World War II: Starting with the defeat of the Desert Fox

Chapter 39 Montgomery's Business Acumen

Shepherd can indeed solve it.

The next day at dawn, Thorne was surprised to find that a bamboo frame had been erected next to the chimney, and an iron plate was placed on top of the chimney, which dispersed the black smoke that had been rising straight into the air and spread in all directions.

"That's it?" Thorne asked Shepherd.

"That's it." Shepherd nodded seriously.

"But the Germans can still see it." Thorne was annoyed by Shepherd's dismissive attitude: "Do you think German pilots are fools?"

The factory buildings were all covered with brown tarpaulins, and Thorne had no objection to this.

But this chimney, which is tens of meters high, is not disguised at all; it just stands there.

"Relax, Captain." Shepherd smiled confidently. "The Germans can see it, but they'll also see the surrounding bamboo frame, and then..."

Thorne understood.

German pilots would mistake it for a chimney still under construction, and therefore consider it neither a target nor worth bombing.

Two kilometers away, Shepherd would also use wooden planks to create a "real" chimney and make it emit a long, straight, black column of smoke.

Therefore, German pilots would naturally assume that was the target.

"Very good, Lieutenant." Thorne was a little embarrassed. He looked at the "factory" that was rapidly taking shape in the distance and had to admit that Shepherd was right: "You are indeed professional."

"Thank you," Shepherd replied with a smile.

Shepherd thought it was quite pleasant to work with this guy; at least he was willing to admit his mistakes, which was an affirmation of other people's work.

This is very different from those bureaucrats who are high above and never admit their mistakes.

Thorne withdrew his gaze and looked thoughtfully at the factory disguised as "sand": "We may need to transfer another unit to ensure that the information is not leaked."

Shepherd nodded in agreement.

The real and decoy targets were too close together. If a worker leaked this information, the Germans could use the location of the decoy target to pinpoint the real target.

"The real target is two kilometers east of the fake factory, even though it looks like sandy land."

Therefore, at least until the German bombing, all workers were not allowed to leave the factory or communicate with the outside world!

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So Thorne returned to Bog Arab that same day and reinforced the company with an infantry battalion.

This made him go through the complicated process again.

Montgomery assigned Thorne an extra military intelligence platoon, who were experts in counter-espionage and leak prevention.

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The following afternoon, before the fake factory was even finished, a sentry reported spotting a German reconnaissance plane in the air, but it vanished into the clouds in an instant.

The sentry himself was not quite sure; he even suspected that he might be seeing things, and there was no one else who could corroborate his suspicions.

But this still caught Montgomery's attention.

For the sake of secrecy, Montgomery did not inquire by phone or telegram, but instead secretly went to the factory to meet with Thorne.

"Is the intelligence accurate?" Montgomery asked.

"No, General," Thorne replied, "I'm not sure."

Montgomery's question was utter nonsense.

The sentry himself wasn't even sure if he saw the German reconnaissance plane, so how could Thorne be sure?

Montgomery didn't dwell on the issue; he simply emphasized its importance: "I care more about other things than the oil drum factory, you understand?"

"I understand, General," Thorne replied.

Montgomery is currently more concerned with whether he can severely damage the German air force, which, although few in number, has been launching attacks everywhere and causing a lot of trouble for the Eighth Army.

"You're very smart." Montgomery nodded.

"You know I'll definitely seize this opportunity to ambush the German air force."

"So, that's why you felt comfortable buying this oil drum factory, is that right?"

Thorne readily admitted, "Yes, General."

In terms of air power, the Royal Air Force has a numerical advantage and its quality is comparable.

However, most of the German pilots were ace pilots who had fought their way up from Western Europe and the Eastern Front, while the British pilots were almost all novices.

Therefore, it was often the British Royal Air Force, rather than the German Air Force, that suffered losses in air combat, with the actual casualty ratio being 3 to 1 or even higher.

If the German bombing targets had been known in advance and the Luftwaffe had been able to set up an ambush, the outcome would have been different.

Thorne believed that Montgomery would not let this opportunity slip by easily.

"Whatever your motives." Montgomery's gaze locked onto Thorne:

"Whether it's for your own benefit or to target the oil giants."

"I can ignore all of that."

"As a general, as the commander of the Eighth Army, all I want to see is victory, understand?"

"Understood, General," Thorne replied.

This is a warning to Thorne:

Without victory, you have no reason to expect the military to send two engineer companies, an infantry company, and a military intelligence platoon to protect your factory.

You are a typical example of "using public office for private gain".

Thorne felt that Montgomery was talking to him more like a business deal.

Just as Montgomery turned to leave, Thorne called out to him in time.

"General," Thorne said.

"If I were German, I would choose to launch the bombing at dawn."

"Because of this, their planes can fly low over the sea in the dark."

"They will calculate the time perfectly, arriving at the factory just as dawn breaks."

Montgomery didn't turn around, a smile playing on his lips: Finally, he'd forced this guy to reveal his true thoughts.

"Anything else?" He stopped in his tracks.

"If I were the Royal Air Force commander," Thorne continued his analysis:

"I would choose to launch the attack after the Germans begin their bombing."

"Because only at this point is the location determined!"

Montgomery nodded slightly.

This guy must have consulted a lot of information and done in-depth research, knowing that the German Air Force would pre-plan several temporary airfields for each sortie, making the flight routes unpredictable.

Montgomery later learned from a conversation with the Royal Air Force commander that Thorne had considered far more than he had imagined.

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"A perfect plan," exclaimed Major General Corningham, commander of the Western Desert Air Force.

"He not only determined the timing and route of the enemy's attack and locked down the battlefield for us."

"He also pointed out the best time to attack."

(The image above shows Major General Corningham on the cover of Time magazine. He led the Desert Air Force in cooperation with the British Eighth Army from 1941 to 1943 and was the highest-ranking British air force commander in Egypt.)

"The best time to attack?" Montgomery didn't quite understand.

"Yes," Corningham replied, "He said 'attack after the Germans begin bombing'."

"What's the problem?" Montgomery still didn't understand.

Corningham explains:

"Think about it, sir. German bombers are circling around and then diving at steep angles to bomb the target."

"This not only drains the pilots' energy, but also pushes their fuel consumption close to the red line."

"By choosing this moment to strike, the German planes may not even have enough fuel to evade us."

Montgomery could hardly believe what he was hearing.

It wasn't the words themselves that were the problem, but rather the disbelief that Thorne could even have thought of such things.

impossible!

He just happened to stumble upon it!

Yes, that must be it!

Corningham said, half-jokingly, "This Captain Thorne seems to have the potential to be an Air Force staff officer, General!"