The Steel Wave - Jeff Shaara [4]
Eisenhower comes to command after long years in service as an exceptional administrator, a man known for a sharp organizational mind. To the field generals who have faced the enemy, however, Eisenhower is a complete unknown, and there are grave doubts about his abilities on both sides of the Atlantic. But George Marshall has known Eisenhower for many years, considers him far more than just a capable subordinate, and convinces Roosevelt that “Ike” is the man for the job. In the late spring of 1942, Eisenhower arrives in England, where he faces the daunting challenge of uniting the armies, navies, and air forces of two separate countries into one cohesive and cooperative fighting force. Eisenhower faces another challenge as well. He is only a major general, and thus he is outranked by every one of his key British subordinates.
On November 8, 1942, as Montgomery slowly pursues Rommel’s bloodied army, the Allies launch Operation Torch, the largest amphibious landing ever attempted. It will become America’s first land-based operation of the war and results in a relatively easy conquest of ports and territories in Morocco and Algeria, which are defended mostly by weak Hitler-dominated French forces. The victory emboldens the Americans, who begin to believe that the war will be a rapid affair, brought to a close by their superior arms and cocky enthusiasm. To Rommel, the successful invasion means that he is now squeezed between pressure from Montgomery, to the east, and the hard thrust from American and British troops closing on him from the west. With characteristic speed, Rommel reassembles his army from their lengthy retreat and strikes at the Americans, who he believes are not yet prepared for a serious fight. The Americans first meet Rommel at Kasserine Pass, Tunisia, where inept and unprepared American commanders discover that Rommel’s reputation is well earned. Kasserine Pass is an American disaster, and panicked troops and their commanders fall back to safe havens in Algeria. Despite his success, Rommel is virtually ignored by the German High Command. Though he has become a hero to the German populace, Rommel cannot convince Hitler of how inadequately his army is being supplied. As he tours the battlefield, he ruefully observes the enormity of the raw materials and tools of war the Americans have brought to the fight. No matter how often and how successfully he strikes at the enemy closing around him, defeat in North Africa is inevitable.
By the spring of 1943, his pessimism strikes one too many nerves in Berlin, and Rommel is recalled from North Africa. Eisenhower makes a purge of his own, removing several Allied commanders who are not up to the task. As he scrambles to put the best army he can into line against the experienced German opposition, capable U.S. officers begin to emerge. To bolster the sagging spirits and ineffectiveness of the American infantry, Eisenhower names George S. Patton to command the American ground forces. Patton is a fiery and profane man, who shows every indication that he