Grand Alliance (Kirov Series) (37 page)

When he
learned the enemy fleet had diverted from its easterly course and turned south,
Tovey had turned about with
Invincible
and all his cruisers, leaving
Warspite
to escort the carriers with a few more destroyers.
Argos Fire
saw them
coming on radar, the ships appearing on her screens just after that missile
strike by
Kazan
. The formation had come upon the scene too late to take
any decisive action, but its sudden appearance had been the last factor
compelling La Borde to break off.

It was
better late than never for Tovey. The damage had already been done. The British
were going to lose two battleships that day. As that terrible hour ended, the
stately
Queen Elizabeth
finally rolled to one side, bow down and
slipping beneath the tempestuous sea. Only 728 men would be saved from her
crew, and Captain Barry would not be among them. He knew the life boats would
only take a portion of his men to safety, and had given the order to abandon
ship, remaining on the bridge.

The men
in the boats could hear the crewmen still on the ship singing ‘Hail Britannia’
as the battleship rolled over, the chorus quashed by the heavy swells as men
made that last desperate leap into the water to try and save themselves. The
arrival of Tovey’s ships would save many that might have otherwise died, and
four hours later the fleet turned for Alexandria, bloodied, bruised, and
missing
Queen Elizabeth, Berwick, Calcutta
, and the destroyers
Marne,
Ledbury
and
Echo.

Malaya
was still afloat, and taken in tow, but the ship was so
beaten and battered by the
Normandie
that it would never see action again.
The enemy had lost the
Colbert
, with enough damage on
La
Galissonniere,
and
Jeane de Vienne
to take them out of the war for
the next year. Both
Hindenburg
and
Bismarck
eventually controlled
their terrible fires, as the fuel sustaining them had burned itself away. Their
armored sides were bent and blackened by the missile hits, but their propulsion
systems and guns were all operational and they would fight again.

One other ship remained unseen
beneath the sea, slowly following in the wake of the retiring enemy fleet.
Gromyko had fired his missiles, and now began to look for wounded ships that
would be easy prey for his torpedoes. The German ships sped away at good speed
and evaded, but he came upon the
Strausbourg
, wallowing behind the main French
fleet as it labored for Taranto at 18 knots.

It would never arrive.

Part
XI

Taking
Stock

“Take chances, be crazy. Don’t
wait, because right now is the oldest you’ve ever been and the youngest you’ll
ever be again.”

―
Nishan Panwar

Chapter 31

All
that week the British
planes kept coming in to harass the retreating German columns. Even though
German air cover was good, some planes inevitably would get through to make
attacks. They seemed to select one segment of the front each day and
concentrate their effort there. One day they would attack between Agheila and
Agedabia; and on another between Agedabia and Benghazi, particularly against
thin skinned vehicles, the vital trucks that would move supplies and petrol
needed to sustain operations. Other times they would strike the long roads from
Benghazi to Derna where the slower Italian infantry divisions that had been
investing Tobruk slogged along on foot. The attacks were not heavy, but
nonetheless effective.

British
Hurricanes
were
now able to land at Tobruk and El Adem as good forward refueling bases, and
conducted low level strafing attacks, always against moving columns, as it was
learned that stationary vehicle parks would put up much heavier AA defense. The
doughty Blenheim twin engine fighter bomber was very useful in the latter role.
While it could easily carry 250 to 500 pound bombs, the air crews had modified
it to use racks of much smaller bombs as light as 20 pounds, with HE
fragmentation loads that would be thick on shrapnel in the hopes of penetrating
any containers being used to transport fuel. Particular attention was given to
the port of Benghazi, where strings of small incendiaries would be used against
ships.

The supply situation was far from
satisfactory, thought Paulus. Tripoli is all of 1100 miles behind the front,
the distance from Hamburg to Rome! Benghazi is of limited use, as the British
themselves learned when they held a brief lease on that port after O’Connor’s
first successful advance. Concentrated attacks there by enemy aircraft made it
unsuitable as a functioning supply port. Now that we have it, it seems they
have decided to return the favor, and Benghazi is visited day and night by
enemy bombers. Until these interdiction campaigns were dialed up, the port had
been useful for delivery of between 1500 and 1700 tons per day, and the
engineers believed they could improve facilities and operations there to
increase this to 2000 tons per day. I am aware of the Führer’s order to hold
this port, just as the British stubbornly held on to Tobruk. At its root, the
order underscores the need for viable port facilities to move supplies, but
Rommel believes any attempt to hold Cyrenaica is foolish, and said as much to
me when I came to assess the situation.

 “Benghazi is not Tobruk,” said
Rommel. “It has no major fortifications in place, and can be approached from
all directions. Anything we leave there is as good as lost. Our only chance of
holding any line is here, between Agheila and Agedabia. The position at Mersa
Brega is a bottleneck, with bad ground for mobile operations to the south. It
is one of the best defensive positions in Libya. That is where I will make my
stand.”

Paulus smiled. “That is where you
were told to set up your division as a blocking force last month! What
possessed you to disobey the Fuhrer and go charging off to Tobruk?”

“The British were off balance.
They were worn out and easily beaten. You saw how they retreated east when I
moved. That would have continued, whether or not they held on to Tobruk. It was
not until this new force suddenly appeared on our deep right flank that
everything went to hell. We were right in the middle of an enveloping movement
that had every prospect of breaking their last line of defense. Then I had to pull
out of that attack and redeploy to the south, and the defense was too hasty.”

Paulus was silent for a time,
thinking. “I spoke with Cramer,” he said in a low voice. “He said the British
deployed new armored vehicles unlike anything he had ever seen—massive new
tanks that make their old Matildas look like children’s toys! He said the
Matildas were trouble enough, even for the 50mm gun, but these new tanks are
fearsome. He engaged and found his own armor was completely overmatched. They
were able to see and strike our own tanks at ranges well beyond the effective
firing radius of even our best Panzer IIIs.”

Rommel’s eyes had a haunted look
in them now. “I heard this, but did not believe it—until I went forward to see
for myself. I was looking for Streich, but heard he was dead. I hate to say it,
but good riddance. The man was a thorn in my side from the very first. Kircheim
will take the division now until I can find someone else. I requested
Ravenstein.”

“He’s coming,” said Paulus. “Too
bad for Streich.”

“Yes, his position was one of the
first to spot and engage this new British force with a small battery of 150s.
Unfortunately, he received direct counter-battery fire in a matter of minutes.
My god, Paulus, everything Cramer said about these new British tanks is true! They
are enormous! I saw a company sized unit lead their attack, and the Pak 37s and
50s in the forward screen were no more effective than throwing gravel at the
damn things! Fortunately, I had ordered the flak batteries to set up a Pakfront
west of that hill. It was a good position. A wadi channeled the enemy advance
right toward the hill where Streich died. I had twelve 88s covering that
defile, and that should have been enough to end the matter.”

He stopped, clearly bothered now,
a desperate expression on his face. “But it
wasn’t
enough, Paulus. They
hit those gun positions with artillery and took out three or four 88s in a
matter of minutes. The others returned fire, and I saw them getting hits, but
could not believe it. The tanks just kept coming! I saw one hit three times,
and it sustained no significant damage. Then they returned fire and took out
three more guns. We were lucky to get the remainder out and retreat north. Do
you understand what this means? Those were 88s, and they could not penetrate
this new British tank armor! They were completely useless! We have no anti-tank
weapon in the army that can better the performance of that gun. For all intents
and purposes, these new British tanks are invulnerable, and if that is so…”

He did not have to say anything
more, leaning heavily over the map, the weariness of many sleepless days of
fighting very evident now. “So now you know why I have no intention of trying
to hold Cyrenaica. It can’t be held by a mobile force. I could order infantry
into the Jebel country, but once the British push through to Beda Fomm as they
did before, they will be completely isolated. If the Führer wants us to stand
at Benghazi, then let the Italians hold the place. I will not leave my troops
there.”

“We’ll have new reserves very
soon.” Paulus tried to encourage him. “The 90th Light is already arriving at
Tripoli and will be heading east to join you. There will be more troops coming
soon. A few weeks ago OKW moved 1st Mountain Division and the Grossdeutschland
Regiment from Spain to Italy. They were the troops that broke the Rock of
Gibraltar. I thought they were heading for the new front along the southern
border near Ukraine, but I was wrong. They are coming here, and another Panzer
division is being assigned to your Korps as well.”

“Another Panzer Division? I can
certainly use it, but we can barely support the two mobile divisions I already
have. Add the 90th Light and we’ll be lucky to get water to the men, let alone
fuel and ammunition!”

“The supply situation is at the
top of my list,” said Paulus. “That and the trucks to move it. You are correct
in what you say concerning Benghazi. Tripoli is the only port we can rely on in
the short run, but we are speaking with the Vichy French about Tunis and
Bizerte.”

“Tunis? It’s 1400 kilometers from
here to there!”

“Yes, but there’s a decent rail
line from Tunis south—almost all the way to Mareth. That will cut the distance
to a thousand kilometers. It’s farther than that from here to Alexandria. You
didn’t seem to think that was a problem when you started east, did you?”

“Believe it or not, Paulus, I
have learned a few things about operations in this desert in the last few
weeks. It was going to be difficult to extend real force to the Nile even
without the appearance of these new reinforcements for the British. Two
divisions will simply not be enough. Five might do, but the British would match
them in time, and supplying them that far east would be a nightmare. No. What
we must do now is fight the British on ground of our own choosing, and beat
them—decisively. We can only advance east again if we have that victory in
hand, and destroy the British Army here…. Before they destroy us!”

“You are beginning to see things
clearly now my friend,” said Paulus. “No more joy riding with inadequate force,
and even less gasoline. You may have had trouble with Streich, but I’ve read
his reports, and he was often correct. Logistics, Rommel, that is the key. I
will advocate that we press the Vichy French hard for immediate use of Tunis
and Bizerte. It is only 500 kilometers to good ports in eastern Sicily, or to
Naples from Tunis, and only three hundred kilometers if we can use Palermo. A
supply convoy can make that in one overnight trip, unload by day, and be ready
to sail back again the following night. From there we use the rail line to
Mareth, and begin extending it east as well. Engineers, Rommel. Trucks,
quartermasters and good engineers! That is what we need now as much as another
battalion of tanks. Your force will soon see a dramatic buildup in strength and
material. And with this scaled up supply strategy, we will sustain these new
divisions. It will take time, and the shortage of transport is the main
problem, but between the French and OKW, we will get you the trucks you need.
My only question now is this—what do we do here? A drive east again is out of
the question.”

“For the moment,” said Rommel.
“And if these new tanks are delivered to the British in numbers, it will be out
of the question entirely.”

“Exactly how large was this new British
force?”

Rommel gave him a grim smile.
“Large enough,” he said dejectedly. “I saw no more than ten or fifteen of these
new tanks, but they had at least two mechanized infantry battalions in support.
It could have been no more than a brigade, but it hit like a sledge hammer!
They were enough to smash right through that Pakfront and nearly decimate my
infantry. I had 2nd and 8th Machine gun battalions in good defensive ground. It
was a hasty defense, but the men were in position when the attack came. The
British also have an new infantry carrier—fast, and with a decent gun. It
sounded like a Bofors. In fact, I thought they were tanks until I saw the
infantry deploy. They put accurate suppressive artillery fire on us, moved up
like lightning with these new vehicles, and shot the position to pieces. The
infantry only deployed to mop up, because by that time our men had had enough,
I ordered the retreat soon after, and if the Führer wants me to stop and defend
this useless desert in Cyrenaica, he’s a fool. Until we find a way to stop
these tanks there will be no more good news from North Africa.”