The reason Ramcke asked was that he was stalling for time, as in one of the bunker rooms he had a radio operator frantically sending out his last report from Fortress Brest (which included a number of award recommendations).
The costly capture of Brest resulted in the decision to only surround the remaining German-occupied ports in France with the exception of those that could be captured from the march, instead of storming them in a set-piece battle.