The Rise of the Third Reich

Round after round of illumination bombs fell from the sky, illuminating the sky west of Cartwright's fishing port occupied by the "Prince Friedrich's Infantry Regiment of the Royal Army Hanover". And above this pale landscape, hundreds of C-47 transport planes were circling and roaring. The light and roar reached Cartwright Fishing Port, alarming the resting Belarusian officers and soldiers - in the past two days, their luck was quite good. Because the strategy of posing as British troops worked, no fierce fighting broke out in the Cartwright area. The officers and soldiers of the British (Canadian) Independent Second Parachute Brigade had no motivation to attack at all, so they fired a few shots and withdrew back to the Paradise River. The Canadian army, which was in good condition, suddenly showed the momentum of the Italians.

The next two days on the 21st and 22nd were uneventful. The British troops in the Paradise River area did not even send reconnaissance troops eastward. Just when Reinhardt and Little Ribbentrop, who then arrived to take charge of commanding a regiment-level group, thought they would not experience a hard battle in Labrador, a place where no one shits, American airborne troops arrived.

"Damn it, it's the airborne troops!" When Ribbentrop and Reinhard emerged from the hidden headquarters, they immediately saw the blossoming umbrella flowers illuminated by flares.

"And there are many! Very many..." Reinhardt was also shocked by the momentum of the airborne landing in front of him.

He and Ribbentrop never expected that the enemy would actually use large-scale airdrops to send troops to the Labrador battlefield where transportation was extremely inconvenient. Looking at the current momentum, the number of troops dropped by air is probably only 20,000, right? This is nearly 2 divisions in size. It is easy to drop so many people from the sky, but it is difficult to maintain their high-intensity operations along the coast of Labrador.

It is at least 1,000 kilometers away from Quebec (Quebec City) and Maine in the United States, and there are few railways and roads available. Logistics supplies all have to be transported by air or airdropped. How many transport planes will be used to transport them?

"It seems we have a war to fight!" Reinhardt, a newcomer on the battlefield, said to little Ribbentrop in an excited tone.

But the latter looked a little solemn, nodded and said: "There is a big battle... Reinhardt, go and send a message to the headquarters and tell them about the U.S. airdrop. I hope the superiors have been prepared for this situation." Otherwise we will be miserable."

At this moment, east of Cartwright Fishing Port, the sea near Hare Bay has been completely controlled by the Belarusian and Finnish troops. Although it was late at night, transfers and beach operations were still in progress. The Bremen and Europa, which had been bombed a few days ago, both sailed into Hare Bay, anchored near the beach, and used the searchlights on the ships to illuminate the surrounding water as if it were daytime. With the help of searchlights, the cranes on the decks of the two amphibious assault ships are continuously lifting vehicles and supplies from the ships to the landing craft on the water, and then the landing craft transports them to the beach.

In addition to these two giant ships of more than 40,000 tons, two tank landing ships with a displacement of several thousand tons also appeared on the beach of Hare Bay. The bow hatches have been lowered, and a large number of soldiers are pouring a box of Boxes of supplies and ammunition were transported from the tank landing ship and loaded onto nearby trucks for transportation.

While they were still busy unloading cargo on the beach, fireballs flashed out from the nearby sky and sea shrouded in darkness from time to time, streaking through chains of fire, accompanied by loud booms and booms.

A fierce sea and air battle is now underway!

Since the European Allied Forces landed at Hare Bay in Labrador, the U.S. Air Force stationed in Newfoundland has dispatched aircraft to carry out air strikes whether day or night. On the night of the 23rd, not only the American aviation force came, but several destroyers and an unknown number of PT torpedo boats also arrived near Hare Bay, and were now exchanging fire with the German destroyers and S-100 torpedo boats guarding there.

At the same time, a fierce battle took place in the air. Three squadrons of He219 "Owl" night fighters flew in from Nuuk Airport in Greenland. Although the number was small, it also caused considerable losses to the American medium and heavy bombers that came to drop the "Bat" bombs. However, "Bat" bombs still fell on the flight decks of Bremen and Europa, exploding huge fireballs from time to time. Although it will not cause major damage to the huge amphibious assault ship, it will still greatly affect the transfer and beach operations.

In the bridge of the Bremen, Admiral Burchardi, commander of the landing fleet, and Rear Admiral Xue Allen, commander of the landing force, both looked very anxious at this time. It was not that they were anxious because of the fierce battles at sea and in the air, but because they had just received reports that the US military was airborne in large numbers.

This is really surprising news! At least the two of them were not mentally prepared at all!

The landing on Labrador was just a feint attack, so not many troops were invested, only 2 brigades. Moreover, the commander who directed this landing operation was still a rear admiral. He had no idea how to fight a land battle?

As for the commanders of the two brigades that have landed, they only have the rank of Army Colonel and SS Colonel. Moreover, they are not commanding reliable German troops, but Russian and Finnish troops, and their combat effectiveness is still quite doubtful.

Therefore, after learning about the large-scale airborne landing of the US military, Rear Admiral Xue Allen immediately sent an urgent call for help to the Marine Corps Command.

And their urgent call soon turned into a piercing ringtone, waking up Marshal Hessmann who was sleeping with Chloe in his arms.

"Robert, what did you say?" When Hersman picked up the phone receiver, the early morning sunlight had already shined through the thin curtains into his and Chloe's bedroom - because of the time difference between Germany and North America, now It was already early morning on April 24th.

"Ludwig, the Americans have invested a large number of airborne troops in Labrador, about 2 divisions."

"Two divisions?" Hersman sat up from the bed and woke up his wife Chloe beside him. Chloe knew that her husband had military duties, so she didn't say anything. She just kissed Hersman on the cheek, put on her pajamas and went to the bathroom to wash up.

"There are at least two divisions, all airborne." Marshal Gram said on the phone. "If you include the Canadian troops in the Paradise River area, the total strength is probably close to three airborne divisions."

"This is a good thing!" Hessman immediately made a judgment. "The Americans must transport a large amount of supplies, equipment and ammunition to the three divisions, and also dispatch fighter planes to cover their actions. This will make Newfoundland The already insufficient aviation force on board has become even more tense!”

"But our troops are also under great pressure. We only have two brigades there, and they are all foreign troops."

"There will be reinforcements," Hersmann said. "The SS England and the SS Scotland are in Iceland. I will send them to Canada immediately."

The SS England and SS Scotland were both units composed of volunteers from the Fascist Party in the UK. Because he was loyal to Adolf Hitler, he was not included in the establishment of the British Royal Army and could be used for the Canadian expedition.

According to the plan, these two authentic British teams would be used for the occupation of Newfoundland, and if possible, they would be used as the vanguard of the march into the Canadian hinterland.

"Okay." Marshal Graham agreed to Hessman's arrangement. "Now we still need a commander who can command these landing forces... I don't think Rear Admiral Xue Allen can do this."

Rear Admiral Xue Ailun is an expert in landing warfare. His professional knowledge only reaches the beach, and he does not know how to fight a land battle.

"That's right," Hessman thought for a moment, "I will find a famous general for the landing force."

"Famous general?" Gram asked, "What kind of famous general?"

Hessmann already had a candidate in mind, "How about Alexander?"

"Alexander?" Graham was stunned, "Alexander Lyle or Alexander von Falkenhausen?"

"It's Marshal Harold Alexander," Hessman replied.

"What? That British Marshal?" Marshal Graham looked very surprised.

"Yes, that's him!" Hersman said with a smile, "Who else is more suitable than him? All the British troops in Canada know him, right?"

The idea of ​​using a British marshal to be the nominal commander-in-chief of the European Expeditionary Force in Canada had already been proposed when the "Fort Gotch Plan" was being formulated. Of course, the German General Staff did not want the British marshal to actually take power, but wanted him to face the flag. This will at least make the British army in Canada lose their fighting spirit - it should be unrealistic for Canadians to fight against the Queen's army for the United States.

As for the general candidate to actually command, Hessmann had already thought about it, which was General Rommel, who until now was not qualified to be a marshal.

"Okay," Marshal Graeme said on the phone, "Marshal Alexander is also fine, but the question is, has he agreed?"

"Not yet," Hersman said. "No, I will convince him. There is no problem at all. He will definitely agree because he has no choice now."

Herschmann planned to leave for England in person later to convince Queen Elizabeth and Marshal Alexander. Although the British had not been very interested in attacking the United States before, the situation was different now because the war had reached Canada. If Elizabeth and Alexander refused to come forward, it was uncertain who would control Canada after the war.

In addition, Britain still relies on Germany in India!

He added: "As for the temporary commander in the direction of Labrador, I plan to let Major General Stauffenberg serve. He is now in Iceland and is responsible for commanding the SS British Brigade (composed of the English Regiment, the Scottish Regiment and the Welsh Battalion) ). I think he will be a suitable candidate.”