The Rise of the Third Reich

April 8, 1945, 6:10 in the morning. In the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,000 nautical miles west of the Azores Islands, the heavy aircraft carrier Adolf Hitler.

Lieutenant Colonel Hersman Jr., aviation operations officer of the 201st Aircraft Carrier Group, turned to look at the middle of the flight deck. Two Me262T jet carrier-based fighters had been pushed onto hydraulic catapults. Two metal baffles were erected behind the two Me262Ts, and the jet engines began to roar, spitting out hot tail flames. A flight commander suddenly waved the red flag, and the hydraulic catapult suddenly started and the jet engine produced huge thrust, quickly accelerating the aircraft from standstill to a speed of nearly 250 kilometers per hour. The high-speed forward aircraft collided with the oncoming sea breeze, resulting in a huge lift. The two Me262T jet aircraft, with a full weight of more than 10 tons, were as light as seabirds at this moment. They rocked one after another. He flapped his wings and suddenly flew into the sky.

The four jet engines of the two planes continued to make thunderous sounds, spraying hot gas backwards, pushing the planes upward to accelerate and climb. The climb speed of the aircraft is not fast, and it is not as fast as the climb speed of the Fokker 636 after taking off from the aircraft carrier. This is due to the fact that jet engines have the disadvantage of slow acceleration - today's turbojet engines have just started, and in many aspects they cannot be compared with fully mature piston engines.

However, Hersman Jr. believes that the sky in the future must belong to the jets. Because he has personally witnessed the entire process of the Me262's step-by-step improvement from its birth to the present day - the specific model of the two Me262s currently climbing is T-4, which is the No. 4 improved version of the carrier-based version. The performance is much better than the original Me262A-0 jet fighter! Whether it is climb, top speed, dive, range, ceiling or firepower, there have been huge improvements, and there are almost two types of aircraft.

All these improvements, in addition to more reasonable aerodynamic performance, stem from the rapid progress of jet engines. The thrust of the Jumo005 jet engine and BMW020 jet engine currently being tested has exceeded 23 kilonewtons! Moreover, the dead weight of these two engines is only about 750 kilograms, and they are both practical engines that can be installed on the Me262 series of jet aircraft. As long as they complete testing and enter actual installation, the climbing performance of the Me262T will reach a point where it can be comparable to the Fokker 636. By then, the Adolf Hitler-class aircraft carrier equipped with Me262T fighter jets will no longer need the Fokker 636 on the Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier to provide direct cover.

Standing on the island platform of the Hitler aircraft carrier, little Hersman took his eyes back from the two Me262Ts undergoing routine training, and then glanced at the stern flight deck of the Hitler aircraft carrier. There is no trace of Br.810 there anymore, but there are more than a dozen Me262T jet fighters and several vehicles - not the low-slung aircraft carrier vehicles, but Chris brand four-wheel diesel tractors. , Steyr fire trucks. The former is used to tow aircraft, while the latter is used to put out fires. The Hitler-class's wide deck and huge internal capacity make this large vehicle useful on an aircraft carrier. However, these civilian vehicles are somewhat uncoordinated when placed on an aircraft carrier.

"Lieutenant Colonel," a naval aviation second lieutenant didn't know when he came behind little Hersman and handed him a copy of the telegram. "Telegram from Azores Command."

Little Hersman immediately took the copy and glanced at it, then turned around and walked quickly to the fleet joint command center on the second floor of the island.

Because Task Force 20 is still 650 nautical miles away from Newfoundland and nearly 900 nautical miles away from Bermuda, and there is no sign that the fleet has been discovered by enemy aircraft. Therefore, the officers in the command center all looked relaxed, and staff officers came in and out, delivering various intelligence and orders. Admiral Helmut Heyer, commander of the 20th Task Force, and commander-in-chief of the 201st Group Rear Admiral Franz Hinze, the captain of the aircraft carrier Hitler, and Rear Admiral Christiansen, the chief of staff of the 20th Task Force, gathered around the chart table and talked in low voices. Among them, Christiansen saw little Hersman and waved to him: "Rudolf, come here quickly, we will have work soon... The bombers from the Azores Islands have begun to take off."

The Me264 series bombers taking off from several large airports in the Azores are all long-range Me264 series bombers. They are also the main aircraft equipped with the Reaper series of missiles. Most of these Me264s that can launch missiles were previously stationed in Belém and Cayenne, responsible for launching missiles to Trinidad to cover the Ju188 taking off from the Georgetown Island base to perform minelaying missions.

But starting a few days ago, these large planes have been arriving in the Azores. By April 8, the number of Me264s concentrated in the Azores had exceeded 300.

The combat operations to land in North America will be started by these Me264s!

Little Hersman raised his wrist, looked at the time, and then said calmly: "There are still at least 6 hours before the air battle begins... If everything goes well, around 1 p.m., American planes on Newfoundland can It’s going to be bad luck.”

"Today's air battle is under the command of Major General Molders!" General Helmut Haye raised his head from the chart table at this time, "You are the deputy commander-in-chief, get ready to go."

"Yes, General." Little Hessmann quickly stood up, raised his hand in salute, and then turned and left the command center.

As the deputy commander-in-chief of air combat, Hersman Jr. will fly to the front line in a Bv138E waterborne early warning aircraft. However, this type of aircraft is not available on the aircraft carrier Hitler. He must take his staff and communication team aboard the seaplane carrier (D aircraft carrier) also belonging to the 20th Task Force, and then board the Bv138E Waterborne early warning aircraft are on standby at any time.

Before little Hersman boarded the Bv138E waterborne early warning aircraft on standby, nine other Bv138E seaplanes (belonging to 3 D aircraft carriers) had already taken off and rushed to the vicinity of Newfoundland and the Nova Scotia Peninsula. Conduct alert patrols in order to use their S-band radar to be the first to detect large groups of American fighter aircraft.

Just as the Germans attached great importance to the reconnaissance of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, the Americans also attached great importance to the surveillance of the Azores. While hundreds of Me264 bombers rumbled off from various airports in the Azores Islands, the S-band radar on an F-13 reconnaissance aircraft hovering nearby at an altitude of 10,000 meters had already made a discovery.

"What? There is a large aircraft group gathering over the Azores Islands?"

The air inside the Pentagon suddenly became tense, and Secretary of War Wallace immediately arrived at the intelligence command center in person.

"How big is the fleet?" Wallace asked.

A staff officer from the Army Aviation Corps immediately replied: "There are already more than 150, and the number is still increasing!"

"150 planes..." Wallace took a breath. Most of these 150 planes are Me264! At least 150 missiles can be mounted on it!

I don’t know where the German fleet at sea is yet? The Azores dispatched so many bombers again. Is this going to use missiles to blow up New York and Boston?

"Mr. Minister," before Wallace had finished breathing, another staff member loudly reported, "I just received a report from the submarine. The German fleet in Belem Port has been dispatched!"

"The large fleet in Belem Port also moved?"

Wallace and William Leahy glanced at each other - the large fleet in Belem Port was the main force, including 8 aircraft carriers and several battleships, as well as a large number of landing ships and transport ships!

In addition, Port Belem is also the base of the European Community Expeditionary Force! According to reliable intelligence, there are two or three armored divisions equipped with E-50 tanks outside Belem.

Therefore, the movement of the German fleet in Belem Port basically means that the landing on Trinidad and Tobago is about to begin!

The battle between Trinidad and Tobago will also be directly related to the national destiny of the United States!

"Great!" Wallace suddenly clapped his hands, startling a room of heavy-minded American soldiers, and all eyes were attracted to him.

"This is good news!" Wallace glanced around. His clenched palms were already full of sweat, but the expression on his face seemed relaxed. "Everything is under our control now! We have deployed a large number of interceptors on the east coast, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. We can definitely give the German bombers a head-on attack. The Germans will fight for their own Crime has a heavy price.

In addition, we also accurately determined that the Germans' main attack direction was Trinidad and Tobago. So we know that their upcoming missile attack on the U.S. East Coast is just a diversionary tactic. Therefore, a targeted counterattack plan can be formulated to ensure that victory belongs to the United States under the blessing of God! "

"Yes, everything is under our control now!" William Leahy responded immediately, and then turned his attention to General Arnold, commander of the Army Aviation Corps, "Henry, send out your fighter jets and block the Germans as much as possible. Bomber." Then he said to Wallace, "Mr. Secretary, let's go to the White House and report to the President. Just in case, I think we should recommend that the President and the Cabinet go to Catoctin Mountain Resort. Large cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, Lowcountry and Baltimore should also implement martial law and initiate evacuation plans when necessary. At the same time, they should also ensure that all non-combatants can enter underground bunkers when German missiles and bombers attack. .

We must prepare for the worst now so that we will not be frightened by the atomic bomb sometime in the future! "

Wallace nodded and said in a serious tone: "There are still means of counterattack! The Patriot Plan can start now. If the Germans dare to use atomic bombs on our big cities, we will resolutely counterattack!"