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

Chapter 37 Unit A

Thorne's trip was on official business, and the planning took place after General Alexander left the command post.

At that moment, Montgomery stood at the window, watching with satisfaction as Alexander got into his car and drove away, leaving behind exhaust fumes and dust.

After a moment, he turned to Thorne and said, "You've got the makings of a general, Thorne. Work hard for me!"

"Yes, General," Thorne replied.

Thorne didn't feel anything, but Gray looked at Thorne with envy.

Gray knew that whenever Montgomery told someone, "You're general material," it meant the beginning of a promotion.

Just as Montgomery sat back down in his chair, ready to resume his work, Thorne leaned forward and whispered, "General, I don't think this is the end of it."

Montgomery looked up at Thorne in surprise, paused for a moment, and said, "You mean, Alexander will take this to Parliament?"

"No, General," Thorne replied, "I believe General Alexander would not do such a thing."

Thorne flipped through the documents in his hand and then unfolded a map and photograph in front of Montgomery.

"This is the Alexandria Coulomb Factory, General," Thorne said. "It's near the sea, about 18 miles from Alexandria, and stands out prominently in the surrounding desert."

Thorne deliberately omitted the phrase "easily detected by the German Air Force".

For a general like Montgomery, who has a very strong sense of self-respect, being too explicit would make him feel like he's being led by the nose.

But if he only says half the story and lets Montgomery figure it out himself, even if he knows it's Thorne's idea, Montgomery will still feel a sense of accomplishment.

Montgomery looked at the photo against the map, nodded thoughtfully, and said:

"Yes, it's too obvious."

"The German reconnaissance planes could locate it with just a glance."

"At the same time, their bombers can also search for targets along the coastline without much effort."

Then he thought about what would happen next:

"Once the Germans find out that we can copy their oil drums and save a third of our oil, they will be in trouble."

"They will definitely bomb the barrel factory in order to cripple our logistics."

"My God, this is even more profitable than bombing oil storage facilities or oil fields!"

At this point, he turned his gaze to Thorne and ordered, "Everything must be done in secret. The Germans must not know, understand?"

His first thought was to "block the news".

"Understood, General," Thorne replied, but a troubled look appeared on his face: "But..."

As he spoke, he glanced meaningfully in the direction Alexander had left.

Montgomery understood instantly.

Alexander will definitely negotiate with Shell after returning to Cairo.

Shell, being a stakeholder, was unwilling to see all British-style oil drums replaced with the new type.

then……

"Blocking information" is virtually impossible.

Shell only needed to leak a few hints, and a scheme to use the German army to strike at its competitors was formed.

Montgomery was quite surprised; he found it hard to believe that Thorne, who was only 19 years old, would have such a far-reaching plan.

But the facts were undeniable, forcing him to believe it.

"Very good." Montgomery nodded, took out a transfer order from the drawer, hesitated for a moment, and then pulled out another one.

He filled in the transfer order with lightning speed.

Issuing unit, dispatching unit, task execution, time...

One order mobilized the Royal Engineers Company, and the other mobilized the Disguise Bureau Engineers Company; the former did the manual labor, while the latter specialized in camouflage.

Finally, he signed his name, stamped the seal, and handed it to Thorne: "You're in charge of this. Two engineering companies, you know what to do, right?"

"Yes, General!" Thorne replied, accepting the mobilization order with both hands.

--------

The British troop movement almost made Thorne vomit blood.

As Thorne's "command staff officer," all he needed was a phone call and a transfer order signed by Montgomery.

But Thorne went to three different departments.

First, there's the operations department, where Thorne needs to confirm that the mission doesn't conflict with other operations.

A bald, middle-aged captain slowly checked the logbook, sometimes making mistakes and flipping back to verify them. After a while, he said casually, "No problem, you can go."

As he spoke, he signed his name on the transfer order.

Next, the engineers had to confirm that the two companies to be mobilized were in good condition and ready to carry out the mission.

The problem at this point isn't slowness, but rather abundance.

When the engineers heard that it was "Hans the Salesman" who had come to mobilize troops, five second lieutenants, three first lieutenants, and a major immediately volunteered.

The engineers were spreading rumors: Thorne had made great contributions when he led more than twenty repairmen to the battlefield last time, and now he was transferring two companies, and who knew what big thing they were doing!

Thorne ultimately chose two that he found agreeable, believing that the task did not require a high level of expertise.

Finally, the intelligence department, Thorne had to confirm the route was safe, such as whether there were minefields or military exercises along the way.

This is actually unnecessary; the route from Borg Arab to Alexandria has always been open, but the procedure still has to be followed.

Finally, after more than an hour of struggling, Thorne managed to get two engineering companies out.

If there were an emergency during wartime, and troops were to be deployed in such a methodical manner, it would be too late by then!

Thorne couldn't help but mutter to himself: The British efficiency is truly freaking #@#￥!

The company commander of the engineering corps of the Disguise Bureau was a second lieutenant in his early twenties.

His name was Shepherd, and he was a very outgoing person. The first thing he did after being selected was to ask to ride in the same car as Thorne.

He gave Thorne an excuse he couldn't refuse:

"Captain, this way we can discuss the plan en route."

"As you know, the materials needed for camouflage often need to be prepared and purchased in advance."

"This can save a lot of time."

Soon Thorne realized he'd been tricked. As soon as he sat in the back seat, his eyes lit up and he started bombarding Thorne with questions:

"Captain, how did you come up with the idea of ​​using the salt marshes to set this up?"

"I've always known about salt marshes, but I never thought of doing this."

"A brilliant idea, to actually use a water tanker..."

Thorne had to threaten him: "You're quite the actor, Lieutenant. But if you don't shut up, I'll send someone else."

"You can't do it, Captain." Shepherd smiled smugly.

"Why?" Thorne asked.

At this moment, he already had the idea of ​​replacing him, but he was still curious about what this guy was relying on.

"Because I'm the most professional," Shepherd replied. "There's one thing we have in common: before coming here, I had never been in the military, let alone attended a military academy."

"So, how did you become a second lieutenant?" Thorne asked, puzzled.

Shepherd leaned forward and handed Thorne a business card: "Captain, Kazari Films, I'm from the props team!"

Thorne was speechless for a moment; there really were all sorts of people in the army.

(The image above shows a tank disguised as a car. During the Battle of El Alamein, the British Army hired many film company prop workers to establish the "Disguise Bureau," or Unit A for short, in 1941. They disguised a large amount of equipment and facilities, including 1000 tanks as cars.)