On the evening of the third day, Bowman walked into the Führer's office with Skorzny, who had returned to his life, and Hoffman asked with concern: "Did you succeed?" ”

"Got it. We pretended to be a British gendarmerie unit and infiltrated the scene, completely destroying the estate and killing everyone we could see, the bombing worked well, the fire was huge, and it is estimated that there were very few survivors. Skorzny's mood was not too high, but he nevertheless answered the general process.

Seeing that the other party was obviously depressed, Hoffman asked strangely, "What's going on?" I see you're upset? Big team losses? ”

"Yes!"

"It's inevitable, it's impossible for such a major operation to go without sacrifice, but success means much more. This means that the British will no longer be able to steal secrets from us, and you will save countless people. There has never been so few people who have saved the fate of so many people. Hoffman looked excited, and finally gave a hard push in the direction of changing the fate of history.

"The main thing is that the Führer is far-sighted and decisive in his decision-making." Bowman complimented, but Skorzny bowed his head and didn't know what he was thinking.

"Comrade Baoman would like to express my greetings to the families of the victims and the wounded members on my behalf, and the relevant honors and pensions will be issued as soon as possible, and I will personally confer decorations on those who have made meritorious contributions." Hoffman thought for a moment, felt that there was no one missing, and asked strangely, "What about Rank?" Why didn't he come to see me? ”

"Führer......" Skorzny hung his head very low, and it took a long time to squeeze words out of his teeth, "Chief Ranke died to cover us, he was the only victim of the commando team's operation. ”

"What?" Hoffman was stunned. "How did he die?" When was it sacrificed? You know that he doesn't have special operations capabilities, didn't I tell you to protect him? ”

Skorzny's voice was deep as he recounted the general course of action. and talked about Rank's situation when the two broke up in the end.

“…… Because his cover bought us enough time, we were not bitten by the reinforcements that came from the British, and we retreated smoothly from another road, and then boarded the submarine at dawn to evacuate. We waited until the last minute of the agreed evacuation and could not wait for Chief Ranke to join us, and there were a few men who wanted to risk staying there to meet them, but I think that with Rank's familiarity with the British, if he could not get rid of the enemy. We couldn't answer at all, so I refused them with a hard heart - I had to ask him to forgive me, and I couldn't go back to save him. Because there are a full 50 commandos in force, I want to bring them all back. Skorzny said with red circles in his eyes and choked up.

Bowman, who was already aware of Ranke's experience in England, interjected: "Although no one has seen it with their own eyes. But if I'm right. Major Ranke must have been sacrificed. Even if he was caught by the British, with his character and temper, he would definitely choose to be heroic. Although he sacrificed, his spirit lives on, and for him, the bastards who bullied and insulted him in the past have finally been sent to hell by his own hands. ”

"We can't look at this superficially." Hoffman waved his hand, he was a scholar and understood this humanistic spirit, "Ranke went on this mission from beginning to end knowing the target and the object, is he doing it for personal revenge?" If we look at it in this way, we will underestimate his spirit and devalue his self-sacrifice. Although Ranke was bullied and insulted in all aspects during his life and study in the UK. But this is only a kind of tempering of the environment, and it cannot reduce his noble motive to carry out the task and accomplish the mission to the vulgar level of mere revenge for the individual, who accomplishes this task for the fundamental interests of the country and the people. If it were him, I don't think he would have chosen to do this, let alone retaliate against them, at most he just smiled. ”

Hoffmann gives an example: "When I was young, I lived on the streets of Vienna, and I persevered with how many people insulted, ridiculed, and bullied me. Anyone else else doesn't say it, but I can have endless anger just because the professor at the Academy of Fine Arts rejected my admission...... But now that I am the Führer, the most powerful man in Germany, am I going to take revenge? To do so would not only be despicable, but also psychologically distorted, and Ranke, as a noble knight, would not and would not disdain to do so. ”

"I see what you mean." Bowman complimented, "The Führer's tolerance has always been admirable, and Ranke is a hero of this valuable quality." ”

Skorzny told McDonald about it again, and Rank's message as well, hoping that Hoffman would agree to the request.

"Well, it's a tragedy." Hoffman sighed, he didn't expect such a story in the operation, nodded in agreement with Skorzny's request and explained, "We should follow the last words of Ranke, and I will entrust you with this matter." ”

He turned to Bowman again and said: "We want Dr. Goebbels to carry out in-depth patriotic and nationalist propaganda represented by the martyr Ranke, and let the younger generation know, understand and understand Ranke's ideological realm and sacrificial spirit, and we must hold a solemn memorial service to deeply remember and commemorate him." ”

"Führer, this is a written will left by Chief Ranke, each of us left a will before leaving, I opened it and looked at it, and found that the recipient wrote it, so I brought it to you." Hoffman took it and slowly opened it and looked at it:

"To the most honorable Führer,

I think it may be a relief to me that when you read this letter, I am probably no longer alive.

I didn't realize what was so special about this mission at first, I thought it was a bit risky at best, but I knew what I was going to do when I got to know what I was going to do. Working there were the best cryptographers and translators in Great Britain - at most a string of unknown English names to an ordinary German; But for me, it's a memory that is hard to forget. I can ignore the fact that the translators are just ordinary British citizens, but the cryptographers and mathematicians in it, whether they are the chief experts or the other researchers, have a deep relationship with me. To put it more bluntly, this group of experts is basically made up of the most distinguished professors of mathematics and the best students in the mathematics and statistics departments of the two universities in Great Britain and Cambridge and Oxford, including my teachers, my friends, my classmates, my alumni - many of whom I know and who should remember me.

On the whole, despite all the unhappiness I encountered during my studies at Cambridge, the school treated me fairly, both in terms of papers and academic performance, and the professors helped me as much as they could, without any prejudice or colored glasses, and although some of my classmates made me feel bad about me during my studies, I did not hate them. In fact, their harassment and ridicule didn't cause me much substantial harm in the end, at most it was just some boring talk after dinner, and I didn't take it too seriously. Taking a step back and saying that even if I have been treated unfairly, there is no need for me to take such drastic revenge, which is not in line with my ideals.

My real focus was on the target and the target of the operation, and because I had a relatively thorough understanding of ciphers, I understood the consequences of a breach of secrecy, and I had seen the dangers of secrecy on the North African front - although Chief Guderian had used the breach to eliminate many of the British, on the whole we had suffered. Therefore, this action is not only justified but also urgent for the Empire.

When I received the assignment and accepted the mission from you, my heart struggled for a long time, and I was so miserable that I couldn't even sleep:

To do it to them means that I have to do it to my teachers, classmates, and alumni of the past, to physically destroy them all, and I can't imagine this cruelty, and I can't bear this price; If we do not do anything to them, it means that the Reich's telegraph will continue to be classified, and we risk losing the war or paying even greater sacrifices, a price that the German people cannot afford.

Finally I figured it out...... I don't live for myself, I don't have a family in Germany at the moment, I don't have a lover, I live for the motherland, for the people, for the leader, when I need care the most, it was the motherland and the people who selflessly accepted me, it was the leader who understood me, now the motherland and the leader need me, I need to stand up, I can't turn my back on this responsibility, so I decided to carry out this task, first of all, to ensure his success, and if possible, to ensure that the commando can return safely.

I hope:

Whether this operation succeeded or failed, the credit goes to the other commandos, especially if it fails, please don't be too them, they have done their best, they are the best fighters in the world I have ever seen; If there is any killing and sin in this operation, it will all be on me alone, and I am willing to bear any charge and go to hell to accept the cruelest punishment of purgatory to wash away my sins.

Finally, allow me to make a small request to you: after my death, I do not need any honour or bereavement (if any), but only the inscription on the tombstone with the words 'Citizen of Germany: The Tomb of Albert Ranke', and my property (I do not have any real estate) is about 1025 marks, and please help me to donate all of it to the members of the team who died or were disabled in this operation, in order to do my part.

I regret that I can no longer serve the Reich, and I am confident that the Reich will rise strong under your leadership and realize the common dream of all the German people!

Long live our leader, the great, glorious, and correct Führer Adolf Hitler!

Long live the invincible and invincible German people!

Albert Ranke, at the base on the night of September 29, 1942. (To be continued.) )