Chapter 55: The German Army's Revenge
Himmler did not dare to be careless, and he ordered the Gestapo agents hiding in Britain to sneak close to Blenheim Palace. Using a submarine, Himmler obtained the reconnaissance results and also unexpectedly captured a British naval female officer who was out on patrol. Through photographs and secret interrogations, Himmler completely believed what Qin Xiaofei had said, so he reported this astonishing news to Hitler overnight.
It can be imagined that Hitler was furious when he received Himmler's report. The war had been going on for almost half a year, and the original German code had long been deciphered by the British, which was no different from being naked. What "Sea Lion Plan" could they talk about now? Hitler finally knew how the Anglo-French army had retreated back to British soil in just a few days.
The Chief of the High Command, Keitel, the Minister of War, Jodl, and the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force were summoned to Hitler's office in the dead of night. Hitler raged at them for a full hour, leaving them wide awake but still unable to believe that their code had been broken. The "Enigma" cipher machine was not like the old-fashioned code books; it worked by electrical impulses. Although the "Enigma" cipher machine had been invented some time before and used for civilian purposes, the military version had been redesigned with new circuits, more rotors, and a different structure, theoretically unbreakable. Before equipping the military with this cipher machine, strict security and reliability tests had been conducted. What they did not know was that in 1932, Polish cryptographer Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Ró?ycki and Henryk Zygalski had already broken the code of this machine. By mid-1939, Britain and France had also obtained methods to break the code.
In the face of overwhelming evidence, the military high command finally believed this astonishing fact. G?ring's fat face turned white and black, obviously in a very bad mood. This is also understandable, as the navy and army are currently basically immobile, only his air force is fighting to the death with the British.
The German Navy's commanders, Raeder and D?nitz, were fortunate to learn that the German Navy's main force was now submarines. If they had discovered during the implementation of the wolf pack plan that the password had been cracked, it would have dealt a major blow to the German Navy's strength. In fact, the navy was the first to adopt this cipher machine and improved some of its encryption steps, making it the most confidential of the three services.
"It's a good thing our secret police discovered this fact, otherwise we would have suffered heavy losses." Hitler finally finished his tantrum, having delivered an hour-long hysterical speech that left him somewhat breathless. "The military should all thank Himmler, it was he who will spare you from losses in future wars. And so I declare, I award Himmler the Diamond Oak Leaves with Swords Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross!"
In contrast to the military's gloomy faces, Himmler was beaming with delight. He particularly enjoyed seeing G?ring's loss of favor, and for power-hungry Himmler, he hoped to become Hitler's successor rather than G?ring.
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As for how to strengthen the security of the password machine, this is a matter for the General Staff. The Air Force is now preparing plans for retaliation.
The next night, a squadron of German bombers approached the coast of England at extremely low altitude. The bombers belonged to the Second Air Force. Goring sent an aide in a plane to find General Kesselring and hand him a sternly worded order - to bomb Bletchley Manor. In the order, Goring hoped that Kesselring's bombers would secretly arrive and flatten Bletchley Manor, and also required Kesselring not to issue orders by telegram. To ensure the success of the bombing, Goring humbly called Himmler himself, hoping that his spies would indicate the target instead.
So tonight, without fighter cover, Kesselring ordered KG 1 to send out 40 Ju-88s for the raid. According to photographs of the target, 40 bombers would be enough to give the estate a carpet bombing.
Major Erich Hoenmannsberg led the Ju 88 squadron. The Ju 88 medium bomber was not equipped until 1939, with an all-metal structure, four single wings, two Jumo water-cooled piston engines, a top speed of 470 km/h, a range of 1,790 km, and a payload of 2.5 tons. It had two 12.7mm machine guns and three 7.7mm machine guns. The Ju-88's performance was excellent, with strong self-defense firepower, and it could still maneuver during dives, increasing its survivability. It was the main bomber of the German army, but unfortunately, it had just started to be equipped, and there were not many in number.
To ensure the success of the raid, Oberstleutnant Hajo Herrmann did not choose to fly directly over the English Channel. Bletchley Park is located in Milton Keynes, northwest of London, and a direct attack would have taken them over London. Herrmann chose instead to lead his formation first into Dutch airspace and then into the North Sea, approaching England from the east, thus avoiding the large fighter forces and radar stations deployed in eastern and southern England, and also finding landmarks such as rivers and railways on the ground to guide their approach.
Bletchley Park is a mansion that combines Victorian Gothic, Tudor and Dutch Baroque architectural styles. The estate covers 581 acres (235 hectares), with the main house occupying 55 acres (22 hectares). Bletchley Park is located on the Varsity Line, a railway line connecting Oxford University and Cambridge University. It was this convenient location that made it an ideal place for codebreakers from both universities to gather. In 1939, the Government Code and Cypher School moved into Bletchley Park, occupying the ground floor of the mansion with its naval, military and air sections, while the top floor was taken over by MI6. The house also contained a teleprinter room, kitchen and dining hall for all staff. Today, the estate is home to over 6000 people.
Tonight, the head of MI6, Sir Sinclair, founder of the codebreaking school, is on edge. The female officer who went missing last night has not been found yet, and Sir Sinclair senses that something is amiss. He decides to report this to his superiors at dawn tomorrow and disperse the codebreaking facilities, as England is now within range of German air raids everywhere. But time is running out, disaster will strike tonight.
Heinkel led the German bomber formation in a low-level approach over the English mainland, chosen for his extensive experience with night attacks and ability to identify landmarks under weak light. Today was no exception; upon entering the English mainland, Heinkel commanded the formation to maintain tight formation at low altitude while scanning the ground for the railway line. Finally spotting it, even with a train running on it, Heinkel suppressed the urge to attack the train and instead followed the railway line forward. Upon reaching the Blechley railway station, he saw several fires lit up on the ground, forming an arrow that indicated the direction of Bletchley Park. The fires had been set by Abwehr agents.
Heilbig quickly located Bletchley Park in the air, these several houses he had identified multiple times in photos, he ordered his own aircraft to circle around in the air, after confirming the target, he ordered the bomber formation to start bombing one by one. Bombing such a manor really doesn't need so many bombers, you know that the Ju-88 bomber has a payload of 2.5 tons. A few bombers are enough to blow this manor into the sky. Goering was trying to get rid of a grudge and hoped to kill all British codebreakers in the manor.
When the first bomb fell, Sinclair was just lying in bed. To ensure the accuracy of the bombing, the Ju-88 bombers adopted a dive-bombing approach, with the first bomber dropping incendiary bombs that accurately hit the main building, and the large fire ignited by the bombs indicated the target for subsequent bombers. Military Intelligence Section 6 was on the top floor, so it was the first to be hit, and Sinclair was surrounded by flames before he could react. The next bombs fell one after another on various buildings in the estate, blowing this classical estate upside down. Heilbig came to a low altitude and circled around for a week, observing the results of the bombing, and felt that it was not necessary to order the remaining 20 bombers to drop their bombs again, as there was no longer a single intact building on the ground. However, he considered the attitude of the command and still ordered the subsequent bombers to carry out the bombing without boredom until the estate was blown into a flat ground, even the basement was bombed and collapsed before leaving with satisfaction.
When the fire brigades arrived from various directions, Bletchley Park had lost all necessity for rescue. The manor house was reduced to ashes, and other places were still burning fiercely. Only a few people were rescued, while thousands of codebreakers, scientists and intelligence personnel were buried along with their equipment in the mansion.
Churchill received the news at breakfast, and this sudden blow knocked over a cup of milk on his table. He shook with rage as he fumbled for a cigar, biting off the end and trying to light it several times without success before giving up. Tears streamed from his eyes; no one knew better than he the value of codebreaking, and he would rather lose a fleet than these men. Fortunately Turing and others were safe, and rebuilding the codebreaking team was not impossible.
G?ring then decorated Hauptmann Heinkel and the others who had taken part in the bombing. The success of the night-time bombing seemed to have shown him a glimmer of hope for the success of Operation Sea Lion. At present Britain lacked night-fighting equipment, and British fighter aircraft which held an advantageous position were ineffective at night. This was proven by Hauptmann Heinkel's successful bombing and withdrawal without loss. No further bombing had achieved such success since then, and with the recent introduction of radio navigation systems for night-time use in the air force, G?ring saw hope that the British could be brought to their knees.
A new week begins! Come on!
