THE NAZI RETREAT
SEELY, Lt. Comdr. C. S.
The Nazi Retreat By Lt. Comdr.C.S.Seely AS A RESULT of the many disasters his armies have recently suffered in Russia, Adolf Hitler now has almost no choice but to get out of that country as...
...So, he may be expected to shorten all of his lines as expeditiously as possible, and this includes getting out of Finland and Norway within the near future...
...Hitler possibly will strip and leave Finland first, as that country is no longer of any appreciable value to him as a base of operations against our shipping...
...Comdr.C.S.Seely AS A RESULT of the many disasters his armies have recently suffered in Russia, Adolf Hitler now has almost no choice but to get out of that country as quickly as possible...
...The Nazis In Italy We seem to be more or less bogged down in Italy, but I think Nazi resistance will lessen as soon as Hitler has robbed Rome of everything worth taking away...
...The Nazis certainly court total annihilation if they try to make a serious stand east of Russia's 1939 border...
...The Russians are pressing him too hard there...
...He will be lucky if he gets out the German equipment he sent there...
...He must from now on, no matter how long the war lasts, remain on the defensive...
...Any retreat beyond the Konigsberg-Odessa line would not only make Nazi defensive operations more difficult, but would also bring the Russians dangerously close to the Rumanian, Polish, and Czech oil fields—places which Hitler must save at all costs if he is to stave off early defeat...
...It would seem that Hitler's best bet of avoiding imminent defeat is to keep retreating until he reaches the Konigsberg-Odessa line...
...I doubt if Hitler is getting much Russian goods out of the Ukraine...
...This is the shortest possible line on the Eastern Front, and it is a military axiom that a short line is much more easily defended than a long line...
...The opinions and assertions expressed above are the private ones of the writer and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department or the naval service at large...
...Finland And Norway Hitler obviously is no longer capable of taking the offensive...
...It would seem that Hitler will make a determined attempts—if not an all-out one—to hold all of Italy north of the Genoa-Venice line, for should we push past that line Hitler's French and Yugoslav flanks would be imperiled...
...However, he may not leave Norway until the last possible moment as too many retreats at or near the same time would be bad for German morale...
...Norway, however, is no longer a great asset to Hitler, and he may soon start stripping and getting out of that country as he is now doing in Italy, and was doing a little while ago in North Africa...
...There is no doubt that the only reason Hitler is holding U3 in southern Italy is to give himself time to move into Germany, or destroy everything of military value in that part of North-Central Italy he does not plan to defend...
Vol. 7 • November 1943 • No. 47
