the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia as well as the bulk of the Partisan units around the Supreme HQ. The Axis mustered ten divisions equaling 90,000 troops and 12 air squadrons. Chetnik auxiliaries and units consisting of between 12,000 and 15,000 men also took part and worked closely with the Italians. The operation coincided with the so-called "March on Bosnia", a plan that called for the use of Chetniks from Lika, northern Bosnia, northern Dalmatia, Herzegovina and Montenegro in order to destroy the Partisan-held territory there. The "March on Bosnia" also called for the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Sandžak. According to the Germans, the Chetniks forces comprised 150,000 men in February 1943 (up from 100,000 in August 1942). The Partisans, on the other hand, numbered less than a third of that figure. On 2 January Draža Mihailović reported his plan to the Chetniks for the destruction of the Partisans' Bihać Republic in order to "liberate this Serb territory from Communist terror". On the 21st he wrote: "Indeed, the question of Bosnia is most important. In western Bosnia and Lika we are currently making the final preparations for the definitive destruction of the Communists, who are preventing us from destroying Pavelić's Croatia"." The orders for the operation called for extreme severity towards captured Partisans and the civilian population. The former were to be shot after capture, and civilian populations deemed hostile were to be deported to transit camps. Villages in the combat area were to be razed to the ground. The commanders on the ground were prohibited from punishing their subordinates for excessive harshness. Weiss 1 According to the plan, four German divisions (7th SS Volunteer Mountain, 369th, 714th and 717th) were to attack from the arc stretching from Karlovac across Glina, Kostajnica, Bosanski Novi and Sanski Most towards the line Bihać--Petrovac. Three Italian divisions ("Lombardia", "Re" and "Sassari") were to advance on their right wing, through Lika and northern Dalmatia. According to the plan, the 7th SS and 717th Divisions, deployed on the extreme ends of the arc, were to race into the enemy rear with motorized battle groups and meet at Vrtoče on the second day of the operation. The reinforced 369th and 714th Division were to meet them and close the circle around the bulk of the Partisan forces in the area of the Grmeč mountain. In