The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Qin Chuan stayed on the front line with Rommel for three days.

But I never had the chance to see Annette again... The reason is as mentioned before. Rommel was a workaholic. He only lay down in bed and slept for a few hours when he was tired, and then got up to inspect and discuss. , deduction.

In fact, what's more important is that Rommel's inspection route went around the front line, passing every point, then went around another way and returned, so there was no turning back during the whole process, and of course there would be no chance to do it again. Return to the French regiment's sector.

However, Rommel seemed to have seen through Qin Chuan's thoughts. He comforted Qin Chuan: Lieutenant Colonel, there will be a chance. But we must first ensure that these lines of defense can stop the enemy! "

"Yes, Marshal!" Qin Chuan replied: "I know what to do!"

"It is indeed a very lucky thing to have someone you care about in your heart!" Rommel simply put down the documents in his hand and leaned against the car seat, stretching his aching waist and said, "Because only in this way will you know who you are. Protecting something, huh? I'm luckier than you, they're in Berlin and not on the battlefield!"

Qin Chuan knew that Rommel was talking about his wife.

Everyone knows Rommel’s secret. No matter how busy he is, Rommel will write a letter to his wife Lucy, even if it is only a few sentences, and then every once in a while he will ask the soldiers who are returning home to take the letter back.

Thinking of this, Qin Chuan couldn't help but sigh.

Because he knew that Rommel would eventually be implicated in the assassination of Hitler next year.

Hitler's instructions were: "If you commit suicide, your treason will be kept strictly secret and will not be known to the Germans. In your memory, a monument will be built and a state funeral will be held. And no extraordinary measures will be taken against the family. In addition, Lucy will Will receive the full Field Marshal's pension."

As a result, a generation of famous generals fell quietly like a shooting star.

But after thinking about it, Qin Chuan felt that this should not happen, because the rebel organization had changed its mind about assassinating Hitler because of its own strategy, so Rommel would not be implicated.

Drowsily, Qin Chuan fell asleep on the rickety car.

When they woke up, it was already nine o'clock the next morning. Several people had a simple breakfast with Rommel, took a short rest, and followed Rommel's rhythm into his working hours.

"As you can see, 8 coastal defense divisions!" Rommel pointed to the map and said: "I have distributed them all to the forefront and spread them out along the coastline. It may be okay to let them do hard labor or engineer work, but if If you hope they can hold anything, you will be disappointed. The five infantry divisions on the second line are the elite. Then they will launch a counterattack against the enemy's landing force under the cover of the 21st Armored Division!"

There should be no problem with this kind of deployment, because the front-line troops are more likely to be bombarded by enemy artillery fire. At the same time, if the troops with poor combat effectiveness are placed on the second line, the counterattack will be of little use.

The problem is...

"If the front-line troops are too fragile!" Colonel Slain said: "That is, they will be defeated in one blow, then we are actually giving up the beachhead to the enemy without any buffer!"

Rommel nodded in agreement: "This is also what I am worried about. When the 8 coastal defense divisions collapse and the 5 infantry divisions are on top, if the 5 infantry divisions are all wiped out... we can only watch the Allies. Landing. What's more, our rear is not safe. The Allies will obviously use airborne troops to parachute in the rear, and then their airborne troops will launch raids on various targets in the rear with the cooperation of the guerrillas. , as well as warehouses, transfer stations, etc., will all be attacked, which will make us miserable! "

Rommel was right, these are two problems existing in the forward defense line:

First, there is a serious shortage of troops and uneven quality.

The second is that it is powerless against the Allied parachute drops in the rear. Even though Rommel has laid out patches of anti-airborne facilities, such as sharpened wooden stakes, barbed wire, and swamp areas, it is impossible to take care of every place. The army will find a suitable airborne field, and then deploy the airborne troops to coordinate with the guerrillas to carry out rear special operations... This is the most troublesome, and it is impossible to prevent it.

"Let's solve the first problem first!" Rommel said: "If the Allies attack from the Brittany Peninsula, I estimate that at least two to three armored divisions plus two infantry divisions will be needed to stop the Allied attack. attack!"

After a pause, Rommel continued: "Unfortunately, all of them believed that the Allied forces were attacking Calais and not the Brittany Peninsula, so the defense line, which was almost the same length, had 14 qualities in the direction of Calais. There are only 8 better coastal defense divisions in the west, 5 armored divisions in the direction of Calais, and only 1 in the west, and this one is still on the way! At the same time, the defenses in the direction of Calais have been basically completed. There are even many coastal defense guns that can threaten warships, and we..."

"Your Excellency, Marshal!" Colonel Slain said: "I seemed to have seen a dozen large-caliber coastal defense guns during my inspection. I remember they were in the Omaha Beach area!"

"Oh, yes!" Rommel nodded: "We do, but..."

Rommel lowered his voice and said: "If you look at it closely, you will find that it is just a telephone pole!"

So Qin Chuan and Colonel Slain understood that it was something Rommel had concocted to deceive the Allies.

Although this may not be of much use, because if the Allies know this and decide to land in this area, they will only invest more troops or carry out more bombings, but so far it can only scare the enemy in this way .

However, inspired by this, Qin Chuan recalled that the Allies also implemented strategic deception against the Germans when they implemented the Normandy landings. Moreover, this strategic deception was so successful that in the end the Allied forces had already landed in Normandy in large numbers. , Hitler also thought that the Allied forces in Normandy were just a feint attack, so he strictly ordered the troops in Calais not to reinforce Normandy, and even the troops who were already on the way to reinforcements returned to Calais.

This kind of strategic scam has happened more than once or twice. For example, a similar incident occurred in Sicily. Hitler, who claimed to be a military genius, always jumped when he saw a trap and was fooled again and again, which is why we have the current situation.

Thinking about it, Qin Chuan said to Rommel: "Marshal, do you remember what happened when the Allied forces attacked Sicily?"

"Of course I remember!" Rommel replied: "It was the head of state who I went to meet with you at the time, and you saw through their deception plan..."

Having said this, Rommel suddenly raised his head and looked at Qin Chuan.