The Rise of the Third Reich

A strong man wearing a handsome black combat uniform of the Type 40 armored vehicle got out of the hatch on the top of the pushed-away E-25 tank destroyer, then jumped onto the grass with great agility, and flew to Hessmann's seat. In front of the Steyr command vehicle, a Taiwanese military salute was given: "Hi! Hitler!"

Hessman also raised his right arm and returned the salute. He felt that the strong man in front of him looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't remember it.

"Reichsmarschall, SS Lieutenant Colonel Gustav Schwarzenegger salutes you."

The strong man shouted again, and Hessman suddenly realized. The visitor turned out to be the "Governor"'s father, no wonder he looked familiar.

Air Force General Stuart, who was sitting next to Hersman, proudly said to Hersman: "Marshal Reich, he is the battalion commander of the 101st Air Assault Battalion of the 1st Air Assault Brigade. He is from the SS. The commander of the ace tank destroyer battalion transferred from the 5th Armored Grenadier Division of the Army... The officers and soldiers of our 1st Air Assault Brigade are all selected from the various front-line units of the Wehrmacht Army, Marine Corps and Airborne Forces. Everyone is an elite and equipped with the best armor and weapons."

Hersman nodded. Of course he knew the situation of the 1st Air Assault Brigade. Because the order to form this special force was signed by Hersman. Moreover, he is also very familiar with the E-25 tank destroyer and the No. 4 H tank, the main combat vehicles equipped by the 1st Air Assault Brigade.

The former is part of the E-series tank project. It was originally planned to launch E-25 tanks, E-25 tank destroyers, E-25 assault guns and E-25 self-propelled artillery combat vehicles to replace the No. 4 tank and its variants.

However, by January 1944, when the prototypes of the E-25 tank and the E-25 tank destroyer passed the acceptance of the Wehrmacht, the war on the European continent had long ended, and there were no more Soviet tanks like sea water for the E-25 to deal with. .

Moreover, the E-50 tank series has been very complete. There are not only E-50 tanks and E-50-2 tanks (an upgraded version of the E-50, equipped with a 105 mm KwK45 L/52 B tank gun, the full combat weight Up to 63 tons), and also launched the E-50 tank destroyer equipped with a 128mm main gun and the E-50 self-propelled artillery equipped with a 155mm plus howitzer (improved on the basis of the Schneider M1929).

Therefore, the market space left for the E-25 has been very limited, so the E-25 tank project was eventually cancelled, but the E-25 tank destroyer and E-25 assault gun projects were retained - this was not because of the E-25 No matter how good the tank destroyer and the E-25 assault gun are, it is the German and French arms manufacturers that have invested heavily in the E-25 project that have to recoup their costs.

Therefore, the German Wehrmacht and the French Army purchased the E-25 as a standardized product for "medium anti-tank destroyers and assault guns" to replace the No. 3 assault equipment of mechanized infantry (called Panzer Grenadier in Germany) and motorized infantry equipment. Cannon and Grizzly Assault Gun - The E-25 assault gun and the E-25 tank destroyer use the same chassis, but are just over 30 centimeters taller than the latter at 2.5 meters. The armor on the front of the car body was also thickened to 100mm, and a 150mm infantry gun was replaced. As for the total combat weight, it is several tons heavier than the E-25 tank destroyer, reaching 32 tons.

However, as the main force of the 1st Air Assault Army, the 1st Air Assault Brigade of the German Wehrmacht is not equipped with the 32-ton E-25 assault gun. Instead, the "ancient" Type 4 H tank was taken out and matched with the E-25 tank destroyer.

"Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger," Hersman asked after sizing up the burly "old governor" in front of him, "how does it feel to fly ZSO523?"

"It's very good, very spacious." Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger said, "In addition to carrying an E-25 tank destroyer, the cabin can also hold 200 rounds of artillery shells and the full equipment of a squad (10 people). Armed airborne troops. And the flight is very smooth, almost like flying in a Fokker 42.”

The Fokker 42 is currently the main transport aircraft of the German and French air forces. This aircraft was also developed as a passenger aircraft and is very comfortable to ride.

"Reichsmarschall," Airborne General Hipple, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the Steyr car, interjected, "the ZSO523 air assault transport aircraft is simply tailor-made for the purpose of seizing Newfoundland from the air. Its The fully loaded range is 2,700 kilometers, which is just right for flying from the Azores to Newfoundland. Moreover, it can land on even a slightly sloping grassland. If the problem of taking off again is not considered, most of the terraces on Newfoundland are covered. All can be used for ZSO523 landing.”

ZSO523 was jointly developed by Germany's Zeppelin and France's Saint Corso. It has a wingspan of 70 meters, a length of 40.25 meters, a fully equipped machine weight of 52 tons, and can carry 30 tons of cargo. It is powered by six 2100-horsepower Land God-Rhone 14R air-cooled engines. It can fly 2,700 kilometers at an altitude of 3,800 meters and a cruising speed of 310 kilometers.

Although the range and speed of the ZSO523 are quite different from the Fokker 42, the main transport aircraft of the German Air Force, it has functions that the Fokker 42 does not have and can land on terrain such as grassland and farmland. Because this aircraft was developed on the basis of the Me323 transport aircraft, the predecessor of the Me321 was a large glider used by airborne troops, and was originally used to perform air assault missions. During the development process, the ZSO523 retained the characteristics of the Me323 and Me321 and became a "large air assault transport aircraft."

"How many ZSO523s are ready?" Hersman asked again.

General Stuart said: "There are now 221 aircraft, and by the beginning of April there will be more than 250 aircraft, two-thirds of which are ours, and one-third belong to the French. However, these aircraft can all be used in Operation Columbus." "

"Operation Columbus" was part of the "Fort Gottsch Plan", and its main content was to land on the island of Newfoundland - unlike Clark, the American amphibious landing expert, the Germans did not think that the dangerous terrain of Newfoundland was difficult to get to. On the contrary, in the view of the German General Staff, although the flat Nova Scotia Peninsula and its surrounding Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton Island are easy to climb, it is difficult to gain a foothold.

Because the Nova Scotia Peninsula is connected to the North American continent and is connected to the northeastern United States by railways, the Americans not only expanded the railways but also built many roads after they moved in. Hundreds of thousands or millions of troops can also be quickly transported from the east coast of the United States to the Nova Scotia Peninsula.

The distance between Cape Breton Island and the Nova Scotia Peninsula is too close, with the narrowest point being less than 1 kilometer. Not only were there ferries that could quickly transport large amounts of personnel and equipment from Nova Scotia to Cape Breton Island, but the Americans also built many pontoons to connect the two places. The so-called "island" is actually part of the Nova Scotia Peninsula.

In addition, Prince Edward Island is located in Hillsborough Bay, and the landing fleet must pass through the Cabot Strait (located between Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland), which is only 100 kilometers wide, to enter the bay, which is not very safe.

As for the St. Pierre and Miquelon Islands, which are only 20 kilometers away from Newfoundland, it is a more ideal landing place. The island's topography and location are just right. But it is French territory and has been the seat of the Free French government since the surrender of the British mainland in 1943. The Free French movement led by Charles de Gaulle now seems to have no chance of returning to the French mainland.

But this does not mean that the Free French have few followers. On the contrary, because the Pétain-Darlan government is going further and further on the "Pan-Aryan line". In the eyes of many French nationalists, such a route undoubtedly abandons the pride of the French nation and turns the great France into a follower of barbaric Germany. Therefore, many French nationalists gathered under the banner of de Gaulle, giving them a large French Freikorps.

However, the British (Canadian) government was unwilling to allow the French Freikorps to be stationed in Canada because there were a large number of French residents in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in eastern Canada. In particular, the French residents of Quebec have always been very dissatisfied with being ruled by the British. If a group of armed nationalists from mainland France enter Quebec, British rule in Quebec may be in crisis.

Since the British did not allow the French Freikorps to enter Canada, de Gaulle and his numerous Freikorps fighters could only be stationed on the St. Pierre and Miquelon Islands, which belonged to French territory. As a result, more than 65,000 Free French troops are now gathered on two small islands with a land area of ​​only 242 square kilometers. It also has sophisticated weapons and a full range of American equipment, including not only various light weapons and artillery, but also more than 300 M4, M10 and M36 series tanks/tank destroyers.

In addition, de Gaulle and his die-hard French nationalists also regarded St. Pierre and Miquelon as France's last place of honor and prepared to make a splash here. From the second half of 1943, with the support of the United States, the Free French Legion began to build defense facilities on Saint-Pierre Island and Miquelon Island. The project has continued until now. The two islands are now densely covered with fortifications and clusters of bunkers. It will be difficult for the European coalition forces to completely suppress it in the short term.

Therefore, the seemingly dangerous island of Newfoundland became the main target of "Operation Columbus"!