I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 114



Only Noblemtl

EP.114 Normandy Landing Operation (1)

The Germans called Rommel the “Swamp Fox” for his outstanding performance in the Pripet Swamp on the Eastern Front.

If you’re a swamp fox, you can do it in France.

With this belief in mind, Hitler appointed Rommel as commander of Army Group B, one of the main defensive units on the Western Front.

“I only trust General Rommel. Go and do something cool.”

Hitler’s trust in Rommel was incomparable to that of any other general, as he had experience even serving in the Führer’s bodyguard.

“It is an honor. I will definitely live up to His Excellency the President’s expectations.”

As soon as Rommel arrived on the Western Front, he hurriedly prepared for defense.

First, we reorganized the officer corps that had been in disarray due to the purge.

When he had time, Rommel personally inspected the area under his jurisdiction and gave his opinions on the deployment of units and defensive structures.

On the surface, Rommel appeared to be very well adapted to the Western Front.

But he was suffering from anxiety.

“Dear Lucy, I haven’t been sleeping well lately. My superiors in Paris and Berlin think everything is going well, but it’s not like that on the ground, and it’s frustrating.”

An untrained, ragtag army, inadequate defensive facilities, overwhelming enemy naval and air power, and uncooperative generals and superiors.

If by any chance the enemy landed, it was over.

Rommel believed that Germany’s only way to survive was to somehow reinforce this flimsy Atlantic wall and keep the enemy at bay.

As soon as Romel grasped the situation, he began to work vigorously on the construction of the Atlantic Wall.

They stepped up minelaying and doubled the number of landing craft barriers.

Still, it wasn’t enough.

To hold the Allied forces at bay, more forces needed to be deployed ashore.

Rommel had this idea, and so he insisted at the conferences of the various armies that the main armored forces must be located on the coast.

“Considering the power of the Allied Air Force, which has gained control of the air, it is reasonable to disperse the armored units along the coastline where there is no need to worry about interference from the enemy air force.”

“Our Western Panzer Group will remain in the vicinity of Paris and aim to crush the enemy by throwing in our main force all at once. Please understand that we absolutely cannot agree to deploying our Panzer Divisions to the coast for defense purposes.”

Baron Geyer von Spevenburg, commander of Panzer Group West, strongly disputed Rommel’s claims.

Both sides’ logic made sense.

As Rommel said, if the armored units were deployed forward along the coast, there was a risk that the tanks would be suppressed by prior naval gunfire.

On the other hand, if deployed near Paris as Spevenburg claimed, it was necessary to consider whether it would be possible to deploy to the scene in a timely manner while avoiding air raids by the Allied forces that had the upper hand in the air.

The Army was also embroiled in the debate as the commanders of Army Group B, the linchpin of the defense, and Panzer Group West argued.

Even Hitler couldn’t decide who was right.

In the meantime, precious time continued to pass.

“First of all, we need to clarify where the landing point is. Whether it’s Pas-de-Calais or Normandy, we need to decide on that before we can deploy, right?”

They say it’s a 50% hit problem, but no one was sure where the Allied forces would come from.

Both regions had their own pros and cons.

In the case of Pas de Calais, it was the Allied Forces’ first target in terms of accessibility and convenience.

If they had landed there, the British Allied forces could have easily crossed the 40km English Channel.

However, considering the size of the defense force and facilities concentrated there, it was also true that it was difficult to attack.

In contrast, Normandy had fewer defenders and relatively poor facilities.

Instead, it had the disadvantage of being more than twice as far away from the British mainland, making air support relatively difficult.

The argument continued for a long time.

In the end, it was Hitler who drew the conclusion.

“It is true that Normandy is vulnerable, so support Normandy first.”

Although the President’s directive has resolved one issue, the debate over the deployment of armored units is not over yet.

After listening to his generals’ stories, Hitler came to an inconclusive conclusion.

“Half of the armored units will be deployed along the coast, and half will be on standby near Paris.”

Even if Hitler had proposed a compromise of his own, it was an ambiguous conclusion that was worse than just concentrating in one place.

Neither Rommel nor Spewenburg thought this was right, but they could not go against the Führer’s wishes.

With this, the outline of the German defensive strategy on the Western Front was roughly completed.

The core of the strategy was coastal defense along the Atlantic Wall.

Half of the armored force will be on the coast, and half will be on standby for a counterattack.

Although the generals were dissatisfied with this conclusion, they began to move in accordance with the completed strategy.

And this plan was passed on to Switzerland through the hands of the German intelligence chief, Schellenberg.

Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower confirmed the German defense plan and was confident in the Normandy landings.

‘If the enemy’s armored units are dispersed, it’s not that difficult to defeat them individually.’

The German panzer groups that came in groups of ten were not scary, but the German panzer divisions that were dispersed individually could be easily crushed by air power.

The Allied High Command hastened preparations for the landing operation.

As operational preparations progressed, the formations of troops available to the Allied forces were also roughly organized.

The initial available forces for the Allied forces were two Marine divisions, four Army divisions (plus six), 24 British divisions, and 12 American divisions that arrived from Korea.

In terms of divisions, this was far fewer than the 65 German divisions stationed in France and the Low Countries, but in actual numbers the Allied forces far outnumbered them.

Most of the German divisions stationed in France were not fully formed, and their formations themselves were weaker than those of the Allied forces, so one Allied division was equivalent to two or three German divisions.

In addition, a significant number of German units were not pure Germans but soldiers from the so-called Ostpolitik Battalion.

Since this Eastern Battalion was a group formed by conscripting Russian prisoners of war, its morale was low and it had no fighting spirit.

Considering these points, the Allied forces’ superiority was obvious.

However, the Allies did not take the situation lightly enough to just enter Normandy without any prior preparation.

Landing operations had a higher risk of failure than any other operation.

So, it was necessary to weaken the German forces in advance.

“Let’s try it as Korea suggested.”

“Will that work?”

On April 4, 1944, the Allied High Command issued orders to the resistance groups in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.

“We will commence sabotage operations throughout Northern France and the Low Countries from this moment on.”

Germany also seized on this directive.

Rather than using radio eavesdropping, German troops disguised as resistance fighters kindly received orders via radios airlifted by the Allied forces.

Of course, this alone was not enough to ensure the landing of the Allied forces.

“We raise anchor and set sail.”

The Allied forces openly displayed a large fleet setting sail.

The Germans saw this and were convinced that an Allied landing was coming.

“Emergency! Emergency!”

An emergency was declared in the middle of the night, and soldiers were hastily deployed to the main road, fully armed.

Armed soldiers were also dispatched to flat areas in the rear where airborne troops could land.

The German army was fully prepared and waiting for the Allied forces.

However, there was no news of the Allied Forces that were supposed to show up.

As the Germans were about to retreat to their positions, the Allies sent out another order.

“Next Saturday, we will return to the Continent. We will carry out thorough sabotage to disrupt German military traffic.”

This time I tried not to be fooled.

However, hundreds of dolls parachuted from the sky and fell to various locations.

“The air force is dropping! Call emergency!”

Aaaah.

The Germans declared emergency again.

The whole of northern France, from Pas-de-Calais to Brittany, was on fire like a pancake shop.

“Oh, let me get some sleep.”

German soldiers trembled at the sound of the Allied landing alarm that sounded every now and then.

But the war of nerves didn’t end there.

“This area is a planned landing zone and may be subject to bombing. Residents living in the area on that date are requested to evacuate.”

The Allied forces also frequently sent out bombing warning notices.

In some ways, it seemed like a stupid thing to do to reveal their attack points, but the problem was that there were more than one or two.

Germany was also annoyed by the Allied forces’ repeated psychological warfare.

“Anywhere is fine, just come.”

Germany also used its intelligence network to the fullest extent possible to confirm the timing of the invasion.

Meanwhile, the Fifth Column in Britain sent its own analysis of the Allied forces’ deployment to Berlin.

Germany flew a reconnaissance plane over Britain to verify the contents of this report.

The reconnaissance results showed that Germany was becoming more and more confused.

“A large barracks and military weapons were observed in the waterway of the Strait of Dover facing Pas-de-Calais? Then there is an enemy attempting to attack Pas-de-Calais.”

The problem was that there was a large Allied force across from Normandy.

So, are you saying that the Allied Forces are planning to launch a diversionary offensive?

Germany was at a loss as the information suddenly came in.

Hitler also wavered as talk continued to arise about whether it was right to focus on Normandy.

“Your Majesty, I think it would be wise to allocate more troops to the defense of Pas de Calais.”

“The 15th Army is already guarding that area. We need to give strength to the 7th Army, which is guarding the wider Normandy.”

As the high command became disoriented, the repercussions spread to the Western Front.

Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, who believed that the defense of Pas-de-Calais was the right thing to do, spoke up.

“It is better to defend Calais than Normandy! If you think about how easy it is to cross the English Channel, the answer becomes clear.”

Romel, too, did not stay still.

“Normandy is right. They will definitely come to Normandy, which is weakly defended.”

Of course, I wasn’t sure that Rommel would come to Normandy.

However, only by claiming that the enemy was coming to their jurisdiction could they completely take control of their armored forces.

The squabbling of generals, the chaos of the high command, the psychological warfare of the Allied forces.

The German forces on the Western Front were in no condition to stand up to the Allied forces.

The Germans needed time to reorganize their command structure and regroup.

“But, you used up all your turns.”

While the Germans were wasting time, D-Day was approaching.

Germany was also vaguely aware of that fact.

However, I made a slight mistake in calculating the time.

“The weather isn’t that good, so the Union kids won’t come until the end of June.”

The German command expected the Allied offensive to take place at the end of June, as it would be advantageous to come in when the Ivans were on the offensive.

“So, until then, all the behaviors of the Union kids were just deceptions? I guess I’ll get to suck some honey for once.”

The German army relaxed its tense mind,

“I should also go on a vacation and see my beloved Lucy’s face.”

Rommel, commander of Army Group B, went on vacation.

Surprisingly, it all happened on the eve of D-DAY.