sand fighter planes would operate, and five hundred would take
off for a second sortie to grapple with any surviving bombers on
their return. He promised to destroy five hundred of the en-
emy bombers in the ensuing battle as the Reichsmarschall had
demanded.
Hitler, however, was now minded to execute a grand slam
of his own the Ardennes Offensive. On November , he left
East Prussia for the last time, abandoning the bombproof bun-
kers, security compounds, and minefields of the Wolf’s Lair,
and returned to Berlin. Here, Bormann secretly reopened his
Göring dossier.