“And when will you actually evacuate Paris, Colonel?”
Schurmer smiled wryly. “In the unlikely event that your army does cross the Seine and appears to be capable of outflanking or surrounding Paris, you have my word that von Choltitz will evacuate the garrison and not harm the city.”
When Hodges said nothing, Schurmer continued. “I assume that you will have to discuss this sensitive matter with your superiors. In that case, I suggest that you either return me to my people or hold me here as a guest until decisions are made.”
Hodges agreed that Schurmer should stay. He would be fed and made comfortable and allowed to glimpse American might. Hodges liked the idea of Paris being an open city and not fought over as much as the German did. Hodges thanked Schurmer for his proposal and they parted company. The German was informed that some officers from SHAEF would like to talk with him and would he mind? Schurmer allowed that he really didn’t have a choice if he was going to accept American hospitality. Hodges nodded and left Schurmer alone.
They did not shake hands.
CHAPTER 9
The Seine, The Seine, thought Morgan, The beautiful Seine. Only now it was wreathed in smoke and fire and punctuated by explosions as artillery and bombs took turns trying to destroy what the Nazis had made.
The men of the 74th now took these things in stride. They’d seen how the Germans could dig in and how useless bombardments sometimes were. Still, this didn’t stop the brass from making confident announcements that the attack would be a walkover. One visiting general had said that there wouldn’t be a kraut left alive when the shelling was done. Carter had then asked the man if he would like to go in with him when the troops crossed, perhaps in Jeb’s own tank? The general had snarled and walked away. Colonel Whiteside had merely rolled his eyes and pretended he hadn’t heard the exchange.
Others were also not so sure it would be a walkover. Colonel Stoddard, for example, was not impressed by the shelling although he kept up a brave front. He couldn’t have the men see that their commanding officer was worried. By this time, Jack had seen Stoddard and Whiteside often enough to know their moods and he was certain the two men were faking their enthusiasm for the battle that was coming.
In the First World War, intense and prolonged shelling hadn’t penetrated the German bunkers and the result had been the slaughter of soldiers at the Somme, Ypres, and a host of other places close to where they were going to fight.
Nor had the intense naval bombardment destroyed the German defenses at Normandy on D-Day. Even worse, the fourteen- and fifteen-inch guns of the American and Royal navies’ battleships wouldn’t be a factor since they couldn’t make it up the Seine in the first place. Nor would they make it up the Rhine, if it came to that.
In a moment of sanity, Jack had received a warm and chatty letter from Jeb’s cousin Jessica. In response he’d dashed off and mailed a letter he now wondered might have been too much too soon. He’d found himself opening up about his fears to someone he’d never seen or met. But why not? For some reason he felt totally at home talking with her even though it was by mail. Jessica had told him of her frustrations with the refugees. He jokingly invited her for dinner at Ike’s headquarters.
It was now mid-September and the advance to Germany was far behind schedule. The Germans were fighting tenaciously and it was looking increasingly like a winter campaign was going to happen and that the war would not end in 1944. They’d know for certain when winter gear was handed out. The weather was still warm, even comfortable now that the sometimes intense heat of summer was behind them.
There had been briefings regarding overall strategy and the 74th’s part in it. The Seine crossings would take place on the same day and at several places. The Germans would be overwhelmed and unable to maneuver men and armor to reinforce threatened areas. Jack thought it sounded nice, but then, plans always did.
To the north, near Le Havre and the mouth of the Seine, Montgomery was going to attack the wide mouth of the river as it flowed into the ocean. His force would include the British First Airborne Division, which would parachute behind enemy lines near the town of Bolbec, which the Brits promptly renamed Ballbuster. It was rumored that the overall attack had been delayed while Monty made his usual methodical preparations. It was also rumored that Patton wanted to strangle him. Because of the Seine’s greater width at Monty’s point of attack, he had gotten what few of the landing craft, DUKW’s, that were available, which further annoyed the Americans who would have to make do with inflatable rafts or whatever they could find.
South of Paris, Patton’s Third Army was going to cross near the town of Melun, while north of the city Hodges’ First Army would attack just above the city of Poissy, called Pussy by the troops, at a point where the river looped and the Germans could be enfiladed on three sides of American gunners. Paris had been declared an open city and the troops had been warned that great care needed to be taken to not break the fragile truce. So far, the French government had managed to keep their resistance fighters in check.
The day of battle began with the usual chaos. At dawn, American bombers flew in from the west, crossed over the river and dropped their loads. Almost predictably, the lead planes bombed their targets fairly accurately, while the following planes dropped short of the explosions created by the first. This resulted in the bombings creeping back to the river and then over to the American side of it. Fortunately, First Army’s commander, Courtney Hodges, and V Corps commander, Major General Leonard Gerow, had prudently held their men several miles behind the lines fearing just this thing; thus, only a handful of Americans were killed or wounded by so-called friendly fire. However, it took more time than planned for the engineers and assault elements to reach the river after the bombers left. The resulting congestion on the narrow and miserable French roads meant that the attack was delayed from dawn until noon. This gave time for the Germans to dig themselves out of the rubble created by the bombers.
As Morgan watched from his perch in the sky, scores of small boats, launches, and barges containing men of the 116th Infantry Division surged across while American artillery rained down on the German bunkers. The 74th Armored Regiment would follow the infantry as soon as a beachhead was established and a pontoon bridge was laid down.
Morgan’s small plane was buffeted by the shock waves caused by the artillery, and both he and Snyder tried to squash the fear that they might be hit by an incoming shell. American armor was arrayed on the west side and fired to keep the Germans’ heads down.
As the infantry’s improvised armada started to cross, engineers began to lay down a pontoon bridge strong enough to support the weight of tanks.
German fire discipline was excellent. They waited until the vulnerable small craft were in the water before scores of hidden pieces of artillery and hundreds of machine guns scythed the boats and the men huddled in them.
Boat after boat was hit and Jack heard moaning and realized it was coming from him. Some boats were burning while a few were blown apart, all sending men into the deep and cold river where he could see their heads bobbing as they were swept north towards the sea. Some managed to head towards the German side. The 116th was not an experienced unit and Jack could only imagine the horrors the men were enduring.
Despite the carnage, a number of boats made shore and unloaded their men, who were promptly pinned down by German fire. Worse, many of the boats that were supposed to return and get more men for the assault had been damaged or destroyed and could not be used as planned. The second wave was pitifully small in comparison with the first and the third wave never happened. The men who’d crossed were effectively trapped.