Chapter 171 Chapter 28 The Army’s Explosion Plan (2)

The mobile warfare that the Germans used so well at the beginning of the war has now turned against them.In World War I, a protracted stalemate allowed the German propaganda machine to successfully argue to the end that the war was winnable.In the Second World War, in the current military reality, this statement does not work.There was no chance of another summer offensive by the Germans.Last year's defeat at Kursk wiped out all hope: the question now was simply how long the Germans could hold out against the surging Red Army?In the past three years, although Russia has suffered heavy manpower losses, there are still 300 divisions with more than 5 million troops participating in the war, while the German army that rivals it has only 200 divisions with 2 million people.What surprised and pained Germany most was not the astonishing abundance of the Red Army's reserves, but its tenacious fighting spirit.During the siege of Stalingrad, Hitler had censoriously explained that Field Marshal Paulus had failed to capture the city because the Russians fought like "beasts in the swamp."By whatever name they were called, the energy and bravery of these Eastern "inhumans" were beyond the reach of the Teutonic nation.Needless to say what was the foundation of Hitler's Eastern politics. In 1944, he did not even think about a symbolic victory.In fact, he was concerned with the invasion of the West. "It decides not only this year, but the whole war," he told his military advisers in early June -- looking absently out the window as he spoke. "If the Western invasion can be repulsed, then this kind of action cannot and will not happen again in the short term. In other words, we can transfer our reserve forces to Italy and the East." By then, the East The battlefield can at least be stabilized.But failure to repel the Western invaders would mean final defeat. "Another reason why a stand-off in the West is not possible is that any step back would mean widening the front in France. It is impossible to deploy sufficient forces along this front because there is no strategic reserve." Therefore, he concluded, "The enemy must be defeated as soon as he invades." But he did not also say what he privately said to General Hausinger: "If the invasion is successful, I must use political power. way to end the war."

Hitler gave Rommel the task of defeating the West.Rommel, having already suffered a catastrophe due to the loss of North Africa (through no fault of his own), believed that the best place to stop an invasion was the beach, since that was the enemy's weakest point. "These armies are not on their feet and may even be seasick," he argued. "They are not familiar with the terrain, and they don't have enough heavy weapons. This is the best time to defeat them." His elderly boss, General Gerd von Runstedt, commander-in-chief on the Western Front, had the opposite view.The decisive battle must be fought far from the coast.Therefore, all armored and tactical reserves must be placed in France in order to surround and destroy the invading enemy.Hitler settled the dispute with a compromise, but neither side was happy about it.He brought in all of Rommel's armored forces, but deployed them much closer to the coast than Runstead had requested.

On the morning of June 4, Rommel left for Germany by car.His trip was ostensibly to celebrate his wife's birthday (June 6), but the main purpose was to go to Berchtesgaden to persuade Hitler to transfer two more armored divisions and an artillery brigade to Normandy. "The most urgent problem," he wrote in his diary, "is to win the Fuehrer over by conversation." A short vacation, also at this time, because the Air Force weather station in Paris has just forecast a storm, which is expected to be two weeks There will be no intrusion. On the other side of the English Channel, the Allied Commander-in-Chief, General Dwight Elinhower, was also facing a dilemma.The invasion, code-named "Battle of Overlord," was scheduled for the next day, but due to bad weather, he deliberately postponed this great adventure for at least twenty-four hours.He spent most of the day in the trailer -- beside a wood near Portsmouth -- weighing the pros and cons: risk attacking in inclement weather, or wait until July? More than 200,000 soldiers have already heard the orders for this campaign. If they wait until July, the secret will definitely be leaked.That night, a new weather forecast came: the weather was better and worsened on the 6th.Eileenhower sought the opinions of the commanders.Air Marshal Sir Arthur Ted thought that the clouds might hinder the realization of his plan; Montgomery's answer was: "I say, yes." Eileenhower made the verdict: June 6, the Allies attacked the beaches of Normandy .

British double daylight saving time (2 hours earlier than GMT - translation annotation) at 006 on June 6, the airborne began, and an 18-year-old paratrooper named Murphy jumped into the St. In the garden of the headmaster of a girls' high school.This is the beginning of D-Day. An hour later, ambiguous and contradictory reports poured into the various headquarters of the German Seventh Army like a flood.At 03:00 German time, Rundstedt informed High Command (then based in Obersalzburg) that enemy paratroopers and gliders had made a mass landing in Normandy. Three hours later, Lunstedt's chief of staff informed Vallimont that this was most likely the beginning of the invasion.He urged the four reserve armored divisions retained by the Supreme Command to move immediately to the vicinity of the landing area.

However, Jodl affirmed that this was nothing more than a diversionary war.Before that, he had been tricked by the Allies in their covert campaign dubbed "The Guardsman": a pseudo-war plan that was cunningly leaked to Supreme Command.The plan indicated that the landing site would be chosen further north, near Calais, at the narrowest point of the channel.Therefore, Jodl refused to ask Hitler to get up to discuss matters. The move stunned Rundstedt's command.According to the Chief of Operations, the aging Field Marshal was "in a state of rage and flushed so hard that he could not understand what he was saying."A different commander might have called Hitler directly, but Rundstedt, an old aristocrat, openly referred to the Führer as "that bohemian corporal."He will not beg him in a humble manner.He left the request to his subordinates—they clung to High Command in an attempt to get Yodl to change their minds and wake the Führer up.

It was not until 9 o'clock in the morning that the Führer was finally woken up.It was actually a little earlier than usual because he was going to meet Tissot, Horthy and Antonescu, the dictators of Slovakia, Hungary and Romania (at Kleissheimburg). .Hitler came out of the bedroom in his pajamas, calmly listened to the report on the latest news, and then called for Keitel and Jodl.After the two arrived, Hitler was not so calm. "Well, yes, or is it not an invasion?" he shouted.After shouting, he turned his head and left.After a while, his anger suddenly disappeared again.He patted him on the back affectionately, as if he had been energized by finally fighting the West. "Now we can show them some color!" he shouted, patting his thigh.During the one-hour drive to Kleissheim, he was in high spirits. "I can hold off the Russians as long as I want," he told his companions.Then he boasted that he would wipe out the Anglo-Saxons before the "Atlantic Wall."

Events on the Western Front became the subject of the noon situation analysis meeting (after which he went to meet the three dictators).When Hitler entered the conference room, his military advisers were anxiously gathered around maps and charts.Seeing the head of state coming in, they turned around nervously and terrified.To their surprise, the head of state walked in with a smile on his face and full of confidence."Yeah, we're off!" he said with a thick Austrian accent, before laughing easily.He told everyone that the moment he had been dreaming of had finally arrived. "I have come face to face with the real enemy!"

In Berlin, at the behest of a junior official, the Deutsche Presse Presse announced that the invasion had begun.Apparently, Goebbels was not very convinced about it.According to the diary of press officer Willerfried von Owen, the most important arrangement of the day was a party at which Goebbels was to play a piano duet with a countess: view, and went to play the piano behind the bar with the Countess."He recorded, "She sang quite a few songs. Everyone is drunk. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Hitler returned to the Berghof, just in time to have tea with Eva and a group of party dignitaries and their wives.The highlight of the refreshment was his comment on vegetarianism: "The elephant is the strongest animal; he cannot stand meat." After eating, as usual, the people went to the teahouse.The Führer drank lime tea.He then took an hour's nap; another military council was called at 11:00 p.m.He said he doubted it was really an invasion.It was a feint, and he had been fooled, sending troops to the wrong place.To be sure, the invasion would mainly be centered on Calais, where the short cut across the English Channel lay.He was haunted by the lies so painstakingly promulgated by the "guard"—perhaps the same road he had taken when planning his invasion of England, only in the opposite direction.

Late that night, the Allies had entered Hitler's western "fortress" on a 30-mile front.The German army was caught off guard, the naval and air forces were helpless, and the coastal fortifications were all smashed.The enemy had won a great victory at the expense of less than 2,500 men, but there was still time to drive them back to the English Channel—if the right decision was made immediately.