Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Goal is the Siegfried Line
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Normandy was a nightmarish battlefield for the German Wehrmacht.
The Western Armored Group, which once boasted ten armored divisions, had lost most of its tanks to attrition warfare, and the 7th Army, the linchpin of the front, was barely holding on with a skeleton crew.
The relentless Anglo-American bombing and Allied breakthrough attempts were more than enough to wear down the German lines.
No one knew how much longer they could keep fighting like this.
People said things would get better eventually, but that was pure bullshit.
"Is it really right to send these kids off to war?"
German officers felt a pang of unease seeing the boy soldiers dragged in after lowering the draft age.
Even with manpower shortages, they didn't want to throw 17- and 18-year-olds into the meat grinder.
Amid all this, the propaganda offensive continued unabated.
"Comrades. We've been deceived by the Nazi criminal regime. What do we have left if we follow Hitler's orders? Wake up from the illusion. There's no Thousand-Year Reich, no Great Germanic Empire. Enough with the dreams built on crime and lies. Face our sins and lay down your arms."
Surrendered German soldiers endlessly urged their comrades to give up.
"I'm scared. I haven't slept properly out of fear that our home in Silesia will be trampled by the Soviets any day now. Think about it, everyone. Is blocking the Western Allies really the way to save the fatherland? Isn't it a dangerous gamble that hands the whole country over to Ivan and those barbaric reds?"
Propaganda broadcasts were followed by music.
Songs about home, lovers, and love.
The more the German soldiers listened, the more the propaganda messages stuck in their heads.
Day after day of broadcasts and picking up leaflets had worn down their resistance to surrender.
Then, a shocking incident occurred.
"Let's surrender."
"Huh?"
A lowly NCO had incited his entire company to lay down arms.
"No, Sergeant. That's... not right."
"We gotta survive too, don't we?"
The officer who should have stopped it just stood there dumbfounded, saying nothing.
"Let's go."
It was the first unit-level surrender on the Western Front.
The incident shattered the already fragile morale of the German 7th Army.
"If they're surrendering whole units, they're done for. Let's call it quits too."
With Germans dropping their weapons left and right, the German lines opposite the Korean forces on the left flank weakened dramatically.
European Expeditionary Force Commander General Gil Tae-hwan didn't miss the opportunity.
"Attack! Attack no matter what! If my orders don't reach you, keep pushing aggressively. That's as good as my intent."
The Korean elite 1st Marine Division and 7th Armored Corps smashed through the 7th Army's left flank, charging toward Avranches.
"Wha—?"
7th Army Commander Paul Hausser tried to respond to the Korean assault, but he lacked the troops.
He was already stretched thin holding off Anglo-American attacks in the center and right, so Hausser could only watch the Koreans break through with his own eyes.
"You have to send reinforcements now!"
At Hausser's plea, Hitler authorized the deployment of the elite Guard Panzer Division.
Armed with over 200 powerful Panzer IVs and Vs, the Guard Panzer Division was a serious threat to the Koreans in its own right.
But the skies belonged to the Allies.
"Where do you think you're sneaking around in broad daylight? Got a death wish?"
Allied medium bombers carpet-bombed the German tanks crawling along the roads.
The Guard Panzer Division, spooked by the bombing, hid in the woods for three full days and accomplished nothing.
Meanwhile, the Koreans kept pushing south along the Atlantic coast.
With things this dire, Germany had to make a decision.
"It's do or die!"
The Germans scraped together every remaining armored unit in the West and launched a counterattack toward the Atlantic, aiming to cut off the Korean breakthrough from the main front—an ambitious plan.
Of course, the plan was fully exposed to the Allies, who read everything through signals intelligence, codebreaking, air recon, and spies.
"These idiots think they can take on the Republic without knowing their place?"
Gil Tae-hwan immediately went on the defensive.
Instead, the Americans and British shook the weakened German lines and attempted breakthroughs.
On August 7, 1944, four German armored divisions, desperately assembled, charged the Korean lines.
"This is our one shot. Destroy the Korean armor in one blow, and we can stabilize the entire front."
Hitler ordered the attack with that in mind, but the Koreans were no pushovers.
"You think you've got something we don't? Want us to show you?"
The Koreans had plenty of antitank weapons.
This was leagues beyond the slapdash expeditionary force from the Spanish Civil War.
Especially the Koreans' mainstay Hyunmu series self-propelled antitank guns based on 88mm and 105mm guns—they were the natural predators of German tanks.
"Fire!"
Korean shells started punching through German tank armor from 2,500 meters out.
The Panther V held up a bit, but below 1,000 meters, it was helpless.
The Korean tanks weren't slouches either.
New-model T-34s with licensed British 75mm guns and AP rounds could knock out most German tanks at 1,000 meters.
The Germans' only reliable assets were their tank crews' experience and commanders' skill, but overwhelming Allied airpower negated that too.
Three days into the offensive, the German tanks hadn't breached the Korean defenses.
Meanwhile, the Korean 1st Marine Division kept pushing south, positioning to envelop the attacking Germans in a semicircle.
"At this rate, we'll be surrounded. Führer, authorize retreat."
"How can our army lose to inferior yellow races? Don't talk nonsense—sweep them into the Atlantic!"
Hitler raged and ordered another counterattack, but the Germans gained nothing.
In the meantime, the trapped Anglo-Americans broke through the front, and the Korean 1st Marines nearly completed their encirclement.
"This really won't do, sir."
As the situation spiraled into disaster, even Hitler grudgingly faced reality.
"It's just a temporary withdrawal. Reform the lines and counterattack."
What mattered was that retreat had been ordered, regardless of the Führer's spin.
The Germans hurried to pull back.
But withdrawal is the toughest operation in the world.
The retreating Germans were funneled into a bottleneck escape route like an hourglass.
Two thousand Allied medium bombers hammered that narrow path.
"This is a massacre."
The Germans were stunned by the nonstop Allied bombing, day and night.
No scene better illustrated Allied superiority.
"If we're dying like this, might as well surrender."
"If the war's lost anyway, that's the way to go."
Panicked Germans began surrendering by the unit.
Hundreds, no, thousands of stragglers ditched vehicles and weapons to raise white flags.
The Koreans, clutching propaganda leaflets, looked satisfied at the surrendering Germans.
A bit slower than planned, but at this rate, they'd reach the German border before October.
The decisive defeat of the German 7th Army in southwest Normandy triggered collapse across the front.
Now, every army raced for Paris.
The British, farthest east, had the edge.
British 8th Army Commander Bernard Montgomery, eager to boost his reputation, charged toward Paris.
De Gaulle protested vehemently.
"Paris is France's capital. Only French troops can liberate it."
De Gaulle lobbied Eisenhower and Eden on political grounds.
"Fine, then. Let the French handle it."
After wrangling, the Free French 1st Armored Division got the green light to Paris, but the inter-Allied rivalry didn't stop.
"Paris or the German border."
Armies roughly handled surrendering Germans to gain even a step's advantage.
From mid- to late August, it was pure blitzkrieg season.
Germans fled for the border to save their skins; Allies chased relentlessly.
What tripped up the Allies wasn't the Germans—it was logistics.
"Why are we so short on trucks?"
"We prioritized landing combat units first."
From mid-August, Allies got only a third of needed fuel.
Even that was only possible thanks to airlifts from the air force.
With German border by September looking unlikely, Allied focus shifted to Paris.
The Free French knew their allies were watching.
De Gaulle wanted to show France retaking Paris on its own, salvaging face after the "six weeks."
As French troops neared Paris, Hitler issued a mad order.
"Burn Paris."
Paris garrison commander Dietrich von Choltitz silently defied the Führer's barbaric command.
Even in war, he couldn't obey the lunatic order to destroy a historic city.
Choltitz summoned Swedish Consul-General Nordling and urged the Allies to attack before he destroyed the city.
"Take the city from us before Paris burns."
As French forces attacked Paris, Hitler grew frantic.
"Burn Paris now!"
He repeated the order nine times.
He wanted to see it in flames.
Hitler asked OKW chief Alfred Jodl:
"Is Paris burning now?"
Contrary to Hitler's hopes, Paris wasn't burning.
Instead of torching the city, Choltitz proposed terms to the Free French.
"Promise generous treatment for my men, and I'll hand over the city unscathed."
"We accept your terms, General."
Choltitz surrendered the Paris garrison to the French.
Up to here, it was a decent story.
But it didn't end cleanly.
"Vive la France Libre! Vive le Général de Gaulle!"
De Gaulle excluded North African troops—who'd fought bravest to open the road to Paris—from the victory parade.
Only white soldiers born in metropolitan France got hugs and kisses from beautiful white women, basking in victor's glory.
Even among Frenchmen, victory joy was for Europeans only.
Colonial troops felt it keenly.
*
August was a month of disaster for Germany.
In the Balkans, Axis ally Greece flipped to the Allies,
"We had a good run together—let's not team up again!"
Turkey, neutral through the Great Patriotic War, declared war on Germany.
"Berlin's the hotspot everyone's raving about—I'll check it out too."
Then puppet Romania screamed for help:
"Soviet reds are gonna kill me. You know we die, no oil, right? Help quick!"
Yugoslav and Italian garrisons wailed:
"Tito's got 600,000 men—any reinforcements? We're about to get crushed!"
"Commie reds over 300,000 now. Do something. This ain't the Salò Republic—it's the Italian People's Republic!"
Everyone begged for troops.
The Eastern Front, Germany's lifeline, was chaos everywhere.
To top it off, Allied landings in southern France shattered hopes of holding the West.
What good are troops when you have none?
OKW ordered "self-reliance" across fronts.
"Rebuild like Model. No troops coming."
"Those bastards serious?"
Western Front commanders had one choice.
"We can't hold either. Fall back to the Siegfried Line."
You need troops to defend rivers or mountains—without them, you'd just get encircled.
Western Germans kept retreating into September.
The Western Allies suffered logistics woes but advanced triumphantly.
"This must be the prime German homeland in Europe. Looks tasty."
Mid-September 1944: Allies reached prewar German border.
The challenge: breaching the mighty Siegfried Line fortifications.
Allied HQ debated intensely.
"Flank it. Bypass via Netherlands into northwest Germany—no direct clash. Step into North German Plain, and we'll have their surrender by Christmas."
British 8th Army's Montgomery had a tempting pitch.
Eisenhower thought it viable for early victory.
"Looks solid to me. What do you think, General Gil?"
Gil Tae-hwan flatly rejected Montgomery's plan.
"I'm against it."
"May we know why?"
"Too reckless a gamble."
Gil opposed Operation Market Garden.
The German 15th Army, holding the lowlands, was intact.
No way to pull off a risky thrust against such foes.
Terrain favored defenders: canals and rivers crippled Allied armor and mobility.
Gil figured a straightforward Siegfried assault was easier than wading into that quagmire.
"If Korea won't cooperate, we'll try Anglo-American op."
"Go ahead."
Gil wouldn't oppose Brits and Yanks walking into a trap.
Their funeral anyway.
Eisenhower divided: Lowlands to British, Ardennes to US, Rhineland/Saar to Koreans.
September 15, 1944: Montgomery launched Market Garden with British and Polish paras.
Drop airborne deep behind lines, rush armor to link up—3D infiltration, betting on weakened Germans.
It started smoothly.
Problem: opponent wasn't average.
The commander's name was Walter Model.
Hitler's fireman, Germany's top operator.
Regrettably for Britain, the famed Eastern Front rebuilder was now rebuilding the West.
"Anglo-Saxon chums underestimate us. We're not that weak."
Model scraped cops, coastal guards, navy, Luftwaffe, Waffen-SS, army—ragtag lot—into counterattack within two hours.
"Huh? Germans already counterattacking?"
"Yes. Armor spotted too."
British armor advanced slower than planned into Netherlands.
"Our armor's too damn slow to rescue! What do we do?"
Deepest drop—British 1st Airborne at Arnhem—endured hell awaiting relief.
Infantry paras vs. panzer division? Absurd.
"Fuck, fucking hell. Can't hold."
Most British paras surrendered, weapons ditched—humiliation.
"What? Our boys gave up Arnhem and ran?"
Montgomery blamed Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade's Sosabowski.
"All defeat due to Poles' feeble support. Sosabowski's cowardice caused Arnhem tragedy."
"What bullshit? We did our best!"
"No. You're guilty."
"Why?"
"Gotta blame someone to feel better."
Poles fought bravely, lost 60%, yet got scapegoated.
No one defended Sosabowski.
Opponent: British Empire.
UK pressured Poland to cover Montgomery's flop.
"Sosabowski botched it, right?"
"We admit. We take responsibility."
Exiled Polish gov't, needing UK favor, ignored injustice.
"Wow. This the reward for serving the homeland?"
Sosabowski unfairly stripped of command by Montgomery's smear.
He'd have ended as nameless UK factory drone.
But Korea valued Sosabowski's fight in failed Market Garden.
Expeditionary Commander Gil sent officer to quietly recruit him.
Gil consoled Sosabowski over tea.
"I know you're wronged—you know it, world knows. Regrettable it ended this way."
"Country abandoned me—what can I do? Take blame for my men."
"That's why: want to work in Pyongyang?"
Sosabowski stunned.
"You want this has-been? Why? UK's blacklisted me."
"So what? Republic doesn't bow to UK glares. We fetch who we need."
Sosabowski warmed to offer.
Forced out, but military was his life.
After long talk, Sosabowski agreed to Korea.
Such recruitment didn't stop at Polish goat.
Gil quietly tapped captured German high officers, civil admins.
Bargain: war crimes amnesty.
Leniency to fascists felt off, but ruling Germany needed Germans onboard.
'To quietly govern West Germany, need German hands.'
Gil recalled Yi Seong-jun's directive.
No noise in German rule.
Maximize gains via soft rule—Koreans barely felt.
Needed German collaborators.
Allies sensed Korea's moves.
"Koreans already planning occupation?"
Not dumb—praiseworthy prep.
Brits distracted by Market Garden fallout; US had bandwidth.
US started prepping German occupation governance.
"First, decide which war criminals to use."
Need criteria for personnel.
Korea's: Yi Seong-jun's litmus—helps Republic, hire; no, discard.
US democracy couldn't ape a junta boss.
"Publicly de-Nazifiable, cleanable ones upfront. Dirtier ones covert."
US didn't nitpick crimes.
Just minded optics.
Untouchables? Ditch 'em.
That's where differed from Yi.
Key part:
"Science/tech talent? Grab regardless of crimes."
Scientists/engineers: no exceptions.
Even moral US had to blind-eye.
Take Fritz Haber, WWI German gas inventor.
Right to try him for Allied dead?
No.
Haber types made nitrogen fertilizer, saved billions.
Punish Nazi scientists? Lose talent.
US calculated thus.
' Koreans'll snatch 'em anyway—why toss ours?'
Allies competed fiercely here.
To win, breach Siegfried first.
'Koreans advantaged.'
Koreans faced one layer; US two plus woods.
But airpower? They'd manage.
US confident in Siegfried race.