Chapter 214 Volume 6, Chapter 24, Crossing the Rhine

General Eisenhower stormed Germany in two directions British suspects Montgomery's troops reached the Rhine March 10th drove the enemy from the Wesel bridgehead March 7th took Cologne Twelfth Army massed good luck The Germans crossed the Rhine in their last stronghold on the West Bank Plans and preparations March 23rd I visited headquarters in Montgomery. March 24th witnessed the landing of the airborne troops. Wessel and Reiss fought fiercely. Spent the night in the map car at Montgomery. March 25th. The day I visited Eisenhower crossed the Rhine as American troops rapidly advanced to the collapse of the German Western Front.

The Germans, despite their defeat in the Ardennes,[1] decided to fight west of the Rhine instead of retreating across the river for respite.General Eisenhower planned to move in three steps. First, he would destroy the enemy in the west of Hexi, advance to the river, then establish a bridgehead position, and finally drive straight into Germany.In the final stage, divide the troops into two groups.All the way would start from the lower Rhine below Duisburg, bypass the northern side of the Ruhr, thus encircle and capture the Ruhr, and then advance across the North German Plain towards Bremen, Hamburg and the Baltic Sea.The second route will be from Karlsruhe to Kassel. After arriving there, it will be decided whether to go north or east depending on the situation.

【1】See Chapter 17, page 238 and below. (Translator of the page number of the original book) We studied this plan in Malta with some apprehensions, wondering whether we would be strong enough to launch two simultaneous operations at all, and felt that the northward advance of Montgomery's 21st Army Group would be far more important.Although perhaps only thirty-five divisions can participate in combat, we maintain that no matter how many troops there are, the greatest strength should be placed here.It should not weaken the strength here in order to open up another offensive.The matter was hotly debated at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.General Bradley[1] attributed much of the pressure to Montgomery.Such an assessment is unfair.Generally speaking, the British view is that the northward movement is the first priority, and its consequences are related to the Ruhr, so it is the most important.Secondly, we also had doubts about this plan.We were anxious for Montgomery to cross the Rhine as quickly as possible, and not to stand still just because there were Germans somewhere on this far side of the river.Eisenhower's chief of staff, General Bedell Smith, came to Malta to give us assurances.Eisenhower said in his official report that, thanks to the victory west of the river, the plan for crossing the Rhine and placing a large force on the opposite bank was the same as that envisioned in our long-term plan in January even before the offensive was launched. The scheme is basically the same.The basic idea was to launch a general attack north of the Ruhr, supported by a strong auxiliary attack from bridgehead positions in the Frankfurt area.An offensive would then be launched from the bridgeheads to strike any remaining organized forces and wipe them out. 【２】

[1] See Omar Bradley: A Warrior's Story. [2] Eisenhower's Report to the Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, p. 118. In terms of the number of divisions, the two sides are evenly matched.At the beginning of February Eisenhower and the Germans each had about eighty-two divisions.But there is a big difference in quality.Confederate morale was high, while German spirits were low.Our army is war-hardened and confident, while the enemy has rounded up their last reserves.In January Hitler sent ten divisions of his Sixth Panzer Army to salvage the oil fields of Austria and Hungary from falling into Russian hands.

Our bombing has severely damaged his factories and transportation.He was running low on gasoline, and his air force was practically dead. The first task is to eliminate the enemies in the isolated stronghold of Colmar.The work was completed in early February by the French First Army, assisted by four American divisions.More important, and leading to a long and difficult campaign, was Montgomery's foray into the Rhine north of Cologne.General Creeler's 1st Canadian Army, consisting of British 30th Corps and Canadian 2nd Corps, began pushing southeast from the Nijmegen salient on 8 February, targeting the Rhine and Meuse between.The enemy fortifications are strong and tenacious.The ground was muddy, and the banks of both rivers were flooded.The goal on the first day was achieved, but progress slowed down later on.The difficulty is great.Eleven divisions resisted us, so we did not take the stronghold of Gok until February 21st.The enemy also held Xanten, which was the backbone of their Wesel forward position.

General Simpson's U.S. Ninth Army, (placed under Montgomery's command in this operation) was supposed to attack northward from the Ruhr to join the British forces, but having to capture the network of dykes twenty miles upstream, They can cross the Ruhr River.On February 10, the First American Army captured the great dikes, but the Germans broke the gates, preventing the downstream crossing until the 23rd.The U.S. Ninth Army immediately launched an attack.The frontal enemy forces were weakened by supporting the fighting further north, so they advanced quickly.As their offensive intensified, the Canadian Army resumed its attack on Xanke, and the XXX Corps joined forces with Girden's Americans on March 3.Now that the right flank of the Ninth Army had reached the Rhine near Düsseldorf, the two armies combined to drive the enemy from their Wesel forward position.On March 10, all eighteen German divisions withdrew across the Rhine, leaving only 53,000 prisoners and countless corpses.

Farther south, General Bradley's Twelfth Army Group also began to drive the enemy across the Rhine along the entire eighty-mile stretch between Düsseldorf and Koblenz.On the left, Hodges' 1st Army's flanking corps and Ninth Army advanced in parallel.On March 7 they captured Cologne with surprising ease.Two other armies crossed the Erft River, captured Oyskirchen, and then marched east and southeast in separate directions.Two corps of Patton's Third Army, having taken Trier, fought their way up to the Kiel River, where they began their major offensive on March 5.They swept along the north bank of the Moselle, and three days later joined the First Army on the Rhine.On the seventh day, they resolutely seized a good opportunity.The Ninth Armored Division of the U.S. First Army found the railway bridge at Remagen partially damaged but still functional.They immediately sent their vanguard across the river.Other troops quickly followed, and soon more than four divisions arrived on the opposite bank, establishing a bridgehead position several miles wide and deep.This action was not in Eisenhower's plan at all, and it became a very unexpected big gain. The German army had to transfer large troops from the far north to contain the US military.After this short battle, the Twelfth Army Group jumped across the Rhine and captured 49,000 German troops.The group had fought to the best of their ability, but was immobilized mainly by lack of gasoline.

I extend well deserved congratulations to Eisenhower. Prime Minister to General Eisenhower March 9, 1945 I extend my warmest congratulations to the Allied forces under your command on a splendid victory.With such a victory, the defeat or annihilation of all German forces west of the Rhine could be achieved.No one who studies warfare, seeing the admirable quickness and flexibility of action of the American armies and army groups, and the adept ability of their commanders and subordinates to adapt to the changing conditions of the largest modern war, will be dismayed Deeply moved.I am glad that the British and Canadian forces in the north also played a part in your extensive and successful combined operations.

Now only a large isolated German army remained west of the Rhine.They were in a large salient position formed by the Moselle from Koblenz to Trier, and the line from Trier along the Siegfried Line back to the Rhine. On the front at the top of the salient, there was the Twentieth Corps of the Third U.S. Army, to the right of it the Seventh U.S. Army, and on the other side, near the Rhine, a French corps.The Allies braved stubborn resistance to attack on March 15th.The advance west of Zweibruecken was rapid, but to the east the Germans held their ground.It was of little use to them either, as Patton had reached the Rhine north of Koblenz and turned five divisions south across the lower Moselle.This action cut off the rear of the prominent positions.It was completely unexpected by the enemy, so only weak resistance was encountered.By the 21st of March this force had reached Worms and joined the 20th Corps in the salient which had driven south of Trier.

The defenders of the famous and formidable Siegfried Line were thus cut off, and after a few days all organized resistance ended.As a secondary result, the U.S. Fifth Division completed an unprepared crossing of the Rhine fifteen miles south of Mainz, and soon expanded its position into a deep bridgehead. The goal is directly at Frankfurt. Thus ended the last major German resistance in the west.Six weeks of continuous fighting along a front of more than two hundred and fifty miles drove the enemy across the Rhine and caused them irreparable losses in manpower and material resources.Allied air forces played a most important role.The regular raids of the tactical air force hastened the defeat and disintegration of the enemy and kept us safe from the weakening Luftwaffe.Our aircraft routinely patrol the airfields of the enemy's new jet-propelled fighter jets, minimizing the previously troubling threat.The constant attacks of our heavy bombers have reduced German gasoline production to a critical point, many of their airfields have been destroyed, and their factories and transportation systems have been severely damaged to the point of paralysis.

When the Americans in the south approached the Rhine, Montgomery was ready to cross the river.The planning of the battle and the concentration of supplies had already begun a few months ago. Masses of munitions, amphibious vehicles, assault boats, and bridging material were now being moved into the combat zone, and troops were massing on our side of the Rhine under cover of constant smoke. The point of crossing was good, the Ruhr was threatened, and Kesselring, who replaced Rundstedt as commander-in-chief, knew where to be hit.The seven divisions of the 1st Parachute Army were his best remaining troops, dug and defended on the east bank, but with the exception of the fringe defenses of Wessel and Reis, their field defenses were not as good as what the Allies had already achieved. They have conquered fortifications, but their artillery is still strong, and anti-aircraft guns have been transferred from the Ruhr's powerful air defense force.The sooner we can attack the better, and the plight of northern Holland (still in the clutches of Germany) makes an early attack all the more urgent. PM sends General Ismay to Chiefs of Staff Committee March 8, 1945 This dreadful letter from Dr. Gbrandy and the comments attached thereto by Sir Desmond Morton should be brought to your attention at once. Late Monday night General Bedell Smith came to my place in Reims on his own initiative and made a proposal. He said that he hoped that immediately after crossing the Rhine it would be possible to free up two divisions to wipe out the enemy in Holland.I understood that he was referring to the American divisions.My opinion is that now the two sides should agree on a plan to prevent the horrors that are about to befall the Dutch and to destroy the rocket sites in Holland as soon as possible.I think that if this is unavoidable (I'm not sure about this), it might be possible to consider postponing the general attack on Berlin.I am going to send a telegram to the President about these practices, but I want to ask your opinion first.Considering the propulsion role that amphibians and buffalo tanks etc. have played in our past military operations in northern France, I don't think we need to worry too much about the water.If it is true that the German army in Holland is now almost completely immobilized, and that all effective combat units have left, then there is no need to study the combat mission so much as to take it too seriously. Montgomery stepped up his preparations, and the Allied Air Forces were in full force.During the last week of February, they began bombing the area from Bremen to Koblenz, preventing the enemy from taking the arsenal in Uruhr and blocking traffic in the area of ​​operation.As the days passed, the airstrikes became more intense.In the fortnight before the offensive heavy bombers of the RAF and U.S. 8th and 9th Groups dropped some 50,000 tons of bombs.Medium bombers and fighter bombers combined with an overwhelming force of fighters cut off the lines of communication on the battlefield, causing chaos and devastation in western Germany. Under Montgomery's command, there was the First Canadian Army, the Second British Army and the Ninth American Army.The latter two armies will go to capture the bridgeheads north and south of Wesel, while the British 1st Assault Brigade in the center will occupy Wesel.Our side will bombard with 2,000 cannons for an hour, then cross the river by night, and cover the left flank with Canadian troops, and then the Canadian troops will also cross the river and pursue north.The next morning the two airborne divisions, the British 6th and the American 17th, were to land behind enemy lines north of the town in order to breach the enemy's fortifications from the rear. This arrangement prompted them to join forces earlier with other troops who had done us injustice in Arnhem.We were supported by heavy bombers and no fewer than three thousand fighters under Lieutenant General Coningham's command. I will cross the river with our troops, Montgomery welcomes.With only my secretary, Jock Colville, and Tommy, I flew in a Dakota from Northolt to British Army Headquarters near Venlo on the afternoon of March 23rd.The Commander-in-Chief led me to the caravan in which he lived and set out.I found myself in the same comfortable van I used to have.We ate at seven o'clock, and an hour later, arrived at Montgomery's map car just in time.There are displayed here all the maps drawn up by a select group of officers, showing the situation of the battle from hour to hour.Looking at these maps, we can see at a glance the whole plan of our troops' disposition and attack.On a twenty-mile front from Rheinsberg to Reis we will force the Rhine to cross at ten points. We must use all our strength.The 80,000 avant-garde troops in the million-strong army are scheduled to go into battle first.A large number of boats and pontoons are ready for use.Facing each other on the other side is the organized German army defending with bases, all equipped with modern firepower. Nothing I have seen in war, or studied, or read in ordinary life, makes me doubt whether a river is a good line of defense against a superior force.Hamley's "Operation War," which I've been meditating on since the days of Sandhurst.He once explained the truth that a river running parallel to an attacking line is much more dangerous than a river running straight across it.He also cites as an example the astonishing campaign of Napoleon in 1814. I was therefore full of hope for this war, before the Marshal explained to me his plan.Moreover, we now have an incomparably superior air supremacy.What the Commander-in-Chief particularly wanted me to see was the next morning when the two airborne divisions (fourteen thousand men in all), with artillery and many other offensive equipment, were about to land behind the enemy's lines.For this reason we all went to bed before ten o'clock. 【1】The name of the British Army Military Academy, from which Churchill graduated.translator I telegraphed Stalin: Prime Minister to Marshal Stalin March 23, 1945 I'm at Marshal Montgomery's headquarters now.He had just issued an order to launch a general offensive to force the Rhine across a broad front centered on Wesel.Supporting the operation were about two thousand pieces of artillery and a corps of airborne troops. It is hoped to cross the river tonight and tomorrow and establish a bridgehead. Once the crossing is completed, a large reserve armored force is immediately ready to cross the river to further expand the offensive. Marshal Montgomery wants me to salute you.I will send you another telegram tomorrow. The glory of the first attack falls on our 51st and 15th Divisions and the American 30th and 79th Divisions.The four battalions of the 51st Division set off first, and a few minutes later, they had arrived on the opposite bank.The attacking divisions flooded across the night through the night, meeting little resistance at first because the banks themselves were weakly defended.By daylight, the bridgehead was firmly established, though not yet deep enough, while the commandos engaged in hand-to-hand combat at Wesel. In the morning, Montgomery had arranged for me to watch the great spectacle of the landing of the airborne troops from the top of a hill in the surrounding rolling lowlands.It was broad daylight when the fleet suddenly appeared above us with a subdued but still loud rumble.During the next half hour, more than 2,000 planes flew overhead in formation.The locations where I watch are well chosen. The light there was clear, allowing one to clearly see where troops had landed on the enemy side. The plane gradually disappeared from view, but almost immediately came back to us from another altitude.As for the paratroopers, they couldn't be seen even with the best binoculars. But now there is the double roar and roar of the planes that have just arrived for reinforcements and the planes that have returned from the attack.Soon we watched with grief the return of planes in twos and threes, some tilted, some smoking, or even burning.At this time, small black spots slowly floated to the ground.The cruel and painful stories that have happened can be imagined with the imagination accumulated from rich experience.But it appears that nineteen out of twenty planes made it through and came back safe and sound.When we returned to headquarters an hour later, this estimate was confirmed by the reports we had heard. Now the attack is going on across the board, and they drive me on a long point-by-point tour.I also inspected various army headquarters.It was late at night when I came back.My private secretary, Jock Colville, was unable to travel with me because he had errands for me.But he had an arrangement of his own, and actually crossed the Rhine that morning with the boats that crossed the river, and met little resistance while crossing the river, while our foothold on the opposite bank was under fire from enemy fire. bombardment.A shell exploded near him and an officer who was talking to him. An Airborne soldier standing next to them was badly wounded, and Jock was drenched in his blood.He certainly would not have spoken of the accident had he not happened to be back at headquarters at the same time as Montgomery and I.His blood-spattered coat was seen by the marshal, who asked what had happened.Then he complained that a civil official could cross the river without his own permission.I rescued Colville in his rage.And promise to reprimand him personally.Later, after I learned about his experience, I pointed out to him how much inconvenience would be caused to my work in the private office if he was killed, and who would translate the secret telegrams sent every few hours and hand them over to him? I read?Then I reprimanded him with appropriate words.He expressed remorse, and I advised him to keep as far away from the marshal as possible while eating.He took my advice and dined elsewhere, and everything passed peacefully.He has now been forgiven. Things went well that day, and the four attacking divisions had safely crossed the river and were firmly established at the bridgehead, five thousand yards deep.The fiercest fighting was between Wessel and Reis.The airborne division fought bravely.Our air operations were also extremely successful.The Allied air offensive was second only to the day of the D-Day landings.It included not only the strategic air force from Britain, but also the heavy bombers from Italy, which penetrated deep into the German frontier. Eight o'clock in the afternoon.Let's go to the map car.Now I have an excellent opportunity to see Montgomery's method of conducting such a large-scale war.In almost two hours, a group of young officers of about the major level came to report in an endless stream.Every officer came back from some part of the front line.They were personal representatives directly to the commander-in-chief, and they could go wherever they wanted, see whatever they wanted, and ask any question they wanted to any commander in division or advancing force.When they came back, they had to make a report and be questioned in detail by their officers, so all the fighting situations of the day were laid out.This enabled Montgomery to have the full reality of the war by means of competent men with reliable eyesight whom he knew well.Reports from the various headquarters and commanders, though selected, weighed, and reported to Montgomery by his Chief of Staff, General de Guingamp, provided a valuable reiteration of the above. opportunity for verification.Using this method he was able to form a more vivid, immediate and sometimes more accurate conception.These officers took great perils, and of the seven or eight whom I heard reports from them during this and subsequent nights, two were killed in the ensuing weeks.I think this system is admirable, and indeed the only way a modern commander-in-chief can see and read what is actually going on in every part of the front.After this process was completed, Montgomery issued a series of instructions to de Guingamp, and the staff immediately translated them into actual actions.After that we went to rest. The next day, March 25, we went to meet with Eisenhower.On the way I remarked to Montgomery how his method resembled that of Marlborough and the method of command in the eighteenth century, when the commander-in-chief acted through his lieutenants.At that time the commander-in-chief rode on horseback and verbally commanded a battle on a front five or six miles long. That battle ended in a single day and determined the fate of certain great powers for years or generations to come.To carry out his intentions, he had four or five lieutenants stationed at various points along the front.These men knew his whole purpose, and it was their job to carry out his plan. These officers do not lead the troops, as long as they serve as the avatar and representative of the supreme commander, in modern times, the commander must sit in the office to direct the battle, the battle line is more than ten times longer than before, and each battle often lasts for seven days or as long as ten days.In these various cases, Montgomery's method of dispatching individual observers (who, of course, commanded the utmost respect from commanders at all levels at the front), was interesting, though a partial restoration of the old days. We met with Eisenhower just before noon.There are many American generals here.After talking to each other about various issues, we had a quick lunch. On the table, Eisenhower said that on our side of the Rhine, about ten miles away, there was a house that had been surrounded by sandbagging by the US military.From there it is possible to have a very clear view of the Rhine and its opposite bank.He suggested that we go and see it together, and led us there himself.The Rhine, about four hundred yards wide here, flows under my feet.On the enemy's side, there is a large flat grassland.The officers told us that, so far as they knew, there was no garrison on the other side of the river, and we watched for a while in amazement.Under proper precautions we were led into the house.The Supreme Commander had to leave because of other business.Montgomery and I were about to follow when I saw a small steamer approaching us to anchor.So I said to Montgomery: Why don't we cross the river and go to the other side to have a look?He replied somewhat unexpectedly, why not?So after he made some inquiries, we took three or four American commanders and six armed men and started to cross the river.We landed on the German bank in brilliant sunshine and in perfect tranquility, and walked about there for half an hour or so without much trouble. When we got back, Montgomery said to the captain of the steamer, can we go down the river to Wessel?Some fighting can be seen over there. The captain replied that half a mile from here, there is an iron chain blocking the river to prevent floating mines from interfering with our combat operations.Perhaps several mines have been blocked.Montgomery pressed him hard, but finally admitted that the danger was too great to go.As we landed, he said to me: Let us go to the railway bridge at Wesel, and see how things are there.So we stepped into his car.We were accompanied by the same few Americans, all happy to have something to see.We drove to the huge railway bridge with iron girders.The middle of the bridge is damaged, but its twisted iron frame makes for a good seat.The Germans were returning our fire, their four volleys landing about a mile away. Soon the shells came closer.Then a volley of guns flew over our heads and fell into the water on our side of the bridge.The shell seemed to have hit the bottom of the river and exploded, sending up a huge column of water about a hundred yards away.A few more shells landed between cars concealed not far behind us.So we decided we should go. I climbed down to join our adventurous host for the two hour car ride back to his headquarters.It seemed to me that he had one standard for Colville and another for himself. Over the next few days we continued to make progress east of the Rhine, and by March 28 the U.S. Ninth Army was approaching Duisburg and had entered Gladbeck.The Airborne Division, aided by an armored brigade of the British Army, pushed deep into Halten.From there the front was extended to Borken and Bocholt.The fighting on the left was fierce, but the 3rd Canadian Division, advancing down the Rhine bank, was closing in on Emmerich to join the rest of the Canadian Army on this side of the bank.Thus, by the end of the month we had a springboard east of the Rhine from which to launch a major offensive deep into North Germany.As for the exploits of the engineers who formed a major part of this historic battle, I need only cite one example, and the analogy will suffice.That is, as of the night of the 26th, at least twelve bridges have been erected on this big river. During this period of time, the American forces in the south, although they did not encounter such strong resistance, made amazing progress.The two bridgeheads won by their valor were daily strengthened and enlarged, and more and more troops were crossed south of Koblenz and at Worms.On March 25, the U.S. Third Army reached Darmstadt, and on March 29 it reached Frankfurt.On the same day, the U.S. Seventh Army captured Mannheim, while the U.S. First Army, which had started from Remagen, had reached Giessen and was advancing north.On April 2, the French also crossed the Rhine to the right of the U.S. Seventh Army, which was advancing eastward beyond Heidelberg.Kassel was captured.The left flank of the U.S. First Army had joined the U.S. Ninth Army east of Hamm.The Ruhr and its 325,000 defenders are surrounded.Germany's Western Front had crumbled.