Five Hundred and Forty-Four Apologies
A German-made personnel transport plane descended slowly at the airport in the capital Berlin. Mobile phone reading Mobile phone reading Following the landing of the transport plane, there are two escorting FW-190D fighter jets. The engine roared, and the German civil air transport plane not far away was loading and unloading letters and express mail items.
But what was unloaded from a nearby military transport plane was even more shocking: the relics of soldiers brought back to China from the front line. Stacks of starched and washed clothes were carried off the plane by soldiers, as well as some letters that were too late to send and medals received by frontline soldiers.
The hatch of the personnel transport plane was slowly opened, and the first soldier jumped off the plane and fixed the hanging ladder. Rommel got out of the plane bent over, with a trace of exhaustion on his face. He rushed back to Tunis from the front line, flew all the way back to Rome from there, and then flew back to Berlin non-stop from the capital of Italy.
This is the first time that the head of state personally ordered a frontline general to return home to report on his duties. He knew that his arbitrariness in North Africa had dissatisfied the top military officials. Of course, he also knew that the main reason for the repeated setbacks in the North African operations was that he had been attacking. If he can defend at the right time, the situation seems to be much better than it is now.
"Long live Führer Akado? Rudolph! General, the car that will pick you up is already waiting there." A major officer standing not far from the plane stepped forward and stood at attention in front of Rommel to salute. He was sent by the General Staff to meet Rommel. It stands to reason that the rules for welcoming an admiral are more grand, but it seems that in order to express their dissatisfaction, the General Staff only arranged a car for Rommel.
"Long live the head of state, Acador Rudolf!" Rommel stood at attention and returned the salute, which was very standard and formal. He was promoted to his current position by the head of state. If he didn't show his loyalty to the head of state, he would be only one step away from doom.
After returning the salute, he threw the windbreaker that had not been cleaned to the assistants behind him, and walked towards the Mercedes-Benz dedicated to high-level military personnel with a smile in the distance. While walking, he joked, "I thought I had to walk back by myself, but I didn't expect you to send a car to pick me up. I was really surprised."
"General, you are joking. The Führer personally ordered that you will rush to the Führer's residence after you arrive. Do you need any help from me?" The major asked at attention as he opened the rear door for Rommel.
"It's so late? I haven't showered yet, and I haven't changed into clean clothes..." Rommel glanced at his watch, and it was already past 5 pm. It's usually time for dinner at this time, and he rushed to the residence of the head of state without further ado. It's also 6 o'clock. So he glanced at the major, frowned and said.
"The order of the head of state." The major was also very helpless.
"Then... let's go." Rommel got into the car, and then the Mercedes-Benz started to drive towards the center of Berlin in the distance. High-rise buildings began to appear on both sides of the road, and Berlin was more magnificent than the last time Rommel left.
This is the center of Germany, the center of the Axis powers, and of course, one of the largest cities in the entire world.
One checkpoint after another, on the road leading to the head of state's mansion, the closer you are to the core, the stricter the checks are. Soldiers with rifles on their backs stand on both sides of the checkpoints, looking extremely solemn.
After checking the IDs of Rommel and the major, the officer on duty at the checkpoint handed them back two small notebooks: "General, welcome to the residence of the head of state. Please park your car at the designated location and wait for the driver. Don't get out of the car at will. move around."
He was not joking. Krupp's driver was smoking near the parking lot of the Fuhrer's residence. The SS on duty thought it was arson and blasted him to the ground until Krupp and Akado arrived at the scene. Only then was the misunderstanding resolved. Because no one knows what you are doing with your lighter, such dangerous actions are basically prohibited near the head of state.
"Long live the Führer!" As soon as the car stabilized in the Führer's residence, the SS soldiers on both sides stood at attention and saluted. Rommel got out of the car and walked up the steps step by step. He didn't walk fast, even a little slow. The last time he came here was 4 months ago. At that time, he was ordered to form the African Army, and he was very proud to be here. Now he was recalled by the Führer from the African front, but with a hint of desolation of poor command.
"General Rommel, the Führer is waiting for you in the reception room." In the hall on the first floor, Rommel actually saw Anna. Apparently, the secretary of the Führer was sent by Akado to greet him, as the "woman" of the Führer, otherwise She didn't have the habit of waiting for people on the first floor of the head of state's mansion.
Rommel naturally knew Anna, and he was an old acquaintance. Almost all of them knew the current head of state when Akado was young, and they were considered "old men". It's just that one of them has been following the head of state, and the other has been released as a general.
"Miss Anna. Thank you for coming to greet me in person." Rommel patted the dust on his body with his hands. After all, this general uniform has been worn on the front line in Africa for a day and accompanied him all the way to Berlin. He wore the Iron Cross at his collar, and he looked gallant.
After a few words of politeness, the two of them walked to a reception room on the third floor one after the other, while the major from the General Staff was smoking in the security room on the first floor and waiting. He would send Rommel back to his residence in a while. On the second day there was also a briefing meeting on the African front and Rommel's statement on the status of the Afrika Korps.
"Dangdang." Anna knocked on the door of the reception room, and Akado's voice came from inside: "Come in."
After Rommel followed Anna into the room, he couldn't help being taken aback when he saw Akado, and Akado was also slightly taken aback when he saw Rommel. The reason Rommel was taken aback was that Akado was wearing a very casual casual attire, while Akado was astonished because Rommel was wearing a military uniform full of gravel.
"I ordered you to come back immediately, I didn't expect them to be so anxious." In the end, Akado spoke first to break the silence between the two. He pointed to the wine glass on the table, and said shyly, "Take a break and have a drink?"
Rommel didn't know what to say, so he sat on the sofa, picked up the wine glass and took a sip, probably because he was really tired from the long journey. He looked at Akado, and waited until the whiskey flowed in his stomach for a few minutes. After a few minutes, his face regained some rosiness.
"I heard that you are in Africa, and you often travel in the command car, and you often don't follow the time when you eat. Erwin...you have been suffering from stomach problems for some time, can you take good care of yourself?" Akado said softly . He called Rommel by his first name Erwin, which seemed very kind.
The Führer even knows that he has a stomach problem. It seems that the pervasiveness of the German intelligence agencies is really not bragging. Rommel smiled bitterly in his heart, not knowing how to answer the head of state in front of him.
Akado seemed to see through Rommel's grievances, smiled and nodded Rommel with his finger: "You, when your wife was chatting with Mercedes, she kept complaining about how I tortured you and made you Being sent to Africa, which is difficult, made your stomach problem worse...I still have to send someone to watch you? Why don't you write to your wife?"
Rommel suddenly realized, and smiled embarrassedly: "I spend less time with her, so I can only write more letters to talk about the current situation."
"Then why do you think Mercedes always asks your wife to come and talk with her? If the wife of the head of state wants to talk, will there be no one to accompany her?" Akado glanced at Anna and leaned on the sofa: "I see you Do you repay me by disobedience and making trouble for being a confidant direct descendant?"
"My Führer is incompetent Rommel." Hearing Akado's question, Rommel knew that today's scolding would be inevitable. He was about the same age as Akado, and even a lot older, but every Every time I saw Akado, I had the illusion of being looked down upon by the elders. He knew that everything about him came from the head of state in front of him, and this head of state was very generous to him.
"You are not incompetent, but you want to prove yourself too much." Akado interrupted Rommel's self-blame with a hand gesture: "I will give you a chance to prove yourself, and I will give you time to prove yourself. But as a friend, I let Frederick be your shield and let you wield the sharp sword, just to hope that you can achieve your own achievements in North Africa."
"Yes!" Rommel bowed his head and said. He knew that Akado was doing it for his own good, and heard Akado's expectations of him. He even felt that his rash actions were against Akado's wishes, and he was determined to fight a victory to dedicate to the Third Reich.
"Recently, we need to stabilize the situation in North Africa, and use the quality advantages of our armored forces to fight small-scale short encounters. Take advantage and leave, and accumulate small victories into big victories!" Akado stood up and said: "Don't Play Tobruk's idea, let alone a large-scale offensive! I will prepare supplies for you, and then you will have a real armored offensive! Replenish the weak and win the real key battle, which is what you want I did! Got it?"
"Understood! My head of state!" Rommel also stood up and continued to nod in agreement.
"Go back to the front and don't say anything. I won't use your command power, but you don't want to use your command power. Be a transparent person for the time being and leave the defense to Frederick." Akado After thinking for a while, he said, "Although his offense is not as sharp as yours, he is still very good at defense and general small-scale combat."
"Don't move my command right?" Rommel was taken aback. Last time he didn't move his command right, and this time he still doesn't move his command right? Is the head of state so optimistic about his command ability in North Africa?
"I didn't replace you twice, but I was just waiting for the day you become the Desert Fox, the moment you become the Desert God of War!" Akado said with a smile, "Don't make me wait too long!" ( )