Free Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) by Colin Gee Page A

around Hamburg . Hannover was under heavy pressure and the British General did not expect to hold beyond that evening. But still McCreery’s report was better than any of the others Eisenhower had endured so far that day.
    Opening his third pac k of cigarettes , the commanding G eneral examined the situation map, seeing the front sundered at Kassel , Frankfurt, Geissen, Heilbronn and Ingolstadt , the red markers seemingly breeding on the map before his eyes , as tired staff placed up the markers of processed reports.
    A red-eyed staff Major attracted Ike’s attention and gestured towards the telephone, mouthing the word ‘Bradley’
    “Eisenhower.”
    “Ike, this is Omar. We can’t stop them.”
    ‘Well that is pretty unequivocal’ , thought Ike.
    “Go on , Brad.”
    “If my brief is still to preserve my force , I have no choice but to conduct a controlled and rapid withdrawal, and to be frank, for some of my units it may be too late already Ike.”
    “You must preserve your force, that order still stands Omar. You’ve been updated about Ingolstadt I hope?”
    “Yes Sir. Depending on where they go , I don’t believe they will be a problem for me just now.”
    Drawing quickly on his cigarette , Eisenhower focussed on the map to his front.
    “So, what do you propose , Brad?”
    “The Rhine .”
    “The Rhine ?”
    “Has to be , Ike .”
    Eisenhower’s eyes took in the situation, assessing distances from enemy forces to the Rhine, new units arriving at French ports, others available in France , bringing everything together in his mind.
    “No good for the British , Brad, no good for the Germans,” Eisenhower shook his head at the inanimate object in his hand, “N o good at all.”
    “I understand , Ike. We have to hold the Ruhr in any case, that is a must, so we can establish a defensible line from there up to Bremen , I hope.”
    “There’s not as much going on with McCreery at the moment. He should hold for now.”
    “Regardless , I need to start pull ing back now , and to cut the orders , now ,” Eisenhower didn’t care for the school teacher emphasis his General used but let it go, “ It means abandoning large areas of Germany to the Russians and the Council ain’t gonna like it , Ike, but if I’m gonna have enough Army to kick them back again then it has to be done...”
    “…And done now? ” Eisenhower completed the sentence.
    “Yes , Sir, it surely does.”
    A few staff officers had stopped what they were doing and were looking at Eisenhower, aware from his posture and expression that the day was about to take a different turn.
    “No.”
    Bradley was actually physically shocked.
    “Sorry Brad, but I cannot give up that much ground without a fight. There are other natural lines of defence we can dig our heels into.”
    “ Yes Sir, but none with the worth of the Rhine .”
    “But none the less of worth , General.”
    Eisenhower consulted a small map on the table in front of him.
    “Too much ground. We can hold them for some time on other lines , Brad. Dropping back to the Rhine in one hit removes other options. I can’t sanction that. ”
    “I’m not proposing a mass bug out , Ike. A controlled and fighting withdrawal back to the Rhine , to give myself time to beef up the defences.”
    “I can buy into that, General , but ceding the ground only when absolutely necessary . There will be other lines to hold, before the Rhine, and I will tell the Council that we will hold them as best we can whilst we prepare the Rhine . Combat engineers have been working hard , but we are light on mines from the reports I see.”
    Bradley clearly wanted to make certain of his remit , ignoring the point to ensure he understood fully .
    “So can I look to drop back on the Rhine ?”
    Eisenhower wanted to make sure his man understood his orders.
    “A fighting withdrawal, establishing more defensive lines and holding on to them for as long as is possible, pulling out only to preserve your force . Not a