allied fighters and a Liberator. On the ground, in addition to unfortunately a hundred civilian casualties, the Allied bombers have a great success. Indeed, the submarine U-642 is sunk by a bomb which hits it head-on.
At that moment, the Kriegsmarine has only six U-boots in the Mediterranean, the U-73, U-223, U-377, U-409, U-431 and U-562, as well as the 7th and 9th Flotillas of S-boats, based in Toulon and La Spezia.
Further west and a few hours later, the 17th BG, accompanied by the Mustangs of the 52nd FG, attack again the bridges and other railway works of Tarascon, which the Germans still want to restore.

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Italian Front - The men of the 14th Armored Infantry Btn penetrate Rosignano abandoned by the Germans. Meanwhile, the CCB of the Old Ironside emerges from Castellina Maritima, while in the plain the CCB reaches Route 51. The ambushes and anti-tank obstacles are still numerous, but much less so than in the south, at the beginning of the operation. The Germans are now clearly in a mobile defence pattern.
The 142nd Rgt of the 36th US-ID advances along Route 14, accompanied by the 601st Btn of Tank-Destroyers. The 143rd Infantry Regiment and its supports arrive at the Saline crossroads, south of Volterra, while further east, TF Bender redeploys on Route 68 towards the same town.
A little south of the Texans of the 36th, the 34th US-ID clears the terrain on Mount Voltraio (500 meters) and all around. The Germans, true to their habits, had sown in these forests many traps and other delaying elements.
While the 88th Infantry Regiment of the 20th Friuli Division resumes its progression along Route 101 and passes the hamlet of San Donato, the 87th continues its clearing operations north of Poggibonsi. The 187th Rgt of the Folgore, which had held its positions during the German offensive, comes to lock itself on the left to join the 47th Bari ID, which occupies the ground left free by the enemy until Castel San Gimignano.
On the right, the 1st Rgt of the 4th DI Alpine Cuneense spends the day securing the terrain in the hills north of Panzano. On the other hand, the 2nd Alpine Rgt makes contact with the Resistance in Greve in Chianti to the west and the French to the east, at the pass overlooking the parish of San Michele Dudda.
On the French side, the 83rd DIA (Magnan Brigade) and the legionnaires of the 6th BMLE redeploy, while the Brosset Brigade reaches Reggello.
The 2nd Brigade of the 4th Belgian ID continues its march northwards through the forest and begins togo down from Mount Pratomagno. It is not necessarily a walk of any rest considering the number of mines and other traps that the men of the 263. ID left behind. The rest of the division spends the day expanding its position between Rassina and Bibbiena.
To the right of the Belgians, the Algerians of the Granier Brigade (86th DIA) continue their descent from Mount Casella and arrived in sight of Route 60, between Chitignano and Chiusi della Verna, while the other brigade occupies Pieve San Stefano and deploy methodically to secure the surroundings of the village.
.........
In the sector of the British X Corps, the 132nd Infantry Brigade finally manages to break through the enemy's position on Hill 900 and overtake Route 208 which runs alongside it. On the other side of the valley, the 125th and 161st Indian Brigades are brought to rest. The next objective, Monte Catria, with its almost 1,700 meters, is too big for the two exhausted brigades. Nevertheless, the 5th Indian Division launches its 9th Brigade, until then in reserve, which infiltrates through the forest on the S-shaped Hill 1050 north of Scheggia. The fighting is very hard, but the men of the 14th Punjab Rgt, who made their approach by night, achieve surprise and overrun the pillboxes and other mortar positions.
On the Canadian side, while the Armored Brigade and the West Nova Scotia Rgt are reorganizing, the men of the Edmonton Regiment return to the forests and ridges north of the Murano Plateau, but they are unable to make any progress. It is decided to try again the next day, after a much more serious artillery preparation.
During the day, the South Africans of the 1st Division are subjected to several counter-attacks by Kampfgruppes of the 10. Panzer. They arerepulsed thanks to a powerful artillery support but also to the two armored brigades, which are this time positioned in defense and did not miss the chance to take revenge on the panzers.
In the air, Squadron Leader Neville Duke of Sqn 92 obtains a double in this sector: he shoots down an Fw 190 and a Fieseler Storch. Duke, as his comrades call him, remains the number one Spitfire ace on the Mediterranean front.
The 4th and 6th Brigades of the 2nd South African Division reach the villages of Montemarciano and Monte San Vito respectively. At the end of the day, the naval support allows to arrive in sight of Marzocca.

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Adriatic - At daybreak, the Beaumonts of Sqn 69, covered by the Spitfires of Sqn 145, attack the bridge of Knin, which the Germans had put back into service a few days ago. Almost at the same time, a little further north, the Monfalcone airfield is attacked by Beaufighters and Banshees from Sqn 605 and 235. Finally, at the beginning of the afternoon, Sqn 89 and 126 attack the defenses and artillery positions near the village of Ravni. The JG 53, out of the sector against the first two raids, cannot intervene either against the last one, because it is too busy with a Circus that is developing above the front line.
Shortly after nightfall, the runways of the Ubdina airfield and the radar installed on the hills a little to the south are targeted by the Wellingtons of Sqn 37, 104 and 38. If the airfield itself suffers only minor damage at the southern end of the runways, several bombers having dropped too early, the radar is damaged and is unavailable for two weeks.

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Macedonia - The air offensives of the last few days are beginning to erode the material potential of the Allied air force, but the orders of the Allied GHQ remain categorical: "maintain strong pressure on Albania and Macedonia". Boston and Blenheim go on the attack again, this time targeting Pristina in Kosovo. Here again, road depots and infrastructures constitute immobile targets for the bombers, which lose a Blenheim victim of the flak as well as a damaged Boston. At the HQ of the 12. Armee, one notices that the axis Skopje-Pristina leads to the heart of Serbia... and to Belgrade.

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Thessaloniki Plain ("Double Tower") - Of the multiple battlefields of Tower, only those surrounding Salonika remain active. And still, this phase of the operation is coming to an end, as the XIIIth Corps finally emerges from the pine forests and captures the village of Panorama. From where it has an excellent view of the southern part of the harbour. The arrival of the Allies in the sector is a bad surprise for General Müller, who urgently sends a battalion of Jägers to fortify it. However, he should not be overly concerned: the supply lines of the 51st Infantry Division, which is in the lead in this sector, are disproportionately stretched out.
Apsalos Pass - Nikolov's Bulgarians finally join Colonel Werner von Hillebrandt's 92.Grenadier-Rgt to lock this road west of Edessa. The German soldiers reserve a cold welcome to their allies, who seem to be in a hurry to celebrate Saint-Simeon's Day, one of the major religious holidays in Bulgaria.
Axioupolis - Pedino Axis - To the great relief of General Gustav Fehn, the Yugoslavs do not seem to want to continue their offensive. His units (or what is left of them) can therefore resupply and reorganize after the heavy losses suffered since August 17. In order to do so, the commander of the XXII. Gebirgs-Armee-Korps chooses to amalgamate the remains of the 153. FD to the 104. Jäger, in order to reconstitute a unit of sufficient strength. After all, these two units had been fighting together for almost two weeks, and the survivors of the division of the late von Böhm-Bezing are now rough veterans. In any case, he is not going to send them to the SS or the Brandenburgers - who would surely not want them.

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Salonika (Eastern sector) - Lieutenant-General Lavarack scratches his head. Indeed, he has to hold 30 kilometers of frontline - a good half of which is made up of cities or villages more or less populated - with his two infantry divisions and three armored divisions. An easy task on the surface. But he isalso ordered to "resume the offensive with determination" towards the port of Salonika, while the fuel is hardly reaching the tanks of his machines (not very useful in an urban environment) and that his soldiers are exhausted by this offensive which has lasted for 14 days and has made them travel 140 kilometers. The battles of Korinos and Agios Dimitrios (which have already been forgotten in high places) have not helped.
The brave general therefore asks O'Connor for a delay for reorganization and preparation. He has the answer in his hands - to be so caustic and contemptuous, it must actually come from Montgomery himself. "Your units have had five days' rest and are at full quotas. On the other side, the intelligence reports only mention second-line troops, or in small numbers. If your answer does indeed reveal unpreparedness, it cannot be solely related to the current operation". Anyway, in short... we tell him that it's a mess in his corps!
But it gets better: headquarters orders him to "launch without delay, with the support of the entire 6th Armoured Division, an assault in force on the districts of Eleftherio-Kordelio, then Evosmos and Menememi, in order to seize the central station. It is vital for the continuation of the operations that this installation is not destroyed by the enemy forces. The armor will provide ample support for your task." An assault with 300 tanks in an urban area? It would be good if the great leaders would leave Syntagma Square to come and see the enormity of this idea!
Lavarack is dismayed, but prepared to obey in spite of everything by sending the 17th Brigade (Brigadier Murray Moten) of the 6th Australian Division. But Lumsden, of the 6th Armoured, is not willing to let himself be pushed around; he calls the 8th Army commander directly.
A stormy discussion ensues. "It would be impossible for the 6th Armoured to open the road into town without incurring appalling losses due to undetected minefields or anti-tank fire." And he asks that the infantry go clear mines and reduce anti-tank positions. After endless discussions, during which Alexander Gatehouse (10th Armoured) was called in by Lumsden as a reinforcement, in Athens, the handset was finally snatched from O'Connor's hands - it is now Montgomery who answers. "I agree with you that a surprise attack with a whole division is impossible. Take a single armored regiment and go for it with the Australians."
Then silence. The two generals look at each other, looking distressed. Lumsden finally chooses one of his units: the 2nd Lothians and Border Horse, on Sherman.
The attack starts at 13:30, with three infantry battalions and 52 tanks. It falls precisely where Müller was expecting it: the axis of the current Monastiriou Boulevard, which runs along the railroad tracks. The Jägers have ample time to transform this area into a firing range, destroying many houses to clear lines of sight in certain places or to create protective rubble in other places, undermining intersections and closing off the crossroads with debris. At the very end of Calvary Road, the Germans removed the station's clock and installed an artillery observer in its place.
Unsurprisingly, the attack is a disaster for the Australian infantry, whose battalion is decimated as its men struggle to advance from cover to cover - which were still in the range of an automatic weapon that had remained camouflaged. Within minutes, the 5th Btn is reduced to 350 men out of the original 900. The men of the 6th Btn remained behind the Shermans like sheep following their shepherds - and the tactic seemed to work for some 350 meters - no mines around here.
Then, the lead vehicle of Squadron B (Major G.J.W. Turner) stops just before a crossroads to aim his gun at a building where he saw a shadowy tracked vehicle moving. A Marder? By the time he had oriented his turret 25 degrees to the right, the tank commander pulled out his periscope to spot his opponent. "Where is he?" The instrument makes a complete turn and observes the gun of a Pak 40 timidly emerging from an alleyway... on the left flank. "Clever girl..." bellows the tank commander just before the second Marder opens fire. The tank is destroyed then four of his comrades are eliminated one after the other, until the pair of predators are silenced... by the Australian infantrymen, who throw in beer bottles filled with gasoline and attached to a grenade into the uncovered position. The soldiers of the antipodes have improvised this very useful weapon in town, as a symbol of their love for this drink. Among the victims of the Marders, Lt. D.F. Alexander, mowed down by a machine gun while bravely trying to free one of his trapped crew members. For this heroic action, he will receive the DSO.
In the evening, the assault is suspended - the Allies have advanced 500 meters, losing 11 tanks and 750 men! Lumsden speaks of "a puff of pride that cost us dearly", Stevens is content to describe it as "a traumatic failure". It was far too late to take 97. Jäger by surprise. In his report sent to Athens that evening, of a professional and calculated coldness, Lavarack concludes: "I fear that we are heading for a siege. Tower seems to have succeeded in doing everything but achieving his objective. We would very much appreciate air or naval support in the next offensive."
But that's the problem! The Jägers are well hidden and the Greeks have already warned that they would not accept that we raze the city, whether by air or by sea. And moreover Monty wants a working port, not a pile of ruins!
In the evening, the HMS Erebus and her companions fire a hundred shells at the city, in the area where the Australians had been pushed back. A spectacular action, but too limited to have much effect.
Grumbling against the Greeks and the Australians, Montgomery has these words: "As your old Foch, my dear Audet, I admire Napoleon much less now that I have commanded a coalition!" The Frenchman does not answer, it is useless to contradict the leader of the 18th Allied Army Group.

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Salonika (center) - With the full blessing of his superior, Colonel Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller keeps order in the city, with an iron hand in a steel glove. The population seems to be under control, at least for the time being, and he seeks out and arrests all deserters or stragglers who have not been able to evacuate. It would not be a good idea that armed bands are organized in Salonika! And the Jägers are not all as virtuous as their general claims. A hundred men will thus take, forced, the way to the front.
And as far as the rebels are concerned, those who try to pass themselves off as civilians, the cowards, the so-called traumatized and other conscientious objectors, the city will soon see flowering on its facades and balconies, often bearing the sign "Ich bin ein Defätist".
Covered by Müller the general, Müller the colonel has no reason to be more lenient with them than with the Greeks - at the risk of exacerbating the tensions between the Jägers and his men.

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Sofia - Today is St. Simon's Day, according to Bulgarian tradition - the worst day of the year, a day of bad luck and risk. On this "feast of the wolves", the Regent receives again ambassador Lavrishev, for a courtesy visit during which everything is discussed, except the war. To the great astonishment of the Soviet, it must be admitted.
Then, as the conversation seems to end, the prince takes out of his desk a copy of the newspaper Balgarski Zapad, published in annexed Thrace with the support of the Bulgarian government.
Its title is disturbing, despite the censorship: "English attacks on Salonika are repulsed with heavy losses". Kyril de Preslav smiles, however, when he shows the headline: "We must do something, Excellency, to raise the morale of our people. I intend to organize a big event on September 6th, to celebrate the reunification of Bulgaria in 1885, at the end of the wars which saw the almost total dislocation of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. There is no doubt that, under the aegis of our glorious ancestors, the Bulgarian people will know how to face the enemy... and take the necessary decisions. One decisive event often calls for another, doesn't it?
The diplomat understands, he nods his head with a knowing look and answered: "Your Highness, I thank you for having informed me of this idea, which seems to me to be excellent. I have no doubt that your services will be able to ensure that this day is indeed historic, although it is very... very close. "
But the Regent, all smiles and good humor, overlooks this slight criticism: "We will will surely have the opportunity to meet on that day, to discuss the future of the country. With all the friends you want to invite - they are welcome in advance, be sure!
The usual cordial greetings follow and the Soviet takes his leave. On his way out, Lavrishev feels a a little twinge of regret. Although he is a diplomat by profession and a communist convinced that the monarchies have had their day, he does not have a clear conscience... But after all, who can claim to have a clear conscience in these times?

 

[Wings]

September 1st, 1943

Athens - The Venizelos government, that of King George II, has one more reason to be satisfied. While the national territory will soon be completely liberated, while the communist agitators have returned to the ranks and that the supply of the population in food of first necessity is more or less assured, the minister of Trade and the Navy Gerasimos Vassiliadis announces the resumption of the exploitation of the mines of Laurion. This deposit of silver, but also of other precious or strategic metals (lead, zinc, manganese or cadmium) will soon contribute again to the victory of the Allies, as it contributed to the greatness of Athens.
That the working conditions in these mines are what they are - disastrous - is a detail that should be left aside for the sake of patriotism. The French will not say the opposite: the mines are owned by the Compagnie Française des Mines du Laurion.
The news is as welcome in Algiers as it is in Athens.

 

[Wings]

September 2nd, 1943

Caffarelli barracks, Toulouse - The vast military district of boulevard Lascrosses escaped the bombardment of August 23rd, which was mainly aimed at the airport. All the same, General Wend von Wietersheim, chief of the 11. PanzerDivision, redeployed most of his tanks to more discrete shelters. His superior, General Lemelsen, head of the 1. Armee, returned from the last high command meeting with the conviction that the Franco-Americans would land in the Bay of Biscay. But not everyone shares his certainty, since the two SS armored divisions, the best equipped with modern tanks, are camped for the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler in Lyon and the Das Reich in Nîmes. In any case, the more and more repeated bombings of the south of France indicate that the big blow will not be long in coming. In all the German garrisons, the security instructions have been reinforced. Movements of "bands" are reported in the Cévennes. The next trip across the country, if one had to go on an operation, might not be a pleasant one.