The Incredible Tito: Man of the Hour Read Online Free PDF Page B

of Yugoslavia; it was a temporary parliament for the freed areas of Yugoslavia. Along with this, the loose, Partisan structure of the Liberation Front began to reorganize itself as a regular military force. In Tito’s brilliant and triumphant march to the north, he had taken the opportune historical moment for uniting the guerrilla bands into a regular army. Regiments and divisions were formed, and officers were appointed to lead them. Elements from all of Yugoslavia were brought into the new army.
    Tito placed the accent now on unity. In spite of the fact that Mikhailovich’s Serbian army was attacking the Partisans at every opportunity, more and more Serbs joined the Liberation Front movement. A collaborationist group of the worst Croatian elements, the Ustachi, was working with the Italians and murdering patriotic Croats by the thousand; in several cases, Serbs combined with the Croats to fight these traitors.
    One of the first acts of the new parliament in liberated Yugoslavia was to organize schools, to care for and educate the thousands of children orphaned and made homeless by the war. Medical training was instituted as well as intensive agriculture and certain necessary manufactures.
    The respite, however, was not very long. The Germans realized well enough that Yugoslavia was one of the most dangerous cracks in Fortress Europa. So long as even a part of the country remained in Partisan hands, that could some day be a jumping off spot for an invasion. In addition, the Partisan threat immobilized some ten German divisions that could be put to better use on the Russian front, where they were sorely needed.
    So in January of 1943, the Germans determined to put an end to the Partisan threat, once and for all. They mustered overwhelming aerial support; they selected four of their crack divisions, with Italian and Ustachi support, and they arranged for a simultaneous supporting attack by Mikhailovich. Their target was Bihach.
    At this point, Tito made a brilliant and daring decision. In his victorious campaign of the year before, success had come with the help of two important factors—the endurance of his men and their knowledge of the rugged Yugoslav country. So long as he fought a war of quick movement, he could take deadly toll of the Germans yet keep his own force intact. If, however, he chose a definite line to hold and slugged it out with the Germans, they could continue to bring up re-enforcements until they had cut all avenues of escape, and then, with their strong air support, they could eventually destroy the entire Partisan Army.
    With this in mind, he detached from his army the First Bosnian Corps and the First Croatian Corps, one hundred thousand men in all. They were to follow the accepted Partisan procedure. When the German attack came, they were to lash back and then break up and disappear into the woods and the hills. When the Germans had passed by, they were to re-assemble and cut to ribbons the German lines of communication, destroying at the same time whatever garrisons the Germans left behind in an effort to pacify the northern half of the country.
    Tito himself was to be the bait for this plan. With him, he would keep five of his best divisions. They would place themselves directly in the path of the German attack, and they would hold the enemy at bay until the Germans began flanking movements. Then Tito and his army would retreat southward toward Serbia. That was as far as Tito could plan ahead; if he was successful, he would draw the German army out of Croatia—

THE PARTISANS’ “VALLEY FORGE”
    T ITO’S five divisions bore the full brunt of that initial German attack. His men fought like tigers, clinging to every inch of the ground under a murderous hail of bombs and shells. Then, slowly, fighting a rearguard action day and night, they began to retreat south-ward. They carried their wounded with them, knowing that the Germans took no prisoners but murdered every