Chapter 165: Chapter 243 The French Doomsday (13)
In the entire intelligence warfare of World War II, Germany's performance can be summarized in one word: failure. At almost every strategic turning point in the war, Germany's intelligence efforts suffered defeat. In the intelligence battle against adversaries such as Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States, Germany consistently found itself at a disadvantage.
In a joke from later years, within a high-level staff of a German intelligence bureau during World War II, a spy accidentally spilled coffee on a document. The janitor who came to clean up was a former Polish undercover agent, the gatekeeper on duty was a former French undercover agent, the person responsible for sorting the cleaned garbage was an undercover agent from the British military intelligence, and the one who drafted the document was an undercover agent from the Soviet intelligence system in the adjacent unit. Finally, the person delivering the coffee turned out to be an undercover agent from the U.S. intelligence department. When Germany surrendered, each revealed their identification badges, leading to some amusing expressions from the others.
Although some details are challenging to verify, on April 12, 1943, the Russian translation of Germany's highest command's Order No. 6, the "Fortress" operational plan, was already on Stalin's desk, three days earlier than when it was reviewed by Hitler himself!
Germany's intelligence failure can be attributed to several reasons.
The arrogant superiority complex of the Aryan race led to the ideological rigidity, impracticality, and careless attitude of Germany's intelligence agencies. Overestimating themselves to an extreme degree, they unrealistically and wishfully underestimated their opponents. Their distorted view of the external world, even more so than other chauvinistic nations, always resulted in misjudgments, achieving the effect of "aiming high and falling low".
First, they underestimated the tenacious fighting spirit of Britain, becoming helpless after the failure in the Battle of Britain. Later, they excessively disregarded the strength of the Soviet Union. When formulating the Barbarossa Plan, there was almost no serious intelligence preparation. They guessed the Soviet forces, relied on bluffing about Soviet weapons, estimated Soviet terrain, and fantasized about Soviet weather. Unreasonably and wishfully, they firmly believed that Germany could replicate the Blitzkrieg myth against the Soviet Union, easily defeating it.
Underestimating the total strength of the Soviet army by more than 100 divisions, they found the appearance of Soviet T-34 tanks and Katyusha rocket launchers unbelievable.
The intelligence agency's assessment of the enormous industrial capabilities of the United States earned them furious outbursts from the small mustached one (Hitler). After that, the intelligence agency fell silent, only able to guess the intentions from above, and started filtering or even manufacturing intelligence to comply. Due to their arrogance, Germany prioritized offensive intelligence and neglected defensive intelligence.
Anti-Semitic sentiments also significantly weakened Germany. The persecution of many talented Jews and the frenzy of anti-Semitism inflicted severe damage on numerous academic and technical institutions. The prestigious Göttingen Mathematical Research Institute, once the world's center for mathematics, completely collapsed, leaving Germany far behind in code-breaking throughout the war.
Among the personnel of U.S. and British code-breaking institutions, 20% were Jewish mathematicians expelled by Germany. For instance, William Friedman, who helped the U.S. break Japan's Purple code, was a Jewish person expelled by Germany. As for the persecution of Jewish physicists in Germany and the discrediting of nuclear physics and quantum mechanics as "Jewish pseudoscience", it resulted in Germany's inability to develop nuclear weapons.
Furthermore, internal power struggles and decision-making processes within intelligence agencies were major factors in reducing efficiency and hindering progress. To consolidate power, Hitler intentionally decentralized intelligence work: besides the Abwehr led by Canaris, Germany had the Security Main Office of the SS system, headed by Heinrich Himmler, and Ribbentrop had a diplomatic intelligence system. The three agencies were disorganized, lacked division of labor, and failed to cooperate. They were suspicious of and even worked against each other, leading to unnecessary wastage of resources. Rather than focusing on combating the enemy, they devoted time and energy to internal struggles for favor, mutual defamation, and establishing individual territories.
Moreover, the historical traditions of the German military contributed to their disregard for intelligence. Being an island nation, Britain inherently valued defense, consistently placing intelligence in a position of importance. Germany, as an inland country, accustomed to offensive strategies in tense situations, failed to correctly understand and treat the role of intelligence. The majority of German military officers came from a long line of military families, adhering to a feudal hereditary system and possessing a natural exclusivity. They viewed intelligence personnel as competitors for power, leading to a general undervaluing of intelligence, with operational staff having the final say and intelligence staff being suppressed. In personnel selection, lower-ranking and mediocre officers were assigned to intelligence work.
Wilhelm was aware of Germany's dismal performance in the field of intelligence, but fortunately, standing at the pinnacle of German authority, he could correct these shortcomings as much as possible.
More importantly, many secret documents from later years have been declassified. Even the life stories of unnamed heroes who made outstanding contributions during the war are detailed, including how they infiltrated enemy countries, the aliases and identities they used for undercover work, and the specific methods and timing they employed to steal crucial intelligence.
With the help of this formidable "golden finger", the Imperial Intelligence Department had already identified most of the foreign spies operating within the country. Wilhelm just hadn't given the order to take action against them yet.
However, the recent situation with Olga bothered him a bit. These fools who didn't know their place had set their sights on him. It was truly intolerable.
So, Wilhelm decided to eliminate these individuals in one fell swoop.
"Find me the remaining small fry!" Those who can leave a mark in history are individuals with significant achievements. The small fry who contribute nothing cannot be recorded in the annals of history. Wilhelm didn't know exactly how many unknown undercover agents there were, but he hoped to eliminate them all. "Yes, sir!" Reinhard saluted. "I guarantee the completion of the mission!"
At this moment, the people in the dance floor, who had been dancing enthusiastically to the music, stopped as the music approached its end. Wilhelm walked to the center of the dance floor.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today is truly a day worth celebrating. I'll spontaneously play a piece for our brave submariners."
A round of enthusiastic applause immediately echoed around. Several waiters moved the piano to the center of the dance floor.
Wilhelm sat at the piano, his fingers resting on the keys. The room immediately quieted down, so silent that you could almost hear a pin drop.
As his fingers swiftly glided over the keys, a beautiful and melodious tune filled the air. It was soothing, calm, making one feel as if they were on a solitary boat in the vast sea, swaying with the waves, with the cool sea breeze in their face, intoxicating the mind.
Suddenly, the melody took a sharp turn, transitioning from the gentle and serene tune to an intense and passionate one, like a sudden gust of wind and crashing waves, shocking as if giant waves were slamming onto the deck. A hoarse roar, primal and wild, devoid of any gentleness, reminiscent of the indigenous people depicted by Gauguin, unadorned and wild. It evoked an inexplicable impulse, causing every organ in the body to tense up, hair to stand on end, and blood to surge. Closing one's eyes, all that could be seen was a massive whirlpool in the boundless ocean, devouring everything—splashes of waves, the sensation of being drenched from head to toe.
As the music came to an end, the surrounding crowd erupted in a burst of enthusiastic cheers, and applause thundered like a storm.
"Your Highness truly is a master of music!"
"Your Highness, this is another world-class masterpiece!"
Wilhelm smiled inwardly. This was none other than the classic work of Hans Zimmer, a master of film scores from later years. How could it not be a masterpiece?
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