bureaucratic-obedience

In this chapter set in Kent, April 1944, Cess persuades Ernest Worthing, a reluctant reporter, to join a covert mission to sabotage tanks by creating fake tank tracks and sounds to mislead German reconnaissance. Despite Ernest's initial resistance due to his writing deadlines, he assists in inflating rubber tanks, making tracks with a heavy cutter, and playing recorded tank sounds to simulate an armored presence, all under challenging foggy and muddy conditions. The operation aims to deceive the enemy about the location and strength of Allied tanks, highlighting the tension between mundane duties and critical wartime deception.