Never Leave Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

his silver-topped marshal’s baton under his arm.
    â€˜Let’s get to work, Meyer,’ he said impatiently, pulling off his gauntlets and slapping them against his palms. ‘We have only one real enemy, and that is time.’
    â€˜Yes, Herr Feldmarschall,’ Dieter said respectfully, clicking his heels and leading the way into Valmy’s grand dining-room.
    The maps were spread out on the twenty foot table. Drinks had been set out on a handsome Louis XV chest, but Rommel ignored them. He had no time for fripperies. He strode straight to the table and stared down at the maps grimly.
    â€˜Well, Meyer, what do you think?’ He had asked for Dieter Meyer’s presence in Normandy personally. He knew the family; knew the man. He was the kind of officer he liked – hard-headed with intellect and imagination, as well as courage.
    â€˜The war will be won or lost on the beaches, sir,’ Dieter said bluntly. ‘We’ll have only one chance to stop the enemy and that’s while he’s in the water … weighed down by equipment, and struggling to get ashore. Our main line of resistance must be on the coast. There’s only one way to smash such an attack if it comes, and that is by meeting it head on.’
    Rommel growled in agreement. ‘And do you think this is where an attack will come, Meyer?’
    â€˜Reports from captured Resistance leaders indicate it is.’
    â€˜And the nightly air attacks on the Pas de Calais?’
    â€˜A bluff,’ Dieter said with cool certainty. ‘The Allies are trying to draw our attention from the real target.’
    Rommel nodded. It was a strategy he would have used himself. Get the enemy to deploy their strength on a false target leaving the real target unprotected.
    Dieter saw the lines of strain on his commander-in-chief’s face and knew the reasons for them. No matter what was said publicly, the Third Reich was in deep trouble. Thousands of Allied bombers were pounding Germany. Russia’s massive forces had driven into Poland. Allied troops were at the gates of Rome. Everywhere the great armies of the Wehrmacht were being driven back and destroyed. Germany was not yet beaten, but an Allied invasion would be decisive.
    It was here, on the coast, that the future of Germany would be decided. The high command thought that the attack would come at the Pas de Calais, but he had a gut feeling that they were wrong. To outwit the Allies it was necessary to out-think them. And in attempting to do so, he had become more and more sure that the attack would not be in the obvious place. Not at the narrow crossing that was being bombed with such zest, but on the vast, open beaches of Normandy.
    Rommel swept his baton from the Scheldt in the Netherlands down across Normandy to the north front of Brittany. The possible invasion front was vast and all of it had to be protected. He slammed his baton into the palm of his hand and began to stride the length of the room. ‘You’ve been here four days, Meyer. You’ve inspected the coast. What more can be done to defend it?’
    â€˜The low level of the land and the Vire estuary can be more fully exploited,’ Dieter replied unhesitatingly. ‘Further areas can be flooded. That will make it impossible for parachutists or glider-borne infantry to land. The open fields inland can be riddled with booby-trapped stakes and trip wires. That should give them a bloody enough welcome.’
    Rommel nodded. He hadn’t underestimated his young officer. He continued to pace the beautiful inlaid floor. ‘See to it, Meyer,’ he said grimly. ‘And see that every bluff and gully leading from the beaches is mined. Every pathway, however obscure. We must leave nothing to chance.’ He clapped his hand on Dieter’s shoulder. ‘The future of Germany is in our hands,’ he said gravely. ‘We must not let her down.’
    He had swept from the chateau with the