HITLER HOPES FOR A STALEMATE
SEELY, Lt. Comdr. C. S.
Hitler Hopes For A Stalemate By LT. COMDR. C. S. SEELY HFIXER'S position in central Italy is now bad. Why he has not fallen back at least to his Genoa-Venice line is not understandable. This >is...
...Naturally, the ability to hold central Italy with a few divisions against all the forces the United States, Britain, and other allied countries could bring against him in that area has helped to keep up German morale...
...Differences may possibly crop up between the principal United Nations, as the war nears the end, which will favor Hitler...
...The advantage in Europe now lies entirely with the United Nations, and Hitler has no chance of a military victory, but he still has some chance of a stalemate...
...For months there has been little excuse for him to remain south of the Po River, except for political prestige, or perhaps personal vanity...
...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...
...No Chance For Victory The Russians are massing great forces on Hitler's southeastern front, which certainly will strike hard just as soon as they are ready...
...They have lost their ability to advance, and while they may be expected to fight desperate rear-guard actions, they won't be able long to hold off the Russians...
...This >is one of the minor mysteries of the war...
...But the price he paid—the price in chances he took—for this demonstration seems entirely too high...
...Hitler certainly has had plenty of time to remove or destroy practically everything of appreciable military value in central Italy...
...They are uncompromising foes of Franco, and they naturally will be suspicious of any friendly gesture to him by any of their allies...
...There was always danger of a United Nations' break through at some vital point (on the Russian front or on the Channel) while he was using men and equipment to hold an area that is of little military value...
...Certainly the Russians did not like that praise...
...His Forces From Russia By huge sacrifices of men and material Hitler seems to have saved most of his forces which were in southern Russia, but these forces have been so badly cut up and mauled generally that they probably will not be able to take the offensive again on any front...
...And Hitler cannot afford to retreat another mile on that front...
...The recent praise of Franco by Churchill and Hoare are indications of this...
...Every gallon of his remaining oil supply must be held at all cost, and he will lose a great part of it if he retreats farther into Rumania...
Vol. 8 • June 1944 • No. 24
