The Watch on the Rhine

SdKfz 10/5 Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun
Bundesarchiv

"Another SdKfz 10/5? So we have three in total?" Major von Lüttwitz was unsettled by all the equipment and supplies being lavished upon his small unit through SS channels.

Hauptfeldwebel Keller nodded, "Yes Sir, the third vehicle also came with a support vehicle. It's an older French truck, but one of the men with the truck is a pretty damned good mechanic, he's got all of the detachment's vehicles in excellent running order."

"Which is more than we can say about the five beat up Opel Blitzes that came in this morning. Two of them being towed behind two of the others. Any word on those?" von Lüttwitz looked towards the barns which they'd converted to maintenance sheds.

"Yes Sir, Fleischhacker said that he can have four running Blitzes by taking parts off the worst one. Fleischhacker is one of the StuG crewman, he was a mechanic before the war at the Nürburg-Ring." Keller turned when he heard the sound of more engines coming up the road which led down into the town of Stadtkyll.

Breasting the slight crest to the east of the "command barn" (as the troops were calling it) was the same Kübelwagen that had visited them a couple of days before, carrying the same two well-worn Waffen SS men. Behind them was a column of SdKfz 251 halftracks, empty save for the men driving the vehicles. At the end of the column was a single Opel Blitz.

SdKfz 150 Ausf B Halftracks
(Source)

SS-Hauptsturmführer Herbert Manstein jumped from the Kübelwagen as it rolled to a stop, he snapped a salute at the major. Von Lüttwitz returned the SS man's salute and said, "Ah, Manstein, so good to see you again. I have a complaint about the trucks you sent me."

"Trucks Herr Major? I didn't send you any trucks. It seems that SS-Gruppenführer Priess decided to give you halftracks instead. Better for where we are going it seems. For that, we need to talk inside, alone." The young SS captain led the way to the barn, carrying the briefcase himself this time. Then he stopped.

"Wolf, see that the halftracks are parked in concealment, the weather is bad now, but if it clears..."

"Certainly Hauptsturmführer. And the drivers?"

"Load them on the truck, send them back to the rear."

"Jawohl!" The younger SS man brought his heels together and bowed slightly to the SS captain.

"Now Herr Major..."

"The trucks Hauptsturmführer, you didn't send them?" von Lüttwitz wanted that riddle solved before being presented with any more.

"Ah, yes, the LKWs.¹ We didn't send them, perhaps your old command? They are, by the way, some really beat up vehicles aren't they? But we have important business Herr Major, you need to prepare your unit."

"For what?" von Lüttwitz asked, but the young SS officer simply beckoned and the two men entered the "command barn."

LKW Opel Blitz
Bundesarchiv

"So, that's the basic outline of the plan Sir, your Kampfgruppe should begin moving tonight and head north over the Kyll River and proceed to the vicinity of Kronenburg. When the attack begins, you will go in behind the 12th Volksgrenadier Division. Their mission is to breach the American lines in the vicinity of Losheim." As the young captain explained all this he was referring to a map spread out on the table von Lüttwitz used for a desk.

"What's our immediate objective Manstein?" von Lüttwitz was already going over in his head the steps he'd need to take to get his men and vehicles moving. While they weren't technically fully motorized, he had enough assault guns, halftracks, and trucks to carry all of his men. Of course, now he had to worry about fuel in addition to ammunition and rations.

"Your initial objective is Bütgenbach, here on the map next to the Amel² River. The best route according to our intelligence, a good road, lightly manned at the frontier, nothing in the way of American reserves is Losheim-Losheimergraben-Hünnigen-Büllingen, and then Bütgenbach itself. You'll be covering the right flank of my unit, SS-Leibstandarte."

"I did wonder..." von Lüttwitz began.

"The Führer wants everyone to think that we're back in Russia. To your north will be the Hitler Jugend Division..."

"Is there anything left of that outfit?"

"Yes Sir, they've been completely rebuilt. A strong complement of Panzers, half Panthers, half PzKw IVs and two fully manned Panzergrenadier regiments. A lot of younger men from the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine, but they've got spirit." Manstein said that proudly, as if he'd trained them himself.

"Really Manstein, airmen and sailors? Dress them in whatever uniform you'd like, it takes more than clothes and a good attitude to make a soldier." von Lüttwitz was dismayed, more cannon fodder. His own replacements were mostly young boys seasoned with a few older men who had fought in the first war.

Manstein looked briefly at the floor of the barn, then at von Lüttwitz, there was a profound sadness in his eyes. "Begging your pardon Herr Major, but what do we have left? What should we do, sit behind the Rhine and hope the enemy tires of the war?" Manstein looked into the distance then sighed.

"Sorry Sir. I know this attack is a desperate roll of the dice, but we can't sit back and wait. If we can stun the Amis and Tommies, maybe they'll rethink their support of the Soviets. That alliance is unnatural and you know it."

"You weren't always in the SS, were you Manstein?"

"No Sir, I was in the Army until late 1940. The Waffen SS were looking for veteran soldiers to be commissioned into the Waffen SS. So I transferred. My division commander raised holy Hell but a visit from the Sicherheitsdienst calmed him down."

"Yes, I can well imagine. Anything else I need to know? I need to get my men moving, what about fuel supplies along the way?"

"You will be refueled and resupplied in Kronenburg. I understand that you will be receiving another company of infantry there as well, all truck mounted. I must be going Sir, I have other stops. Everything you need for now is in this folder." Manstein handed that folder to von Lüttwitz, it was stamped "Streng Geheim³" in bold red letters.

"Thank you Hauptsturmführer, Hals-und Beinbruch!"

"Gleichfalls Herr Major!" With a last salute, the young SS captain departed. Keller came in after the man and his driver were gone.

"Sir, we have ten fairly new halftracks, and miracle of miracles, Fleischhacker and Pfeiffer have got all five LKWs running. They 'liberated' some parts from a garage in town. We're motorized now Sir. Shall I tell the lads to start calling themselves Panzergrenadiers now?" Keller was obviously in a good mood. He wondered if the SS driver had told him anything.

"Well, save your high spirits for the road Spieß, we're moving out immediately, to Kronenburg. In less than five days, we're attacking into Belgium. But that's a secret, understood?"

"Of course Sir, I..."

"Our young friend Manstein informed me that three men from the Leibstandarte were shot yesterday for talking about this operation."

Keller looked stunned, "Jesus Sir, they're shooting their own now. The Waffen SS?"

"Lot's of them are just like our new lads Spieß, young boys. So watch your tongue, all this is unter vier Augen, klar?"

"Jawohl Herr Major, klar wie Glas. I better get moving!"

"Yes, please. We depart as soon as we can get everyone loaded on the vehicles."

As Keller rushed off to get the unit mounted and ready, von Lüttwitz walked to the barn opening and looked out over the valley. It was so pretty here, he thought. While the snow had stopped, they'd only received perhaps a centimeter, it had made the town and surrounding countryside look like a postcard.

He had to wonder, would this mad scheme pay off? After their losses in the Hürtgenwald, the Americans had to be growing war weary. He'd seen it himself in their later attacks, they were cautious, they must feel that the war was close to ending. An offensive, if successful, could, in theory, break their morale. Get in behind the British up in Holland, those people would surely run to the Channel and home, just like they had in 1940.

"If only..." von Lüttwitz mused aloud, "I would so like to go home..."

¹ Lastkraftwagen, truck in German, typically referred to by just the initials, pronounced "El Kaw Vay."

² What the Germans called the Amblève River.

³ Top Secret.  The other German phrases used above are "Hals-und Beinbruch" - Break a leg, "Gleichfalls" - likewise, "unter vier Augen" - in private, a secret, literally "under four eyes," i.e. only two people, "klar" - is that clear, and "klar wie Glas" - clear as glass, i.e. clear as day.

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