First Battle: Northern Sector 24 January – 11 February 1944
To the individual combat soldier, the bitter cold weather of
January had added to the discomfort of fighting in mud and water. 'Vet foxholes
were the rule, freezing nights the norm, and trench foot and illness the
result. A sharp rise in artillery expenditure rates during the last ten days of
the month seemed to have little effect, and, added to other causes for concern,
gave "every evidence that the enemy intends to prevent, at all costs, the
occupation of Rome and juncture of the main Fifth Army with the Anzio
forces."
The estimate was correct. On 31 January, when Vietinghoff
informed Kesselring that he intended to continue to hold his ground, he
indicated that the focal point of his defense was the Cassino massif. If he
needed to reinforce the XIV Panzer Corps to prevent the Fifth Army from breaking
through, he would weaken the LXXVI Panzer Corps by taking troops from the
Adriatic front.
Kesselring was satisfied. "In full agreement with intentions
as reported," he said.
At the beginning of February, the Germans had a dual task:
eliminate the Anzio beachhead and hold the Gustav Line. The Allied lodgment, if
expanded sufficiently to threaten the major lines of communication running
south from Rome, would compel the Germans to abandon the Gustav Line and give
up southern Italy. Yet the Allied pressure around Cassino to gain entrance into
the Liri valley made it impossible for the Germans to divert forces to Anzio
from the Gustav Line. In fact, the attacks against the Gustav Line required
that more strength be concentrated along the Rapido-Garigliano line than had
ever before been committed against the Fifth Army, so much more that Kesselring
would have to draw on his strength at Anzio to bolster the Gustav defenses
early in February. If the Gustav Line could be held until enough units were
gathered at Anzio to eliminate the beachhead, the situation in southern Italy
would remain the same as it was before the amphibious operation. The Allied
forces would have suffered a crushing defeat and would still be a considerable
distance from Rome.
The four German divisions that had been fully committed
along the Gustav Line early in January had been increased by the beginning of
February to an equivalent of about six divisions, and additional units would
appear almost daily despite the requirements of Anzio. Opposite 10 Corps, the
94th Division occupied the coastal area, its eastern flank bolstered by part of
the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division. Against II Corps were parts of the 15th Panzer
Grenadier, the 71st Infantry, and the 3d Panzer Grenadier Divisions, all of
which also had units at Anzio, and the entire 44th Infantry Division. Facing
the French were part of the 3d Panzer Grenadier Division and the entire 5th
Mountain Division.
All these organizations except the 29th Panzer Grenadier and
71st Divisions had been in the line continuously for at least a month and most
of them for longer. All were seriously depleted, the 71st in particular, and
not enough replacements were coming in to return the units to full strength.
The 44th Division for example, had received approximately 1,000 replacements in
January but had lost the same number as prisoners.
In the critical sector, the area immediately around Cassino,
the 44th and 71st Divisions, as well as a few units of the 3d Panzer Grenadier
Division, had received a battering as they held tenaciously in the hills north
and west of the town. To augment these troops and at the same time permit the
relatively strong 29th Panzer Grenadier Division to move to Anzio, Vietinghoff
would transfer the 90th Panzer Grenadier Division to the Cassino area from the
Adriatic coast; units would begin arriving piecemeal around 7 February. A day
or so later the 1st Parachute Division would come from the Adriatic front, to
be joined at the Gustav Line by units of the division that had earlier been
rushed to Anzio. The veteran paratroopers would take positions in the hills
behind Cassino. Monte Cassino would become their fortress.
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