France Fights On (English Translation) - Thread II - To the continent!

[Wings]

September 16th, 1943

Provence
Marseille - A first liberty ship unloads today in the port ! The teams of engineers worked with speed to clear moorings. They were helped by all the port personnel, who made certain parts reappear overnight, some of the parts whose absence prevented the use of the most powerful cranes. In the Gulf of Fos, the wharves of Berre, La Mède and Lavéra (oil), the wharves of Caronte (bulk materials, oilseeds, etc.) and Port-Saint-Louis du Rhône (bulk materials, etc.) were captured almost intact.
Military and civilian teams are continuing to work hard to clear these ports. There is no doubt that before the bad season, logistics will no longer be a problem for both the military and the civilian population.
.........
Canal Baussengue (Martigues) - Near the collapsed twisted beams in the middle of the canal, men and makeshift equipment are working between the Kléber quay and the Girondins quay. With the help of a hoist, a team undertakes to move an airplane bomb that fell the night before, intact and unexploded - just defused by the deminers.
- Say, Raoul, don't you think you're pushing it a bit?
- Listen, Jean, we don't have time to tinker. I'm under a lot of pressure. And then the other idiots who visited us last night, we have to explain it to them. It's one of theirs, it didn't serve but don't worry, it won't last. In the four corners of the pond we'll find it this mess, scattered like a puzzle. They made me miss my night. Me, when I get too much, I correct more, I dynamite, I disperse, I ventilate...
- If you say so, Raoul...
.........
Liberation - Along the Rhône, calm seems to reign, apart from a few exchanges of artillery exchanges. The 2nd armored division-US Hell on Wheels went back down discreetly towards the south to rest the men and be replenished in preparation for Steamer Duck. The 18th Artillery Group, which had started to land the day before, deploys near Arles, but does not open fire and camouflages itself as best as possible.
.........
Südwall - The stabilization of the front will allow the Germans to disengage completely the 1. SS Panzer. Although weakened, it will remain in reserve position until the arrival of the 16. Panzer, coming from the north of France.
The OKW begins to plan the transformation of certain second-line units into real IDs to go to the front. The most immediately available is the 165. Reserve Division, based in Alsace, which will be converted as soon as possible.

Alps and French Riviera
Liberation - In the Vaucluse plain, the armoured advance stops and the fighting calms down at the Montélimar gap.
But the French general staff decided to make one last attempt to enter the Drôme by the hills. However, the paratroopers of the 2. FJD and the fighters of the 157. Gerbirgs stand guard and thwart all attempts by the 3rd DIM or the 10th DI. The day sees only clashes between the French mountain troops and those of the Axis, in a game of cat and mouse where each one feels the opponent's positions.
This is not the case in the sector of the 9th DIC. In the north, the 14th DBLE put pressure on the 281. Gr Rgt along the Route Napoleon. Throughout the day, the legionnaires benefit from support of the entire GAN 2, to the great displeasure of the Germans. To the south, the skirmishers of the 5th Rgt, helped by the corps artillery and the I/8 RCA, push back the 285. Gr Rgt until Callian, where the German grenadiers try to hold on, while those of the 286. Gr Rgt have to do a lot to avoid being overrun or encircled in the Adrets de l'Estérel sector.
In any case, we are only a few kilometers away from the Cannes-Grasse basin, and there would be no serious obstacle until Nice.
.........
Place de Verdun, Gap - Even if there was no fierce fighting for the liberation of the town, the Dominique Villars high school will long bear the scars of the scuffles that have dominated the previous days.
On the opposite side of the square, Captain De Fresnay, bent over a map, ponders the next steps. A small wind shakes the angles of the document that is held by some stones and a quarter of coffee... cold maintain on the hood of the Willys.
Under the nearby plane tree, the soldier El Mardi, perched on the hood of the Mouflon Meknez II (sic), smiles at two kids who are as impressed by the vehicle as by the skirmisher. To the great annoyance of the officer, the curious are numerous, who crowd around the vehicles and the soldiers. But how to repel them?
Discreet clearing of the throat.
- Hmmm... captain?
- Ah... Sergeant...
- The colonel makes you say that the barracks is clear, captain.
- Mmmh... Thank you, sergeant. Stay. I need your lights. Come on, what the hell is this?
"That" is a troop of about twenty young men, in civilian clothes and without weapons, who are heading towards them, my goodness, at a cadenced pace and in a rather drinkable column. And at its head...
- Comp...anyyyy... halt! Turn around... right. Gaaar...davous!
De Fresnay, who has straightened up, returns his salute to the head of the detachment.
- At ease, gentlemen. At ease. Commander...
And, suddenly less formal, he extends his hand.
- Ha, not for long, Captain...
- Are you reinstated?
- I'm going back to being Sergeant Paul Héraud. At least, I hope so. If the 4th Engineers of Grenoble wants me back.
- Them or someone else, don't worry.
- Well, after screwing up some stuff, maybe they'll make me fix some...
He sighs.
- Um... And where are these j... these men going, Commander?
- To enlist, sir. These are the ones I told you about.
The captain pretends to ignore a comment in dialect behind his back, in which there is talk of lambs and "mechoui for the Zalboches".
Dumont-Héraud hands him a school bag that has been used for a number of years, apparently quite full, with rolls sticking out of it.
- Here you are. I thought of you.
De Fresnay takes it. Opens it. Inventories it. His face lights up. A little.
- A Michelin map! The Savoie-Dauphiné Green Guide! In three copies!... And... Paris? But...
- Prises de guerre. You'll need them more than I will.
At that moment, a rumor swelling on the avenue catches his attention. A civilian truck, with its hood hastily smeared with blue white and red and with an uncovered platform, is slowed down by a crowd which grows little by little. Quibbles, lazzis, insults are flying, certainly at the address of the handful of civilians installed at the back of the vehicle, and not of the four young men who, armed with odds and ends, softly push back the most audacious of the vindictive "patriots".
Among the captives that are transferred from the prison to the barracks, for interrogation, two women, quite young, shaven. One hides her face in her hands; the other, sitting on the wooden bench, her back straight, stares ahead. She is crying.
The truck pulls out onto the avenue with difficulty.
A shot slams.
General panic.
In one movement, De Fresnay and Dumont-Héraud take cover behind the jeep. The quarter staggers, floods the map. Rafing the kids as he passes, El Mardi rolls down the Mouflon.
Shouts. Frenzied galloping of the civilians who scatter like chickens in all directions.
Disorderly shooting. Windows shatter. The corner of a wall scatters its debris on a woman in a black skirt who seems to be embedded in the façade.
- Cease fire! Cease fire!" shouts De Fresnay, who turns to his neighbor: "A lone gunman. I thought you had cleaned up the city..."
- So did I.
The gunshots become more distant and then cease. The men start to get up. De Fresnay shouts violently at one of the maquisards who, scared to death, sprayed the neighboring roofs with Sten from the top of his truck.
- Shit! Shit and shit! Martinez! Scrapyard?
- I'm fine, sir. Mourad?
- The kids, they got nothing, Sarge. But Farid, he shat his pants. (Laughter.)
- Mourad, fuck you! (Follows a barrage of insults in dialect.)
- Can you see anything?
- Negative, 'pitaine.
- Negative too, 'pitaine.
- Right. Martinez, find Jacob. Give me a status report and get these civilians out of here so we can see things a little more clearly. And don't forget... Dumont, follow me.
- Just a moment, sir. Company... Assemble! Uh... Gather in front of the bar of the Lycée!
Here and there, crowds are already forming. Comments. Lies.
Pushing the onlookers aside, De Fresnay discovers a man lying on the ground.
He has fallen off the truck, probably already dead.
- Shit!" says Héraud at his side.
- Do you know him?
- Guerlitch. A beautiful scumbag. Agent of the Gestapo. And to think that we had gone to a lot of trouble to catch him!
De Fresnay sweeps his eyes over the surrounding facades. On the balconies, in the windows, the curious point their noses. Surely the shooter will not show himself again soon! Especially since he may have perhaps already got what he wanted.
A corporal appears, all out of breath: "Captain! First report. A broken leg. Some oncussions. One dead. One kid. She took a stray bullet. No casualties at our house."
An ambulance arrives.
The coffee-stained map is stuck under a Mouflon track.
The quarter is gone...
.........
Südwall - General Hoffmann, boss of the 715. ID, already has his fallback positions ready on theGrande Corniche or in the upper Var valley. There is also the question of attaching the 148. ID to the LI. GK. Such an entry attachment would have been practical from the start, because it might have allowed the LI. GK to intervene to contain the Allies in the Var.
Unfortunately, the LI. Gebirgs-Korps is dependent on the Italian front and has to follow the orders of Kesselring. Indeed, very worried at the idea of seeing the Allies break through in his back in Northern Italy, the General Feldmarschall is especially concerned with defending the French-Italian border.

 

[Wings]

September 17th, 1943

Burma Campaign
Air war
Occupied Burma - New raids on the valley where the "Death Line" passes. Several groups of four Hurricane IIIs from Sqn 2 (BVAS) are on Rhubarb mission. One of them is surprised by three Ki-44s which shoot down two Hurricanes. The pilots are able to jump, but they are captured and sent to the Three Pagodas camp.
Towards Ye and Tavoy, along the coast, the day passes without any notable incident for the Belgians of the 342 (B) and the American P-38.

Indochina Campaign
Battle of Laos
Laos, 10 km north of the Hayabusa base - The sun is not yet up, but the tiny ban taken over the day before is in a frenzy of activity. In the darkness, the headlights illuminate a column in formation on the road: machine guns, horse-drawn 75mm cannons, but above all numerous soldiers on foot, armed to the teeth - rifles, automatic weapons, mortars of all calibers. A major offensive is being prepared, it must mobilize more than three thousand men.
The soldiers set off at about eight o'clock in the morning. Their first objective is to clear the Thai garrison of Takhek.
.........
On the road to Takhek, 08:45 - A few pairs of indiscreet and well hidden eyes (and with perfectly good radios) warn the Epervierbase of the path taken by the Nipponese, and four Mitchells of the 62nd EB accompanied by six P-40s of the 74th FG attack the Imperial Army column. The column is first sprayed with Muriaques and M41s, and is then hit by Browning fire. This ordeal lasts for many minutes - the defenders, without any flak worthy of the name, only succeed in damaging a fighter flying a little too low.
Almost two hours were lost, the time to remove the destroyed vehicles, to bury the dead and to recover the usable meat from the carcasses of the draught animals...

New Guinea Campaign
Bobdubi Ridge - While part of the Okabe group flees Bobdubi Ridge, some Japanese troops stay behind to harass the Australians. These elements are surrounded and the Australians must now eliminate them, a difficult and often costly task.
After almost two months of fighting, the 24th Infantry Battalion is relieved by the 58/59th Battalion, 15th Infantry Brigade. This brigade is commanded by Gen. Heathcote "Sledge" Hammer, who gained fame in the fighting in Greece where he commanded the 2/48th Battalion, the most decorated Australian unit since the beginning of the war.
However, the 58/59th Battalion, completely inexperienced, suffered heavy losses. These will fuel a controversy on the appointment of incapable officers to positions of responsibility (the so-called "generals list" affair).

Bitoi River - The Japanese entrenched along the river suddenly raise their heads, worried, to look at the sky. An engine humming gradually builds up. It is several dozens of B-25 Mitchells of the Fifth Air Force of the USAAF, attacking their positions. This raid precedes an infantry attack which appears to be violent, but is in fact only carried out by the D Company of the 2/16th Battalion from Lababia Ridge. In fact, the Australians do not really try to break through, only to hold the Japanese.
.........
Nassau Bay - At the same time, Douglas A-20 Havocs attack the Japanese garrison on the coast. Their bombs and strafing precedes the landing of MacKechnie Force. This one is made of American and Australian units amalgamated around the 162nd Infantry Regiment of the US Army, commanded by Colonel MacKechnie.
They embark on 39 LCVPs, three speedboats (PT-120, PT-142 and PT-143) and... two Japanese Daihatsu barges (used by the 2nd Engineer Special Brigade, each carrying a bulldozer).
The small convoy, accompanied by the PT-68, left Mort Bay in the night. On a rough sea and under a driving rain reducing visibility to almost nothing, the trip was not a walk in the park. PT-68 and PT-142 lost the convoy and had to circle for a while before finding it.
The actual landing goes smoothly, thanks to the help of a battalion of the Papuan Rifles. The latter, posted at Cape Dinga, guide the Americans. The main difficulty is the coordination problems due to the fact that many radios were damaged by the sea water.
The defenders - about 300 soldiers - are well aware of the landing, but the Nipponese withdraw without fighting. The commander, Torashige Tsukiokare, was killed by a bomb dropped by an A-20 while he had gathered his officers to deal with the situation and this blow decapitated the unit. Demoralized, the survivors mistook the two bulldozers of the 2nd Engineer Special Brigade as tanks and decided to withdraw.
Free to organize itself, the MacKechnie Force regroups and fortifies its bridgehead, using the Browning .30 machine guns of the LCVP.

 

[Wings]

September 17th, 1943

Operation Suvorov
Embarassed Bison
Belarus - The previous day's downpour is replaced by scattered showers, which fade in the morning and stop in the early afternoon. The VVS and the Luftwaffe can go out again under the clouds... But in the staffs, one wonders if the heavy precipitations which one has just undergone do not announce others of them for soon. The rasputitsa, the season of mud, is now in all the heads - reason more to do quickly!
.........
Bialyničy region ("Suvorov-Center") - Here Suvorov seems to be on its last legs, under the orders of Ivan Konev. In order to repair the disaster of Kirawsk by the capture of Jlobin, the latter seeks to occupy the Germans elsewhere ... and thus reproaches his subordinates of the 1st Belorussian Front for not supporting enough the 15th Army, the only formation still able to worry the Wehrmacht a little in the sector.
The criticism is not unfounded - except that Eremenko's forces are in no condition to help Fedyuninsky to hold his bridgehead. However, just like Jans Jordan the day before, Ivan Zakharkin sends some detachments across the Drut for a trip without return, more or less supported by his artillery. Nothing will come of i - nobody wants it anymore, nobody believes in it.
But this is also the case for the opponents of the 15th Army: the forces of the XX. and VII. AK forces simply do not have the necessary momentum to destroy this bridgehead, which has been entrenched for a week. The Germans continue to surround the salient, succeed in seizing Kostyukovichi... but it would take more means to do better. For example the 18. PanzerGrenadier. Alas, the latter is busy further north, defending the Talatchyn Gap - and von Erdmannsdorff's forces are themselves far from fresh, while the 12. Panzer, which was part of the AG reserves, is soon to be withdrawn from the front. It is therefore a kind of pat that seems to impose itself gradually and should put an end to the actions of the central part of Suvorov. Unless the Stavka requires from Fedyuninsky a final assault!
.........
Chachevichy area ("Suvorov-Center") - Waiting day for the 19. and 20. Panzer, which even retreat a handful of kilometers to the south to facilitate the rise in line of the XLIII. AK - which arrives at forced march from Kirawsk to deploy around the crossroads north of Pierunava. This backward march makes the panzers lose contact with the Soviets - the latter did not try to re-establish it: on this terrain so unsuitable for offense, the 22nd Armored Corps felt much more comfortable in defense... Behind it, on the the Drut, what remains of the unfortunate 29th Army of Managrov tries to entrench itself in order to face a possible fascist attack - this formation is reduced to 30% of its potential before Suvorov, and the length of the front that it must hold has not changed since August 20th, while there is no more support nearby. It is therefore understandable that Mikhail Volkov is measured in his aggressiveness - from his point of view, a backlash always seems possible.
Finally, it is not until 17:00 that von Oven's men are deployed on the front of the previous day's conquests, while von Zangen's 17. ID is already on its way back south: the Jlobin affair becomes urgent! In the evening, the panzers finally take their turn to head south. They are going to have to drive day and night to hope to reach the scene of the action, 70 kilometers away, within two days. Will they be rested enough to fight again? They'll have to be!
.........
Jlobin region ("Suvorov-South") - In Jlobin, the situation of the Heer continues to deteriorate, while the defenders of the XX. AK - even reinforced by the 340. ID - are now facing a Soviet offensive along three axes converging more or less towards the crossroads of Ostrov, a little south of the line of withdrawal defined by Hermann Hoth.
In the north, things are still going relatively well: the 340. ID of Josef Prinner is able to contain the bridgehead of the 2nd Guards Army, which no longer benefits from the cover of the elements for its transfers and is clearly weakened by the efforts made and the losses suffered for weeks. The frontovikis hold here only a rectangle of 4 km by 2 km, covered by the road coming from Jlobin... This may seem small (and it is indeed) - however, it is a wooded, muddy terrain, favorable to defense... It is not even sure that the upcoming arrival of the Panzerdivisions can quickly solve this problem, while the red artillery, on the other side of the Drut, bludgeoning the German positions... Strešyn's nightmare starts again!
A little further down, in Jlobin itself, the XXV. AK of Wilhelm Fahrmbacher still resists effectively... but it is necessary to note that it is at the price of significant losses, while the northern banks are always more bald. And if the Soviet air force is now effectively countered by the Luftwaffe (and by the rain), the red artillery, however, continues to fire despite the counter-battery, making the German positions always more untenable! This is how Lieutenant-Colonel Nikifor Biganenko, head of the 90th Guards Mortar Rgt., wounded by a shrapnel, refuses medical evacuation in order to continue to lead his formation - he will be made Hero of the Soviet Union... In Jlobin like in Gomel, the artillery is definitely a major factor in the success (even if measured) of "Suvorov South".
In short, all this activity is very expensive for the XXV. AK. Of course, this could be justified... if the corps was assured of its flanks and had a perspective! Indeed, on its right, subject to an ever-increasing pressure of a well-worn 10th Armored Corps, but especially - and this is new - of a 21st CB just out of the river and now along the woods and the canals, the 18. Panzer is not very far from losing its footing and must now frankly move back to avoid being run over by the very angry Russians ! And as Karl von Thüngen said to the Heeresgruppe HQ, by phone: "Do I have to remind you that "Büffel" had for first goal to reduce the unconsidered wear of the units of the HG Mitte - and especially of its PanzerDivisionen!" To die for the Reich is fine, to perish for a miserable piece of land that would soon be lost anyway, very little for the native of Mayenz, who discreetly begins to wonder about the way the war is conducted in Berlin...
In short - not yet failing, but obviously insufficient for the task entrusted to it, the 18. Panzer can only retreat. At 14:00, it approaches Prishel'tsy, on the main road linking Jlobin to the German rear. Further west, the Reds have passed the woods and hold Krugi! Convinced that his entire right flank is in danger of collapsing, Hermann Hoth himself gives the order to withdraw... as Rommel had authorized him to do. The Landsers retreat in haste, but in good order, and evacuated Jlobin in front of the euphoric but exhausted Soviets.
Around 16:30, Jlobin is finally liberated - the red flag flies high over the former city of the Grand Duchy of Poland-Lithuania... but Konev missed his chance. He who hoped for the surrounding of several fascist divisions, like in Smolensk, now fears that his performance will be judged too dull. Also - and once again, without referring to Zhukov - he takes the lead and sends directly to Stalin's office the elements of the communiqué that will be broadcast tonight. Which, in this way, may be a bit exaggerated.
.........
"That's it, the Germans are retreating again, but our little climb along the streams has bled us. Many of our people are still fallen: Nikita, Vladimir, Pyotr, Yuri... Some may come back, but not many. The fight against the invader is very expensive - it is the price to pay. In the platoon, with our Pobieda!, I only really know Boris' and Sasha's tank. The others are new.
Finally, as Andrei once told me, tomorrow is another day. Tonight we leave the arrogant comrades of the 21st pass by, and we meet around a fire to play the accordion and sing some not always very subtle melodies. Slavianka's Farewell, at the beginning, of course - with his tenor voice, Boris knows how to bring tears to the eyes of the most emotional. Dark Night, taught to us by the partisans of Gomel, then the Souliko so loved by our Marshal. And finally Tri tankista*, which Andrei is very proud to launch while talking about his campaign in Mongolia, against the Japanese.
This ballad wakes up everybody, and we move on to something more cheerful: The Red Army is the strongest**, A Cossack rides across the Danube and of course Kalinka.
Fyodor dances on Boris' arm, while Alexandr, completely exhausted, sleeps deeply on a box. But we are not going to play the nightingales for him***!
Finally, Boris' pilot, Soussoï - a Nénètse far from home - concludes with a Narts epic... which is interrupted before the end. The commissioner is not far away, and he would certainly not like us to speak - or sing - in anything other than Russian. So we go to bed, thinking for once that tomorrow will be better than today - even if it's only tomorrow." (Evgeny Bessonov, op. cit.)

HQ of the Heeresgruppe Mitte (Minsk) - Erwin Rommel was obviously informed of the evacuation of Jlobin by the 1. PzA - even if he is not the most amiable of men, Hermann Hoth respects his leader and knows that the Field Marshal is not an enemy of his subordinates, as long as they have good reasons to act as they do. Which is, of course, the case of the General - Rommel himself agrees: "As Hoth said, we are not going to do what the French had done three years earlier: let the right wing get eneveloped without moving!"
The Fox is therefore no more worried than the day before: he will undoubtedly be able to sell the temporary withdrawal of a salient against the eventual elimination of a second Soviet army. In one or two weeks, probably - the time to rebuild its forces.
Until then, the Reds should keep quiet.

Moscow - Ivan Konev's prose goes directly (or almost directly) on the airwaves, shortly before midnight, while a twenty-shot salute from 224 cannons resounds. "On order of the Supreme Commander to Front General Konev, after eight days of hard fighting, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front concluded the operations with the annihilation of a new German garrison consisting of eight infantry divisions and one armored division, which had been routed in the area of Jlobin. In this operation, the Germans lost 35,000 people who were killed on the battlefield, and 5,000 were taken prisoner. I thank all the troops of the two Belarusian Fronts and General Konev, who led the operation. Death to the German invader!" - (Signed) Supreme Commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.
This message will be broadcast worldwide by the Soviet Information Bureau - after all, it is necessary to conclude "Suvorov" on a positive note and erase the ... inconvenience suffered by the 29th Army. With some emphasis - on a text that was not lacking in it - all newspapers of the neutral and allied countries will quote the communiqué in extenso under the title of "A new Smolensk!" or "Decisive German defeat on the Dnieper! The first articles even state: "No German soldier was able to escape from Jlobin". Then this
followed by the number of German losses... Finally, only the number of divisions supposedly destroyed will survive, to the point that thirty-five years later, Marshal Zhukov will still report the false figure in his memoirs! Obviously, in this case, Konev scored a few points against his old rival ...
But in Berlin - where people like to talk about the Eastern Front to avoid discussing Provence, Romania or Greece - this news has the effect of a bombshell and would very quickly move up the Nazi hierarchy.

Operations Kutusov and Rumyantsev
Zhukov plays and wins
Ukraine - The bad weather of the previous day shifts to the east and clears the sky above the front. The Soviet forces take advantage of this to begin a new act of the Great Patriotic War in Ukraine - the last one? Zhukov hopes so. Several centuries ago, Sun Tzu said: "If the enemy is strong, avoid him. If he has good morale, make him sad. We must feign weakness, so that the enemy loses himself in arrogance. If he is in abundance, deplete him. If he is united, separate him. And attack where he is not prepared, rising up when he is not expecting you."
Words of wisdom, that the Russian translates in his own way: attack your enemy where he is weak - so, to know it, begin by attacking him everywhere!

HQ of the HG Nord-Ukraine (Kovel), 11:00 - Right hand clutching the handset, left hand leaning on a pile of files, Erich von Manstein seems to consider his own situation with a sort of weariness. Since this morning, the Reds have resumed the offensive - in the south, as expected, but also and especially in the north. The forces of the 3. PanzerArmee, which had only managed to extract themselves from a difficult situation only thanks to the reinforcement of the 8. Armee, are unable to provide the same service. And Walter Weiß's men are only able to cope with the worst difficulties.
The truth is there: the elegant PanzerWaffe rocades are reaching the end of their possibilities.
For the moment, the situation still seems to be controllable - especially if the III. PanzerKorps deigns to arrive - but the 8. Armee must nevertheless withdraw or be annihilated. The junction between it and the 6. Armee, in the north, is no longer guaranteed, nor is that between it and the 2. PanzerArmee in the south. Walter Weiß's forces remain adventurous in a salient which should have been evacuated a month ago - they must leave today, not later.
And during these tragic hours, he, Manstein, is waiting on the phone! More than two hours of explaining and re-explaining the obvious to Keitel, Freyend and the whole clique of Rastenburg! One day, the question will have to be asked: how do the the flexible and brilliant Wehrmacht become so ankylosed as to be reminiscent of the French? The French in 1940, alas... And then, just as we have announced an umpteenth call transfer, a well-known radio voice breaks through the air - and in a bad mood at that. It's true that Keitel grabbed his Chief as soon as he got out of bed, or almost.
- Well, Manstein, what's going on?
- Heil Hitler! My Fuhrer, the situation is under control - but it can only remain so if decisions are taken immediately to stabilize the front - as the HG Mitte is doing now.
- At this point? Please elaborate.
This is followed by an interminable explanation of text in which the reinforcements from which (or not) the HG Nord-Ukraine, the considerable efforts it had to make - unlike... other formations further north - the losses suffered and those inflicted, of the Moldavia disaster, which makes the position of von Arnim's forces "almost irrelevant" and last but not least, the envelopment maneuver that currently threatens the 8. Armee. After 45 minutes of discussion, we finally get to the heart of the matter.
- So Manstein, what do you propose?
- A withdrawal of the 8. Armee and the 6. Armee behind the Horyn, and a withdrawal of the 3. PanzerArmee behind the Sluch...
There follows a silence, as well as a loud clearing of the throat, probably from Keitel, who was listening on another handset. A retreat of 70 to 100 kilometers - and it is one of the best generals of the Wehrmacht who says so!
- Frankly Manstein, I expected better...
- My Führer, if others can rely on a lot of rivers and swamps, it is not the case here. The barriers I have indicated are the only ones that can allow us to regroup of our forces. The Reds will come to break their teeth there, especially since they will have to cross a hostile territory that we will make impassable - and we will leave all the stronger next spring.
- We've heard speeches like this before... They haven't necessarily lived up to all their promises.
- My Fuhrer, that's not my problem right now. The truth is that the crisis that is unfolding on the south wing of my army group may prove fatal. Not only for my army group but perhaps for the entire Eastern Front.
Another dismayed silence, this time undisturbed by the slightest cough.
- What line do you propose, exactly?
- From north to south: Stoline-Sarny-Berezne for Model's 3. PanzerArmee. Then the sector, up to Netichyn, will be defended by De Angelis' forces - the 6. Armee is the weakest and yet it had to hold the center; it has to rely as much as possible on the rivers that I have already mentioned. Further south, the 8. Armee will ensure the front until Ternopol, where the 2. PanzerArmee finally takes over.
A long moment of reflection, of waiting... of uncertainty.
- We agree that the problem is in the center, and not on the wings?
- That's right, my Führer - nevertheless, we cannot create a new salient like the one currently held by the 8. Armee. It is too costly a risk for the benefit to be gained.
- This is a matter of my own judgment. So, this is what I am ordering you to do. Agree to move the 6. Armee and the 8. Armee - I trust your judgment, if the situation is as bad as you say it is, it probably is. We will study later why it has come to this. On the other hand!... What you call dangerous projections, I call them sources of opportunity!
The dictator pauses for a moment to organize his thoughts, then resumes his speech without giving anyone the opportunity to interrupt him.
- The 3. PanzerArmee will stay where it is - the terrain is favorable for defense and the marshes around Berezne will keep the Slavs at bay. There was no question of retreating - she has to maintain the connection with the HG Mitte, and this will save our... balcony over Belarus. Below, the 6. Armee will hold the front until Korets - always behind the... (how do you say, Keitel?) yes, the Korchyk, that's right! Then the 8. Armee will pass behind the Sluch and the Khomora to hold Polonne and... Starokostantinov, where von Arnim will effectively take over, without evacuating Bar! [Another pause, shorter, before the triumphant conclusion]. Yes, that seems more reasonable! And so we will be in a good position to lock the Slavs in a giant Kessel, next spring.
Beyond his eternal whim of gigantic encirclement in Ukraine, Hitler intends to concede only 55 kilometers of retreat - not sure that this is enough! Even less that it would give the Heer the necessary time to breathe...
- My Führer, this solution may seem elegant, but it does not solve the problems of linkage between our armies.
In fact, it is not far from aggravating them, but Manstein will not risk such a judgment.
- Well, since you have identified the problem, solve it! I am putting Keitel back on the phone, he will send you reinforcements.
- Jawohl, mein Führer.
It's over - the leader's judgment is final in Nazi Germany. As he prepares to discuss again - but quickly, because time is short! - with a marshal he despises, Manstein says to himself that every time he has won something, it is to lose the equivalent afterwards. Still unable to admit that it is also and especially his pride which led him in this situation directly resulting from Zitadelle, he passes his hand in his grey hair thinking of all his "lost victories". Well, that would make a good title...

Kutusov - Retreat, at last!
Sectors of Mozyr to Ovruch - The Red Army is still unable to really break through the center of the AG Nord-Ukraine, it tries to bypass it by the north towards Sushchany - and even beyond: the 8th Guards Army, the 64th Army and the 4th Airborne Corps (all maintained under the authority of Vatutin) finally commit themselves with determination.
The road from Mozyr and Ovruch to Olevsk is very quickly threatened - in fact, it is probably already cut in several places by infiltrating paratroopers.
.........
Olevsk sector - Here, things are definitely not better for the 3. PanzerArmee.
Benefiting from the energetic revival of Kutusov - ordered the day before by Marshal Zhukov with the persuasiveness that characterizes him - the two fronts, the 3rd Belarusian and the 3rd Ukrainian, attack thoroughly with the support of their two air forces. They do not go so far as to push the defenses of Olevsk - the LII. ArmeeKorps of Hans-Karl von Scheele camps firmly on its positions, supported by the 246. ID, the XLVII. PanzerKorps and the... six functioning Tigers of the 501. sPzr Abt - but they erode even more the forces of Model, who could not voluntarily give up miles to save men.
The Führer's directives forbidding them to retreat, the Germans lose a few thousands of soldiers and were still forced to concede 3 kilometers to Kyshyn. In the evening, they fight to keep the connection with the 6. Armee open - which is probably already useless.
Indeed, a little further south, the 2nd and 4th Guards Armored Corps (Rybalko and Lelyushenko) come out - if one can say so - from the woods in front of Zubkovychi to directly attack the junction between the 3. PanzerArmee and the 6. Armee. And to defend this sector, there is only the 56. ID. Its leader, Otto-Joachim Lüdecke, calls for help - the 82. ID (although it was busy facing the 50th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front) as well as the 4. LFD and the 210. StuG. The fire department improvised by De Angelis takes significant losses to slow down the T-34 wave, without any air support, because the Luftwaffe hardly intervenes in this sector anymore.
But after the tanks, come the frontovikis of the 5th Army - it is a lot for the LFD and the Luftwaffe's creeping force finally breaks down. The road from Olevsk to Pidluby is lost between Zubkovychi, Rudnya and Ivanivs'ka... that is to say on the back of the 9. Panzer, however detached in support of the 6. Armee! In the south, the forces that defend Yemiltchyne, will have to retreat due west; only the significant wear of the Communist forces prevents this setback from becoming a rout.
.........
Yemiltchyne sector - The 6. Armee only needs to amplify the withdrawal of the previous day to execute the new orders of its hierarchy. Abandoning the axis Velyka Tsvilya - Pidluby chosen just 24 hours earlier, the troops of Friedrich Köchling and Erich Jaschke retreat on a new line going from Dzherelo to Berezne. Maximilian De Angelis however, considers keeping a foot on the west of the Sluch, cutting straight towards Horodnytsia.
Thus, he would keep 25 kilometers of forest - ungrateful, it is true... but 25 kilometers that should not be reclaimed when the time comes.
Obviously, this possibility will depend on the strength of the Soviet reaction - but if the 6. Armee hopes here to benefit from a certain wait-and-see attitude of its adversaries, it is quickly cruelly disillusioned. While the 37th Army accompanies the movement and approaches as fast as it can of Velyka-Tsvilya, Ivan Maslennikov does not hesitate to launch his 4th Shock on the heels of the 79. ID (von Schwerin), which had to be forcefully cleared by the 9. Panzer.
Walter Scheller - who only obeys Model, it should be remembered - will probably not take losses for the sake of granting others the right to make themselves look good. So much for the ambition to create a reduction on the Sluch; the retreat continues...
.........
Novohrad-Volynskyi sector - After ten days of senseless struggle for a road junction which is losing its value every day, while the situation ischanging around it, the German forces finally began to withdraw westward, in the direction of Korets and Korchyk. Bled by the effort made, the Soviet troops nevertheless throw themselves forward, in pursuit of the enemy. Further north, the evacuation of Jlobin by the HG Mitte inspires some, and Nikola Vatutin also sees himself snatching a trophy after a bloody fight.
However, will is not power! Ivan Chernyakovsky has a hard time putting the German infantry in retreat - his 5th Shock Army can only accompany his movement by leaving in haste a good part of the city which it has liberated (and moreover 90% destroyed). As for Lelyushenko, whose 5th BC Zhitomir could have tried to rout the fascists on the plain, he inflicts significant losses on the 36th PzGr (which only had Panzer IIIs) before losing about twenty vehicles in backyard clashes against the StuGs of Major Kurt Schaff. Always very comfortable in defense, the self-propelled guns undoubtedly save the link between 6. Armee and 8. Armee.
.........
Polonne region - This is not the problem of Werner Kempf, whose machines have been running the whole night without any regard for fatigue, maintenance or even safety (fortunately, in the dark, the VVS are only harassing...). They cross Chepetivka in the early morning and are now approaching Polonne - their crossing point on the Khomora. Only 40 kilometers to reach Staryi Lyubar and pretend to stop the Reds - while they are on the ropes!
Fortunately, this is no longer necessary. Thanks to the retreat that Hitler generously conceded to Manstein, the III. PzK must no longer be the exhausted savior of the 8. Armee - no, it must simply ensure the liaison with the 6. Armee. After so many efforts made in vain, the Panzermänner and their machines can take a break... they need it.

Rumyantsev - Early withdrawal
Vysoka Pich sector - After another morning of unsuccessful fighting on the banks of the Sheika river, General Vlassov's forces notice that the adversary is starting to withdraw southward, thus abandoning to them - methodically but also hastily - positions that were very favorable and that they had put a lot of energy into fortifying. The 1st Shock takes a foot on the = south of the river, liberating Vysoka Pich, Vyla and many other villages in the process. The general state of fatigue of the Soviets, as well as the light rain that starts to fall, prevented them from continuing immediately.
Understandably, Andrei Vlassov is perplexed - Dovator's maneuver of circumventing the 1st Cavalry Corps finally yielded results? Or does this retreat announce something much larger?
.........
Chudniv sector - When Manstein's orders arrive, Karl Burdach easily agrees that it is time for his XXVII. AK to leave... In front of Chudniv, Wilhelm Schneckenburger's 125. ID is not able to hold back Ivan Muzychenko's 4th Shock Army, while, further south, in Beizymivka, the 132. ID (Fritz Lindemann) and the 141. ID (Heinz Hellmich) fight to delay the 1st Armored Corps and in the north, the 205.ID retreats with the rest of the LIX. AK.
However, the Landsers still hold on bravely, the less committed fighting foot to foot to allow their comrades to withdraw. In the evening, the XXVII. AK has already crossed the Teteriv and most of its troops were neither encircled nor caught up. Porfiry Chanchibadze has his machines loaded to join the enemy in Karpivtsi while Muzychenko's rontovikis enter the eastern part of Chudniv, most of the defenders have already escaped. As a price for his bravery - and that of his men - Wilhelm Schneckenburger will receive the Knight's Cross. A beautiful pendant, which hardly compensates the losses suffered by his unit.
.........
Ulaniv sector - On the side of the Schutzstaffel, things are a bit more...confused. After having made a big move to the north for nothing the day before, the 9. SS-Panzergrenadier Hohenstaufen of Wilhelm Bittrich now finds itself a bit adventurous - and especially subjected to the concentric strikes of three Soviet formations (5th Guards Army, 26th Army, 1st Armored Corps). Of course, they are very weakened, but they are also - for once - well coordinated. This is a lot, even for the elite of the Black Order - especially when the VVS gets involved... And JG. 52 feels a bit lonely against almost the entire 16th Air Force.
The division of Panzergrenadiers thus takes blow after blow and must quickly retreat towards Krasnopil' to try to rely on the birth of the Teteriv, while calling for help the Totenkopf of Theodor Eicke. But this division, torn between Poshtove and Sal'nytsya, must itself face the renewed pressure of the 9th Guards Army (N.P. Pukhov) and the 4th Armored Corps (A.G. Kravchenko). The latter has recovered some colors and launches point on point in search of the break... Eicke knows that he must go north and Staryi Lyubar, otherwise he risks (once again!) to be isolated and annihilated in the Ukrainian plain.
In a climate of increasing confusion and whereas Frundsberg and Grossdeutschland have their own problems, Hohenstaufen and Totenkopf have to think of their own salvation. In search of the exact location of his neighbor Bittrich, Theodor Eicke embarks on his Fieseler Storch for a quick aerial reconnaissance.
His small plane is overtaken by a Yak patrol, which shoots it down - it crashed a few kilometers from the German lines. A kind of race is then engaged between the communist forces (who hope to find a nice trophy in the little plane) and the skull soldiers, who wanted their leader back or at least his body. Finally, the SS-PzGr-Rgt 3 arrives first and retrieves Eicke, possibly still alive, under Soviet fire.
But the story does not end there: the communist artillery starts to shell abundantly the retreating column, which suffers heavy losses. And finally, the SdKfz 251 carrying the Nazi general (or his corpse?) is hit by a shell and catches fire. Thus disappears, in the back of a fleeing half-track, one of the fathers of the Waffen-SS and the concentration camp system, one of the most brutal generals of Nazi Germany, as well as a war criminal. His remains are now in the great void of the Ostfront, the Red Army never bothering to give a burial to its adversaries****.
The command immediately falls to Herman Priess, Eicke's deputy, who gives the only logical instructions: general retreat! The Totenkopf rushes north to Molochky and crosses the Teteriv - hardly wide at this point - before continuing. A little higher up, the Hohenstaufen has already passed Troshcha and continues, too, towards Staryi Lyubar.
.........
Khmilnyk sector - At the base of the Soviet salient - or the fault line in the fascist dam - the fight continues and turns into a race. Now that the order to retreat to the west was given, the 10. SS-Panzergrenadier Frundsberg (Lothar Debes) and the Panzergrenadier Grossdeutschland (Walter Hörnlein) have the task of covering the southern flank of their comrades - without helping them directly, they already have enough work to do. In the long run, they should also try to reach the IX. AK (Heinrich Clößner), which is now fighting towards Berezivka and whose defeat would undoubtedly sign their encirclement then their destruction.
One understands it, Debes and Hornlein want to make quickly - with professionalism and rigor, but quickly! Not easy, especially with all these Sturmoviks above their heads. The two formations also slide towards the northwest and Lisohirka. The pressure of the three Soviet autonomous corps does not prevent them from harassing the flank of the 3rd Army of Mikhail Stepanovich Shumilov, which loses valuable time. The arrival on the battlefield of Solomatin's 1st Mechanized Corps is a very bad surprise for the panzers - equipped with new SU-85s and large-caliber SU-122 self-propelled guns (not to mention its special mortar battalion...), the new formation inflicted significant losses on the retreating German forces.
The latter called the Luftwaffe for help - abandoning the cover of the Hohenstaufen and Totenkopf, it arrives and does its best... But, in the ensuing exchange, 24 aircraft (including 16 bombers) bit the dust, against only 37 Stalin's Falcons. Fortunately for the Germans, the weather that is becoming cloudy shortens the battle.
Among the Experten engaged today, we find Leutnant Erich-Alfred Hartmann.
The latter, now at 90 victories, goes on mission after mission to protect the Ostheer. In the last six days, he took off 20 times and flew 18 hours 29 minutes... A record! Busy with his Rotte in intercepting Il-2s, the ace shoots down two of them in quick succession - but his aircraft, damaged by the debris of his second victim, has to make a forced landing in the Soviet lines, near Sulkivka. Its leader, the Geschwaderkommodore Dietrich Hrabak, orders the Stukas to prevent the Reds from approaching, but nothing can be done - the ace is captured, apparently while he was trying to retrieve a "sensitive" instrument from the dashboard of his plane (according to the regulations). Hartmann knows that he is going to be taken prisoner - and he also knows that his chances of escape depend on the speed with which he is moved away from the front.
The airman collapses on his collimator, groans, simulates fractures, perhaps an internal hemorrhage... The frontovikis, alerted by the hunting record which decorates the drift of the shot down aircraft, decide that their host must be treated with care: they extract him from the cockpit, on a stretcher and a truck is called for a not too brutal transfer to the back.
Meanwhile, chief mechanic Heinz Mertens learns what has happened, and his blood runs cold. He grabs a rifle, climbs into a Storch with a volunteer pilot and sets off to find his boss! Between the two men, it's more than just professionalism - Mertens is one of the keys to Hartmann's success, it is thanks to his incessant and meticulous work that his Bf 109 G6 is (or rather was) permanently in a state of flight: he must not suffer the fate of Marseille...
Nevertheless, it was not Mertens who saved "his" pilot. In the evening, while we don't really watch this dying man who has just arrived at the field hospital, the German slips off his stretcher, puts on a nurse's outfit and disappears in the night!
.........
2nd Ukrainian Front sector - According to Manstein's instructions, the 2. PanzerArmee moves since the day before: its forces, immobile from Jmerynka to Shypynky, returns to a strict defense, not too much disturbed for the moment by the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
As ordered, von Arnim withdraws the 23. Panzer from the front. Reinforced by the 257. ID (Carl Püchler), it now moves north to try to intercept the 5th Armored Corps (S.M. Krivoshein). The latter would already be in Samchyky, barely slowed down by the 329. ID of Johannes Mayer... It is thus necessary to make quickly and to drive day and night. The rest of the XLIX. ArmeeKorps and the Hungarians of the 7th AC (István Kiss) are asked to hold the front. At midnight, the panzers loaded with infantrymen are in Vovkovyntsi, still 70 kilometers from their destination.
On its side, the 2nd armored division of Major-General Ferenc Bisza deploys towards Bar, facing this 10th Army, which is as aggressive as it is stubborn, and which might soon start attacking again.

Transcarpathia and the Lvov region - While the carnage continues with application on the front, the Partisans do not remain idle. Taking advantage of the chaos that begins to settle in the German communications - chaos aggravated by the defection of the UNO and the panic which gradually takes hold of the Schuma - a strong detachment commanded by Sydir Kovpak launches a vast campaign of attacks and raids on the enemy rear.
Comrade Kovpak is anything but an amateur: a penniless former peasant from the Kharkov region, he won two St. George crosses during the First World War for exceptional heroism, pinned on his chest by Nicholas II himself, please! These medals were not enough, however, to dissuade him from joining the Bolshevik Party and to fight during the whole civil war in a cavalry unit, against all the enemies of the Revolution... After so many adventures, one could believe him to be retired and consider that at 56 years old Kovpak, who had become mayor of the small town of Putyvl (Sumy oblast), was no longer old enough to be a soldier.
This was not knowing him well... At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, when the Germans were approaching Kiev from the north, he gathered a battalion of irregulars, crossed the front and for a long time was on the rear of the HG Mitte, inflicting defeat after defeat on the Fascists before finally crossing the Prypiat to the south. The action of this master of guerrilla warfare did not go unnoticed - as early as February 1943, he was made Hero of the Soviet Union, while his troops were fighting against both the Occupiers and the Ukrainian nationalist traitors!
Now reinforced by paratroopers, Kovpak decided this time to strike even harder. For the moment, he prefers to avoid confrontations with the UNO - which would have little effect on the front line anyway. Deeply infiltrated into the fascist lines, the detachment was instead to strike directly at the German-Hungarian installations in the Carpathians - although they were reputed to be safe because they were in Magyar territory!
The appearance of his men is a very bad surprise for the Axis - the SS of the Florian Geyer are far away and the Hungarians are not very competent in maintaining order. For want of better, the Cossacks of the SS-Kosaken-Freiwilligen Kavallerie-Brigade are called.
This brigade was already operating in the rear of the 2. PanzerArmee - it is not too far from the hunting ground of Kovpak.
Of course, the SS Cossacks will not do anything calmly and will unleash their reprisals against the entire civilian population, whether pro-UNO, pro-Soviet or not. It is hard to believe that Kovpak did not anticipate this... could it be that this was one of his objectives?

* This ballad, composed by the Pokass brothers and whose lyrics were transcribed by the lyricist Boris Laskin, indeed refers to the battle of Lake Khassan (1938), which was a prelude to the defeat of the Japanese forces at Khalkhin-Gol the following year. Very popular as soon as it was released in 1939, it quickly became the unofficial anthem of the border troops, then of the Soviet armored forces - until it was sung in the film The Tractorists (Ivan Pyriev, 1939). The three tankers in the song are obviously the crew of a light tank that fought valiantly against the Japanese invaders - and their action was so famous that some of the lyrics are still used today.
** Written in 1920, this song of course refers to the struggle against the Whites.
*** A common expression at the time, which was to give rise to the future Nightingale Song, in which a soldier asks the birds not to sing too loudly when his comrades are sleeping.
**** Eicke's death was the subject of intense speculation for a long time. He was imagined to be an anonymous prisoner of war in some camp - yet the SS had their blood type tattooed under the armpit, which was worth a death sentence in case of capture - evacuated to Argentina, hidden in Colombia, or even... a prisoner but a consultant for the Soviet armored army in Siberia! Mediocre polemic, unfortunately very common for the Nazis disappeared in combat, and that the USSR was never able or willing to extinguish, for lack of official traces. At least, apparently... It was not until the end of the 1990s and the opening of part of the NKVD archives that a researcher, investigating the destiny of the butcher of Pont-Saint-Esprit, discovered in an unreferenced box deceptively marked "Kharkov 1943", a burned jacket with a revealing collar badge: a three-pointed leaf with three branches on top of two diamonds... But, for lack of remains, of course, the worst legends still survive to this day.

 

[Wings]

September 17th, 1943

Italian campaign
Italian front - Air activity is limited, but not zero! Oberst Reinert (he was promoted the day before), of the JG 77, manages a double, but not without his aircraft being severely damaged. The ace lands on his belly near La Spezia, with rather light injuries, however. It is in the hospital that he will learn the confirmation of his 108th and 109th victories.

Greek and Balkan Campaign
Operation Presage
The Albanian Wall
Northern Albania - The leader of the LXVIII. Armee-Korps sees with relief the 100. Jäger and the 907. StuG Abt join the rest of his troops. Felmy's corps is complete, so to speak. Without waiting, the Germans blow up the only two works of art crossing the Mat River and began to fortify their positions along the river.

The cavalcade of the legionnaires
Albanian coast - During the day, the French legionnaires continue northwards along the sea. Their vehicles cross Gosë without too many incidents to arrive at Kavajë.
At the end of the day, they are 16 kilometers from Durrës.

Central Albania, 03:00 - The Poles drive through the pine trees for most of the night, by the light of the headlights: fortunately, the Luftwaffe is no longer feared in the area! But it was very often necessary to clear obstacles such as tree trunks thrown across the road by unknown hands.
Approaching the village of Mushqeta, which overlooks the road, the Allied soldiers notice that the valley widens and they thought they could see the end of the tunnel. However, the respite is short-lived: the Legaliteli sent to reconnoiter fall into a real ambush on the outskirts of the village. Uncertain about the identity of this enemy, the Poles identify themselves as best they could with the help of a megaphone before going on the attack. But they discover nothing, except for a few dead bodies: the attackers had decamped in the night, after having made the 1st Corps lose almost two hours on the road to Tirana. And several of Anders' men were wounded.
It was not known until well after the war, but these more or less hostile delaying actions were the work of the partisan leader Svetozar Vukmanović, of the Macedonian CP - the man who scuppered the Mukje agreement. He decided to ally himself with the Albanian communists against Tito, who was considered too dirigiste, too pro-Serbian... and who did not forgive Vukmanović for not having quoted him in his call for the union of resistance movements, on August 26th.
The man dreamed of building a bloc with Hoxha that could challenge Josip Broz's authority in the whole region.
In any case, when the Poles leave, they are no longer annoyed, but angry.
.........
Tirana, 15:00 - After a too short stop to sleep a little, Poles exhausted and made extremely nervous by the reception of populations that they came to liberate, present themselves at the southern entrance of the capital (where the city's natural park is now located).
They pass through the former royal domain of King Zog, which had been ransacked.
Stunned by what they discover, they disperse the looters without any tact, re-establishing order by firing shots in the air, at the risk of creating a panic. A liaison officer described in his report "a carnival of violence, where everyone is driven by misery, ignorance and his neighbor, to accomplish misdeeds ranging from simple theft to larceny to outright murder. I have seen a woman torn to pieces on the basis of mere rumors, a cry accusing her of relations with a German. One name came to my lips in front of this disaster: Hautefaye.
The Poles were two days behind their objectives and they feared that this delay would get even worse. Once the sector is more or less secured, they head for the city center, but it is only to find that the bridges had been blown up and to discover that the capital is in the throes of a civil war between communists on the one hand, ballists and "legalists" (allies of circumstance) on the other hand. The latter try to maintain themselves in the city, which is very difficult for them, not only because they are very inferior in number (many ballists have been mobilized in the ranks of the SS-Handschar ...), but also because the troops of Hoxha are heavily armed. They were the first to help themselves to what the Germans had left behind and line up eight or nine StuG IIIs that they present as war prizes, but which are generally the result of tinkering with broken-down machines, or even wrecks, some of which date back to 1941*. These German tanks are a big surprise for Maczek.
"When my troops arrived, a tacit cease-fire was established, without the tension falling at any time. I had to send my own ambulances to rescue the wounded lying in the streets: their comrades were afraid of being shot at. We had become an interposition force, with my tanks facing self-propelled guns that were hastily smeared with a red star, but whose German origin was obvious. I looked at my men: outraged by the crimes they had witnessed, they were only waiting for an order to engage these partisans, and I had a great desire to give that order! But at the risk of supporting groups of dubious obedience, or even accomplices of the Germans. Were we going to fight against communist militias to offer Tirana to ultranationalist or even fascist militias" (General Stanislaw Maczek - With my tanks: Poland, Greece, Balkans, France, Germany, Presses de la Cité, 1967)
As anti-communist as he is, General Maczek is a reasonable man. He does not take the bit between his teeth and sends negotiators to the "collectivist" lines. Unfortunately, these men have to face Mehmet Shehu, who accuses them directly of protecting collaborators of the Nazis! The envoys of Maczek (who has chosen men who have not been to the Soviet prison camps) retaliate by claiming that their protégés are in fact royalists, and demand that the allied forces be allowed access to the city center. This is refused by the dreaded Partisan! The tone rises quickly and finally Shehu says, as if he had personally defeated the Germans: "Don't threaten us, gentlemen, we have driven out the Nazis, we can drive out other invaders!"
A detailed report is transmitted by radio to Anders, who is devastated! However, the situation is far beyond his competence and the head of the 2nd Polish Corps is forced tto ask for instructions from Athens. While waiting for them, his soldiers stop. They control the south of the city, but not the part beyond the river Lanë.
And during this time, neither Durrës nor the Germans are taken care of.
.........
Athens - General Audet, "delegated to do the dirty work" by Montgomery, holds an emergency conference with representatives of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) in the evening, to find a solution to the Albanian problem. Obviously, the plans drawn up before Presage, which foresaw the setting up of a provisional government of concord and then elections after the war, are out of date.
What is to be done? It is out of the question for the services of His Majesty to wash their hands of the "legalists" and to support the communists! But the same Legaliteli movement is it still able to impose itself without needing the sulphurous Balli Kombëtar, whom there is even less question of supporting? In this impasse, we decide... to pass thethe file to the Foreign Office in London. And while waiting for his answer, we will mission a negotiator familiar with the region to try to put some oil in the wheels.
The lucky man is Lt-Colonel Neil Loudon Desmond McLean, assisted by Major David Smiley and Captain Julian Amery. These "Three Musketeers" know very well the local fauna for having tried for months to convince the Ballists not to compromise themselves too much and to participate in a united front against the Occupier. By the time this trio reaches Tirana - they are for the moment at the border of Kosovo - it will be the local correspondent of the SOE to try to calm the game. It is the name of John Anthony Quayle, a theater actor in civilian life - his lessons in tragedy may prove useful.

Siege of Salonika
Salonika (eastern sector) - While their 25-Pounder are confined to direct support, which allows a good accuracy - at least we hope so - the 6th Australian Division and the 51st Infantry Division launch a combined assault from Sykies, Agios Pavlos and Triandria avenues towards the historical center of Salonika. The aim of this maneuver, combined with an action on the western front, is obviously to saturate the perimeter of the Jägers and to force them to withdraw to avoid being surrounded.
However, if the Jägers have to give up ground, they try as usual to make their opponents pay for it by laying numerous traps behind them, while snipers or ambushes set by small groups take advantage of the slightest carelessness. This slows down the advance, allowing the defenders to redeploy further away. By nightfall, however, the Allies have nevertheless advanced by one kilometer: a very good performance that would have to renew, due to the exhaustion of the troops. Besides, we are still fighting around the ancient Agora and the Dikastirion square.
"Advance, advance, advance... Damn gallant men, I would have liked to see them running in the streets, pursued the small geysers of earth raised by the enemy bullets. The battle is very different depending on whether you are a soldier in the trenches or a general on the hill, poor Carmine said.
At nightfall, another section took over and we left for the camp of Agios. I felt dirty. Not only in my body, but in the depths of my being. As we were passing by a transverse avenue (the Ehnikis Aminis I think), I noticed the dark blue of the sea. Oh, what the hell! We made a detour to bathe in the waves, naked under the White Tower. In the distance, the flames of the fighting were still rising, but we didn't care for once." (H.C. Goldsmith, op. cit.)

Salonika (western sector) - Freyberg's 2nd NZ Infantry Division launches an assault on Ampelokipoi. However, this action is even more difficult: the front is narrower and the defenders are better rested. The advance barely reaches 500 meters. However, Robertson's tanks have learned to play with the Marders: staying behind the infantry crossing the "killing ground", they wait for these predators to show themselves or to be neutralized with explosive beer bottles - then they can intervene and finish them off. The tank hunters fall one after the other. By evening, there are only seven left.

Agios Pavlos (Forward Allied HQ) - At the end of the day, Lavarack and Horrocks could not be be satisfied. Their numerical superiority is overwhelming and their troops are still not advancing! At this rate, they calculate with coldness, it will take at least three more assaults and ten days! They must however transmit these forecasts to Montgomery, who is waiting in Athens.

Salonika (center) - General Müller is again forced to move his headquarters. He moves to a building on Monastiriou Boulevard, opposite the ruins of the railway station. Not the best place, but the alternatives are running out. At least the many civilians who had fled the fighting and are hiding in the vicinity act as life insurance.
Determined to fight to the end, Müller sends a new message to Gustav Fehn, in which he indicates that his unit is still holding out. He concludes by asking if the public buildings in Thessaloniki - administrative and others - should be destroyed. In doubt, Fehn asks for instructions to the OKW, while wondering about the military interest of such an action.
.........
During this time, Colonel Müller looks with malice at an order that has just given him by his namesake: he must find an "Aryan" section in what remains of his KG and send it to the front. He orders in turn to ask for volunteers. There are certainly none, but Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller thus gains precious time for his own projects. In the end, he would separate himself from the elements that were least loyal to him.

Thessaloniki (eastern part of Ermou Boulevard) - Now that the problem of the vehicle seems to be solved, it is advisable to worry about the route of the escape. Padokalis and Tsarkolis go around the city center in search of side roads and other little guarded streets - but it is necessary for that to escape the device set up by Herr Müller.
Arriving at a roadblock guarded by three members of the Kampfgruppe, Tsarkolis advances towards them. Their leader, a non-commissioned officer, asks, "Why are you here, you people?"
The inspector answers with a smile: "We are looking for some things that were left in our family home... It is two blocks behind you."
- Yea... Looters!" sniffs the guard. "Bad luck, we do not pass!
- Really?" says Tsarkolis, taking out of a bag a bottle of raki. In front of the smile of his interlocutor, he puts the alcohol on a bag of sand, turns away from it and takes out of his pocket three packs of cigarettes that he hands to the guard: "A cigarette?
The man pockets them: "Ja, gut... Pass. I'll tell the relief team not to shoot you."
Passing in front of the man, who is already opening the bottle, Padokalis cannot help but say with contempt: "Don't screw up with the relief!"
From the tac to the tac, the non-commissioned officer answers: "It's true that it would be a pity for you! Listen, I'll give you some free advice: those Jägers bastards have set traps everywhere (he waves his hand vaguely at the houses and raises the bottle). So watch out! Ahahah!" He nearly chokes on his laughter.
- Leave the man alone, Ioannis! He has better things to do and so do we.
A little later, the two companions think they have found it: the Georgiou Stavrou alley, not far from Agia Sofia square. It seems to be little guarded; the Germans apparently positioned themselves on Ermou boulevard. From there, it will be possible to slip between the wrecks towards the British lines. They are not very far, 800 meters at the most.
We have to take advantage of the opportunity as soon as possible. So it's for tonight! Especially since the guards could soon be tempted to liquidate their prisoners before disappearing. Their plan still rough but nevertheless stopped, the two Greeks return to Achilles.
- So, Achilles, where are we?" asks the inspector as he enters the room that serves as the Tatra's garage.
The answer comes from underneath the car: "I've had enough! The oil tank is cracked! I have to get it welded back together!"
Suddenly, the young Padokalis sees for the first time his protector losing his cool.
Grabbing a heavy toolbox, he throws it across the room, shouting: "You manage! It must be ready tonight!"
There follows a moment of silence as everyone realizes how tense the colossus is. Obviously, he is more worried than he seems. Ioannis then leads him towards the door: "I think Achilles has understood. Let's get some sleep, we'll have to be in shape later..."

Bulgarian affair
Sofia - The 1. PanzerDivision spends the day taking the soldiers of the Sofia garrison and the 1st Bulgarian Army. Alfred Wünnenberg settles in the premises of the General Commissariat in Sofia. The SS is from now on only responsible for the maintenance of order in the capital. The gendarmerie, i.e. the poor Major-General Boris Ivanov Dimitrov, has no choice but to obey him. However, the SS-Obergruppenführer does not trust him and waits impatiently for the arrival of his colleague Schimana - but it would take
three or four days.

Ihtiman Region (4th Army) - The 19. PanzerGrenadier continues to pursue the scattered elements fleeing across the plain between Kostenets and Plovdiv. Indeed, many soldiers of the 4th Army, some of whom have a vehicle, are still trying to head south and the allied lines. Most of them will not make it.

Occupied Thrace - After a long journey, the 2nd Bulgarian Army finally arrives in Thrace and deploys on the shores of Lake Korinos, taking over the positions of the defunct 7th and 28th Divisions.
Colonel Strashimir Velchev makes no difficulty to put himself under the orders of Stoychev. His 16th ID still held the front all alone for five days.
Fortunately, the British do not move - Thrace is obviously not their priority. However, this gives us reason to think about the continuation of the operations, after the now inevitable fall of Salonika.


10 Downing Street - Churchill learns the previous evening of the crushing of the loyalist army and the fall of Sofia - which means that he slept very badly, thinking about the consequences of the events on the areas of influence in Europe after the war. He wakes up hungry at 08:45 and, after a few whisky-soda as early morning tea, he is served a roasted breakfast: melon, bacon omelette, two veal chops, toast and marmalade, all washed down with café crème. Unfortunately, without any noticeable effect on his mood, which remains all morning that of an ill-tempered bulldog.
To cheer him up, we had to have a restorative lunch (pangasius filet with smoked salmon and shrimp, then roasted reindeer, finally foie gras stuffed with truffle sauce), followed by a port and a brandy. Around 14:00, the PM finally relaxes by lighting a cigar in his living room, sitting on a comfortable leather armchair with his "Cuban". His butler then presents him with a telephone on a silver plate: "Sir Anthony [Eden], Sir".
It doesn't take more than that for the august epicurean's tension to soar. Grabbing the handset, he immediately launches the hostilities with bitter irony: "Anthony, old friend! You want to tell me about our brilliant success in Sofia?"
The wily foreign minister knows his boss well, and doesn't let himself be put off. He has enough to silence his critics.
- Indeed, Prime Minister! I have just received a cable from Moscow, from Mister Molotov himself. May I read it to you?
- I beg you," Churchill replies with a volute of bad faith,
- Dear Minister Eden, I am writing to convey to you the warmest and most sincere thanks of Marshal Stalin, of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and of its President Kalinin, as well as my personal congratulations on the manner in which your services have dealt with the complex situation created by the ill-considered action of the Bulgarian government.
On the other end of the line, Churchill has a coughing fit - those Cuban cigars are annoying sometimes. Once the First's breathing has more or less normalized, Anthony Eden resumes, unperturbed.
- Indeed, not yielding to the sirens of a call for help of circumstance and doubtful sincerity, our faithful and loyal ally, the government of His British Majesty, preferred the consolidation of the Soviet-British friendship to a short-sighted military adventurism.
Another coughing fit, another wait, another recovery.
- Marshal Stalin, general secretary of the CPSU, will not forget the respect by the United Kingdom of the given word, which reinforces the concerted character of the fight against the fascist powers. He notes with pleasure that the British Prime Minister did not let himself go to a vain struggle for influence, but that he has favored a real cooperation for a prompt against our common enemy. Consequently...
Eden leaves the sentence in suspense, waiting for a new fifth. This one does not come. After a moment of hesitation, the voice of Churchill simply invites him to continue.
- Yes, Prime Minister. Consequently, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is pleased to signify by this message to Prime Minister Winston Churchill that it renews its assurance it has given him of the various commitments it has entered into. She remains in my person at his disposal for any common and egalitarian approach aiming at building the world a future of peace and prosperity after the end of the present conflict.
The head of the Foreign Office remains silent for a few moments, the time for his boss to digest this message with his lunch.
After a long, thoughtful sigh, Churchill speaks again: "My dear Eden, you will please address Mr. Molotov a message of thanks and greetings.
- Of course, Prime Minister," replies the minister in a cheerful tone. He knows that he has won this round. Beating the old bulldog at his favorite (big) game! You can almost hear his smile in the receiver.
- See you, Anthony.
- Good bye, Prime Minister.
Churchill drops the receiver back on the tray and mumbles to himself for several minutes. The Soviets thank him for folding, what a mockery! And as usual, they will respect their commitments if they can't do otherwise!
In Bulgaria, his spoon was not long enough... Finally. Maybe next time...
For today, he needs an outlet for his disappointment. His cigar smoked, he recalls the butler.

Athens, 16:30 (15:30 London time) - General Montgomery grimaces as he drinks his cup of Indian tea. Between the Albanian infighting, the destruction of Durres and this siege of Salonika, he has already spent a bad day, and he feels that other troubles are to come. As if to prove him right, his phone rings.
Picking up the receiver with an annoyed hand, the chief of the 18th Allied Air Force has the confirmation of his premonition.
- Sir, the Prime Minister wish to talk with you. May I ?
It's been a long time. The general massaged his left temple and answers in a weary tone:
"Please do..."
After a short technical interlude, the usual greetings are dispatched and the bulldog growls: "General Montgomery, may I ask what you have done with the resources entrusted to you?"
The person concerned defends himself with his usual technical rigor, while knowing that the anger is impervious to these arguments: "Well, Prime Minister, we have liberated almost the entire territory of our Greek allies and we have inflicted heavy losses on the Germans. In the east, Salonika will fall within a few days, despite the elite troops defending it, who will certainly be missed elsewhere. In the west, we have already taken half of Albania, the French will soon be in Durres and the forces of General Anders entered Tirana this morning..."
- Durres! Anders! Tirana! Foreign generals liberating towns with strange names lost in unknown lands at the bottom of the Balkans!
Imperturbable, the general replies like a disillusioned teacher lecturing to a turbulent class: "Not exactly, Prime Minister, these villages, as you say, are stops on the road to Vienna and... "
- The road to Vienna! But, General, at the rate you are going, the Soviets will be in Vienna before you have even left your mountains!
Montgomery raises an angry eyebrow, grabs his stick from the desk and begins to fidget with it nervously, while his interlocutor continues his speech.
- Mountains full of savages! That's all you managed to conquer with six army corps and seven armored divisions! [The 18th Allied Army Group does have seven large armored units, but four of them are brigades. At this point, however, Monty gave up trying to correct his interlocutor]. Seven armored divisions with which you organize a mountain transhumance among the pines!
The general could no longer allow this stream of reproaches to continue without reacting. He slips in coldly: "Prime Minister, you seem to me to be very heated. Would you like me to call you back around 6 PM, when you are a bit rested?
- I don't need to rest, Monty, you said in the press, as I recall: I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I'm a hundred percent healthy. Well, I tell you: I drink, I smoke - and I'm 200% healthy!
- Glad to hear it, Prime Minister.
- Listen to me, Monty, while you're wasting time in your Tiranos or whatever, the Russians are advancing into Eastern Europe and making fun of us, because we let them have Bulgaria for free! Finally, we really couldn't have done anything for Sofia? Really nothing?
That is the crux of the matter. With the calmness of a man of art who is certain of his diagnosis, the General answers in a firm tone: "Of course, Prime Minister, we could have! We could have killed His Majesty's subjects and wasted material to respond to considerations that had nothing to do with the search for the quickest possible victory against Germany. Otherwise we could have done absolutely nothing, Sir. Nothing."
- Nothing! Goodness gracious! This affair, Monty, will remain a stain on the Union Jack. We have let down people who wanted our help! What could we have done worse? A surprise slaughter of a neutral country's forces, perhaps?
- Hem, that's what we did in 1807 in Copenhagen, I'm afraid..." observes Monty, who knows British military history as well as Churchill.
- What the...? That has nothing to do with it! No, this is the first time that the British army has disgraced itself in this way!
Montgomery stiffens under the insult and retorts in a white voice: "Prime Minister, war is not politics, and I believe you experienced that yourself some years ago. May I suggest that you respect my area of expertise, I don't have the front to encroach on yours."
- But of course, General. I have a costume party tonight with our French friends. I'm thinking of disguising myself as an unknown soldier, they'll recognize you right away! Would you be so kind as to give me the address of your tailor!
- If this is your judgement on my person, you will have my resignation with the address of my tailor!
Churchill, who, as is often the case, has become violently heated in the exchange, suddenly understands that he had gone too far. Without apologizing, he resumes in a more conciliatory tone: "Come on, Monty, you know that's not true. I have always had - and still have - the highest regard for you. But you must understand that the Russians will not stop with either Romania, nor with Bulgaria. The whole of Europe up to the Rhine is in danger of falling into their hands if we do nothing. And I would like to be sure that they will stop at the Rhine!"
The leader of the 18th AG sighs and sits back in his chair: "I understand very well, Prime Minister. But I have a war to win and for that I need your confidence, Winston. Can I count on you?"
- You can, my dear friend. And I know I can count on you. I leave you to your task. Good day, Monty.
- Thank you, Sir. Have a nice day, Sir," says the General without any warmth.
A few minutes later, Montgomery walks around his office, whipping the air with his stick.
It is now clear that if he wished to continue on his way to glory and immortality, he would have to speed up the process. So much for the perpetual claims of the Serbs, so much the worse for the continuous complaints of the Australians and other Colonials, and especially the Greeks and their contradictory demands. The PM wants action on the Balkan front? He will get it!

Moscow - Molotov is (for once) all smiles: "Congratulations, Comrade Lavrishev! Your assignment in Sofia is concluded with a great success!" This end of summer is most warm in the Soviet capital.
Ambassador Lavrishev, who is not used to such congratulations any more than his colleagues, seems to relax. A little: in Stalin's USSR, one is never really sure of anything.. He risks a modest: "I am very happy to have been able to give satisfaction to the Soviet citizens and to the First Secretary of the Party by accomplishing this little maskirovka. I would be delighted to have the opportunity to serve the Fatherland of the Workers again." It is that he should not become useless, he knows much too much to be useless and alive at the same time. But Molotov is definitely very kind today.
- What ardor! Finally, comrade, you can imagine that we cannot decently send you back to Bulgaria. At least for the time being! But don't worry, Alexander Andreyevich Lavrishev, you will have many other opportunities to show your worth! Because our influence is now at its zenith! Think about it: Germany has once again proven how little respect it has for those it calls its partners. The governments that are subservient to her, if they wish to survive, will henceforth be forced, to humiliate themselves in front of Hitler, thus cutting themselves off from their peoples, who will naturally turn to the defenders of Marxist-Leninist ideas!
Lavrishev sees the opening: "It is certain, comrade minister! But the Western governments will obviously try to impose capitalist and reactionary governments on the proletariat. And our diplomats will then have to take over from our heroic Red Army!"
- You see clearly, comrade! But their inaction while the Bulgarians begged them to intervene disqualify them in advance. With the offensive in Romania, our future allies now know that the USSR will soon be there and that it is their only true friend! And in Bulgaria, the situation, thanks to you, is now ideal: of the three movements of the Patriotic Front, only the Communist Party has not been swept away by the Nazi repression!
Molotov's smile widens again, if possible. Finally, he says to the ambassador: "We'll find you a new assignment very soon! Rest a little in the meantime."
Lavrishev only has to take leave, a little reassured about his future. As he closes the door, he even hears the minister laughing. A rare occurrence, and a good omen. Isn't it?
.........
"Alexander Andreyevich Lavrishev (1895- 1945?): Soviet diplomat, ambassador in Sofia from 1940 to 1943. During his stay in Bulgaria, he distinguished himself by his repeated encouragement to the passive resistance policy of Tsar Boris III. At the death of the latter, and while the situation of the Axis in Greece became more and more precarious, he encouraged the regent Kyril of Preslav to oppose Germany - with the result that we know. His exact role in the events of the summer of 1943 remains controversial to this day. Indeed, Ambassador Lavrishev disappeared in 1945, presumably arrested by the KGB. Perhaps he knew too much - the opening of the Lubyanka archives may reveal this." (Robert Stan Pratsky, op. cit.)

Sofia - Adolf Beckerle is now at home in the Royal Palace. He has just given his instructions to Dobri Khadzhiyanakev Bozhilov, whom he had released from prison and to whom he had given back his post as Prime Minister. In the interior, he has appointed Bogdan Dimitrov Filov, a reliable man.
For foreign affairs, Beckerle has not yet thought about it, but it doesn't matter, Bulgaria does not really have foreign affairs anymore - foreign to Germany, at least.
However, the SS is smart enough to know that it is not there. The country is far from being stabilized. The Bulgarian army no longer exists, except for the four divisions (2nd, 8th, 10th and 16th ID) commanded by Stoychev and deployed in Thrace. With the evolution of the situation on the Romanian front, the AG Sud-Ukraine will have to recover very quickly the divisions that brought Bulgaria on the right path, and the GA E will surely need its 1. Panzer and its 19. PzrGr. Without solid military support, Bozhilov will not last long.
As for the famous armored brigade on which Beckerle was counting, it is still in training in Hungary, its program having been slowed down by its change of training center. Moreover, "we" made him understand that the Bulgarians are no longer a priority in terms of materials, if they ever were. Finally - the Panzerwaffe now promises that the unit will be operational in December. Which is obviously much too late.
While watching the birds frolic in the gardens of the royal palace, Beckerle tells himself that he needs to find "a sword"... and quickly!

History's judgment
"The tragic attempt of Bulgaria to withdraw from the conflict caused the death of 1,750 of its soldiers, not to mention the large number of prisoners who ended the war in the Stalags, from where many did not return. The Germans, on the other hand, suffered only 637 casualties.
A clear military victory, therefore, if not a real political victory.
One can be astonished nowadays that the coup d'état (an improper term but used in default of any other) was defeated so easily. The lauders of the Third Reich have obviously seized upon this episode to deride it, while trying to link it to what they call "the spirit of the stab in the back", which they hold responsible for the defeat of the Reich, forgetting its many strategic errors. But if it is clear that this episode is not the most glorious page of Bulgarian history, it is not the most shameful.
To understand what happened, it is enough to note one thing: the attempt was too improvised to succeed. It seems that the Regent started from the principle that the leaders of the Bulgarian armies would immediately understand the situation to react promptly and effectively. Obviously, it was not, and each renunciation involved others, feeding the mistrust of the Westerners and in particular of Montgomery. This without even mentioning the betrayal of Major-General Nikola Georgiev Stoychev, which we will not return to here.
Seen from the outside, for example from Athens, the Muraviev government appeared weak (and indeed it was) and not very determined to go through with its approach (which was on the other hand not the case). In these conditions, why go to make kill his men for a cause? When the fighting between the German forces and the units loyal to the Bulgarians were ready to pay the highest price, it was already too late to act (if at all desired).
It remains that the resistance of the 1st Army in Pernik, and even that of the 4th Army in Samokov and Kostenets are anything but shameful. And the Bulgarian people can today be proud of these fighters - despite the contemptuous comments of all kinds.
However, the action of the Bulgarian Armies could have been much more effective if General Yanchulev had had more time to prepare his forces, to motivate their leaders and to identify possible shortcomings. Unfortunately, in his haste, he had to give up the idea of ensuring not only the loyalty of all the forces, but also the loyalty of all the forces stationed in Bulgaria, but also of the active participation of the 1st Occupation Corps (in Macedonia), his only card likely to hinder the deployment of the Germans and to allow him to gain a precious time.
With a few more days, the redoubt imagined by Muraviev could perhaps have become a reality, provoking prolonged fighting that would have finally led the British to intervene. Indeed, the latter would have had the proof that they could take advantage of it to inflict severe losses on the Wehrmacht, while still having the advantage over the Soviets (and even the French and the Americans) a good excuse to intervene. But in the absence of support, the Bulgarians were condemned to be beaten in detail in the more or less short term: the differential of power was too crushing, even in front of a Heer for whom the Balkans were far from being the priority theater of operations.
What emerges from this whole affair is an appalling impression of waste - a justified impression, in spite of the extraordinarily dignified attitude of the Regent during the fall of Sofia.
The great winner of the Bulgarian insurrection was obviously the USSR of Stalin, which in one go got three benefits for its future control over Central Europe without having seemed to do anything: the Westerners had lost their credibility with the countries in the region, the Wehrmacht was responsible for eliminating the elements of the Bulgarian army most opposed to them and the royal family had neutralized itself by leaving the country. They had even the possibility - with a certain cynicism - of referring to the Bulgarian episode to explain their passivity during the Polish uprising of 1944.
Even today, the role of the Soviets in general - and of Ambassador Lavrishev in particular - remains particularly obscure, despite the light shed by the Memoirs of the regent Kyril (published after his death). One can imagine that the KGB never felt the need to communicate on the subject, even though there are whispers in the best-informed circles that Beria himself had a hand in the conception of the operation.
The German archives have been destroyed (or captured, sent to Moscow and conveniently lost), those of MI5 will remain silent until 2043. The French files, when they are accessible, contain very few elements: were their services accomplices of the Soviets? Were they manipulated? Did they do their job and did the French government, informed with precision, did it choose to sacrifice Bulgaria on the altar of national unity? Or did it judge that the "Bulgarian surge" was not reliable enough to be supported? It is impossible to answer today. All we can say is the presence in Sofia of a certain Georgi Dimitrov (homonym of Georgi Dimitrov who presided over the Communist International), envoy of the 2nd Bureau, who would have been received several times by the general Yanchulev, then would have narrowly avoided serious problems during the capture of Sofia by the Red Army. And the few officers members of Zvezo exiled in France were always satisfied to evoke in a sibylline way that France had "betrayed the trust" that the movement had placed in it.
Bulgaria had to remain under a pro-German government (but less puppet than it was said to be) until the Soviet conquest, followed by the creation of the People's Republic of Bulgaria after the "elections" of 1945. In the absence of an army in exile to which the Allies did not give the means to organize, the little tsar Simeon, the Regent and their entourage could never seriously claim to represent the Bulgarian people.
Nowadays, a question still haunts many fans of alternative history: Could Montgomery have flown to the aid of the Sofia insurgents? Our answer is simple: yes, certainly. But he would have had to break through the front of the XXII. Gebirgs-Armee-Korps of Gustav Fehn - which would have been costly but within his reach - then to risk a very uncertain encounter battle with Walter Kruger's 1. PanzerDivision in the Vardar plain. All of this with very distended supply lines and without knowing on what support he could count on from the Bulgarians. Had he triumphed, he would havehad to face the intervention of the Army Group Sud-Ukraine of List, even if he already had many other worries. Unless, being caught in a pincer movement between the Soviets and the British, AG Sud-Ukraine withdrew in a hurry... leaving the Red Army to sweep through Romania and a large part of Bulgaria! The losses suffered by the British would have condemned the offensive towards Belgrade in any case, the Soviets would have a free hand to liberate Yugoslavia, and in the process all of Central Europe.
On the other hand, if the Bulgarians had been able to prepare their change of camp with Montgomery's forces, it would probably have been possible to destabilize the XXII. GAK, but the latter could have simply withdrawn by sharing the fire with Bulgaria, which would not have made the job of the 18th Allied AG any easier afterwards. And the fact that in the summer of 1943 it was Romania and its oil wells that fell prey to the Red Army, this removed much interest from a hypothetical Black Sea campaign.
In sum, the regent Kyril of Preslav, with all his courage, sinned by arrogance, by imagining that his charming, but small country was going to become the heart of the allied strategy in the Balkans." (Robert Stan Pratsky, The Liberation of Greece and the Balkans, Flammarion, 2005)

On the air - Radio Neue Europa evokes with many details, guessed or invented, the fate that awaits the traitors captured by the Reich, including of course the Regent. Launching a subtle call to civic disobedience, "Der Chef" concludes: "The Bulgarians must now work hard for the Reich and suffer to redeem their faults. Otherwise, I suggest them to disappear, because the fate that Germany reserves for them is worse than Death!"

* These machines will remain in service in the Albanian armed forces until the middle of the Fifties. We have equivalent cases among the Yugoslav Partisans, but the return of the royal army dispensed the Belgrade government from resorting to such expedients.

 

[Wings]

September 17th, 1943

Côte d'Azur
Libération - If the situation in Provence is stabilizing, with everyone breathing a sigh of relief while probing the enemy's position, the same cannot be said of the Côte d'Azur, where the fighting continues. Overrunning the heights, the 4th RTS succeeds in breaking through to Théoule and the Gulf of La Napoule, taking many prisoners among the last survivors of the 919. IR of the 242 ID, which practically ceases to exist.
.........
Südwall - Faced with the risk of being turned, the 148. ID starts to withdraw. General von Rothkirch und Panthen speaks with Hoffman, his counterpart of the 715. ID. The best course of action is to try to withdraw towards Grasse in order to be in a good position to descend on the Var valley, leaving the defense of the Menton gap and the Corniche to the 715. ID. Meanwhile, the 286. Gr Rgt will take position around the villages of La Roquette sur Siagne and Mougins, while the 285. Gr Rgt will defend itself on the hills in front of Peymeinade.

Provence
Liberation - The 4th Fighter Wing is settling today on the Cuers airfield, in the Var.
In the days following the landing, several specialized US engineering units, the Advanced Landing Ground Engineers, rehabilitated the main bases with hard runways that had fallen into the hands of the Allies and set up several others as relief sites.
These American units favored the runways of the Bouches-du-Rhône (Salon, Istres, Aix, Marignane) so that the Fighter Groups, most of which were based in Sardinia, would be the first to land in Provence. For the moment, the French Air Force has taken over the Aix les Milles airfield and two dirt runways towards Trets, where the 7th EC landed a few days before, the airfield of Hyères, where the 5th EC has started to set up, and the one of Cuers, where the 4th EC arrives today.
Not far from Aix les Milles, the Americans discover a tile factory that had been converted into a "holding camp" before the Grand Demenagement. Until July 1940, this camp had been used to house Jewish families who had fled the Reich and its population had been evacuated in extremis at the end of the French Campaign. Since then, the Laval government had grouped there several hundred Jews of all origins and foreign workers to be sent to Germany. A certain number of these prisoners managed to escape this disastrous fate thanks to the complicity of Christian clerics in the region, but when the Allied landings occured, the camp was more or less emptied by the Germans...

Cuers-Pierrefeu - Surrounded by vineyards, the airfield has never been very large. Created in 1917 for airships which, if they are big, do not need very long runways as well as the aircraft of the time, it was then much more difficult to extend the airfield, as the operation of larger and larger aircrafts requiring longer and longer runways to land and take off. In peacetime, expropriating peasants who owned vineyards was not an easy task, and even in times of the Phony War, it was not much easier. From 1940 to 1943, the Germans had been more expeditious with the formalities, but the importance of the small base had not been demonstrated, things had remained more or less as they were, sometimes causing accidents among the planes that landed a little long - the vine is strong!
Colonel Vaudequat had been in charge of the restoration of the place after the landing,
He knew the place well because he was born not far from it and had stayed there with the GC III/6 in '40. It is true that the site was theoretically an NAS for the Navy, but for the moment, the sailors had other things to worry about and few planes to base here.
The idea had come to him during an inter-allied Dragon preparation conference, when he heard about American engineering units specializing in airfields. He then asked for help from his colleagues on the other side of the Atlantic for the redevelopment of Cuers. To his superior, surprised that he did not call upon a French unit, he explained that, knowing the local farmers, it would be easier to get them to accept bulldozers driven by guys who didn't speak French (and who gave out cigarettes and chocolate). Otherwise, we would be entitled to interminable discussions, or even outright refusals accompanied with threats of pitchforks or guns. The Yanks had exploded with laughter and had noted to send to Cuers only personnel from the South who did not speak a word of the language of Molière.
This worked very well. The Advanced Landing Ground Engineers, having received strict orders, had brandished under the noses of the wine growers the maps of the terrain with the zones to be prepared and continued their work, pushing the natives back gently but firmly (or the other way around). The winegrowers, of course, complained to the municipal and military authorities in the area, but all of them passed the buck, for various (and prepared) reasons, including excuses for staff meetings... And when the exhausted farmers had finally been received by the colonel (a countryman, heh!), who had played the surprised-not-at-all, the work was finished. All that remained was for the latter to have the injured owners fill out a notice of expropriation to be submitted to the Treasury, which was done immediately and earned him the recognition of the said owners... and some supplies of local wine.
Today, the first aircraft are arriving, those of the 4th Fighter Wing. First of all, a group of fourteen aircraft, Mustangs. Cautious, the Group Commander landed first, checking the condition of the runway. Satisfied, he radioed the others for permission to land. What a thrill for the pilots to set foot on their homeland again!
One of them even went down on his stomach to kiss it, which earned him the nickname "the Pope", especially since he was born in Avignon - in the north.
Two DC-3s follow, bringing the flying echelon, luggage and some ammunition and spare parts. After unloading, they left for a rotation, taking along some pilots in charge of transferring the reserve planes. The rolling echelon with the heavy equipment will be beached on one of the beaches at the Salins d'Hyères.
All day long, the noria of planes continues, with squadrons and transports following one another. All this little mess settles down as well as possible, temporary barracks made of sheet metal or canvas for the men, scattered cells not yet protected or hangars cleared from the bombing rubble for the machines. No mission this day, but that does not mean rest for all that!
American and French rollers make common cause and happily mix their menus. The cooks of both sides have not yet had time to scour the countryside for supplies so tonight we'll make do with what we have in stock. But plans are already being made at random among the tables set up under the stars and under the protection of the numerous pieces of flak, which always amazes the old ones of 40, which remember of their near absence during the Battle of France... the First Battle of France !

 

[Wings]

September 18th, 1943

Kiel - The U-537 (Kpt-lt Schrewe) sets sail on its first mission. This Type-IXC carries the Wetter-Funkgerät ("weather radio station") No. 26, ordered from Siemens at the end of 1941.
Dr. Kurt Sommermeyer, meteorologist, and his assistant, Walter Hildebrant, embark on the submarine. Once at their destination, they have to set up the weather station, which was naturally naturally nicknamed "Kurt", once the ship has reached its destination.

 

[Wings]

September 18th, 1943

Burma Campaign
Air Warfare
Occupied Burma - In the morning, a formation of 8 P-38s of the 449th FS is flying up the valley between Konyu and Rin Tin when an evocative smoke is seen between the trees. Four of them rush to the attack and very quickly, the second locomotive in service on the "Death Line" is chopped up.
While strafing, the American pilots do not see three Ki-44s and three Ki-43s emerge from the clouds, which shoot down two of the P-38 and damage the two others (one of which will be declared irreparable). Reacting a bit late, the four other Lightning intervene and shoot down two of the Nakajimas; the others, including one seriously hit, flee into the clouds. One of the pilots, Lt. Tom Harmon, manages to jump and avoid capture - it takes him 32 days to reach the allied lines through the jungle.

Thai Blitz
Bangkok, 16:00 - The ominous wail of sirens send the population rushing to the all-too-rare shelters as a new raid approaches, while the flak begins to sound.
Fifteen B-24s (three of which had been damaged and turned back), arranged in boxes and covered by ten fighters come this time to attack the Hua Lamphong station. Flying at 16,000 feet, the American formation hits the station several times. Trains and railroads suffer heavy damage. But many projectiles fall next to the station, causing death in the
nearby streets.
Two Liberators are hit by very active flak. Five other aircraft are damaged in various ways. The Thai fighters, poorly positioned, are unable to intervene.
When the attackers move away, all rail traffic passing through the capital becomes impossible. Officials estimate that it will take several days to restore a minimum capacity. However, the Neo-Renaissance style station, although badly damaged, is still standing. Its stained glass windows were blown out and much of the decorated wooden roof has been blown off. What remains is blackened by the fires.
Most serious is the human toll. Many houses in Pathum Wan were completely destroyed. The losses in the population amount to several tens of deaths and more than a hundred injured.
The propaganda spread curses and insults about the cowardice of the "Farangs". But the opinion of the street is stopped. This conflict brings much more problems than benefits.
The alliance with Tokyo becomes, in the eyes of many Thais, a trap in which they have fallen into. And they almost openly ask themselves how to get out of it...

Indochina Campaign
Harassment
Nong Khai (on the Thai-Laos border), 23:30 - Several explosions shake the city.
The population starts to panic before everyone understands that it is not a massive raid of the Yankee B-24, like in Bangkok. It is the GB "Louvre" which decides to be annoying on this side of the Mekong to show that Thailand is not safe from its depredations.
During a part of the night, small projectiles will detonate at irregular intervals. They only damage easily repairable, but the moral effect is disproportionate, especially since, strangely enough, the inhabitants of Vientiane, on the Laotian side of the river, do not seem to be the least bit bothered by all this noise.

Mekong mouths, on an island of the Cua Dai arm (Cochinchina) - The sampans and the junks moored near the shore in the thick, muggy delta night could not have come so close to Saigon even a month earlier. But air patrols have become rare. The planes are fighting in Laos. As for the lookout posts, they have been abandoned since the Dien-Bien-Phu campaign. They are too isolated to be supplied.
However, the men who come to find an agreement among themselves, almost all Vietnamese though, are visibly uncomfortable. A few French officers go from one group to the other, all the more jovial because they too were sensitive to the tension. The meeting has been prepared for months.
The "general" Tran Van Soai, leader of the vanguard of the Hoa-Hao fanatics, is surrounded with a dozen well-armed bodyguards. He is greeted by "general" Bay Vien. This one is surrounded by emaciated but muscular Binh Xuyen like tigers, their torso barred with cartridge belts, clutching BAR machine guns or American rifles.
Bay Vien being on his territory, it is he who pronounces some words of welcome, but he remains coldly courteous. Tran Van Soai replies in the same tone. After a few moments of silence, Lieutenant D. coughs, looking embarrassed, and asks the two chiefs to follow him into the tent that had just been set up.
The plan that Captain G... unrolls on a small rickety table is that of the city of Mytho. Forgetting their differences, the "generals" listen to the presentation, sometimes nodding their heads.
After a while, Tran Van Soai speaks up. "What about the Vietminh?"
- Don't worry," promises G..., "they will be there.
Everything has been said. The guerrillas settle everywhere on the island. The night is ending and we'll have to take advantage of the day to rest. The serious things will begin after the sunset...

New Guinea Campaign
Salamaua-Lae Campaign
Nassau Bay - The PT-boats and landing craft are sent back to Mort Bay, escorted by the destroyer Walke. Work on the shoreline continues for the engineers and the two landed bulldozers.
.........
Battle of the Bitoi River - A company of the 162nd US-IR leaves the beach and heads for the Tabali River, west of Cape Dinga. It is to join the Papuan Infantry Btn of Maj. William Thornton Watson. However, it reports the arrival of Japanese troops crossing the Tabali River. Having received the order not to engage in combat and to withdraw to the Nassau Bay bridgehead, the company moves off, but is constantly attacked by the Japanese on its rear and flanks; it loses five men, including the company commander, who was shot by a sniper.
Another company moves to the south branch of the Bitoi, but is ambushed by the Japanese, who are well equipped with machine guns and mortars. The company is forced to retreat. Patrols report a strong enemy presence.
On the western side of the Bitoi, however, the attack by D Company of the Australian 2/16 Btn, which catches the Japanese in a pincer movement, initially turned in favor of the Allies. The Australians take three of the four locks of the sector: "Boomerang Point" and "Fortification Hill" (two hills with bunkers) as well as "Village", an abandoned hamlet. The Japanese launch several counter-attacks. The Australians hold on to "Village", which is fought over during the whole afternoon, neither side succeeding in controlling it. On the contrary, they evacuate "Boomerang Point" and "Fortification Hill", but the two hills are retaken by the Americans who have come from Nassau Bay and are now moving forward.
Mortars and machine guns deployed on both banks prevent any crossing, but the intervention of the air force tips the balance: the Allied planes (especially the Americans) fly three times more sorties than the Japanese. At the end of the day, the Japanese elements holding the Bitoi sector, surrounded, are crushed.
In the evening, out of ammunition, the D Coy of the Australian 2/16 Btn joins the defence lines of the 2nd Special Engineer Brigade, which protects MacKechnie's headquarters.
.........
Lae - General Hatazo Adachi orders 150 men of the III/66th Battalion, stationed at Salamaua, to reinforce troops fighting at Nassau Bay.
.........
Bitoi River - The Japanese launch a night assault, relying on a weakened defense and the lack of air support - but they are sadly mistaken. Australian Night Battle are sent to support the defenders, dropping a few bombs but mostly flares that make the imperial soldiers lose the advantage of the darkness. Moreover, the lines of defense are strengthened by machine guns borrowed from the landing craft.
However, the fighting lasts all night, with rifles, grenades, FMs and mortars. The Japanese attack the Allied positions again and again without ever succeeding in breaking through. Small groups try to infiltrate, but they are driven back.

 

[Wings]

September 18th, 1943

Operation Suvorov
Embarassed Bison
Belarus - Return of an acceptable weather - even frankly beautiful - on the theater of operations. The sun allows the belligerents to resume sustained activities - taking into account the mud, fatigue and lack of supplies.
.........
Bialyničy region ("Suvorov-Center") - For the first time in a long time, the 15th Army's bridgehead on the west bank of the Drut River can finally take a breather - and its neighboring 3rd Guards with it. Satisfied with his capture of the day before, Konev stopped harassing Fedyuninsky, who can therefore devote the day to reinforcing his positions against the apathetic Germans who are content with more or less sustained artillery fire. No doubt they are exhausted! But will the defenses be able to hold against a new assault led by fresh troops?
To better study the question, the Soviet general decides to go personally to the bridgehead, in order to inspect its trenches and to accelerate the process. He does not know it, but at the time he crossed the river, the 18. PanzerGrenadier of von Erdmannsdorff has just received a new order to march south, which it welcomes with great weariness.
.........
Chachevichy area ("Suvorov-Center") - In this sector, where an XLIII. AK victorious but overwhelmed by the efforts made take the place of the leading divisions already leaving to Jlobin, the action is not far from being interrupted. And for good reason - Karl von Oven is reluctant to send his tired infantrymen to the assault for the pleasure of taking back 15 kilometers of wet woods...
Facing him, the 22nd Armored Corps is not much more demonstrative and was discreet in avoiding contact. With great relevance, General Volkov considers that the role of his formation is not to defend forests against infantry! He is right of course - a gap between the two camps was soon created, between the withdrawal of some and the restraint of others. It quickly reaches up to 5 kilometers in some places. And during this time, Managrov continues to gather the remnants of his forces, to constitute as he can a barrier against the fascist wave, between Yadrina Sloboda and Chamiczy. Forty kilometers... his line will be thin, very thin even!
.........
Jlobin area ("Suvorov-South") - The German forces have exited without too much problem from the Jlobin trap and seem to be on the right track to reposition themselves on the Aziarany-Dvorets-Parychy line. The 18. Panzer holds the west with the 503. schw Pzr Abt, towards Turki.
On its left, the XXV. AK defended the center, its two divisions concentrated around the road junction of Dvorets, prohibiting any Soviet infiltration. Finally, in the east, the 340. ID operate a rotation towards Novoselki while remaining centered on Aziarany. It thus left the hand in the sector to the 2nd Guards Army, but defend the northern road while waiting for its partner of the XIII. AK, the 17. ID - which should return soon from its adventures further north.
All these formations do not suffer so much from this new leap backwards, which we could have been feared to turn into a rout in the vast plain between Jlobin and Babrouïsk. And for good reason! This maneuver moves them away from the bank of the Dnieper, thus from Russian artillery, which had not yet been able to cross, and their opponents are for the most part too worn out to pursue them. In truth, only the 21st Armored Corps could have created difficulties to the Germans. This is why Trofim Tanashishin's unit has been under heavy fire since this morning, the target of a bludgeoning by all the VIII. FliegerKorps has of Stukas and Bf 110 - all under the vigilant cover of II and IV/JG 5. The VVS react, of course, and the Luftwaffe claims 37 victories against 18 losses - a ratio difficult to support for Luftflotte 2, now also tired by the fighting... but the salvation of the 1. PanzerArmee is at this price. The Experten take advantage of this to enrich their record of achievements: Theodor Weissenberger, 2 victims (92 victories); Walter Schuck, 1 victim (63 victories). And the propaganda regrets that Heinrich Ehrler is still stuck in hospital... However, between the Luftwaffe aces and the new pilots arriving from the schools, a gap is created... a gulf even!
Opposite, it is not much better: the 15th Air Force, poorly equipped and undermanned, is not far from breaking down, even though the 2nd Air Force is already assisting it as best as it can . Papivin and Naumenko, their leaders, have been repeating for a long time already in Moscow that we cannot eternally ask them to do always more with always less!
And this day, they have to try to face, in addition, another type of action of the Luftwaffe. Indeed, on the direct order of Hermann Göring himself - who thinks without doubt to please the Führer by destroying all cities that escape him - the II. FliegerKorps of General Alfred Bülowius launches a "terror" raid on Jlobin, led by the KG 3 and the II/KG 2, covered by II/JG 51. Their number of Dornier 217 and Junkers 88 are far from being plentiful, but in Berlin, they are considered sufficient for the task (as before towards Vitebsk). The air battles that follow cost the Germans nearly twenty aircraft, two thirds of which are bombers, the Russians only losing a few more aircraft. In practice, it is a defeat for the Luftwaffe, especially since the raid did not cause much harm: the city, alas, has seen others since 1942...
In the evening, the Germans are already well established on their new defense line, while the 21st Armored Corps just arrived between Liski and Gusarovka, running in the center on the heels of the enemy like a tired greyhound. A lone hound, moreover - on its right, Govorov's 2nd Guards just start to cross the Drut in force, while trying to leave
means of passage for the 7th Armored Corps (which one hopes will soon be used). On the left, there is... nothing or almost nothing, except for two or three divisions of the 3rd Shock, the bulk of which is still reorganizing around Jlobin. Ivan Purkayev's formation must recover from the efforts made and restore the installations damaged by the multiple bombings. Finally, towards Nivy, the 10th Armored Corps tries once again to recover, hoping for better days.
.........
"Another day of disillusionment as our unit is again at rest, again near a big city in ruins (a little less than the previous one, of course... but still!). Not that it is very annoying: we are still alive, and I'm afraid I even abused a bit of vodka last night. Although obviously much less than Alexandr, whose condition varies from day to day and worries me more and more. I spoke about it to the doctor, of course, and as usual, he told me that he had more urgent wounded.
We'll see... I leave once again for a walk in the streets without knowing where my steps will lead me. Today, everything irritates me: the noise of the steps of the infantrymen going up in tight rows towards the front, while a car equipped with loudspeakers passes on my right, bellowing patriotic slogans to them. The troop's song is heard, which reminds me of our agape of the day before. Farther still, the hammer of the sappers strikes the metal to repair some part almost in rhythm with the clamor of the singers.
The front is a noisy place, the war a vulgar matter... from which emerges however, sometimes and as if by accident, or almost, a kind of disturbing harmony. The rhythm of the steps and of the harangues increases and this music modulates itself as in a descending scale, which rises again under the lashings of the horns. Until, of course, a triumphant finale that I dare not imagine.
Ah, the noise of the march has fallen silent. Now, a warning siren and detonations, in the distance, partly cover the slogans of the loudspeakers. The fascist air force is bombing the city. It is getting closer - the mass of various soldiers disperses as I run towards my unit. Shots explosions, whistling projectiles... I hear an aircraft dive to the ground, a few blocks away - I can't tell if it's intentional. Then the roar of the engines goes away, carrying away the noisy symphony of the war and leaving behind only silence and death... Here it is, without a doubt, the finale I was dreading." (Evgeny Bessonov, op. cit.)

HQ of Heeresgruppe Mitte (Minsk), 14:30 - So far, for the forces of HG Mitte, the day has been quiet - quieter than the previous ones, at least. Except of course in the area of Jlobin, where elements of the 1. PanzerArmee continue to withdraw to the line defined by Hermann Hoth - but this is only a last jolt of the previous battles, without any consequences for the future. Obviously, Erwin Rommel is already planning to take advantage of the inevitable slowdown of operations to prepare his next action in the south...
The Soviet offensive had been going on for 27 days! But everything changes when the telephone rings and he was told that Field Marshal Keitel was on the phone. Of course, he is forced to take the call!
- Heil Hitler, Herr Feldmarschall! I come to the news of your army group on the direct instructions from the Führer. The Führer is more than displeased with the news that the Communists communicated last night - and we have not been informed of any withdrawal on your part. So I have to ask you: has Jlobin fallen?
As usual, the tone is dry, even harsh - in keeping with the reputation of Hitler's aide-de-camp, unanimously despised by the entire military hierarchy* and willingly bypassed when a subject of importance was raised. Rommel is not the last in this game, of course - the revenge is therefore all the sweeter for the person concerned. This does not worry the Balkan Fox!
- Heil Hitler, Herr Feldmarschall. The forces of the 1. PanzerArmee have proceeded to a temporary withdrawal in the southern sector, which effectively led to their withdrawal from Jlobin. This maneuver is not an abandonment - it will allow us to draw the Soviets into an open area more favorable to encirclement, rather than accepting the war of attrition to which they want to force us into. We did it recently - it seems to me that it worked well. Would I be wrong?
- I know that, Herr Feldmarschall. Nevertheless, the Führer had expressly made it clear that the withdrawal of Operation Büffel should stop at the Dnieper and Drut rivers. If we keep this reasoning at each battle, we could as well retreat to the Oder to wait for the Russians! The Führer, through me, orders you to counter-order this maneuver and to retake Jlobin as soon as possible.
- This is what was planned - it will be done in a few days.
- I have no doubt that you will inform us immediately. You promised us to hold the Drut line - so please hold this line. And this whole line, from Talatchyn to Jlobin - it seems that enemy bridgeheads are proliferating in this sector! Manstein is worried, on your right, about possible new uncoordinated retreats!
Because he, when he moves his units, he informs Minsk, obviously! But it does not matter - it is not time to argue.
- The HG Nord Ukraine has no reason to worry.
- With you to cover it, I have no doubt," Keitel squeaks. "In that case, we're done. I expect to hear from you within five days. The Führer too, of course.
This barrage of reproaches was eminently unpleasant - it was mostly harmless. With his usual pride, Rommel had no doubt that he would send this courtier back to his business before the 23rd...
However, before hanging up, Keitel has an arrow from Parthe: "One more thing, Herr Feldmarschall. The OKH demands to know who took the initiative to order this withdrawal."
The question is direct and the Fox, despite all his cunning, cannot dodge it: "The commander of the 1. PanzerArmee. I have, however, accepted his instructions and I am ready to defend this decision without hesitation.
- We take note of this, and we will not fail to draw the appropriate conclusions [Keitel is fond of this plural of majesty that associates him with the Chief.] And how did General Hoth justify this decision?
- The withdrawal of the 18. Panzer to the north - after several weeks of fighting, it could not claim to hold the western flank of Jlobin alone.
- The 18. Panzer... Ach, von Thüngen. Noted. That will be all. Heil Hitler!
Rommel hastened to conclude with a loud Heil Hitler before hanging up. Of course, he already knows that this affair smells bad... Without going so far as to worry personally, he now considers himself to be a bit on the hot seat - although still less so than his subordinates, who have nothing to be ashamed of. And the Wehrmacht is not going to sack every general who does not win a battle, is it?
Anyway... To please the small circle in Rastenburg - and especially, even if he does not dare to admit it yet, Rommel is forced to prepare new attacks. These would undoubtedly be the last ones before the muddy season. They would have to be decisive.

Kremlin, 18:00 - If there is one man who is not affected by the destruction of what is left of Jlobin, it is Marshal Stalin, who is happy to trumpet a new success to the world for lack of decisive victories further south, which are still too slow for his taste.
Now that Jlobin has fallen and the Fascists are once again on the run, the Vojd no longer feels no joy (feigned?) and is already thinking about the next steps in Belarus.
In front of a Zhukov still exhausted by his recent illness - but also by the annoyances - he even pretends to wonder, while filling his pipe. "I don't know, Georgi Konstantinovich... Didn't we overestimate the opponent? Our new offensive has broken him! Isn't it possible - after a short rest, I grant you - to go back to Minsk and seize it before the end of the year? Let us follow the example of Comrade Konev: twice he forced the so-called impregnable redoubts and destroyed the defenders! By the way, he should be properly rewarded - what do you think?"
As far as he is concerned, Zhukov would gladly reward Konev with a command of the front in Turkmenistan ... but he knows that the decision is not his. Moreover, nothing
to encourage Stalin to nourish suspicions of personal ambition against him by playing the outraged. With patience and professionalism, the military man tries to put forward the successes of "Suvorov" - remembering that it was also his plan - and his failures - from which we will have to learn lessons for the next time.
As for liberating Minsk before the end of the year, it is... ambitious, but we'll see.
- Yes, we'll see!" answers the Vojd, whose toothy grin shows that he is already looking forward to what's to come.

Berlin - With his lips, and insisting above all on the losses suffered by the Red Army during its multiple offensives in Belarus as elsewhere, Radio-Berlin acknowledges "the momentary loss of Jlobin, a locality without any particular strategic importance because of the presence of multiple natural barriers in the region. One wonders why the Wehrmacht held on to it so tightly! But it doesn't matter - for the Reich, setbacks are always "momentary" - it is simply necessary to estimate their duration in order to guess its plans.

Operations Kutusov and Rumyantsev
Kutusov - Half measures
Sectors from Mozyr to Ovruch - The situation is deteriorating a little - although it is still largely controllable, especially with some reinforcements (but where to take them?). The XXIV. PzK and the LXV. AK, reinforced by a mechanized division, fight to regain control of the Olevsk-Mozyr road, cut by the 60th Army (I.G. Kreyzer) at Sushchany and by the 4th Airborne Corps (A.F. Kazankin) at Makhnovichi. Apart from these two delicate points - of which the first one will be practically settled at the end of the day - the front of the 8. Armee front remains coherent.
It is a pity: to keep seven divisions to hold a road that leads only to Gomel (recently lost) and Jlobin (which would have fallen), while we lack troops elsewhere...
.........
Olevsk sector - The 3. PanzerArmee continues its losing attrition battle against the 3rd Belorussian Front. Now that Vatutin is (finally) busy exploiting a breakthrough opportunity in the south, Rodion Malinovsky is free to conduct his battle for Olevsk independently. Nevertheless, he is currently advancing much less than his predecessor.
In the center, the 44th Army and the 19th and 20th BC are definitely unable to overcome Kyshyn. The heart of the LII. AK, the 39th. ID (Ludwig Löweneck) reinforced by the 246. ID (Maximilian Siry), still holds on - although the XLVII. PanzerKorps have support a little more the two divisions with its so precious panzergrenadiers...
But further south, the 82. ID of Hans-Walter Heyne is attacked both from the front (from east to west), by the 50th Army, and on its right flank (from south to north), by the 5th Army (3rd Ukrainian Front). Unintentionally posted in a kind of salient very exposed, the unit suffers terribly and calls for help - nobody answers. The Wehrmacht has exhausted its potential... Routed, the division retreated northwards, dragging with it the southern flank of the whole device painstakingly set up by Walther Model - a device which is not far from collapsing! Model has to ask Heinrich Eberbach to send the 4. Panzer of Dietrich von Saucken, kept in reserve not far from there. This is a pity: if this was positioned to the south - and therefore immediately available - it was precisely because it was the weakest division of the Panzerkorps. The Panzermänner did not stop there against an opponent who - fortunately for them - has given a lot.
In the evening, the situation is still very uncertain: the corner of the German position is now at Kyshyn, immediately on the right flank of the 246. ID. More than ever, the question of the meaning of this appalling slaughter arises for Manstein...
.........
Zubkovychi sector - Meanwhile, on the right, the 9. Panzer (Walter Scheller), the 4. LFD and the 210. StuG (in this order, from east to west) try to face and maintain a coherent front by keeping contact with the 56. ID (Otto-Joachim Lüdecke, XLIV. AK, 6. Armee).
But this hinge does not finish being itself shaken by the crowbar of the 3rd Ukrainian Front! Vatutin sends two armored corps (the 2nd and 3rd Guards) and a complete army (the 5th), facing an armored division (the 9th Panzer) and two infantry divisions - the 56. ID, already in full retreat, and the 4. LFD, which is only made up of Luftwaffe creeps improvised as soldiers. Despite the support of the self-propelled guns of the 210. StuG Abt Tigerkopf (Major Herbert Sichelschmidt), the Germans lose their footing and have to withdraw in haste towards Serdyuky, forcing the LII. AK to adapt once again its already shaky position with the help of the 4. Panzer, arrived in reinforcement.
.........
Pidluby sector - The situation of the XLIV. AK is getting worse very quickly. Having to retreat towards Dzherelo (south-west of Olevsk) under the supposed cover of forces
to defend themselves, the army corps of Friedrich Köchling is in a delicate situation, not to say worrying. It was even at the mercy of a double flanking attack between the 5th Army on its left (which pushed the 56th ID) and the 4th Shock Army on its right (which tried to slip between him and the LV. AK). The Landsers of the 79. ID and the K-Abt D can only retreat foot by foot, on a terrain fortunately favorable to the defense - in the evening, they are 5 kilometers from the new positions that had been assigned to them. But whether they are slow to take possession of them or that the hinge on their left gives way... and it will be a catastrophe!
The Soviet aggressiveness thus had the better of the ambitions (however modest!) of the 6. Armee of Maximilian De Angelis in this sector. The LV. AK thus continues its retreat towards the south-west - by dodging the enemy assaults, it is true, but also and especially by getting lost a little in the woods, even though its connection with the north was becoming more and more tenuous. Having passed Horodnytsia, approaching Kolodyazne (behind the Sluch) and pursued by Vasily Chuikov's 37th Army, Erich Jaschke's forces will probably be safe.
.........
Korets sector - Here, the German withdrawal seems already completed - it is true that it is the sector of the front where it was the most reduced (30 kilometers only). However, and even if, for an outside observer, the 6. Armee managed the defense of Novohrad-Volynskyi superbly, it is not the case... The XXIX. AK is now (like so many others...) unable to provide a new effort against a possible second wave. Moreover, it does not have (contrary to the forces which evacuate at the same time Jlobine, much more in the North) of reinforcements likely to intervene quickly to tip the balance to its side - as for the Korchyk, it is very far from being worth the Horyn as an obstacle in case of attack.
In summary, for the moment all is well - the 5th Shock Army and the 5th Armored Corps Zhitomir are still rallying and redeploying in front of the new enemy positions, while taking possession of the eastern bank of Korets. But tomorrow, the crusher can be start again. The withdrawal to the SK line, arbitrarily decided by Hitler, has not solved anything - like all half measures.

Rumyantsev - The turmoil
Vysoka Pich sector - As a bright sun shines again on the falling leaves of this early Ukrainian autumn, the 1st Shock Army continues to chase the fascist enemy. It reaches Hvizdyarnya and approaches Romaniv along the Lisna (a tributary of the Teteriv), without being able to re-establish contact with an adversary that evaded and multiplied traps and delaying elements.
In his Gaz which bumps on the tracks behind the points of his army, general Andrei Vlassov can only sigh... His forces are really not able to rush on such a bad ground, and anyway, their state does not allow it! As for attacking the fascists fleeing from Choudniv... apparently, according to the comrades of the 4th Guards, they are already far away. But maybe Dovator, who has passed in front of him and is crossing Romaniv, will be able to do better?
.........
Chudniv sector - The German forces - which were not so far from breaking up in the face of stubborn Soviet assaults - retreat and disengage in a hurry. Past the lock of Chudniv - and leaving hardly on the spot some sacrificed and/or delayed elements,
Karl Burdach does not delay: he runs towards Myropil, passing at the height of Romaniv before the jaws of the Russian bear close from the north. In his haste, he also forgets a little the 205. ID of Ernst Michael. This one thus finds itself behind and still in Vrublivka whereas the night falls. However, Burdach does not consider for the moment to slow down. His forces are on the plain, the Reds have already passed the Teteriv, he must hurry up... and, in any case, the 205. ID does not fall under his XXVII. AK, but of the LVII. PzK of von Der Chevallerie.
.........
Sector of Staryi Lyubar - As it is now the rule on the front of the 8. Armee front, the events are more and more unfavorable to the Reich as one moves southward. The Soviet formations in the sector - which, further north, let the 141. ID, a very poor prey - did not hold back their blows against the despised SS. Unknowingly taking advantage of the confusion generated by the death of Theodor Eicke - despite the effective replacement of Hermann Priess - the 1st Armored Corps (P.G. Chanchibadze) and the 1st AC of the Guard (M.E. Katukov) attempt a pincer maneuver towards Kovalenky in order to encircle the 9. SS-Panzergrenadier Hohenstaufen and part of the 3. SS-Panzergrenadier Totenkopf. Caught in the net, the 26th Army and the 5th Guards Army of Comrades Skvirsky and Remezov will have to finish it off with harpoons while the T-34's will fly off to the west.
One may be surprised by this typically Teutonic search for a decisive encirclement - it is true that it hardly corresponds to the Soviet operational art, which prescribes the destruction of the enemy's apparatus before that of its forces. However, it fully met the needs of the moment: noting that its offensive on the left (south, towards Starokostantinov) already allows to envisage a brilliant success, Konstantin Rokossovsky still underestimates the true nature of the German retreat. Above all, he does not believe in a large-scale redeployment of the SS - it is undoubtedly a simple adjustment of the front to shorten the salient north of the 8. Armee (in the area of Polonne) and fly to the rescue of the southern front, as the Panzers did at the beginning of the month. Under these conditions, why rush to the rescue and then risk being crushed between the SS left behind and the left flank of the 8. Armee - better to solve the problem here, in one go and for good!
The maneuver is good and starts well - unfortunately for the Russians, it underestimates the reaction capabilities of the Wehrmacht, as well as the very marked esprit de corps of the Black Order and the professionalism of GrossDeutschland. After an understandable moment of hesitation, accompanied by heavy losses, the two divisions were cleared by the Frundsberg and Grossdeutschland, which goes north from Molochky and came to save the situation in spite of their own pursuers - a little scattered, it is true. The bulk of the II. SS-PanzerKorps is saved. Paul Hausser will not know a new humiliation after that of Zitadelle; he passes Staryi Lyubar (already evacuated by the 8. Armee HQ) and crosses the Sluch in the night... while shoving the retreating columns of the IX. AK which had covered its forces.
.........
Starokostantinov sector - However, the IX. AK does not really have a bad day.
Desperate to find something to stop the Soviet armored spikes - or even just to slow them down, waiting for the intervention of the 2. PanzerArmee - Walter Weiß finally orders the 311. StuG and what remains of the 504. schw Pzr Abt to go and support the 329. ID (Johannes Mayer) to counter-attack on its right flank the 5th Armored Corps, which continues to drive up the Sluch and risks to arrive at Starokostantinov before everyone else.
By the time the armored vehicles join the 329. ID and the Luftwaffe deigns to intervene, it is 14:00. The improvised Kampfgruppe falls on the red rear in Ladyhy. It knows several initial successes (the few lone Tiger of the Hauptmann Karl Ludwig von Schönau form the most interesting teams...) before being pushed back by a counter-charge of T-34/85 and (especially) by the arrival from the east of the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps (ex Odessa Cavalry Corps) of Nikolai Oslikovski. In such a situation, and on a terrain so favorable to maneuvers, it is easy for the attacker to be assaulted and for the one who tries to encircle to be cornered himself. The 329. ID suffers very heavy losses while, stuck against the Sluch, the German armoured vehicles must retreat in haste (the new version of the T-34, not very widespread until then, is a very unpleasant surprise for the Panzermänner who discovered it). In the evening, the reaction force sent by Weiß is defeated and flees to Zhytyntsi. His men do not know it, but they may have just saved the entire German system! Indeed, even though Semyon Krivoshein's tanks are now entering Starokostantinov, it is too late - the forces sent by von Arnim pass at the same time the Ikva without having been detected; they are only 15 kilometers away from their destination...
.........
2nd Ukrainian Front sector - The lines are hardly moving, comrades! If the fascist front seems to be collapsing further north, it still does not show any concrete sign of weakening here. Ivan Bagramyan's troops continue to test the enemy defenses, looking for an opportunity to seize. But for the moment, the German-Hungarian lines are still holding... On his side, Filipp Golikov judges that if we do not advance, it is because we are not going hard enough. Not very softened by the past events, he proposes to try a major action again tomorrow with his 10th Army.

HQ of HG North-Ukraine (Kovel), 21:30 - There are certain things that an aristocrat - even a Prussian - has to accept. Manstein is forced to agree that the situation of his HG Sud Ukraine is not far from becoming catastrophic! His left is on the point of cracking, his center is showing dangerous signs of dislocation and as for his right, he is not even sure, at the rate things are going, that it will have time to recover on its supposed "new line of defence". Damn... the OKH: the retreat maneuver that would have allowed his army group to really break contact, dig in to a strong line of defense and wait for the enemy to cross a scorched earth... was replaced by a sort of small jump backwards, absolutely not decisive and which will not allow him to recover. The Red Army is flowing between the German lines like oil through a crankcase... So much for the orders given only 24 hours ago - at the rate things are going, they will soon be obsolete!
What is more serious, beyond being outdated, they are likely to become dangerous very soon. And it is not the unfortunate reinforcements sent by Keitel - the 371. ID (Hermann Niehoff), the 377. ID (Arnold Szelinski) and the 905. StuG Abt (Major Jobst Veit Braun) - that could turn the tide. Let's proceed in order... first, by distributing these few offerings to the god of war. The 377. ID goes to the 6. Armee, reinforcing the XLIV. AK (which needs it!). Then, the 371. ID and the 905. StuG must (obviously) join as soon as possible the 8. Armee; Walter Weiß will be able to deploy them where he deems necessary (undoubtedly on the side of Starokostantinov).
Manstein sighs with resignation. After all, the situation is not really worse than that of the HG Mitte, which has just lost Jlobin... As long as the 8. Armee blocks the enemy advance!
In this respect, Weiß now envisages a flanking attack from the north on the Soviet if von Arnim manages to gain enough time, his situation still seems catchable. At the cost of a big "if", it is true - but one must have confidence in his subordinates from time to time! Already, his army is free to maneuver as it wishes - that's not so bad...
The 6. Armee is too weak to do anything else than play the utilities and hold the center - fortunately, it is not there that the Reds push!
There remains the case of the 3. PanzerArmee, still stuck in an impossible position, an absolutely useless salient whose base risks to give way soon... A new sigh: in war, one has to take responsibility. Manstein orders Model to evacuate Mozyr and to withdraw two corps of his 3. PanzerArmee to the west to shorten his lines and relieve Olevsk.
Rastenburg would not like these orders, but he would assume them - indeed, he had always been ready to assume. The next two days are going to be decisive on the Eastern Front (he had told this!) and Manstein decides that his career is less important than the lives of his men - even though his son, Gero, serves in the 18. PanzerGrenadier... under Rommel!

Chernivtsi (Bukovina region, occupied Ukraine) - It had been brewing for a while already... After the pretenses, unconfirmed incidents and other anonymous ambushes, the UNO-M officially announces to anyone who will listen its withdrawal from all collaboration with the Reich - which is anything but surprised. No doubt, as the front collapses, the UPA appears to be recovering and the Partisans are multiplying their destructive actions, Andriy Melnyk does not wish to appear late... The Ukrainian therefore calls "all patriots, of whatever persuasion or obedience, to fight hand in hand and fraternally against the German or Russian occupiers until the establishment of an independent Ukraine." Vast program! All the more so as the fraternity between the different movements has long been buried in the woods, like so many other things.

* So much so that when Lieutenant-Colonel Bukhart Müller-Hillebrand, passing through Rastenburg, forgot to salute the field marshal, worried about the possible consequences, he was answered by Franz Halder: "Don't worry, it's only Keitel!"

 

[Wings]

September 18th, 1943

Italian campaign
Italian front - Today the weather is magnificent. The Belgian airmen of the GC III/41 receive their last P-51Cs. Curious, the pilots will celebrate the event by testing the new aircraft to refresh the (local, unfortunately) beer.

Greek & Balkans Campaign
Operation Presage
Northern Albania - General Hellmuth Felmy notes that the Allied armoured vehicles have not reached the line of the river Mat, on which he had entrenched himself. This does not fit at all with the rate of progress observed in the previous days. With a bitter laugh, he says to his aide-de-camp: "Ah, they wanted it, Albania! Well, let them manage with it, from now on!" The interested party does not answer: one does not contradict his general, especially when you agree with him.

Albanian coast - While the Czechs with the lion and the sword are stationed in Vlorë, the legionnaires of the 3rd BMLE finally arrive in Durres, three days later than planned. It should be noted that they were only supposed to catch up with Maczek's tanks. As expected, the city's port facilities are ravaged, but the city is quite calm by local standards. The CP men had plenty of time to clean up and chase away their opponents, having sent them to the front line against the Germans. A report on the situation is obviously sent to Athens - but Montgomery does not really have the time to deal with Albania.
As for the legionnaires, they are told that as soon as the harbour is cleared enough to allow them to embark, they would leave for France! This gives them an excellent reason to work hard to repair some of the damage - they don't want to stay a day longer than necessary in the Land of the Eagles.

Tirana - In the Albanian capital, the night did not ease tensions, in fact it was the opposite. The Poles have taken up positions along the Lanë river as far as the towns of Sharrë
and Yrshek, forming what looks dangerously like a front line. They report incidents not necessarily attributable to Enver Hoxha's men, but always unpleasant.
"At about 14:30, while my jeeps were patrolling the area of the railway station, my men were subjected to a great railway station, my men were fired upon from an abandoned building, resulting in one soldier, Nawel Cieslak, being shot in the leg. Reacting quickly, we entered the building and captured a dozen armed men without uniforms, including at least two teenagers. It was impossible to determine the political affiliation of the group, which was turned over to military justice." (Report by Wiesław Krakowky quoted in Robert Stan Pratsky, The Liberation of Greece and the Balkans, Flammarion, 2005)
As a result, the Polish 2nd Corps is at a standstill, entangled in considerations of maintaining order that make Anders despair - he comes to regret the fighting against the Germans! He is only just able to send a motorized column to seize Vorë, to the west.

Tirana - The local correspondent of the S.O.E., John Anthony Quayle, spends the afternoon at Shehu's headquarters, trying to convince him to come to a negotiation meeting scheduled in two days under the aegis of an envoy from Athens whose identity is still unknown to him. But Shehu does not want to do anything without Enver Hoxha, who should himself arrive in Tirana in time for the meeting... provided that he wishes to participate!
As Quayle exits the Communist headquarters, an unidentified individual fires three pistols in his direction before being shot by the Partisans on duty.
three bullets from a pistol in his direction, before being himself shot by the Partisans on guard. The Englishman
cannot help but consider that the Partisans were suspiciously slow to react and lacked vigilance.
slowness of reaction...
The "Legalists" and the Ballists are hardly more cooperative, which does not comfort the British. All of them indicated that they would participate in the negotiation meeting, but only because the S.O.E. gave them the order and that, in the current situation, they can only obey! However, the presence of Safet Butka (Balli Kombëtar, "moderate" branch) and of Abaz Kupi (Legaliteli) seems certain. The main decision-makers would therefore all be present, which promises a good fight, but perhaps a tangible result.
Fortunately, the arrival of the Musketeers of McLean is announced for tomorrow! They will be able to take over the conference on September 20th.
Poor Quayle, who doesn't really like his assignment, will be left with the scars of his experiences in Albania. Having finally obtained his transfer, he will finish his career as assistant to the military governor of Gibraltar. In this calmer atmosphere, he will write a novel strongly inspired by his misadventures, under the title Eight hours from England.

Siege of Salonika
Operation Double Axis
HQ of the 18th Allied General Staff, Athens, 12:30 - The conference room resounds with violent outbursts of voices. General Panagiotis Spiliotopoulos is angry and he makes it known!
- General Montgomery, in the name of King George II, the Greek government and all the Greek people, I protest in the strongest terms against the planned operation. We cannot accept the destruction and loss of life that it will cause!
Faced with him, under the weary gaze of an Audet who believes that he will not gain anything (except blows) to intervene on this subject, the head of the 18th Allied Army Group is implacable.
- General Spiliotopoulos, I do not believe that my command has the obligation to demand the authorization of the King of Greece or anyone else before carrying out the mission I have been given. I have had my services prepare the Double Axis operation for two days and I decided yesterday afternoon to launch it tonight, because of...strategic imperatives. If I inform you of this now, it is as a courtesy and not for approval. The bombers will take off from Heraklion shortly. They will bomb the part of the city at the end of the night the part of the city still occupied by the Germans by guiding themselves on the beacons installed on the ground by our troops. At dawn, the monitors of the Royal Navy will take over, just before the assault of tanks and infantry. The heavy artillery of the ground forces will be kept to overcome the points of resistance... if necessary.
Stunned, the Greek general exclaims: "Bombing Salonika with 120 Halifax is madness! Not to mention the monitors! Think of the civilians trapped among the defenders!"
- I am thinking about it precisely, General, in fact I am thinking about it even more than you. This siege has been dragging on for almost three weeks and famine is threatening, not to mention the epidemics. The testimonies collected by my services from the unfortunate people who escaped from this hell are appalling! What do you suggest? To wait again? Until all the inhabitants have died of hunger? Or perhaps to continue to have my men killed by attacking on the terms dictated by the enemy? I ask you here, General Spiliotopoulos, do you think that the lives of my soldiers are worth less than the lives of the enemy? Do you think that the lives of my soldiers are worth less than those of your fellow citizens?
At these words, Audet raises an eyebrow: he has never seen his boss so furious.
Something (or someone) must have upset him. Suddenly, Montgomery stands up and points to the map of the city on the wall.
- The siege of Salonika has gone on too long. It must be over! And end it with determination! We are going to give the Huns such a terrible blow that they will raise their heads only for us to crush it! (With these words, he strikes the card of his stick).
Spiliotopoulos understands then that it will be impossible to make "Monty" reconsider his decision. He groans, without believing too much: "In this case, warn at least the population by dropping leaflets. Let them take shelter..."
- I'm afraid that's impossible, my dear! It would also be to warn the Kraut and allow him to make his arrangements. The operation would be pointless. But don't worry, most of the civilians are gathered near the harbor, and our bombers will target the city itself, I don't want to damage the docks!
Finally sitting down again, Montgomery concludes, like a judge pronouncing a sentence:
"Gentlemen, 'Double-Axis' will bring this atrocious siege to an end. And the 'Stamford Bridge' land attack immediately following the naval bombardment, at sunrise, will put an end to the sufferings of this martyred city. General Spiliotopoulos, a month and a half ago, in this very place, I followed you when it was necessary to rescue Volos, because I do not hold the misfortunes of your people as negligible. I ask you today to accept my decision, for the common good.
Spiliotopoulos settles down in his armchair, mute with concern. Audet is silent, but thinks that the words "to put an end to the sufferings" are often used to finish a seriously wounded person...

Near the police station of Ermou boulevard (Thessaloniki), 05:00 - After having hidden the Tatra in a nearby dead end, officer Padokalis and inspector Tsarkolis are joined by "a friend" of Achilles, whose name is as obscure as his face - but Tsarkolis calls him Hector. The inspector simply explained to his young colleague: "Achilles owes me a couple of favors, and an extra pair of arms won't go amiss! Besides, it's also in his interest that we get away with it."
Before taking action, he repeats his instructions one last time: "Speed, but above all discretion. We enter the police station, we get rid of the guards, we recover Anthea by making believe in a transfer and then we cut ourselves in car! Like an arrest, isn't it Hector." At these words, the shadow so called frowns.
Padokalis does not try to understand - he has long since given up asking questions about his boss's activities. But he does have one question: "What if we run into colleagues or Germans on the way out of the prison?" The answer comes, simple and sharp: "We'll do what we have to do, Ioannis! We are not schoolgirls and for them, these are the risks of the job!" The young man takes it in stride, but he still has a question: "And the other prisoners?" The answer is just as quick: "Not my problem!"
.........
The trio reaches the police station, deserted at this late hour. Thinking about his debut, only a few months earlier, Padokalis feels a touch of nostalgia, quickly dissipated
by the adrenalin. They descend with wolf's pace the staircase which leads to the cave-prison. At the bottom of the steps, they find a first guard of KG Müller, slumped over a bottle of raki.
A big blow of the baton on the occiput ensures that he is fast asleep. At that moment, another man of the Kampfgruppe, a German, enters the room, but he is immediately tackled to the floor by Hector. Half-strangled, the man is quickly bound and gagged by Padokalis. "A waste of time, really" mutters the worrying Hector. Tsarkolis is all smiles, indifferent to the scene: he has found the keys.
The colossus left behind to keep watch, Padokalis and Tsarkolis walk the corridor between the crowded and urine-smelling gaols. One of them was reserved for women. Taking an air as confident and scornful as possible, Padokalis opens the cell and undertakes to extract Anthea from the frightened mass of prisoners, waving his baton with a threatening air to open a passage. Tsarkolis keeps the door. The young man seizes finally the interested one by the arm and drags it while trying not to make him evil. Anthea allows herself to do it, not without throwing him a dark glance, burning of hatred and contempt. Which does not disarm Padokalis, on the contrary! God that she is beautiful! Beaten, scorned but valiant, she didn't give up anything to her kidnappers. "Come on, no stories!" the agent says to her while dragging her towards the corridor. But when the grid of the cloaca closes behind her, Anthea becomes aware of the identity of the inspector in front of her and shouts: "Philippos Tsarkolis, you rotten person in uniform! So, you're arresting your family now? What about your smuggler friends?"
The inspector sighs, but behind them, the prisoners have understood and chorus to insult the two men! They talk about their manly organs and what they would gladly do to them in precise and graphic terms - it is true that Thessaloniki is a big port and that the vocabulary of the sailors is renowned.
.........
On Ermou Boulevard, Corporal Erik Tosti patrols with two other Jägers. Passing the police station, he hears the cries of women coming up from the basement through the
basement through the window wells. Apparently they are having fun in there! Hesitating between the desire to participate in the party and that of correcting these Greeks incapable of treating women properly, the three Germans enter the building and head towards the source of the outbursts.
Still at his post, Hector hears footsteps in the entrance and voices in German. He pulls out a venerable - but still effective - Hungarian 19M pistol and presses himself against the wall. In the basement there is silence. Tsarkolis has silenced the ladies and Ioannis has his hand on the mouth of Miss Anthea, at the risk of being bitten...
.........
Corporal Tosti's motives are questionable, but he's no fool. Not a sound downstairs, nobody comes to meet him... It smells bad! With an imperious gesture, he orders his men to get ready, and he himself slams the breech of his MP-40 - a characteristic sound that can be heard all the way downstairs. When he enters the guardhouse, he sees a man slumped over on the table - but near his head, it's blood, not raki! The corporal yells "Alarm!" and immediately takes two bullets from a pistol. Before going down, Tosti has the satisfaction of seeing the man who had shot him collapse under the fire of his comrades.
.........
At the bottom of the prison, it goes badly: the escapees are trapped and the prisoners are agitated, panicked by the shots - some shout: "They will shoot us all!"
Inspector Tsarkolis does not know what to do, but his young protégé takes a desperate initiative: snatching the keys from his hands, he opens the crowded gaols shouting "Everybody out! Quick, quick, quick!" The panicked prisoners storm the stairs, overwhelmed the two Germans - one sweeps several men away with a burst of gunfire before being trampled, the other barely escapes. Following the horde, Tsarkolis sees the corpse of Hector and murmurs: "Sorry old man, finally, it would have been better to do hard labor...".
Then each one runs away.
.........
"So, does it start or not?" The venerable Czechoslovakian car doesn't really appreciate a rude awakening at such an hour and protests. But finally, a somewhat asthmatic snore is heard. "Well, that's it," says Tsarkolis, delightedly. The car comes out of the dead end, but as it reaches the boulevard, the humming becomes a loud buzzing sound. "It makes noise anyway, we will wake up the whole port!" comments the inspector. It is then that sirens of alarm resound. "Goddamn it, a bombing! Let's go!"
.........
The Tatra zigzags as fast as its exhausted engine and worn-out tires allow At the beginning, the bombardment is favorable to the escapees: the sentries are more concerned with sheltering from the steel storm than with machine-gunning them. But while the car crosses the Agia Sofia square, Anthea shouts "Be careful!" - too late. A wave of scarlet heat arrives by the left. Blown by the explosion, the Tatra will crash on the side at the corner of the street Patriarchou Ioakim.

Agios Pavlos - Under the tent that serves as a common forward HQ for the XIIIth Corps and ANZAC, the map of Thessaloniki is covered with red marks as reports arrive indicating that the various sectors of the city have been "treated". The radio, connected on the frequency common to the observers, the bombers and the fleet (respective callsigns: Herald, Angel and Arrow) crackles with information.
- This is Herald 2, direct impact on target! To Angel 1, bombs are confirmed to have Hit.
- This is Angel One, Roger That.
- Herald 7 and 10, direct hit! Angel 2 and 3 have hit the pillow!
Impassive and mute, the attendants draw large red hatching on the district of Ampelokipoi, while the macabre commentary continues.
- This is Herald 6 reporting, confirming all targets have been stricken by bombers. Double-Axe completed. Repeat, Double-Axe completed.
- This is Heaven Gates [the forward air controller]. Herald 8 and 11, confirm the hits over the targets. Herald 1, 2 and 4...
Weary and pressed by events, one officer chose to simply surround the area between the station and the harbor, and then to mark it with a simple red cross. Finally, the air controller concludes.
- This is Heaven Gates. Double-Axe complete. All Angels are to return to base immediately.
- Angel 1, Roger that.
The table is now covered with red marks. At the back of the tent, Captain Haros, liaison officer to the 8th Army for the Greek Army, is sitting - collapsed, rather.
He is a native of Salonika. The face of the unfortunate man has gone through many colors in the last half hour.
The face of the unfortunate man has gone through many colors in the last half hour, and everyone pretends not to know that he is now crying behind his cap. Not being able to stand it anymore, he leaves the tent to get some fresh air and discovers under the rising sun a landscape of apocalypse.
In the sky, the bombers have moved away, but it is the turn of the fleet, which has to deal with a few specific targets, located near the port. The radio continues to chant:
- Arrow 2, this is Herald 3. Coordinates correction. 0.5 West and 0.21 South.
- This is Arrow 2, Roger that.
From the hill of Agios Pavlos, the British, New Zealanders and Australians have massed in silence on the observation points to contemplate the city marbled of fires, whose columns of smoke streak the Aegean sky. A frightening and striking sight - many soldiers have removed their helmets as if for a funeral...
In the open sea, the tiny dark silhouettes of the monitors are illuminated by lightning, while the 15" and 7" start their work. The shooting is precise, the observers report with satisfaction. Finally, the radio announces:
- All Arrow, cease fire.

The revolt of the hilots
Salonika (eastern sector), 07:00 - After the bombardment, Oberst Friedrich Höhne, of 204. Jäger Rgt, tries to plug the gaping holes in his defenses as best he can. Where are the men of Colonel Müller? He needs them! Of course, they are nowhere to be found. These cowards want to loot, but they don't want to fight. So Höhne sends a patrol to find the bastards. By the way, here it is again. Still no colonel Müller, but a pale Jäger, who tells us that his two comrades have been massacred in the Ermou Boulevard police station! The Oberst knows that these Greeks could not be trusted. Overwhelmed by the emergencies, he sends without delay to the police station a lieutenant and about fifteen men to disarm and arrest these caricatures of policemen.
.........
Police station of the Ermou boulevard, 07:30 - Two Opel trucks appear in front of the building. While his men are deploying, the officer in charge of the detachment calls out to the guard and orders him to tell the commissioner to come and talk to him.
The commissar in question is no longer a great friend of the Germans - in fact, he had never really been one, on the other hand, he fears Colonel Müller. However, the colonel has disappeared, and his minister is nothing... He goes out into the street, but when the captain gives him his orders - barks at him would be more appropriate - in the language of Goethe, the Greek takes a malicious pleasure to answer in that of Homer... However, after a few tense minutes of a rather ridiculous dialogue of the deaf, the commissioner is convinced (not without reason) that the two corpses of Jägers discovered earlier are going to be worth him being executed with his men. His men, who are nearby, observing the scene from the windows of the building. He shouts loudly: "We will not let our throats be slit like sheep!"
The first shots are fired from who knows where. The Jägers are better armed, but the police are entrenched in the police station. The Germans withdraw after having strafed the façade, taking the body of their lieutenant with them - he and the commissioner were the first to fall. In the minutes that follow, the other police stations, alerted by telephone or messenger, fall into rebellion. Those who have prisoners release them and all let the population help themselves to their weapons. Soon, groups of men and women in and out of uniform spread through the city, attacking all the Germans they meet in the middle of the fires lit by the bombardment: the few firemen who remained in the city are unable to extinguish them.

Operation Stamford Bridge
Salonika (Allied lines) - After having withdrawn 150 yards during the night to avoid a "friendly fire" with devastating consequences, the British, Australian and New Zealand forces go back on the offensive. The German resistance seems to have been broken bby the bombs, but the rubble and the fires slowed down their momentum. In the evening, however, the historic center falls to the 6th Australian, while the 2nd Nea-Zealand of Freyberg hold about three quarters of Ampelokipoi - its men could see the ruins of the railway station. Finally, the 51st Infantry reaches the first piers of the harbor - Wimberley's men are surprised (and encouraged) by a detail: the Jägers had tried to reconstitute a second line of defense, but they were attacked at this point by unknown forces, apparently Hellenic State Police. "They're fighting among themselves," says a British sergeant, who has little sympathy for these repentant men.
"During our advance along Egnatia Boulevard, our patrol evacuated 78 Greek civilians found alive in the rubble. Among them, 21 wounded, including a woman supported by a policeman of the Hellenic State, that we had to protect from an angry crowd. No other people from that police force were located by our unit (no other living people, I mean)." (Report by Corporal Nigel Nickinson, 51st Division, quoted by Robert Stan Pratsky, The Siege of Salonika: Shadows Among Shadows, Gallimard, 1992)
........
Salonika (HQ of the 97. Jäger) - General Müller notes that the Festung Salonik is living its last hours. He has only a few hundred able-bodied men left (less than a thousand), and these have to face an insurrection in their rear. Someone has planted a seed of mischief in his garden.
The Allied bombardment was devastating, in the absence of proper air-raid shelter or a place to fall back. As a result, entire sections were vaporized and his chain of command was shattered like Greek buildings by the carpet bombing. Oberst Friedrich-Wilhelm, of the 207. Jäger Rgt, is dead, and his counterpart of the 204. Rgt, Friedrich Höhne, tried to get rid of the insurgents while slowing down the enemy advance, but without much success. Several Marders were crushed or buried by bombs and the last one was struck by a Churchill - the Allied tanks have no more opponents.
So it's over. Some pockets will surely hold for a few more days, but the Allies now control most of the city and the port of Salonika. Speaking to the survivors of his staff, Ludwig Müller simply declares: "It seems that we are no longer welcome here, gentlemen... It is only a matter of hours, perhaps less, before the British arrive. Destroy the equipment and documents, and let each of you do what your conscience dictates. As for me, I remain here to wait for the enemy. Heil Hitler!"

Bulgarian affair
Sofia - The capital is now completely controlled by the Germans. Panzers and SS patrol through the streets of Sofia in calm, but mostly in fear.

Ihtiman region - The 19. PanzerGrenadier continues to clear the area between Samokov and Plovdiv and chasing the last Bulgarian soldiers who try to flee from the vengeful hand of the Reich. The unit, already constituted of bits and pieces at the beginning, is now dispersed and worn out by the attacks of the RAF. A regiment of the 225. ID (XXX. AK) has to come from the coast to take over. In the meantime, the grenadiers continue their tedious work...

Lake Koronia (new sector of the 2nd Bulgarian Army) - Maj. Stoychev's forces, now numbering four divisions, are now well deployed in their defensive positions, facing the Allied lines. The period of uncertainty regarding the dissolution of the 2nd Occupation Corps is now over.

Sofia - Standartenführer Adolf Beckerle has thought about it a lot and is not satisfied at all.
After examination, he even finds the situation downright disastrous: if we except the border force with Turkey (which has stayed out of the fighting, but obviously has no desire to abandon its mission to police), the Bulgarian army is reduced to four operational divisions (2nd, 8th, 10th and 16th ID), all in Thrace. One can undoubtedly add to it the 7th ID, which surrenders without fighting, and it will be perhaps possible to recover a part of the six interned divisions. The air force has fled to Greece and there is talk of giving to the Romanians the few old captured torpedo boats.
Of course, the Heer will certainly want to recover its units as soon as possible. In the long run, it will really only be able to count on the 4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division, currently being regrouped in the country. One good point, however: Romania and Hungary now know where they stand if they feel like playing the girls in the air.
Consequently, the SS has to reorganize as quickly as possible a Bulgarian army capable, at least, of controlling its own territory. And for that, a new command is needed. But out of seven major-generals, two are dead and four prisoners, of which only three are in the hand of the Reich. It is not the commander of the Gendarmerie, Dimitrov, who will lead the country! After the necessary and imminent purges, a respected figure, a presentable general. And Beckerle is still looking for him...

On the air - Radio Neue Europa has resumed its usual broadcasts. Today, it focuses on the heavy losses suffered by the Russians in Romania. "The Reds are advancing over the bodies of their countless soldiers equipped with the money of the Wall Street Jews!" exclaims "Der Chef".

 

[Wings]

September 18th, 1943

Provence
Liberation - At Caronte, the 112th RCT of the 28th US-ID land. This one is now complete. Its men will deploy on the starting positions planned for the continuation.
.........
Südwall - In the Drôme, the first elements of the 16. Panzer begin to deploy alongside the 14. SS PzGr and the 2. FJD. Now that the front seems stabilized, the two SS Panzerdivisions should be able to leave for Germany in a few weeks in order to be reconstituted and rearmed.
This defeat has another consequence for the SS armored corps. The good behavior of the KG Hauck, made up mainly of young fanatical recruits, was very noticeable: after having massacred many defenseless civilians during the repression against the "terrorists" the young Nazis have more honorably stood up to the Allied counter-attack after the failure of the Chateaurenard breakthrough, avoiding the encirclement and destruction of KG Tychsen. It is decided to create from elements of the 1. and 2. SS Panzer, and in particular of the 2. SS PzGr Rgt, a 16. SS Panzer Division, which is named Hitlerjugend. Its manpower will be completed by a call for volunteers in the Hitler Youth organization.

Alps and French Riviera
Südwall - The hills of the Diois, at the foot of the Vercors, are held by the Hunters of the 157. Gebirgs facing the French 10th DI. The Alpini of the 2a Divizione Monterosa, facing the 27th Alpine Division, closes the openings north of Gap. Finally, the Austrian veterans of the 188. Gebirgs lock the Low Alps east of a line from Digne to Castellane, preventing the Moroccans of the 4th DMM from advancing.
Further south, the 148. ID retreats in front of the French colonials. It has to join forces with the 715. ID to hold the limits of the Alpes Maritimes.
.........
Liberation - Along the coast, what had to happen happened: the skirmishers of the 9th DIC finally obtain a breakthrough. Not that the men of the 919 IR did not deserve it, but they were the most exposed since the beginning of the campaign, they suffered very heavy losses and they lack support. On the Allied side, they do not hesitate to exploit this success. In the wake of the men of the 4th RTS, the 6th RCA immediately joins in and, a little later, the 4th BMLE, which was further away.
If the 285. Gr Rgt resists west of Grasse, the 281. Gr Rgt, in the north, retreats towards Entrevaux and succeeds in distancing itself a little from the 14th DBLE by trapping the ground copiously, while the 286. Gr Rgt moves to new positions in the Gourdon sector.
A little to the north, the 3rd RSM arrives in sight of Saint Vallier de Thiey.

Hills of the Drôme (north of Nyons) - It looks like the farm is pushed up from the hill, like a fruit, and not built, so much it is one with the slope.
Corporal Santini's eyes are drawn back to his men. Coming from far away, they hear the distant echo of three detonations. A Cigale of observation is zoning in somewhere in the corner.
- Ho! El Mardi? How are you? You look like hell! Sick?" he asks in a low voice.
The answer comes from a little further away, in the same tone.
- It's nothing, chief. He's sulking...
- Are you sulking, Mourad?
- It's an El Mardi, chief. The El Mardi, they always pout...
Santini answers with a grimace of annoyance.
- It's not fair, chief!
- What is not fair, Mourad?
- Why are we being punished, boss? The others are fighting over there. And us, here, what do we do?
- You want to fight, Mourad?
- He wants the cross, chief.
- You want the cross? Is that right?
- Yes, sir. When I go back to the village, the women will say, "Look at him. He has the cross. Sure he can read. He's killed a lot of Zalboches. He'll make a good husband."
- Can you read and write, Mourad?
- No, chief! You know that! I'll never be a sergeant. But if I have the Cross, then the women will say: "Look at that one. He has the Cross. So he can read and maybe write.
- My poor Mourad! Wouldn't you rather they said, "Look, it's Mourad. He doesn't have the Cross, maybe he can't read and write, but he has saved children. He'll be a good father"?
- And why would the women say that?
- Because that's what the Captain said. He said, "El Mardi, he's a good soldier. He acts with his heart. He thought of the children!"
- He said that, the 'pitaine?
- The Death of my mother if I lie!
- Ah!...
Soldier El Mardi remains thoughtful for a few seconds, then recovers: "So, what do you want us to do?"
- With Farid, you go around this side, passing behind these stones, there.
Then, towards the rest of his men: "Ahmed and the others, you go up by there. No, not you, Joshua. You cover me."
- Do you think there are Zalboches up there, chief?
- They sent us to find out. Joshua, we go in when the others are placed.
.........
- Did you hear what the Captain said?
- Shut up!
- Chouf! The old man...
Further down, the corporal also spotted the man sitting on a bench against the front of the farmhouse. Signalling to his companion to go under cover, he decides to go straight ahead - with, nevertheless, a small tightening of throat. The path climbs steeply.
A dog with rheumatism gets up at his approach to bark without conviction. Without moving, the civilian waves his hand. He waits.
On Ahmed's side, as on Mourad's, everything looks OK, as the Yanks say.
- Hello... Sir.
- Good morning... Soldier.
An inquisitive glance: "... Corporal... French? FRENCH!"
The man gets up painfully, leaning on a cane. He takes two steps, grabs Santini's hand between his own, big peasant hands, as rough as the bark of a tree. The grey moustache trembles, and the eyes, very clear, become misty.
- Good god.. So, is it true? Is it true? You've come back?
Unprepared for this kind of situation, the corporal stammers. The dog, which begs for a caress, saves the day. He finally gets back on track. No, the man (he was wounded in front of Soissons, in 17, the leg...) has not seen anyone for a long time. The last soldiers, it was two days ago. Or three. Some Krauts. Who wore a funny little helmet, but Krauts.
- ... And these bastards took my Louison! What are we going to do without my Louison?
- Louison? They took your wife?
- But no, finally! It's our mule! The mayor went up to tell us to get out, then, my Léontine and Simone, they left downstairs, with the cart (he points in the direction of the valley). But the animals, eh? How do you do it for the animals? We had to take care of them, the animals, right? So I stayed with them. And here they come in three of them, they searched everything, they devoured everything and finally, they took Louison away from me. With the bâts...
Now, he cries. Santini is embarrassed. He makes a sign. The men join.
Two go to visit the interior of the house. Abisbor and El Mardi return to their steps, towards an outbuilding which everything leads to believe that it is used as a sheepfold. They perceive a great stir inside when they passed, attentive to the openings hardly wider than a fist. Real loopholes of fortification, almost closed by secular cobwebs. But one can never be too careful...
The boards of the double doors have seen better days. Farid positions himself on one side, stuck to the wall, rifle in hand. On the other side, his companion maneuvers the rudimentary wooden latch with the handlebars of his gun.
A good push. The flies stuck to the wood fly away. The door opens wide, cuts a slice of sunlight in a universe of shadows. The smell, powerful, takes in the throat. A compact block with several heads settles under the beginning of a vault formerly named with lime.
Gray, with a lighter head, of a white that has thrown in the towel and taken a vacation, the sheep huddle a few steps from the entrance, climb on top of each other, bleat plaintively, offering to the intruders with the so pleasant and jovial face proper to all the sheep of the world (but that some imitate in humans).
Look at the friend. Who returns it and tightens his hands on his weapon.
Small negative sign from Farid. He seizes a large stone. He throws it in the shadow of the cribs, there low, at the bottom.
- Grinade! Erraousse! Chnell!
Small moue of appreciation of Mourad.
Two triplets of light spots slowly emerge from the half-light.
- French! Uh, French! Friends!... Comrades!
Knitting hooves, the woolly mass scurries off into another corner of its universe.
Two individuals emerge blinking, blinded by the harsh light. No weapons. Judging by their uniforms, members of Laval's clique. Or Doriot's. In any case, it's all the same. Express search. Nothing. Not even a gourd, a cigarette, a stump of bread...
The quartet makes a remarkable arrival with the owner of the place, who chokes with astonishment, swears that he gave the animals this morning and that there was nothing, word!
Santini readily believes him. The man's eyesight is so low that an Ram (not a ram, a Ram) could cross his field without him noticing.
Mourad swaggers.
Farid laughs at him.
The corporal organizes the return of the prisoners to the rear. They seem relieved, perhaps wrongly so. After thinking about it, Josué offers them a cigarette - armed, they were good for the block, and even like that...
The two heroes of the day give themselves a break. Mourad approaches the fountain, which flows without stopping. Crystal clear water. And cold. Almost icy cold. All this water! All this green...
- Hold on, soldier.
The '17 veteran stands up heavily. Farid lends him his shoulder.
- Follow me.
We go into a maze of cramped cellars half dug in the mountain. The master of the placesmoves with difficulty an old kneading trough eaten by worms.
- Here, help me.
From a hole in the ground emerge two, then three, then four bottles.
Back to the sun.
The two skirmishers spin their gift in their hands, doubtful.
- It's pet. And good stuff! For you and your colleagues...
Mourad uncorks a bottle. It's easy. It's a bottle of lemonade, in dark glass, with a torn label and a cork attached by a metal strap. He approaches the nose, throws his head back.
- We can't. It's alcohol...
- Ah, shit! That's right, I forgot that you guys... That's okay. Take them anyway. You're probably pretty resourceful, huh? A trooper who can't handle himself, it would be nothing more than rookies, right? Keep them, keep them, you'll find something to do with them... For what I would do with them!
Sitting on their heels, our two companions conciliate in the town. The good man sits down again while blowing.
Farid smiles with all his teeth (yellow, but it is not because of the tobacco).
- Old man, you had a mule there, right?
- Louison...
He sucks in a gulp of air.
- Louison... But the Italians stole it from me, those bastards! And what are we going to do, Léontine and me? How are we going to get the wood in this winter, huh? And the hay? Is the hay going to be put in by itself?
The man gets carried away.
- And then, you have only one girl ? No boys?
- I had two. The younger one, he is in Italy. I think so. What a world! I had Italians in my house without knowing it, and my son, he's in Italy, around Florence, maybe...
- He's got the baraka. He'll come back.
- Inch'Allah!
- And the other one?
- Fell from a tree. In '38. Louison, it was with him...
An angel passes, without cockade.
- You have beasts...
- Good god... ! The animals! Did you drop them ?
The ovine gentry has cautiously ventured outside. They graze the grass at full speed, in case the lunch gets away.
- You know, my cousin, he takes care of our horses...
- Horses? I thought you all had trucks. Tanks. Machines like that... You still got horses?
- Oh, you know, old man, trucks don't go on the small trails in the mountains.
- So what?
- So, as I said, my cousin, he takes care of our horses. And you, you have sheep, but you have too many for you alone... And this one, she can...
- Is it? Oh, you're right. And your sheep, they don't limp?
- Oh no, they don't! Our horses, they are good animals... And the Eid, it's soon...

 

[Wings]

September 19th, 1943

Truyère Valley (confines of Aveyron, Cantal and Lozère) - A fierce battle, sometimes called the "French Neretva"*, begins between the Resistance forces (Colonel Charles Mondange) and those of the Reich: a regiment of the 334. ID and SS police elements (police colonel Bernhard Griese). The 2nd Regiment of the French Guard, made available by the NEF, does little more than make up the numbers, and Griese even suspects that the "Laval soldiers" are passing on information to the enemy. In fact, the Garde created by Laval from elements of the old army and supposed to be the elite unit of the NEF, considered itself a purely military corps and had the deepest contempt for the PSE of Doriot and the Légion Tricolore of the new Minister of Defense, Jacques Benoist-Méchin.
"Our hardest fight at the Truyère, if you can call it a fight, was to smash the face of a handful of white men sent by Doriot to watch our work. We who had fought in 1940 and often in Verdun! They quickly left to take refuge in the skirts of the Germans and General Neindorff, a Kraut but who had fought in both wars, proved us right." Staff Sergeant Cofinhal, of the Tricolor Legion, interviewed in 1963 by the newspaper La Montagne.

Bucharest - Ever since he got Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu out of prison - who has obviously disappeared into thin air, only deigning to promise to remain contactable - Baron Mocsony-Styrcea did not stop his discreet consultations. Taking advantage of the fact that Antonescu has his eyes on Sofia - he undoubtedly imagines that he can get something back at Bulgaria's expense, and at a low price while doing so - the unofficial representative of King Michael makes the rounds of the "democratic" parties, or at least those presentable to the United Nations.
Indeed, although officially dissolved since March 1938, these parties have all kept a more or less rich organizational life, which has been revived by the eviction of the Legionnaires. The most representative are the National Peasant, National Liberal and Social-Democratic parties... not to mention the communists, of course.
- The National Peasant Party of Iuliu Maniu - right-wing, but reputedly opposed to the Iron Guard** and Germany, maintains... diplomatic relations with Antonescu. He is undoubtedly hostile to the USSR and favorable to the Western powers.
- The National Liberal Party of Constantin I.C. Brătianu - center-right, it is the first party in Romania in terms of membership. It historically represents the wealthy class (the former boyars). These reformers were in power for a long time (from 1922 to 1928 and from 1933 to 1937) and believe that they have done a lot to bring Romania out of the underdevelopment in which it was vegetating***. They therefore refused to see it sink into chaos, as much out of patriotism as to defend the model they have put in place.
- The Social Democratic Party of Constantin-Titel Petrescu - of the left, it brings together essentially socialists and represents the main channel of communication with the communists,
- The CP, in fact - as tiny as it was before the war, it has become very influential, now that the T-34s are massing by the hundreds on the north bank of the Danube. It should soon collaborate with the democratic parties, even if its objectives are not yet clear, and it is still somewhat criticized for having supported the hold-up on Bessarabia and Bucovina in June 1940.
All these formations, which have often - and sometimes strongly! - opposed to each other in the last twenty years have put aside their differences to form what will soon become the National Democratic Bloc. Certainly, far from a sacred union where good understanding reigns, it is only a pragmatic association born of circumstances. But at this time, all seem to agree to work together in order to overthrow the Conducator, to ask for an armistice and of course (the fate of the Italians and Bulgarians has made everyone's eyes glaze over) to turn their weapons against the Axis.
Then... Maniu and Brătianu see the future as a parliamentary democracy. Petrescu and his recovered comrades imagine it rather on the Soviet model. But first of all we need to form the Bloc officially - and, for some, to make sure that the CP's positions reflect the instructions from Moscow.

* In reference to the Neretva Valley in Bosnia, where Tito's Partisans fought the Germans, Italians and Chetniks in November 1942. The defection of the Chetniks allowed the Partisans to escape encirclement.
** Which imprisoned many of its leaders and even assassinated some of them (including Virgil Madgearu, in November 1940).
*** In fact, Romania owes the PNL many administrative and economic reforms, which brought it several periods of prosperity (and centralization) in the 1920s.

 

[Wings]

September 19th, 1943

Indochina Campaign
Air war
Nong Khai (on the Thai-Laos border) - In the middle of the afternoon, four Mitchells of II/62 and six Mustangs from III/40 come to attack the airfield. Two Ki-43s are damaged, but the runway takes most of the damage. An allied twin-engine plane, bolder than the rest, is shot down by flak.

Newcomers
Xépôn (Laos) - This morning, Vietnamese and Laotian units take advantage of the clear weather to receive some supplies by air.
Guiding the aircraft by radio, the ground teams listen to the voices that answer them with a touch of perplexity. Their interlocutors speak French with a rather original accent, which is not that of the American pilots. In fact, the twin-engine planes that appear over the city are not the usual C-46 Commando or C-47 Dakota. Only the escort of P-51s, well recognized by the AA machine gun operators, avoids a "friendly" fire. The transports are Lodestar of the 344 Sqn(B) - an officer, at first astonished by the black and yellow cockade lacking only a red border (modification of the roundels in the Far East), identifies the black-yellow-red colors on the centerboard: it is indeed the Belgian flag!
Since a few weeks, the transport aircraft of the 1st (Belgian) Composite Group have been contributing to the Air Transport Command's refueling tours. An air shuttle created between Lashio and Dien-Bien-Phu is now added to the one leaving from Myitkyina. This organization was made possible by the failure of operations U-Go in Burma and Typhoon in Vietnam. The Imperial Army Air Force is now on the defensive (although Tokyo denied the evidence) and transport planes, duly escorted, could supply the Épervier base, and even some units in Laos.
While the Mustang I of Sqn 340 (B) orbit a little higher, the transports carry out a "fine" airdrop, according to the FAC.

Threat on Mytho
North of Mytho (Cochinchina) - Unlike its allies (?) Hoa-Hao and Binh Xuyen, Nguyen Binh's Vietminh are unable to approach their objective without being spotted. This force, nearly two thousand men, was far too large to be discreet. The arrival of this force causes panic in Mytho.
Major Mitsushima desperately calls for reinforcements, but the 56th Division is in Laos and General Okiie Osami, whose 7th Division was supposed to control all of Cochinchina with only two regiments*, did not dare withdraw any troops from Saigon or Cholon. Only a few planes are sent to strafe the Vietnamese soldiers, who stray into the rice fields.
The only reinforcements the garrison really receives are the sections defending the outposts, at least those who had a radio. Once again, the telephone wires were cut and no one will see the bicycle estafettes sent to warn the isolated posts. All those of the road to Cai-Bé will be attacked and annihilated as the Vietminh advance.
The news of the arrival of the Vietminh spreads very quickly in the city, with varying results. Most of the inhabitants remain cautious, not knowing what to expect. But for the hundred and fifty men of the Noi Ung Nghia Binh (Voluntary Forces of the Interior), the news was like a bomb. The first sentry to learn of it went into the barracks and came out a few minutes later, dressed in civilian clothes and carrying a suitcase!
A real exodus starts. All the "local Japanese" who had shown themselves too much on the side of the Occupier take flight by the means of the edge. The station is closed - the line does not go further south and (what a coincidence!) it had been cut off two days earlier towards Saigon. We will therefore leave on foot, sometimes pulling a handcart. The lucky ones who have a horse-drawn carriage or a (very rare) car that has not been requisitioned are taken to task by the other fugitives. The Kempetai and the Japanese soldiers are overwhelmed by scenes of hysteria. Especially since some rioters throw stones at them or shout insults. As the evening falls, fires break out and sporadic shooting resounds.

New Guinea Campaign
Salamaua-Lae Campaign
Nassau Bay and the Battle of the Bitoi River - D Company of the Australian 2/16 Btn tracks down Japanese survivors around the Bitoi River.
Meanwhile, the PT-boats are back in Nassau Bay with the LCVP barges and several French flagged light transports, built by ARMAD (Arsenal of Madagascar). The operation is covered by a small squadron led by the cruiser Jeanne d'Arc, on which Major-General Horace H. Fuller and the staff of the 41st US-ID (including the 162nd US-IR) are located. The Jeanne is surrounded by the destroyers USS Walke and HMAS Quadrant, Quality and Queenborough as well as the minesweepers Koh-Chang and Tourane, which complete the French participation.
General Horace H. Fuller was put in charge of land operations in this part of New Guinea. He makes landfall with three battalions of the 1st Marine Parachute Rgt, whose Paramarines would still have to wait before they could show the combat value of a parachute drop.
The MacKechnie force also receives the reinforcement of four M1 75 mm howitzers, as well as food, ammunition and equipment.

Sino-Japanese War
Air preparations
Hubei - New raid on Wuhan, with 27 Liberators and 15 Mustangs. This time, the Japanese fighters react with 22 Hayabusa and nine Hiei. After a fierce fight, five B-24 are shot down (one of them by the sacrifice of a Ki-43 which hit it voluntarily); a sixth one, damaged, lands on its belly in a rice field - its crew was exfiltrated by the Chinese and returned to Chongqing three weeks later. Two P-51s are also bear the cost of the Japanese fighting spirit, but the 14th Air Force pilots, who are getting used to their new mount, do not dodge the spinning combat like before, to the surprise of the Japanese who lose eight Ki-43s and one Ki-61.
On the ground, the Hanyang arsenal, one of the first modern weapons factories built at the end of the imperial era, suffers considerable damage, but many bombs go astray once again, causing many civilian casualties.

Huangshi - Ten B-25s escorted by nine P-40s attack the railway station again, where the damage caused by the September 12th raid has barely been repaired. The attack, carried out at low altitude, is precise and destructive, especially since an ammunition train was hit by a bomb, causing a spectacular explosion. In the sky, a Mitchell and two Warhawks are shot down against two Hayabusa, one of which made the fatal mistake of attempting a head-on pass against a B-25 with a full nose. The other was the fifth air combat victory for Captain Zang Xilan, who has made a habit of escorting American bombers.
At the same time, 14 P-38s arrive from the south and attack the river traffic; they sink several barges as well as the gunboat Futami, which was guarding the access to the Dongting Lake, and leave without having suffered any losses.

... and in the Resistance
Hubei - The building at the corner of Zhongshan Avenue and Nanjing Street was the pride of the people of Hankou. Built in 1936 to serve as the headquarters of the city's banking consortium, it was a superb example of art deco architecture. But two years later, after the fall of the city to Japanese invaders, it is precisely to its particularly solid reinforced concrete structure that it was chosen as the headquarters of the sinister Kempetai. Sometimes you can hear the screams of the prisoners that the Japanese military police tortured there, even in the street. Its accesses are guarded by armed sentries, and woe betide who, passing in front of them, does not stop to bow - he will be beaten in the best of cases, or even shot in the head without any other form of trial.
Nothing more normal, then, if some ragged peasants, struggling to move a handcart heavily loaded with a miserable junk, interrupt their efforts when they reach the height of the factionalists. But instead of showing their submission, they suddenly rush to the first floor windows. The sentries immediately open fire, but three of the assailants manage to throw the grenades they were carrying before being riddled with bullets. The explosions cause several Japanese agents to be killed in the explosions. As a squad of soldiers deploys to secure the street, a very violent explosion kills about fifteen of them and seriously injures many others: in the cart was hidden a time bomb.
........
Until now, the nationalist maquis had been instructed to maintain a normal level of activity so as not to alert the Japanese prematurely to the imminence of a major offensive. Now that the launch of Operation Zhulin is approaching - only two weeks left - orders were given to multiply sabotage, coups de main and other acts of resistance to disorganize the Japanese defenses. The attack in Hankou was followed by many others in the whole region. As usual, the Japanese reacted with indiscriminate reprisals against the civilian population, and several hundred people are randomly executed among the inhabitants of Wuhan.

* Exactly the 26th and 27th IR and two field artillery battalions. The rest of the division, and notably the 28th IR, was sent in August 1942 to Guadalcanal, where it literally disappeared.

 

[Wings]

September 19th, 1943

Operation Suvorov
Embarassed Bison
Bialyničy region ("Suvorov-Center") - Flat calm - or almost - for the 15th Army and its neighbors, who continue the work of entrenchment and reinforcement of their positions. Ivan Fedyuninsky is now well established on the west bank of the Drut, going through the lines, rectifying positions, scolding as much as necessary... According to this competent - but also ruthless - leader, there is still a lot to do.
Thus, discovering a colonel "disoriented, with his head in his hands and unable to say where his units were", the general immediately relieved the incompetent, and then, for good measure, his political commissar as well! Emboldened by the glory of his former victories (he had won his first his first successes at Khalkhin-Gol!) and still protected by Zhukov, Fedyuninsky considers himself entitled to take all measures to consolidate his bridgehead without referring to higher up. It is true that, if a new German offensive seems for the time being improbable, bad habits quickly resurface in the Red Army under the impact of fatigue and losses!
Meanwhile, the 18. PzG has just arrived near Teterin, to support - or even to relieve, according to the most zealous racialists of the Reich - the 134. ID "mixed". The choice of the right sector of the bridgehead is perhaps not the best for von Erdmannsdorff's unit... but between transfer time, terrain difficulties and prejudices about the formations already in place, he didn't really have a choice. His 18. PanzerGrenadier - which in fact has only twenty-four outrageously outdated Panzer IIIs - had to advance along the banks of the Drut to push back the Soviets and then cut off their retreat, all under the enemy guns.
.........
Chachevichy area ("Suvorov-Center") - Another day of slow advance for the Reich forces in this area - the XLIII. AK advanced painfully towards the Drut and reoccupies the positions abandoned the day before (including Kolby and Borki), facing a 22nd Armored Corps which retreat avoiding contact, except to carry out some delaying actions. In fact, the majority of Volkov's tanks are already crossing the Drut, because of the lack of defenders to hold on to Chachevichy.
The possibility of creating a redoubt in this city is however evoked by the Kremlin the same morning, without Ivan Konev totally excluding it... But facing the anguished calls of Managrov, the commander of the 2nd Belarussian Front has to agree very quickly that such an attempt would serve no purpose, except to weaken the defenses of the 29th Army. The Red Army retreats and crosses the river to the east, precisely according to the wishes of HG Mitte.
.........
Jlobin region ("Suvorov-South") - Despite its great weariness, the 2nd Belarussian Front attacks the new defense line of the 1. PanzerArmee, without the latter feeling in the least in danger. Hermann Hoth is right not to worry - after Gomel, Jlobin has left its mark on the Red units, whose persistent feverishness now gives place to outright confusion.
While the 21st Armored Corps is facing alone - or almost - the XXV. AK of Wilhelm Fahrmbacher, the 2nd Guards Army is just beginning to send its units north, to garrison the part of the front running from Aziarany to Dvorets - 20 kilometers of lines in all. Spurred on (although not as strongly as before...) by his commander, Govorov is forced to dispatch his units more or less as they arrive... A dangerous game, but since the Fascists have retreated, there is nothing to fear, is there?
At his side, the 7th Armored Corps has still not crossed completely - the barges are in insufficient number and general Alexey Rodin stubbornly refuses to deploy his machines in small packages diluted in the mass of infantry.
Obviously, the armored general is right - Ivan Konev himself would agree, while he keeps delaying the redeployment of Ivan Purkayev's 3rd Shock Army to the front. This formation has given a lot for the capture of Jlobin, what is the point of throwing it forward on the fascist lines that should not move for many months? In fact, on the evening of September 19th, the three infantry corps of this formation - diminished but still combative - have hardly reached a line from Krugi to Lukski. There is therefore still a gap of 15 to 20 kilometers between them and the 21st Armored Corps, positioned on their right and further forward.
And meanwhile, opposite them, the victorious formations of Kirawsk reach Poyedinki (for the 19. Panzer) and Oni Poddelali (for the 20. Panzer) - the 17. ID should reach Malaja Kruszynauka, on the right side of the 340. The grenadiers and Panzermänner of these formations, exhausted by the efforts of the last few days, literally collapse on their machines... Some tank commanders are even caught sleeping on their turrets!
With wisdom - and also listening to the advice of Hermann Hoth, who knows nothing of the wear and tear on his forces - Rommel decides to let the night pass before launching, tomorrow morning, a pincer maneuver around Dvorets tomorrow morning with "more or less" rested troops. It should be noted that the arrival of the two panzer divisions did not go unnoticed by the VVS - despite efforts of the Luftwaffe, which maintain a vigilant but anemic cover on the friendly lines. The Red Army knows that the panzers are there! However, the 2nd Belorussian Front sees no reason to worry about it: these worn formations simply return to their point of departure, towards the center of gravity of the sector, and would not know in their turn to throw themselves stupidly forward towards the adversary...
.........
"A day of waiting and boredom, while the tension accumulated during the last days finally seemed to fall back and dissolve in our organisms, like alcohol after an evening of agape and excess. On this side, we had to admit that our little party of the day before had been cathartic. A little calm, for once, was not to be refused.
Fyodor was poking around in the engine (he hadn't found any card players - strangely enough, everyone seemed to avoid him like the plague), Alexandr was resting and Andrei was still gone who knows where...
One day this Siberian was going to cause us trouble - and this "us" was mainly "me", since I was his superior and therefore responsible for his actions. But well, go and reason with him... And I really didn't want to argue with him about it, or even worse*. So I had to stay on the sidelines, hoping that he wouldn't do anything stupid. Fortunately, the Germans seemed calm... An impression of calmness - if not of serenity - invaded me. The same as before we were taken across to Gomel, in truth..." (Evgeny Bessonov, op. cit.)

Kremlin - Among other triumphs, more or less proven, Moscow continues its jokes about the capture of Jlobin, emphatically proclaiming "the great competence of General Konev, operating under the direct authority of the brilliant Marshal Stalin, and who will soon be called to higher functions." The Soviet propaganda wishes to continue to highlight the boss of the two Belorussian Fronts and the theaters where the Red Army does not have too many difficulties.
.........
Berlin - On the other side, it is not much better. Beyond the events in Ukraine - moderately satisfactory but which could not of course be qualified as a setback! - the Reich prefers to dissert at length on the "prodigious" losses undergone by the Red Army, in length of reports and heroic testimonies. For both sides, obviously, "Suvorov" is a great success... as long as one is willing to forget the price.

SS Generalbezirk Weißruthenien [SS HQ White Ruthenia] (Minsk) - Herr Böhme's assassins have returned to the occupied capital of Belarus without any problems. Not wishing to waste time, SS-Obersturmbannführer Eduard Strauch orders to prepare the next waves of liquidations and deportations in the western part of the province - after the western part of the province - after a few days of rest, of course, because the heroes of the Reich had even if they had natives to help them**!
However, unfortunately for them, the Einsatzgruppen might soon run out of work... This is why it is already planned to reassign them to anti-partisan operations, once all the undesirables have been evacuated to Poland. In the meantime, it will be necessary to make do with the local workforce, including the SS-Sturmbrigade Kaminski, composed of Russians - what a downfall! On the other hand, even if he still lacked the manpower for his task, Strauch had the French of the LVF, still garrisoned in the area and occupied with static guard duties. Russians rather than French! This says a lot about the esteem in which the Black Order held the nerves of the Laval and Doriot's regime...
Anyway, "Frühlingsfest" will start tomorrow: three infernal columns leaving from Bolotnyy, Ukrytiye and Gonchaya will have to go into the woods and the swamps to - once again - burn and kill everything in their path. Nevertheless, even if no one dares to admit it in the corridors of the dark institution, it is quite possible that this operation will not be as productive as "Cottbus". Indeed, because of the ongoing clashes in the Chachevichy sector, it will not be possible to close the eastern trap as firmly as planned. Well, the Slavs just have to flee to the communist lines!

Operations Kutusov and Rumyantsev
Kutusov - Critical points
Sectors from Mozyr to Ovrush - Finally things are clear and orders given - the 3. PanzerArmee can adapt its position to defend only what Model considers strictly necessary for its survival.
According to Manstein's instructions, leaving the II. Luftwaffen-Feld-Korps (Alfred Schlemm) the care to ensure the junction with the LVII. PzK (Alfred Kirchner) of the HG Mitte in the middle of the marshes, the XXIV. PanzerKorps (Otto von Knobelsdorff) abandon Mozyr in a hurry.
This PanzerKorps - which has only the name of armored, in the absence of any mechanized formation in its midst! - withdraws by falling back towards the west on a Glushkovichi-Liaskavičy axis. Without waiting for the complete execution of this maneuver - which will take two days, given the terrain and the distances to cover! - the LVI. PanzerKorps (Erhard Raus) undertakes itself to move on the Glushkovichi-Olevsk axis; it thus escapes the 8th Guards Army (S.G. Trofimenko). Still bloodless after Zitadelle, this one releases its pressure on the 38. ID, on the wing of the LII. AK, which can begin to withdraw southward with the 10. PanzerGrenadier.
But this is only the beginning : in the long run (ideally, from tomorrow evening...), the whole northern wing of the 3. PanzerArmee will have to be defended by the XXIV. "PanzerKorps" alone, thus freeing an entire army corps for more useful tasks.
.........
Olevsk sector - The bulk of the LII. ArmeeKorps (still reinforced by the 246.ID) withdraws between Zaboroche and Sosnivka - thus forbidding any brutal ascent towards Olevsk. During this time, the XLVII. PanzerKorps is finally free to retreat towards Lopatychi to defend the crossroads of the roads from Korosten to Sarny and from Mozyr to Novohrad-Volynskyi without being incinerated on the spot, with the reinforcement of the 501. schw Pzr Abt (Major Erich Löwe) and the 270. stuG (Hauptmann Dr. Karl Bumm), which has just arrived on the front. Surprised by this sudden retreat, the 3rd Belorussian Front strikes in the void and then spends the day in sporadic attacks, all the more so as its supplies are still suffering from the raids of the Luftwaffe. For the moment, things are a little better for Eberbach's men.
.........
Zubkovychi sector (south of Olevsk) - The 9. Panzer takes over from Hans-Georg Schreiber's "aviators" to defend, together with the 4. Panzer, the sector between Kyshyn and Dzherelo against the fierce assaults of the 5th Army (M.I. Potapov) as well as the 2nd and 4th Armored Guards Corps (P.S. Rybalko and S.I. Bogdanov). Nikolai Vatutin, who has still not completely digested his meeting with Zhukov, less than 48 hours earlier - and even less the arbitrations which followed... - knows that this is the point and the moment for his 3rd Ukrainian Front. If his forces manage to break through this gap, along this road, then they will undoubtedly arrive at Olevsk, on the rear of the 3. PanzerArmee - and the whole fascist device will collapse!
It is understandable, the Soviet general puts the whole package to ensure his success, which would justify a lot of things, from the deaths at Korosten to his recent mood swings. The 3rd Air Force (S.A. Krasovsky) thus carries out a series of sorties - but the Luftwaffe, following the orders of Walther Model, deployed to counter it the bulk of the IX. FliegerKorps of Dietrich Peltz. Peltz was a bomber pilot, close to the late Ernst Udet, and he does not miss ideas to slow down the enemy assault. In this case, leaving only the Stukas of the SchG. 2 and the StG. 77 the care to treat the tanks with the 37 mm gun and the 250 kg bomb, he launches in long distance raids - which had not been done for some time - the Junkers 88 of KG. 54 "with the skull" and the Heinkel 111 of KG. 55 "with the scarlet lion". The latter will therefore bomb the road junctions and the supply columns until Simakivka and Korosten - not forgetting, of course, the bridges over the Uzh.
These risky missions cost the Luftwaffe a lot, despite the coverage of the I/JG. 51 and III/JG. 51. Their Fw 190s shoot down 41 Russian fighters for the loss of 7 of theirs, but 19 bombers are shot down (including 4 by the flak). Nevertheless, they give results. The Soviet supply, in tense flow from Kiev, is even more disrupted, and the red steamroller, after so much effort, shows signs of fatigue. Its blows become less hard and around 16:00, it gasps. The T-34s finally stop between Zaboroche and Lopatychi, without having been able to cut off the Fascists from their rear and especially without having seized the strategic crossroads connecting the Korosten - Sarny road to the Mozyr - Novohrad - Volynskyi road. - the XLVII. PanzerKorps is already entrenched there. The 3. PanzerArmee is not surrounded... but only for the moment, perhaps. From tomorrow, the 11th Armored Corps of Vladimir Alexeiev - which has finished to reform - will go back to the assault with his exhausted comrades!
During this time, the JG. 51 looks like it is in a bad way. However, it is theoretically the most decorated squadron of the Luftwaffe, with 350 victories claimed in August and a host of prestigious experts, including the famous Werner Mölders. And once again, of course, the veterans did a great job. Anton "Toni" Hafner, for example, collected his 90th victory - after more than six months in hospital, the veteran is definitely in top form. However, despite triumphs for the camera, the wreaths and the victory marks on the rudders, a well-known personality of the JG. 51 is missing: the Oberfeldwebel Hubert Straßl (64 victories the previous evening). His "4 black" was last seen when he was facing 4 Yaks alone - he would have shot three of them... but he didn't come back. In the evening, we will learn that the Expert was shot down by his last opponent; he jumped, but his parachute did not open. The Knight's Cross that will be awarded to him posthumously will do nothing: the bleeding continues.
.........
West of Olevsk - To the great despair of Maximilian De Angelis, the connection is now cut between the LV. AK and the XLIV. AK. The 6. Armee is doing very badly!
In the west, towards Dzherelo, the LV. AK begins to dig in behind the Sluch, with the 37th Army on its heels - it is absolutely no longer able to influence the ongoing operations at Olevsk.
As for the XLIV. AK, it is now facing, with the worst difficulties, the assaults of the 4th Shock Army of Ivan Maslennikov, and is still not sure of its left flank! Badly supported by the unfortunate couple 4. LFD and 210. StuG - whose leaders do everything they can, but cannot completely replace the intervention of panzers required elsewhere - Friedrich Köchling lose Dzherelo and fall back another 3 kilometers. The risk of a complete encirclement of Olevsk becomes clear... unless the German command reacts now by shifting at least part of the 3. PanzerArmee westward.
.........
Korets sector - The XXIX. AK notes with concern that the Red Army is already trying to cross the Korchyk. Ivan Chernyakovsky's 5th Shock Army is still not completely reorganized, but this does not prevent it from launching reconnaissance operations on the western bank, from Sukhovolya to Berezdiv, in search of a weak point to exploit. For the moment, the frontovikis do not find one - even if the 62. ID and the 147. ID, facing them, are (at least) as exhausted as them, the evacuation of the huge salient formed by the 8. Armee will at least have freed the 331. ID (Karl-Ludwig Rhein). The latter is certainly not the most brilliant or the most experienced of the units of the 6. Armee, but it holds its quota of banks of the Korchyk, which allows von Hülsen and Mahlmann to regroup their remaining forces for the inevitable next round.

Rumyantsev - Turmoil
Vysoka Pich sector - While the 1st Shock Army (Vlassov) continues to play broom wagon behind the German forces, between Romaniv and Mar'ianivka, the 1st Cavalry Corps (Dovator) did not remain inactive. The defenders of Dovbysh and Sheika escaped - so be it. Nevertheless, there remained in the woods, towards Lisove and Ulyanivka, a crowd of stragglers of the 223. ID (Christian Usinger) and 331. ID (Karl-Ludwig Rhein). These two formations were not at the party and find themselves stuck in difficult terrain with troops who are barely able to cope with the situation. Even if their retreat is carried out without routing, they still lose some feathers - the Soviet forces are happy to pick up some trophies to finally get a result. In addition, we reach the plain - vehicles and horses are more comfortable! The Red troops even start to catch up with whole groups of stragglers, and even to assault the tail of the main columns. A Russian tradition since the Napoleonic invasion - even that of the Swedes, or even earlier.
In short, the movement is accelerating. And during all this time, the two Soviet formations continue their road towards Baranivka, in pursuit of a LIX. ArmeeKorps which must itself accelerate to cross the Sluch, without being able to cover its comrades on its right.
.........
Chundiv sector - The XXVII. AK reaches Myropil and crosses the Sluch, still pursued by the 4th Guards Army (Ivan Muzychenko) and the 1st Armored Corps (Porfiry Chanchibadze). The first is weighed down by its logistics and slowed down by the losses suffered - not to mention the multiple destructions swarmed by the adversary during its retreat - but the second one made a very nice move, the first one for a long time in this sector, by violently ramming the rear of the 205. ID, which remained behind in the vicinity of Shevchenka and which was to join the crossing points...
The Soviet formation is weakened, it is true. But facing a lonely infantry division, which has just covered 45 kilometers in columns, on foot and under the fire of the enemy air force, the remaining tanks are more than enough to do a lot of damage. Ernst Michael calls for help - his 353. GrenadierRegiment is being destroyed! - and Karl Burdach is forced to recall part of the 141. ID, which was waiting for its turn to cross the Sluch. The latter, with the support of a Staffel of Stukas of III/StG. 1 requested, manage to push back the enemy, or at least to slow him down enough to give up his plans of encirclement. Nevertheless, it would be good to be quick... Muzychenko's forces are in Vrublivka and approaching fast!
.........
Staryi Lyubar sector - Very largely motorized, benefiting from an air cover (Himmler may parade all over Wewelsburg explaining that it is normal for the heart of the National Socialist army to provide the greatest effort, his staff nevertheless thinks of calling often on the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus, the HQ of the Luftwaffe) and especially animated by an unfailing fanaticism, the II. SS-PanzerKorps does not pursue towards the northwest. No, it leaves this mediocre retreat to the IX. AK and others - these would be already in Khrabuzna, crossing the Derevychka.
The Waffen-SS have other plans. Since the III. PzK of Werner Kempf is now defending the north at Polonne, it is up to him to hold the south and to annihilate the communist vanguards at Starokostantinov! Thus operating a vast movement towards the south-west, Paul Hausser's divisions move down towards Zhytyntsi and Polovynnyky. Although its objective undoubtedly responds to the urgency of the moment, this movement is questionable in more than one way! First of all, it does not do the business of the center of the 8. Armee - which will find itself once again at a great disadvantage to face the Soviet forces that are moving up towards it (5th Guards Army, 26th Army, 1st Guards, 26th Army, 1st Guards CB). Then, it is carries out with formations in the best of cases tired, and which will have to expose their left flank to attack - and this despite the protection of the Sluch, whose right bank they followed. Finally, it is absolutely not coordinated with the efforts of von Arnim in this sector - which make it, if not useless, at least a little less urgent.
In short, it's a risky move to say the least. But it was launched nonetheless - Paul Hausser is covered by Manstein, who is known to appreciate the elegant maneuvers on the map. However, the SS man is anything but a fool, and he will of course take care to preserve his troops - as he did at Zitadelle. So he can be trusted. In the evening, the Black Order tanks are only 10 kilometers from their objective. They will drive for a part of the night to the sound of the cannon towards Starokostantinov...
.........
Starokostantinov sector - During the night of September 18-19, the forces sent by the 2. PanzerArmee - 23. Panzer and 257. ID - arrived under the cover of darkness in the ancient city of the Bolokhiv princes. The latter presents a particular topography, to say the least, and is favorable to the defense. Indeed, it is located at the confluence of the Sluch and the Ikopot', which form a rough Y elongated from east to west, pointing towards the heart of Ukraine***. Semyon Krivoshein's forces are already there, of course - coming from the east, they reach the southern bank of the Sluch River and have begun to cross it in order to seize the center of the city (between the two rivers), barely slowed down by the few German elements present on the spot. From its strategic position at the confluence itself, the castle of the princes of Ostroh seems to be watching the maneuver.
Coming from the south, the Kampfgruppe dispatched by von Arnim falls in the darkness on the rear of the 5th Armored Corps, without anyone really expecting it. Russian tankers will tell that they did not see the Germans coming - who themselves probably did not identify their opponents until they were in contact! This is followed by a battle between exhausted forces quickly turned into a confused melee. The Soviets have to withdraw to the east, abandoning to their fate the comrades who had ventured into the city center. However, the latter have no intention of surrendering; they quickly try to re-establish contact by the north bank!
Faced with this... upsetting picture, Nikolaus von Vormann takes his time. He does not plan to risk his precious (but outdated!) Panzer III in an uncertain crossing followed by a street battle, while Carl Püchler's Landsers are simply not ready to cross the river. They are well advised to do so: in the morning, enemy reinforcements appear on the horizon. It is the 2nd Cavalry Corps (Selivanov), followed by the 1st Mechanized Corps (Solomatin). The 1st Cavalry Corps of the Guards continues towards Makharyntsi, in pursuit of the debris of the reaction force dispatched by the 8. Armee the day before - as for the 3rd Army, it is about twenty kilometers behind...
The 23. Panzer benefits (fortunately for it) from the full support of the IV. FliegerKorps, whose Stukas cause havoc while He 111s and Ju 88s attack the enemy columns.
But it also attracts (unfortunately for it) the attention of Sergei Rudenko's 16th Air Force. The Luftwaffe leave 21 aircraft, the VVS 39 - 2 of which are shot down by Gerhard Barkhorn. The 23. Panzer lives very difficult moments while it tries, with its Panzer IIIs, to slow down the enemy.
Meanwhile, ignoring the losses, the 257. ID crosses the Sluch river and seized a part of the city center, where it trapped the Russian infantry. At the end of the afternoon, the surviving German tanks have to withdraw to the south.
When the night falls, the adversaries find themselves in an unexpected configuration: Russians besieged in the city by Germans themselves locked in the peninsula by the Soviets themselves engaged from the flank by panzers! Such a tricky situation can not hold for long - but who will tip it in his favor, Paul Hausser's SS or Mikhail Shumilov's frontovikis? For these two forces are now approaching the battlefield.
.........
2nd Ukrainian Front sector - Filipp Golikov relaunches his assaults in the direction of Bar, trying to take advantage of the punctures made in his sector by Maximilian von Arnim.
For the moment, he obtains results - the departure of the 257. ID has created a gap, which is only filled by the 19th Hungarian ID (Ferenc Szász), and the assaults on Jmerynka make that the few supporters of the sector have other things to worry about. The 10th Army thus gains 5 kilometers, with the support of the 3rd Armored Corps. kilometers that it had lost not so long ago.

Zhytyntsi - After 48 hours on the run, a few scares and several vehicle thefts, Leutnant Erich Hartmann manages against all odds to reach the German lines, by meeting a column of the II. SS-PzK that is coming down towards Starokostantinov. Immediately identified - the pilot had the presence of mind to keep his aviator's jacket under his borrowed blouse - he is taken in charge by the tankers, who send a liaison plane to return him to his unit.
The return to JG. 52 of Hartmann, who was thought to be lost forever, is the occasion for a torrent of joy among the Germans. The Expert, who is not even seriously wounded, is soon back in action - it is whispered that he is good, at least, for a Knight's Cross with diamonds as well as for a command in the coming months. The Soviets do not know yet that they let go Karaya Ein (after his call sign) or Cherniy Chort (the black devil, because of the color of his plane), on whose head the Russian command has put a 10,000 ruble bonus.

HQ of HG Nord-Ukraine (Kovel), 20:30 - In the evening, Erich von Manstein notices that things are not going well - although they are improving, of course, thanks to his wise orders. The maneuver of the left side of the 3. PanzerArmee is taking too long - at the rate things are going, it will be out of date before it is executed. The general notes to ask Model to accelerate the pace, even if it means encouraging Soviet infiltration in this sector - it does not matter, they won't be able to get very far in the woods.
No, the important thing is absolutely not the Pripyat marshes, it is to clear without saying it the 3. PanzerArmee from Olevsk to support the center of the HeeresGruppe. By holding on to the north, Model contains the Russians, it is true, but its forces gradually move away from the axis of progression, leaving the poor 6. Armee de De Angelis to take the next enemy wave alone. But it is obvious that it will not be able to face - and in such an eventuality, the idea of a reduction in the north will have been lost, not to mention that of the whole SK line.
The latter is already hanging by a thread - even if the 8. Armee seems to be taking control of the situation, who can say if it will be according to the Führer's stop line? Not to mention a possible new enemy effort in the center or the north.
An image suddenly strikes the general's mind: the HG Nord-Ukraine retreats like a boxer unable to regain his balance. He has lost the initiative and is trying to get his bearings before he can think of retaliating. Retaliate... There is surely something to consider, in the south. But in the meantime, the stabilization in the north must be completed - Rommel had succeeded in doing so, although he gave up a little more ground than he had planned. So it shouldn't be too difficult!

Near Vin'kivtsi (occupied Ukraine) - While the UNO-M and the Partisans are arguing over control over the fight against the Germans, Tarass Bulba-Borovets and his UPA have still have not given up their independent policy. Thus, perceiving well as a lull in German-Hungarian relations, he starts talks with the Magyar leaders in order to conclude a cease-fire, or even a strictly bilateral collaboration. Received with circumspection, but also with realism, by the representatives of a Hungarian army concerned with the idea of limiting losses, the Ukrainians begin the negotiations in a less unfavorable position than expected.
But the UPA is not content to court Budapest... It is doing the same with another of its old adversaries: the Romanian army! Indeed, although the latter has now withdrawn to its country, it still holds a certain number of prisoners who would be very useful to Borovets' troops. The latter is now considering buying them back - well, as soon as his envoys have succeeded in crossing the German lines in the Carpathians, obviously...

* In fact, unlike the German and Western armies, which will only get worse as the frontoviki will discover the decadent (but rich) regions of the fascist Reich. Confronted with soldiers who were not always well educated and poorly supported by an NKVD which was unwavering for everything that had to do with the fight against political sedition but much less interested in common law matters, the officers of the Red Army often had to enforce discipline with fists or butts... This notable flaw - which no one ever managed to correct - was to have dramatic consequences in the winter of 44-45, even affecting senior officers, Sometimes they were the victims of real shootings worthy of banditry!
** In fact, during the massacres in Belarus and the Ukraine, the ratio of German police officers to local auxiliaries ranged from 1:5 to 1:10, and even 20:1 during the campaigns in rural areas. As proof, if any were needed, that the "Shoah by bullets" was also and for many a form of pogrom carried out by the locals.
*** This configuration obviously favourable to the trade explains the integration of this city in the famous "Black Way", which was used for a long time for the trade of the Turkish peoples of the Black Sea.

 

[Wings]

September 19th, 1943

Italian campaign
Italian Front - The 57th FG return to the Strangle missions between Ferrara and Bologna. The Luftwaffe reacts, but it is outnumbered. Very quickly, the Bf 109 of the JG 77 sent to meet the raid break off the fight and flee. On the ground, a railway depot is destroyed, as well as two locomotives.

Greek & Balkan Campaign
Operation Presage
A succession of storms crosses Albania, in an atmosphere heavy with threats.

The legionnaires wait
Durrës - The legionnaires, reinforced by elements of the 1st Czech ID, hold the town and its surroundings. The problem is now the duration of the repairs of the port. If the Legion can begin some of the work, specialized units will be needed to make the port facilities usable again. But these units will only be available after Salonika, Marseille, Toulon... and other sites of much higher priority for the Allied High Command.
That is why, after a brief reflection, it was decided that Czechs and legionnaires would exchange places. From Vlorë, it would be easier for the 3rd BMLE to retreat.

The Albanian Wall
Shköder - Decidedly, this is a good time for Hellmuth Felmy. Alexander Löhr announces to him that the two divisions (one German and one Croatian) promised by Lothar Rendulic some time ago... will be available "within a week at most". Better late than never. With these units, the LXVIII. Armee-Korps will be able to hold solidly the line of the Mat River. "What a pity that these troops did not arrive before!" thinks the general, before correcting himself - "On second thought... no! It's just as well, on the contrary."

The Poles get stuck
Tirana - The situation is still not completely calmed down, despite the reinforcement of a battalion of British military police rushed in from Athens. The Poles also mourn their first death: a truck driver killed on the road to Dobresh by an improvised mine. However, a close examination reveals that the explosive used is British! So, was the material recovered by the communists? Or an attack cobbled together by the Legaliteli in order to stir up the anger of the Poles against Hoxha's men, who rise the anger of the Poles, whose feelings are now well known to all?
However, the presence of law enforcement specialists relieves Maczek somewhat, who can finally send an armored battalion, accompanied by a unit of the 5th ID (Bolesław Bronisław-Duch), to Fushë-Krujë and Thumanë - these towns are reached without any difficulty. General Anders feels a legitimate frustration: if the Albanians were not so... difficult, his men might have taken Durrës in time, before the port was too badly damaged!

Controlling the chaos
Tirana - MacLean's Musketeers have arrived in the capital, where they are greeted by a Quayle positively delighted to hand over the reins. As soon as they are introduced to General Maczek, who hides nothing from them, neither of the tension of his troops, nor of his personal exasperation, the specialists go (under escort) to the headquarters of the various movements that share the city. This to finalize the practical modalities of a meeting that all have not yet accepted.
Captain Julian Amery goes to the headquarters of the "Legalists" to meet their leader, the ex-major of the Royal Gendarmerie Abaz Kupi. This one accepts to receive him only on the recommendation of common personal relations. The Briton could then remind the former gendarme of the constant support of His Majesty's services to his movement, its lack of results against the Germans and its structural weakness in terms of manpower. It would therefore be good manners for Kupi not to show an ingratitude that would be detrimental to Albania... as well as to him. Amery wraps this speech with many kind words, which does not prevent the partisan leader from frowning, but he gives in and accepts the meeting, by patriotism of course! He was the easiest to convince.
Major David Smiley presents himself in front of the tents of the Balli Kombëtar, where he finds an old acquaintance, General Prenk Pervizi. This former colonel of the Royal Albanian Army is also the ex-future Minister of Defense of Cafo Beg Ulqini's collaborating government. He turned his back when the Germans decided to recruit part of the new SS Handschar division from among "his" Ballists, which he refused to endorse.
What a happy decision for the credibility of the movement, indeed! Fortunately Fiqri Dine, the former Prime Minister, is not present... After warm greetings, David Smiley asks to be received by Safet Butka, who assures the interim of the Balli Kombëtar since the departure of Midhat Frashëri to Montenegro.
According to the good souls who live the conflict from London or Washington, all these elements should be enough to disqualify Balli Kombëtar. But, even with a significant number of its members, the ballist movement preserves an appreciable military force which makes it likely to serve as a counter-power to Hoxha's CP. Moreover, it is very well established in the south of Yugoslavia, and in particular in Kosovo - which will perhaps be useful in the wake of the allied operations.
After long discussions, Smiley and Pervizi finally enter Butka's tent... to find this one in tears and playing dangerously with his revolver ! In truth, the man is perhaps the most understanding of the Ballists: he has tried many times to collaborate with the National Liberation Movement, concluding many agreements with it (including that of Mukje), all of which were scorned or thrown to the wind after defeats. Genuine patriot, he now sees his nation being torn apart in a civil war that he cannot stand.
Didn't the man once say: "The only Albanian I will kill is myself"?
The British man, always accompanied by Pervizi, spends long minutes cheering him up, then convincing him that his country still has a future. Butka then accepts without difficulty to come to come to the next day's meeting. However, while leaving the tent, Pervizi announces to Smiley that he will accompany his leader to the meeting, "given his state of fatigue and in a constructive spirit". The S.O.E. man sighs as he climbs back into his Jeep, but he feels he has achieved his goal.
Lt. Col. Neil Loudon Desmond McLean reserves the hardest part for himself: Enver Hoxha himself. After being made to linger for nearly an hour in an hour in an antechamber of the Tirana town hall, where Hoxha had taken up residence, in order to make him feel that he is nothing in the eyes of his host, the British man is finally received by the leader of the CP. He is welcomed by all his clan leaders, in a frankly icy atmosphere. McLean takes the gloves off for the form, but not for the substance: His British Majesty, who had supplied a large number of weapons and equipment to the National Liberation Movement, would not appreciate it if these gifts were turned against his forces or those of its allies. It seems that these weapons have already been much used against other Albanians than against the Germans. Moreover, the Central Committee will easily understand that if the United Kingdom, the French Republic and the United States of America obviously do not intend to interfere in the internal affairs of Albania, they intend to win the war against the Reich and will take all the necessary measures for that, with the support of the forces of their allies, like... the USSR and the Yugoslav Partisans (those of Tito!). Faced with these veiled threats, Enver Hoxha protests of his good faith for the form, but he can only agree to participate in this last chance meeting, "thus showing his goodwill towards the collaborators and other fascists who had never participated in the war effort against the Nazis."
As he leaves the building, however, McLean has a smile on his face. Indeed, at certain points during his speech, he noticed that there were people in the audience who were quietly receptive to his arguments, including Gjon Markagjoni. The Communist Party is therefore not yet completely under the control of its leader.
The bosses of the three movements will therefore be present tomorrow at 10:00 at the Royal Palace to agree on a halt to the fighting. In addition to a new envoy from Athens, which has just been announced, an emissary from Josip Broz should also be present - it is true that a lull in Albania is in his interest, without even mentioning the future post-war arbitrations. The Musketeers have worked miracles. It remains to ensure the security of the participants but General Anders should provide the necessary troops.
.........
HQ of the 18th Allied AG (Athens) - Sylvestre Audet gathers his files with a sullen professionalism: he is obviously the envoy designated by the 18th Allied Army Group. In addition to the fact that the Polish 2nd Corps is attached to the French 2nd Army, his expertise in political conflict resolution proclaimed by Montgomery made him the ideal negotiator with the Albanians. "General Audet," Monty told him, "dear, you're good at these things. You've worked it out with the Greeks, so you'll do well with a country of barely two million people, right?" Besides, the great leader of the 18th AG wasn't going to bother with such trifles, while sending the Greek Spiliotopoulos was excluded.
The Frenchman sighed, sensing that this mission, far removed from his military career, risks, once again, to cause him migraines and troubles. And to think that during this time, we are fighting in France! Finally... Tomorrow morning, very early, he will take the plane for Tirana - and, luckily, with precise instructions. Blum, in Algiers, and Eden, in London, were clear: not to take sides, to calm down the game and to promise whatever they wanted... but for after the war. Easier said than done! The Americans, consulted for form's sake, seemed to have some difficulty in locating Albania precisely, before affirming their faith in the goodwill of each, showing a naivety that continues to amaze Audet.

Siege of Salonika
All day long, the city suffocates under a stormy atmosphere, where heavy rains alternate with periods of bright sunshine.
The revolt of the hilots
Salonika (center) - Pressed on all sides by the allied troops, the Jägers still do not manage to restore order in the part of the city still under their control - which is shrinking rapidly. The members of the Kampfgruppe Müller who were not killed in the bombing or sent to the front line are of little help: they followed the example of their leader and disappeared, hiding among the population.
The inhabitants, despite the fear and the malnutrition, seem to have been enraged by the bombs and rose up. The Germans trapped among them are now fighting only for their survival. Some manage to join the main body of the Jägers... others not.
.........
Private Dominik Schwarze runs down Fragon Boulevard, through the stalls of abandoned shops and knocking over a statue of the Virgin Mary in his frantic race, which had been unable to protect a long-closed restaurant. By arriving at the corner of the Dodekanisou street, he stumbles and rolls on the ground, provoking shouts of joy from his pursuers, police officers of the Hellenic State. But they are muzzled by bursts of automatic weapons. A few tens of meters away, an untouched Marder seems abandoned, but its crew has not left it - except Dominik, who went to look for water - and it machine-guns the rebels until their comrade joins them. The four men have proudly named their machine Brüder bis zum Ende (Brothers until the End), a name painted in white on the dark green of the armor.
But just as they still had hope of getting out of there, a rumbling sound is heard.
A hostile mass brandishing some rifles and many improvised weapons also emerges from the Fragon boulevard. The crowd wants blood, and it has at least as much to settle with the police than with the Germans. The crew of the Marder fires its last cartridges while the flood has already swallowed the policemen. The Greeks launch themselves at the vehicle like a fortress. The fight ends with a knife...until the last reflex of one of the Germans, who detonates the Marder's shells.
The flames of a pyre soon envelop the Greek and German corpses. On the side of the machine, they slowly erase its name - soon, only the word "Ende" remains legible.
"Don't cry my love don't cry no more,
A crashed sky on a rolling sea,
A city drowning
In God's black tears,
I cannot bear to see..."
(Corporal Mathew, ANZAC, on harmonica)

Operation Stamford Bridge
Salonika - Advancing cautiously through the ravaged avenues, the 6th Australian and the 51st Infantry Division complete the capture of the historic center and then advance toward Neapolis.
There are still some ambushes, but the Festung resistance has collapsed - only a few isolated groups are still fighting, in positions that are easily bypassed.
Civilians trapped since the beginning of the siege come out en masse, not so much to celebrate the arrival of the Allies but to ask for care and food. A first-aid post is set up in the Church of the Prophet Elijah, which the Allies had occupied the day before and which had therefore escaped the bombs - fortunately for this 14th-century Byzantine building.
The decisive push comes from the men of the 2nd NZ Division, who take the district of Ampelokipoi at the end of the day, crossing the cemetery of Zeitenlik. The latter shelters the remains of the dead from the Other War - which made one of the New Zealanders say that many French, English and Serbian veterans sleep here. It's a pity, we could use them.
Around 11:45, a battalion of the 16th Infantry Brigade takes possession of the central station ravaged by the destruction. Some men then enter a building on Monastiriou Boulevard where a Nazi flag is still flying. Going down to the cellar, they find General Ludwig Müller and his staff. The latter has just destroyed his last transmitter, after having sent Gustav Fehn a final message: "Defense lines broken, Enemy in front of headquarters. End of Festung Salonik imminent. Heil Hitler!"
Brigadier William G. Gentry is immediately called in, while the prisoners are taken to the square south of the station, where a statue now commemorates the event.
The meeting between the two generals is courteous, if not cordial, the men both feeling that they are soldiers who have done their duty - even if they do not have exactly the same conception of it.
- General," says Brigadier Gentry, "your defenses are in ruins. To spare the lives of your men, I ask you to order the surrender of your unit.
Müller is indignant: "That would be contrary to the honor of the German Army! I am a prisoner, that is one thing. But my soldiers have the right to continue fighting."
In a tired voice, the New Zealander sighs: "General, I see more death than honor around me. And among those dead, I see many civilians. Don't you think we can leave it at that?
He only gets a snort of contempt: "Most of the civilian victims were killed by your bombing." Then Müller adds, as if to prepare his defense: "Ah, it's true that there are also victims of Colonel Müller's men, but he hasn't answered my orders for five days."
Gentry sighs again. It's already been twenty days since the battle in Salonika and he is tired.
Looking into his opponent's eyes, he resumes in a surprisingly calm voice: "I am not interested in the responsibilities of each individual. General, you will go down in history as the one who defended Salonika to the end, and also as the one who stopped the massacre once it was no longer necessary.
The argument touches the Rhinelander, concerned about his fate after the war, but also about the trace in the books. With pursed lips, he says: "What guarantees for my men in case of surrender?
On this point, Gentry knows what to answer, with intransigence but subtlety: "The Geneva Convention, of course. Nothing more, but nothing less. Perhaps you would like me to ask the Greeks about you?"
This threat is enough to extinguish Müller's last scruples: "Jawohl, I'm going to order my Jägers to lay down their arms. My staff officers will let them know."
Gentry sighs again, this time with relief. It's over, finally.
.........
"Ludwig Müller (1892-1972): a German general who was not predestined for the profession of arms, if not for the First World War, which he ended with the rank of lieutenant and two Iron Crosses. During the inter-war period, he chose to remain in the army. He became Lieutenant-Colonel, he commanded the 36th Infantry Division in 1936, then the border troops of the Saarland from 1937 to 1939. From 1940 onwards, he held a series of staff positions, acquired through seniority. Subject to chronic jaundice, he was put in charge of the 97. Jäger in the north of Greece, known as a quiet sector. His unit was not directly engaged against either Whirlwind or Tower. On Berlin's orders, it allowed itself to be locked up in Salonika, where it was eliminated after a three-week siege. Taken prisoner, Ludwig Müller was released in 1946 and died in his bed in Ettlingen. In view of the the secondary nature of Balkan theater, his name remains little known to the general public." (Robert Stan Pratsky, op. cit.)
.........
The signing of the official act of surrender will take place only after the transfer of the prisoner to Nea Santa, where Lavarack and Horrocks are waiting impatiently. They will kill each other again for a few more hours in Thessaloniki before the detonations are silenced for good.
Ludwig Müller held out for almost three weeks against two army corps - in military terms, one could say that he did a good job. In the meantime, Fehn passes on the news to Alexander Löhr. Disgusted by what he considers a waste of men and material, the head of the XII. GAK writes simply: "The ammunition is exhausted. The equipment is destroyed. In accordance with the orders received, Festung Salonik fought to the end."
However, everything is not yet completely settled in Salonika.

The end of the road
Church of the Holy Apostles (field hospital of the 97. Jäger) - Walking briskly forehead high, as if admiring frescoes and mosaics, Colonel Friedrich-Wilheim Müller makes his way through the dead and wounded, showing once again his total indifference to the suffering of others. His last loyal followers (who could easily be called accomplices) forced the staff to evacuate at gunpoint.
The colonel enters alone in the sacristy, which serves as an operating room in this hospital. He sees the pseudo-minister Logothetópoulos, who is trying to remove a piece of shrapnel from the chest of a wounded man when he is interrupted by the men of the Kampfgruppe.
- Colonel! This is unacceptable! I need my nurse to anesthetize this wounded man!
The man groans, still half asleep. The colonel looks at him for a moment, then takes out his regulation Lüger and puts a bullet in the head of the unfortunate man.
- There, he has finished suffering now", he comments soberly.
Logothetópoulos may have been one of the main leaders of the Hellenic State, but he is also a doctor, and one of his patients has just been killed in front of him. He stammers: "What... What have you done, you monster!"
The colonel answers in a calm tone, his face closed: "Monster, murderer, criminal...These are words that may fit me, it's true. History is written by the victors. If the Reich had won this war, I would have become a hero, and they would have crowned me with laurels. This would certainly not have been the case for you, but you never know. Anyway, it's too late to change history..."
The colonel glances around. Bloody cloths, a basin full of blood, where an amputated limb is still floating. He shakes his head.
- Besides, dear Sir, I don't care. Only my foolish namesake, General Müller, is interested in the trace he will leave - or thinks he will leave. The fool, he hopes to become a hero! For me, only one thing counts (Müller observes a mosaic representing the Crucifixion before continuing)... survival.
The colonel turns to the doctor with a shark-like smile: "Now, my dear Logothetópoulos, survival will be difficult for me if I fall into the clutches of the Allied Military Police. And for you too, perhaps."
The Greek stammers out a few words about knowing how to answer for his actions, and that, until then, he will do his best to help those who...
- Yes, yes, but that's not the point. As the insignificant pawn that you have always been, you perhaps you can soften your judges with your pitiful laments. I am condemned in advance!
Müller brandishes his Lüger theatrically and continues: "Unless we reverse the roles.
- Reversing the roles... I don't understand," stammers the doctor.
- It's very simple, Herr Logothetópoulos. Let's suppose that you... that you receive a stray bullet? Or perhaps you commit suicide, unable to bear the weight of your mistakes? In this great carnage, who will be able to prove that the civilians shot by my Kampfgruppe in its police missions were not killed on your orders, Mr. Minister of the Interior of the Hellenic State? You would be the bad guy, the big political fish, and I'm the good soldier who only followed orders!
- You are crazy ! You are known, you are the Vampire of Greece, the Butcher of Salonika !
- Insulting me while I threaten you with a gun in my hand? You have more guts than I expected. Well, maybe you're right, but you see, this is my only chance.
Just as the colonel was about to shoot, a shout is heard, in German. "No, stop, you murderer!"
It is the minister's wife, who had been hiding behind a cabinet full of surgical instruments, and who throws herself at the colonel. Surprised, Müller turns towards her and stops her with a bullet that sends her rolling to the ground. This gives Logothetópoulos time to take out the revolver that he kept in the large pocket of his bloodstained surgeon's apron. Two other shots ring out at the same time.

Lowering the curtain
Thessaloniki - As evening falls on the Aegean Sea, armored vehicles equipped with loudspeakers travel through the city, broadcasting Ludwig Müller's message ordering the end of the fighting, followed by instructions in German, English and Greek - for everyone must know that it is indeed finished. "To all German troops! Cease fighting and make your surrender at the following points: statue of king Constantine on Egnatia avenue, crossing of Filippoupoleos avenue and Eleftheriou Venizelou avenue... "
Groups of shaggy and dirty men come out little by little from their dens in the basements and cellars of the city to move towards the indicated points. In front of the cemetery of Zeitenlik, a large group throws its weapons in front of the tracks of an armored car, without waiting to reach one of the agreed-upon points.
"We were isolated with a dozen comrades in the middle of the Neapoli district, passing from one collapsed building to another in an atmosphere of the end of the world. The bombers of the day before had reduced the our defenses to nothing, and we were really no longer numerous enough to hang on to these ruins. As we crossed a street that was now just a line of rubble, we heard a loudspeaker saying that the battlewas over. We didn't believe it right away: one part of us was relieved at the idea, but the other part did not even imagine that there was an end to this fight - except by a bullet or a shell. Fortunately, a block away, we came upon a patrol of Australians coming up Agiou Georgiou Street, followed by a tank. We all looked at each other, dumbfounded, not really knowing what to do. They were clean, we were dirty. They were healthy, we were sickly. And above all, there were more of them than us, and there was the tank... They didn't even aim at us, I think that's what convinced us. Their leader just shouted "Hands up! I'm not ashamed to say I was the first one to drop my rifle. All of a sudden, I felt so tired." (Testimony of Jäger Karl Brum quoted in Robert Stan Pratsky, Le siège de Salonique : des ombres parmi les ombres, Gallimard, 1992)
The last pockets surrender without a fight. The return of calm allows the Allies to make contact with the survivors of the Hellenic State. They are treated as enemy combatants - it will be up to the justice system to sort out the traitors and the simple opportunists.
"This is Marvin, patrol B for Baker. We have discovered a field hospital set up in a church near Agiou Dimitriou Boulevard. Inside, there are many dead people, some seriously wounded, and in a small room, a very shocked woman with a bullet in the shoulder, a civilian doctor with a serious bullet wound, a dead man on an operating table with a bullet in the head, and the corpse of a German colonel. Pass that on to HQ, please." (Message from Sergeant Marvin Weaving, 17th Brigade, 6th Australian Infantry Division, quoted in Robert Stan Pratsky, op. cit.)
.........
"Today at 2 PM local time, General Ludwig Müller, commanding the garrison of Salonika, surrendered to the Allied forces represented by Lt. Gen. John D. Lavarack and Brian Horrocks. Many brave fighters from the United Kingdom and the Empire gave their lives to achieve this decisive victory. God save the King." (18th Allied Army Group Communiqué, dated 20 September 1943)
.........
"Konstantínos Logothetópoulos (1878-1951): physician trained in Munich, practiced as a military surgeon during the Balkan wars and then the Greek-Turkish wars. Professor of gynecology at the National and Capodistrian University of Athens. Married with a German national, he is Prime Minister of the first government of collaboration (of the Hellenic State), then became Minister of the Interior of the second government, directed by Ioánnis Rállis, after his unpopularity had destroyed his weak political credit. Fleeing like many others from the Allied advance, he found himself trapped in Salonika, where he assumed the theoretical command of the police - which, in fact, obeyed Colonel Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller. While he was helping the wounded, he was seriously wounded during the capture of the city in an exchange of fire with Colonel Müller, under unclear circumstances. Identified and arrested on his hospital bed, he was tried in Athens in 1944, but escaped life imprisonment (the sentence imposed on his colleague Rállis). His repentance was apparently sincere, his action after the wounded during the siege and the terrible wound received against Colonel Müller softened the judges' decision. We must also mention the remarkable testimony of the general and war hero Georgios Tsolakoglou, who stated in court that "If our Allies had not supported us so solidly during that terrible summer of 1941, I too could have gone astray." Logothetópoulos was finally sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he was granted a medical pardon in 1946 (he remained paralyzed in his lower limbs). He died in Nafplio, his hometown, on July 8th, 1951. As far as his political action, the debate remains open between the supporters of the thesis of the man of straw and those who see him as an accomplice to the crimes of the Hellenic state. (Robert Stan Pratsky, op. cit.)
.........
"Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller (1897-1943): German officer born in Barmen (Prussia), he fought as a lieutenant during the First World War before joining the Reichswehr. Assigned to the Greek front after various uneventful commands, he led a Kampfgruppe composed mostly of Germans released from military prisons, Greek collaborators, also often ex-convicts, as well as fascist Italians. It was then that he became famous as the cruelest man in the country, even earning the nickname of "Vampire of Greece". During the summer of 1943, his unit committed ravages the extent of which could never be evaluated with precision, but of which the cities of Volos, Mikrothives, Servia, Alexandria... Finally stuck with his men in the enclosure of the Festung Salonik, he contributes to maintain the order there with brutality, assisted by a part of the Greek police. He dies during an exchange of shots in obscure circumstances on the day of the fall of the city, thus sparing Greece the cost of a trial and hanging.
However, it now seems possible that many of the crimes attributed to Müller were not his own doing. The fully deserved nature of his sulphurous reputation is hardly in doubtt, but he may have served as a convenient scapegoat for other criminals, Greek or German, when he was no longer there to defend himself. The destruction or absence of archives, as well as the disappearance of the majority of witnesses (the Greeks are not forgiving people), make the study of these episodes difficult. Moreover, the controversies and the regular accusations of indulgence of Nazi crimes systematically brought against works that deviate from the usual line do not facilitate the elucidation of these enigmas." (Robert Stan Pratsky, op. cit.)

Bulgarian affair
A gloomy and depressing rain drowns the country, underlining its grim situation.
Sofia - The 1. PzD and the 8. Rgt of the 4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division are now firmly established in the city. No incidents are to be reported. Alfred Wünnenberg is worried, however: his forces are few in number, and he remembered his painful Greek experience. Very suspicious, he plans to take hostages as soon as the first incursion occurs.

Ihtiman area - The 1. Brandenburg Rgt of the 19. PanzerGrenadier reach Plovdiv. The opportunity for the professionals of this unit to assess with contempt their auxiliaries of the 2nd Army.

Sofia - In his embassy, Adolf Beckerle goes through the files of the Bulgarian officers captured or at the disposal of the Reich, which had been kindly entrusted to him by Dobri Bozhilov. The SS plan to remove about half of the Bulgarian command: the unreliable profiles, suspected of sympathy with the regent or the communists, mediocre or too intelligent elements... This work is going to occupy him for a long time.
However, it is the perfect opportunity to find the future strong man of the regime. On this subject, Herr Ribbentrop's staff has to be convinced of the necessity of the thing. "Can't we simply install a civilian government without real power? You will understand, Herr Beckerle, that a Bulgarian military officer at the head of a Bulgarian army in Bulgaria again could be frowned upon by the Chancellery.
The reply of the SS is as brittle as possible: "I am afraid that your services have difficulty understanding the need for an armed force to stabilize a country of 110,000 square kilometers and over 4 million inhabitants. I remind you that our troops cannot remain indefinitely on the ground. In the absence of any political control of the population, the Bulgarian army must simply assume its role."
In the evening, finally, the SS's face lights up. Ja, ja! He has found it!

On the airwaves - The radio Neue Europa speaks this evening about the deprivations imposed to the Bulgarians. In Berlin, on the other hand, all is (still) well and "Der Chef" does not hesitate to repeat it.

 

[Wings]

September 19th, 1943

Provence
Libération - For two days, everything has been quiet on the front, apart from the usual artillery exchanges or clashes between patrols. If the allied general staff decides to stop the operations in the north, the air operations on the front line and on the rear of the Wehrmacht remain intense, including on the Languedoc coast...
.........
Südwall - The advance of the allied troops and the topography imposes a new division at the level of the German command: the IV. Luftwaffe-Feld-Korps of General Petersen passes under the command of the 1. Armee.

Alps and French Riviera
The retreat of the 148. ID continues. Among the Allies, the 20th RIC and the 4th RTS spend the day cleaning the Cannes-Grasse basin while the 3rd RSM reaches the D2, the "Route des Châteaux".
On its side, the 5th RTS, accompanied by the I/8 RCA, pursues the 286. Gr Rgt, which is installed in defense around the plateau of Gréolières. The progression is very difficult, the Germans having trapped and destroyed the roads that pass through the steep hills.
Further south, the 4th BMLE and the 6th RCA advance at a very fast pace in a festive atmosphere, liberating Cagnes. These troops then arrive in sight of La Colle sur Loup, where they make contact with the 285. Gr Rgt, which had left Grasse to settle down around Vence.

 

[Wings]

September 20th, 1943

Alger-Maison Blanche airfield - Coming from England, the DC-3 in dull colors lands in a much lessdiscreet atmosphere. It must be said that the Ministry of of Information, Jean Zay, knew how to tease (we would say today) the numerous press organs represented in the French temporary capital. The journalists are going to be in for their money! Because it is Philippe Henriot, handcuffs in the hands, who goes down of the plane.
His abduction does not fail to have a major impact. In occupied France (and even elsewhere), many thought that the Minister had suffered the same fate as many collaborators: after the kidnapping, he was interrogated and discreetly executed; his body would soon be found. But it is Henriot who appears under the flashes of the photographers.
The French Republic holds in its hands one of the main representatives of the New French State. In the struggle that Matignon and Algiers have been waging for more than three years, it is a decisive point.
.........
"Operation Papillon was part of a larger project: Operation Moisson (which itself was to complete Operation Semailles, intended to support the morale of the population of occupied or recently liberated France, among other things through the distribution of food). "Moisson", conceived as a reaction to the assassination attempts against De Gaulle and Mandel in 1941 and against Reynaud in January 1943, aimed at the capture or summary execution in the same day, shortly before or after the D-Day landings, of ten of the most important personalities of the NEF. The objective was to decapitate the political organization of the "de facto government" in the Metropole in order to deprive the Occupier of any collaborationist base. Apart from Henriot, the personalities targeted were : Laval, Doriot, Déat, Darnand, De Brinon, Bucard, Sabiani, Marion and Albertini.
But several elements challenged the organization of "Moisson". First of all, the dismissal of Pierre Laval and the rise of Jacques Doriot led the secret services to analyze the situation cynically. The NEF regime, which was becoming increasingly fragile, was tolerated because it ensured, to a certain extent, some of the functions necessary for everyday life (maintaining civil order, maintaining roads, supplying cities, for example). With Doriot, it was going to become more radical and discredited even more in the eyes of the population. Moreover, if the very principle of Operation Moisson (which, in fact, favored physical elimination over kidnapping) was warmly approved by many, including Mandel, in the government in Algiers, others, such as Blum and Zay, for ethical and propaganda reasons, were opposed to it. Indeed, how could one justify, vis-à-vis of the Allies (and in particular the Americans) as well as the French people a kind of institutional assassination that could trigger large-scale reprisals against the population? Curiously, Reynaud, who had been rather favorable to "Moisson" since the Massacre of Tulle, was to change his mind after the attack committed against him and his election to the presidency of the Republic. Finally, De Gaulle, pro-Moisson as long as he was Minister of War, decided shortly after his nomination to the presidency of the Council that it was preferable to "let the traitors tear each other apart until the Justice of the Republic catches up with them".
In fact, it was concluded that a trial of the traitors after the Liberation, with all the judicial apparatus, would have much more impact than a summary execution in the confusion.
Finally, it seemed quite simply impossible to carry out this great coup de filet simultaneously. It was estimated that at least fifteen people would be needed to carry out such a mission for one of the targeted personalities, and much more for some.
It would thus be necessary to mobilize about three hundred men, with the inevitable risks of escape or indiscretion. These men would be much more useful for other missions.
Nevertheless, Philippe Henriot, the main and most talented figurehead of the pro-German propaganda, was the exception that confirmed the rule. It is true that his daily aggressiveness made him a target of choice, whose fate would surprise no one. This led to the organization of Operation Papillon.
(A. Tyler, La lutte à mort - Alger-Matignon, 1940-1944, ed. Tallandier, 1981)

A discreet house in Bucharest - After spending several days in the Romanian capital meeting comrade after comrade - including Constantin Pârvulescu (the formidable chairman of the Party Control Commission) and Iosif Rangheț (the general secretary of the Regional Party Committee, in Cluj*), Emil Bodnăraș finally acts according to what he claims to be: Moscow's envoy on Romanian soil charged with restoring order to the RCP, by overthrowing its leadership. And he has to act fast: Ștefan Foriș and his clique, already no longer really in phase with the Stalinist ideal, are clearly not up to the challenges ahead.
There is nothing unpredictable about this mission: in reality, Foriș only escaped the purges of 1937 because he had not returned to the USSR since 1930!
Just like the Parisian intellectuals of the former YCP, the current secretary general of the RCP is sectarian, old, outdated - in fact, his party has hardly done anything but propaganda since 1934... The fault, first of all, with a very particular form of anti-communist resistance in Romanian democracy**. Then, because of the massive arrests by all the regimes for twenty years (and even hitting teenagers who were distributing leaflets!): they deprived Ștefan Foriș of almost all his cadres - except Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu of course, but few people know that he is out of prison... Finally, the purges decided by the USSR themselves cost the RCP no less than 19 leading cadres.
In short, the RCP is today in a dead end, deprived of energy and means of action, while the struggle for Bucharest is about to begin. And it is of course the fault of its leader, who has been in office since 1940 - and is therefore necessarily incompetent, or even a spy or traitor. This Constantin Pârvulescu - a former member of the RCP secretariat - will not say otherwise, he distinguished himself by his multiple spats with Foriș, which led to his losing his position, until he deigns to make his self-criticism. One might as well say that he will not regret his former boss. For Bodnăraș, Pârvulescu and Rangheț, the fate of this son of exploiter capitalists***, entered by the Hungarian CP and of "low political level," is already sealed. And the shock trio is preparing to quickly remove Ștefan Foriș, at least from Party affairs, and more if necessary.

* Main city of Transylvania, Cluj is one of the historical bastions of the Romanian CP - even if, in 1944, it is Hungarian!
** In 1931, faced with the unexpected success of the communists - who had succeeded in getting five deputies elected - the parties in power had maneuvered to cancel the elections in question.
*** Ștefan Foriș's family owned a brick and tile factory.

 

[Wings]

September 20th, 1943

Burma Campaign
Air warfare
Occupied Burma - Taking advantage of the Belgian experience on the 15th, the Beaumonts of Sqn 45 and 84, escorted by Spitfires from Sqn 17, attack the Kon Kuta bridge. In order not to arouse suspicions, the Indian Hurricane IIIs are on a Rhubarb mission in their usual sector.
The ruse works and the Japanese could not intercept the main raid before it hit its target. They try to do so on their way back, but the leaders of Sqn 17 and 67 have talked to each other and just when the Japanese thought they are outnumbered, the planes of Sqn 67 appear. The Japanese aircraft have to turn back, leaving three of theirs; only one Spitfire is damaged.

Indochina Campaign
Air war
Dien-Bien-Phu - While the dawn illuminates the basin, six Ki-21 (Sally) escorted by nine Ki-44 Shoki (Tojo) came to throw some bombs on the "Colonialists" hideout. Within its meager means, the 3rd Hikodan tries to return some blows by nuisance raids, more to raise the Japanese morale than to obtain results.
The chosen altitude, 20,000 feet, allows to face the flak with serenity, but the accuracy is very poor. A few bombs falling in the perimeter destroy a repair shop and a C-46. The others, at best, scatter the runway with a few craters that are quickly filled in by the ground workers. The Japanese aircraft manage to leave before the intervention of the allied fighters. Only one bomber is scratched by the flak.
Finally, the operation allows some cameramen sent by the propaganda services to show in the cinemas of the archipelago that the Wild Eagles remain active against the bandits in the pay of the Westerners. Things are at this point...
.........
Hanoi - As a response to the morning raid, two formations of fighters arrived in the late afternoon on Hanoi: each one is composed of three NA-73 of the III/40 which cover three H-87 of the II/40 loaded with 250 GP bombs. One group attacks the Gia Lam airfield, the other one targets the Grand Lake waterbase.
The attack on Gia Lam causes quite a mess: a well-placed bomb hits a tanker that was refueling two Ki-43 Hayabusa (Oscar). The explosion surprises the pilot of the next attacking aircraft: the Warhawk, unbalanced, crashes on a hangar, destroying a Ki-57 (Topsy) and a Ki-36 (Ida).
At the Great Lake, the Nautical Circle building, which serves as quarters for the Imperial Navy personnel, is hit by three bombs. A nearby E7K2 (Alf) is shredded by the shrapnel. Two A6M2-N (Rufe) are set on fire as they try to take off. While the French were dealing with the float planes, an F1M (Pete) manages to take off. Remaining at the crest of the waves, the biplane takes advantage of its maneuverability to make the Curtisses go crazy, as they try (without success) to eliminate it. The machine gunner of this pest even has the luxury to pepper two fighters. Preferring to leave it at that, the allied aircraft do not linger.

The massacre of Mytho
Mytho (Cochinchina) - Major Mitsushima abandons the suburbs of the city north of the Nikolai Canal. Only three bridges allow to cross the canal: the Cai-Bé bridge, the railway bridge and the Saigon bridge. Nearly three hundred soldiers defend the bridges. Under the shelter of sandbag barricades and tree-trunk bunkers, the Nipponese have installed machine guns and mortars. Soldiers with rifles with scopes cover them, on the roofs of the houses.
The attack begins at dawn and the device deployed by Major Mitsushima succeeds in containing the first wave. The Vietminh are massacred by the machine guns that beat the bridge decks. As the confrontation degenerates into a furious exchange of fire between the two banks, Major Mitsushima sees a disheveled non-commissioned officer arrive. It takes him a moment to understand his words, chopped up by panic and breathlessness. Some thousands of "bandits" (not Vietminh!) burst into the city. They crossed the arroyo of the Post Office, in the south of the city, by a thin footbridge. The few men posted to defend it (no one had seen an attack coming from this side) were swept away. Moreover, some junks and sampans moored along the Mekong and unloaded more "bandits" directly on the river port.
The arrival of the Binh Xuyen (via the Post Office bridge) and the Hoa-Hao (via the Mekong) turn the rest of the battle into a massacre. The enemy also appears from inside the city. Bands of inhabitants spontaneously form to attack the isolated Japanese. Some clusters of people throw themselves on the unfortunate ones who are literally torn to pieces. The bulk of the Japanese forces, surrounded, are massacred. No Japanese is taken alive... to the great displeasure of the French intelligence officers.
If this massacre is at least understandable, what follows is unfortunately much less so. Mytho is during several hours the seat of a frantic bacchanal led by a part of its liberators. Looting and rapes follow one another until late at night. Shots are even exchanged with the Vietminh, who are more disciplined and try to restore order, while "people's courts" (in which, this time, the Vietminh have a full share) execute dozens of inhabitants for "intelligence with the enemy".
During the night, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is almost burned down by the most fanatical Hoa-Hao. It is only saved by the intervention of the Vietminh, despite the militant and open atheism of the latter...

New Georgia Campaign
Operation Toenails - Extended Conclusion
New Georgia - The last sniper of Arundel is shot down by the GIs of the 43rd ID.
The peninsula is thus conquered and New Georgia definitively secured... with more than two and a half months behind schedule. This first phase of Cartwheel cost the US Army and the Marines nearly 1,400 killed, to which must be added nearly 4,500 wounded and sick that had to be evacuated. The Imperial Army has more than 2,500 killed. In both both sides, this is a lot, especially for an operation planned over two weeks and supposed to lead to more important confrontations, especially during the capture of Kolombangara.
.........
Nouméa - The battle of Kolombangara will obviously never come. In his office, Turner does the math and makes a simple calculation: it took 29,000 soldiers to defeat the 5,000 Japanese in New Georgia. But intelligence estimates that the Kolombia garrison is 10,000 men. It would therefore take nearly 60,000 GIs, four divisions, to take this round, fortified island, which is essentially an extinct volcano of 5,450 feet, easy to defend. And this even as the best unit of the XIV Corps, the Marines Raiders, are called under other skies.
It therefore seemed urgent not to attack this island. And it is to him that falls the heavy task to explain it to a Halsey who was already furious by the delay with which New Georgia was taken. Far from shaking the certainties of Nimitz and King, as The Bull had expected, this disastrous performance could only strengthen them. And yet, not taking on Kolombangara could get the Cartwheel sequel cancelled - even Turner "the Terrible" would rather not have to raise this prospect with the SOPAC commander!
So Turner opens up to Kinkaid and both of them think they have found an honorable way out, for both themselves and their leader. All reconnaissance indicates that the island of Vella Lavella, the westernmost of the New Georgia archipelago, is poorly defended.
Its capture could serve as a balm to Halsey's bruised ego and above all complete the encirclement of Kolombangara, thus allowing Rabaul to be stifled by an air interdiction campaign which is nothing more than Admiral King's plan, but not all truths are good to tell. Sasaki and his men would be left to their own devices in their volcanic fortress, cursing those cowardly Westerners who refuse to fight!
For his part, Halsey would have no choice: King would not let him devote the Navy's resources in a new campaign without strategic interest. The Navy stubbed its toe on Munda, Turner thought with a sigh.
.........
"It's over. The last of the Japanese are dead, and the bulk of the American troops are retreating.
Our friends seem to have a hangover: New Georgia was expensive, too expensive. All for what? No one knows (at least at my level!) what will be the outcome of the operation.
To be honest, I'd rather we looked elsewhere. Simpsons is in Noumea, nursing his fever. And I'm going to drink an old Calva on the Jeanne. I need that to forget these last three months. On reflection, I still prefer Brittany to New Britain.*" (L.V. Jacques Chambon - op. cit.)
.........
"It is difficult to speak of success, even costly success, when one speaks of the conquest of New Georgia. The fault lies in multiple factors, which go far beyond individual performance. As is often the case, it is easy to blame one man - Hester in this case - for a failure.
Much has been said about the poor performance of the 43rd ID, especially when compared to the Northern Force, consisting of the 23rd ID and the Marine Raiders. This is intellectually dishonest. In fact, these units had far more experience and equipment superior to those of the troops directly commanded by Hester, even though they were facing a weaker opponent. In addition, their supply was always correct, contrary to the 43rd ID, which was difficult and often interrupted. It is therefore not sure that, on the south coast, Grunts and Raiders would have advanced much faster than the ex-National Guards of the 43rd towards Munda. It is enough to consider their difficult progress
to Vangunu to be convinced of this.
The original fault certainly lay in the strategy decided upon by Halsey, Kinkaid and Turner in Nouméa - under the impetus of the first mentioned. The plan suffered from major inconsistencies: the plan was to lay siege to Munda, but a siege is always a prolonged affair, and this one was to lead to the capture of the objective in two weeks. It was a question to crush the adversary under a deluge of fire, but no time was taken to organize an efficient air or naval support. It was necessary to seize the enemy positions, but the forces were too small to guarantee success. Basically, the plan was based on the principle that the Japanese would not react and would come to be killed under the most favourable conditions to the Allies. Obviously, this was not the case, and this disregard was costly.
The soldiers of the Tenno made indeed undergo a real torture to the novices of the 43rd ID, who found themselves engaged in unexpected battles, carried out in the most unfavorable conditions. The Japanese thus benefited from a clear tactical superiority, which paid off in the short term, but at the cost of phenomenal losses and unimaginable suffering, which they have taken without flinching. This was the case of the Imperial Army during the whole conflict: exceptional individual martial skills, at the service of a costly and outdated tactic, somewhat similar to those of the French army during the ill-advised offensives of1917. However, this same tactic proved to be devilishly effective in this case.
The National Guardsmen thus approached the best-defended sector of the island alone, while the Northern Force had the benefit of significant overmanning and hard-won joint forces coordination acquired at Guadalcanal. The imbalance was glaring. It seems obvious today that the soldiers of the 43rd should have been reinforced, even relieved, by elements of the 23rd ID, much more experienced but dispersed since June 30th on uninteresting anchorages all around the archipelago. The soldiers thus released would have usefully contributed to the security of the back, facilitating the offensive.
In these conditions, what could Major-General Hester do on the evening of July 1st? Attempt a landing at Enogai, a gamble that might have paid off but that would have exposed his troops to the guns of Kolombangara? To land directly at Munda, and risk an uncertain assault with untrained troops, facing intact defenses? Or start by taking Arundel, despite Rabaul's naval and air attacks? Or wait at Segi Point until the airfield was operational? This last option was automatically discarded, because it would have slowed down the pace Halsey wanted. Finally, landing at Zanana was undoubtedly a bad solution, which solved nothing - but which also did not expose his men to the risks of a dice roll. Faced with an impossible choice, Hester's decision was one of lucidity, which can and should be credited to her.
Hester was in direct command of the 43rd ID. He is thus responsible for certain risky tactical decisions, the lack of energy of his unit, and more generally a form of pusillanimity. But in any case, it was impossible for him to make up for the inadequacies of a plan drawn up in defiance of the enemy and, even more so, of the terrain. Halsey and Turner (Kinkaid being only an intermediary between them) bear here a terrible responsibility, far superior to his own. Unable to question the decisions of his leaders, and caught up in contradictory demands, Hester was reduced to dispersing his units on secondary objectives, in order to please HQ. We can therefore speak of a lack of scope, but certainly not of incompetence.
In the end, Griswold succeeded where Hester had failed. But with twice as many troops, and with overwhelming and constant naval and air support. All without time pressure, in the face of opposition that was becoming less and less alive, and no longer taking much initiative.
Who knows what fighting at Biak or Bougainville would have been like? Perhaps the Americans would have learned the hard way, and improved land-sea-air coordination. Or perhaps the carnage would have simply continued...
In any case, in the middle of 1943, the strategic situation in the Pacific was more and more favorable to the Allies, who had the initiative. And as King redeployed huge forces to the central Pacific, the new center of gravity of the conflict, the Japanese were suffering their adversary's pace and kept tens of thousands of men, warriors, in garrison in insalubrious islands.
In the Solomons, in order to keep Tokyo in a state of uncertainty, to console Halsey a little and especially to finish to suffocate Rabaul, it was decided however to conclude Cartwheel by taking control of Vella Lavella. This was Operation Littlefoot." (Robert Stan Pratsky, Western Solomons and New Guinea - The Forgotten Campaigns of the Pacific, Tallandier, 2005)

* Britain and Brittany are the same word (Bretagne) in French.

 

[Wings]

September 20th, 1943

Operation Suvorov
Forced Bison
Battle of Dubrova ("Suvorov-Center") - The guns thunder under an overcast sky. The bridgehead of the 15th Army is the target of a powerful bombardment administered by the XX. AK (von Roman) and its neighbor the VII. AK (Hell). On the express orders of Field Marshal Rommel, who is launching the counter-offensive towards Jlobin demanded by the OKH, the 9. Armee and the 4. Armee will indeed collaborate once again (and preferably, this time, effectively!) to eliminate this other Soviet salient on the western bank of the Drut.
After half an hour of intense bombardment, followed by a rolling fire worthy of the First World War on the Soviet rear, the Heer forces launch themselves to the assault. In the south, the 106. ID (Frost), reinforced by two regiments of the 258. ID (Höcker) - because there is no real fear of a communist offensive on Voslavka or Vjalіkaja Masjtjanіtsa - had as objectives to cross the "Death Coast", to seize Kuncy and finally to drive back the left flank of the Soviets towards the Drut. In the opposite direction, to the northeast, the 18. PanzerGrenadier (von Erdmannsdorff) has to descend from Teterin with the support of the 134. ID (Schlemmer) and follow the shore of the Drut to destroy the enemy bridges by sowing chaos in its rear, then to participate in the encirclement of the surviving forces.
Finally, in the center, the 197. ID (Boege) reinforced by the 244. StuG Abt (Oberst Großkreutz) is instructed to to push from Hlybokaïe towards the Drut to prevent the Red from fleeing.
This plan, although quite well worked out and relatively relevant, will however very quickly run up against several unforeseen obstacles. Indeed, the 15th Army has in this salient the equivalent of an infantry corps - namely three rifle divisions: the 34th (Vetvitsky), the 361st (Mikhailov) and the 388th (Shvarev), reinforced by a regiment of the 203rd Tank Brigade. And within days, these troops actively prepared themselves.
The Soviet forces are entrenched in two lines 2 kilometers deep, separated by 2 kilometers, each with three positions (main, intermediate and reserve). Fedyuninsky - who practically assumed direct command from his redoubt of Iskra, on the other bank - arranged his three divisions according to the principle "two in the lead, one behind". Thus the 34th and the 388th in the first line, while the 361st remained in reserve on the second. This arrangement is also found at the level of positions and trenches, for the regiments and then the battalions - the time is long gone when the Red Army was not interested in the defense*!
The Soviet knows that, for once, the Germans are in numerical superiority. But he also knows that its divisions have a great firepower**.
However, despite all its value, the artillery - a prestigious weapon, a glorious heritage of the Tsars and backbone of the Soviet army - would not be enough. The 1943 manual is perfectly clear on this subject: "Artillery can lead a victorious battle only if it acts in cooperation with the other weapons, behind fortifications and obstacles, instead of fighting in isolation." Each Soviet position therefore has three (again!) parallel trenches, connected by diagonals: these are the fortifications. Unfortunately, these fortifications are not continuous, due to lack of time. But, nearly one hundred kilometers dug in ten days... it is already a great effort for the frontovikis! Even if they are not too camouflaged - because the ground is fresh - they will obviously pose to them alone a big difficulty for the attacker.
As for the obstacles, the document refers to the "detachments for mobile obstacles (Podvizhnye Otriady Zagrashdenii or POZ) - sappers specialized in laying mines.
And there are mines in the Red Army! The specialists of the 15th Army have even managed to reach, on a part of the most exposed sectors of the first position, the recommended density: 1,500 anti-tank mines and 1,700 anti-personnel mines per km². One explosive every 300 m²! However, there was not enough time to lay more, and it was necessary to use the topography and in particular the terrain of the first positions. This is not too serious: the Soviet engineers have long since learned to lay their mines within range of their artillery, in order to be able to fire on the opposing deminers, while ensuring that the panzers trying to bypass the minefields would be exposed to anti-tank guns...
Finally, the addition of fascist anti-tank mines recovered during previous battles will add, as is often the case, confusion to the explosions***.
These obstacles and fortifications will protect the artillery from a fascist breakthrough, even if the second line, in principle identical to the first, was not as well fortified - the first line had to be finished the first line as quickly as possible! And between the lines, precisely, the Soviets have their reserves - 39 tanks of the tank regiment, self-propelled anti-tank and POZ.
These can be brought to the points targeted by the enemy. Finally, in case of need, it will always be possible to make additional frontovikis cross the Drut...
In short, the Landsers, who were willing to seize weak or even undefended positions, are at their expense. The regiments of the 258. ID overtake the 106. ID, and run down the hillsides towards Kuncy. They seize with relative ease the first position, whose defenders were massacred by the artillery, for lack of shelter - then, while fighting for the second position, they are victims of a bludgeoning by an artillery using settings set a long time ago, before suffering fierce counter-attacks from the reserve regiment. The southern branch of the assault, though supposedly the most powerful, became bogged down in the middle of a long battle, becomes bogged down, in conditions worthy of the previous war. And in the evening, the attackers gained no more than 1,200 meters - even if the 34th Division of Colonel Ignatz Vetvitsky suffered more than significant losses.
In the center, it is not much better: worn out by incessant fighting in this area, the 197. ID tramples on the outskirts of the small village of Shipyagi, which it was supposed to seize in less than four hours. Faced with thin, but well laid out lines, Oberst Großkreutz pesters when he sees his machines, supposed to support the infantry, jump on mines or be hit by artillery if they bypass the dangerous sectors... The 244. StuG Abt will lose no less than 12 self-propelled guns during this single day - and even if some of them could be repaired, it will not be the case of all: the Soviets are pleased to finish with 122mm to finish off the StuGs that had been blown up by a mine.
But the most serious thing for the attackers happened around Teterin. Rushing towards the south, on a difficult terrain, but nevertheless passable for his machines, von Erdmannsdorff probably hopes that his 18. PzGr could pass in force and break through the Red lines by dint of the interruption of the entrenchment lines observed by the reconnaissance and probably revealing a lack of manpower. This apparent weakness does not surprise the Germans, who think that the Russians cannot be everywhere. A serious mistake! For the Red Army, this area - and in particular the plain west of Kruzhki - has become a small "anti-tank region". Here, taking advantage of the lessons of Zitadelle - and especially the breakthrough of the 1. SS-PzK towards Kiev - the Soviet General Staff recommended the creation of anti-tank redoubts (Protivotánkovye Opórnye Púnkty or POP) specifically designed to defend themselves by combining all weapons: rifles and machine guns of course, but also anti-tank, mortars and even indirect artillery fire preset on the surroundings of the redoubt. These forts worthy of Leonardo da Vinci's turrets are manned by a limited number of soldiers but with a plethoric firepower****. The concentration of several of these monsters in a vulnerable region makes it an "anti-tank region", ideal for blocking the panzers without devoting too much manpower to it - and of course, it is always possible to count on reserves in the second line...
The 18. PanzerGrenadier, which left tired but with a head start, hoping that all this would be over quickly, found itself having to face four terrifying bastions which it is necessary to reduce the infantry, under the shells coming from the other bank and without being able to bypass them! We are very far from the rides north of Orsha...
In the evening, of the four POPs set up by the 15th Army, only two have fallen: the most exposed, in the north, and the advanced one in the center. The last two resist stubbornly, under the rain that starts to fall again. During the night, they are supported by elements of infantry transferred from the reserves of the corps, or even having crossed the Drut.
The 18. PzGr loses 15 armors out of the 24 at the start. A very poor result directly linked to the vulnerability of the Panzer III and that the engagement of the 134. ID - now clearly lacking momentum - does not counterbalance. Finally, in the march diary of the XX. AK, the account of events - which struggles to hide the harshness of the fighting - reveals a form of admiration for the adversary, for a behavior considered a rarity on the whole front, the enemy offers a fierce resistance on deeply staggered positions, with vast minefields and exemplary fortifications".
Ivan Fedyuninsky therefore resists, sometimes monitoring the operations himself with binoculars, disregarding the danger. In order to chase him out of his lair, he has to be found there. And this costs the Wehrmacht precious resources...
.........
Region of Chachevichy ("Suvorov-Center") - After obscure delaying fights without glory by some armored vehicles supported by partisans and a handful of parachutists, the Red Army finally crosses the Drut at Chachevichy, deploying in defense in thevillages of Balonauka and Haleyeuka, among others.
The XLIII. AK arrives at the river bank in the late afternoon, under a light rain that starts to fall again. Karl von Oven has thus reached his goal - he does not plan to waste time and men to go further. In this sector, operation Suvorov is over.
.........
Battle of Zhlobin ("Suvorov-South") - The counter-offensive required by the express directives of the OKH starts in less good conditions than those hoped for by the Balkan Fox was hoping for. First of all, the weather is overcast, which significantly reduces the possibilities of air support - all the more so as LuftFlotte 2 is always closer to asphyxiation. Secondly, if the planned units are all there (one armored corps and three infantry corps, all the same), the latter are exhausted by the efforts made shortly before and anaemic by heavy losses not or hardly compensated. Thus, the XLI. PzK (18. Panzer, 20. Panzer and 503. schw Pzr Abt, reduced to 7 Tiger...) weighs hardly more than 150 tanks, even reinforced with the 19. Panzer ! As for the XII. AK of the unfortunate Edgar Röhricht, which represents only the equivalent of a division, it is now reduced to playing the extras in the fight that is about to take place. And last but not least... - the adversary has still not really arrived!
Apart from the 21st Armored Corps - isolated but mostly mobile - only Govorov's 2nd Guards is now really in contact with the enemy. And it is not even likely to be encircled! The Germans can indeed hope to push it back into the Drut, but to do so, they will also have to face the 7th Armored Corps. And the real target - Purkayev's 3rd Shock, on the Russian left - is still 15 kilometers from the German lines. Stretched, tired, fragile... but certainly not as vulnerable as desired.
In these conditions, wouldn't the HG Mitte have been better off waiting for the enemy to come to throw himself into his clutches? Even today, the question is still debated by professional military historians and wargame players alike. But it makes little sense... If Rommel does not wait, it is not that he did not want to, but that he could not. Indeed, the OKH, Keitel and especially Hitler has imposed on him a very limited deadline...and the meteorological services of the Reich announce the imminent arrival on the battlefield of heavy rains, destined to last this time. To succeed before the rasputitsa, the Fox is well obliged to trust his troops, to the superiority of their tactical know-how, to their material... as well as to its good star.
In any case, the German forces rush towards Jlobine, maneuvering at the best of the circumstances. The offensive is very quickly spotted by the VVS - it is not difficult! The planes carrying the red star are opposed to those of the Oberst Torsten Christ, who target the 21st Armored Corps as best they can, even though they are far less numerous than before. After one month of operations, the VIII. FliegerKorps simply cannot do more... It loses again 11 planes, against 31 Reds - at least, this time, several crews are recovered.
On the extreme right, departed from Turki and covered on its right flank by the remains of the XII. AK, the XLI. PzK (18. Panzer, 20. Panzer and 503. schw Pzr Abt) initially advance unopposed towards the east. Its objective is simple: to bypass Dvorets from the south while the XXV. AK occupies the Reds by a frontal attack, then to rush to meet the 19. Panzer. This one must, for its part, start from Novoselki and run southwards, passing the XIII. AK, opposed to the 2nd Guards on the German left along the Drut. The idea is to close the trap in around Gusarovka.
Last year, this maneuver could probably have succeeded. But the Red Army of 1943 is no longer the same as in 1942.
But the Red Army of 1943 is not the one of 1942 - and Konev knows that he has no gain to hope for if he sacrifices an armored corps to hold an insignificant village in Belarus. The Russian, who very quickly understood what was going on thanks to the crowd of reports provided by the VVS, reacts quickly and well. Authorizing the 21st Armored Corps to withdraw while fighting delaying tactics along the Zadrutie-Babruysk road, he ordered Govorov to hold on to his bridgehead along the Drut.
As for the 7th Armored Corps, it had to run towards Korichnevyy to support the 2nd Guards or prepare a flanking attack against the pursuers of the 21st Armored Corps, depending on the outcome of events. Finally, the 3rd Shock, on the left, must stop immediately on a Raduga-Gorbachevka-Bolotnyy axis, relying on the woods of the region to limit the extent of its front. It was in charge of holding, waiting for the reinforcement of the 10th Armored Corps, weakened but nevertheless called upon to help, and which has to move up to Risunok immediately.
The 2nd Belorussian Front was clearly on the defensive, and for the time being it did not want to join its two main formations, the 2nd Guards and the 3rd Shock. It thus offers between a corridor, perhaps a corner, for the Wehrmacht to reach the Dnieper. Of course, but what use could it be? The Germans will once again find themselves trapped between two armies - to attack one is to expose themselves to the other. A brilliant maneuver, indeed - qlthough it was a result of circumstances, it proves that Konev did not steal his stars.
The day ends in a most indecisive manner. The panzers have certainly reached Gusarovka and Ostrov, gaining 8 kilometers during the day. The struggle between XIII. AK and 2nd Guards continue towards Tikhinichi and Novyye Poseleniya... but the Red is not in danger and the panzers had to stop. The offensive towards Jlobin starts badly - however, it must go on...
.........
"New alert for our unit! We must join the front as soon as possible, further north, according to the instructions of the command. The loudspeakers installed in the camp bellow that Rodina, our mothers, our sons and our land - not to mention the Party - need us and implore us to come to their aid against the fascist invader. This is flattering... A bit worrying, too, considering that to help the Motherland there are hardly a hundred or so in our Corps. But this is not the time to complain: Pobieda! takes the second position, once again, behind the platoon leader. After us, Sasha then Boris. We will do with it, it will be necessary. And we leave in a concert of badly adjusted engines and rusty tracks, without really knowing where we are going.
My anguish, which often makes me compare my life to a game of chance with no other outcome than a fatal end, resurfaces... Forward all the same" (Evgeny Bessonov, op. cit.)

Macieviczy Region - Operation Frühlingsfest begins. The three formations of the Black Order set off towards their targets - it's a question of who will progress the fastest and kill the most in a region already ravaged by two years of war. In the evening, the Kaminski brigade, with its terrible reputation, has already claimed 500 victims and destroyed six villages. The infernal columns leave only corpses and ashes in their wake... Unless something unforeseen happens, they must meet in three days in the middle of the swamps.

Berlin - The Reich radio announces with great fanfare the start of a "new decisive offensive in the Bialyničy and Jlobin regions, intended to drive the Red across the Drut and the Dnieper. Despite the Slav's repeated lies, everyone will soon be able to see that the Reich never ran the slightest risk of losing Belarus. It is already certain that this operation will end with a brilliant success." One recognizes here the delicacy of the PropagandaStaffel's henchmen, who were much less cautious than Alfred-Ingemar Berndt when it came to announcing victories. For the HG Mitte in general - and for its leader in particular - the message is therefore clear. It must win as soon as possible.
.........
Moscow - On the other hand, the Soviet side is calm and ironic. "After having claimed that the Red Army of Workers and Peasants had neither progressed nor won any victories the Fascists feel obliged to launch a massive offensive on our positions, to try to erase the disasters suffered before. There is no doubt that the Soviet citizen, heroic defender of his fatherland martyred by the Nazi leprosy, will deal with these upheavals in the right way - by crushing the murderers under his boot." The tone is most martial, it is true - but isn't this the Great Patriotic War?

Operations Kutusov and Rumyantsev
Kutusov - Critical points
Sectors from Mozyr to Ovruch - The German withdrawal is accelerated to relieve the defenders of Olevsk, even if it is at the risk of encouraging infiltrations (but it must be admitted that Manstein does not care about it...). The XXIV. PanzerKorps is still not in position - it is understandable: it has 70 kilometers of woods and swamps to cover between Mozyr and Liaskavičy! Duly spurred on by Walther Model himself - who knows that the good news will not last - Otto von Knobelsdorff promises to reach his new lines by tomorrow evening. In its rear, the 64th Army continued to struggle. For its part, the 4th Parachute Corps (A.F. Kazankin) tries to attack the retreating columns, but it could not be everywhere.
The LVI. PzK (Raus), whose arrival in Olevsk is however most necessary, must therefore stall a bit. In the meantime, it has to do without the support of the 10. PanzerGrenadier and the 38. ID (which will go to reinforce respectively the 9. Panzer and the LII. AK), while facing here and there the scouts of the 8th Guards Army. However, the three divisions of Erhard Raus are now concentrated on an area of 40 kilometers north of the battle. They will be able to intervene in its course, at least partially, if necessary.
.........
Olevsk sector - On the side of the 3rd Belorussian Front, things are not going well. The new "elastic" device set up by the LII. AK and the bulk of the XLVII. PzK (still without the 4. Panzer but reinforced by the 501. schw Pzr Abt and the 270. StuG) defend the southern approach of Olevsk as well as the crossroads Korosten-Sarny/ Mozyr- Novohrad-Volynskyï effectively - the Red Army's ascent on this strongly constrained terrain, forming a corridor of barely 10 to 12 kilometers wide, turned into a slaughterhouse. The 20th GAC (P.P. Poluboiarov) must be withdrawn from the front, and his colleague the 19th GAC (I.D. Vasilev) is in no better condition.
Only novelty here: the intervention of the 5th Cavalry Corps (V.D. Kriushenkin), activated by the Stavka (Zhukov also knows when it is necessary to be constructive...), and which must be inserted between the Malinovsky and Vatutin Fronts to try to cut the junction between 6. Armee and 3. PanzerArmee. For the moment, it does not work - the Stavka, instructed by the counter-attack in progress in Jlobin, gives discreet instructions of prudence. A disaster in Ukraine after the one in Belarus would be the final blow for the career (or even more...) of some of them!
.........
West of Olevsk - Here, on the other hand, the situation is not very far from turning into a catastrophe for the Heer. The XLIV. AK of Friedrich Köchling, supposed to defend the line Borove - Zol'nya, only has two divisions worn out by weeks of fighting. Although it was reinforced by some self-propelled guns and a Luftwaffe division, it could only hold out only thanks to the 3. PanzerArmee.
Thanks to the reorganization of the position south of Olevsk ordered by Manstein the day before, the 9. Panzer and the 4. Panzer have slipped further west to compensate for this failure.
Alone or almost, they now face the pressure of the 4th Shock Army (I.I. Maslennikov), the 5th Army (M.I. Potapov) and the 2nd and 4th Guards Armored Corps (P.S. Rybalko and S.I. Bogdanov). These formations are also weakened and the wooded terrain is not very favorable to the offensive, but Nikolai Vatutin turns his men and pushes towards the North with the certainty that the triumph is within reach - especially since the 11th Armored Corps is already on the line!
However, Vladimir Alexeiev arrives only tomorrow - and it is likely that he will have to take over from his exhausted comrades rather than add his forces to theirs.
Taking advantage of the problems of supply of the Soviets increased by the bombardments of the day before and the fact that the rain starts to fall again in the middle of the afternoon, the Wehrmacht does not retreat and, against all odds, finally gives up only worthless ground: Maidan, Lisky and other mediocre villages. The defense of the 3. PanzerArmee finally begins - perhaps! - to stabilize.
.........
Berezne sector - The situation becomes more complicated for the 6. Army, which is not far from being cut in two. In the center, the entire LV. AK has now passed the Sluch - with a haste dangerously close to chaos. Erich Jaschke is now trying to get organized - he has to re-establish the connection with the XLIV. AK on his left, while dealing with the threat that represents the 37th Army of Vasily Chuikov ... Three divisions to hold 45 km of riverbanks from Storozhiv to Berezne, plus the swamps of Mykhalyn, that is to say 65 km of front line in all! We understand that he is unable to help Brandenberger in Korets!
.........
Korets sector - After only twenty-four hours of fighting, the right flank of the 6. Armee already notes with concern what must be called a nibbling of its outer perimeter. The 5th Shock Army has a difficult time in Novohrad-Volynskyi, it's true. But now that it has extracted itself from this urban trap, Ivan Chernyakovsky can once again attack and maneuver again, instead of stupidly sending his infantrymen to the slaughterhouse.
On the other side, the XXIX. ArmeeKorps showed signs of fatigue. Still not recovered from the terrible display of force undergone on the banks of the Sluch, with one of its three divisions (the 331. ID) made up of young reservists and while its neighbor on the left, the LV. AK, can hardly support it: the corps commanded by Brandenberger has to give up three bridgeheads, at Kylykyiv (at the confluence of Zharykha and Korchyk), Vesnyane and Piddubtsi. The latter will probably be able to be reduced shortly thanks to an umpteenth intervention of the 36. PzG and the 249. StuG Abt...but for the others, we will have to see later!
Instructed by the bloody lesson of the previous days, the 5th Shock avoids with care the direct assault on Korets. It applies itself to disperse and wear down its adversary, waiting for a rupture that could be exploited by the 5th GAC Zhitomir.

Rumyantsev - Acrobatics
Baranivka sector - On the left wing of the 8. Army, the LIX. AK passes the Sluch river without too much difficulty, although still pressed on its left by the 1st Cavalry Corps. This one is already in front of Baranivka and even sends elements to cross north of the confluence of the Khomora River, threatening to overrun the 223. ID (Christian Usinger).
However, Kurt von der Chevallerie benefits for his defense from a poor terrain and a river of respectable width - he could therefore undoubtedly recover against the 1st Shock Army. However, it was the hinge between the 8. Armee and the 6. Armee and must above all maintain its link with the XXIX. AK, on its left, as well as with the III. PanzerKorps, stationed near Polonne - these two formations are located further back. And since, in addition, the Reds are already in Starokostantinov, holding on the Sluch is really of no interest.
And the Landsers continue westward...
.........
Myropil sector - Further south, the XXVII. AK does not do anything else - except that it should not stop at the Sluch, but at the Khomora (its tributary, located a little to the west). Still pursued by the 4th Guards Army - which reaches the eastern bank of the Myropil by completing the push on its right of the unfortunate 205. ID of Ernst Michael - and by the 1st Armored Corps - which is looking for a crossing point further south towards the railroad, so as not to have to engage Karl Burdach's formation who spends the night crossing the Sluch River, before hastily blowing up its works.
Having gained a few precious hours and benefited from a second wet patch to protect its withdrawal, the Heer can finally take the time to rally its most delayed elements before continuing. Further on, the bridges over the Khomora could always be blown up...
However, the Germans are quickly hampered in their maneuvers by the strong activity of the "terrorists" who multiply attacks and sabotages, in defiance of the losses as well as reprisals. Undaunted by the approach of the Red Army, the Partisans do their best to disrupt the fascist withdrawal.
But it is the entire population that pays the price. Indeed, if Burdach indeed evacuates the west bank of Myropil, he then bombed it with 155 mm cannon! The unfortunate town, already a victim of the Russian civil war, then of the peasant insurrections and of the German occupation*****, will have difficulty to recover. In the evening, the Red Army enters in a ravaged city, while the enemy is already in Polonia, preparing the next step, now well covered by the panzers of Kempf.
.........
Hrytsiv sector - Once again delivered alone to the appetites of the red ogre, we understand that the IX. AK - even reinforced by some Tiger and an Abteilung of StuG - does not put much energy to follow in Hausser's footsteps. The most abused corps of the 8. Armee has already completely abandoned the western bank of the Derevychka to reach Hitler's sector - roughly, from Yurovshchyna to Moskvytyanivka, partly behind the Khomora. At present, the formation is entrenched to the best of its ability, with the meager consolation of knowing that the III. PzK is camped further north.
Yes, but in what condition? Probably not better than his own. It seems however inevitable that it will be necessary to give soon, to stop two Soviet armies and an armored corps! And while a fine rain starts to fall again and the SS is fighting alone in the south, Heinrich Clößner's soldiers wait on the bank for the arrival of the red wave.
.........
Starokostantinov sector - Here the night is short - in truth, there was no night. At 02:30, leaving only the GrossDeutschland to cover their backs against a possible Red counteroffensive, the II. SS-PanzerKorps arrives on the northern bank of the Sluch like a German shepherd in a bowling game, with - from east to west - Totenkopf, Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg, in order to wrest the city from the Slavs who are trapped there. However, the soldiers of the Black Order soon come across a real succession of more resistant pins than they had expected: on their left, the Frundsberg alone faces the counter-attack of the 2nd Cavalry Corps, which hoped to bypass Starokostantinov from the west. In the center, the Hohenstaufen must force the passage on the Ikopot' to go and annihilate the forces of Krivoshein still encircled in the city - meanwhile, the 257. ID faces the rest of the 5th Armored Corps and the 1st Mechanized Corps and takesterrible losses, crushed between these two jaws. Finally, on the right, the Totenkopf - which does not like to cross rivers under fire since the summer of 1940... - maneuvers to close the western road to Krassyliv to the Reds and thus to blind this breach which has been annoying everyone for a week.
The SS advance painfully under the fire of the Soviet motorized artillery (the SU-85 and SU-122 gave a lot of punch to the Red Army) and under the assaults of the 16th Air Force... Nevertheless, they advance. At 07:30, contact is resumed with Carl Püchler's infantrymen, who has lost several hundred men facing in the dark elements of the 5th AC who zigzag randomly in the streets. At 09:00, the 9. SS-PzGr Hohenstaufen holds the banks of the Sluch, ravaged by fire and on which the forces of Krivoshein rain down hellfire. At 11:00, the Frundsberg announces that it is "holding the whole of the northern bank".
But the 3. SS-PzGr Totenkopf has still not arrived at its destination, having lost a lot of time on the Ikopot'. In the rear, GrossDeutschland reports no particular activity, except for a harassment by cavalry elements (it is the 1st Cavalry Corps of the Oslikovski Guard).
At 13:00, hope changes sides: Mikhail Shumilov's 3rd Army, moving at the sound of the cannon, arrives at a forced march.. Neglecting its right flank as well as the cavalry forces that are already engaged, the 3rd Army marches westward, deployed some cover elements, joins the 1st Mechanized Corps and leaves in its company, still due west. The unfortunate Panzer III of von Vormann are already overtaken... They flee to avoid being incinerated on the spot.
Considering himself secure against the fascist counter-offensive, Konstantin Rokossovsky makes his choice and outbids the 8. Armee of Walter Weiß by the right in a kind of
race towards the Seret.
Paul Hausser must therefore abandon his sterile assaults on the Sluch to try to follow - he must urgently reinforce the Totenkopf, which has finally crossed at Dubyshche and is preparing to stop the Reds alone, this night, at Krassyliv. Obviously, the Soviet cavalry will not be pressed to harass its troops in their redeployment - after all, it is its vocation!
.........
2nd Ukrainian Front sector - Another day of marginal progress for the Soviet forces and in particular for the 10th Army - which however does not advance much, both because of losses suffered and the sparse supply. Golikov persists and retakes Shypynky. However, the Hungarian tanks have not yet given...
After all, says Major-General Ferenc Bisza, if the mouse is stupid enough to place its neck in the same collar twice, why stop him?

HQ of the 1st Ukrainian Front (Kalynivka), 17:00 - Obviously, Shumilov's risk-taking is not a coincidence. After having set Vatutin's and Malinovsky's clocks back, Marshal Zhukov went down to see Rokossovsky to discuss with him the continuation of Rumyantsev.
In the meantime, the first reports of losses went up to Moscow... After a long journey, they ended up on the desk of a moustachioed Georgian. Without surprises, they are bad. Very bad, if one has the curiosity to add them to those of Suvorov. We are talking about 75% of the manpower in the armored corps that faced the SS at Berdytchiv and the Heer at Zubkovychi. Upon reading them, Stalin gets violently angry and writes - among other things - two personal letters to Vatutin and Zhukov.
To the first: "The events of the last few days have shown that you do not take into account the lessons of the past and that you are repeating the same mistakes in the planning and conduct of operations. It is reckless to attack all the time and everywhere and to gain as much ground as possible without ensuring [...] the protection of the flanks of the mobile groups. This leads to a scattering of forces and offers the enemy the opportunity to conduct strikes against the flanks and rear of our forces projected far forward, and to defeat them in part. [...] Because of this, our troops suffered significant casualties." Undoubtedly, Vatutin can congratulate himself for having recently settled with his neighbor, under the auspices of Zhukov - which neighbor has suffered losses at least as great as his own.
It is curious that Rodion Malinovsky did not also have to suffer the wrath of the leader - does this mean that the star of the supposed favorite is fading?
For Zhukov, it is not much better: "The attack plan of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, according to which Korosten was to fall on September 3rd and Olevsk on September 8th, has not been properly executed, it is obvious! As a result, it was impossible to defeat the enemy grouping in the north. The Stavka wonders according to what plan you are currently conducting the operations of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front! [...] It is not a question of working with an army or an isolated armored corps, but of achieving a breakthrough by engaging the mass of artillery and aviation." We understand why the Marshal - who knows well Rokossovsky, his tendency to go at it alone (normal, for a former cavalryman in Mongolia!) and his desire to obtain the recognition of a regime that tortured him so much - wants to make sure that the 1st Ukrainian Front is disciplined, of the respect of his plan and of the success of its execution. Once again, for Georgi Zhukov, the days seem decisive... Even if he is not the only one involved.
Indeed, at the same time, Vassilevsky also receives a volley of green wood - even though he is no longer directly involved in the operations in Ukraine! "To Marshal Vassilevski. It is already 03:30. You have not yet considered it necessary to inform the Stavka of the results of the operation of September 16th [It is obviously both Jlobin and Kirawsk...] and to communicate your judgment on the situation. As a representative of the Stavka, I have given you full authority to inform the Stavka every day. You forgot this duty and failed to give news. I warn you for the last time: if you forget your duty towards the Stavka again, I will dismiss you as chief of the General Staff and have you recalled from the front. Signed: Stalin".
Obviously, the Vojd becomes nervous, because to the inflation of the "butcher's note", are added the news of the progress of his allies in Italy, Greece and now in France. For him, with nearly 80% of German forces still on Soviet territory, and losses approaching a million for the last three months, it now seems credible that the Western capitalists will arrive in Berlin long before he does - and for much less casualties! He needs results, and he needs them now. At the very least, he needs to cross the Polish border of 1939.

HQ of the HG North Ukraine (Kovel), 18:30 - When Erich von Manstein picked up the phone, the operator announces, in a curiously altered voice: "The HG Mitte staff, in extreme emergency". The general sighs... what, Rommel also comes to talk to him about Mozyr? Let him go take care of his marshes, this pretentious man...
On the other end of the line, however, there is no martial speech - and even less reproach. On the contrary, Alfred-Ingemar Berndt - Rommel's aide-de-camp - is courteous. After a thousand delicate and tactful circumlocutions, Berndt finally tells him of the death of Gero von Manstein, his son, in the fighting to reduce the bridgehead of Dubrova.
The Prussian takes the news in stride - for form's sake and out of pride. He thanks of course for the attention, asks for some details on the engagement and on the modalities of repatriation of the body... Another blow. It will be impossible in principle: Gero's section was almost wiped out in the assault of a communist redoubt. Manstein, his voice suddenly very hoarse, thanks again and hangs up. His eldest son had died for the Reich. Died under Rommel. Died to take back a meaningless piece of Belarus. Died for what exactly? Later, he would simply say that it was "the worst thing that happened to me personally during the war". One can easily understand this - one can even sympathize. As much as for the families of the tens of thousands of Soviet prisoners who died because of his orders.

* In 1936, the Red Army's field manual - a 300-page document claiming to contain the entirety of the Soviet officer's useful knowledge - devoted only 20 pages to defense.
all the knowledge useful to the Soviet officer - devoted only 20 pages to the defense, not hesitating to
the latter as a "temporary phenomenon"! We can measure the distance we have come.
** A Soviet infantry division in 1943 format includes three infantry regiments, one artillery regiment and one anti-tank regiment, as well as a
and one anti-tank regiment, as well as a battalion of sappers and a signal company. The whole represents in total
9,380 men with 44 guns, 48 anti-tank guns and 160 mortars.
*** Throughout the conflict, the officers of the panzer formations would angrily file acidic reports
accusing their own sappers of having laid "friendly but undetected" minefields where their armor had gone astray.
their armor had gone astray. This problem has a very simple explanation...
**** In theory, 3 field guns, 6 anti-tank guns, 9 anti-tank rifles, 3 heavy and 4 light machine guns.
***** At the beginning of the 18th century, a strong Jewish community had settled in Myropil, then depopulated.

 

[Wings]

September 20th, 1943

Italian Campaign
Italian Front - The 317th FS of the 325th Fighter Group is declared operational on P-47s. The "Checkertails" are the last group in Italy to use the P-40. This is the swan song for this aircraft in Europe, which will nevertheless continue to provide many services, notably in China.

Greek & Balkan Campaign
Migration
Kosovo - In view of the worsening situation on the Eastern Front, particularly in Romania, the StG 3 packs its bags and leaves the Balkan Front. Its airmen will have to fight in skies as hostile as in Greece, with hardly more fighter cover. It is therefore likely that they will soon miss Kosovo.
In spite of the few interventions carried out in the last few months, the departure of the unit will be bitterly regretted by the staff of the 12. Armee. Of course, the Fw-190s had not shone in Korinos, but they had proved to be very useful against the Bulgarians. At present, the Luftwaffe is completely bloodless in the whole of the Balkans, in particular the Fliegerführer Griechenland (it is true tthat the Wehrmacht no longer controls enough Greek soil to justify this name!)

Operation Presage
The Albanian Wall
Mat River Line - After a morning of bad road, the 1st Polish Armored Brigade finally makes contact with the new German defense line in northern Albania. Almost four days behind schedule, the Allied soldiers secure Milot and Gürez in the midst of militiamen who hasten to raise the red flag.
Moreover, an advanced supply depot is set up in Krüje, as Tirana is still considered unsafe. It will be used for a future offensive... one day or another.
Observing the river and the destroyed bridges, Maczek can only blow out his cigarette. He thinks moodily about the... difficulties that remain to be managed in the capital. Poland seems to be getting further away every day, while the efforts of the last few weeks have led to only paltry results.
.........
North of Albania - General Alois Liška detaches several battalions of the 1st Czech ID to watch over the allied lines of communication between Durres, Tirana and Vlorë.
Montgomery wanted to anticipate a possible failure of the conference scheduled for today and the inevitable agitation that would follow. The Czechs, fatalistic and informed of Anders' setbacks, deploy at the main crossroads. No significant incident to report, at least for the moment.

Controlling the chaos - The Tirana conference
In front of the Royal Palace of Tirana - In a capital under martial law (but not the same in every district), all the elite of the partisan movements meet in what used to be the ceremonial hall of King Zog's palace. And if everyone came a little forced, it must be recognized that all the movements are represented... and even a little more.
Thus, the Communist Party comes in force: besides Enver Hoxja, Ymer Dishnica and Gjon Markagjoni, we find the "commanders" Spiro Theodori Moisiu, Myslim Peza and Mehmet Ismail Shehu, as well as the three Kryeziu brothers in person, Gani, Said and Hasan!
These warlords are not here to speak, but to try to impress the audience, as they tried the day before with Lt. McLean. A muscled delegation, then.
Opposed to them, in spirit as well as in body, there are first the Legaliteli ("Legalists") of Abaz Kupi, who very theoretically represent the king. However, they did not see fit to invite Zog I, who could have filled out their thin ranks. Kupi has only a few deputies with no political weight.
On the right (sic) of the Legaliteli, sit the pestiferous Balli Kombëtar. Safet Butka, who looks a little better than the day before, is accompanied by his deputy "general" Prenk Pervizi, who pretends to watch over him. But he suffers from being associated with the big men of the Xhem Hasa and his two brothers, who have at least as much Albanian blood on their hands as the Germans. What everyone pretends to ignore, for the moment.
Playing the role of conciliators, moderators, translators (and if necessary security personnel), there are the S.O.E. Musketeers: McLean, Smiley, Amery and Quayle.
Finally, Audet presides over the meeting, wondering why the General had ordered him to accept this role. It was for the prestige of France, De Gaulle told him. But what on earth is he going to get out of this meeting of brigands? The S.O.E. (or perhaps MI-6?) has seen fit to provide him with a mysterious assistant named Witold Krymer. The character claims to be Polish, but speaks English and French perfectly, as well as Polish, Estonian and Russian... Well, we'll see!
The mere fact that all this little world is gathered in one room without a gunfight breaking out immediately is in itself a miracle achieved by the Allied forces. The presence of Polish soldiers and half-tracks around the building, coupled with British MPs, may have had something to do with it. Not to mention the search imposed at the entrance... The participants protested, but deep down they know that this guarantees that everyone will get out of the room alive.
Audet's strategy, and that of the entire allied apparatus, is simple: not to put a finger in the clan struggles, but to jointly (and quickly) evoke the wrongs of each and then assert that they are in balance. To then dangle the support for some and their neutrality for others, in order to freeze the situation until the end of the war (the one against the Germans). In short, to obtain a pause by promising that we could kill each other again, while the different allied countries would each support their own champion.
The Polish planters have not finished closing the heavy doors, and we can already hear voices. The participants take their places in a heavy atmosphere, and then each one begins by taking the French general as a witness to swear hand on the heart that his men have nothing to do with the recent events.
.........
In the evening, General Sylvestre Audet needs a glass of raki, and even two. The day has been hard and the Frenchman does not see how he will be able to get out of it, although, the positions of both sides are clear.
The communists assume all their acts, draping themselves in their conviction of representing "the people", and try to negotiate their future support for the inevitable campaign of liberation of Yugoslavia. "The alliance of the proletarian forces of the National Liberation Movement and the Yugoslav Communist Party would lead to the formation of an irresistible force capable of taking the entire region and liberate it with little or no outside help," Hoxha says, addressing Audet directly, ostensibly ignoring the other Albanian parties. "General, don't you want to return to France to liberate the country of Victor Hugo and the Paris Commune? Together (this word obviously does not include the Legalists and Ballists) we can liberate the Balkans in a few months!" This speech is all the more tempting as it is pronounced in excellent French, but is it possible to trust this snake of Hoxha? The man seems moody, sometimes sure of himself, arrogant, sometimes cowering in his chair as if he feared a stab from his neighbors. All this is hardly reassuring!
The "Legalists" make amends (without excess) for their past mistakes which led them into appalling fratricidal conflicts. But they do not hesitate to remind that they are the only representatives of king Zog I, legal and legitimate authority of the country driven out by the Italians. "Would the United Nations consider choosing governments as others choose their wives?" exclaims Abaz Kupi. A surprising metaphor for Westerners (especially since the word "wives" was in the plural), but the former gendarme pointed out that he was not the only one who had a problem with the word "wives" in the plural. The former gendarme went on to say: "Her Majesty's British Services have done us the honor of supporting us since 1939. This support, which honors us, would have been wasted if by any chance criminal revolutionaries came to power in Albania. On the other hand, the return of the King would not mean a return to the old regime. His powers would obviously be revised by a constituent assembly." A much more relevant argument, but one that is not without ambition.
Kupi dreams of becoming the new strongman of Albania, the powerful Prime Minister of an operetta king.
Finally, Balli Kombëtar is ready to do anything to avoid a new civil war - says Safet Butka - as long as "the understandable mistakes of the past" are forgotten - says Prenk Pervizi. However, the Ballists do not want the communists to come to power at any cost, because they have too many things to reproach them (it is certainly the main concern of Xhem Hasa). And on the other hand, Pervizi is worried about the consequences of the extermination by his men of the Liberation Front of Northern Epirus (affiliated to the EDES of Venizelos), which did not bother the communists, but which the Westerners may not forgive.
In short, each seems determined to eliminate the other two, regardless of the cost to Albania. And McLean's reminders of the resolutions of the Përmet Congress will not change that, nor will the general's desperate attempts at conciliation. Until the meal that relaxes tensions: as a good Frenchman, Audet had placed the chiefs not far from each other, hoping that the other, hoping that the food would loosen tongues - the innocent! All it took was for Kupi to pull a knife out of his pocket and the two of them almost started to fight each other.
.........
Audet looks at his empty glass of raki with a weary look. He wonders what he is doing there. To think that he thought he had seen everything with Monty and the Greeks! At this moment, one knocks at the door: it is McLean and Krymer.
- What can I do for you, gentlemen?" articulates Audet. "I was hoping to find a solution in the raki, but I'm afraid I need several bottles!
- General," replies McLean, "Mister Krymer brings us good news.
Audet turns with wide eyes to the curious character, who has not said much all day. With an air of mystery, he begins: "General, Colonel, as you know, we had announced the arrival of an envoy from Tito for this afternoon. But this man never arrived..."
- I noted that. But the problems of Yugoslavia are quite different from those of Albania.
- That's true, General. However, the forces at work in the two countries are closely related. And I now know for a fact that Tito's man was denounced to the Germans while he was crossing Kosovo. He is probably dead by now.
This kind of news no longer surprises Audet: "Denounced by whom?"
- In all likelihood, by the Macedonian CP, which acts in concert with Enver Hoxha to limit the influence of the Serbs in the region. You know, internationalism does not prevent territorial appetites: the MLN did demand that Kosovo be attached to Albania after the war...
- I know, I know... I learned that beyond the clans, the parties and the personal past of each one, there was also a factor that is, at heart, more familiar to me. And what do I care about the sad fate of this poor Yugoslav?
At these words, Krymer bursts out laughing: "But he offers you the perfect opportunity to push back the Albanian communists, General! Do you really think that Josip Broz wants a powerful, communist but hostile Albania to emerge? Mister Hoxha is much more... ideologist than Tito, and much more internationalist, that is to say close to comrade Stalin. Tito is a pragmatist and a Yugoslav above all. He had no interest in seeing Hoxha win on all the line!
- I see..." Audet (who is beginning to have some practice) follows the tortuous reasoning of his guest. "And of course, all this information is also from a reliable source?
His visitor frowns like a magician who is asked to reveal his tricks:
"You ask unpleasant questions, General. All you need to know is that the Serbian CP will not oppose a government with 'reactionaries' in Albania. Better, it will support it by hindering, and if necessary confronting, the movements of Hoxha and Vukmanović - who has annoyed him a lot with his little game since Mukje and the arrival of your armor. The National Liberation Movement is strong, it is true. But it is alone."
- And in practice, should I report this in a meeting?
- Not at all! I'll make sure that Hoxha learns about it, perhaps through Gjon Markagjoni, a much more realistic man than his boss.
Krymer sits back in his seat, arms folded. "I am a great card player, general. What would you do if, while playing poker, you learned with certainty that your opponent was bluffing? That he is not as strong as he makes himself out to be?"
Audet smiled, he understands: "I would outbid him, he would fold and I would win the bet!"
- That's it! Tomorrow, you will impose your idea of the game... And neither the Ballists nor the Legalists will hold it against you, on the contrary!
The three men smile, in complicity. Tonight, General Sylvestre Audet will sleep well.

Siege of Salonika
Plaudite, cives...
Salonika - Australians, New Zealanders and British complete the occupation of the city in the night, amidst the population to be fed and the prisoners to be collected. The Festung has fallen, but the city is ruined. It was the second time in less than 30 years - many remember the great fire of 1917, when the city was full of Western soldiers. Between the tears and the sighs of relief - the worst is over, an old optimist says, "Eleftherios Venizelos had the city rebuilt after the Other War, our government will surely do as well!" Crazy hope or reasonable?
For the moment, reconstruction is certainly not the priority of the allied troops, who are busy stopping the looting, since it is a given that the last Greek policemen's place is in prison. There is not much left, neither of the KG Müller, nor of the institutions of the Hellenic State. It is less than fifty men - in uniform but all having torn the Hellenic phoenix from their sleeve - who present their surrender to the soldiers of the 51st Infantry Division. These survivors are happy not to have to deal with the Greek army... Once the most dubious elements have been arrested, the repentants will be assigned to units far from Salonika*.

Ite missa est
March 1988 - Monastery of Ypapantis (Meteora) - Robert Stan Pratsky closed his notebook with a sharp blow, looking satisfied. Facing him, the figure in black dress did not move, visibly tired by the interview.
- I thank you very much for sharing your knowledge of the events of 1943, Father Daedalus.
- You are welcome... I have not betrayed the secret of my ministry - these stories had little meaning to the dying people who confided them to me, and one cannot speak of a confession in such circumstances. And then, you see, it is important for everyone to know what really happened during those tragic days.
- I will, of course, send you a copy of my book as soon as it is published. I am thinking of title "Shadows among shadows", what do you think?
- That's a good title. But there is no need to send me your book. My eyes, you understand... I can hardly read Greek anymore. So, French!... No, I prefer to remain ignorant of what you have discovered outside of me. Sometimes I'd like to forget what I know, you see...
The historian smiles very slightly: "I understand that I am awakening painful memories. But it is to make the Truth known, Father... Tsarkolis."
The black robe remained motionless for a moment, then successively sat down, straightened up, pretended to get up to leave, then sat down again. Finally, the tired voice sighed: "How did you guess?
- It's very simple. Your Thracian accent is commonplace around here, but I couldn't understand how a priest, and a monk at that, who had never been to Thessaloniki, could speak so accurately about the uniforms of the Kampfgruppe Müller, which has never been around here!
- I see... I was careless. Can I count on your discretion against one more poor story?
- Of course you can! And you are free to tell me what you wish, or not to tell me anything!
- After the accident on the night of September 17-18, I was half buried under the rubble. The monks of the Church of the Holy Apostles, in their mercy, dug me up and brought me back to health. I hope I am not blaspheming when I say this! I never knew whether they felt sorry for me and had the good sense to destroy my police card, or whether Providence had simply made it disappear during the accident.
Wounded anonymously, I watched from my bed of pain the confrontation between Müller and Logothetópoulos. Both are now dead, and the wife of the former minister has followed him in the grave. I think that I am now the last witness of this sinister affair and before I am called back to the Lord, I wanted to share what I knew. I have heard about your search, I thought that heaven had guided your steps near this monastery and I made you aware that a poor monk could help you. That is the simple truth.
- Which honors you! But why did you want to take the veil after the war? With the amnesty laws, you were sure to remain free. Some people even consider you as a hero of the Resistance!
- I have taken my vows, Mr. Pratsky. I owe myself to God, and to no one else.
- Yes, but why the secrecy then? I could not discover who you are hiding under the pseudonyms "Achilles" and "Hector". On the other hand, I did get hold of Padokalis! He has married Anthea, a lady of quite a character, if I may say so [These words seemed to almost make the shadow smile]. They had two children and already two grandchildren, your grandnephews. They would certainly be happy to see you again.
The shadow got up and walked with difficulty a few steps to the small window that lit the room.
He said sadly: "I am part of the past, Mr. Pratsky. I am only a memory for them, and that's fine. If they saw me again, what would I remind them of but the suffering and misery of that horrible time?
Believing he sensed a weakness in the voice of his interlocutor, Pratsky said, pointing to the crucifix on the wall: "When Lazarus came back from the dead, he made his relatives happy!"
- And what face did he present to them, Mr. Pratsky?
Tsarkolis turned to the historian and raised his hood. In his eyes, defiance and shame were mingled. His face was ravaged by the horrible scars of old burns, which must have festered before they healed. The whole thing was reminiscent of a leper, one of those who, in the Middle Ages, announced their presence by waving a rattle. Pratsky, however, returned his gaze without fail, with respect.
The monk seemed a little relieved and said: "If you see Padokalis and Anthea again, tell them that I am well. For the dead are well. And we monks are closer to the Kingdom of the Dead than of the living.
The Frenchman put all his conviction into his answer: "I will not have the audacity to discuss religion with you. But it seems to me that it is specified in the New Testament that the Lord sees everything and judges souls and not bodies. I am sure that when you come before Him, He will see in you a magnificent soul, who has sacrificed everything out of brotherly love. A soul worthy of being saved."
- It is possible, but only He knows. I know only one thing: if He does not call me back to Him soon, I will leave this monastery. The arrival of many visitors is announced because of the classification of Meteora as a world heritage site, I think by UNESCO. We will not see each other again. Farewell, Mister Pratsky.
- Farewell, Father Tsar... Father Daedalus.

Sic transit gloria mundi
Wolfsschanze, Rastenburg - The allied radios trumpet the fall of Festung Salonik, but above all (from the Führer's point of view) they announce the capture of Ludwig Müller.
This being now confirmed, Hitler explodes with rage in front of his staff:
"The infamous traitor! He had the opportunity to give his life for the Reich and he preferred to lie down like a dog! I was ready to make him a field marshal, now I want to degrade him and take away his German nationality!"
No one around the dictator has the guts to explain to him that the prospect of a posthumous rank must not have seemed very attractive to Müller...

Bulgarian affair
Ecce homo
Royal Palace, Sofia - In his office - which used to be the Regent's - Adolf Beckerle receives general Ivan Krastev Marinov, who was to become Minister of War and military leader of Bulgaria. Because power, here, is surely at the end of the gun...
Marinov has everything to please the SS: he is a career military man, engaged in the Balkan wars as a volunteer, before becoming a fighter pilot and then climbing the ranks with seniority. Military attaché in France (where he knew Yanchulev), chief of staff of the 3rd Army, he also commanded several divisions of the 5th Army - all units that did not resist the Germans. Perfect!
When questioned, the candidate showed competence and... pragmatism. Particularly with regard to the purges in progress within the Army. Subtly evolving towards a form of negotiation, the discussion evokes the modalities of reconstruction of the Bulgarian army.
Marinov suggests to reorganize immediately two armies.
- The new 1st Army would be entrusted to Asen Drobev Nikolov, the understanding commander of the 5th Army of Macedonia. It would be composed of the interned divisions considered safe and perhaps a division of the Turkish border force (which even Marinov would prefer not to disband). It should defend the border with Macedonia.
- The 2nd Army would remain as it is. It would be entrusted to Nikola Hristov Hristov (the former head of the 3rd Army), also considered safe. "Holding Thrace should be within his reach, I think" adds the Bulgarian with a hint of disdain.
And Stoychev?" asks a suddenly mischievous Beckerle. "Major-General Stoychev has demonstrated his reliability and dedication to the Bulgarian state. I suggest to reward him by appointing him Chief of Staff. A position far removed from the front and a possible temptation to redemption..." The two men smile: they agree.
They also agree that it is not necessary to create a third army, which would be deployed in the north of the country, "because, fortunately, there is no threat on the Romanian side," comments Marinov.
In the evening, Adolf Beckerle announces to Bozhilov the appointment of Ivan Krastev Marinov to the post of Minister of Defense. Without obviously asking his opinion, which is not at all important.


On the air - Tonight, Radio Neue Europa welcomes the reinstallation of the former government by reminding its citizens of all the actions it had led before its dismissal by the Regent: rationing, mobilization, racial laws... The list is long, and the irony is biting.

* It is said today that the small Greek community in the city of Orange, concentrated near the barracks of the Legion Etrangère, has its origins in this episode, but those concerned are not very forthcoming about their past.

 

[Wings]

September 20th, 1943

Steamer Duck : feint to the west
West of Languedoc - The night is agitated.
Around midnight, Béziers is bombed by Lancasters of Sqn 408 and 619 on the outbound leg of a round trip raid between London and Algiers.
Less than an hour later, the Wellingtons of Sqn 37, 40 and 214, based in Italy, target Agde. This time, the raid is preceded by old LB-30s dropping decoys (Windows) and followed by an air assault led by C-47s. West of Béziers, only Rupert dummies are dropped, but to the east, near the beaches of Valras, between Béziers and Agde, south of Sérignan, men are dropped by gliders: the Commandos n°1 and 9 of His Majesty are in charge of harassing the coastal defenses of this sector on their rear. The scheme must remind the Germans of the landing in the Bouches-du-Rhône fifteen days earlier...
While the day is dawning, the Fortresses of the 2nd and 99th BG, escorted by the 79th FG, bomb several objectives on the coast, as well as the crossing points on the Orb between Sérignan and Béziers. Shortly afterwards, the French Navy's Raid Force, Task Force 100 (Jean-Bart, Richelieu and their squadrons), is sent to the coast, reinforced by the battleship Lorraine and the cruiser Colbert, which cover the boats approaching the coast. But after an intense naval bombardment (which tried to target only the areas forbidden to the local population), the two commandos are reeled in by the boats in question.
During the night, the Germans first considered a diversionary operation, but gradually the bombardment of a hitherto preserved zone, the dummy parachutists to the west and the real commandos to the east, the naval bombardment and the presence confirmed of landing ships, all associated with the intensification of the actions in the area, while contact was lost with certain fortifications, convince them that a new invasion is about to take place between Agde and Béziers. The troops stationed in this sector, including the 11. Panzer (minus the 15. Panzer Rgt and the 4. PzGr Rgt, based around Montpellier) and elements of the 326. ID (the latter was stretched to the Spanish border and has few organic means of transport), are alerted.
These forces lose precious time in a ghost hunt before the general staff realized that it is not in this sector, but much further east that things are really happening.

Steamer: English in Languedoc
Languedoc coast, south and southeast of Montpellier - In the early morning, the 60th EB bombs the coastal defenses. There, after a naval bombardment administered by no less than five battleships (HMS Ramillies, Valiant and Warspite, USS New York and Texas) and eight cruisers (CA USS Augusta and Tuscaloosa, CLAA HMS Carlisle and Colombo, CL HMS Ajax and Liverpool, USS Philadelphia and Savannah), the British land- the first troops (apart from various commandos and elements of the 1st Assault Brigade on loan to the French) to set foot on French soil after their desperate evacuation in the spring of 1940. It is Operation Steamer.

Between Palavas and Carnon, 07:00 - The 231st Infantry Brigade and the 40th Royal Marines disembark, accompanied by elements of the 59th Royal Engineer Commando. Their objective is to block the coastal road while directly threatening Montpellier, in order to fix a maximum number of troops. Their naval support is provided by the heavy monitors Abercrombie and Roberts, as well as by the air flotillas of the Illustrious and a little later the Jean-Bart, as well as six escorting aircraft carriers, which also take charge of the anti-submarine warfare (MN Dixmude, Lafayette and Quentin-Roosevelt, USS Block Island, Bogue and Croatan).

From La Grande Motte to Grau du Roi, 07:00 - The bulk of the landing took place further east. This sector is defended by the 866. Grenadier Rgt of the 355. ID, which had only arrived on the spot days before - it did not have time to take advantage of the climate of the region.
On the left are the 232nd and 233rd Infantry Brigades and the 10th Royal Tank Rgt, as well as the 2nd and 3rd Squadrons of the 1st Assault Brigade of the Royal Engineers, whose funnies had been repaired and and reinforced with a few Valentine DD. The objective of this force is to rush towards Lunel and to set up at this key crossroads to counter the German reaction.
The two infantry brigades were equipped with numerous DUKWs and their English equivalent, the Terrapin, which is used for the first time to cross the flooded areas.
On the right wing of the landing, in the Grau du Roi sector, the 234th Infantry Brigade, reinforced by the 43rd Royal Marines and elements of the 59th Commando of the Royal Engineers, has as its objective Aigues-Mortes. The aim is to pass in the back of the 759. Grenadier Rgt of the 338. ID, which at the same time should be very busy on the American side.

Duck: the Americans cross the Rhône
Rhone Delta, 07:00 - The Americans launch Operation Duck. This is nothing less than the crossing of the Rhône in force by three divisions.
In the south, the 1st, 3rd and 4th Rangers attack the positions of the 759. Gr Rgt, while the 7th US-ID crosses the Petit Rhône, supported by four French light monitors of the M 100 class, semi-officially named Brisquard, Chevronné, Grognard and Poilu (they were only supposed to have numbers). These ships sail up the river to the south of Arles, to support with their new 155s the progression of the Bayonet Division.
In Arles, during the night, LCVPs arrive to allow the men of the 28th US-ID, deployed in this sector for several days, to cross the Petit Rhône with the support of the 18th Artillery Group.
Finally, on both sides of Beaucaire, the 18th and 26th Infantry Regiments of the 1st US-ID set off across the river, covered by the 6th Artillery Group.
The Germans of the 334th ID are surprised and even stunned. Not only did they not expect an operation so soon after the end of the battle of the Vaucluse, but the western bank of the river is the object of a very powerful raid by the 15th AF (97th, 98th, 376th and 389th BG), before the artillery opens fire.

Operation Steamer Duck, 08:00
Steamer - The 231st Infantry Brigade and the Royal Marines deploy in force on both sides of the Mezan pond, well supported by the naval artillery, which crush the two small seaside resorts created in the nineteenth century that surround the sector, Palavas and Carnon. But if some elements of the 752. Grenadier Rgt of the 326. ID are literally wiped out on the beaches, the advance along the two narrow strips of land promises to be more complicated. To the defensive device of the 326 ID is now added the reaction of the 11. Panzer, which urgently sends its 4. Panzergrenadier Rgt, accompanied by some armored platoons.
.........
Further east, between Le Grau du Roi and La Grande Motte, the 232nd and 233rd Infantry Brigades progress on both sides of the Etang du Ponant.
On the coast, the retreat of the grenadiers of the 866. Gr Rgt is due to the strength of the naval support, but also to a tactical surprise. The grenadiers did not expect to be outflanked directly across the pond and flooded areas by units specialized, it is true, in amphibious operations and equipped with numerous ad hoc vehicles. The mode of progression is still the same, but it destabilizes the Germans, who arrived only a few days before and still unaccustomed to the lake environment of the sector. The English infantrymen accompanied by armoured vehicles, special or not, advance to a point of resistance where they engage the enemy on the main approach road (and under a rain of shells from the naval artillery), while the secondechelon overruns through the wetlands. In the maneuver, a few DUKWs are lost - the men are forced to bathe, but the encirclement is usually successful, resulting in the retreat or capture of landsers who try to resist.
On Steamer's east wing, the 234th Brigade, accompanied by the 43rd Royal Marines, advances more modestly towards Aigues-Mortes, although the resistance encountered is much less severe. It must be said that in this sector, the 759. Grenadier of the 338. ID had its work cut out against three battalions of Rangers, who cross the river in a style closer to that of the Marines than the US Army. Forced to deal with a threat of envelopment from the north and south, the German grenadiers are in a bad position.
.........
Duck - In the sector of the 7th US-ID, while the 53rd IR fixes the 867th Grenadier Rgt (355. ID), the 17th and 32nd IR have strong bridgeheads on the west bank of the river. For the moment, the 17th Infantry cannot advance because the 868. Gr Rgt (355. ID) firmly holds the village of St-Gilles and the surrounding canals, but the 32nd Infantry Regiment have an easier time, because the 756. Gr Rgt (334. ID) had spread its defense to the hill north of St-Gilles. The 32nd could hope to flank the village, especially since the other regiment of the 334. ID defending this sector, the 754. Gr Rgt, is very strongly attacked by the 109th and 110th IR of the 28th US-ID and gradually retreats towards Bellegarde.
On the northern wing of operation Duck, the 18th and 26th Infantry Regiments of the Big Red One, well supported by the 6th Artillery Group, establish bridgeheads on both sides of Beaucaire. In this sector, the 1st Engineer Btn, reinforced by elements of the 607th French Pioneer Rgt, works diligently on the construction of several Bailey bridges.

Operation Steamer Duck, 09:00
Operation Return/Terugkeer - In their crossing of the Rhone, the Americans knew that they are flanked by a counter-attack from the north, where a powerful German unit, the 60. Panzergrenadier Division, deploys along the banks of the river. They asked the French to create a diversion by putting pressure on this division. By the secret of history, this mission was entrusted to the Belgian Corps and takes place in the Pont St-Esprit sector. From then on, the 7th Regiment of Chasseurs Ardennais was bound to be at the forefront of the battle, on the site of its exploits in July 1940.
The attack, obviously named Retour/Terugkeer (there are hardly any Dutch speakers in the Chasseurs Ardennais, but the Belgian staff wanted to avoid any reproach) was staggered in order to keep the German command in uncertainty as long as possible. It is preceded by a massive raid by the 11th, 12th and 42nd EB; as for the close support, it must naturally return to the 41st EC.
.........
Steamer - On the beaches south of Montpellier, it is a bloody draw. The men of 231st Brigade cannot advance beyond the ponds, while the Panzergrenadiers blocking their way are forced to expose themselves to artillery fire from battleships and cruisers that are lurking in the open sea as soon as they try to throw their opponents back into the sea.
Further east, however, the 232nd and 233rd Brigades are moving out of the flooded areas about 7 kilometers from the coast.
Finally, at the eastern end of Steamer, the 234th Brigade enters Aigues-Mortes.
.........
Duck - The news of the liberation of Aigues-Mortes leads to a hasty retreat of the last elements of the 338. ID who had been opposing the Rangers for two weeks. As a result, the 1st and 3rd Rangers Btn make clear progress, while the 4th Btn obliquediently moves northwards to arrive on the flank of the 867. Grenadier Rgt of the 355. ID.
The arrival of the Rangers on the flank of the Grenadiers is bad news that reduces the chances of this regiment to escape. The only route of retreat for this unit, otherwise fixed by the 53rd US-IR, now passes between the Etang des Iscles and St-Gilles where its neighbor, the 868. GR, is still facing the 17th Infantry Regiment of the 7th US-ID.
On its side, the 32nd Infantry Regiment, in addition to having established contact with the 28th US-ID on its right, is fighting the 756th Grenadier (334. ID) for the possession of the heights dominating St-Gilles, the Garons plateau.
Meanwhile, in Arles, the 112th RCT, which includes the 112th IR but also the 755th Tank Btn and the 776th TD Btn, begins its crossing of the river.
Further north, the 1st US-ID makes its most significant progress north of Beaucaire thanks to the 18th IR. More to the south, the 26th IR meets the furious opposition of the 755. Grenadier Rgt (334. ID). However, the situation deteriorates for the Germans since this unit is now surrounded on three sides: to the north by the advance of the 18th IR, to the east by the bridgehead of the 26th Infantry Regiment and to the south by the arrival of elements of the 110th Infantry Regiment of the Keystone Division.

Operation Steamer Duck, 12:00
Südwall - As soon as General Wend von Wietersheim, commanding the 11. Panzer*, was certain that the actions around Béziers were only diversions, he gives the necessary orders for his division to move east. The 4. Panzergrenadier Rgt seems to contain the landing south of Montpellier, the 15. Panzer Rgt goes to the aid of the 355. ID. It is able to stop the momentum of the 232nd and 233rd British Brigades and the tanks of the 10th RTR.
The sector of Lunel is thus solidly locked, the last elements of the 338. ID holding its eastern part, towards Marsillagues.
Further east, the 867. Gr Rgt starts a retreat in the direction of St-Gilles in order not to be trapped.
.........
Steamer - While three of the four brigades are blocked, the 234th Brigade, after having lost time controlling the Aigues-Mortes sector, resumes its forward march and makes contact with the 1st and 3rd Rangers.
At about 1700 hours, the monitor Abercrombie drifts into an area that had not yet been swept to engage a German battery firing from the other side of the Etang de l'Or. It detonates a mine at the height of the front mast. The anti-torpedo protection (bulge) absorbs most of the explosion, which causes a breach of 6 meters by more than 3 meters. The ship takes a 10 degree list, quickly compensated by the crew. However, the radar and the main rangefinder are out of order, forcing the artillery to fire on sight.
Fearing that the prolonged use of the 15-inch twin turret would further weaken the ship, her captain makes the decision to withdraw the Abercrombie. The monitor will go to Bizerte, then to the shipyard of Taranto for long months of repairs.
.........
Duck - On the south wing, the 53rd IR is able to link up with the 4th Rangers, and especially to enlarge its position. On its right, the 17th and 32nd Infantry Regiments of the 7th US-ID and the 109th Infantry Regiment of the 28th make little progress. The Germans defend the St Gilles-Bellegarde line on foot.
A corner, however, is driven into the German defense by the 110th Infantry Regiment of the 28th US-ID, which succeeds in cutting the St Gilles road between Bellegarde and Beaucaire. The 755th Gr Rgt (334. ID) has to retreat, which allows the 26th IR to advance, on the left wing of the 1st US-ID.
Meanwhile, near Arles, the 112th RCT finishes crossing, regroups and is only a few kilometers from Bellegarde.
To counter the 110th IRand, further north, the 26th and 18th IR (north of Beaucaire), the first elements of the 60. Panzergrenadier come up to the line. Fortunately for the Americans, the 117th Cavalry Rgt, whose vehicles are relatively light, have already crossed the Rhône to support the two advanced regiments of the Big Red One.
.........
Retour - The German reaction is not stronger on the right wing of Duck because, in Ardèche, the Belgians fix some of the German troops along the Rhone. The 7th Ardennes fights fiercely around Pont St-Esprit, effectively supported by artillery and aviation (which is a change for the Belgian veterans from their first experience in the sector!)

Operation Steamer Duck, 20:00
Steamer - The fighting in the Palavas area has gradually calmed down. We are heading towards a draw between the 4. Panzergrenadier Rgt and the men of the 231st Infantry Brigade. To break through at this place would have been a happy surprise, but first it is necessary to fix the forces of the 11. Panzer, while guarding the coastal approach to the main landing zone. The mission is thus completely accomplished.
But further east, the 232nd and 233rd Brigades are behind schedule. It is planned to take Lunel and thus cut the Nîmes-Montpellier road, but the 355. ID, now reinforced by a part of the 11. Panzer and the last survivors of the 338. ID, hold firmly until beyond Vauvert. Even if the 868. Grenadiers have to abandon St-Gilles after a day of furious fighting, the gates of Languedoc remain closed for the moment.
.........
Duck - At the Allied headquarters, the picture is not so black: if Steamer is stalling, Duck is progressing.
At the beginning of the afternoon, the 112th RCT achieves a decisive breakthrough around Bellegarde. By threatening the flank of the 756. Rgt of the 334. ID, it forces it to withdraw in the sector of the Nîmes-Garons airfield. The 334. ID thus regroups in defense around Nîmes, reinforced by elements of the 60. PzGr.
At the end of the day, this cascade of withdrawals also unblocks the situation for the 26th IR and the 117th Cavalry, which advances westward. Only the 18th IR remains under the pressure of the 120. Fusilier Rgt of the 60. PzGr, north of Jonquières St-Vincent. However, the right flank of the operation remains solidly covered, thanks to the arrival in this sector of the 191st Tank Btn and the 645th TD Btn.
.........
Retour - Further north, despite a fierce German resistance, the Belgians have built a solid bridgehead around Pont St-Esprit. The French staff decides that, from the next day, the 7th Ardennes would be replaced north of Pierrelatte by the 6th Infantry Regiment of the 14th DI, in order to consolidate this bridgehead. In the following days, this replacement will be accompanied by a migration towards the Rhône of the 15th DBLE, which is replaced in its sector by the 2nd RCA.

French Riviera
In the Alpes Maritimes, the 20th RIC leaves the Cannes-Grasse basin to take over from the 3rd RSM, not very comfortable on the plateau of Gréolières. The spahis go back down to the coast, where they would be better able to play their lighting role.
On the German side, at the end of its withdrawal, the 148. ID sets up a defense around Aiglun (286. Grenadier Rgt) and around Gilette-Bonson, north of Carros. The other side of the Var valley is the responsibility of the 715. ID, whose engineer units had a few days to prepare the positions.

At sea
That night, the S-152 and S-155, now based in Sète, go out again. The previous days, the two S-boats did not remain inactive: they had to hide, regularly changing anchorage to avoid the air force. Nevertheless, they tried several sorties against the Allied task forces, redoubling their cunning and prudence, but each time they were repulsed.
Tonight, the tactic followed is again the one that had worked in Marseille at the beginning of the month: skirting the coast at low speed, then leading a lightning attack. For once, luck seemed to be with Captain Babbel and his sidekick, Lieutenant (since the day before) Heye.
The approach was not spotted and the launches launched against a large target seen in the dark. But the allied reaction was not long in coming and soon it there is no longer around the two fleeing patrol boats but the spray of shells and the whistling of tracer bullets. Behind them, an explosion resounds... In the early morning, the two boats returned to their anchorage, but the S-152 is a wreck, with all the crew members dead or wounded - Lieutenant Heye is among the dead.
It was only after the war that Captain Babbel learned that one of their torpedoes had hit the battleship the battleship Texas at the bow, tearing the hull for 6 meters, but the old warrior was not endangered. However, it will go to Gibraltar for repairs. For a few days, the New York will take part in Steamer's naval support.

Royal Navy Monitor HMS Roberts, Operation Steamer Duck, September 1943

* And not to be confused with Gustav-Anton von Wietersheim, taken prisoner by the Red Army in January 1943.