81_81266A German-made personnel transport plane slowly descends at the airport in the capital Berlin. The transport plane was accompanied by two escort FW-190D fighters. The engines roared, and not far away German civil air transport planes were loading and unloading letters and express mail items.

But what was unloaded from a nearby military transport plane was even more striking: the relics of soldiers brought back home from the front line. Stacks of washed clothes were removed off the plane by soldiers, as well as letters and medals awarded by front-line soldiers.

The hatch of the personnel transport plane was slowly opened, and the first soldier jumped out of the plane and secured the suspension ladder. Rommel stooped over and got out of the plane, his face still showing a hint of exhaustion. He rushed back to Tuniss from the front, flew all the way back to Rome, and then flew back to Berlin from the Italian capital.

For the first time, the Führer personally ordered a front-line general to return home to report on his work. He knew that his arbitrariness in North Africa had upset the military's top brass. Of course, he also knew that the main reason for the successive setbacks in the North African operations was that he had been on the offensive. If he can defend at the right time, it seems that the situation will be much better than it is now.

"Long live Führer Accardo, Rudolph, General, the car that picks you up is already waiting over there. A major officer, who was standing not far from the plane, stepped forward and stood in front of Rommel in a straight salute. He was sent by the General Staff to greet Rommel, and it stands to reason that the rules for welcoming a general should be more solemn, but it seems that in order to express his displeasure, the General Staff only arranged for Rommel a car.

"Long live Führer Accardo, Rudolph!" Rommel replied, very standard and formal. He was promoted to his current position by the Führer, and if he did not show his loyalty to the Führer, he would be only one step away from being doomed.

After returning the salute, he threw the unwashed trench coat to the assistant in the back, smiled and walked with the major to the Mercedes Benz car used by the military top brass in the distance. As he walked, he teased: "I thought I was going to walk back by myself, but I didn't expect you to send a car to pick me up, which really surprised me." ”

"General, you're joking. The Führer himself ordered that you should rush to the Führer's mansion when you arrived, and if you need any other help from me?" the Major asked Rommel, opening the door in the back seat.

"It's so late, I haven't showered yet, and I haven't changed into clean clothes......" Rommel glanced at his watch, the time was already past 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and this time was often the time for dinner, and it was 6 o'clock when he arrived at the Führer's mansion. So he glanced at the major and said with a frown.

"The Führer's order. "The major was also helpless.

"That'...... Let's go. Rommel got into the car, and the Mercedes started up and drove towards the center of Berlin in the distance. High-rise buildings began to appear on both sides of the road, and Berlin was even 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 post after another, on the road leading to the Führer's residence, the closer you are to the core, the more scrutiny you are subject, and the soldiers with rifles on their backs stand on both sides of the checkpoints, looking very solemn.

After checking the documents of Rommel and the Major, the officer on duty at the outpost handed them back two small notebooks: "General, welcome to the Führer's residence. Please park the car in the designated place and wait, and the driver should not get out of the car and walk around. ”

He was not joking, Krupp's driver was smoking near the parking lot of the Führer's mansion, and was pressed to the ground by the SS soldiers on duty as arson, until Krupp and Accardo arrived at the scene, and the misunderstanding was resolved. Because no one knows exactly what you are going to do with your lighter, such dangerous maneuvers are fundamentally forbidden in the vicinity of the Führer.

"Long live the Führer!" As soon as the car was firmly seated in the Führer's mansion, the SS soldiers on both sides stood up and saluted. Rommel got out of the car and walked up the stairs step by step. He didn't go fast, even a little slowly, the last time he was here was four months ago, when he was ordered to form the Afrika Korps, and he came here with pride. Now he has been 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 met Anna, apparently the Führer's secretary was sent by Accardo to greet him as the Führer's "woman", otherwise she would not have the habit of standing on the first floor of the Führer's mansion and waiting for people.

Rommel naturally knew Anna, and they were old acquaintances, almost all of them met the current Führer when Accardo was young, and they were also considered "old people". It's just that one of the two of them has been following the Führer's side, and the other has become the commander of the army.

"Miss Anna. Thank you for coming to greet me in person. Rommel patted the dust off his body with his hand, after all, the general's uniform had been worn on the front line in Africa for a day and had accompanied him all the way to Berlin. He wore an Iron Cross on his collar and looked heroic.

The two of them exchanged a few polite words, and walked one after the other to a reception room on the third floor, while the major from the General Staff was smoking and waiting in the security room on the first floor, and he was going to send Rommel back to his lodgings later. The following day was also a debriefing meeting on the African front and Rommel's presentation on the current state of the Afrika Korps.

"Dangdang. Anna knocked on the door of the reception room, and Accardo's voice came from inside: "Come in." ”

After Rommel followed Anna into the house, he couldn't help but be stunned when he saw Accardo, and Accardo was slightly stunned when he saw Rommel. Rommel was stunned because Accardo was wearing a very homely casual suit, and Accardo was stunned because Rommel was wearing a gritty military uniform.

"I ordered you to come back immediately, I didn't expect them to be in such a hurry. In the end, it was Accardo who spoke first to break the silence between the two men. He pointed to the wine glass on the table and said embarrassedly, "Take a break, have a drink?"

Rommel didn't know what to say, so he sat down on the couch and took a sip of his glass, probably because he was really tired from the journey, and he looked at Accardo, and waited until the whiskey had been running in his stomach for a few minutes before his face became a little rosy.

"I heard that you are in Africa, and you often sit in a command car to travel, and you often eat on time. Irwin...... You've had a stomach problem for a while, can you take good care of yourself?" said Accardo softly. He addressed Rommel by his first name, Irwin, and was very affectionate.

The Führer even knew that he had stomach problems, and it seemed that the pervasiveness of the German intelligence services was really not boasting. Rommel smiled bitterly inwardly, not knowing how to answer the Führer in front of him.

Accardo seemed to see through Rommel's resentment, smiled and nodded Rommel with his finger: "You, when your wife chatted with Mercedes, she kept complaining about how I tortured you, sent you to difficult Africa, and made your stomach problems worse...... Why don't you write to your wife?"

Rommel suddenly realized and laughed embarrassedly: "I get together with her less and leave more, so I can only write more letters to talk about the current situation." ”

"Then why do you think Mercedes always calls your wife to talk to her??If the Führer's wife wants to talk, will there be no one to accompany her?" Accardo glanced at Anna and leaned back on the sofa: "I regard you as a confidant, but you repay me with disobedience and chaos?"

"My Führer, it is Rommel who is incompetent. When Rommel heard Accardo's question, he knew that today's scolding was indispensable, he was about the same age as Accardo, and even a lot older, but every time he saw Accardo, he had the illusion of being looked down upon by his elders. He knew that everything he wanted came from the head of state in front of him, and this head was particularly kind to him.

"It's not that you're incompetent, but you're too eager to prove yourself. Accardo interrupted Rommel's self-reproach with a gesture of his hand: "I will give you the opportunity to prove yourself, and I will also give you time to prove yourself." But as a friend, I let Frederick be your shield, and you wield that sharp sword, in the hope that you will be able to accomplish your own work in North Africa. ”

"Yes!" Rommel said, bowing his head. He knew that Accardo was for his good, and he also heard Accardo's expectations for him, and felt that his rash action was contrary to Accardo's wishes, and he was determined to fight a good victory to dedicate himself to the Third Reich.

"Recently in North Africa it is necessary to stabilize the situation and use the qualitative superiority of our armored forces to fight small-scale short encounters. Take advantage of the situation and leave, accumulate small victories into big victories!" Accardo stood up and said: "Don't fight Tobruk's idea, let alone fight a large-scale offensive battle! I will prepare supplies for you, and then you will have a real armored offensive battle! Recuperate and weaken, and win the real key battle, is what you have to do! Understand?"

"Understood, my Führer!" 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, but you don't use your command, be a transparent person for the time being, and leave the defense to Frederick. Accardo thought for a moment and said, "Although his attack is not as sharp as yours, he is still very good at defense and ordinary skirmishes. ”

"Don't move my command?" Rommel was stunned, the last time he didn't move his command, this time he still doesn't move his command? Is the Führer so optimistic about his command ability in North Africa?

"I didn't bring you back twice, I just waited, waiting for the day you become the Desert Fox, waiting for the moment when you become the Desert God of War!" "Accardo said with a smile, "Don't make me wait too long!"