Chapter 488 A Clean Sweep

In the command center of the 201st Division on the front line, everyone at the operational meeting was taken aback by Lord Austin's urgent summons.

With the Germans poised to attack at any moment, what could be more urgent than this?

Could it be that His Majesty is visiting?

One of the brigade commanders looked towards Division Commander Isaac, who seemed equally perplexed, and asked, "Commander, what should we do?"

Isaac didn't overthink it and made his decision. "Since the commander has called for us, there must be an emergency. Everyone's here anyway. John, go prepare the vehicles; we'll all go together." He was a very conservative traditional soldier who believed in "obedience to orders is the soldier's duty," lacking the audacity to act independently in the heat of battle. Even with the awareness that combat could erupt at any moment, he decided to obey the commander's order and head to headquarters for the meeting.

His command post was the furthest from headquarters, so they needed to leave immediately to arrive on time.

Fortunately, their vehicles had no issues en route, and they arrived at headquarters ten minutes early.

"It seems there's definitely something important going on." At the entrance of the conference room, several armed military police were stationed, demanding that they surrender their weapons before entering. Inside the room, at least a platoon of military police stood along the walls, effectively surrounding the entire venue.

Isaac took his seat and whispered to his colleague next to him, "What's going on? Why call everyone here at this time?"

His colleague gave a wry smile and shrugged, indicating he was also clueless. After a brief pause, he whispered, "I only heard these military police are from London, sent by Churchill."

They didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later, Lord Austin entered the conference room accompanied by several military police.

Seeing the commander, someone immediately asked impatiently, "Sir, what's the emergency situation?"

Lord Austin shook his head. "I'm as clueless as you are. Since you're all here, Captain Robert, you can read out Churchill's orders."

Captain Robert scanned the room, a strange smile playing on his lips as he spoke slowly, "Of course, no problem. Churchill's order is for the Plymouth garrison to surrender with white flags, with execution for those who disobey!!"

"What??" The room erupted in shock. The first thought was that Churchill was turning traitor, but then they remembered he was a staunch advocate for war; why would he surrender?

That left only one possibility, and Lord Austin suddenly realized, shouting, "You, you're Germans!!"

Many instinctively reached for their holsters, only to remember they had surrendered their weapons upon entry.

Seeing the exquisite expression on Lord Austin's face, Captain Robert smiled triumphantly. "Seems our commander has finally caught on. Allow me to reintroduce myself; I am Robert, leader of the first squad of the German Dream Factory special forces. Our main force is about to land. If you cooperate, it will be good for everyone. If you don't, this place will be drenched in blood. And without you commanders, how effective can the frontline soldiers be?"

In the original timeline, Skorzeny executed a bold plan called "Operation Griffin."

It involved 160 agents fluent in English who, during training, mimicked the American way of life, watching Hollywood movies, chewing gum, and casually saluting their officers. Their ultimate goal was to become adept at playing the role of an American soldier, aiming for a perfect disguise.

Once prepared, each operative received an American uniform, fake ID, and dollars, then infiltrated behind American lines. These special forces, disguised as American MPs, directed vehicles the wrong way at checkpoints, harassed American personnel, and executed those who couldn't answer their questions on the spot, charging them with espionage.

Their actions caused significant panic among the Allies, with even General Bradley of the U.S. 12th Army Group being interrogated. In his memoir "A Soldier's Story," he recalls a visit to Major General Hodges where he was asked, "What's the capital of Illinois?" He answered Springfield, only for the "MP" to "correct" him by saying Chicago.

These incidents infuriated the Allied command, who ordered the MPs to hunt down these German infiltrators at all costs.

The most "legendary" was the "Griffin Kidnapping Operation" planned by Hitler in December 1944.

According to this plan, a team of ten elite soldiers, disguised as American soldiers, was to sneak into Fontainebleau near Paris (the location of the Allied headquarters) to kidnap General Eisenhower under the noses of thousands of Allied troops. The German high command believed the chaos this would cause could help turn the tide of the war. Ironically, due to their convincing disguise, nine out of the ten were mistakenly bombed by the German air force, and the kidnapping operation failed.

This Robert belonged to the German Dream Factory unit, a special forces team specifically tasked with covert infiltration and operations behind enemy lines.

As Captain Robert spoke, the "military police" around the room raised their Thompson submachine guns, the sound of cocking the weapons chilling everyone's blood. These were all equipped with 50-round drum magazines; once fired, the room would indeed run red with blood.

And Robert "kindly" reminded them, "Lord Austin, don't forget about those who went to check the armories. If you don't agree to surrender, those armories will explode."

"..." Lord Austin felt like slapping himself; he had been foolish enough to let the Germans waltz into his headquarters, get scolded, and then follow their plan to gather all the frontline commanders for this sweep.

Perhaps he was one of the most foolish commanders in British history?

But he couldn't be blamed entirely; the German forgery was too perfect, even Churchill's signature and seal were indistinguishable from the real ones.

"Lord Austin, gentlemen, you have five minutes to consider. If you don't surrender, we'll all go down together. If anyone disagrees, they can stand up now; I'll fulfill their wish." With that, Robert drew an M1911 pistol from his holster and slammed it onto the table.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The room fell into a deathly silence. While most present were prepared to die for their country and considered death on the battlefield an honor, few were willing to die so pitifully.