“Good point,” said Smith. “And they also want to restrict our air operations in this new TORCH plan. They’ll accept planes, mind you, but in the 8th Army Theater, they want total control of all air operations, and they want to use all British pilots.”
“Well correct me if I’m wrong,” said Eisenhower, “but I thought beggars shouldn’t be choosers. It’s almost as if they had something over there that they flat out don’t want us to see. Who knows, maybe it’s this tank that been in the rumor mill. Frankly, all this is for Marshall to worry about. What I’ve got to worry about is this goddamned plan. Beetle, what are we really going to be looking at when we do land at Casablanca? What have the French got there in the way of an active garrison?” Those that knew Smith had taken to using, and spelling, his middle name that way—Beetle instead of Bedell.
Smith leaned back, looking over the latest intelligence report. “Casablanca Division—three regiments of infantry there, two others in the general vicinity, but with little in the way of any armor, and poor artillery. But there’s three other divisions in Morocco, one at Fez, another at Marrakech, and a third at Meknes just west of Fez. That last unit does duty on the coast from time to time, at Rabat north of Casablanca.”
“Four divisions… And the Germans?”
“Most of the troops around Casablanca are Luftwaffe, but they just moved the 327th Infantry Division into Marrakesh.”
“No Panzer Divisions?”
“Not in Morocco. The 16th is in Southern France, and intel picked up what looks like advanced units of that division in Barcelona. They could be getting ready to move the whole lot into Spain. Other than that, they’ll have a good veteran infantry division handy, the 15th Infantry, but it’s also in southern France.”
“Nothing in Spain?”
“The 337th at Madrid, garrison troops at Gibraltar and Tangier, shore batteries, Ack Ack units, service troops and some naval personnel.”
“Well hell, Beetle, it doesn’t seem like they’re on to us with this operation. We just might catch them with their pants down.”
“Except for the 16th Panzer Division,” said Smith. “It they move that into Spain, it will be a problem for the British. But we must also consider what they do with the troops they have in the Canary Islands. They’ve got two air mobile divisions there, the 7th Flieger and 22nd Air landing—both tough outfits. There’s a mountain regiment there that they took from Rommel last spring, and General Kubler is the nominal commander of that entire force.”
“Once we hit the beaches at Casablanca, all those troops are out on a limb,” said Eisenhower.
“Which is why we’ve still got to worry about them. They can move by air, perhaps only one regiment at a time, but that means we could eventually face a buildup to the south.”
“We’ve accounted for that possibility in the plan,” said Ike. “The German division at Marrakesh could move to Safi and raise hell with our optional landing there. But otherwise, it will certainly come north to Casablanca. Those airborne troops will be used to reinforce their lines after we’ve landed and they see what cards we have in our hand. What I can’t figure is why they don’t have anything north of Rabat.”
“They probably think we can’t hit them there under their land based air power.”
“True, but that means no German troops of note between Casablanca and Tangier. So far I like that, because I don’t think they’ll be able to reinforce Morocco once this thing starts. Patton will like it too.”
“You sure about Patton?”
“He’s the best man for the job. He’ll have all of 2nd Armored Division, and the 3rd and 9th Infantry Divisions—eventually. 3rd Division is scheduled for D+3, the 9th Division for D+5—assuming the U-boats don’t get them first.”
The British asked for our 1st Armored at their end of things—in Spain.”
“If they do have a new tank, it sure doesn’t sound like they have much confidence. Why do they want our armor in Spain?”
“You said it yourself,” said Eisenhower. “Given the fact that 16th Panzer may be moving as you suggest, I think we’d better agree to that—in part. We were going to lead with the 9th Infantry, but I’ve asked for the Big Red One instead on D-Day.
“That rips up Fredendall’s Corps,” said Smith. “The British get his armor and Patton takes the rest.”
“I’ll let him down easy,” said Eisenhower. “He still has the Corps, only he’ll be standing in Patton’s shadow, that’s all. And the Brits just get one combat command in floating reserve. I’m going to use Hatch and CCB in the first wave south of Casablanca”
“What about Harmon’s Division?”
“2nd Armored? Hell, it will sit in the UK waiting for those transports to get back there after they deliver the Brits to Lisbon. That means we can’t expect that division to arrive until D+5.”
“What does Patton think of all this?”
“He wasn’t happy the first go round,” said Eisenhower. “Said he thought the troops were too green. Then again, after I handed him the 1st Infantry Division, he changed his tune.”
“What’s in reserve?”
“Only one regiment from 34th Infantry. The 168th RCT will be held in the Azores, a good position from which we could reinforce either landing in a pinch.”
“So what do our Limey friends throw into this?” Smith set down his clipboard.
“They’ll send the 6th Armored Division, 3rd and 43rd Infantry Divisions, and the 78th Infantry Division in reserve.”
“Is that going to be enough armor?”
“I suppose that’s why they asked for our 1st Armored Division, but my inclination is to be stingy there. I allocated CCA as a reserve for Portugal, but it won’t go ashore unless absolutely needed. We need a hammer in the tool box just in case one end of this offensive has difficulties—and it could be our end. I’ve communicated this to our friends, and so they’ve decided to make both their infantry divisions mixed, adding the 33rd Armored Brigade to one, and 34th Armored Brigade to the other.”
“They have those new tanks?”
Eisenhower was fishing about in a brief case. “Ah, here it is—the specs on that new heavy infantry tank. Maybe this is the mystery they were hiding over in Egypt and Libya. They’re calling it the Churchill.”
“Buttering the old man’s bread, are they?”
Eisenhower smiled. “Let’s see how flattering the Germans find it. It’s nearly 40 tons, and they’ve finally ditched that lousy 2 pounder gun for something better. This one has a 75mm quick firing main gun, and a pair of Besa 7.92mm machine guns. It was meant to replace their old Matildas and Valentines. It says here that they’ve sent some to Alexandria, and the brigades assigned for TORCH will fight right alongside their infantry.”
“Forty tons… Now I see why they wanted Lisbon. They need a good port to get those things ashore. Maybe you’re correct and these are the tanks they field tested over in Libya.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” said Eisenhower. “Let’s just hope the Portuguese welcome them with open arms.” Ike walked to the window, looking out on the city, seeing the grey overcast sky, and equally grey men and women going about whatever business the war had put before them. London was still a dreary place, even in the summer this year, with the weather more austere than many could remember. Some said it all had to do with that big volcano that blew its top in the Pacific, but it would be the least of his worries.
“Tomorrow we move to the Azores and get the forward HQ up and running. My God, Beetle, the thought that we’re going to try to move six divisions by sea still gives me the willies. There’s a thousand things that could go wrong. Hell, it’s taken us months just to modify the transports so they could be combat loaded. Then there’s the U-boat threat, the German Navy, the French Navy, the Luftwaffe.”