The Rise of the Third Reich

"Albert, this is an order to drop no more than three atomic bombs on Newfoundland and its vicinity. It contains orders from me and Chancellor Hitler. It is now handed over to you."

When Stettinius went to Chicago with Truman's signed order, Reich Marshal Hersmann was seeing off Kesselring at Zossen Airport. Kesselring will go to Brest as a special representative of the base camp to assist Marine Marshal Lütjens, but his main mission is to personally control the delivery of the atomic bomb!

Hitler had now signed the written proposal submitted by Hersmann to drop the atomic bomb - the same document that Hersmann now handed to Kesselring! There are three copies, kept by the Chancellery, the General Staff of the Wehrmacht and Kesselring himself.

According to this document, the Heisenberg device components and plutonium-239 charges that have been shipped to the Azores will be assembled into three atomic bombs with a yield of 20,000 tons. At the same time, three bomber groups responsible for dropping atomic bombs were stationed at Port Heroes Airport on the island of Newfoundland.

By the way, although the bomber groups numbered 801, 802 and 803 all have "group" numbers, there are only 20 commonly used fighters. Including 2 Me264K long-range bombers responsible for dropping atomic bombs, 2 Me264H long-range radar early warning aircraft and 16 He219G long-range escort fighters.

In the operation to drop the atomic bomb, one of the two Me264Ks will carry the atomic bomb, and the other will carry a radio remote control device to operate the "Heisenberg device" - unlike the American atomic bomb in history, the "Heisenberg device" The "Fort Device" is actually a remotely controlled guided bomb that can control the landing point by adjusting the tail fin of the atomic bomb. Although the controllability is not as good as the Hs-293 ​​and Fritz-X series bombs, it is much better than ordinary bombs. With this "remotely controlled" atomic bomb, the Me264K long-range bomber can drop bombs at an altitude of more than 10,000 meters, greatly reducing the possibility of being shot down by the enemy.

The two Me264H long-range radar early-warning aircraft will conduct early warning patrols on both sides of the atomic bomb-dropping aircraft formation to help the Me264K long-range bomber carrying the atomic bomb avoid the enemy interceptor group.

As for the 16 He219G long-range escort fighters, they have a range no less than that of the Ju288. Although they cannot provide full escort for the Me264 series bombers, with the German-controlled area on the west coast of Concepcion Bay, the He219G taking off from the Azores Islands You can use shuttle flight tactics to escort the Me264 of the atomic bomb dropping aircraft formation.

Not just any fighter and fighter pilot can perform escort missions for atomic bombers. Fighters not only need a large range and excellent high-altitude performance, but also need a certain degree of radiation protection. The pilots have also received special training and know how to escape from the nuclear blast airspace.

Of course, it is impossible for the Germans to just let 16 He219s protect precious atomic bomb dropping aircraft.

This 1e264K personal guard only guards around the Me264K bomber responsible for dropping the atomic bomb.

And in the airspace further away - which will not be affected by the sudden atomic bomb air blast - there are usually a large number of Me262T or Ta152 high-altitude fighters (according to the regulations of the German Air Force, the altitude of dropping atomic bombs should be no more than 10,000). meter or above) is responsible for clearing enemy aircraft to ensure that most enemy interceptors are blocked within 15 kilometers of the Me264K bomber equipped with atomic bombs.

"It's up to you and Lütjens to decide the target for dropping the atomic bomb," Hersman explained to Kesselring beside the ramp of a Fokker 42 long-range personnel transport aircraft that was ready to take off at any time, "but the target must be on Newfoundland. Or the nearby waters, and St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland, and other cities with relatively dense populations of peaceful residents cannot be used as targets for dropping atomic bombs.”

"Understood, I understand." Kesselring smiled and nodded, "Newfoundland is a territory of the British Empire, and the residents there are all British citizens."

This is a matter of political correctness. It is possible to consider bombing American cities with atomic bombs, but not British (Canadian) cities. Therefore, atomic bombs can only be used as tactical weapons on the Newfoundland battlefield.

Hersman nodded, his voice lowered, and he said: "Albert, there must be an atomic bomb explosion on Newfoundland, at least one. Do you understand?"

This requirement was not included in the formal order given to Kesselin, but it must be done.

"At least once?" Kesselring looked at Herschmann, "Are you going to show it to the Americans?"

"Yes!" Hessman nodded. "The Americans must feel the power of the atomic bomb. This will help the peace negotiations after the Battle of Newfoundland."

In Hirschman's plan, the Battle of Newfoundland was the "ultimate battle" of conventional warfare. After taking Newfoundland, Germany had a base for nuclear bombing New York and Washington. The richest and most prosperous areas in the United States were all under the threat of German atomic bombs.

And with a base that can nukes New York and Washington, there is no need to consider driving tanks to Manhattan - in fact, it can't be hit! The two to three hundred thousand American soldiers and countless tanks and artillery on Newfoundland alone were enough to give the Germans a headache.

If they were about to land on the North American continent and fight a land war in Brunswick or Maine, the endless torrent of American steel would drown the overestimated German Nazis.

So after the Battle of Newfoundland, the world war was basically over, and all that was left to do was peace negotiations. Before peace negotiations officially begin, it is certainly necessary for the German army to use an atomic bomb once on the battlefield to prove its power. The Americans must see the power of the atomic bomb before they will obediently pay for it!

…

When Kesselring boarded the plane and flew to Brest (France), where the headquarters of the European Allied Forces' Atlantic Front was located, with the order signed by Hersmann and Hitler authorizing the dropping of the atomic bomb, it was already April 26 on the island of Newfoundland. It's night.

In the day that just passed, because both sides were busy mobilizing their troops, except for the relatively fierce battle for Grays Harbor on the west coast of Concepcion Bay, there was a miraculous calm on the island of Newfoundland.

The German paratroopers who had fought fierce battles with the U.S. armored forces on the night of the 25th and the early morning of the 26th began to shrink after dawn on the 26th. The troops retreated to the outskirts of Grays Harbor and the front line of Grays Harbor Airport. In addition, on the long and narrow peninsula north of Grays Harbor, the larger Port Carbonier, as well as the old Perican and Basque Islands and their surrounding areas near the top of the peninsula were also under the control of the German airborne troops. firmly under control.

If you look at the map, when the night came on April 26, 1945, the German-controlled area on Newfoundland was two strongholds that were very close to each other and almost connected together (Grace Harbor Defense Zone and Cabernet Sauvignon). Port Neil Defense Zone) and a strip of coastal land stretching from the Port Carbonier Defense Zone to Old Perican, which was the top of the peninsula. From Grays Harbor Airport in the southernmost part of this German-controlled area The distance to the northernmost point of Old Perican is about 60 kilometers, and a coastal road passes through this narrow area, connecting all the strongholds together.

The reason for setting up such a long snake formation that is not conducive to defense militarily is not an unreasonable and blind command, but to facilitate the upcoming landing operation.

Because this more than 60-kilometer front controls almost the same length of coastline, there are two small ports (Grass Harbor and Carbonir Harbor), 6 fishing ports, and 2 small islands with very important geographical locations (one is located in Carbonir). Carbonir Island outside Port Bernier is the key point for controlling the port; one is the Basque Island near the old Perican), and 4 small airports (Grass Harbor Airport, Carbonirr Island Port Airport, Old Pelican Airport and Victoria Airport). The starting point of this long front is the Grays Harbor Airport.

Lieutenant Brandt had not slept for nearly 48 hours at this time, and he was about to collapse from exhaustion. However, he and his more than 20 subordinates still managed to strengthen the defenses around the Grays Harbor Airport. .

These trenches were not built by Brandt's people, otherwise they would be exhausted even if they were all German supermen. The trenches used to guard the airport were excavated and expanded using engineering machinery abandoned by the Americans based on the original defenses built by the US military. The scale is very large. Not only are there trenches and trenches surrounding the airport on three sides (Grace Airport is adjacent to a lake on one side), but also many circular anti-gun fortifications have been excavated. These anti-gun fortifications are based on the huge craters blown up by the Reaper missiles. They were built not only to defend against shelling, but also to serve as separate defensive strongholds. They were connected to the outer trenches by a multi-deep communication trench.

There are also some smaller craters that have been transformed into vehicle or artillery bunkers. However, what makes Second Lieutenant Brandt feel a little strange is that these vehicle and artillery bunkers are all built facing the eastern bay. The vehicles and artillery can be hidden while hiding. The most effective way to avoid attacks from the direction of Concepcion Bay...

Are these bunkers used to defend the US 240mm artillery on Bell Island? There seem to be only a dozen 240mm cannons there. How many tons of ammunition can they release? Is there any need to be so nervous?

With questions in his head and exhaustion that was almost making him collapse, Brandt met his boss, Captain Gunter Billing.

"Herbert, Fokker 42 just airdropped some protective supplies to us." Gunter Billing arrived at Brandt and immediately said to him: "The superiors also ordered that these supplies be distributed to every employee immediately. It's in the hands of the paratroopers... So you immediately find a few people to go to the battalion headquarters to get the protective equipment back."