Chapter 23: Thinking of Nothing

Kissing Dinah from her sleep, Lynn put on her trench coat and hurried out of the castle.

Autumn nights in the north are also chilly in the breeze.

Lynn's mood was not calm, and the scenes of Los Amos and Leningrad flashed through his mind, and the picture finally froze on a familiar and fading face.

"Noah...... the name popped out of her lips, and it was already synonymous with steadfastness, reliability, simplicity and loyalty in Lynn's heart, and he became a comrade-in-arms who was born and died, and he was perhaps the most inconspicuous of the brothers who followed Lynn from Berlin to Northern Europe. A year ago at this time, he bravely embarked on a journey to Potsdam in order to fulfill his mission as an imperial soldier, and ended up staying in his homeland forever with dozens of his colleagues.

They may be more fortunate than those who are still adrift and fighting alive.

Arriving at the dock, Lynn put on a military hat with an eagle emblem on it and shook hands with the submarine commander, Major Rotenbach. The clean-shaven naval officer wore a Knight's Cross with Oak Leaf and a medal for the Battle of Cape Barlow, wearing a uniform with only minor changes from the Third Reich's naval uniform, meaning he had participated in the annihilation of the Soviet landing force months earlier. Docked next to the pier was a small XXIII-class submarine with a displacement of just over 200 tons, which could carry up to 30 passengers on a short voyage without torpedoes, and could continue to dive for nearly 200 nautical miles with a creep electric motor without floating, and was equipped with a snorkel for underwater charging.

After a little midnight tossing, fresh vegetables and Viking beer from Tromsø with the refuge base had been loaded onto the submarine, and Lynn would be the only returning passenger.

Carrying a briefcase on board the submarine alone, Major Rotenbach gave up the only single room on board, the captain's quarters. The submarine slowly sailed out of the harbor under his command, and was about to go around the southwest corner of Kvar Island before it was completely submerged, leaving only the periscope to observe on the surface, and the pulse waves emitted by the British radar base station built on the island swept the sea in vain, and did not have an effective detection effect on periscope-sized objects and objects moving underwater.

Due to the frequent travel in recent months, Major Rotenbach and his crew were well aware of the 100-nautical-mile journey from the "refuge" to Tromsø, even in complete darkness. Seeing that the submarine had entered a normal state of submarine, Lynn wanted to sleep in his clothes and recharge his energy to deal with the next "battle" in the base camp, but there was always a problem in his head that was bothering him. After thinking about it, I walked to the command compartment, which was located in the middle and rear of the submarine.

Major Rotenbach was inspecting the gauges everywhere.

"Major, can I talk to you?" Lynn said.

"Of course, honorable General Gargo!" Major Rotenbach hurriedly turned around and walked to the side of the "special lieutenant general" who was unique in the empire.

"Can you use this place to conduct an anonymous and non-responsible investigation?" Lynn whispered her request.

Major Rotenbach thought for a moment and made a gesture of please.

"Comrades!" Lynn clapped his hands and said, "There is a favor related to the decision-making of the staff officer, I would like to ask you to help, this is a secret question and answer without any responsibility." In your opinion, which of the three most important categories of naval size, technology, and tactics are the most important in warfare? ”

Crew, look at me, look at you, and a non-commissioned officer who is neither the youngest nor the oldest was the first to reply: "Scale! ”

Next, most of the other five crew members in the command cabin gave the same answer, and only one answered "tactical".

"What do you think?" Lynn didn't pull down the last man here, Major Rotenbach.

The major hesitated for a moment, then replied, "The three factors are the key, and if I have to say the most, I think it is the scale." ”

This should be a personal summary of the two world wars by the officers and men of the German Navy.

Lynn nodded, he actually wanted to know whether it was worth it for ordinary officers and soldiers to take a great risk to rescue the detained German generals, but if he asked them directly, he might not tell his true thoughts, and the most basic purpose could be achieved in a different way. The contribution of a group of good generals to winning the war is irreplaceable, but without a group of good generals, the war will not necessarily be lost, and the strength of the country is the biggest determinant of the balance of war. After figuring out this truth, Lynn also had a clearer idea of what was going on, and then settled down to sleep. …,

Sixteen hours later, Lynn stood in high spirits before the Führer and Marshal Rommel and saluted in a dignified manner.

It has only been more than a week since the last time they met, and the Führer still shows the kind of kindness and calm that is completely different from ordinary people's impressions, especially the silver hair that looks like the first snow, at first glance like an old man who has read everything in the world, and his mind is like the sea.

Rommel, who was hailed by many as the god of the emperor, sat on the temporary chair to the right of the Führer's desk with a notebook, and he was able to get such treatment in the Führer's office in the entire base, knowing that even Goebbels could only stand obediently on the side. However, the deep-eyed and cunning "Desert Fox" in the previous photographs is no longer what it used to be, and his face has changed greatly from the severe injuries he sustained in an Allied air raid on the battlefield in France in 1944, when his skull was cracked and his cheekbones shattered, and although the German doctor's surgical skills saved his name, the thick scar and blind left eye have been with the famous German marshal ever since.

In his only remaining eye, Lynn saw the hope behind the helplessness.

"Hans, tell me about the situation!" The Führer spoke gently, and the Chief of Intelligence, Andriy, stood respectfully under the map directly across from Lynn's desk as soon as he entered, and he answered the word "Yes", then glanced at Lynn, and said in a businesslike tone:

"Last October, the so-called International Military Tribunal of the Allies held its first trial in Berlin, without convicting anyone, and they announced a total of 24 defendants, including Karl, who temporarily held the administration of the imperial government in the name of the Führer. Field Marshal Dönitz, former Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Hermann. Imperial Marshal Goering, former Imperial Foreign Minister Joachim. Feng. Ribbentrop, Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme High Command, Field Marshal Wilhelm Brown. Keitel, Rudolph. Hess......"

Hear Rudolph. Hess's name, Lynn was not surprised at all, but it corresponded to this prominent figure who once caused a sensation in the world but did not have any title, and it was impossible for Andriy to do it on his own in this matter, which was naturally instructed or hinted by the Führer. In this lengthy list, some of them have the prefix of "former XX", others are the normal title of wartime office, which is obviously to pick out the Führer's attitude to them or not, and the order is also important. Lynn didn't speak, but silently took it to heart.

Minister of Armaments, Quartermaster and Munitions. Speer is ranked 7th on this list, and it is estimated that he is even higher on the list of Allied war criminals, followed by the Chief of the Army General Staff Jodel, the Dutch Governor General and the last Minister of Foreign Affairs, Inquart, the Polish Occupation Governor Frank, and the former Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Erich. Raeder, former Foreign Minister von Ferdin. Newwright waited, it took four or five minutes for 24 people to be introduced one by one.

"At the end of November last year, as a result of consultations within the Allies, the so-called Inquisition Chamber was moved to Nuremberg, and until the outbreak of war, those who were forced to stand their trial were temporarily held in Nuremberg Prison. We have a detailed plan of the prison and the layout of the surrounding transportation and pipeline facilities, and we are very familiar with the surrounding environment, and we have arranged and contacted a large number of external secret posts, and I believe that it will not take long to figure out the distribution of detainees. ”

Lynn didn't listen to Andri's last few words, not because she didn't care, but because she could think of them with a slight movement of her toes, but didn't her actions in Potsdam have the same basis? Isn't it a complete fiasco in the end? At this time, it is worth forcibly rescuing an architect-turned-organizer of military production, maybe "by the way" to bring back a few marshals and generals?

The cost may be extremely high, and it may even destroy everything that has been painstakingly accumulated before, is it worth it?

Lynn kept asking herself.

Andriy did not notice Lynn's distraction, and he continued: "In accordance with the grand Trojan Plan, we have provided the American side with all kinds of intelligence that is unfavorable to the Soviet Union, convincing them that the Soviet Union has a special operations force that uses entirely German-style weapons, and that a series of looting and sabotage operations starting with Las Amos have been carried out by them, and this time is no exception. If possible, we were prepared to take advantage of the time difference to put another black hat on the Soviets' heads and provide the information to the American spies before the operation began, but by the time they had notified the prison authorities to increase their vigilance, we had already been able to evacuate. ”…,

Evacuate ......

This word made Lynn's fingertips tremble slightly, and he had to withdraw, which was easy to say, but actually easier said than done. Las Amos, the evacuation was frightening, and the final pass relied on the fearless resistance of his colleagues and Lorentz. Bach's ingenious deployment; In Leningrad, every link of the plan is like a single-plank bridge erected over a deep valley, with the head pinned to the waistband of the trousers. Although Nuremberg is in Germany this time, Germany today is no longer the Germany flying the flag of the Third Reich, every city, every port, every railway and road is under the control of the Allies, and they can tighten the encirclement at any time and hang the infiltrators.

Seeing the smug look on Andri's cheeks, Lynn felt the urge to smash his nose with a punch, which was not a personal grudge, but a fierce clash of positions.

In front of the Führer and Marshal Rommel, Lynn did not move, not even his whole body, turned to the map at a 30-degree angle, looked at Andri's waving baton with indifferent eyes, and let him perform this lame performance in a good tone.

Why did the Allies choose Nuremberg instead of Berlin for this trial? Considering that Nuremberg was the main source of the National Socialist movement in Germany, that the National Socialist Party held its annual party congress here after it gained power, and that the Third Reich regime had a large number of supporters here, the possibility of sabotaging the trial and rescuing the war criminals was theoretically entirely existent, but was it only because the trial in the enemy's lair was the most ironic and cautionary significance? Or...... Is it possible that the Allies avoided Berlin in order not to provoke too much Germanic national pride, while laying a trap at Nuremberg for the remnants of the Third Reich and supporters to throw themselves into the trap. With this in mind, the Allies would have preferred Nuremberg, with a population of two or three hundred thousand, to Munich, with its three or four times the population and geographical complexity. As for the trial of the principal military and political officials of the Third Reich, it was already being conceived before the war was won or lost - at the end of 1941, when the smile of the goddess of victory seemed to be more inclined to the Germans, the governments in exile in London of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Greece, Norway, Poland, Yugoslavia, and France – the eight countries invaded by Germany – set up a special liaison meeting to study the post-war disposition of war criminals. This seemed very funny at the time, given that the eight governments in exile were still in a precarious phase of exile, and there was a debate over whether de Gaulle's "Free France" or Petain's "Vichy government" would better represent the interests of the French people and who would be legally orthodox. Perhaps it was the clumsy spirit and persistent bravery of the classical knights that tilted the scales of war in favor of the allies, and the former losers finally stood in a position of victory.

Not sure how many minutes had passed, when the voice in her ear stopped abruptly, Lynn came back to her senses and looked at Andri, a man who was arrogant and invincible when the Third Reich was still alive, and was extraordinarily low-key and even approachable in times of adversity. Went to Switzerland to activate the secret reserve and revive the industry, he was at the forefront, planning the assassination of Stalin, he was particularly active, carrying out the assassination of Stalin, he waved the flag in the rear, this time the goal was different, his position was still so "clean and comfortable", which made Lynn really admire it!

"My Führer, the plan is a very good one, but there are a few things that we have to think about carefully." Lynn said according to the routine that had been thought out before, "Did the Allies not pay enough attention to the garrison of Nuremberg Prison or did they have another purpose, and what if they acted rashly without understanding this, the loss of personnel was small, and our existence was exposed to quell the war?" If the target personnel are successfully rescued, the key to whether the Allied leaders will fall into the trap according to the intelligence we have designed is not how realistically we falsify the information, but the logic - instead of the Soviets spending so much money to rob these people, why not take the Allied General Command? ”

Hearing Lynn say this, Andriy couldn't wait to resort to the radical method: "Isn't General Gargo having personal concerns because the woman is about to give birth?" ”

The excuse was entirely in Lynn's expectation, but it was when it came out of Andri's mouth that he was truly disappointed - compared to Laurentz. Bach came, this intelligence chief who was also young and ambitious was not a little bit worse! …,

"You're right, I do care deeply about my wife's birth, and who wouldn't be the same if I wasn't a new father?" Lynn replied in a voice, "But instead of staying with my wife and waiting for the birth of my child, it really makes sense to create a better tomorrow for my children and for the children of the Empire." Now the Führer has outlined for us the path to this goal, and I am willing to dedicate everything to building this path with my comrades, so that my children and all the children of the empire will walk on a smooth road! ”

The provocation was met with a fierce response, and Andriy was a little surprised, he looked at the different Lynn in front of him, and closed his mouth in surprise.

The Führer glanced at Rommel and said, "The problem that Lynn just mentioned is not unreasonable, we should indeed plan everything properly before proceeding, and take care of the time." Hans, is there news that the United States, Britain and other countries are preparing to reopen the trial? ”

"Yes, my Führer, according to reliable intelligence, the Western allies will continue the previously interrupted trial in the absence of a Soviet judge, the exact timing of which has not yet been determined." Andriy replied quickly.

The Führer then turned his gaze to Lynn.

"It is a great honor to have the Führer's trust, and I have no hesitation in it!" Lynn said with her head held high.

Satisfied with this answer, the Führer asked: "What do you think of the preliminary plan drawn up by the General Staff?" ”

I had just seen the plan of the Strategic Staff before meeting the Führer, it was only a preliminary concept, and many details had not yet been determined, so there was plenty of room for adjustment as the backbone, but Lynn had already made up his mind, and he replied calmly: "It's too hasty, and it's full of loopholes." ”

Even if it was a first draft, it would not have been possible to develop it without the approval of the Führer, and he let out an "oh" in surprise.

Although there was no direct visual vision at this time, Lynn observed Rommel's reaction with her spare eyes - the marshal did not even turn his head, but just sat there like a sculpture.

Lynn became more and more sure of his thoughts, so he looked squarely in the direction of the Führer and said: "I am confident that this task will be completed, and I hope that the Führer will give the fullest trust!" For this action, which is related to the fate of the Empire, I will repay the Führer with a perfect score. ”

From the previous skepticism to the current resoluteness, Lynn's change of attitude made the Führer a little confused, and the more he so, the more interested he became, so he asked Lynn what specific requirements he had.

"First of all, we need to increase the collection of intelligence, especially those details that are easy to overlook, and in order to better accomplish this task, I hope to have direct support from the local intelligence group during the operation." Lynn took half of Andri's arm off in a roundabout way, and in what is now the Intelligence Division of the Strategic Staff, this intelligence group is the largest and most powerful.

Without much thought, the Führer approved Lynn's request.

"This mission is special, and I need to cooperate with 500 combatants who cooperate tacitly." Lynn's tacit understanding did not name whether it was between himself and the combatants or the combatants, but fortunately the Führer was a clever man in this regard, and he quickly replied: "Except for the troops sent to North America, the night battalion is completely under your command, and the commander-in-chief of the night battalion will also be in your charge in the future." ”

Lynn had been "plotting" the permanent command of this unit for a long time, and now that he had finally succeeded, he didn't have time to be happy, so he asked in surprise: "Sent to North America?" ”

"Oh, this is the case, Bach's side has also planned an important operation, the first and second companies of the night battalion have already left for North America a few days ago, but the rest of the personnel plus the reserve force is enough for five hundred." The Führer replied unhurriedly.

The Chief Strategic Staff Officer is not a real core personnel after all, not to mention that Lynn has been serving as the Governor of Tromsø for a while, but now that the task involves these, he emphasized his tone and said: "Important operation? ”

The Führer met Lynn's inquisitive gaze, hesitated for a few seconds, and said: "Bach has been tracking down the US atomic bomb production facilities, and this time he has planned to snatch a train transporting enriched uranium, which can bring us tons of enriched uranium if it goes well!" ”