“We were fighting a beaten enemy whose communications had been destroyed. We destroyed many divisions on paper, but they were ghost divisions. Not real ones. They had been destroyed by our tactical aviation before they ever got up. It was only really difficult in Normandy, due to the terrain, and when we made the break for Georgie Patton’s armour to go through and held it open on both sides.”
“How do you make a break for armour to go through? Tell me, please.”
“First you fight to take a town that controls all the main roads. Call the town St. Lo. Then you have to open up the roads by taking other towns and villages. The enemy has a main line of resistance, but he cannot bring up his divisions to counter-attack because the fighter-bombers catch them on the roads. Does this bore you? It bores the hell out of me.”
“It does not bore me. I never heard it said understandably before.”
“Thank you,” the Colonel said, “Are you sure you want more of the sad science?”
“Please,” she said. “I love you, you know, and I would like to share it with you.”
“Nobody shares this trade with anybody,” the Colonel told her. “I’m just telling you how it works. I can insert anecdotes to make it interesting, or plausible.”
“Insert some, please.”
“The taking of Paris was nothing,” the Colonel said. “It was only an emotional experience. Not a military operation.
