Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 131



Only Noblemtl

#131

Bam.

Rommel opened the door and entered his office, slamming his desk down.

“Fuck, fucking shit. Those fucking shitheads.”

The Allied landing was imminent.

The President ordered the construction of the Atlantic Wall to stop them, but there’s no way that’s possible.

The coastline along the Atlantic Ocean was so long that it was impossible to defend it all.

Therefore, predicting the Allied landing point was of the utmost importance.

“This is definitely Normandy.”

“Ha, what do you know that makes you raise your voice like that?”

“Is landing the end just with landing?”

“Supplies? How are they supposed to unload supplies in this sandy field without a port?”

Rommel’s arguments did not hold up at all.

Rommel, who earned the nickname “Desert Fox” in North Africa and was renowned worldwide as a capable commander, was different here in France.

“Desert Fox? Aren’t you a loser after all?”

“That’s right. They just pulled it out in the middle for media play, but didn’t they end up losing North Africa to the Allies?”

The brilliant achievements and shining reputation he had accumulated in North Africa eventually faded when the North African campaign ended in the Allied victory.

There, contrary to Rommel’s expectations, the British invasion of Italy ended in a botched manner, and his lofty reputation began to take a hit.

“Even in Italy, his predictions were all wrong.”

“Yes. The Allied Forces that were supposed to come never came.”

Rommel was never chosen by Hitler because he always made realistic and therefore seemingly pessimistic predictions.

The Western Defense Forces arrived as if they were being chased after losing the Italian front to Kesselring.

But here, Rommel was unable to fully demonstrate his abilities.

Rommel, originally from a commoner background, was a rather prominent figure in the German military leadership. Without Hitler’s full support and his achievements in the early days of the war, he probably would not have been able to rise to this position.

But now that the Führer’s trust in him, which had guaranteed him rapid promotion, was gone, Rommel was isolated and helpless.

Today’s meeting was a perfect example of him. No matter how much he insisted on Normandy, it was useless.

“Have you heard? The Allied Forces have appointed Lieutenant General Patton as commander of the First Army Group.”

“Hoo. Patton.”

“I told you. All the press reports about soldiers being killed in Sicily and such are a deception operation against us.”

“Right. A general gets dismissed from his position just because he hit a soldier. Even a passing dog would laugh at that.”

“Yes. It must be to hide the fact that Patton’s position has changed from us.”

“Look at this picture.”

The photo was a bit dark, but it wasn’t difficult to discern the shapes.

“By tank.”

“There is no doubt that Patton will personally land at Calais with his armored forces.”

Even the latest intelligence was enough to convince others that Calais was indeed the Allied target.

But that made Rommel even more suspicious. The MacArthur he knew would not have revealed information so easily.

“What kind of person was MacArthur that the Allied Forces would have just leaked such information?”

Everyone in the conference room trembled at Rommel’s mention of MacArthur.

“And isn’t it strange that MacArthur would listen to the claims of those idiotic British bastards?”

Britain, or Churchill to be precise, was so stupid that it must have had Jewish ancestors among its people.

Churchill, who kicks shit balls to the level of the Italian pasta guys who held them back.

I don’t know for sure, but if he hadn’t been the British Prime Minister, the Germans would have been in a much more difficult situation than they were now.

“Now that I think about it, that’s really strange.”

“Even during the Italian offensive, they only attacked Sicily and did not even come close to the mainland.”

“Even in North Africa, weren’t there people who didn’t even listen to the British?”

I didn’t want to admit that Rommel was right, but MacArthur’s name was so big and heavy.

“But it’s Patton.”

“flow.”

“You all know how much MacArthur cherishes and uses Geuchie. If Calais really wasn’t the main attack but a deception, would you have put Patton there?”

“That’s true.”

The one who put the wedge in there was the commander of the unit in charge of intelligence.

“You’re spilling blood. Do you know how much blood our intelligence agency shed to obtain this?”

In the end, the meeting is back to square one.

Rommel had to argue fiercely with his superior, Rundstedt.

“Armored units should be dispersed throughout the landing area and strike at the enemy’s most vulnerable moment immediately after landing.”

“What was the result of doing that in Sicily? They all died. Weren’t they all eaten up after being scattered? Armor can only be effective when it’s gathered together.”

“Once the enemy lands, it’s too late.”

“So in Calais···.”

“What if it’s not Calais? It’s not Normandy, as I claim, but somewhere else is possible!”

In the end, it was the President who made the decision.

“Some will be concentrated in the rear and wait to be able to go to the front to provide support, while others will be deployed at the front.”

Although they managed to deploy one panzer division to Normandy, most of their defensive capabilities were concentrated at Calais.

“shit.”

After venting his anger for a while, Rommel left the office again.

“Go to the beach.”

“yes?”

“I need to check to see how far the obstacles I was told to install along the coast have been completed.”

“All right.”

However, the coastal area where he had ordered a defensive posture was, contrary to his expectations, quite shabby.

“Why is progress so slow?”

“We are concentrating our utmost efforts, but the task is not easy.”

The work on the sandy beach was quite difficult. Structures installed during low tide were often swept away by the high tide and damaged, and soldiers who got soaked in the cold sea water easily became tired.

The sandy beach itself wasn’t a very good environment for moving around.

Rommel sighed at the sight of the coast that was different from what he had expected and started walking again.

“Didn’t you say there was an empty lot behind that hill?”

“yes.”

“Go see the obstacle I told you to install over there.”

The obstacles to stop the airborne troops landing in the rear were designed by Rommel himself.

This simple but effective obstacle required no special materials and was fairly easy to set up: just drive stakes in at irregular intervals, wrap them with barbed wire, and tie them together.

All that had to do was break down the embankment there and turn it into a swamp of water and mud, and it was done.

“But what’s the point if it’s only about knee-high?”

Those who had never seen the airborne troops before were skeptical. Even if the stakes were driven in fiercely, they wondered how effective they would be in shallow water and mud.

“Airborne troops that fall from the sky are as fragile as newborn deer immediately after landing.”

“yes?”

“Because of the weight, I didn’t have any decent weapons, I had to carry all my gear with me in case I lost it, and the parachute was like a trap that tightened around my ankles right after I landed.”

Rommel knew that if he was lucky, he would be able to release his parachute and move right away, but if he was unlucky, he would be entangled in the parachute cord and have to struggle for a long time.

For those who wrestle like that, even knee-high water can be quite threatening.

The soldiers blinked as Rommel continued his explanation in a whisper.

Rommel couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

It was unclear how much of his explanation the soldiers understood that day.

One thing is certain, though: the rate at which piles are being driven in and levees are being built to create mud has increased somewhat compared to before.

And the day dawned.

That was the day when his dreams and the President’s boasts were shattered into pieces.

##

“It is said that a large fleet has set sail from southern England.”

“It’s an air raid. These motherfuckers are dropping bombs.”

As soon as reports came in that a large flotilla had set sail from the coast of southern England, Allied bombers descended on them.

There was no place along the Atlantic coast that was not bombed: Calais, Normandy, Cherbourg, Burgundy.

From the moment dawn broke, the bombing that poured down along the coast was enough to drive the Germans crazy.

“It’s today.”

“Yes, it seems so. It must be today.”

It made it possible for the German command and even the lowest ranking soldiers to realize that today was D-Day.

By morning, Rommel was convinced that his prediction was wrong, because unlike other areas, Normandy was not bombed.

But around lunchtime, Rommel’s eyes began to glow coldly as the bombing began to pour down.

“Check from the shoreline.”

“All right.”

The loud explosions that had been piercing his ears for a long time began to die down, and Rommel, who had just emerged from the bunker, began to inspect his defensive posture.

Rommel’s face twisted as he looked at the overturned shore.

“They bombed here?”

“Yes, it seems like they failed to target the coastal artillery unit.”

The coast swept by the bombs was a disaster.

The landmines that had been buried in the bomb crater also exploded in a chain reaction, turning the coast into a complete mess. The various obstacles that had been neatly arranged according to their own rules were being swept away by the seawater like trash.

“The vacant lot? That···.”

As expected, the defensive structures designed to block the airborne troops were not spared either.

The explosion tore apart not only the defenses, but also the hearts of German soldiers.

“Wow, do we have to recreate that?”

“Isn’t that obvious? The commander himself designed it and even drew the picture···.”

“Yeah, I said you come here so often and nag me so much.”

“Damn. I feel like I’ve done more digging than shooting here.”

“Hey, you think I’m not?”

“I’m not some kind of engineer or anything…”

The soldiers complained as they glanced at Rommel, who was looking at the ruined defense facilities with a stern face.

Meanwhile, Rommel was seen giving various orders to his officers with a serious expression on his face.

It was clear that Bona Mana was telling them to start working right away.

The soldiers, who were writhing in agony as they recalled the tasks they hated even more because they knew how difficult it was, opened their eyes wide at the unexpected order.

“Are you ready for battle?”

“Aren’t you working there?”

“No.”

“Wow.”

Those who had cheered at the unexpected words froze at the next words.

“Rather than that, I thought you were telling me to build a serious building here and bring a machine gun?”

“ah.”

“He said it would be here.”

Gulp.

The sound of several people swallowing nervously could be heard loudly.

Either way, Rommel was anxious.

Rommel, who had been giving immediate and actionable orders while walking around the defensive line, shouted a question as soon as he entered the command post.

“When will the reinforcements arrive?”

The signal officer looked at Rommel with a puzzled expression at his question.

From that expression, Rommel immediately knew that something was wrong.

“I said here. This is definitely their target. They didn’t accidentally drop a bomb on the beach. The beach sand was their target from the beginning.”

At Rommel’s shout, those in the command post bowed their heads.

“They say this is the result of observations by the radar unit.”

The adjutant, who had spent a long time with Rommel, spoke to him, holding out the documents he was holding.

“It’s Calais. They say they’ve spotted a large fleet approaching Calais.”

Rommel froze as he checked the documents his adjutant handed him.

“What is Calais?”

“Yes, they say that bombing is still pouring down on Calais.”

He said that this was already the third time, unlike last time which ended in one go.

The bombing continued, and radar observations were also conducted.

This was reason enough for the armoured units in the rear to rush to Calais instead of here.

“So we···.”

When asked whether it would not be better to take it easy for a while and then prepare to advance to Calais to provide support instead of wasting effort, Rommel shouted out.

“No. I can’t be wrong. This is their deception. Get out now. If reinforcements don’t come, we have to block their landing on the coast. Everyone get out. Get out there and set up a defense and install at least one more gun on the coast!”

Those who had been watching Rommel’s chilling shouts began to run out in a hurry. The adjutant approached Rommel, who was silently staring at them.

“General.”

“If what I said is wrong, then why don’t you just say that you had a hard day because of that old man?”

At the adjutant’s call, Rommel muttered in a listless voice. And the adjutant suddenly thought that his superior looked quite tired.

A few hours later.

As Rommel was mingling with his men to repair the coastal defenses, he heard someone shouting.

“Look, look over there.”

The corners of Rommel’s mouth trembled slightly as he raised his back.

The distant sky was filled with blackness: it was a bomber.

After ducking for a while to avoid the pouring bombs, I barely managed to escape and was about to head to the command post,

“Commander.”

Rommel encountered the signal officer who had come out to find him and heard the news he had been waiting for.

“They say it was a hoax. The things that were picked up on the radar were pieces of aluminum sprinkled on the fishing boat, and those that came down on parachutes were…”

These were elaborately crafted balloons.

The armored unit, which only then realized that it had been deceived, changed direction, but

“It’s already too late.”

Before we knew it, the distant sea was filled with landing craft from the Allied forces.

“Damn. The moon is bright, but it’s too bright.”

On a cloudless, clear autumn night, the full moon rising brightly cooled his heart.

It was the beginning of a long night.

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