The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel Page #4

---

we want to live again

like decent people, without fear.

Look, Strolin, I don't want

to get mixed up in this thing.

What they do in Berlin is their business,

not mine. I'm a soldier, not a politician.

- You still think you're perfectly safe?

- Who knows who's safe and who's not?

- Under a sane man you'd know.

- That's a lot of rubbish. And you know it.

Well, I hope you're right.

And perhaps you are.

After all, you are his favourite,

and no one's ever questioned

the deep and enduring gratitude he's always

shown to those who have served him well.

No one's in danger who does his job properly.

Of course, you have nothing to fear.

And if something did happen, unpredictably,

you'd still know that

the lives of Lucy and Manfred

would be safe and snug

in the soft, gentle, tender hands

of that brave little band of patriots

he's gathered round him.

- That kind of talk doesn't amuse me.

- I'm not trying to amuse you.

I'm merely reflecting on

your extraordinary good fortune.

I wish you'd think about that, too, sometime.

Not the blood on his mouth,

but what a godsend he is to you personally,

not only in your home,

but in the field as a soldier.

How many other generals can boast

the favour and support of a leader

so gifted in the arts of war?

That's enough.

You haven't forgotten how brilliantly

he refused to be seduced into an invasion

of undefended England right after Dunkirk?

Or how brave he was at Stalingrad,

when von Paulus wanted

to withdraw from the trap?

What other man on earth would have had the

courage to send that brief, thrilling command

"Don't retreat so much as a millimetre.

Victory or death. " Would Napoleon himself...

- That's enough, I tell you!

- Afraid even to think about it.

Stop talking to me as if I were a child

and you a schoolmaster!

Don't you think I know what you mean?

But what of it?

Who asked me? And suppose

I told them what I thought -

that what they're doing, beyond anything

else, is stupid - who would listen to me?

- Have you ever tried?

- Yes! Been told to mind my own business.

And who's to say they're not right?

You aren't naive enough to think

that a soldier must approve of

his government before he can fight for it.

What army could exist like that, with every

man free to decide what he will or won't do?

The truth is that a soldier

has but one function in life,

one lone excuse for existence, and that is

to carry out the order of his superiors.

The rest, including government, is politics.

And if I must remind you again, I'm a soldier,

not a politician. What the government does...

Stop hiding behind that

bloody uniform of yours!

What do I care about

your philosophy of the soldier?

All it means to me is that you're terrified,

and hiding under a lot of rubbish

about the functions of a robot.

Have you forgotten that

I've known you for 20 years?

I know exactly how you feel

about that abomination in Berlin.

What I can't understand is this willingness

to go marching right down into hell

with a beast you loathe and despise.

Where's all the sense and courage you have

in the field? Haven't you any of it here?

I think you'd better

get out of this house. Now.

Not until you've shown an old friend

the decency of honesty with him.

If reason won't work -

very well, then, I'm prepared to go further.

I won't stir from this room

until the truth has passed between us.

Or had you rather

I call the guard and charge you?

- That you will never do.

- And may I ask why you know what I will do?

Because Lucy told me that you wouldn't.

You... You've already

talked to Lucy about this?

Of course.

- And she sent you to me?

- Not at all.

She merely told me how you really feel

about our sainted leader

and his glorious reign over Germany.

Father! Father, the car's here.

We saw it. Will you please not shout?

I've told you that a dozen times.

- He's just excited.

- I know, but...

He's all right. He's still only a boy,

remember, in spite of that uniform.

Of course.

Take care of yourself, dear.

- You're not cross with me, are you?

- For what?

For speaking to Dr Strolin.

No, of course not.

Is he right?

I don't know.

I can't make up my mind.

But that's a dreadful thing he proposes.

A great, tremendous, dreadful thing. I don't

know that I can go along that far with him.

- Then don't, if you don't think he's right.

- I didn't say he wasn't right, but...

Even so, is that the only way to handle it?

Treason?

That's what it comes down to,

no matter how right you think you are.

You think it's better

to keep things as they are?

No, no, I don't. But there must be

some better way of handling it.

I mean, if I could see him alone again

and explain the situation to him.

Can you tell me how a man can

fight a war under such conditions?

Isn't it enough that we face an invasion...

No. Never mind now.

You don't have to decide this minute.

It'll come to you when it's time.

What do you think, really?

I can't tell you, dear. I don't know.

But never mind now. When the time comes,

something'll tell you.

You'd better go along now.

You're late already.

- Write to me every day, will you?

- I will.

- This is a little something for the journey.

- Thank you, darling.

Goodbye, sweetheart.

And don't worry about me.

I'll try not to.

That's all, please.

Goodbye, son. Take care of your mother.

Be a good soldier. Make me proud of you.

I'll try, Father. Are you going

to bring us back Montgomery?

The minute he steps ashore.

Goodbye, darling.

And then, finally,

after four long years of preparation,

it came:
D-day.

And the greatest armada and

the vastest movement of men and arms

in the history of the world rose from England

and set out for the assault

on the beaches of Normandy

and the German fortress of Europe.

From the moment the Bohemian corporal

promoted himself to the supreme command,

the German Army has been

the victim of a unique situation.

Not only too many of the enemy,

but one too many Germans.

You don't think he's ready

to give us the 15th Army yet?

I don't see how he can

under the circumstances.

His astrologers have informed him

that this is only a feint,

that the real invasion is yet to come,

north of Calais.

The 15th Army is sitting

on those cold beaches up there.

Waiting for an invasion that has taken place

is an excellent example of war by horoscope.

We've got to have those troops.

If we're not allowed to manoeuvre, we've

got to be able to support these positions.

We've got to see him again about it.

I tell you this in confidence, Rommel.

I don't think anything we can do

would be of the slightest use.

The pattern for defeat has already been set.

"Hold fast.

Don't give up a millimetre of ground. "

"Victory or death. "

Wars can't be won by men whose knowledge

of tactics is based on copybook maxims.

They may stir schoolchildren,

but they don't stop troops.

But give me a free hand for a few months

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes