During the war, no one could say for certain how many mines were laid by both the British and German forces at the mouth of the Thames River. When the siege of London was peacefully resolved, the British Navy was permitted to use unarmed vessels to transport troops and civilians for evacuation. In just three days, the Royal Navy carved out a passage from the treacherous waters. Subsequently, loyal British naval officers and sailors, serving under the Duke of Windsor and his government-in-exile, further cleared the mines using British and French minesweepers transferred by the German Navy. By the end of February 1941, the Thames River had partially regained its navigational capacity. According to the "Chertsey Three-Party Agreement," London became a special free zone amidst the flames of war. Besides the British Salvation Army responsible for maintaining order, vessels from other countries and factions could enter and exit relatively freely while unarmed. Throughout European history, such situations were not uncommon in many war events. However, under the oblivious eyes of the British, that will to fight to the death had gradually eroded!
While the conflict in the north continued unabated, a recent exchange agreement between the Duke of Windsor's government and the German government led to the gradual release of early British prisoners of war and civilians. During the summer of 1940, despite a large number of British troops escaping the disaster through Dunkirk, over 100,000 British servicemen, along with many accompanying family members and British residents in France, were captured by the Germans. Although the Churchill government, entrenched in the Scottish north, refused to exchange over 600 remaining German pilots and nearly 2,000 land and naval prisoners still in British POW camps, the German government selected those officers and civilians willing to accept Anglo-German amity and not support further British resistance. This psychological maneuver did have its effects: the situation in southern England further stabilized, and more and more British servicemen laid down their arms, leaving behind the Welsh woods and the northern English mountains where they had been hiding and engaging in guerrilla warfare.
On a cloudy day turning to clear, a medium-sized pleasure boat flying the German flag gently sailed from the direction of Belgium. On this fast boat manned by German naval officers, a group of special guests was aboard.
When Logan first arrived in Europe as a student, he had taken a boat tour of the Thames and witnessed the glory of London, the capital of the British Empire, for centuries. Now, with his identity and the passage of time having undergone unexpected changes, the observer had become the empowered ruler. However, the sense of magnanimity and confidence that should have filled his chest had quietly been extinguished by the sadness of departure...
"Most of the buildings in this great city have been well preserved, but it is very regrettable that some ancient and sturdy houses have been ordered by the Churchill government to be converted into fortresses. It may be difficult to restore them to their original state now!"
As Logan shifted the blame for the war onto his adversaries in English much more fluent than before, the famous Tower Bridge of London was in sight. Doreen, with half of her face hidden in a woolen scarf due to the cold, had just been looking at the unfamiliar sea with a melancholic expression.
"Yeah, once some things change, it's impossible to change them back!"
Doreen's words carried deep meaning. Upon learning the news of their return to England, her aunt and sisters were all jubilant, but she, a proper Englishwoman, seemed strangely melancholic. Perhaps this inexperienced and introverted English girl had already resolved to leave behind a cross-border war romance; or perhaps, initially, she had made the choice to protect her family, but after months of being together, she had irreversibly fallen in love. Whatever the reason or mindset, that night, she cried, sobbing inconsolably in Logan's arms.
As a rising career officer, Logan also had his own helplessness. After the embarrassing situation he had faced earlier, he finally realized that keeping a mistress was more trouble than it was worth for a person in his position—even if he were to keep one, it couldn't be under the public's nose. After careful consideration and consultation with Doreen and her family, he took the opportunity of this deployment to Britain to settle them in.
Since the Goering Incident, senior German military and political personnel had been required to avoid air travel as much as possible. Logan and his subordinates traveled by express train from Berlin to Antwerp, then boarded a yacht shuttling between England and Belgium. The whole journey took about sixteen hours, much slower than by plane, but it also made Logan understand the meaning of "short-term pain for long-term gain."
As the ship approached the ancient West India Docks, Logan pretended to be calm and said, "Without the old roar of machines, London is still a very livable city! If you like, you can stay here all the time, or... wait until the houses on the Isle of Wight are rebuilt and then move back! If there's any news from Liverpool, I'll let you know right away!"
"Will we see each other again?" Doreen asked with great attachment. Although when they were in Berlin, Logan often left for some time due to official duties, at least then she knew her lover would eventually return. Now, with a great distance between them, it felt like an eternity of waiting!
"Yes, of course we will! As long as time permits, I'll come every month!" Logan promised solemnly.
"Every month?" Doreen lifted her head, her eyes as red as an innocent little rabbit.
In this situation, how could Logan not be reminded of the classic scene in "Random Harvest"?
"Well, I'll do my best! And, whenever you and your family have needs, I'll do my best to fulfill them!" For a moment, Logan felt like an unscrupulous rich man speaking to his "mistress," but strictly speaking, single men don't have "mistresses."
Doreen didn't say anything more. After the ship docked, Logan personally escorted them to their new residence just a step away from the riverbank. In peacetime, a villa with a garden in the London city center would be quite valuable, but due to the war, after several transfers of ownership, its price was only a fraction of what it used to be.
The luxurious furnishings pleased "Aunt Susan" and Doreen's two cousins greatly, but Doreen herself returned to her new room disheartened, not even coming down to bid farewell to Logan.
Before leaving, Logan said to himself in his heart, "Once I become the supreme ruler, I will definitely ensure that you live a stable and happy life!"
Unfortunately, Doreen couldn't hear this resolute statement. As Logan and his group drove towards the pier, she stood silently behind the window, just like she did in Portsmouth, watching with an incomprehensibly complex feeling as he went away.
The next morning, Logan's group finally arrived at the German frontline headquarters relocated to the southern outskirts of Liverpool. Just a week ago, Field Marshal von Rundstedt had been appointed as the overall commander of the British occupation forces. This meant that for a considerable period of time, the old marshal would remain in Britain as the highest military authority of the German forces in the British Isles. However, his main forces from Army Group A would not continue to fight here but would gradually return to France and Germany to prepare for the next phase of ground operations!
While swiftly capturing the remaining areas in northern Britain would be the best solution to end the British conflict once and for all, the German armored spearhead composed of four main armored divisions, one light division, and one motorized division halted its advance after capturing Glasgow. What hindered their further progress was not fuel logistics or fierce resistance from the British forces but the last stronghold of the Ice Age, the Scottish Highlands!
The terrain of the Scottish Highlands cannot be adequately described by mere mountains and hills. Ancient rocks have been divided into canyons and lakes by water and glaciers, leaving behind a highly irregular mountainous region. The vast highlands are covered with gently rolling low green grass and moss, with almost all mountain peaks being roughly the same height. The appearance of the mountains is plain and unremarkable, mostly consisting of gentle, rounded, and undulating curves, without any sharp or abrupt features. Despite its vastness, the highlands have only a few winding roads, and with the foggy and humid weather, the German mechanized advantage cannot be utilized effectively here!
Considering the unfavorable terrain of the Scottish Highlands, the Fuhrer had clearly stated at a high-level German military meeting that he would not allow his elite troops to play hide and seek with the remaining British forces in the damp and cold mountain ranges. Instead, he planned to force King George VI and Churchill's government to abandon resistance in northern Britain in a short time through psychological warfare, naval blockade, and aerial bombing! In terms of psychological warfare, the Duke of Windsor's government's move had already struck at the heart of the British military and civilians. Moreover, the German navy's main fleet and submarine forces had formed a tight blockade in the northwest of Britain and the North Atlantic, and once Gibraltar fell, the British navy would be unable to simultaneously defend the Mediterranean and the homeland. As for aerial bombing, Logan's arrival this time was to organize the "Sky Net Operation" scheduled for one month.
With Field Marshal Richtofen's 8th Air Force and the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Air Forces composed mainly of fighter aircraft, along with other elite combat units, transferring to Austria and Romanian airfields under German control, the strength of the Western German Air Force had been reduced by almost half from its peak period. Currently, there were approximately 740 fighters and heavy fighters, 150 dive bombers, 500 medium bombers, and about 300 other types of auxiliary aircraft ready to take off for combat at any time. Fortunately, the Royal Air Force in the north had no more than 200 effective combat aircraft, and with fewer towns and industrial facilities in the Scottish Highlands and the low-lying areas to the east, the anti-aircraft weapons were limited. Moreover, due to the lack of coordination and planning in the evacuation operations from the south, most of the relocated industrial equipment and production lines had not yet resumed operation. (Historically, the Soviet Union's equipment transfer to the Ural Mountains was also greatly affected, and it took some time to gradually recover. Unfortunately, German bombers could not conduct strategic bombing there.)
With the German Air Force's operational airfields advancing to the Glasgow-Edinburgh line, the strategic depth left in the north of Scotland was only over 200 kilometers, well within the combat range of the Bf-109E fighter aircraft. After exchanging views with Field Marshal Sperrle, Logan unveiled his long-planned "Aerial Harassment Tactics"—targeted attacks on various targets in the Scottish Highlands by flight squadrons or squadrons. The entire operation was divided into three phases: in the early stage, as long as the weather permitted, fighter and bomber aircraft would cooperate in attacks, with bombers targeting military targets while fighters hid in high altitude cover to consume the British's remaining air power; in the middle stage, fighters would also carry out bombing attacks, indiscriminately bombing every town, port, and industrial facility in northern Scotland; in the later stage, in accordance with the strategic plans of the high command, the air force units deployed in Britain would be orderly withdrawn to Germany, retaining only the minimum number of aircraft necessary to maintain air superiority. During this stage, it was expected that the completed "Graf Zeppelin" would also use the northern part of Scotland as a training ground for pilots!