rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich-william-shirer-pdf

780 THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICHhad any German arrogated such tyrannical power, nominal and legal as well asactual, to himself.But even without this added authority, Hitler was absolute master of theArmy, of which he had now assumed direct command. Ruthlessly he movedthat bitter winter to stem the retreat of his beaten armies and to save themfrom the fate of Napoleon’s troops along the same frozen, snowbound roadsback from Moscow. He forbade any further withdrawals. The German generalshave long debated the merits of his stubborn stand – whether it saved thetroops from complete disaster or whether it compounded the inevitable heavylosses. Most of the commanders have contended that if they had been givenfreedom to pull back when their position became untenable they could havesaved many men and much equipment and been in a better position to re-formand even counterattack. As it was, whole divisions were frequently overrun orsurrounded and cut to pieces when a timely withdrawal would have saved them.And yet some of the generals later reluctantly admitted that Hitler’s ironwill in insisting that the armies stand and fight was his greatest accomplishmentof the war in that it probably did save his armies from completely disintegratingin the snow. This view is best summed up by General Blumentritt.Hitler’s fanatical order that the troops must hold fast regardlessin every position and in the most impossible circumstances wasundoubtedly correct. Hitler realized instinctively that any retreatacross the snow and ice must, within a few days, lead to the dissolutionof the front and that if this happened the Wehrmacht wouldsuffer the same fate that had befallen the Grande Armee . . . Thewithdrawal could only be carried out across the open country sincethe roads and tracks were blocked with snow. After a few nights thiswould prove too much for the troops, who would simply lie down anddie wherever they found themselves. There were no prepared positionsin the rear into which they could be withdrawn, nor any sortof line to which they could hold on. 1071General von Tippelskirch, a corps commander, agreed.It was Hitler’s one great achievement. At that critical moment thetroops were remembering what they had heard about Napoleon’sretreat from Moscow, and living under the shadow of it. If they hadonce begun a retreat, it might have turned into a panic flight. 1072There was panic in the German Army, not only at the front but far in therear at headquarters, and it is graphically recorded in Haider’s diary. ”Verydifficult day!” he begins his journal on Christmas Day, 1941, and thereafterinto the new year he repeats the words at the head of many a day’s entry ashe describes each fresh Russian breakthrough and the serious situation of thevarious armies.December 29. Another critical day! . . . Dramatic long-distancetelephone talk between Fuehrer and Kluge. Fuehrer forbids furtherwithdrawal of northern wing of 4th Army. Very bad crisis by 9thArmy where apparently the commanders have lost their heads. At