17.0
[S-Day. We are entering the most disputed part of the what-if, so all of
the
following instalments will initially be tentative. I am even more open
than
until now to your comments, suggestions and criticism]
The Germans now have a foothold on the beaches, almost entirely gained by
the assault parties and now held by unsup****ted infantry. It is therefore
time to have a look at the problem of reinforcing and supplying these
advance parties.
As a case study, the tanks of the D battalion can be enlightening. Tanks
are
among the highest priorities on the Heer's unloading list; being
self-propelled and tracked, they are also easier to disembark than ammo
crates or Kubelwagens. This battalion, in particular, has a key task,
being
expected to follow up the Brandeburg vanguard on the road to Folkestone
and
Dover from landing zone B.
Now, the plan has assigned it 49 submersible or "swimming" tanks (more
than
a quarter of the total to be used with the first wave). Then one company
was
detached to the other end of the invasion area. Then, just 160 Tauchpanzer
in all were available, meaning some 40 per battalion (there were 4
battalions), meaning this understrength battalion only has 32.
Then losses have been taken. As mentioned above, 4 tanks have been sunk in
****t by Bomber Command even before leaving. 4 more have been lost in the
night crossing (to a collision and to Royal Navy attacks). 2 Pz IIIs have
tried wading through a short distance in water, as they are expected to
do,
but something must have gone wrong either with their sealing or something
else, because they have been flooded. They can probably be retrieved at
the
tide's lowest, but whether the engines still work is a big question. One
PzII, floating with its flotation hull, exploded; it may have hit a mine.
Another had an engine breakdown (probably another case of leakage) and
floated away in the current; it took a tugboat to push it ashore, and the
crew is now trying to get the engine running again. A third one has
drifted
past the mouth of the Military Canal, has managed to reach the shore
there,
but it is now cornered near Hythe by the enemy and has to wait to be
relieved by a crossing in force. Two more tanks have been immobilized by
enemy fire on the beach. Another has had a malfunction, and will be
repaired
if and when spare parts are unoladed. Another one threw a track while
crossing some improvised obstacle at the beach exit, and the crew is
trying
to fix that. Another one is still in its barge, which is aground with its
side to the beach and a list to starboard so pronounced that trying to
move
the tank is impossible; maybe the next high tide. Four panzers more are
still on vessels and their unloading has been delayed for one reason or
another. Two have been unloaded successfully on the beach, but late. The
tide is now ebbing, and they are slowly making way across the wide,
treacherous tidal muddy flats. Any attempt at driving them faster brings
them dangerously close to bogging down in place.
So, by mid-morning, the tank force expected to lead the drive onto the
all-im****tant ****ts is made up of 8 tanks out of the 49 planned. Some of
those not currently available might still join the fray - later. Of
course,
those 8 tanks are still trapped on their side of the Military Canal.
The unloading of anything else save men and small arms, unsurprisingly, is
not going any faster or better than the unloading of the tanks. It is now
worth mentioning that the Germans have not come up with a position
comparable to the Allies' "beachmaster". It is not altogether clear who is
in charge to decide what, how, when and in what order to unload. The
Kriegsmarine personnel have their ideas, but they are mostly interested in
moving away from the beaches as soon as possible. In any case, they expect
the army men to do the heavy lifting involved. The Heer officers, on their
part, expect their ammo to be handed over to them on firm ground, and at
the
same time are totally concentrated on sending inland as many men as
possible
as fast as possible. Quarrels follow.
But if the Germans are experiencing logistical problems, the enemy in
front
of them is also becoming more of a nuisance. For instance, vanguard
elements
of the advance party of the 38. Infanterieregiment advance beyond the
beach
and into the line held by the 6th Shrop****re Light Infantry, where they
face
the latter's toy train. Well, it looks a toy because of the size. But the
wagons are armored and s****t old Lewis MGs and not-so-old Boys ATRs. The
Germans are stopped. Taking that absurdity under mortar fire would
probably
be enough, if only they had any mortars already available to fire. So this
is another request for the Luftwaffe to take care of.
Back in London, General Brooke has a fairly clear picture of what is
happening. The German air bombings notwithstanding, his communications
network is providing his HQ with even too many re****ts. Very soon, he'll
need to decide whether to start moving reserves. He has to be wary of
possible further landings, as the Germans have certainly not employed all
of
their sealift capability. So, for the time being, he only allows local
adjustments by units already in contact: for instance, the 1st MMG Brigade
is ordered to contain the enemy and not to launch other unsup****ted
counterattacks, and the 1st London Rifle Brigade is ordered to take up
prepared positions astride the road to Folkestone. The sizable reserves
Brooke is holding back are only ordered to prpare fro movement, and start
concentrating close to pre-selected railway yards. There is one exception,
however: Brooke orders just one of its reserves, the New Zealand reaction
force, to move. The so-called Milforce is made up of an infantry
battalion,
an attached RNA battery, the divisional cavalry mounted on its armored
cars,
and the attached 8th RTR battalion, with its Matildas. These units start
concentrating at Ashford, to move South-East in a short time; the sparse
Fallschirmjäger outposts are no more than some 10 kms away in that
direction.
Pressing requests for air sup****t are crowding Kesselring's operation
room's
table. He has obtained to have a Heer liaison officer from both the 16.
and
9. Armeen at his HQ, who give him faster access to situation re****ts and
requests, but now the two officers are vying for his bombers. Sending
bombers, actually, would be no problem, he has plenty which have not been
used save in the night; but he has too few fighters. The main issue with
fighters, until now, isn't the number of airframes available; they have
taken light losses, actually, to his mild surprise. But the issue is the
number of sorties. A sizable pro****tion of his pilots have already flown
two
missions, and the day is far from over. While he weighs his options, he
consoles himself by thinking the enemy has the same difficulty.
Unfortunately for him, he's not entirely right.
He has been painstakingly studying intel re****ts; he knows a lot about
damage done on the ground and has a fairly accurate, if still overblown,
estimate of British fighter aircraft losses. But even if his intel re****ts
as to the functioning of the British training schools are somewhat
accurate
[way more than in OTL], they are still falling short. The British training
system has been churning out many more pilots than the German one. On top
of
those, a British pilot who parachuted out of a lost aircraft has had fair
chances of going back to his unit, not so for a German one in the same
predicament. As a consequence, unbeknown to Kesselring, the British have a
shortage of aircraft, and a shortage of veteran pilots - but not a
shortage
of pilots in general. And when it comes to veteran status, it's not as if
the Luftwaffe's pilots are all experienced.
So, by way of comparison, today #66 Squadron only has 10 serviceable
Spitfires, while I./JG 26 has 20 serviceable Bf 109s. If one looks at
these
figures alone, which would be a reasonable thing to do for *****sing these
units' strength over a normal cycle of operations, the German unit would
be
considered as twice as strong as the British one. But, today, #66 Squadron
has 19 pilots, and I./JG 26 has 21. Now, during a surge like the one
currently going on, the point isn't the number of aircraft, the point is
the
number of sorties. And while the fighters' mechanical limitations play a
role, the pilots' physical exhaustion sets in first. In these terms, the
numerical advantage of I./JG 26 is very small.
On the other side of the Channel, Dowding is aware the Squadrons can
rotate
the pilots if the need arise, as it will. Of course some of those pilots
are
young trainees, or have little experience; but on balance, he thinks that
by
applying this system, over a day or two they will be less tired than their
German counterparts. Time will tell if this makes a difference.
The German fighter and dive-bomber pilots don't look tired at all to the
British airmen and sailors facing them right now, some twenty miles South
of
Worthing, in a large and im****tant battle. The Revenge flotilla and the 6
destroyers that are the survivors of the Cardiff's force come under air
attack, almost simultaneously, by the balance of the Western Stuka group,
with 71 Stukas escorted by 59 fighters. A flight of 23 Stukas of II./StG
2,
having taken off from a distant base, almost attacks a German destroyer
formation by mistake; they abort the strike at the last second, but by
then
they haven't enough fuel to look for the right targets.
The British want to prevent another outcome like the Cardiff's, and the
Revenge is protected by two Squadrons, with more being scrambled as the
Worth Matravers radar station picks the unmistakable tracks up. The other
6
destroyers, led by the Saladin, are less well off with just one
understrength Squadron.
The engagement quickly becomes chaotic, with the vessel breaking formation
and running away, preferably to the South-West, which is away from the
confines of the coast and of shallower waters, but also away from the
landing areas. The Stukas hunt the ****ps and the British fighters hunt the
Stukas and the German fighters hunt the British ones; once the whole air
dogfight has reached low altitude (since the Stukas, well, dive), the new
wave of British fighters hunt from above both the Stukas and the Bf 109s,
bouncing them and pinning them against the sea. The ****ps' AA guns add
sound
and fury and the occasional hit.
At the end of the battle, the Revenge has been hit six times; its speed is
down to 15 knots, its aft turret isn't working any more and its back end
is
shrouded in smoke. The Emerald, a cruiser, and the Sardonyx, a destroyer
of
the ****tsmouth force, are sinking; and a small Dutch destroyer, the
Bouclier, has already gone below, having had the misfortune of swallowing
not just a bomb but also the Stuka that was carrying it. The other
cruiser,
the Newcastle, and all the other destroyers are untouched for the time
being. The British have also lost 3 Hurricanes (one probably to friendly
fire). On the other side, the Germans have lost 14 Ju 87s and 6 fighters;
9
more dive bombers are damaged, which is way more im****tant now than in a
prolonged campaign.
Sperrle is elated; his re****ts say the British battle****p is sinking,
together with several other war****ps. The Stukas' losses are heavy at
about
19%, but that price can be paid if the result is swift and decisive, as it
seems it might be.
The battle is not over, however, even though the Stukas withdraw for now,
because in all the maneuvering some of the British ****ps have moved over a
group of three German submarines waiting for just such an op****tunity.
Another destroyer, the Vansittart, takes two torpedoes and sinks, with two
more evading the torpedoes thanks to luck and their engine's acceleration
capability. The U-Boote have shown their hand by this attack, of course,
and
one is quickly sunk with the others driven away towards the French coast.
By the end of the morning, both British formations resume their dogged,
and
now slower, advance towards the invasion beaches.
They won't be the first there, though. The other half of the ****tsmouth
flotilla, 9 destroyers and 5 TBs that have skirted along the coast,
slipping
past these battles, are coming onto the Westernmost landing beach. The
light
direct escort vessels move to interpose themselves and defend the
vulnerable
trans****ts. This is rather one-sided; the German Vorpostenboote,
minesweepers and other armed vessels have a few 105mm guns and a number of
88mms, all without fire direction, on slow, mostly civilian-construction
boats. Many have already expended lots of their ammo in the night and
against coastal targets. The only advantage is in numbers, with over 50
boats swarming towards the British.
The destroyers sink 19 of them and pepper many more, taking limited damage
on three of theirs. At this point, however, having heard the distress
calls,
2 German destroyers and 3 TBs join the fray from the South.
The British are pinned against the coast, with enemies on two other sides.
The evasive maneuvers that an exchange of torpedoes require can only take
place to the West, away from the Germans' floating depot. This is a
classic
small-vessel naval engagement, with almost no air interference (towards
the
end of the action, a couple of Bf 109s from the CAP strafe the British
****ps
of their own initiative). The initial attack by the Ihn and the Galster is
successful, sinking one British destroyer and crippling another; after
that,
however, the numbers become telling. The British lose a torpedo boat, but
sink every enemy vessel of this force save the Ihn. This destroyer
withdraws
with it superstructure on fire, and will later be sunk by a mine, probably
a
German one.
The British, with several war****ps damaged, their ammo stores depleted,
and
the threat of air attack, do not resume the attack; they reluctantly ask
permission to disengage towards ****tsmouth. The landing flotilla has not
been involved in the battle.
When, some time later, Raeder is updated about the naval losses this far,
he's furious. He phones Wever, Jodl and Halder. The Luftwaffe is not
maintaining its promise to keep the Royal Navy off of his back. His few
destroyers are sacrificing themselves one after another, and if the
Luftwaffe doesn't improve its performance very soon, the whole invasion
fleet is at risk.
At about the same time, Bomber Command makes its first attempt. 18 Battles
arrive low over Rottingdean, while, almost at the same time, 23 Blenheims
attack the Cuckmere Haven from a reasonable height. The idea is that the
Bf
109s can't attack both. Indeed, they do not; the German fighters engage
the
Blenheims, leaving the low-flying intruders jump into a cloud of AA fire.
If
there's a gun the light German vessels have in numbers, it's the 2cm FlAK.
The Blenheims damage some of the stores piled up on the beach, while the
Battles achieve little if anything; the British lose 8 bombers. It has to
be
said the Bf 109s have just arrived for their CAP turn, and have now to go
back. The turnover is definitely too quick.
Turning again to the situation on land, there aren't just bad news for the
Germans. Several batteries, including the one on Beachy Head and the
Dymchurch redoubt, have been stormed in classic WWI style (which also
means
the assaulting parties have taken whopping casualties and are no longer
combatworthy units); most of the fortifications are not firing any more.
The
fall of Beachy Head took away its CHL station, too; Pevensey (a CH
station)
is disconnected from the network after the morning bombing cut all of its
lines, Poling has been destroyed by the commando raid, and Fairlight (CHL)
is now under attack by a German vanguard, while Rye (CH) is clearly at
risk.
Fortunately, Truleigh, Dover and Dunkirk are still operational and not
directly threatened, but when Rye falls, the hole in the radar network
will
be large and no longer repairable.
The German engineers are trying to find a solution to the Military Canal
problem. They have three small teams at work. One is fitting a footbridge
over the remains of an incompletely demolished bridge near Hythe;
motorcyles
will be able to use it, too. Another one is at work on fording ramps; the
Pz
IIs can keep their flotation hulls and swim across the canal just like
they
came ashore, and the Pz IIIs can probably wade through, hoping that the
bottom is not too treacherous. A third one, working together with the
sailors, is trying to bring a few barges up into the canal's mouth. They
can
be used to create a pontoon bridge. All of these efforts look promising,
but
none will bear fruit before late afternoon. The dash to Folkestone and
Dover
is replaced, for the time being, by infantry skirmishes at the vanguard,
as
the Brandeburgers and some infantry that joined them are removing light
Home
Guard opposition and closing towards the 1st London Infantry Division's
line
before Folkestone.
The paratroopers are not faring bad. Their perimeter is consolidating and
expanding to the South-East and South-West; where they advance, they only
meet with light resistance for the time being. Indeed, they have easily
taken the Sene golf course, where their equipment will arrive in the
afternoon with the gliders. The fight has been briskier around the Lympne
airfield, but it having been abandoned for some time, the RAF garrison
there
is small and the Germans overcome it.
The bad news arrive when a Leutnant strolls on the airstrips to *****s how
long will it take to fill up the few bomb holes. He trips into an
anti-personnel mine, whose purpose actually is to set off a well-buried
aerial bomb. The Leutnant has just made another crater, and larger than
all
the others. The British have taken their precautions, and preparing this
airfield for the 22. Luftlande Division will not be as easy as the
Leutnant
thought a few moments before dying.
At about 12:00, the Revenge re****ts that it will be able to engage the
enemy
West of Brighton within an hour.
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