Wolfsschanze - 21 June 1944
The past couple of weeks have been stressful on the
Fuhrer. The Allies have landed at Normandy, and Field Marshal Heissmeyer and Field Marshal Lichel's plans have been to contain the British and American armies that have been pushing inland.
The
Fuhrer has decided that OB West has more than enough troops to deal with the the situation in Normandy so 15 Armee and a few corps in The Netherlands, Metz, and Denmark have been transferred to Armeegruppe Nord for participation in Operation
North Star.
Field Marshal Blaskowitz in the south of France has been ordered to Italy to commence
Iron Hand with the goal of driving the Anglo-Americans down the length of the Italian boot and Sicily with the goal of evicting the Allies from Italy once and for all.
Field Marshal Keitel came into the room today for the morning reports.
"
Mein Fuhrer, the general offensive on all fronts commenced on 20 June, and here are the results from the first day:
-The Allies have been driven out of Mortain back to the Norman coast and our forces are maintaining great pressure on enemy lines. We have lost 92 out of 34,000 troops whereas the Allies have lost 331 out of 39,000 and are subsequently retreating towards the coast.
-Our forces in the northern wing of the Eastern Front are awaiting reinforcements, and we suffered a setback in Krasnyj Luc. An entire Soviet corps attacked on of our divisions preemptively and caught us off guard. The result was our loss of 460 out of 9000 troops while the Soviets lost 163 out of 51,000. Retreat is orderly.
-Operation
Wolverine in Field Marshal Rommel's sector has started out magnificently and the Soviets have been caught completely by surprise. Intelligence tells us that many Soviet formations were packed and ready to start their own offensive operation when we attacked and are suffering very heavy losses in men and materiel. At Brody, 43,000 of our troops attacked 126,000 Soviet troops for the loss of 95 of our own and 894 enemy troops. At Torczyn, 69,000 of our troops attacked 102,000 enemy troops where we lost 533 to 1143 enemy. Truly heroic victories,
Mein Fuhrer!"
"As you know,
Mein Fuhrer, we are outnumbered everywhere on the Eastern Front. Therefore, we must make up for this utilizing superior tactics and equipment upgrades. Ever since Herr Thomas passed away in a plane crash, Herr Schacht has been recalled and has unveiled our new economic plan for the Reich:"
"Most of our resources are being directed towards supplies and reinforcements. Industry wise, we are building several U-Boat and Interceptor units. We cannot yet spare the manpower to build new ground units as we must focus our manpower pool on reinforcements to maintain pressure on the Russians."
"Shall we review each sector,
Mein Fuhrer?" asked Keitel.
"Indeed, please continue Field Marshal." replied Hitler.
"Here's Operation
Dagger. Field Marshal von Witzleben is rushing reinforcements and allied Bulgarian troops into NE Romania to aid in the attack. For now, we are attacking in the directions of Odessa and Uman, and should evict the Reds once again from Romania."
"Ahh, excellent news. No wonder why Marshal Antonescu was so eager to join our attack!" Hitler said half to himself. "Please continue, Herr Keitel."
"Jawhol,
Mein Fuhrer." said Keitel. "Here is Operation
Wolverine. von Manstein has launched an assault in the general directions of Smolensk and Homyel, but has run into heavy resistance and the unforgiving Pripyat Marshes which make operations difficult. Field Marshal Rommel is attacking all along the bulge here."
"There is a German Order waiting for Rommel in Kiev and for Manstein in Smolensk. Please pass that along. That bulge must be erased, Keitel. Please let our commanders know the extreme importance of this situation.."
"Indeed,
Mein Fuhrer replied Keitel. "And now on to
North Star. Despite the setback at Krasnyj Luc,
North Star is proceeding about as well as can be expected. The Finns are holding the line in Karelia and from Narva to Haradok, several minor skirmishes are being encountered but nothing major at this point until at least 15 Armee arrives."
"Very well, as long as we aren't falling back, that's fine with me." said Hitler.
"Of course, Mein Fuhrer."
"Currently Field Marshal von Kluge is rushing troops from Norway to the Finland front, and I'll update you on details of
Arctic Lightning as they come available,
Mein Fuhrer."
"Very well."
"The Normandy situation is playing right into our hands. We have a great chance to encircle and destroy a large number of Allied troops!!"
"I wonder how Herr Churchill will react to this. Hopefully this combined with our U Boot offensive will break their will once and for all!" an excited Hitler said.
"Lastly,
Mein Fuhrer, Field Marshal Blaskowitz is heading into Italy with his army group. I shall update you on his status and the Italian situation in next weeks meeting. That's all I have now,
Mein Fuhrer. Heil Hitler!"
At this point, Hitler got up and looked at the maps.
"Perhaps we can win this war after all, Julius."
Perhaps, Mein Fuhrer. Perhaps...