In 1970, on the coast of Normandy, Su Yu, a veteran in his youth, caressed his slightly messy gray hair blown by the Atlantic ocean breeze, imagining the magnificent and grand battle 30 years ago.
"What means of transport did the Allies use to easily transport these nearly 3 million people to Normandy?" How did they transport the entire force and cargo in such a narrow port? Perhaps because the Allies had a large number of ships for transport? Su Yu smiled and asked the French military experts who were accompanying him.
When the accompanying translator translated the question to these experts, they were momentarily speechless and did not know where to start. Although they are well aware of the layout of the two sides and the ratio of troops in the entire war situation, how can they, such a detailed and specific question, how can these "experts" who have not personally been on the battlefield answer such a detailed and specific question? Before they could recover from their doubts, Su Yu threw out another question:
"Normandy in 1944 was located on the northwestern border of France, not as prosperous as a large port city such as Marseille, but only a small port with no name, and the reason why nearly 3 million Allied troops were able to successfully pour into France through this small port was undoubtedly due to the artificial port built in the Gulf of Seine. This time, Su Yu did not give the experts too much time to think, but immediately asked the remaining questions:
"The artificial port in the Bay of Seine played a far more important role in this protracted war, and when the artificial port was completed, the Germans undoubtedly launched a fierce attack on the artificial port, but they were easily resisted by a kind of solid cement pier at the front of the artificial port, so I was also very curious about these humble low pillars that had built a great achievement, what was the specific internal structure? And how much needs to be built to withstand the tidal wave of German attacks?
"It is said that the artificial port built at that time can be floated, so what method did the Allied commanders use to make the artificial port honestly stay in a fixed location, so that nearly 3 million Allied troops could pass through accurately and continuously?"
The experts still looked at each other and did not know where to answer, fortunately, General Su Yu was kind and kind, knowing that these experts also had their own grievances, they smiled softly and said: "I am a person who prefers to pay attention to some relatively small details, sometimes even to the point of being a little nitpicky, I just ask casually, you don't pay attention to it." The experts also heard that Su Yu was looking for them to go down the steps, and they also laughed in a hurry, breathed a long sigh of relief, and walked down this step.
Although these questions have been lightly brushed over by Su Yu, experts know that these questions are definitely not su Yu's casual and casual questions. These problems not only involve military issues such as strategic layout and tactical planning, but also involve logistical support issues such as army march support and the construction of fortifications, which are so wide in coverage and so deep that they feel ashamed at the same time, but also sincerely admire this veteran general from the far east. It is hard to imagine that china, thousands of miles away, has such a general who knows so much about the battles that took place here more than twenty years ago. Moreover, at that time, China was in the midst of a catastrophe, and the information was relatively closed. Under such conditions, all the details can be mastered to such an extent, and it is difficult not to make people feel respected.
So why did General Su Yu know the normandy battlefield so well? What kind of state of mind did he have to ask these seemingly difficult questions?
"Be sure to go to Normandy!" ”
At that time, Su Yu had just led a military delegation back to China after visiting the Congo, and happened to pass through France, and after a short rest in Paris, Ambassador to Paris Huang Zhen asked: Do you want to go to the Maginot Line or Normandy? Su Yu replied without hesitation: Must go to Normandy!
The next day, accompanied by the embassy staff Han Kaihe, Su Yu and his party rushed to Normandy without stopping. On the way, Su Yu rarely enjoyed the scenery along the way, and did not feel tired from the fatigue of the multi-day journey. On the contrary, full of energy and full of energy, he asked Huang Zhen and Han Kaihe and others about the local situation in Normandy with great interest, sometimes looking down and pondering, and his thoughts seemed to return to the Normandy battlefield of that year.
After arriving at the Normandy ruins, Su Yu stopped at the seashore, improvised from afar, arrogance and excitement jumped on his face, and his long-cherished wish to come to Normandy was finally understood. Driven by a happy mood, he opened the conversation box and talked with the people accompanying him: he first highly praised the important strategic significance of the landing of the American and British troops in Normandy, believing that the campaign "captured and expanded the landing field, marking the opening of the second battlefield in Europe", and then made a detailed analysis and deconstruction of the strategic study and intention of the Us-British coalition army to choose to land in Normandy. It is believed that the reason for choosing this place to land is mainly that the key area of the German army is the Calais Strait, and the defense of Normandy is more lax. It was precisely because the American and British coalition forces seized this flaw and came to "avoid the real and the virtual" with one hand, that they successfully broke through the German defense line and landed smoothly in Normandy.
In addition to these, Su Yu specifically praised the choice of the timing of the Allied landing, believing that the Allied choice of early morning landing was the best time after being measured by various factors, which had an extremely critical impact on the entire war situation.
After some high talk, the French officers who accompanied him all looked at him with amazement and amazement. They even specifically asked Huang Zhen and other generals Who accompanied them whether they had come to Normandy for field investigation before, and after receiving a negative reply, they were greatly shocked and admired the veteran general who had come from afar.
Second, we should get to the bottom of the matter and seek truth from facts
Although he knew so much about the situation in Normandy, but in the end it was a descendant who could not personally visit the battlefield at that time, Su Yu still had a lot of doubts about many detailed issues, which led to the classic passage of asking Mongolian And French experts at the beginning. Without a satisfactory answer, Su Yu, who has always liked to ask questions, will certainly not give up. He decided to start an investigation from the cement pier and solve his doubts one by one. He personally went down to the sea, dragging his feet covered with mud along the beach step by step, and from time to time he took out a small notebook to sketch and record the data he had investigated and his analysis and conjectures.
After several miles of trekking and investigation on the beach, Su Yu and his party finally found some fragments of broken cement pier debris in a very inconspicuous cove, and even some local field researchers in France could hardly find these inconspicuous small stone pillars without careful exploration. After careful investigation and repeated measurements and calculations of these cement piers, he finally got his satisfactory answer and continued to investigate his other doubts with great enthusiasm.
Su Yu and others visited the Normandy landing site for a whole day and obtained many extremely valuable conclusions and data through field investigations and measurements. Su Yu carefully recorded these things one by one, and after returning to China, he carefully compiled them into a book, and attached his own unique insights and opinions. The details of the Battle of Normandy recorded in the booklet were even praised by Marshal Ye Jianying when he read it.