Operation Boot shiner - Winter Solstice
continued
At the time German troops arrived in Taranto, British troops were still retreating.
General Harpe arrived soon after and could witness the genius of the Allied commanders that genuinously offered to be encircled.
0800 December 19th 1944
LXXVI. Panzerkorps, Naples, Italy
The British Ringel was facing were a bit more determined and had a compass and a map, but still not enough to prevent him from ambushing their forces.
Seven divisions now stood between him and Sicily.
1100 December 19th 1944
Taranto, Italy
The two divisions that were in Foggia had been attacked as soon as Harpe entered Taranto.
At first, the two divisions immediately surrendered, then total victory was achieved when the other three divisions had voluntarily offered themselves to their new captors at 1400 on that same day. Five divisions had been encircled and captured in total.
0000 December 20th 1944
Naples, Italy
The irony of history saw a Germany turning the tide in her most difficult hours; winning desperate battles, losing others fiercely, retreating in face of overwhelming odds, advancing in spite of enemy superiority. All of this seemed so futile to many German commanders, when spending countless hours of planning and counter-reactions, attacks and retreats, when, in battles like that of Reggio di Calabria, certain things happen.
Neither the battle of Stryj, one of the bloodiest battles in the whole war, saw a single German commander perish. Now, in the battle of Reggio di Calabria, that compared to that of Stryj it was something less than a skirmish, a leader of several divisions and several battles had uncautiously exposed himself to enemy fire, and died in a battle where casualties were minimal, and only hours away from its conclusion.
Von Kirchensittenbach was the man in question, and he would be granted a state funeral.
1000 December 20th 1944
LXXVI. Panzerkorps, Naples, Italy
The battle was indeed very close to its conclusion, with the seven British divisions facing more and more casualties from continuous bombings, against an unstoppable Ringel. Fifty divisions were about to smash the last resistance of the Allied presence in Italy, which would be soon reduced in ten or so divisions in Sicily.
Ringel would soon taste that very same savour that Hausser enjoyed after expelling the last Allied soldier from the beaches of France. It was the taste of revenge in part, but it was also the taste of victory.
And victory he achieved two hours later. In spite of crushing Axis superiority, however, the Allies would try a last attempt at retaking the lost province. It was so laughable that he could afford to sit and watch the hilarious show the British were graciously setting up at Reggio di Calabria.
Two British divisions attacked for several hours in the night a province with a strait in betwen, full of hills, and full of angry Jerries armed to the teeth. Not a really wise choice. The battle would be officially over in the early hours of the following day, December 21st.
0000 December 21th 1944
Italy
With the last British troops ending their laughable try at repelling the Germans from Reggio di Calabria, Ringel could officially claim Operation Boot Shiner successfully over.
Started on October 27th, the campaign ended on the solstice of Winter after one and a half month of intense fighting. November saw the highest level of tension and the highest level of casualties on both sides; tension that did not lower at any moment, with the US Navy always threatening to make the whole operation fail, till the late capture of Rome, when it was clear that those Allied divisions were to face imminent capture. Fifty-four divisions encircled almost thirty Allied divisions and inflicted enormous casualties along with the Luftwaffe, which in return also suffered a certain degree of damage. The Kriegsmarine had played a vital role in the success of this operation, as it prevented the US Navy from stopping Ringel at Anzio and therefore prevented letting the whole Allied ground forces escape the trap.
With mainland Italy secured, the Italian isles and Africa, and sealing the Mediterranean through Suez and Gibraltar, would wait till Germany could find suitable resources to build a new Kriegsmarine from scratch; a thing that was still years away from reality. In the meantime, however, there were fifty-four divisions ready to be dispatched elsewhere. Thus was the end of Operation Boot Shiner on Solstice's day; Italy was free once again and would enjoy a peaceful dominion under the soft and benevolent hand of the Third Reich.