The decisive battle against the Third Reich

After much trouble, it was already past six in the morning when Qin Chuan and Colonel Slain found the village of Laroche-Girong in the dark at the location instructed by the second lieutenant.

Of course the staff officer of the headquarters recognized Qinchuan and Colonel Slaine. He warmly received the two and told them that Rommel was running.

"The Marshal gets up on time at six o'clock every day!" the staff officer said: "He told us that he needs to ensure that he has strong energy to adapt to future battles!"

Then, the staff officer seemed to have found no other topic, and continued: "Then he will have a simple breakfast, review some documents, and then go to inspect the front line at eight o'clock, and will not come back until the evening!"

Rommel's "perpetual motion" work attitude has not changed at all, which is in sharp contrast to the German officers in Paris... Qinchuan and Colonel Slain did not see any of them at the Paris headquarters. School level officer.

This was highly unusual in the emergency situation of being bombed by Allied forces.

Colonel Slaine said angrily: "If there is an emergency, do we have to send someone to drag them out of bed one by one before making a decision?"

Colonel Slain later learned that he was wrong.

He thought the officers were sleeping at home, but in fact the officers were having a dance.

Therefore, if you want to find them, you have to go to theaters, bars, brothels or other places where you can have fun. In short, it will not be in bed... Paris, the city that never sleeps, is simply a paradise for these officers. Where do they have time to sleep?

Compared with these generals, Marshal Rommel, a workaholic, seemed a bit out of place. From this point of view, it is not surprising that he was excluded.

Just as the staff gave a brief introduction to Qinchuan and Colonel Slaine on the frontline defense situation, Rommel came back.

Wearing only a white vest, he was covered in sweat and breathing heavily.

When they saw Qin Chuan and Colonel Slaine, they came up to them excitedly: "Oh, great, I've finally waited for you!"

"Nice to meet you, Marshal!"

"Yes, of course!" Rommel smiled heartily, sometimes shaking Colonel Slaine's hand and sometimes patting Qin Chuan's shoulder: "Look at you, these are the soldiers I want, soldiers I can trust. , my old subordinate!”

After taking a few sips of water from his staff, Rommel asked, "You must have never had breakfast, right?"

"Of course!" Qin Chuan and Colonel Slain replied.

Of course they would not be polite to Rommel.

But there is really nothing to be polite about, because breakfast consists of bread and canned beef. It is said that the canned beef is an extra meal for entertaining two people.

"Sorry!" Rommel said: "There is nothing to entertain you. As you know, the Allied planes are bombing us crazily, so I think we should be more frugal!"

"Of course, Your Majesty Marshal!" said Colonel Slain.

"Actually, this is pretty good!" Qin Chuan forked a piece of bread and put it into his mouth and said, "I mean, compared to the Russian black bread, this is really delicious!"

"Yes, I have tasted that kind of bread!" Rommel said with a smile: "I only ate one bite, do you believe it? It made me lose my appetite for two days. I can never forget the weird taste. picture……"

"It smells like a stinking ditch!" Colonel Sline replied.

"Yes, it's the stinking ditch!" Rommel nodded.

Then several people burst out laughing.

"You are lucky, Marshal!" Qin Chuan said, "You must know that our food on the battlefield often comes from it. If we didn't eat it, we would have starved to death long ago!"

"Yes, of course!" Rommel nodded: "That's why you are the real warriors, that's why I need you!"

Qin Chuan and Colonel Slain couldn't help but fell silent, because Rommel looked a little moved, which seemed a bit strange.

It wasn't until Rommel introduced the situation on the front line to the two of them that Colonel Qinchuan and Colonel Slain knew why Rommel behaved like this.

"Okay, gentlemen!" After finishing the last piece of bread, Rommel wiped his mouth with a napkin, stood up and said, "It's time to work!"

The two followed Rommel to the map and introduced: "We have a total of 60 divisions in France, with a total strength of about 760,000, but this does not include the 21st Armored Division on the way. So to be precise, there are 61 divisions. !”

Rommel said while drawing on the map: "Marshal Rundstedt, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, the entire Western Front is divided into two army groups: Army Group G commanded by General Blaskowitz is stationed in There are 19 divisions in the area west and south of the Loire River in France."

At this time, the staff officer handed two detailed distribution maps to Qinchuan and Colonel Slaine. Qinchuan opened them and looked at them. It was clear on the distribution map... 10 divisions of Army Group G are west of the Loire River, and 9 divisions are on the west side of the Loire River. The south, that is to say, the upcoming battle basically has nothing to do with them, at least when the Allied forces land.

If anything, they were also bombed by the Allies.

"Army Group B under my command is deployed in the north!" Rommel continued: "It includes two armies: the 15th Army Group commanded by General Salmuth is stationed in Calais, including 14 coastal defense divisions, 4 infantry Division, a total of 23 divisions including 5 armored divisions. General Dorman commands the 7th Army in the Brittany Peninsula, with a total of 14 divisions including 8 coastal defense divisions, 5 infantry divisions, and 1 armored division. A teacher!”

At this point, Rommel raised his head and explained: "Sorry, this armored division is not on the file, because it is the 21st Armored Division!"

The Brittany Peninsula refers to western France, and next to it is Normandy... Qinchuan knew very well that Normandy was the landing point of the Allied forces, so his eyes naturally turned there.

To Qinchuan's helplessness, he found that there were only 6 divisions and 3 regiments stationed there, with a total strength of only 70,000.

The Allied forces landed here, with only 176,000 vanguard troops. Later, in 43 days, 9 armies and 39 divisions, about 1.65 million people, landed here.

Trying to block such a huge landing force with 70,000 people is simply a fantasy.

"Your Majesty Marshal!" Qin Chuan said: "I noticed that you deployed the main force in Calais. Do you think the enemy landed from Calais?"

"No!" Rommel replied: "I don't think so. I just think they will land from the Brittany Peninsula!"

"Then why..." Colonel Slaine looked at Rommel in confusion.

Colonel Slaine didn't understand why Rommel deployed 23 divisions in Calais but only 14 divisions in the Brittany Peninsula.

Rommel replied helplessly: "This is not something I can decide!"