The Rhine

The Rhine River, Near Oberwinter
(Source)

The oath resounds, on rolls the wave,

The banners fly high, proud, and brave,

The Rhine, the Rhine, the German Rhine

We all shall stand to hold the line!¹

The trip over the Rhine to the eastern side of the river at Remagen, then to Köln and over another bridge back to the western side of the river had been tiresome to say the least. Both bridges had been clogged with refugees going one way, troops going the other, sometimes there were men of obvious military age mixed in with the refugees trying to blend in with those unfortunates. The Feldgendarmerie had their hands full this close to the front.

Major Jürgen von Lüttwitz and his two company commanders Leutnant Manfred Sauer and Oberfeldwebel Georg Eichmann had worn themselves down to a nub trying to herd their column of two tanks, one assault gun, numerous halftracks, multiple Kübelwagens, and more trucks than von Lüttwitz expected to still be running through these crowds. At one point the lead Panther, commanded by Leutnant Ralf Heinrich, had accelerated straight towards a Luftwaffe truck blocking the road. The truck had veered into a ditch, where it promptly got stuck.

"Are you insane man!" A disheveled and very drunk Luftwaffe colonel screamed as he climbed out of the passenger side of the truck. "This truck is under the personal orders of the Reichsmarschall himself!"

The two Panthers, the sole remaining StuG IV and a number of infantry-laden halftracks continued down the road, ignoring the soused colonel. Eventually Major von Lüttwitz's Kübelwagen arrived on scene, his driver pulled over and von Lüttwitz stepped out.

Von Lüttwitz saluted then said, "Is there a problem here, Herr Oberst²?"

"Do you command this column, Major?" The irate colonel got close enough to von Lüttwitz that the Major could feel flecks of the colonel's saliva hitting his face. So he stepped back.

"Yes, it is. We've been ordered over the river to defend the approaches to Köln? I suppose you have a very good reason for attempting to impede the movement of a combat unit?" von Lüttwitz spoke quietly.

The colonel began to sputter, he had assumed that using the name of Reichsmarschall Herman Göring would have been sufficient to cow these common soldiers. Having spent the war at a series of comfortable headquarters jobs, the colonel was unused to the brutal reality of the front and the areas just behind the front.

Before the colonel could say a word, Leutnant Manfred Sauer had pulled up in his Kübelwagen, trailed by a Feldgendarmerie Kübelwagen carrying three men. The senior of those three men stepped from his vehicle.

"Herr Oberst, I need to see your papers." Ordered the senior Feldgendarm.

"Now look here, Feldwebel..." the colonel sputtered.

"Now. Herr Oberst." He said with a voice like ice.

Then turning to his two submachine gun-armed men, he ordered. "Gefreiter Zielinski, check the truck's contents, Feldgendarm Schreiber, detain the driver of the truck."

The colonel hesitated for a moment, then said, "My movement orders are in the LKW, let me..."

"Schreiber, have the driver show you the truck's papers as well."

After a moment, the two lower ranking Feldgendarmerie came back to their sergeant. "Feldwebel Weber, there are no papers in the truck, the driver says the colonel ordered him away from his Flak unit without proper authorization." Feldgendarm Schreiber reported.

"The back of the truck seems to be loaded with art, at least that's what the crates are labeled. I think I saw a Rembrandt back there." Gefreiter Zielinski reported.

"Very well." Turning to von Lüttwitz, Feldwebel Weber said. "Sorry for the inconvenience Herr Major, we don't require your services at this time. We have ample evidence to convict the Herr Oberst."

At the word "convict," the colonel began to plead his case. His pleas fell on deaf ears.

(Source)

Through his field glasses Leutnant Ralf Heinrich spotted a column of vehicles emerging from out the ruins of a village some thousand meters away. They were advancing slowly, they were obviously expecting resistance. There was a halftrack in front followed by one of the Ami Shermans. Heinrich was certain they were Americans as the Tommies were further north.

He watched, then slid back down into his hatch, leaving only his head exposed.

"Hans?" He queried his gunner.

"I make the range to be 975 meters Herr Leutnant. Engage the Sherman first?"

"Aber natürlich, my lad. If you destroy the Sherman, just continue down the column. We'll take, I don't know, five shots, then we scurry before their artillery starts up. Stand by." He then got on the radio to Feldwebel Willi Schreiber in 115. "Willi, engage the halftracks, we'll kill the panzers. Five rounds each then back to the alternate position."

"Jawohl, Herr Leutnant!"

The big 7.5 cm cannon on Heinrich's Panther barked and sent an anti-tank round screaming at the American Sherman. Schreiber's tank fired half a heartbeat later. Heinrich was watching through his field glasses and saw sparks fly from the front of the Sherman, near the driver's position.

The American tank jerked to a stop and Heinrich could see smoke issuing from around the vehicle's turret ring. He was then distracted as Schreiber's round slammed into the halftrack which had been leading the column. That vehicle simply came apart at the seams, spilling its burning occupants along the side of the road.

Heinrich watched, not needing to intervene, his crew was very good. The first five vehicles in the column, three halftracks and two tanks, were hit in rapid succession. He watched through his field glasses as the crew of the tank his gunner had hit scrambled to escape from their vehicle. He could see flames licking out of the hatches as he counted three men jump from the tank. Which meant two were still inside.

The second tank exploded almost immediately after being hit, its turret flipping end over end to land ten meters from its parent vehicle. He saw no one get out of that tank. Moments later he heard the screech of an incoming high velocity round pass uncomfortably close overhead.

"Gentlemen, I think it's time to leave the party. Willi, do you hear me?"

He looked towards 115, that Panther was already reversing out of its firing position at speed.

"What say you Friedrich, ready to go?" He asked his driver.

Without a word from Panzerschütze Friedrich Pfeiffer, Panther 111 began to back away. Soon they were behind a fold in the terrain, had turned about, and were accelerating towards their secondary firing positions. He wasn't worried about his rear, he could hear Gefreiter Schantz's StuG IV going into action. Major von Lüttwitz had positioned Schantz further south, towards Berrenrath, in order to flank the Americans.

The plan had been for the Panthers to destroy the head of the Ami column, then the StuG would fire as the Americans tried to deploy. In the confusion they could fall back to the main line of resistance. Heinrich was sure that the Amis would be slower, more cautious. It would give the defenders of Köln the time they needed to complete the city's defenses.

For once, the plan went exactly as scripted.

The situation before Köln, 02 March 1945
(Source)

"Ausgezeichnet³! Good job Ralf! Report in when you reach your alternate firing position." Major von Lüttwitz was pleased. It wasn't often lately that something went right. He turned to Sauer and Eichmann. "Our Panzer boys have drawn blood. They claim four Panzers and seven halftracks destroyed on the road from Türnich."

"That's a platoon of infantry and one of tanks!" Eichmann exclaimed.

"Heinrich reports that the American artillery is shredding the small wood where his Panzers were positioned. Something to bear in mind before getting too excited about this small victory. We need to delay the Amis at least a day, then we need to fall back into Köln." von Lüttwitz continued.

"Do they expect us to help defend the city? Our halftracks won't be much use in those city streets. I'd like to be on the move as soon as it gets dark." Sauer was not excited about their prospects of re-crossing the Rhine. He knew that as soon as things got dicey, the defenders would blow the bridges. Stranding them on the wrong side of the river.

At least the overcast was low enough to keep the Jabos occupied elsewhere, but he thought he detected the clouds starting to break up to the west. They were dangerously exposed here.

"Will we move tonight, Herr Major?" he had to ask.

"Probably, once the less mobile units have fallen back, I intend to make a dash for the bridge. I want to be on the other side tomorrow. The Amis will be howling for blood after this nasty little setback."

"Little, Herr Major? Five dead tanks, that's 25 men out of action, and another 60 or 70 in the halftracks. Probably dead or badly wounded, I'd say they'll wait a day before trying again. Die Daumen drücken!⁴" Eichmann protested.

"There are many more where those came from Georg, I wouldn't get too excited." von Lüttwitz said, then concluded with, "Let's get back to our positions. I expect we'll receive orders soon. Hals-und-Beinbruch meine Herren!⁵"

¹ The 6th stanza of "Die Wacht am Rhein", in the original German:

Der Schwur erschallt, die Woge rinnt

die Fahnen flattern hoch im Wind:

Am Rhein, am Rhein, am deutschen Rhein

wir alle wollen Hüter sein. (Source)

² Colonel

³ Excellent

⁴ German equivalent of "Keep your fingers crossed," literally "Press the thumbs."

⁵ German equivalent of "Break a leg!" literally "Break a neck and a leg"

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