Crescendo Of Doom (Kirov Series Book 15) Page 17

  “Yes,” said O’Connor, “beggars would ride. I’m not trying to unhinge your defensive plan, General Montgomery, but do post the 2nd New Zealand as I advise here. I’ll need them as a shield if I’m to be able to use my armor effectively as a sword. It’s my assessment that Rommel will attempt a wide envelopment south of El Adem. I plan to meet him there with my own 7th Armored, but I’ll need you to hold all the ground to my north. You’re an infantry commander, and new to fighting in this desert. Things have a way of getting rather dicey out here on short notice. But rest assured, we’ll have adequate reserves.”

  So it was that the 2nd New Zealand Division was placed south of El Adem, over Montgomery’s objections, and the wiry General steamed about it for some time after. Their plans had considered Rommel’s most likely choices for an attack south of Tobruk. What O’Connor did not expect, however, is that Rommel’s main effort would not be a deep southern envelopment around that wadi, but a concerted effort to punch through the defensive fortress to get to his main objective.

  Tobruk had foiled Rommel’s drive into Egypt during his first offensive, and his plan now was to reduce it while fending off the British reserves with his own mobile divisions. Rightfully called ‘the Verdun of the desert,’ Tobruk could prove to be a difficult task, or so he believed. The British had some time to prepare the perimeter defenses, though the infantry occupying them had only just arrived after being withdrawn from defensive positions in the Jebel country. Rommel’s plan was to soften the outer shell by first using the Italian infantry divisions. He did not expect they would be able to actually break through, but they would force enemy defensive artillery fires, and possibly pull in reserve units within the fortress to the more threatened sector on the coast.

  Behind this screen of four Italian infantry divisions, Rommel’s real shock troops were assembling for the main attack. He had quietly boasted that ‘Tobruk will be no problem this time—I will take it with the Luftwaffe,” but in this he meant he would use the considerable hammer he had in the Herman Goering Brigade. This unit was a lavish formation, much more developed at this time than it was in the history Fedorov could read about. Then it had been a regiment, with heavy emphasis on flak units that led it to be posted near the oil fields of Ploesti in Rumania. This time around it had already been built up to a full brigade.

  There were three well equipped “Schutzen Battalions” in the formation, which were heavy motorized battalions with four companies of infantry each, the third being heavier on support weapons and engineers. Together they comprised the mobile Schutzen Regiment within the Brigade. Next came the two Flak Battalions, each equipped with three heavy batteries of 88s and three light batteries of 20mm guns. The third battalion here was all artillery, and then came the vaunted “Führer Flak Battalion,” which had the best mobile flak batteries, including quad 20mm guns, a 37mm battery, and yet more 88s. If that were not enough, there was also a Wachbataillon in the Brigade, with three more companies, and a big Ersatzabteilung for replacements that had four more infantry companies and three flak batteries.

  All together, the Brigade could field twenty infantry companies, an equal number of flak batteries and three artillery batteries. By comparison. Rommel’s 5th light Division had only two heavy machine gun battalions, the 300th Afrika Infantry Battalion attached, and his two tank battalions as the real combat elements of the division, so the Reichsminister had seen that the Brigade formed in his name would have the strength to do it justice in combat. But that was not all the Luftwaffe had to offer Rommel’s Afrika Korps.

  After the stunning success in capturing Malta, and then the easy victory they enjoyed on Cyprus, Kurt Student had been given a free hand to further enlarge his Fliegerkorps. There had not been time to create a full division, but he had been putting together several new “Sturm Regiments” that would be suitable for smaller operations when a full division would not be required. The concept had been proven in the attack on the Dutch fortress positions, when three Sturmgruppes, Beton, Eisen, and Stahl, had proved very effective. This had given rise to the formation of the Luftland Sturm Regiment for the Crete Operation, which was now involved in the Syrian campaign. But Student had selected another good man to lead his second Sturm Regiment, Oberst Eugen Meindel, who had fought well at Narvik earlier in the war.

  This was also a new wrinkle in the history, as both Ramcke and Meindel had been commanders of the same Sturm Regiment in Fedorov’s books, but this time they each would be given a chance to make their fortune with unique formations. When Hitler summarily pulled the 1st Mountain Division off the reinforcement schedule for Rommel, Paulus came looking for fresh troops in compensation. He asked Student if anything could be spared from the 7th Flieger Division, then acting as theater reserve on Cyprus, but Student had Meindel’s troops available instead.

  So behind Goering’s fat brigade, Meindel had another three battalions of Fallschirmjagers available in support. Together the two units had as much infantry fighting power as the 90th Light Division, which had also been considerably reinforced to a full nine battalions. To round out Rommel’s hopes for a good attack, the Luftwaffe was also providing six squadrons of the deadly Stuka dive bombers.

  Just after the Italian infantry hurled themselves at the coastal defenses south of the main road, the Italian Ariete sprung into action, coming down the track from a place the British had named “Knightsbridge,” and aimed at the northernmost end of the 6th Australian Division lines, just outside Tobruk’s southern defensive perimeter. It was clear they meant to drive straight up the road that bypassed the fortress, hoping for a quick breakthrough.

  The Italian tanks were not unstoppable, but they had also been reinforced in the long interval, and came in good numbers, backed up by their 8th Bersaglieri Battalion. Behind this division, the whole of the Trento Motorized Infantry Division was strung out along that road, all the way to Knightsbridge. It would feed itself into that battle, like a log to a buzz saw, but over time, the preponderance of strength in that vital junction fell to the Axis forces.

  The fighting was hot and furious for some time, but the Italians had made a few good inroads as Rommel monitored reports on their battle closely. He had already ordered his 90th Light “Afrika” Division to make a full assault against the 2nd New Zealand Division, south along the obstacle of Wadi Nullah, so there were no reinforcements that division could send north towards the fighting near El Adem.

  The Aussies of the 6th Division were as tough as they came, but they still had nothing bigger then a 2 Pounder AT gun, and all too few. They held off the first tank charge, then rallied and sent in their reserve elements to counterattack, using the recon battalion armored cars and their motorized machinegun battalion. This pushed the Bersaglieri Battalion back, and by nightfall it looked as though the line would hold.

  No one expected the Italians to continue the fight after dark, but that is exactly what they decided to do. A battle was shaping up much like one that became known as “The Battle of the Salient,” also fought in May of 1941 in Fedorov’s history. There the Ariete Division and 6th Australians fought for a row of strongpoints labeled R3 through R7, all taken and held by the Italians. But here the attack was not directed at the strong points, but on the entrenched lines of the Australian infantry. And the Italians had a bone to pick. They had been pushed around by the Aussies long enough, and now General Raffaele Cadorna was going to get his pound of flesh one way or another.

  “We attack all night,” he said sternly. “Regroup! Form your tank companies. Lead with the M11s and follow with the M13s. Then bring up the armored cars!”

  There would be no sleep on that ground for either side that night, and when dawn came the situation was ripe for a development that no one expected.

  Chapter 20

  The night attack by the Ariete Armored Division was running parallel to the line of defenses where the main road from Tobruk led five miles south to El Adem. There the 2/1 Field Company of Engineers was the only unit of the 6th actually
inside the fortifications, manning bunkers R35 through R39. They could see the action developing, watching the hot tracer fire and listening to the rattle of tanks, but none turned for their positions.

  Tom Walls gave the elbow to a Vickers MG gunner as he watched. “Looks like the Eye-Ties are giving us a pass,” he said, using the familiar slang word the Aussies used for the Italians.

  “Good for us,” said Corporal Peters, “but there’s practically nobody on the line to the east. Strongpoints astride the road are well manned, but after that it gets fairly thin.”

  “Well where’s the bloody 9th Division?” Walls protested. “I thought old Ming had that lot locked down tight in here.” He was referring to Major General Leslie Morsehead, the no-nonsense commander of the 9th Division. Tough as nails, and with a deep reserve of calm in the most trying circumstances, he was a hard taskmaster, and strict disciplinarian, to the point where the men had come to call him “Ming the Merciless.”

  “Eye-Ties are hitting the coast road too,” said Peters. “What you think we’ve been listening to all day until this lot showed up? They hit the ninth with three divisions, and most everyone’s gone off to that little hornet’s nest. This one here is ours.”

  “Fancy that.” Walls shook his head. “Well, if they push over those trench lines to the south of us, they’ll be able to swing right around and into the Fortress from the south.”

  “Don’t worry about it, that new limey General will have something in the cupboard back there. Just keep your eyes on that view slit and watch for enemy infantry.”

  The action heated up, with four battalions of Italian tanks making a determined attack, until they had pushed through to approach the artillery of the 1st Field Artillery Regiment. There the Aussie commander had ordered his gunners to level the barrels and blast away point blank at the Italian tanks, and though he had some success, darkness and the speed of the enemy advance made it obvious that his position would soon be overrun.

  Elsewhere, the Morris and Marmon Herrington armored cars that had rushed in to stop the attack earlier, now found themselves in a hot gun duel with the M11 Medium Italian Tanks. The M11 suffered from two prominent design flaws in that its main 37mm gun was hull mounted with a limited traverse, with only machineguns on the turret. Its armor was also too thin, and even the light 2 pounders could penetrate it at most ranges. These tanks suffered badly, but the improved M13s behind them had a bigger 47mm turret mounted gun that allowed it to hit harder, and respond quicker in a firefight than the M11 could. When these came up, they were able to beat back the Australian armored cars, and by 2am, in a confusing night action, it seemed as though the Ariete Division was finally breaking through.

  Yet the new Limey General did have reserves at hand, and when word reached Montgomery that Italian armor had been seen on the bypass road east of bunker R43, he immediately was on the radio to summon up reinforcements.

  In exchange for compelling the southern deployment of the 2nd New Zealand Division, O’Connor had placed two units behind the 6th Australian Division holding the line at El Adem. One was the Polish Carpathian Brigade at Gambut, and the second was the 32nd Army Tank Brigade at Sidi Rezegh. This unit was formed some months earlier than its historical appearance, and had a good number of heavier Matilda tanks. It rattled down the secondary road towards El Adem, skirting a craggy escarpment that opened onto the main bypass road below. Near El Adem they could turn north and move to shore up the northern flank of the division, but events developing near the airfield itself were going to complicate that plan.

  There the Bologna Infantry Division and Trento Motorized Division had been pushing hard on the center and southern positions of the 6th Australians. By the time the Matildas arrived, they would be pulled into the desperate fight near El Adem and would never get north. The Carpathians were coming, though they were not going to reach the scene until after dawn, but Monty had one more card to play. The Indian 3rd Motor Brigade was stationed near El Duda shrine where the road from Tobruk paralleled the coast east to Gambut. He called on this reserve, sending two of its three battalions rushing to the scene of the Italian breakthrough, and he was not happy about the development.

  “I told O’Connor that it would need three divisions to adequately hold the fortress and airfield,” he steamed. “Now look at the situation.”

  “Well sir,” said a staff officer. “We’ve still got the whole of 1st Army Tank Brigade right here inside the perimeter.”

  “Yes, and that is my last reserve. This is only beginning. I’ll need to have some mobile force that can counterattack when we need it. Don’t forget that Rommel is out there somewhere. These are just the Italians!”

  Monty was correct, for in the pre-dawn hours of May 8th, the three battalions of Meindel’s newly formed Sturm Regiment II moved silently through the ranks of the Hermann Goering Brigade, intending to make a surprise attack on the strongpoints guarding the main road to Tobruk. They moved like shadows, the squads making a stealthy advance in the dark, until Tom Walls in Bunker R36 saw more than he liked through his view slit.

  “Pssst… Corporal! Infantry! Get on that Vickers gun, and be quick about it!”

  Corporal Peters slapped the butt of the gun to bring it round and began to fire. Then, the moment of surprise lost, they saw the whole line light up with returning fire, and knew they were being hit by a major attack. 2/1 Field Engineers were in a fight for their lives. These were not Italians. The units of the Italian RECAM Regiment, a recon unit with an engineer battalion, Machinegun company and some Autoblinda 41 armored cars, had been sent to reinforce the Ariete Division tanks a little after 04:00. The unit had fluttered about the southern edge of the block houses, trading occasional fire with the defenders, but making no real threat. The coming of the Fallschirmjagers was like a dark tide of war, and they were not planning to stop.

  When Rommel got news of what appeared to be a possible breakthrough by the Italians on the bypass road, he wasted no time, immediately ordering 5th Light to move north from its central position behind the 90th Light.

  So the Italians are worth the petrol it took to get them here after all, he thought. That Ariete Division is putting in one hell of a scrappy fight tonight. I did not expect them to push this hard, and whoever ordered Mindel’s boys to move in before dawn was also using his head. He later learned that the order had been given by Oberst Paul Conrath of the Goering Brigade, the nominal leader of all Luftwaffe troops in the Korps.

  So it was that the men who once formed Sturmgruppes Beton for Concrete, Eisen for Iron, Granit for Granite, and Stahl for Steel, were now directed at the stone and earthen bunkers of the Tobruk defenses, an area that was thought to be relatively secure, some three kilometers behind the lines of the Australian 9th Division. Those code names had been used to identify the Sturmgruppe targets in Holland, assigned for the steel and iron and granite in the bridges and forts they were to assault, and they hit the line like a hammer just before sunrise on the 8th of May. Rommel left his headquarters at the old Turkish fort of Bir Hacheim an hour before dawn, intending to find his 5th Light Division and see what was developing up north.

  “Let me know the instant you hear of any turning movement to the south,” he said to his headquarters staff. “Is Grossdeutschland in position?”

  “They say the ground could be better, but yes, Herr General, they are digging in to prepared defensive positions as ordered tonight.”

  “And the artillery?”

  “We have sent them three more battalions, mostly heavier guns.”

  “Good. Send the rest north to coordinate with 5th Light. I’m off to see what the Italians have been up to all night. Here the British thought we were trying to kick in the back door along the coast all day, while we just might slip right through the front door today!” He smiled.

  I came here for Tobruk, he thought. And by god, I’ll have the place, one way or another. All reports place O’Connor’s armor to the south, which is most likely where those monster tanks of their
s will be. So if all goes as planned, my 15th Panzer Division launches a demonstration attack there at dawn. I must make sure the British armor stays well to the south, and out of the fight for Tobruk. But god help the 15th Panzer Division today. God will probably have nothing to do with it, he thought. Instead it may come down to Papa Hörnlein’s boys in the Grossdeutschland Regiment on their right flank. As he was so many times in these long years of the desert, Rommel was a bit of a prophet that night.

  * * *

  The Italian Ariete Division had uncovered the main road into the fortress of Tobruk with their gallant night attack, but now allied forces were reacting like antibodies to deal with the threat. 78th and 154th Field Artillery found their positions could range on the point of the enemy attack, and they began putting in probing barrages, the fire corrected by the frantic calls from the engineers on the bunker line.

  Walls and Peters position was overrun, with bunkers R28 through R35 all stormed by the German paratroopers. They got out alive, retreating towards the main road to eventually make contact with the men of the Indian 18th King Edwards Own Cavalry, one of the two Indian battalions Montgomery had rushed to the scene that night. These troops were the only Indian units still in the west, with all their remaining troops in Syria, and now they were the only organized infantry available to hold the main entrance to the fortress, but more help was on the way.

  One of the three tank battalions in 32nd Armored Brigade had veered off the track to El Adem, answering the call and heading north. It had 45 Matildas, and they were going to meet and stop the Italian M13 tanks in a sharp engagement just before sunrise. The remaining two battalions got pulled into the growing crisis near El Adem itself, and were soon battling with the dogged Trento Division just west of the airfields.

  Meanwhile, far to the south, beyond the wide curve of wadi Nullah where the 2nd New Zealanders watched the grey dawn, O’Connor had all of 2nd and 7th Armored divisions formed up and ready to attack. They were going to run right into the demonstration attack mounted by 15th Panzer Division in a titanic meeting engagement.