The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel Page #5

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and I'd make them pay for it.

I'd make them pay such a price in blood

they'd wish they'd never heard of Germany.

I might not be able to stop them all,

but they'd know they'd fought an army,

not a series of stationary targets.

He'll never let us, of course.

You know how firm corporals are.

Do you happen to know Karl Strolin?

- Strolin?

- The Lord Mayor of Stuttgart.

I remember that name from somewhere.

Or Dr Goerdeler of Leipzig?

You too?

Every day that passes,

every minute of the day,

convinces me more and more

that theirs is the only possible solution.

Your words,

you must understand, mystify me.

They propose to arrest him,

take over the government

and move immediately

to make peace with Eisenhower.

I shall, of course, deny that

this conversation ever took place.

But that's a particularly childish idea.

Eisenhower won't make a separate peace.

And why should he,

with things going so well as they are?

That part of your plan

is doomed from the start.

But you don't disagree

with the basic proposal?

I'm sorry, but I don't believe

I heard the question.

In any case, if they came to you for counsel

or advice, would you receive them?

Oh, no.

No.

No, I'm afraid not, Rommel.

It's too late. Much too late.

Even if they moved immediately?

You misunderstand.

Not too late for that.

Too late for me.

I'm 70 now,

too old to revolt,

too old to challenge authority...

however evil.

Berlin calling, sir. Marshal Keitel.

Keitel?

- Von Rundstedt?

- Here.

- Is this true about Cherbourg?

- I'm afraid so.

But this is dreadful.

How can I give such news to the Fhrer?

You've reported misfortune to him before.

Why should this be such a problem?

But that's just it. We've had nothing

but bad news for weeks.

Isn't there any good news

I can give him at the same time?

Have you checked on the Russian front?

We're not discussing the Russian front.

We're discussing yours.

This situation in the west

becomes worse with every report.

I'm actually embarrassed to have to give him

another disappointment like this.

Can't you think of anything we can do?

Certainly. Give us those 90 divisions of the

That's impossible. The Fhrer has explained

the necessity for leaving them there.

Very well. Give us permission to pull out of

Normandy and set up a line we can defend.

Your orders are to fight where you are.

That's what he expects you to do.

You have no better suggestion than that?

One very much better, in fact.

Make peace, you idiot!

- Goodbye again, Rommel.

- He'll never report that.

This very instant he's knocking at the

corporal's door, whimpering with happiness.

You must never forget this, my dear fellow.

Victory has a hundred fathers:

Defeat is an orphan.

Within 24 hours you'll be named my

successor. I extend my deepest sympathy.

That's nonsense. He'll never let you go.

But not too old, I might add,

to wish your friends the best of luck

in their extremely interesting project.

Meanwhile, with their beachheads

irretrievably secured,

Allied tanks and men had fanned out across

France and begun their race for the Rhine.

Put these where you can get to them quickly.

Also those files there.

Keep the key yourself and use

your own judgement about the rest.

Field Marshal.

- Where is he?

- In the small room.

- Aldinger.

- Yes, sir.

Colonel.

I'll try to be as brief

as possible, Field Marshal.

- You'd better keep an eye on the corridor.

- Yes, sir.

- Well?

- We are faced with an immediate decision.

Three of our men were arrested in Berlin

yesterday. They'll be made to talk, of course.

But, fortunately, their knowledge

of the people involved is limited.

But in the opinion of everyone concerned,

there's no more time to be lost.

We must act at once.

And it's all set, definitely?

So I understand, sir.

At my word, from this instant,

they are prepared to follow my lead.

Then I have your permission

to inform General Stulpnagel

we may now act at will

and without further consultation?

Wait here, Colonel. Come with me, Ruge.

- Clear this room, Aldinger.

- Yes, sir.

Outside. Never mind about that. Outside.

Field Marshal Rommel speaking.

Put me through to Field Marshal Keitel.

I've got to be certain, absolutely certain.

We can't go through with this

if there's a remote sign of sense.

Keitel?

- Rommel.

- Now listen very carefully, Keitel.

I've got to see the Fhrer at once,

somewhere in France.

I can't explain now, but you must make him

understand that it's a matter of great urgency.

I suggest tomorrow morning.

On June 17,

they met in Hitler's underground stronghold

at Margival, near Soissons.

This is an extremely difficult duty, my Fhrer,

but circumstances leave me with no choice.

We've reached a crisis on this front

that calls for a decision.

But you've said that. You've said that before.

Every time we talk,

we're facing another crisis.

When the enemy has overwhelming

superiority on land, at sea and in the air,

and continues to grow stronger with every

hour while we grow weaker at the same rate,

that to me is a crisis

by any standards that I understand.

- A crisis that should be examined promptly.

- That's you! That's you, like always.

When everything's going well, you're willing.

But at the first sign of a difficulty,

you become a defeatist, complete defeatist.

Are you perhaps interested why you didn't

succeed von Rundstedt? This is why!

Maybe I'd have been better

if I had replaced you altogether.

Have you, perhaps, a little confidence in me?

More, it would seem, than the Fhrer

has in me. May I continue?

And what my V bombs are doing to London,

has no one told you?

Yes, sir. But why not to the beachheads?

Because that's not their purpose. They need a

whole city for a target, then they cannot miss.

Then why not the embarkation ports?

Plymouth, Southampton, Portsmouth?

No, no, no, no, no!

That's exactly what I mean when I say you're

no good at thinking above the battlefield.

The British don't care for those villages.

It's their London that they love.

They don't want to see it destroyed

the way I'll destroy it.

In two more weeks, remember my words,

they'll be screaming for surrender. You'll see.

To continue, sir.

The struggle is over on this front.

Within two weeks,

you must prepare to see the enemy

break through our lines

and push out into the interior of France.

Militarily, the end is already in sight.

We have nothing more to throw in.

What is it you are proposing?

That we surrender?

I give you the facts, sir. I only ask

that you draw the proper conclusions.

Proper to whom? To you!

I suggest, Rommel, that

you confine your genius to fighting.

Leave the conduct of the war

to those who are responsible for it!

My apologies, sir. Now, if the Fhrer

will honour me with his advice.

The V weapon, for your information, happens

to be only the first in a series of weapons

that will completely revolutionise all warfare.

I've a second more powerful, and a third

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