Chapter 500: The Code
The British found a German miniature radio at the residence of “Poison.” This advanced piece of equipment stunned the American and British technical personnel who had rushed to the scene. This small radio device, with the Siemens company name printed on its outer box, was not much larger than a single battery for a British agent’s radio.
What kind of a gap was this? This was a gap as wide as the heavens and the earth. While the British were still racking their brains to find ways to break down their radios and send them in parts into Germany, German spies could stroll down the streets of America or Canada with a briefcase containing a radio.
The work of reverse-engineering this telecommunication device began a few days later. This was definitely not a time to be proud; when one had to admit defeat, one had to do so with humility. The American experts were even able to roughly deduce the underwater endurance of the German submarines based on the small and exquisite battery in this radio.
“Are you saying that German submarines, relying on this type of battery, can stay underwater for that long after surfacing just once?” a British technician asked an American engineer in astonishment.
The American engineer nodded, a look of reverence on his face, as if he too were amazed by the advanced state of German technology. He looked at the British personnel and replied, “If the batteries on their submarines are all manufactured to the standard of this one.”
“Could we…” a British spy, clearly getting ideas, asked.
“It can definitely be used in our submarine technology, but it will take some time to digest the craftsmanship,” the American engineer said with a nod. “But what I’m more impressed with is their achievement in precision machining. These small parts are so standardized, they could not have been processed by ordinary workers…”
Indeed, they were not processed by ordinary workers, but by a mechanical programming robot. This “primitive robot” for processing parts had already begun to be popularized in several German factories, serving to produce engine parts and precision electronic instruments. And the standard parts produced by this equipment, which simulated the work of skilled technicians, were even more standard than the parts made by old, experienced workers.
Akado’s “New Industrial Revolution” was not just about improving the production process. To be precise, changing the production process was only the first step. What followed were the steps leading to an information revolution.
Once Akado had completed the new development of German industry, the measure of a country’s industrial foundation would no longer be the number of skilled workers, but the number of precision machining machines. He had begun this process earlier and faster than the United States, which, in another way, broke America’s absolute advantage in the number of workers and machine tools.
To avoid the enemy’s strengths and enter another field to defeat one’s opponent—this was the most ingenious trick Akado had prepared to use against the United States. He would not compete with the United States on resources, attrition, or production, but on technological content. Don’t laugh, it was indeed a competition of technological content.
In 1938, America’s technological reserves were not much more advanced than Europe’s. It could be said that they were completely on par, and in many technologies, they were even behind Europe. For example, the much-lauded American P-51 Mustang fighter actually used British engine technology, and the American space technology that took off after the war was actually built on captured German technology.
So Akado was very confident in competing with the United States on technology. He had paid a heavy price in casualties to pull out the nail that was the British mainland, with the aim of forcing the United States onto a path where it could not compete on absolute production capacity. The United States, with its near-monopoly on the resources of two continents and the support of the British overseas colonies, was a behemoth that Germany could not surpass. But across the Atlantic, the situation was completely different.
As long as Germany’s High Seas Fleet in the Atlantic was not completely annihilated by the United States, an American landing to counter-attack the European continent would just be a dream. At that point, even if the U.S. Army was stronger than the German army, America would not dare to launch an operation against the European continent.
The superior geographical conditions that had kept America far from the European continent now became a tragic shackle that prevented it from intervening in the European war. In fact, before 1900, America was not the center of the world. On the contrary, it was a marginalized minor player. The two world wars had destroyed Europe, exhausted the accumulated wealth of the great powers, and, coupled with the development of transport and communication, had allowed America to gradually become the focus of the world.
But all of this had happened after Germany had lost the Second World War. Before that, Akado was surprised to find that America was not as divine as he had imagined. Many European countries had not yet developed a “fear of America,” and the United States was by no means an insurmountable myth.
At the very least, many people said that the British Navy was the world’s number one navy, and the French Army was the world’s number one army, but very few people felt that there was anything special about the American army, navy, or air force. At least in terms of the army, the German Wehrmacht was now universally recognized as the more formidable “tough character.”
Now, what the British had in their hands was not just a simple radio, but another important thing: a German codebook. This was ecstatic news for both Britain and the United States. With this codebook, they could decipher many previously unbreakable German codes.
Compared to battery technology, this could be said to be a major piece of news that could affect many key points. The British, in conjunction with American intelligence, immediately began the work of deciphering the German codes.
In just one day, several important pieces of intelligence were laid on the desks of the intelligence officers of both countries. One was a message from the High Command to the German army in France about their grain reserves, which confirmed that there was a slight problem with the German food supply and that they were urgently making adjustments. Another piece of intelligence was even more important: a message from the High Command strictly ordering Rommel’s Afrika Korps not to attack in the near future.
It seemed that a very significant shortfall had appeared in Germany’s material reserves, causing this huge war machine to run poorly. At the very least, the German army in North Africa had been forced to tighten its belt, which was consistent with the American analysis of Germany’s war potential at the beginning of the war.
According to the German war reserves that the United States was aware of, Germany was indeed now approaching the limit of its war potential. The German army had over 5 million troops, and these troops consumed a large amount of supplies every day. Various reserves, including petroleum, had already been depleted.
This was undoubtedly good news, and the most direct manifestation on the front lines was that the pace of the German offensive had slowed down. This had been confirmed from all sides: the pace of the German offensive in Ukraine on the Eastern Front had suddenly slowed, and the panzer units had begun to reduce their deep penetration assaults. And on the North African front, the offensive had already stopped.
“There is nothing wrong with this message itself, but it would be rash to conclude from it that the German material reserves are depleted,” a British intelligence officer reminded. “Our intelligence agency in Romania has confirmed that the German technical support and control over the Romanian oil fields is stronger than we imagined. So their petroleum resources are still relatively abundant, at least for now.”
“In the Ruhr area, the Germans have been conducting coal-to-oil experiments. Their chemical industry is very developed, and the research and development of the IG Farben company has been very efficient,” another intelligence officer said helplessly. “Of course, the resources that the Germans have plundered from Poland, France, and our own country have not been included in the calculations.”
“To put it bluntly, it’s possible they still have a lot of war materials left. The pace of their invasion was too fast, so the strategic resources of many countries fell into their hands intact,” an American intelligence officer said with emotion. “Blitzkrieg, in terms of quickly seizing the opponent’s resources, was undoubtedly a success.”
“But since we know that the German operations in North Africa are hampered and their logistical pressure is relatively high, let’s take advantage of this intelligence,” a general said, looking at the report in his hand, to his deputy.
“I have already given the order to Patton, for him and Montgomery to organize a probing attack today and launch a limited offensive near the German relay station to see how much spirit the Germans have left,” the deputy replied in a low voice to the American general. “General Patton has been reinforced with 90 tanks and is preparing for a summer offensive, hoping to completely lift the German threat to Tobruk.”
“The German reaction was very swift. Just three days after ‘Poison’s’ suicide, they changed their codebooks. This time they were very cautious, even replacing some of the non-keyword codes, so we can no longer decipher their messages,” the head of the intelligence department concluded. “Our opponents are very seasoned. Their protection of their codes is something we should learn from.”
To counter the threat posed by Rommel’s forward base to Tobruk, the Anglo-American forces had established a defensive line 40 kilometers west of the city. At this very moment, based on the intelligence obtained from deciphering the German codes, they were moving more troops to this defensive zone, which had originally been just a screening line.
Ninety of the latest M4 Sherman tanks, rushed from the United States, had already arrived here. Patton now had more chips to play against Rommel’s armored forces. This new strength gave Britain’s Montgomery full confidence in the upcoming offensive. He could even already see himself, triumphant, after routing the German army.
“This time, it’s a complete bullying of Rommel. We outnumber him in tanks, and our quality has improved. He’ll never expect us to hit him with such a fatal blow when he’s at his most vulnerable!” Patton said with satisfaction, biting on his cigar.
Published: 2025-08-30T04:22:30.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2025-12-02T17:05:47.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c500-code-137683726
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