
Brainstorming and informal planning for a potential CENTAG offensive option continued on. Many of CENTAG’s war plans assumed an offensive from the army group’s region would be directed north or northwest to blunt a major Soviet attack or breakthrough on the North German Plain. An embodiment of the cavalry coming to the rescue, so to speak. Present conditions favored an offensive directly into East Germany, however. As the afternoon progressed and the situation outside of Kassel emerged, General Otis recognized a potential opening develop in that area. This was all hypothetical though, and heavily dependent upon what transpired in NORTHAG’s region through the remainder of the day.
The East German surrender near Kassel sparked fighting in other GDR units in the afternoon. A second surrender request was presented to West German officers as dusk approached, this time by officers of the 22nd Motor Rifle Regiment. This was followed by an open radio message from the acting commander of the East German 4th Motor Rifle Division who declared that all GDR forces presently on Federal Republic territory would begin moving back towards the border at first light on D+18. If this officer’s promise was sincere, it would leave just a weakened Soviet division and a pair of equally worn down East German regiments in front of Kassel. This realization compelled Otis to have his staff look seriously at an offensive in that area, to be launched in coordination with a similar effort from NORTHAG in the coming days.
In the southern sectors of CENTAG’s area, conditions were improving by the hour. US VII Corps had a forward screen of units deployed on the Czech border. The corps was under strict orders not to cross into Czechoslovakia under any circumstances for the time being. This did not prevent VII Corps commander from making plans for such an operation if the order was given by CINC-CENT. Otis, in turn, was waiting for guidance from SACEUR, though at this point it did not seem a foray into Czechoslovakia was high on Galvin’s list of immediate priorities. The NATO commander’s attention remained fixed on the Leine river. By dawn the next morning, the same would be true for just about every NATO division, corps and army group commander in Germany.
Author’s Note: Sorry for the delay in posting. I tore my meniscus slightly while walking on the beach (seriously😊 ) and am recovering this weekend. Central Front D+17 is now officially wrapped. There are two more D+17 posts coming on Monday and Wednesday. These will center on political developments of the day, especially those taking place in Moscow. Hope you’re all having a good weekend. –Mike
An offensive into East Germany might now actually make sense for political reasons.
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Politically, sure. But militarily, a second prong against the Pact and Russian forces on the North German Plain might help end the war on favorable terms quicker
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And then after THAT they can go into East Germany 😀
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Not a bad plan 🙂
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Cry HAVOC! And let slip the dogs of war! 🙂
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Couldn’t have said it better
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It was that or “Who let the dogs out?!” LOL
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Or….’who let the Cav out?’
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I’m looking forward to the next posts, if only to tie everything the last few war days together into the strategic perspectives.
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Me too. We’re really getting into the thick of things now. I’ve been patiently waiting to write these entries for a while now 🙂 Thanks for sticking around, Jeff
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We have the trees; let’s see the forest.
For a minute,anyway.
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That’s why I’ve kept the political posts until the end. So I can tie everything up neatly and then we move on to the next day
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I’m bummed that after being able to power-read through years of posts, I now have to wait for them as written! 😀
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Slow and steady wins the race, Bill. 🙂 You won’t have to wait long, I assure you. Next post will be posted tomorrow and I’m going to try and keep the pace steady between now and Labor Day. Figure a post every other day.
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In the famous words of the philosopher Anakin Skywalker “I hate sand…” lol Hope you can heal up Mike.
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LOL Thanks, Chris. It’s coming along, I’m just impatient
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We know further attacks on the Kola is the Soviets’ “red line” up north. They’ve already had one entire division (abn.) surrounded and forced to surrender in the middle east. Now what about Central Europe? An entire army group caught in a noose like the Germans faced in France in July of 44…
I can’t help but worry that eyes are straying to the hypothetical big red button.
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How could they not be? Let’s hope some self control is shown
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