The Rise of the Third Reich

"No, we can't destroy the Panama Canal."

Hersman immediately shot down Redl's proposal.

Now of course the German army has the ability to destroy the Panama Canal, using Me264 long-range bombers and atomic bombs to destroy it!

The German army built a large hidden airport (covered with green camouflage netting) near Georgetown, Guyana, which can take off and land Me264 heavy bombers. The straight-line distance from there to the Panama Canal is only 2,300 kilometers, completely within the Me264's combat radius.

Although there are no fighter jets that can fully escort the Me264 that raids the Panama Canal, the use of night cover and high-altitude bombing can still allow the Me264 to fly over the canal - at least there is a high probability that it can arrive safely and drop an atomic bomb.

"Marshal Imperial, the risk of doing this is not very high. As long as the number of Me264 dispatched is enough, the risk of the atomic bomb carrier aircraft being shot down..."

"No, I'm not worried about this." Hessman waved his hand and interrupted Redel. "I think the Americans must have a navigable Panama Canal. Only in this way can the Americans have hope of victory. This is important for the Americans." For us, it’s very beneficial.”

Redel was startled.

Hessman smiled and said: "Only if the Americans have hope of winning, they will let their precious fleet leave the protection of shore-based aviation and enter the ocean to fight us decisively."

Americans now live in Newfoundland, Bermuda, the East Coast of the United States, the Florida Peninsula, the Bahamas, the Grand Andres Islands (composed of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and other four large island-level Cayman Islands and Composed of many small islands), the Windward Islands and Leeward Islands (the Windward and Leeward Islands are located between the Greater Andres Islands and the South American continent, like a chain locking the entrance to the Caribbean Sea) and Trinidad Island are tightly fortified.

According to intelligence, on the islands in the Caribbean, the Americans have established thousands of military bases, large and small, and deployed more than 10,000 shore-based aircraft and seaplanes! The ground troops placed there must be more than 1 million - this does not include the US troops placed in Venezuela, northern Brazil and Panama!

Under the protection of 1 million troops and 10,000 combat aircraft, it is difficult to destroy the American fleet. Without destroying the American fleet, it would be very difficult to attack the Caribbean Sea.

Even if the European coalition can rely on air superiority to suppress the U.S. shore-based aircraft on Trinidad and the Windward Islands, the landing formation is still very dangerous during the landing (landing on Trinidad Island) - even for U.S. battleships A desperate assault may destroy the entire formation and turn the landing operation into a disaster.

"Our odds are in the air, in the water, in the strength of our ground forces," Hersman said. "And the Americans' odds are the number of surface ships, the number of aircraft and the Panama Canal. If we were to use an atomic bomb right now If we blow up the canal, the Americans will definitely be unable to get out, which is very detrimental to us. Even if we can destroy the canal before the four Iowa-class battleships enter the Caribbean, the four Soviet-class battleships that were originally left in the Atlantic battlefield will be very disadvantageous to us. And the two Iowa-class ships that are about to be completed will still cause great difficulties for our landing operations. Moreover, if the Americans can only place most of their fleet in the Pacific, Chile will definitely fall soon. By then Perón’s regime will be shaken, and if something goes wrong in Argentina, we will lose the logistical support to march to the Caribbean.”

On the issue of whether to blow up the Panama Canal, the Operations Bureau of the General Staff Headquarters conducted repeated war games, and finally came to the conclusion not to destroy it based on the reasons Hersman now said. The most critical factor among them is, of course, the power of Juan Peron. His roots in Argentina and the new Asbanian federation are not deep. If Chile is lost and Buenos Aires is bombed mercilessly, he is likely to be overthrown by the disappointed Argentines. Once chaos breaks out in Argentina, Germany must send troops to occupy the country. Considering the distance between Argentina and Europe, and the vastness of Argentina, occupation would be very troublesome!

"But then the Americans' numerical advantage would be too great," Redl shook his head and reiterated his point of view again, "We can only keep the 10th, 11th, and 12th Task Forces in the Atlantic Ocean."

"We can't leave these three task forces in the Atlantic Ocean!" Hersman thought about it and rejected Redel's suggestion. "First of all, we, no, it should be Perón, must recapture the Valparaiso Bay. Whether it is for military or political purposes, it is necessary. And to recapture the Valparaiso Bay, we must drive away the American fleet, To control Puerto Montt at the same time, it is necessary to dispatch six Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers.”

Taking back Valparaiso Bay is a matter of attitude! Now the whole of South America is watching. If the Germans do not save Chile, the prestige of Germany and the European Community in South America will plummet, and the pro-American forces in South America will become more arrogant. And if the new Asbanian coalition led by Perón drives away the American invaders, his domestic prestige will rise and his power will be consolidated.

Sending 6 Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers is a necessary condition to ensure that the air battle can be won. The 10th, 11th and 12th Task Forces each have 2 Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers, so there are 6 Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers in total. Rather than the 9-10 large fleet aircraft carriers that Americans think.

In addition, the so-called "Zeppelin" class aircraft carrier is actually a two-class aircraft carrier.

Among them, the design of "Graf Zeppelin" and "Peter Strasser" are basically the same. They both have a standard displacement of 30,000 tons and a full load displacement of 36,500 tons. Their size is similar to that of the American Essex class. If the deck-tethered aircraft carrier method is not adopted, it can carry up to 84 carrier-based aircraft, 12 of which are backup aircraft.

Starting from the No. 3 ship of the "Graf Zeppelin" class, the "Marshal Raeder", some optimization and improvements were made. The standard displacement of the aircraft carrier was increased to 32,500 tons, and the full load displacement was increased to 42,500 tons. The number of carrier-based aircraft (excluding deck tethers) has increased to 92, of which 12 are backup aircraft.

The official name of this improved "Zeppelin" class within the European Community Navy is "Zeppelin" 2 or B41 aircraft carrier. A total of 10 ships have been built, and currently 6 have been completed and put into service, named "Raeder", "Lütjens", "Mackensen", "Wardsee", "Moltke" and "Steinmetz".

The six "Zeppelin" class ships owned by the 10th, 11th and 12th Task Forces of the European Combined Fleet are actually powerful B41 types. Although the deck tethering method is not adopted to "overload" aircraft, they each have 80 carrier-based fighters/fighter-bombers/reconnaissance aircraft.

According to the latest carrier-based aircraft organization method, these 80 carrier-based aircraft are divided into 5 squadrons, 4 are fighter-bomber squadrons, and 1 is a reconnaissance bomber squadron-all equipped with multi-purpose carrier-based aircraft. Among the four fighter-bomber squadrons, two are equipped with Fokker 636 carrier-based fighter-bombers with excellent mid- and low-altitude performance, and two are equipped with Fw190T carrier-based fighter-bombers with excellent mid- and high-altitude performance. A reconnaissance bomber squadron is equipped with a two-seat carrier-based Fw190TE reconnaissance bomber also developed based on the Fw190 (this aircraft also has good air combat capabilities).

Although there are only 480 carrier-based aircraft, considering the performance of the Fokker 636 and the latest model Fw190T series fighters. The 10th, 11th and 12th Task Forces still have strong combat effectiveness.

If they remain in the Atlantic, the Americans are likely to adopt turtle tactics and the fleet will not leave the Caribbean or near the U.S. coastline, either dead or alive.

"As long as Valparaiso Bay is bombed by a large number of Fokker 636s and Fw190Ts, the Americans will definitely take action in the Atlantic." Hersman analyzed, "This is our chance to severely damage the U.S. Navy! Erich (Raeder), can the Navy do it?"

Raeder frowned deeply when he heard this question, "If there are 6 less Zeppelin-class ships, then we will only have 2 Zeppelin-class ships, 2 Seydlitz-class ships, 3 Prussia-class ships, and 10 ships left in the Atlantic battlefield. Kesselring class (excluding one Kesselring class of the New Asbanian Navy) and 2 Joffre-class ships, as well as 10 escort aircraft carriers.”

According to the latest establishment, the number of commonly used carrier-based aircraft of the "Old Zeppelin" is 72, the number of commonly used carrier-based aircraft of the Seydlitz class is 28-30, the number of commonly used carrier-based aircraft of the Prussia class is 60, and the number of commonly used carrier-based aircraft of the Kaiser The number of commonly used carrier-based aircraft for the Lin-class is 40, while the number of commonly used carrier-based aircraft for the Xiafei-class is 30, and the number of commonly used carrier-based aircraft for escort aircraft carriers is 24.

Therefore, the 32 aircraft carriers mentioned by Redl have a total of 1,120 commonly used carrier-based aircraft.

In addition, the European Joint Escort Command also has 25 escort aircraft carriers and 600 commonly used carrier-based aircraft, and the European Community Marine Corps also has 10 amphibious assault aircraft converted from escort aircraft carriers and 150 commonly used carrier-based aircraft.

In other words, the European Community Navy and Marine Corps currently have a total of 51 aircraft carriers, 10 amphibious assault ships and 2,350 carrier-based aircraft pilots on board.

However, the carrier-based aircraft pilots assigned to the Escort Command are slightly less skilled and fly Fokker Zero D-type carrier-based fighter-bombers that are relatively easy to control, so they are not regarded as the main front-line force.

Therefore, the main force of the European Community Naval Combined Fleet Air Warfare is 26 fleet aircraft carriers and approximately 1,360 carrier-based aircraft pilots (captains).

"Don't forget that we also have battleships, missile ships and Type 21 submarines!" Hersman reminded Redl. "In addition, Me264, Ju288, Ju188 and Do217, which can carry remote-controlled missiles, can also form a powerful strike force. Even if there are few With 6 Zeppelin-class ships, we can also defeat the Americans in the Atlantic Ocean.

What I am worried about now is not that we will lose the decisive battle at sea, but that the Americans dare not bring out their main force! "

Hessman thought for a while, "We still need to give the Americans more confidence, so let's send another rapid landing formation from Belem Port to the Pacific coast of Chile."

The so-called "rapid landing formation" does not fall under the jurisdiction of the EC Joint Fleet or the EC Joint Escort Command, but under the name of the EC Joint Marine Corps Command.

The main ships of this "rapid landing formation" are the "Baltic" class amphibious assault ship with a standard displacement of 12,500 tons, and the Faroe Islands-class dock landing ship with an empty displacement of 4,032 tons and a full load displacement of 7,930 tons. In fact, it was a ship type designed by the United States to counterattack the European continent from the United Kingdom. It was originally planned to lease a batch to the British, so the drawings and models were given to the British Admiralty. After the British mainland surrendered, they fell into the hands of Germany, so a batch of them were copied. .

A formation usually consists of 5 "Baltic" class amphibious assault ships and 15 "Faroe Islands" class landing dock ships as the core, plus about 10 fast transport ships, oil transport ships and 10-20 old destroyers (the destroyers are seconded from the Navy). It can transport 15,000 Marine Corps officers and soldiers, all equipment and a considerable amount of supplies at a time, plus 50-75 Fokker Zero D aircraft (belonging to the Marine Corps).

It is definitely a fast landing strike force that cannot be underestimated!