Chapter 885 Shanklin

Fifth update completed, where is my monthly ticket?

Not long after, Colonel Shuster came back.

He excitedly said to Rommel: "Marshal, it's not Dover!"

"Are you sure?" Although this was completely within Rommel's expectations, Rommel still asked.

"Sure!" Colonel Shuster said: "Because one of them recognized that it was in Shanklin!"

"Shanklin?"

"Yes!" Colonel Shuster replied: "Very sure, this builder named Francois happened to have contracted a construction project nearby. The direction of the roads and railways, the location of rivers and bridges, etc., can be confirmed to be Shanklin!"

Rommel and Qin Chuan stood up and walked towards the map.

Colonel Schuster said to Rundstedt with a little embarrassment: "Sorry, Marshal..."

"No, you don't need to apologize!" Rundstedt replied: "You did the right thing, and I gave you the order!"

As he said that, Rundstedt slowly stood up, and Colonel Schuster hurriedly went up to help him, and then took him to the map.

"Commander-in-Chief!" Rommel pointed to a point on the map and said: "Shanklin, diagonally opposite the Brittany Peninsula... As I estimated, their target is the Brittany Peninsula!"

Rommel's estimate is reasonable.

The most taboo thing for landing operations is the lack of strategic depth... In the absence of strategic depth, there will often be a situation where one loss means all losses.

To put it simply, the landing troops are backed by the sea and can only build one or two lines of defense on the beach.

At this time, if the enemy launches a counterattack, even if there is one in dozens of counterattacks that can break through the defense line and force the defenders to retreat, the defenders will collapse across the board... There is the sea behind them, and there is no way to retreat at all.

The best way to solve this situation is to capture a peninsula.

For example, the Brittany Peninsula is like a rhino horn extending from the coastline, surrounded by the sea on three sides and connected to northern France on one side.

If this peninsula can be captured, it means that the landing troops can instantly gain a strategic depth that they did not have before, and this strategic depth is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and can become a bridgehead for the landing troops.

After a moment of silence, Rundstedt said: "You win, Marshal Rommel. I will report this to the Führer!"

Rommel raised his head and said: "Commander-in-Chief, this is another thing I want to tell you!"

"What?"

"In fact, this is the idea of ​​the lieutenant colonel..." Rommel raised his head towards Qin Chuan and said: "If we want to win this intelligence war completely, that is to say, we want to deceive the British Intelligence Agency, then we have to pretend that we know nothing and everything will develop as before!"

"You mean... this includes the Führer?"

Rommel hesitated He looked at the enemy for a moment, as if he wanted to understand Rundstedt's reaction to this proposal before deciding how to answer. However, Rommel finally answered: "Yes, Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief. Because it is of great importance, I think this secret cannot be leaked out of this headquarters, which is why I sealed the headquarters! What do you think?"

"Marshal Rommel!" Rundstedt asked with a straight face: "Why do you think that reporting to the Führer will lead to the leakage of intelligence?"

Rundstedt was not loyal to Hitler at all. In fact, as an aristocrat, he looked down on Hitler from the bottom of his heart and repeatedly spoke ill of Hitler in private.

However, this can be regarded as catching Rommel's sore spot... If this was reported to Hitler, Rommel would definitely be punished in some way.

"Because of spies!" Rommel answered without thinking: "Commander-in-Chief, we have proved that the 4th Army and the 1st Army are non-existent or false, but the funny thing is... the spies sent by our intelligence agency have been reporting to us and related intelligence, which led to our misjudgment, so I have reason to believe that these spies have all been turned. In this case, do you think we can still trust the Military Intelligence Agency?"

After a pause, Rommel said firmly: "No, this makes me realize that I can't trust anyone unless they are under my control and surveillance."

Qin Chuan said in his heart, so that's why Rommel agreed without thinking too much when he said he would hide the intelligence from Hitler.

It's just that Qin Chuan and Rommel's thoughts are a little different: Qin Chuan is worried about "top secrets", while Rommel is worried about the unreliability of the Military Intelligence Bureau headed by Canaris.

But no matter what, Rommel's reason is very sufficient... You know, the Military Intelligence Bureau is Hitler's eyes and ears to the outside world. If even it is unreliable, then the news really dare not be transmitted to the head of state.

The fact is that this Military Intelligence Bureau is indeed unreliable, because the director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Canaris, is a member of the rebel organization.

Rundstedt thought about it and found that Rommel's reason was too sufficient... Even if he revealed the whole thing to Hitler, he was afraid that not only would he not be able to deal with Rommel, but he would be reprimanded by Hitler.

Because in the extraordinary period when it was proved that the three spies had been turned, Rommel's approach of taking the overall situation into consideration was of course correct. The Western Front Command naturally had to conceal this important intelligence from the head of state until the end of the battle or all the insiders of the Military Intelligence Bureau were dug out.

After thinking about this, Rundstedt nodded and said, "I agree, Marshal Rommel, I think this is the right approach! ”

"So..." Rommel said, "Maybe we have to continue arguing!"

"What?" Rundstedt didn't quite understand what Rommel meant.

"Just like before!" Rommel said, "You insist that the Allies will land in Calais, and I continue to doubt or believe that the Allies' offensive target is the Brittany Peninsula. Let's put on a show for them!"

Rundstedt seemed reluctant to do this at first, because he thought it was a humiliation to him.

But suddenly, Rundstedt understood something... If he did this, it meant that he had never made a mistake, not before and not after.

Because all this was done to deceive the British.

So Rundstedt suddenly became happy: "Of course, Marshal Rommel, I am willing to do this!"

Qin Chuan knew that this was actually Rommel showing mercy.

Because the fight between Rommel and Rundstedt actually ended the moment Rommel walked out of the "Bold Rooster" restaurant, or it could have ended for the British Intelligence Agency.

But Rommel now gave Rundstedt a way out.

The purpose is simple, which is to hope to cooperate better with Rundstedt in future response to the deployment of the Allied forces... The battlefield is realistic, and it makes decisions more from the perspective of interests rather than personal preferences.