Chapter Seventy: The Prelude to Surrender

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  The torrential rain lasted for a whole day and finally stopped on the morning of the 24th, as if the heavens were also feeling a bit tired and ceased to cleanse the earth.

  And the rain subsided, the Allied artillery fire began to rage again, this time only blasting mud into the sky! Although the Allied artillery was very fierce, General Sibert, the German fortress commander of Cherbourg, was not worried about it.

  In front of General Shilifen stood his deputy, Bibei, who looked at the hesitant General Shilifen and urged: "General! Make a decision! We've done our best! We can't hold on any longer! Now, nearly one-third of the troops along the entire front line have been lost, if we continue to fight, we will surely be annihilated!"

  "I'm well aware of the current situation! However, the defense troops in Serburg are mostly reorganized from other fronts, and we don't have many directly controlled troops. Even if I were to negotiate with the Allied forces, it's unlikely to yield any results! Moreover, Naval Commander Hennig is watching me there, and if things go awry, we might even be purged by the Party Guards loyal to the Führer!"

  Deputy officer Pi Bo said, "Now the Allied forces are strong, I don't know why the leader still wants to guard this isolated city. But we won't be so desperate that we burn our own jade and stone together! Maybe General Hennick's side is thinking the same way as us, it's just that none of us dare say it out loud?"

  General Shi nodded and said, "What you said is right, perhaps we should really give it a try!"

  "Shall we find some time today to go see General Hennick?" asked Deputy Officer Pibo.

  "No, not yet!" General Shilieben said after a moment's thought. He vetoed Deputy Officer Pibo's suggestion and paced back and forth in the command room, saying unexpectedly: "Take note, I'm going to send a telegram to the leader!"

  He Bo hastily opened the folder and concentrated on remembering every word of General Shilieben.

  "Great Führer, the Metz fortress has been under fierce attack by American forces since June 20th. The Metz fortress has put up a strong resistance from top to bottom, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. However, due to being outnumbered, we abandoned our outer defenses on June 22nd and retreated to inner line defense. As of today, enemy casualties have exceeded 10,000. But Metz is now an isolated city, with no external reinforcements or supplies. Our soldiers are fighting to the death solely out of loyalty to you, the Führer, and the German Empire!"

  General Schreiber paused for a moment before continuing:

  "My war zone has a clear understanding of the current situation and does not expect the Führer or the central organization to send troops to rescue us. However, considering the need to boost morale among our defenders, I request that the Führer award the Iron Cross to those who have made outstanding contributions in Metz through an airdrop, in order to inspire them to fight to the end and contest every inch of land with the enemy! Fortress Commandant Schreiber, Metz Defensive Zone."

  He stared at the order in his hand in surprise, thinking to himself: Is the general really going to fight the Americans until complete defeat? But just now, the general's intention was not to give up the possibility of surrendering to the American army. What is the general thinking? Although Pibo had many doubts in his heart, as a deputy officer, he knew what to ask and what not to ask. Since the general wants to do it this way, then let's execute it well!

  Berlin Headquarters

  Hitler soon received this report from Serebryansky, the city defense commander of Serov, and let out a long sigh, saying only two words: "Agreed!"

  After the Allied invasion of Normandy, Hitler became increasingly dissatisfied with Field Marshal Rommel's defense of the Normandy sector. He believed that the Allies' smooth landing on Omaha Beach was a major blunder under Rommel's command and had led to the current predicament of the German Empire, although this misunderstanding was unfair to Rommel.

  If it weren't for Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who was in charge of the defense here, insisting on annihilating the Allied forces that landed on the beachhead as much as possible, the 352nd Division would have been transferred to the Normandy beachhead front line as early as March and replaced the poorly fighting 716th Division. Moreover, Field Marshal Rommel also strengthened the defense by transferring two battalions of the original 726th Grenadier Regiment and the 439th Soviet Volunteer Battalion under the command of the 352nd Division. Then the Allied Omaha landing operation would have easily taken this area, and there wouldn't be the famous war movie "Saving Private Ryan" later!

  But Hitler did not think so, and with more and more intelligence showing that there would be a batch of his political enemies launching a coup against him at home, although Hitler did not take this coup to heart, but if the marshal with military power in hand participated, then the situation would be different.

  According to Hitler's intelligence, someone reported that Field Marshal Rommel might be the main figure in this coup. At first, Hitler was still suspicious, but before the Battle of Cherbourg began, Hitler ordered Rommel's four armored divisions to withdraw to Cherbourg and defend it with all their might. However, unfortunately, Field Marshal Rommel disobeyed Hitler's order, which made Hitler extremely angry! Looking at the desperate request report in front of him, Hitler's furious anger erupted again!

  "That damned Rommel, it's all his fault! Otherwise the Americans wouldn't have taken my Cherbourg so easily!" Hitler raged at those around him against Rommel.

  Those around Hitler were well aware of his temperament. Now that Hitler had thoroughly hated Field Marshal Rommel, this marshal was likely to have no good results. It was from this day on that in the following three months, on October 14, 1944, Rommel was forced to commit suicide to show his loyalty to Hitler and Germany!

  No matter how Hitler denies it, his support for Cherbourg has now fallen to the point where he can only send a little spiritual comfort goods to the besieged lone army! In order to prevent the Allied air force from intercepting, bombers cannot undertake such a heavy task and can only use fighter jets to perform such tasks.

  Hitler put some Iron Cross medals into a hollowed-out explosive bomb, attached a small parachute package and finally delivered it to General Scheribens' hands. When General Scheriben awarded the medals to some meritorious soldiers on the battlefield, General Hennecke, commander of Cherbourg's coastal defense, praised: "General Scheriben, your decision has rekindled our somewhat depressed morale! It seems that the Fuehrer hasn't forgotten us!"

  General Shi Li nodded and said: "It's also unexpected for the Commander-in-Chief to be able to send warplanes to airdrop medals in such a situation!"

  General Hennig said: "This time, if the Americans want to take Cherbourg again, they will have to pay a much higher price!"

  General Schlieffen glanced at General von Hoiningen and deliberately asked, "Well, it's just a matter of making the Americans work harder! I wonder if General von Hoiningen has any other ways to defend Cherbourg?"

  General Hennig sighed and said, "General Shili, you don't have to test me either! There's no outsider here, I'll just say it straight out - Serburg can't be defended! Rather than wasting the lives of thousands of soldiers, it's better to make other plans early on! Moreover, once Serburg is breached, you and I will probably not have a good ending!"

  "Are you saying..."

  General Hennick nodded and continued: "That's exactly what I mean!"

  Shi Lei's general tone was no longer so firm, and he hesitated to say: "But I just asked the leader, wanting to fight a decisive battle with the Americans!"

  General Hennicke snorted, "If the Fuehrer had listened to Field Marshal Rommel's suggestion and withdrawn from here earlier, establishing a second line of defense between Caen and Comon, we would have been able to attack or defend with so many people! With the advantage of terrain, we wouldn't have become abandoned pawns!"

  General Shih did not speak, and General Heng saw that he was still hesitant, so he changed the subject and talked about today's battle situation: "Today's battle situation is very bad. A US cavalry unit has already rushed to the coastal defense artillery position. Although we desperately blocked it, I believe it will be lost soon! If it is lost, the American fleet can swagger into Cherbourg's coastline and bombard us from above!"

  "General Shih-lien said: 'I have ordered Colonel Ropps to hold out at all costs, and I am sending him another reinforced battalion!'"

  General Hennig shook his head: "This will only delay the inevitable! Colonel Ropps is facing ten times as many Americans!"

  "I have no more troops to give him! This regiment is the last one I can find!"

  General Hennig said: "I know! My ship has been sunk in the port of Cherbourg, and now I am a commander without a command!"

  "General Shi Li Ben seemed to recall something and asked: 'How about the facilities at the port that you destroyed?'"

  General Hennecke's anger grew as he said: "Since the Americans successfully landed in Normandy on June 7, I expected that they would definitely attack Cherbourg. From then on, I had planned to blow up the piers, breakwaters, cranes and some port facilities of Cherbourg, and the waters of the port were filled with mines. I even used sunken ships to block the channel! Originally thought that if Cherbourg couldn't be defended, it could be abandoned and not left to the Americans as a complete city, but unexpectedly we were abandoned here! To carry out meaningless last stand!"

  "Alright, General Hennick! In that case, you can only talk about it here with me. Whatever you do, don't let it get out, or else those with ulterior motives will find out."

  "I know! Let me know when you've made a decision, I'll take responsibility with you!"

  "Thank you, General Henning!"

  General Hennig laughed and said: "We are all on the same rope, who can escape! What are we waiting for if we don't work together now?"

  General Shi Li said: "I'll think about it, and when the time comes, I'll let Pi Bo come find you!"

  General Hennig recognized Pipo and said, "If it's his words, I'm at ease! However, General, you should also make a decision soon, don't drag on for too long, otherwise, it will be useless!"

  General Shi Li Ben smiled and said: "You just listen to the news!"

  After Shilai Ben etc. left, he called his trusted aide Pi Boduo and said: "From now on, you must secretly monitor General Hennig's every move. If you find out that he is taking any action that is unfavorable to us, arrest him immediately!"

  He nodded and was about to arrange the matter himself when Shiliben reminded him, "Of course, the action must not be discovered by General Hennick!"

  "Yes, General!"