Keitel called up von Rundstedt and asked desperately,
" What shall we do?"

To which von Rundstedt replied impassively: "Do? Make
peace, you idiots! What else can you do?" and hung up.

Admiral Ruge relates that, much earlier, Rommel told him
that the war must be brought to an end at all costs.

"Better end this at once, even if it means living as a
British Dominion," he said, "rather than see Germany
ruined by going on with this hopeless war."
-

"On June 11th we talked for about two hours.
I said that in my opinion Hitler ought to resign
and open the road to peace.
As an alternative I said that he ought to commit suicide.

Rommel replied, "I know that man. He will neither resign
nor kill himself.
He will fight, without the least regard for the German
people, until there isn't a house left standing in Germany."
-

Rommel's reports were only slightly more discreet.
(...) he went on in a vein of almost unrelieved pessimism :

" The strength of the enemy on land is increasing more
quickly than our reserves can reach the front. . . .

(...) even partially impossible by the
extraordinarily strong and in some respects overwhelming
superiority of the Allied Air Force and by the effect of
heavy naval artillery. ...

As I personally and officers of my staff
have repeatedly proved and as unit commanders,
especially Obergruppenfuhrer Sepp Dietrich, report,
the enemy has complete control over the battle area and up
to sixty miles behind the front. Almost all transport on
roads and in open country is prevented by day by strong
fighter-bomber and bomber formations.

(...) The material
equipment of the Anglo-Americans, with numerous new
weapons and war material, is far superior to the equipment
of our divisions. As Obergruppenfuhrer Sepp Dietrich
informed me, (...) Parachute and airborne troops
are used in such large numbers and so effectively that the
troops attacked have a difficult task (...)

I request that the Fuhrer be informed of this.

If Rommel imagined that the Fuhrer could be induced to
accept this defeatist view by references to his Nazi
favourite, Sepp Dietrich, he was very much mistaken.

On June 17th von Rundstedt managed to persuade Hitler to
come to a conference at Margival, near Soissons.
It was held at the headquarters, built in 1940,
from which Hitler was to control the invasion of Britain.

Von Rundstedt took Rommel with him.
The two Field-Marshals both spoke out
and left the Fuhrer in no doubt what they thought about
the prospect of throwing the invaders back into the sea.

(...) Hitler's reply of "no retreat" was almost automatic.
Rommel did not improve the atmosphere by protesting
to Hitler against the incident of Oradour-sur-Glade,
(...) a reprisal for the killing of a German officer (...)

Rommel demanded to be allowed to punish the Division:

"Such things bring disgrace on the German uniform," he said.
"How can you wonder at the strength of the French Resistance
when the SS drive every decent Frenchman into joining it?"

"That has nothing to do with you," snapped Hitler.
"It is outside your area. Your business is to resist
the invasion."

When, greatly daring, von Rundstedt and Rommel tentatively
broached the question of making overtures to the Western
Powers, the conference quickly broke up.
The farewells were not cordial on either side.

Shortly afterwards a homing V1 hit the headquarters.
There were, unfortunately, no casualties.

Rommel's reports for the next few weeks were strictly
factual. No opinions about the future were expressed.