Race to Berlin: A Patton Unleashed TL

burmafrd

Banned
Patton's Household Cavalry (he called it his Army Information Service) was one of the reasons Patton was not caught out much. Also I just found out about this book which I have to get called "Patton's Lucky Scout". Had not heard about it until today.
 
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I was toying with the idea of making it a full year.

***

September 24th, 1944
Arnhem, Netherlands
Independent Polish Parachute Squadron SAS

The Poles had had a hard ten days. Taking Arnhem, let alone holding it, had taken a serious toll. Currently they were waiting for the Polish armored forces to come up from the south, the timetable said that they would be there by noon. But it was 10:30 now, and it looked like a German counter-attack was more likely than any reinforcements. They should have thought as much, the operation in the Netherlands was half-assed as it was. That was why it had been left up to the French and the Poles, the British and Americans were forging ahead, probably past the Rhine right now.

Emil Janowski was standing in a park, smoking with Captain Carter, and observing the execution of collaborators. Officially the Allied forces were supposed to stop such behavior. As far as he was concerned they had it coming to them, he was hard-pressed to stop the killing of people who had collaborated with the Nazis. Perhaps that was why they had sent the Poles and French to liberate the Netherlands, they thought they would have exacted worse revenge on the Germans.

The collaborator was a middle-aged shopkeeper. He had run a toyshop during the war, and thus had become popular with the community. Popular enough for tongues to get a little loose around his shop. The resistance members had said that he had caused the death of eighteen of their comrades directly. This seemed like an exaggerated figure, but he wasn’t one to doubt them. Janowski and Carter watched humbly as the man was dragged out behind a building. There was an attempt at last words but they were cut off by a crash of rifle fire.

“Shame really” said Carter, stamping out his cigarette. “S’pose the bastard had it coming though, but I mean, the war’s over for them lot” he said waving his hand at the assembled Dutch.

“Maybe it is for us too sir, the British and Americans will be in Berlin before we are able to leave this place”

“No, there is still fighting to be done” Replied Carter.

“With who?”

Carter leaned in closer and whispered in his ear.

“The Russians, mark my word, you’ll be back in your homeland before you know it”

***​
October 1st, 1944
Nürnburg, Germany
26th Infantry Division

It was a wet day, wet and grey. Fitting really. As he strode around the place where Hitler had galvanized Germany into war. It was hard to imagine what it must have been like back then for a German. Now that it was so close to the end. The people of Nürnburg were probably the most subdued people he had ever met. They had spent most of the war entertaining top party officials annually. And here they were, their monuments were being wrecked by Allied troops. Swastikas and other Nazi relics were being carried off as trophies of war.

The Americans would be leaving soon. James Dunbar wasn’t that unhappy about it. Between the somber looks of the residents and the gray, imposing, fascist architecture it was not exactly an inviting place. The next push towards Leipzig, and from there to Berlin. The pace was being increased. Word of the Soviets taking Warsaw had sent a shock through the Army, this wasn’t a fight with the Germans anymore. It was a race with the Russians. One that was not exactly fair, and many in power believed that the race could spark a far worse war.

But he doubted the Soviets could make it to Berlin soon enough. The Germans had basically abandoned the west in order to slow the Soviets. He presumed that the Germans thought it would be better to surrender to the Americans rather than the Soviets, they were probably right.

***​
October 2nd, 1944
Warsaw, Poland
1st Belarusian (Polish) Front HQ

Konstantin Rokossovsky was letting his imagination run wild, not something one wanted to be doing in the Soviet Union. But he could not help himself. Stalin was in the biggest plight he had ever been in, and either way benefited Rokossovsky. Stalin wanted to push to Berlin, but he also wanted to keep the Poles in his sphere of influence. He had two options. He could: Crack down on the Poles and set up his own government, in which case he would be faced with an angry populace and almost sure revolution. He could also let the Poles do their thing as long as it fell into line with Soviet policy, this however would create a state with not only the illusion of free will, but one that actually had it.

Either war Rokossovsky could quite easily ride the wave of Polish patriotism and gratitude into a position of power. The Polish people were incredibly thankful for his liberation of them, to make things even better, he was actually Polish!

In the race between the Soviets and the Allies Poland was increasingly becoming the wild card in it. With Stalin leaning towards leaving Poland alone the western government that was begin negotiated would quickly become legitimate in the eyes of the Polish. If Stalin cracked down he would have to face the partisans immediately, but also battle-hardened Polish forces being let home from the Allied armies. Rokossovsky was even seriously considering cutting a deal with the west after the European Front officially ended.

After all, with both armies so close, it was not a question of if anymore. It was a question of when.
 
I was toying with the idea of making it a full year.

***

September 24th, 1944
Arnhem, Netherlands
Independent Polish Parachute Squadron SAS

The Poles had had a hard ten days. Taking Arnhem, let alone holding it, had taken a serious toll. Currently they were waiting for the Polish armored forces to come up from the south, the timetable said that they would be there by noon. But it was 10:30 now, and it looked like a German counter-attack was more likely than any reinforcements. They should have thought as much, the operation in the Netherlands was half-assed as it was. That was why it had been left up to the French and the Poles, the British and Americans were forging ahead, probably past the Rhine right now.

Emil Janowski was standing in a park, smoking with Captain Carter, and observing the execution of collaborators. Officially the Allied forces were supposed to stop such behavior. As far as he was concerned they had it coming to them, he was hard-pressed to stop the killing of people who had collaborated with the Nazis. Perhaps that was why they had sent the Poles and French to liberate the Netherlands, they thought they would have exacted worse revenge on the Germans.

The collaborator was a middle-aged shopkeeper. He had run a toyshop during the war, and thus had become popular with the community. Popular enough for tongues to get a little loose around his shop. The resistance members had said that he had caused the death of eighteen of their comrades directly. This seemed like an exaggerated figure, but he wasn’t one to doubt them. Janowski and Carter watched humbly as the man was dragged out behind a building. There was an attempt at last words but they were cut off by a crash of rifle fire.

“Shame really” said Carter, stamping out his cigarette. “S’pose the bastard had it coming though, but I mean, the war’s over for them lot” he said waving his hand at the assembled Dutch.

“Maybe it is for us too sir, the British and Americans will be in Berlin before we are able to leave this place”

“No, there is still fighting to be done” Replied Carter.

“With who?”

Carter leaned in closer and whispered in his ear.

“The Russians, mark my word, you’ll be back in your homeland before you know it”

***​
October 1st, 1944
Nürnburg, Germany
26th Infantry Division

It was a wet day, wet and grey. Fitting really. As he strode around the place where Hitler had galvanized Germany into war. It was hard to imagine what it must have been like back then for a German. Now that it was so close to the end. The people of Nürnburg were probably the most subdued people he had ever met. They had spent most of the war entertaining top party officials annually. And here they were, their monuments were being wrecked by Allied troops. Swastikas and other Nazi relics were being carried off as trophies of war.

The Americans would be leaving soon. James Dunbar wasn’t that unhappy about it. Between the somber looks of the residents and the gray, imposing, fascist architecture it was not exactly an inviting place. The next push towards Leipzig, and from there to Berlin. The pace was being increased. Word of the Soviets taking Warsaw had sent a shock through the Army, this wasn’t a fight with the Germans anymore. It was a race with the Russians. One that was not exactly fair, and many in power believed that the race could spark a far worse war.

But he doubted the Soviets could make it to Berlin soon enough. The Germans had basically abandoned the west in order to slow the Soviets. He presumed that the Germans thought it would be better to surrender to the Americans rather than the Soviets, they were probably right.

***​
October 2nd, 1944
Warsaw, Poland
1st Belarusian (Polish) Front HQ

Konstantin Rokossovsky was letting his imagination run wild, not something one wanted to be doing in the Soviet Union. But he could not help himself. Stalin was in the biggest plight he had ever been in, and either way benefited Rokossovsky. Stalin wanted to push to Berlin, but he also wanted to keep the Poles in his sphere of influence. He had two options. He could: Crack down on the Poles and set up his own government, in which case he would be faced with an angry populace and almost sure revolution. He could also let the Poles do their thing as long as it fell into line with Soviet policy, this however would create a state with not only the illusion of free will, but one that actually had it.

Either war Rokossovsky could quite easily ride the wave of Polish patriotism and gratitude into a position of power. The Polish people were incredibly thankful for his liberation of them, to make things even better, he was actually Polish!

In the race between the Soviets and the Allies Poland was increasingly becoming the wild card in it. With Stalin leaning towards leaving Poland alone the western government that was begin negotiated would quickly become legitimate in the eyes of the Polish. If Stalin cracked down he would have to face the partisans immediately, but also battle-hardened Polish forces being let home from the Allied armies. Rokossovsky was even seriously considering cutting a deal with the west after the European Front officially ended.

After all, with both armies so close, it was not a question of if anymore. It was a question of when.


Welcome back the the land of the living threads! I just stumbled upon your thread today and I am delighted to see you have decided to revive it!

Hero of Canton
 
Thank you! Finally got back to writing it, decided it was something more productive to do with my time. Might even have an update by tonight...
 
Very nice! I'm anxious to see where this goes and what the fate of Poland and the Oder-Neisse line will be. The exact Polish-German frontier wasn't decided yet in the autumn of 1944, after all.
 

Sior

Banned
I ca see Patton stretching his neck out too far and getting his head handed to him.
 
Aspects..

Thanks for the update. There are some aspects of this with which I'm struggling to be honest.

In September 1944, even after the mauling in France, there were considerable German forces available in the West. Indeed, the Germans in OTL had stopped running by the end of August and made a vigorous defence of the Channel ports, the Belfort Gap and the Westwall.

I can just about see the Americans in Aachen on September 7th though I'd have thought Horrocks, Dempsey and the British Armoured units would be leading the way but to then have captured Nuremburg and presumably the whole length of the Rhine between those towns in three weeks - no, I can't see that.

I think for Patton to succeed you have to forget the north and emphasise Patton's drive into central Germany rather than the Ruhr.

Have units been transferred from southern France or Italy for the push ?

One final thing - hadn't the post-war areas of influence within Germany already been agreed as part of Operation Eclipse - the plan covering a sudden German collapse ?
 
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