183

Episode 183: Time between dogs and wolves (9)

August 17, 1942

War Office, London, England

With two days left until the start of Operation Luther, Brooke could hardly sleep.

Even though he lay down in bed trying to force himself to sleep, every time he closed his eyes, anxiety about the future would creep in and prevent him from getting a good night's sleep.

Since the day the operation was finally decided, he had been unable to fall asleep, and could only fall asleep after lying in bed and tossing and turning for 2 to 3 hours.

Due to the significantly shortened sleep time, deep wrinkles formed around Brooke's eyes.

The adjutant made black tea for him, who was suffering from fatigue, but he took a few sips and then left it to cool.

No matter how you think about it, Operation Luthor was premature. It is said that training continued for several months, but apart from the training, the operation itself was not a problem that could be overcome with the amount of clumsy training.

Since information collection on the Dieppe area, the immediate landing site, was not properly collected, many parts of the plan were based on guesswork, and the German military had air superiority, which was the most important factor in the success of the operation.

Citing these reasons, Brooke asked Churchill to scrap the operation, but Churchill pushed ahead with his argument until the end.

Now that public morale has fallen due to rebellions and air raids in the colonies, the success of a large-scale operation is needed to turn public opinion around.

And the German army is building a large-scale defense line along the French coast, and if the operation is postponed, the German defense line will be further strengthened, which will result in greater damage to our troops.

Therefore, there is no such thing as canceling an operation.

It's crazy. It's obvious that the soldiers are going to be killed, but I can't do anything and just watch like an idiot.

As time passed, Brooke felt more and more upset.

As he had served in the military for a long time, it was not that he did not understand what Churchill was saying.

It was good to declare war in a spirited way, but instead of achieving results, rebels are rampaging in the colonies, and rockets called V2 by the Nazis are falling on London every day, causing hundreds of casualties.

Of course, public opinion is the worst, and if this is going to happen, people are asking why they went to war.

Churchill didn't care what others said, but he couldn't help but care about the people's reaction.

Churchill's plan was to kill two birds with one stone - a reversal of public opinion and a reversal of the war - by taking the gamble of landing in France, rather than achieving invisible results like suppressing rebels, and if the operation was successful, it would not be unreasonable to praise it as an act of God.

If the operation is successful.

On the other hand, if it fails, the troops will be tied down and public opinion will deteriorate further.

Germany will also put more effort into defending France, as it has confirmed that Britain has not given up on landing on mainland Europe.

Brooke, who only reaffirmed Churchill's strong will for the operation, requested to change the goal of the operation to a surprise attack on the French mainland if the operation was not canceled, feeling like he was holding on to a rotten rope, but this was also rejected.

The meager goal of withdrawing after a surprise attack cannot change the situation of the war.

In the first place, no matter what we do with our current strength, we can't turn the situation around all at once.

In Brook's opinion, there was no time this year to carry out a landing in mainland France, and he would have to wait at least until next summer or the year after.

Isn't it possible to teach factorization to a child who has just started learning the four basic arithmetic operations?

Of course, if you say this out loud, people will say that the Soviet Union can't hold out until then, or that it can handle all the German troops on the Russian front when they rush into France, but that doesn't change the fact, so what can you do?

The night deepened, but Brooke's eyes did not close.

***

With two days left before the start of the operation, complex emotions were present at the Free French Army headquarters.

There was great joy and excitement that the dream of retaking mainland France was finally upon us, but there was also great worry and anxiety about the coming battle.

As this was the first actual battle experienced by the Free French Army in over two years, and the landing operation was very difficult, the commanders at the scene were very worried.

Needless to say, the tension among the soldiers involved in the operation was high.

"Hey, what is your name?"

"It's Jean Demong!"

"Jean Demong. "Where is your hometown?"

"It's Nice!"

"Ah, nice. It's an even more beautiful place in summer. "You were born in a wonderful place."

De Gaulle himself was a soldier who had experienced actual combat, so he was not unaware of the tension and burden of front-line soldiers.

In order to boost the morale of the soldiers, he met with soldiers scheduled to go on operations and spoke to any of them.

"Gentlemen, you are the best warriors of France who have earned the honor of fighting for the liberation of their country. In two days, we will return to France, the country we love and are proud of. And we will fight against the German Nazis who brutally trampled and devastated our France.

Of course, it will not be an easy fight, and there will be some deaths in it. But didn't you all risk death and choose to fight of your own will? "Am I wrong?"

"no!"

"Even if you are killed by a blind bullet while fighting the enemy, your death will never be in vain. Because our country, France, will remember your noble sacrifice! The liberation of the homeland was not far away. Let us all fight as hard as we can until France is liberated and the proud French flag flies in Berlin! Long live freedom! Long live great France!"

"Viva France!"

De Gaulle, satisfied with the soldiers' loud shouts, came down from the stage with a smile.

Mountbatten, who participated in the review of the Free French Army with him, smiled and spoke to him.

"The morale of the soldiers is very high. "I have the momentum to run all the way to Paris like this."

"The morale of our soldiers is high because of the help from Britain."

De Gaulle was famous for his blunt personality and not laughing at funny jokes, but today he laughed unusually often.

There are only two days left until the long-awaited landing in mainland France, so how could I not be happy?

Although the full-scale battle had not yet begun, de Gaulle was filled with hope as he imagined the sight of raising the blue, white and red tricolor flag symbolizing France to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

"General. "What happened to the contact with the French military and resistance organizations you mentioned earlier?"

"Oh, that's it… ."

It was none other than Mountbatten's question that put de Gaulle, who was full of dreams and hopes, in a difficult position.

In a previous meeting with Mountbatten, de Gaulle revealed that he was planning an operation to infiltrate Free French spies into mainland France, contact local resistance organizations, and cause an uprising.

He said with confidence that if the Allied forces landed in France, the resistance would rise up all at once and fight the Germans, and the soldiers in mainland France would also join hands with Britain rather than cooperate with their enemy, Germany.

However, the reality was different from de Gaulle's thoughts. Many of the resistance organizations operating secretly in mainland France refused to cooperate, claiming that they did not agree with De Gaulle's Free French government, and the French army arrested Free French spies and voluntarily handed them over to Germany.

The French people hated Germany, but at the same time they accepted German rule by compromising with reality.

What they wanted was a peaceful life and stability like now, not a new war.

Liberation from Germany? Of course it's good. The only French people who would reject this are true fascists and opportunists who act as Nazi stooges.

However, if it is assumed that France will be engulfed in the flames of war again for liberation, the story is different.

France, which had already suffered enormous damage as a result of World War I, with its territory becoming a battlefield and desolation, and the youth population almost disappearing, has not yet recovered from the damage of World War I.

In such a situation, World War II broke out, and France suffered the most shameful defeat in its history.

But are we going to go to war again here? And against Germany, the world's most powerful country? To French people, this is something that only someone who is quite insane would dare to say out loud.

90% of French people currently active in the Resistance are communists who took up arms not for their homeland, France, but for the Soviet Union, the 'homeland of ideas' that is at war with Germany. The option of coming under the command of De Gaulle's Free France, an anti-communist and colonial imperialist, and receiving instructions from de Gaulle was not something they considered.

The French military leadership of the Pétain government also did not have the slightest desire to associate with a 'collection of government appeals' such as de Gaulle's Free France.

The real France is here, but what kind of free France is this?

Henri Giraud, the only high-ranking general in the French military who is positive about Free France, is imprisoned in the Königstein fortress near Dresden, Germany, and most of the Free French supporters hidden within the French army have been hunted down under the orders of Defense Minister Jogzize, who received orders from Pétain. He was imprisoned or transported to Germany.

De Gaulle's plan to persuade the French mainland troops and resistance fighters to support Free France failed miserably.

De Gaulle, who could not bear to confess the truth, desperately used his brain to come up with a plausible excuse.

"… Resistance organizations in France promised to start an uprising as soon as the Allied forces landed. "It is estimated that it will take some time to recruit high-ranking French generals, but as they are also French soldiers, they will cooperate with us at a critical time."

"Is that so? "That's good news."

Although he was rejected by many resistance organizations, he was not all refused cooperation.

They were promised cooperation from the anti-communist and anti-German resistance organization, and they decided to detonate bombs on the main road leading to Dieppe if the Allied forces' landing was successful.

Therefore, de Gaulle's words were not completely false. It wasn't even true, but he didn't lie anyway, so De Gaulle was honest.

Operation Luther was important to de Gaulle, but it was also very important to Mountbatten.

Operation Luthor came from his mind in the first place, and he was the one who persistently insisted on carrying out the operation despite the continued opposition and concerns from those around him.

Mountbatten also did not simply ignore the arguments of the other side.

Even he, the person who established the operation, had many concerns about Operation Luther.

However, at a time when the German army was rushing toward Moscow and all of Europe, excluding Britain, might fall completely into Germany's hands, he was convinced that it would not be a bad idea to bet on a card that could turn the tide of the war.

Right now, Germany is so focused on the Russian battlefield that it has relatively little interest in France, and the battleships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers that are the core of the German Navy are concentrated in the Baltic Sea and Norway.

I don't know the exact reason, but it may be because they know that they are no match for the Royal Navy. In fact, after successive naval victories in Norway in the past, instead of coming out to the ocean, Germany stayed in a Norwegian port and hid until the end of the war.

If this isn't proof that the German Navy is afraid of the Royal Navy, what is?

Lastly, if the forces are limited to France, the Allies will overwhelm the German army.

This side has more troops, and the enemy would not have imagined that this side would undertake a landing in such a short period of time.

Mountbatten's argument was that if a surprise landing was made at this time, it would be quite successful.

"It's only about 150 kilometers from Dieppe to Paris. Of course, it will not be an easy fight because the German army is in between, but since the enemy's main force is in Russia, if we invest troops and materials generously, we will definitely be able to recapture Paris before the enemy's main force arrives in France."

De Gaulle trembled as he imagined the sight of the Hakenkreuz flag being lowered from the Eiffel Tower and the blue, white and red tricolor flag being raised.

I hope that day comes as soon as possible. May the barbaric Hun invaders be driven from sacred France, and may our wounded country be restored to its glory.

***

August 18, 1942

Palace of Versailles, Paris, France

"Hwaam."

After the Fuhrer's order to be especially careful in case the Allied forces landed at any moment, the General Headquarters of Germany's Western Front in Paris was on high alert.

Not only front-line troops, but even rear command officers could not leave their posts without knowing when the phone would ring.

This also applied to Rundstedt, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front.

Of course, unlike front-line soldiers, he had the privilege of leaving work on time and going to work on time.

It's time to come. Rundstedt glanced at his watch and took out a mystery novel he had kept in a drawer to relieve his boredom.

Agatha Christie's . It's one of his favorite novels, and although he's already read it more than ten times, each time he reads it, it feels like he's reading it all over again from the beginning.

As he was reading the last sentence on the page, there was a knock on the door.

"dismissal? "Can I come in?"

"Please come in."

Before Rommel came in, Rundstedt put the book back in the drawer and closed it.

He was very fond of Agatha Christie's works, but kept them a complete secret from those working at headquarters.

Wouldn't it be strange to hear that someone who is Germany's enemy enjoys reading mystery novels written by British novelists?

"sorry. "It's very late."

"I know. "May I ask what made you late?"

"It's a very trivial reason. While I was driving, there was an accident in front of me. "A child playing ball was hit by a milk truck."

"Oh my."

"Anyway, the area became noisy, so I had to take a different route, so I was late."

"Right. "Let's have coffee first and talk."

Rundstedt rang the bell on his desk, and his deputy came in.

"Two coffees. Add cream and sugar. "What about you?"

"I just add sugar."

"Did you hear? "Bring it to me so hot it burns your tongue."

Five minutes later, Rundstedt, holding a coffee cup provided by his adjutant, had an honest conversation with Rommel over a map depicting the northern coast of France. The topic of conversation was, of course, about the Allied landings.

"The Fuhrer said that the British would soon land in Northern France."

"Of course."

"Where do you think the enemy is most likely to land?"

"Geographically speaking, Calais is the highest, but I don't think Normandy and Dieppe can be ignored either."

Calais, which was too close to England, was the most likely landing site for England and was the most fortified area along the French coast.

Therefore, Rommel judged that there was a high possibility that the enemies would avoid Calais.

The Fuhrer had the same thought, and in that sense, he insisted that Normandy and Dieppe be particularly careful.

Although it is farther away than Calais, it is less fortified and has fewer troops, so the Allied Forces may target that area.

Rundstedt confirmed the defensive forces deployed in Normandy and Dieppe.

They were all divisions with no actual combat experience, and, except for some members of the division, they were made up of new recruits who had never fired a gun outside of training.

However, Rundstedt made up for its lack of actual combat experience as much as possible through repeated training, and maximized firepower by intensively deploying fixed turrets and artillery batteries using tank turrets.

In addition, in the rear, there are armored units that will jump out at any opportunity and even air force planes preparing for sortie.

"I don't know how many enemies will come, but with this much power, it would be worth it."

"yes. Whose work is this? I wish the tommies would come sooner. "That way, this awful emergency situation will end as soon as possible."

"The President said it would be soon, so they will appear soon. Until then, let's wait patiently."