The Rise of the Third Reich

The proposal put forward by General Arnold, commander of the Army Air Force, was actually debated within the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a long time. Because occupying Santiago and completely bombing Buenos Aires can indeed deal a heavy blow to the Nazi power in America. As long as the Argentine dictator Peron fell, Germany's layout in South America would be completely destroyed. Without the support of the New Asbania Federation, it would be difficult for the large European coalition forces to gain a foothold in South America, let alone use South America as a springboard to attack the Caribbean.

Of course, the Pentagon generals are not naive. They knew that even if Peron fell, the European coalition would not really retreat from South America with its tail between its legs. But they must first save the New Asbanian Federation before they can attack the Caribbean or somewhere on the east coast of North America.

In this way, the US military successfully attracted the European coalition's main attack direction to southern South America. Regardless of whether the European coalition can win in southern South America, the United States can win at least 6-12 months to strengthen defense and train its troops. In order to prepare for a possible decisive battle on the North American continent, Truman signed the General Mobilization Agreement after he officially took office as president. Order to further expand the size of the US military. Among them, the U.S. Army Ground Forces and Army Air Forces are the focus of expansion.

According to Truman's order, excluding the Army Air Corps, the number of U.S. Army troops will expand to 10 million by the end of 1945, of which the number of front-line combat troops will exceed 5.5 million!

The strength (number) of the Army Air Force will exceed 2.5 million before the end of 1945, and the number of combat aircraft it owns will exceed 50,000!

In addition to an increase in the number of personnel and aircraft, President Truman ordered the U.S. Army and Navy air forces to comprehensively upgrade their equipment. The P-82 will equip the Army Air Force in large numbers. The F7F will not only become the main model of the U.S. Naval Air Force, but will also board aircraft carriers and become carrier-based aircraft.

The strength of the U.S. Navy's surface fleet will also be restored to a certain extent. Not only will super battleships like the Montana class be put into service, but there will also be three "Midway" aircraft carriers with a full load displacement of 60,000 tons!

In addition, the U.S. Navy's torpedo boat force will also receive a large-scale expansion in 1945. By the end of 1945, the U.S. Navy's PT boat squadrons will exceed 500! The number of PT boats entering the battle order will exceed 6,000!

By then, there will be a large number of wooden-hulled PT boats that can perform offshore defense (can perform tasks such as lightning strikes, mine-laying and depth-charge mine clearance) on the east coast of the United States, the east coast of Canada and the Caribbean islands.

Together with shore-based aircraft and the R-class submarines being mass-produced (this is a light submarine suitable for offshore activities, with a maximum underwater speed of more than 10 knots), they will form the offshore defense system of North America and the Caribbean islands. .

Finally, the improved XB-44 of the B-29, which has high hopes, will begin to be equipped with a large number of troops before the end of 1945. The improvement of this aircraft focuses on increasing the range and speed. The maximum combat radius will exceed 4,350 kilometers (larger than the historical project), and it can drop bacterial bombs into Luxembourg, which has become the German mainland!

The U.S. military believes that such countermeasures are enough to deter the Germans from dropping atomic bombs on the United States.

It is precisely because of their illusions about a "protracted war" and countermeasures that the leaders of the US military have been slow to make up their minds to withdraw from Chile.

"Do you think it is necessary to withdraw from Chile?" Wallace looked at the frowning generals.

"Yes!" Henry Arnold gave an affirmative answer. His Army Air Forces had suffered heavy losses over Buenos Aires and were already overwhelmed.

"We can take another look." The opinion given by Army Chief of Staff Marshall made Arnold a little disappointed. "Perhaps... we can set a date for retreat." He glanced at Secretary of War Wallace. "We cannot delay this indefinitely."

"Okay, let's set a date like this." Wallace asked, "So... when will we end our military operations in Chile and Argentina?"

"April 1." William Leahy already had the answer. He said, "April 1 is the 11th day after the vernal equinox. The weather in the North Atlantic will gradually improve, and the daytime will be longer than At night, this is conducive to the Germans launching landing operations in the higher-dimensional Newfoundland area. "

Military operations landing on Newfoundland and its surrounding areas are unlikely to be carried out during the autumnal equinox-vernal equinox period, which is the polar night period in the Arctic Circle and the harsh climate season in the North Atlantic. It is unlikely that Germany would cross the 2,000- to 3,000-kilometer windy ocean and land in the harsh climate of Newfoundland during this period.

But once the vernal equinox passes, the weather in the North Atlantic begins to improve, and the days become longer and longer. By summer, landings across the Atlantic will be possible!

"Okay..." Although Wallace did not want to give up military operations in Chile and Buenos Aires, the defense of Canada's east coast cannot be ignored. He thought for a moment and added: "But there is no need to abandon Valparaiso Bay. We should maintain our position there until the autumnal equinox this year."

"I think it can." William Leahy did not argue with Wallace on whether to completely withdraw from Chile. This was a matter of face. What he was concerned about now was reality. "The withdrawal can begin on April 1. First, the bombers of the Army Air Force will be withdrawn and deployed to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. These aircraft will have certain anti-ship capabilities if they are equipped with bat bombs... Although it is not enough to fight against the enemy's large combat ships, it is enough to attack the transport fleet. "

"Okay, okay, that's it, it's foolproof." Wallace nodded repeatedly, then looked at his watch, stood up and said, "It's almost time to go to the White House. I think Mr. President will agree to our proposal. 's suggestion.

…

Airborne General Theodore von Hipper was Hessmann's old classmate and subordinate. He was also the founder of the famous Miuta special forces. During Germany's most difficult times, he and his Miuta warriors had faithfully played the role of guardians of the Empire's secrets.

After the outbreak of the World War, both the Hipple and Miuta troops were included in the airborne troops founded by Stuart and became members of the airborne troops. Hipple himself has held important positions such as director of airborne training and commander of the 22nd Air Force. Now he is the commander of the 1st Air Assault Army.

The so-called air assault army is actually an enhanced version of the airborne army, which has enhanced assault capabilities on the basis of airborne. Or it can also be understood as a heavily equipped airborne force capable of fighting tough battles.

Unlike ordinary airborne troops who rely on parachutes and gliders as their main means of airdrop, air assault troops will use a large number of transport aircraft with "air assault capabilities" such as Me323 and ZSO523 - this kind of transport aircraft is very special, not only has a large carrying capacity, It can transport tanks weighing 20 to 30 tons, and can also land directly on relatively flat grassland, and has the ability to land assault troops behind enemy lines.

On March 21, 1945, there were only 10 days before the second phase of the "Fort Gotchi Plan" was officially launched. In order to prove that the ZSO523 heavy air assault transport aircraft can carry the latest E-25 tank destroyer and land on a grassland that is not too wide. General Hipple and his capable general, Colonel Otto Skorzeny, commander of the 1st Air Force "Brandenburg" Assault Brigade, personally rode in an E-25 aircraft with an E-25 in its belly. The tank destroyer's ZSO523 transport plane landed from the sky on the lawn of the Potsdam Palace just as the sky was getting brighter.

When the huge aircraft came to a steady stop at the edge of the palace lawn, the originally closed nose door creaked open and was pushed open by a mechanical device. Then the roar of the motor was heard coming from the belly of the aircraft, and at the same time there was a surge of energy. There was also a thick cloud of smoke that smelled of gasoline.

Marshal Hessmann, who was sitting in a moving Steyr open-top command car, was attracted by the scene of a tank destroyer driving out of the belly of the aircraft. He waved his hand to signal the car to stop. Then he stood up straight in the carriage, raised a telescope and began to look at the aircraft and tank destroyers a few hundred meters away.

The ZSO523 "Super Giant" aircraft, which has a maximum take-off weight of more than 50 tons and can carry up to 30 tons of cargo, can be regarded as a "large aircraft" even in later generations. In today's era, there are probably only a few large seaplanes from the United States and Japan that can compare with them.

But it can land on a piece of grass and transport an E-25 tank destroyer or a No. 4 tank directly to the enemy's rear!

This is simply unimaginable and definitely beyond the expectations of Americans. According to the intelligence collected by the Central Security Bureau and the Military Intelligence Bureau, the Americans did not deploy many troops on the dangerous island of Newfoundland. There are less than 200,000 ground troops in total on this desolate island of more than 110,000 square kilometers (excluding anti-aircraft artillery troops and shore artillery troops), and most of the troops are stationed on the coastline-most of them are high above the sea. It is impossible to land on cliffs with a plane surface of tens of meters (Newfoundland is mainly a platform). Only a few areas are sandy beaches and gravel beaches, and there are usually dangerous highlands and terraces near these beaches and gravel beaches. The Americans only need to build some strong enough machine gun and artillery bunkers on these highlands and mesas, and they can completely block the nearby beaches and gravel beaches with powerful and condescending firepower.

In addition, the tops of the highlands and mesas along the coast of Newfoundland are relatively flat grasslands, enough for armored forces to move. Therefore, the U.S. Army (Allied Forces), which has a large number of heavily equipped troops, has deployed armored troops on these coastal highlands and platforms. It is not a large establishment. It usually consists of tank companies, tank destroyer companies, infantry companies, artillery companies and high-tech units. Artillery company's armored combined battalion. Although there are not many people, they have a lot of tanks/tank destroyers. If a lightly-armed German landing force climbed onto a platform dozens of meters high, these armored combined battalions would be able to show off their skills.

Because of these highlands, mesas and the armored combined battalions above, the elite staff of the German General Staff did not know how many brain cells they had lost. In the end, it was Airborne General Hipple, the founder of the German special forces, who came up with a imaginative plan to parachute armored troops directly to the island of Newfoundland!