The Rise Of A Billionaire 1943-Chapter 129 - 139

A few minutes later, over three hundred captured German paratroopers looked at these men with a mixture of resentment and bewilderment. They had clearly confirmed the accent—how did they suddenly turn into Americans? 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

No, they weren’t Americans either.

As for Lieutenant Colonel Heidete, his once fiery heart turned cold.

But with both arms injured, there was nothing he could do now. He could only... surrender. Yes, surrender was the only option. Facing hundreds of enemies armed with STG44s and MG42s, while they themselves only had pistols, what else could they do but surrender?

Thus, the German army’s last airborne operation of World War II ended in disaster—without even a fierce battle, they surrendered.

In fact, Lieutenant Colonel Heidete should feel fortunate. In another world, when breakout was impossible, he disbanded his unit, splitting them into groups of two or three to reduce their visibility, hoping they could make it back to safety. Afterwards, wounded, he chose to surrender, but most of the paratroopers he had dispersed died in the forest—their bodies weren’t discovered until the snow melted the following spring.

At least now, they were all alive.

In a way, it was only because of an old friend that they were given such a good opportunity. After all, no matter what, they survived.

If not for the appearance of this old friend, they would have been nothing more than frozen corpses in the snow.

"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel..."

Pierre walked up to Lieutenant Colonel Heidete with a cheerful smile.

"Congratulations, you’ve been captured by us!"

Capturing a group of German paratroopers—could it get any easier?

And these weren’t just any soldiers—they were special forces! Well, special forces with a bit of bad luck.

What does he want?

The warmth of his captor made Lieutenant Colonel Heidete feel a strange sensation—as if the other man was looking at a new pet.

That’s right—a new pet!

In Pierre’s eyes, these paratroopers were not just paratroopers, but future instructors for the Borneo Special Forces.

Don’t be fooled by how miserable they looked now. In history, these men were the very forefathers of special forces worldwide. To some extent, all the world’s special forces were trained according to the doctrines these men created. With them, training special forces would be no problem at all.

Capturing a group of elite paratroopers was certainly a great achievement, but it didn’t mean the current predicament was over. The Allied Supreme Command might not know, but Pierre was well aware of the danger he was in.

What should he do next?

Pierre couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. All the roads leading out of Bastogne were now occupied by American reinforcements heading for the Ardennes—the roads were packed with American troops, making evacuation nearly impossible.

Was he really going to be stuck here?

...

At this moment in the Ardennes, the American defensive line had already been breached. The Allies stood on the brink of disaster, their position precarious.

It was long past midnight. Far to the south of the Ardennes, in the headquarters of German Army Group G, the telephone rang. The person on the other end claimed to be the Führer himself, demanding to speak to the overall commander.

General der Panzertruppe Balck hurried to answer the call.

"From today onward, Balck," Hitler said,

"not an inch of ground can be yielded. Today, we attack!"

"Yes, yes," Balck replied, pulling up a chair to sit down.

Hitler told him that they had achieved a breakthrough in the Ardennes. He spoke of Dietrich—loyal old Dietrich—who had opened a gap at the Roshem Gorge, and how he was now only a few miles from Honsfeld, about to break through with Peiper’s battle group. He also mentioned how Manteuffel, with just one corps, had quickly encircled the Schnee Eifel, and was now attacking the Meuse with two more corps; he had already seized the heights east of Clervaux and promised to open the road to Bastogne by noon tomorrow.

And the weather still favored the Germans: thick fog, drizzle, haze, and overcast skies kept Allied planes grounded. Hitler was convinced that in such terrible weather, victory was certain...

Belongs to Germany.

Hitler spoke to Balck non-stop for five minutes, his words flowing without the slightest pause. Having experienced the Eastern Front firsthand, Balck sat quietly in his chair, listening intently, unable to suppress a growing sense of excitement within.

Finally, Hitler, his emotions running high and his voice taut, shouted loudly:

"Balck, Balck, the situation on the Western Front has changed! Victory—total victory—is within our grasp!"

After hanging up the phone, Hitler’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the map, his gaze sweeping over key points until it finally settled on Bastogne. Then, he muttered to himself:

"This will surely be another campaign like France."

Another glorious victory—even though the forces he had committed were only a third of the Allies’, even though air superiority depended entirely on the weather—the smooth start convinced Hitler that victory would surely belong to Germany!

While Hitler was envisioning victory, in Verdun, despite a flood of confusing and contradictory intelligence pouring in, it was still impossible to grasp the full extent of the German offensive. Eisenhower took some corresponding measures to ensure caution. He had already urgently summoned the battle-hardened veterans of the 1st Division from the north, so that if the situation turned out to be worse than it appeared, they would be prepared.

Inside the Allied Supreme Headquarters, even though the battle had already raged for two days, Eisenhower and the other senior commanders still believed that the counterattack in the Ardennes was merely a German move to pin down the American offensive towards Saar.

On the night of the 2nd, First Army Commander Hodges called the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force at Versailles, asking to speak with General Bradley. The previous night, Bradley had stayed at Eisenhower’s stone villa in Saint-Germain.

"Bradley,"

Hodges said,

"I need those two airborne divisions."

"But Courtney, the 101st and the 82nd Airborne Divisions are Ike’s only reserve forces, and they’re both in Paris."

"You have to give them to me. It’s chaos here—I need reinforcements."

"All right, I’ll ask."

After hanging up, Bradley once again stood before the map. The chaotic and even contradictory information made it nearly impossible for him to pierce the fog of war.

Thus, Bradley stood in front of the map, staring at the distribution of friendly and enemy forces. His brow was frequently furrowed, and he repeatedly traced lines on the map with his pencil.

After a long period of contemplation, Bradley’s expression grew increasingly grave. Then, as if a realization had struck him, he suddenly shouted:

"Damn it, so that’s what it is!"

In the early hours of December 3rd, Bradley went to see Eisenhower. As soon as he entered the office, he said,

"Ike, we’re finished!"

"Yes, we’re finished!"

Eisenhower was standing by the map, pointing at it as he spoke.

"I was just about to call you. If this is a full-scale German counteroffensive, then we really are finished. Our troops are too far from the Ardennes..."

With that, Eisenhower turned to look at Bradley and said,

"This time, the Germans might very well repeat their victory in the French campaign!"

On the third day of the Battle of the Bulge, at 2 a.m., Allied headquarters finally understood one thing—the German attack in the Ardennes was not a diversionary raid.

You could only say that these guys on the other side were just too clever...