The Americans finally had Casablanca, and Admiral Raeder would never see it again. They were ahead of schedule in that, but there was still a long way to go. The British action in Portugal and Spain was entirely new, and as yet undecided. Now it would come to the battle for Tangier, as Patton and Eisenhower turned their thoughts towards Gibraltar.
Chapter 24
The news of the fall of Casablanca was not a surprise when it came to Kesselring. He was already busy sorting out the troops arriving from the south at Fez, and seeing to the provision of a garrison for the Island outposts Germany still controlled. Gran Canaria had the Pioneer Battalion from Kubler’s 98th Mountain Regiment, I/16 Battalion of the 22nd Luftland, which had been unable to get off by air and was then ordered to stay where it was. The 65th MG company from that same division and two light flak companies rounded out that garrison.
Fuerteventura had only the 47th MG Company at Puerto Rosario, a flak company at the southern port of Gran Tarahal, and a platoon guarding the shore battery the Germans had set up in the north to cover the Bocaina Strait. The last island, Lanzarote, was to be held by a the 22nd Pioneer Battalion from the Luftland Division. That was it, a force composed of about a single regiment to hold the prizes that it had taken two divisions to seize from the British. How long they would keep them remained to be seen.
The entire coast of Morocco south of Safi was still nominally German controlled but held only by a few rear area service battalions. All the air power had been shifting north, hopping first to the airfields around Marrakech, and them moving on to fields near Fez. All that was left of 327th Infantry Division was still strung out on the roads south of Fez, and there were still eight battalions, a mixed force of Kubler’s regiment and the Luftland Division, much further south. They would have a 250 mile road march ahead of them, so it would be days before the withdrawal would be complete.
In the meantime, Kesselring continued to sent elements of the 7th Flieger west on the rail line from Fez to the front north of Port Lyautey. From that point, the Division de Fez and Division de Mekenes held the line south and east, but the 7th Regiment of the American 9th Infantry Division had come up from Casablanca, cleared the road to Mekenes, and were threatening a move in that direction. Kesselring sent whatever he had in hand to Mekenes, 1/65 Luftland Battalion, three companies of the 22nd Recon Battalion from that same division, and the recon battalion arriving from 98th Mountain Regiment. It had the best transport and was the only unit of that Regiment to get up north quickly.
The General’s plan was a simple one. He wanted to cover and hold Fez for as long as possible, at least until those remaining troops arrived from the south. Then, if pressed hard, or should the French Divisions fold, he saw that the terrain still favored a good defense of Tangier. He would have to split his force, with one group falling back on Tangier and Ceuta. If he fell back in that direction, his lines would compress with each withdrawal, allowing him to hold while still extracting troops from the line to a port like Ceuta where they could be evacuated to Spain, or go by sea further east to Oran. The second group would then conduct a delaying withdrawal from Fez to Oran. He did not expect to receive any further troops from Germany, and this was his plan—assuming the Führer would permit such withdrawals.
That is doubtful, he thought. I will be lucky to keep my head for pulling the bulk of our forces out of the Canaries, but without them in hand, the Allies would sweep over Morocco to Oran unchallenged. Surely OKW doesn’t think the French will hold them. So if I am ordered to fight for Morocco, Fez will have to be held. The only problem is that the Atlantic coast from the present Allied position near Rabat and Tangier is completely exposed. There are places there where they Allies could outflank the defense near the coast, which will also be hammered by their naval power.
To counter that, I will have to find some way of covering that coastline, and then use the Luftwaffe to attack their navy. It will be a nice little battle, and before it ends we will see how good these Americans really are. And if the British take Gibraltar behind me, that will be the end of it here in Morocco. I’ll move to Algeria, whether the Führer permits it or not.
Now then… What help can I expect? I am told that Rommel has been ordered to send one of his panzer divisions to Tunis, and a number of ad-hoc units are being sent over from Italy. Koch will lead the best of them, good Luftwaffe men that have been assembling to create another Flieger Division. And his highness Hermann Goering is also detaching his personal division to assist us. They are calling the whole lot the 5th Panzer Army, and I am now to command the entire theater west of Tunis. I will need a good man to assist this effort—Nehring. Yes, he fought well with Guderian in France, and Rommel also speaks highly of him.
Yet all these detachments from the Afrika Korps will pretty much put an end to Rommel’s dream of ever driving east again. The only way he will ever see Alexandria is as a prisoner of war. It is still incredible to think the British have, beaten us there, and now they are at it again here! Hube is falling back from the Portuguese border and setting up his defense near Seville. This Montgomery hasn’t an ounce of dash or daring in him, but he certainly has a way of wearing down the defense.
As for the newcomers, these Americans have yet to be tested. They pushed the French out of Casablanca, and I have no doubt that they will soon take Marrakech as well. Now, due to my timely redeployments, we will have enough here in Fez soon to put some metal in what remains of the French forces here. Yet I must seriously question how long the French will fight. What if they were to capitulate, or worse, go over to the enemy cause? I don’t have the time or troops to go about disarming them, so the political situation is very shaky now. Both Spain and France are on quicksand. Plans are well laid to deal with this, and things are about to happen soon that will redefine this entire theater.
I am told General Dollmann is moving 7th Army units into Vichy controlled France—ostensibly to prepare for redeployment here in French North Africa, but Darlan will certainly see though that soon enough. Hitler has activated both 6th and 7th Panzer Divisions, and he has an eye on Toulon, with all the French naval assets there. I have asked for additional forces, and now I am promised the new 334th Infantry Division to help flesh out this makeshift 5th Panzer Army. The Italians have also pledged two divisions, though that will not please the French here at all.
Yes, what we have here is a very uneasy alliance. Franco is completely unreliable, and only a few of his divisions can be counted on. The rest will be a problem for Hube. The French and Italians hate one another, and here I am with the task of knocking heads together and making some sense of this entire mess. Rommel is already whining that I have siphoned off all the reinforcements that he was to receive, air units, ground replacement battalions, flak units, tanks. Whether he realizes it or not, we are not fighting on two fronts here, but for how long?
Our entire position in North Africa will depend on the Navy. If we can keep the British out of the Western Med, then supplies and materiel can continue to flow to Bizerte and Tunis, and to Oran and Algiers. Gibraltar is the key. If we lose that, then we’ll have the Royal Navy here again, a situation that will give Raeder a real nightmare. This is why we need what remains of the French Navy, but securing it may not be as easy as the Führer thinks. He has ordered 7th Panzer to Toulon, and the French have been told it is coming here. Little do they know that it is there to secure that port, and every ship it now holds. But where is the prize, the last mighty French battleship? Normandie was at Oran, and had now moved to Algiers. Getting our hands on that monster will be imperative, and plans are in the offing for that as well.