The Rise of the Third Reich

The counterattack and pursuit operations commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger were due to 54 self-propelled howitzers (3 self-propelled howitzers and 18 M12 155mm self-propelled howitzers) belonging to the 16th Armored Division of the US Army, and 18 temporarily assigned to the 16th Armored Division of the US Army. It ended with heavy fire from the M1 howitzer (M1 155mm howitzer).

Although these raindrops of American artillery shells did not destroy any precious tanks and tank destroyers, they still destroyed four wheeled vehicles and caused dozens of German paratrooper casualties!

When the somewhat embarrassed Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger retreated from the battlefield with the smell of gunpowder smoke, his angular face already looked quite dignified.

The battle on Newfoundland has been going smoothly so far, but difficulties have gradually emerged.

First of all, the combat effectiveness of the US military is stronger than originally expected! Although their combat experience is somewhat lacking, they are obviously well-trained and fully master the advanced weapons they possess.

Secondly, the German army on the island was too weak, with no heavy tanks, and a serious shortage of artillery, with almost no heavy artillery. At night when air superiority is difficult to exert, there are almost no effective means of fire support.

The third is that the German air superiority is not as great as it is on the Eastern Front battlefield, and there is also a lack of professional ground attack aircraft. They are "unavailable" at night, so they cannot effectively support ground operations and suppress U.S. military firepower—— If this were the Soviet-German battlefield, the medium bomber group composed of Do217 and Ju188 would have already blown up the cannons that just fired at Schwarzenegger's cluster.

However, on the island of Newfoundland, the German ground forces did not receive support from the medium bomber force at all. The only ones that can provide air support are German carrier-based aircraft and heavy bombers such as the Me264.

After returning to the headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger immediately found his superior, Major General Haidt, and first reported the pursuit operation, and then told his superior Haidt his thoughts.

Finally, he said: "General, now we must get more favorable fire support! The number of people can be supplemented by airdrops. Today (it is already past midnight and it is the early morning of the 26th) there can always be thousands to ten thousand more. But The main difficulty we encounter now is the lack of firepower. If this problem is not solved, it will be difficult for us to capture the entire Newfoundland Island."

Haider nodded and said to Schwarzenegger: "Gustav, the higher ups are thinking of a way. We will get reinforcements... The three assault battalions 102, 103 and 104 are on the way. They will be on board the ship after dawn. counterattacked with the support of aircraft.”

Schwarzenegger did not show much joy. He said: "But the enemy will also increase its troops... The shelling just now on my people was more violent than ever before, which shows that they have received reinforcements (18 M1s) 155 howitzers have just arrived), we will face more enemies after dawn, and the battle below will be very difficult. "

Insufficient firepower is the biggest difficulty facing the German army on Newfoundland, because the landing operations have not yet begun. The troops are all transported by air, and supplies and heavy equipment are also transported by plane from the Azores, a distance of more than 2,500 kilometers. This severely limited the capabilities of the German Air Transport Command and was unable to deliver enough heavy firearms to Newfoundland. On the American side, although many fighter jets were transferred from Newfoundland, which caught the German army by surprise, they did not transfer tanks and artillery - these two things were not a problem for American productivity. There are as many as there are!

In this case, the German army faced a serious lack of firepower on Newfoundland and was suppressed by the opponent.

It was not only Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger who was aware of this problem. The senior command leaders of both sides had already discovered this problem by the early morning of April 26 (Newfoundland time).

"Mr. President, the situation on the island is generally favorable to us." At the Cabinet Military Meeting at the White House, Army Chief of Staff Marshall told the president, "Our 16th Armored Division is engaged in a fierce battle with the German armored forces and has achieved some results. The result shattered the myth of the invincibility of the German armored forces.

Moreover, Lieutenant General Collins, commander of the Army's 6th Army, also found that the German army on Newfoundland lacked sufficient firepower (this is what Major General Ross, commander of the 16th Armored Division, and British Navy Vice Admiral Fraser told Collins). We have overwhelming Sexual firepower advantage. "

"Overwhelming firepower advantage?" President Truman finally heard some good news, "So we can win?"

"Yes." Marshall said with great certainty, "We will win, as long as the Germans cannot send enough artillery and tanks to Newfoundland... Although they have air and sea superiority, Newfoundland is a small island after all. The Germans cannot defeat a large island with an area of ​​more than 110,000 square kilometers without sufficient army firepower.”

"Where are our reinforcements? When will they arrive on the island?" President Truman still felt unsafe and asked about the reinforcements.

"Reinforcements will arrive today." Marshall replied. "In fact, they are already on the way. They are paratroopers from 3 divisions transported by 1,000 transport planes. They will parachute before dawn. Wait for Newfoundland later. After the airport was repaired, it was possible to airlift some of the armored troops to Newfoundland.”

"1,000 planes to transport three divisions? There are almost 50,000 people, right?" Truman asked, "Are 1,000 transport planes enough?"

"Enough!" said General Arnold, commander of the Army Aviation Corps. "The officers and soldiers of the three divisions have no weapons and equipment. Because there are enough weapons on the island of Newfoundland for them to use."

"Okay, okay, this is a good idea." Truman nodded repeatedly, "If the equipment on the island is enough, we should airdrop more troops there." The president suddenly thought of something, "But the Germans still have air superiority. ,Yeah?"

The advantage on land in Newfoundland undoubtedly belongs to the Allied forces led by the United States, but the air superiority is in the hands of the Germans, otherwise there would be no airborne landings.

"We have a way." Chief of Naval Operations Ernest King took the question, "Mr. President, we can use the fleet to divert the German aircraft carriers away from Newfoundland, and then launch a general attack on land."

Although the U.S. Navy was severely damaged in the Battle of Bermuda, it is still an extremely powerful maritime force. In addition to the dozen or so powerful Essex-class aircraft carriers as the main aircraft carrier force, the No. 5 and No. 6 Iowa-class battleships also entered service in the first quarter of 1945. In addition, the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 Alaska-class battlecruisers (Americans call them large cruisers) were also commissioned one after another from the end of 1944 to March 1945.

In other words, excluding the old battleships from the World War I era, the U.S. Navy now has 2 Iowa-class and 6 Alaska-class ships, a total of 8 new battleships/battlecruisers.

In addition, the USS Midway, the first ship of the Midway-class aircraft carrier, was launched in March 2045 and is currently being outfitted. It will be put into service in September 2045 at the earliest. The No. 2 ship of the Midway class, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, will also be launched at the New York Shipyard in the next few days and will be commissioned before the end of October at the earliest.

While the two "Midway" class aircraft carriers are about to enter service, the U.S. Navy is also stepping up its training of F7F carrier-based aircraft units. Due to the relatively large size of the F7F, it is not convenient to take off from the Essex-class aircraft carrier, so it is a carrier-based aircraft specially prepared for the "Midway" class.

As for the "Essex" class aircraft carrier, the main force of the U.S. aircraft carrier force, it will soon introduce the new and powerful carrier-based aircraft F8F. This naval fighter, used to replace the F6F, completed its first flight as early as August 21, 1944. , the first production model also rolled off the assembly line on December 31, 1944. The F8F began ship-boarding tests on February 17, 1945. The tests proved that the aircraft had good adaptability to the aircraft carrier and showed good landing, take-off and deck control characteristics.

As the war became increasingly tense, the process of getting the F8F onto the ship was greatly accelerated. In early April, the Navy promulgated the flight operation regulations for the F8F. At the same time, it began to establish an F8F carrier-based aircraft training squadron and began to use the training aircraft carrier to train F8F carrier-based aircraft pilots.

At the same time, the U.S. Navy also placed an order for up to 10,000 F8Fs. According to the plan, by the end of 1945, the main force of carrier-based aircraft of the US Navy will change from F6F and F4U to F7F and F8F. By then, the US Navy's carrier-based aircraft force will once again have the strength to compete with the European Community's carrier-based aircraft force in the Atlantic Ocean.

But...it's not the end of 1945 yet.

"President," Ernest King told Truman, "Task Force 56 will acquire several of the battleships and battlecruiser groups originally from Third Fleet and then move closer to Newfoundland. This will ensure that Task Force 56 will The mixed fleet has sufficiently powerful air defense capabilities.

In addition, the 56th Task Force will be deployed close to the east coast of the United States to ensure that it can receive support from shore-based aviation. Moreover, they will be far away from the combat radius of the Me264 based in the Azores. "

Since the Germans played with missiles, the Me264 has become a formidable anti-ship weapon! Especially with the TV-guided anti-ship missile, the Me264 can launch missiles at an altitude of 10,000 meters and in areas far away from the anti-aircraft fire range of U.S. surface ships.

If Me262T escorts are dispatched at the same time, American carrier-based aircraft with weaker high-altitude performance will be almost unable to compete with them. Therefore, Task Force 56 can only avoid the Me264 with a long range, which is really a bit frustrating.

However, even if they avoid Me264, Task Force 56 is still a formidable and huge maritime armed force. Their existence is an absolute threat that cannot be ignored for the European Community Navy attacking Newfoundland.