German forces in Germany and France totalled thirty-seven divisions, of which twenty-nine were considered combat ready.
German forces in Norway had been reduced during the early months of the war, partially by transfers to the mainland and partially by combining units to increase effectiveness. Eight divisions remained, all of which were in full fighting order.
In addition, Luftwaffe strength had risen to thirty-eight Staffel, although the lack of German aircraft meant that many were equipped with Allied aircraft or were still retraining on various Allied types.
German production had been partially restored, mainly by the superhuman efforts of Speer and his staff, and some items were being produced in France and the Low Countries, under an agreement that was beneficial to all countries.
The ST-44 and MG-42 both rolled off French and German production lines, mainly the former in truth, and other facilities commenced manufacturing the ammunition, although immense quantities still remained from the previous war.
Initial attempts by France to manufacture Panthers were mainly failures, but the relocated German production lines, although few and slow at first, started production of the Panther II, the tooling for which had been mostly saved from Allied bombing.
Eventually, France also produced the hastily upgraded 1946 design for the Ausf F Panther, which became universally known as the Jaguar
Priority was given to the production of 88mm and 128mm tubes, the former to equip the Jaguar that was expected to be Germany’s battle tank for the coming years, and the latter for a redesign of the Jagdpanther and for heavy anti-tank guns, both of which were already under construction in Belgium by FN and Imperia respectively.
There was no aircraft production of note in early 1946.
The Kriegsmarine found itself contributing submarines and coastal vessels to the war effort, surplus manpower being sent for training in the Army.
Mistakes had been made, and De Gaulle’s attempt to field a large force of poorly organized divisions, which had some limited success against an already defeated German Army, fell foul of the fighting skills of an organised Red Army on the offensive.
Divisions which were, to all intents and purposes useless, were withdrawn and the dross weeded out, leaving enough manpower to initially field seven reasonable divisions, not including the expanding Foreign Legion. An intense period of training started integrating POWs and new blood together, the plan being to field a total of thirty divisions for the Allied order of battle.
The target was viewed with a jaundiced eye by Allied commanders, who had seen France’s desperate efforts to get numbers in the field, and had observed as the project failed miserably.
A reasonable amount of French industrial capacity was restored as quickly as possible, sometimes to introduce new all-French designs, such as the ARL-44, or to churn out tried and tested weapons of war, such as the ST-44 and MG-42.
Initial attempts by both Renault and Berliet produced Panthers, but the marriage of French engines and the cut-down 17-pdr to a proven German design failed, so none were made operational in the first instance. The restoration of equipment hastily salvaged from the Maybach plant at Friedrichshafen ensured proper engines eventually became available, but most were assigned to German produced vehicles.
A number of the Maybach-engined French versions, called the Panther Felix, made their way into forward units and performed surprisingly well. However, once Speer had rejuvenated the German industrial base, albeit spread throughout the low countries and France, as well as Germany, the proper combination of Maybach, 88mm L/71 and Panther chassis started to appear from German industry and facilities spread throughout free Europe.
Development, refinement and production of the X7 wire-guided missile system was undertaken in a specially constructed facility near Sassy, France, chosen because of its nearness to the Legion depot for ex-SS personnel, who were the only troops with the experience of using the weapons in the previous conflict.
Given the large numbers of aircraft available from US and UK factories, France undertook no serious aircraft development.
Author’s note on the forces-
I have redrawn a basic order of battle for the European front. That can be found either in the Sacrifice biographies, or can be downloaded as an xls file from the website, free of charge.
Also included in either location is the European map I have posted under this entry, which gives the approximate frontline positions of the two armies that are preparing to make 1946 one of the bloodiest years in history.
Additionally, I have created a sheet that will show those who wish to know which weapons are either arriving or will become operational in 1946. This list may not be for everyone, so it is not included in the books and will solely be available on the website or facebook.
Chapter 127 – THE ANNIHILATION
Smoke poured from the two outboard engines, leaving parallel lines in the sky as the crippled B-24 Liberator tried to make the nearest friendly territory.
Despite the obviously fraught situation, everyone aboard the Coastal Command aircraft was calm, and there was even laughter amidst the serious activity of their real mission.
It fell to the navigator to bring failure or success, for his skill would bring the Liberator directly to the precise point where they would achieve the task set them… or they would fail.
There would be no repeats, so it was imperative that the B-24 hit its mark right on the button.
He thumbed his mike.
“Navigator, Pilot. Come left two degrees, Skipper, course 89°.”
“Roger, Nav.”
After a short delay, the navigator, sweating despite the extremely cold temperatures, spoke again.
“On course, Skipper. Estimate seven minutes to game point.”
“Roger, Nav. Bombs?”
“I’m on it, Skipper.”
The bombardier shifted to one side of the modified nose and checked for the umpteenth time that the internal heating circuit was functioning.
“Bombs, Pilot. Ready.”
The pilot looked across to his co-pilot.
“Time for you to play.”
It was Christmas Day, and most of those still asleep bore all the hallmarks of heavy encounters with the local brews, Russian and Irishmen alike.
A few, an unlucky few, had literally drawn short straws and found themselves sober and alert, providing the security whilst others spent the day acquainting themselves with their blankets or, in the case of a few, the latrines.