Authors: Robert Conroy
Koenig had read reports saying that the only enemy von Paulus’s army was confronting was mud.
Russia in the spring was an ocean of mud.
Better them than me, he chuckled.
Koenig had heard Guderian and, before he’d been hurt, von Arnim, talking about the Russian campaign.
Both had idly wondered if Paulus was up to the task of wiping out what remained of the Red Army.
Von Paulus had been a good staff officer, but had not held a field command until Stalingrad where he’d almost lost the battle.
Like most Germans, Koenig assumed that the Fuhrer knew what he was doing.
He shuddered.
At least he hoped the Fuhrer knew what he was doing.
“Like what you see, captain?”
Koenig snapped to attention.
He was gratified to see that Guderian looked amused.
“Sir, would I be impertinent if I said I don’t understand much of the rationale behind the distribution of our forces?”
“Perhaps that’s a good thing,” Guderian said, and idly waving for the captain to relax.
“If you don’t understand what we’re up to, then the Americans might not either.”
The German forces in Ontario had been divided into two unequal halves.
The smaller one, West Front, faced Patton’s army on the Windsor to Sarnia line.
Despite the fact that a very large American army had crossed and confronted the German army, there had been little movement by either side.
Intelligence intercepts said that the Yanks, stunned by their defeat east of Windsor, were waiting to get newer Sherman tanks to replace their pathetic M3’s.
This could not be done overnight and it wasn’t just a case of swapping one tank for another.
Crews and mechanics had to be changed and trained.
What actually seemed to be happening was that American armored units with Shermans were replacing units with the M3s and all of that took time.
The larger portion of the German army was arrayed just east and south of Toronto, and along the line of the Niagara River.
Many units were well back of the river, and that puzzled Koenig.
Guderian caught Koenig’s puzzled expression.
“We have too much land and border to defend.
Remember the saying that he who defends everything defends nothing?
Well, that is the situation here, although we are in reasonably good shape.
For the time being, the Americans cannot or will not either cross the Niagara River or launch amphibious operations against our flanks.
Have you figured out why?”
“I would surmise that they are concerned about our submarines.”
“In part, yes.
We have six U-boats in Lake Ontario and three in Lake Erie.
The Yanks have no idea that the number is so small, and are looking hard for them.
They are concerned about the possibility – no, the likelihood – of an LST jammed with soldiers being hit and sunk with a thousand or more dead.
They are appalled at the thought of hundreds of bodies washing up on American shores.
No, they will not cross either lake until it is safe.”
Guderian jabbed at Buffalo on the map.
“Nor will they cross the river.
For one thing, we have fortified it, especially the part east of the falls where we might be vulnerable.
The part west of the falls is treacherous because of the possibility that men and boats could be swept downstream and over them.”
“A most pleasant thought, sir,” said Koenig and immediately wondered if he was being presumptuous.
Too late now, he realized.
Guderian chose to ignore the comment.
“An even more important deterrent is the presence of large cities in the area. We would probably wind up fighting in Niagara Falls, Ontario, along with other Canadian cities like Hamilton, St. Catharines and any number of smaller places like Niagara-on-the Lake.
Street by street fighting would occur and, again, the attackers would suffer immense casualties.
Also those places would be destroyed in a battle and, after all, Canada is an ally of the U.S., and one does not go around destroying allied cities if it can be helped.”
Koenig smiled.
“And we would return the favor by bombing and shelling Buffalo and the New York version of Niagara Falls, among other American cities.
This would horrify the American people who believe, foolishly, that they are still safe from war.
I would presume that the only place left to cross would be around the Youngstown area where the river enters Lake Erie.”
“Yes, captain, you may presume that and you may also presume that we are fortifying that area as well.
You doubtless further noticed that most of our best units are being held well away from either border, and that is so that we can react quickly once an attack actually does arise.
Personally, I feel that they will ultimately attempt a series of amphibious landings both east and west of Buffalo while Patton puts pressure on us from the west.
Now, captain, what are our weaknesses?”
Koenig was pleased to be asked.
“Along with the immense size of Ontario, it is the fact that every tank of ours destroyed, every bullet fired, and every man killed or wounded cannot be replaced.
They can simply wear us down.”
“Correct.
We have more than a quarter of a million men, thirteen hundred tanks, and a thousand planes, and not a one of them can be replaced.
Halifax is being blockaded and only food shipments are being allowed out.
In a while, we shall be praying for the relief convoys to arrive from Germany, and their arrival is problematic at best.
For all intents and purposes, we are under siege.”
Siege?
Koenig had read about sieges.
Terrible, horrible things, they were.
People wound up eating rats to avoid starvation, perhaps even cannibalism occurred.
There had been rumors of that during the siege of Leningrad.
“Thank you for sharing your thoughts, general.”
“Sometimes, Koenig, it is good to simply put things into perspective.
You’re a good listener and you don’t argue with me like my fellow generals do.
However, what if all that we’ve done is wrong?”
“Sir?”
“What if the Americans establish supremacy in the air, which is extremely likely.
In that case, we might not be able to move our forces close enough to the battle line to engage them.
Indeed, it is possible that reinforcements will be decimated by their planes before they even get close to the battle.
And what if the Yanks are able to send major warships, or even a number of minor ones, into the lakes?
Then they would be able to destroy our submarines and then launch any number of amphibious assaults. They could flank the cities and we would have to abandon them.”
Guderian laughed and ceased his lecture.
He gave Koenig an assignment.
He was to talk to Neumann about the treatment of American prisoners of war since the Red Cross wanted to inspect the conditions in the prison camp.
Chapter Fifteen
In the White House map room, FDR was feeling the frustrations that were angering the entire nation.
The American people felt that Germany had to be punished for her insolent and brutal attack on the U.S. mainland, so why wasn’t it happening?
He turned his wheelchair so he could confront Admiral King and General Marshall.
“Gentlemen, I am catching grief and hell from my friends as well as my enemies in congress.
I am being crucified in newspapers, magazines and on the radio for what they feel is our dilatory response to Hitler’s aggression.
Everyone wants to know the same thing – when are we going to drive the Nazis out of Canada?”
Neither man was fazed by the outburst.
Marshall spoke first.
“I’m sure you don’t want me to remind you of all the times we were rebuffed when we wanted to do something about Germany and her intentions.”
FDR jammed a fresh cigarette in his holder.
“Of course, not,” he replied sullenly.
“I am well aware of the limitations imposed on me by a fickle congress and by the fact that I didn’t push them hard enough.
History will judge me harshly for that.
That said, what the devil can we do about the damned krauts?”
It was King’s turn.
“We are already blockading Halifax and the only ships coming in are empty ones that will return to England with food as per our informal agreement.
We are planning to attack and take Halifax itself, but that will not occur for a while, if at all.
Simply put, we don’t need to take the place, only isolate it.”
“Well then, admiral, what about their so-called relief force?” the president asked.
“Intelligence says it’s beginning to form.
We detect no great enthusiasm for it from either the German, French, or Italian navies.
Even without help from the Royal Navy, I am confident that we can handle them.”
Roosevelt nodded.
“And what are you going to do about Germans on the Great Lakes?”
King continued.
“Mr. President, we are reluctant to send warships up the St. Lawrence because they would have to run a gauntlet several hundred miles long and would be subject to artillery and bombing in a narrow confine that would restrict maneuver.
However we are sending anti-submarine bombers over the lakes and we are also arming smaller civilian craft.
With enough of each, we will overwhelm and kill all the German ships.
It’s only a matter of time.”
FDR snorted.
“Time, gentlemen, is something nobody is giving me.
General Marshall, what is the army going to do, and I do mean Patton?
Hasn’t he been sitting there outside Windsor long enough?”
Marshall kept his face impassive.
“Patton will move against the first line of German defenses in a few days, a week at the most.
He now has one armored division that is fully equipped with two hundred and fifty Sherman tanks.
Attacking on a narrow front, supported by planes and artillery, and along with two infantry divisions, they should bloody the Germans and push them back.”
“But not bloody far enough,” FDR muttered.
“Hitler is broadcasting that he has super-weapons that he will use against us.
Does he?”
“Nothing we don’t know about and nothing that can do great damage,” Marshall said.
“Their basic super-weapon will be their Vengeance rockets that can be launched from Ontario and reach New York.
Assuming, that is, that they have any in the first place. They might cause terror, but they won’t win the war.
Nor will new tanks or new airplanes.
They just won’t have enough of them to tip the scales.”
“The same holds true for their new or upgraded U-boats,” said King, “But what about our own super-weapons?”
Roosevelt quickly thought about the latest report from New Mexico and the monster bomb that was under development.
“It will be at least a year,” he said with a sigh.
“We will have to fight this and future battles with the weapons and brave men at our disposal.”
Heinrich Stahl had bought a 1938 two-door Chevrolet.
With gas rationing on the horizon, the owner had been glad to sell it and he had gotten it for a song.
Now he had transportation that was not shackled to the bus service, but could also use it for surveillance.
If rationing came, he would have to do something creative, like stealing ration coupons or siphoning gas.
He wasn’t worried.
His time fighting the Russians had made him a skilled forager.
His plan was to do as much damage as possible and then make it back to Canada and the security of the North Reich.
The car was innocuous and, if he drove it around carefully and didn’t do something to make others suspicious of him, he could again hide in plain sight.