Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 22: London
Two o'clock in the afternoon on May 25th, 1940. London. Ten Downing Street, the residence of the Prime Minister of the British Empire.
"Have you confirmed?"
Winston. Churchill stood in his office carefully looking at the pile of pictures on his desk.
"Yes, Prime Minister, we made confirmation as soon as we got the latest information." British Secretary of the Army Anthony. Aiden nodded affirmatively while sitting on the sofa on the side.
"This information is very real. Yesterday afternoon, the Royal Air Force carried out reconnaissance on the German front side, and the results were photographed. In fact, the French intelligence agencies and MI5 had already discovered abnormalities in the German army the night before. Action.
In order to obtain more precise information, we not only dispatched air force reconnaissance planes but also used intelligence personnel lurking in the German occupied areas. As a result, we found that the German army had mobilized almost all the troops on the front. Those powerful armored divisions suddenly began to move behind them, and some second-line infantry divisions were transferred up to take over the offensive of the armored divisions.
The German army near Arras has completely stopped its offensive. According to the news from the front line, the Germans there are shrinking their positions, as if preparing to turn to defense. In France, in addition to Calais is still under the fierce attack of the German Gudrie Armaments. The other fronts have begun to stabilize. So far, except for some small-scale harassment attacks, the French front has been basically calm. "
Churchill frowned. He turned to the back of the desk and sat down, looking at the Army Intelligence documents on the desk and thinking.
"Prime Minister, we sent another reconnaissance plane to conduct reconnaissance this morning. We found that German armored forces were gathering in the Cambrai area. We also found a large number of tank repair workshops and oil depots.
After analysis by our intelligence experts, it is believed that the reason for this large-scale transfer of Germany is that their armored forces are in serious trouble. "The representative of the British Chiefs of Staff, General Ismay, said with a report.
"From the reconnaissance photos, we have seen that the enemy's armored divisions are gathering behind them, and a large number of tanks are being towed to march, which means that these tanks are either broken or running out of fuel. In the photo There are the German Seventh Armored Division, the Fourth Armored Division, and the Sixth Armored Division. The same situation has appeared in other moving armored divisions in Germany.
Especially the units moving in the direction of Cambrai also carried a large number of empty fuel drums. This can be clearly seen in the photos of the Seventh Armored Division and the Fourth Armored Division, which makes us more convinced. The Germans have run out of fuel. Moreover, we also found that the German supplies to the Gudre-installed armored division contained a large proportion of fuel, and there were more fuel trucks than ammunition trucks on the road to Calais. They even used air force transport aircraft to transport supplies to Guderian. "
"Transport plane? Air freight?"
Churchill raised his head and looked at Ismay suspiciously.
"Yes, this is a report from the Royal Air Force radar station." Ismay pulled out a report from the file and handed it to Churchill. He continued.
"Last night, the No. 4 radar station on the outskirts of Dover found a large number of German aircraft moving in the direction of Calais. Judging from the speed and size of the aircraft, they were all large transport aircraft. Then those targets were in Canada. Lei suddenly disappeared, we think the Germans landed there, there is a large occupied French field airport. At midnight they suddenly appeared from the radar and flew back to the rear of Germany. We can believe that this is Germany. Going all out to deliver supplies to Guderian, this shows that Guderian's situation has reached a very difficult point."
Churchill groaned for a while, he opened the cigarette case on the desk and took out a cigar from it, then took the silver special scissors on the desk and cut off the tail of the cigar, he slowly picked it up I turned off the lighter on one side and lit the cigarette. Churchill took a puff of cigar, staring fiercely at the photo on the table, then he turned around and looked at the map on the wall for a while.
"Your opinion is that something went wrong with the German logistics?" Churchill asked.
"Yes, and it may be more serious than we thought." Ismay replied. "The intelligence from yesterday and today shows that Germany is desperately transporting fuel to France. On the railway to France, there are 70% more tank cars in Germany than usual. And we think that German tanks have also arrived. It must be stopped for overhaul.
We have found a large number of tanks parked outside many German tank repair shops. And now it seems that Guderian's armored forces have also reached the end of the crossbow. The Germans may have concentrated all their supplies now to fully support him to continue fighting.
The other German armored forces had to retreat to a safe rear for repairs and wait for their domestic supplies to be delivered. After all, it is unwise to keep exhausted fuel and malfunctioning tanks on the front lines. Now there are only a small number of infantry units remaining on defense in the German army in the Arras area. They exposed a weak line of defense of fifty kilometers long before us. "
"Is this a trap?" Churchill was still a little skeptical. "The Germans let us see their weaknesses so carelessly?"
"It shouldn’t, because the Germans’ actions started suddenly. They must have thought that even if we knew about these things, we would not have time to respond. And their supplies should be delivered within three days. They can quickly fill up the hole and launch an attack again. Moreover, in order to obtain this information, we have also paid a considerable price. The Air Force lost more than fifty reconnaissance planes and bombers in order to approach those tank repair shops. With fighter jets, more than 80 pilots were killed or captured, and more than 30 intelligence personnel lost contact with the headquarters. They should have been captured by the Germans.
After our first successful aerial reconnaissance, the Germans mobilized a large number of fighter jets to block these areas. If it was a trap, they would not have to spend so much effort to protect their secrets. "
Churchill thought for a moment, nodded, and then he asked Ismay.
"Then what is the opinion of the Chief of Staff Committee?"
"Our opinion is that the German mobilization is now our best chance to turn defeat into victory. The main force of the Germans, and the most troublesome thing for us, is their tanks. Now their tanks lack fuel and are being repaired.
In this way, their infantry units will lose the support of tanks for at least three days. and. "Ismay stood up, walked to the side of the map, took a pencil and gestured on the map.
" Moreover, due to the retreat of these tanks, the enemy left a very weak link in their encirclement. Just around Arras, they only have an infantry regiment to defend their supply line. We tear this hole open, then our troubled expeditionary force and the French First Army will be able to jump out of the encirclement, and then rendezvous with the main force of the French army in the south. At that time, even if Germany sends his armored division to pass through these The defense line of the Somme strengthened by the troops.
Moreover, we can also cut off the logistics supply of Gudley’s installation of the Armed Forces. If we counter assault from the French coast, we can even encircle this elite German armored force. In that way, Germany's combat capability will be greatly weakened. With our counterattack, we may win this war! "
Ismay getting more and more excited when he talks about it. He seems to have seen himself standing on the venue of the signing ceremony of the German surrender.
Churchill didn't think so, he always felt that this opportunity came a bit too suddenly. According to the rigorous attitude of the German Army, such low-level and fatal mistakes should not be committed. He is ready to seek support from the Secretary of the Army.
"Mr. Aiden, what do you think, is this another trap of the Germans. This does not seem to be a mistake that Germans will make."
Aiden stroked his beautiful moustache and said seriously.
" Prime Minister, I don’t think this should be a trap, because I don’t see what the Germans can get from the hard work of deploying this trap? They have surrounded our troops in the canal area, and now they just have to continue to attack They will be able to win, I can’t think of any reason why they don’t do that.
But now they have not only stopped their offense, they have also exposed their weaknesses. If this is a trap, it would be too illogical. So I think the only correct answer is what General Ismay said. They are indeed in great trouble. Now I support the opinion of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, and we must seize this opportunity. This is simply God's arrangement. I can't believe that we will be able to meet the same opportunity again in the future. "
The Secretary of the Army's words finally dispelled Churchill's concerns, and his face suddenly became clear. He happily called.
"God bless the United Kingdom! If this is true, then this is really an opportunity given to us by God. We can use these three days to break through the encirclement of the Germans and rescue our brave soldiers from desperation. We are now A plan must be drawn up immediately. It is necessary to discuss how to make the best use of this opportunity and thoroughly teach the **** Nazi lunatics. Do the chiefs of staff have plans already?"
"There is no detailed plan yet, only a rough framework. We want to proceed as soon as we get your approval. It is basically based on General Wei Gang’s southward advancement plan."
"General Wei Gang does have a set. Did he anticipate this a long time ago? Hahahaha. Then use his plan as the framework."
"Yes, Prime Minister, do you still need to notify the French high command to cooperate with our actions?" Ismay asked.
"Of course, immediately send a telegram to Renault to explain the situation in detail to him. Oh, it seems that General Wei Gang’s plan is now possible to be realized~IndoMTL.com~Yes, I will arrange it later These."
"Immediately summon the ministers and chiefs of staff of the various services to me for a meeting. Time is tight, we only seem to have...now only two and a half days, so this plan must be drawn up today, Then give it to the French High Command immediately. Let Gott prepare immediately."
"Gott's troops are retreating to the coast, and only a few troops are defending on the front."
"What, what did they do to the coast? Oh, yes, it was my order. Seeing that I was happy, I forgot everything. The War Department immediately sent a telegram to Gott, ordering his troops to stop retreating to the coast. Let them return to their original positions."
"Yes, Prime Minister, I will arrange it right away. And what about the Navy's "Generator" operation, do you want them to stop preparations? Admiral Ramsey is still collecting ships everywhere." Aiden asked To.
Churchill hesitated.
"If that plan is used, how many soldiers can we bring back."
Aiden replied: "Maybe fifty or sixty thousand can be withdrawn, and maybe even less. The German air force and submarines will not allow us to cross the strait so easily."
Churchill thought for a while, and slammed the cigar in the ashtray.
"Then let Admiral Ramsay suspend the preparations for the "Generator" operation first...wait...at the time, it seems that we should not use this plan anymore. ... At least now we have a better opportunity."