Cassino to the Alps - US Army Center Of Military History

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drawn away from the main sector opposite
Lugo and the Bastia Bridge.
In preparation for the main attack,
McCreery planned to concentrate six
divisions behind his center, from a
bend of the Senio near Lugo where the
river turns toward the northeast to, but
exclusive of, Highway 9. The sector had
the advantage of several good crossing
sites, and the highway along which the
Germans had concentrated at least two
of their best divisions, the 4th Parachute
and 26th Panzer, might be avoided.
Once the attacking divisions had
crossed the San terno , about five miles
beyond the Senio, they were to turn in
a more northerly direction toward Argenta.
By holding the enemy in place
and drawing units away from the
coastal flank, the maneuver was expected
to assist those forces making an
amphibious right hook against the Argenta
Gap.
The 5 Corps operation ag-ainst Lugo
was to be made by two divisions: the
8th Indian, passing to the right, and
the 2d New Zealand, to the left of the
town. By D plus 2 both divisions were
expected to have established a large
bridgehead beyond the Santerno near
Massa Lombarda. At that point the
78th Division, having moved beyond
Lugo, was to relieve the Indian division,
then continue the attack toward the
Bastia Bridge. While that was in progress,
a brigade of the 56th Division,
transported in L VT's, was to cross the
flooded plain as far as the Menate
pumping station, on the Comacchio
Lagoon's shore eleven miles east of the
Bastia Bridge. The New Zealand division,
meanwhile, was either to cover the
78th Division's left or, in co-operation
with the Polish corps, to advance west-
CASSINO TO THE ALPS
ward toward Budrio, seventeen miles
northwest of Massa Lombarda, depending
upon the success of the thrust in
the direction of the Bastia Bridge. The
8th Indian Division and the Cremona
Battle Group were to round up bypassed
enemy forces before passing into
5 Corps reserve.
The 2 Polish Corps to the left of the
5 Corps was to form the second prong
of the Eighth Army's offensive. First
Polish objectives beyond the Santerno
were the towns of Medicina, eighteen
miles northwest of Faenza, and Castel
San Pietro, a similar distance from the
Polish front on Highway 9. Eventually
the Polish corps was expected to coordinate
closely with the U.S. Fifth
Army's II Corps in the capture or
isolation of Bologna, and in the event
the 5 Corps failed to break through the
Argenta Gap, to keep open General
McCreery's option for switching the axis
of his main effort toward Budrio.
If McCreery's plans succeeded, he
intended to continue his offensive in
two separate battles: the first, a battle of
annihilation against the enemy south of
the Po, the second an exploitation as
far as Ferrara. Both were to be f()llowed
by pursuits, the first beyond the
Po and the Adige and the second along
the south bank of the Po to prevent
enemy forces still south of the river
from reaching it.
On the other hand, if the 5 Corps
had difficulty in forcing the Argenta
Gap, the 13 Corps headquarters was to
come around from the army's left flank
to take control of those divisions fighting
the first of the two battles in the
direction of Budrio. That would leave
the 5 Corps free to concentrate on the
Argenta sector. Once the corps broke