The Rise of the Third Reich

Brandt took several of his men, including the Frenchman Mitterrand, who was as tired as him and wanted to sleep for a day and night, and received the so-called protective equipment from the headquarters of the 5th Parachute Battalion of the 1st Parachute Division. —Not a helmet or body armor, but a white overalls, leather gloves, gas mask and sunglasses...

"Is this...is this correct? Why are there sunglasses? What are they for?" Brandt saw this pile of protective equipment and suddenly felt like he was being teased by the logistics department.

"Well, there should be, there should be nothing wrong..." a second lieutenant officer responsible for distributing protective equipment answered uncertainly, "The superiors also ordered these items to be distributed to every paratrooper, and to ensure that they can use them correctly."

"Use sunglasses correctly?" Brandt asked, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Oh, those are not called sunglasses, they are called U-45 individual radiation protection goggles..." the second lieutenant quartermaster said, "What does the operating regulations say?"

He handed Brandt a copy of the operating regulations for "sunglasses" compiled by the German Air Force's Strategic Weapons Command. It contained standard steps for wearing "sunglasses" and methods for maintaining them.

"Glasses must be worn strictly in accordance with the regulations." After the second lieutenant quartermaster finished speaking, he took out a copy of the operating regulations for the overalls and said to Brandt: "This is the operating regulations for the U-45 individual radiation protection suit. "

There are also operating rules for wearing clothes!

"What kind of protective clothing?" Brandt didn't understand.

"Radiation suit."

"Radiation?" Brandt still didn't understand. "What is this?"

"It's a secret weapon," the quartermaster said. "I don't know the specifics. The order didn't mention it."

He didn't know anything, but just because of an order from above, he came to North America with great power and started killing people and setting fires! Brandt thought to himself: This is probably the tragedy of the German nation, right? This nation knows how to obey orders from above, no matter how absurd the orders are.

Although Brandt thought so in his heart, he still seriously followed the quartermaster in front of him to learn the correct way to wear "sunglasses", the correct way to wear radiation protection clothing, the correct way to wear a gas mask, and how to Put the leather gloves on your hands correctly.

Oh, in addition to the correct way to wear them, there is also how to take off these "protective gears" from the body, clean them, and store them. All in all, it is very troublesome.

After Brandt and the few paratroopers he brought learned how to use the "protective gear", the quartermaster gave him a "Radiation Protection Combat Manual" and then said: "Everyone has one copy of this, too." Everyone must read it several times, and it’s best to memorize it. In addition, there are some iron buckets that you must take away.”

"Bucket?" Brandt asked with eyes wide open, "Is it used to hold water?"

"Yes, they are used to hold water." said the quartermaster. "Well, I guess those buckets have no other use."

This time Brandt received much more "protective equipment" than he expected, and the few people he brought with him couldn't handle it at all. Fortunately, the headquarters of the 5th Parachute Battalion was well prepared and sent a captured Dodge truck to transport a lot of messy things to Brandt's company.

The same situation happened not only in Brandt's paratrooper battalion on the night of April 26, but in every paratrooper battalion and air assault battalion that parachuted to Newfoundland.

Because another airborne landing was carried out during the day on the 26th, the number of German Wehrmacht paratrooper battalions on Newfoundland has now reached 27, as well as 9 more regimental headquarters and 3 more division headquarters, as well as a complete Headquarters of the 1st Air Assault Brigade. The total number of German paratroopers parachuted to Newfoundland has reached more than 26,000.

On the night of the 26th, these 26,000 German soldiers (including a small number of French soldiers) were busy reinforcing trenches, bunkers and learning to use strange-shaped protective equipment, regardless of fatigue.

The headquarters of the 1st Air Assault Corps of General Hipple Airborne also moved from Grays Airport to a large air raid shelter near Port Carbonill Airport on the evening of the 26th - this air raid shelter was originally an underground ammunition depot and was very well repaired. It was strong. When the Germans occupied this place, there were still many aerial bombs in the warehouse that had not had time to be destroyed. Now that these aerial bombs have been moved away, the vacant space is used to accommodate Shipple's military headquarters.

"Admiral, all non-combatants in Port Grays and Port Carbonir have been evacuated to Victoria, and combatants are also ready to evacuate at any time..."

While the staff and servicemen were busy arranging the military headquarters, Colonel Kirk, chief of staff of the 1st Air Assault Corps, was reporting to General Hipple on the evacuation status of Grays Harbor and Carbonir Harbor.

"The defense there must not be relaxed!" Hipple instructed. "The troops can only withdraw to the designated areas for concealment after receiving orders from the military. The other six fishing ports must also complete the evacuation tomorrow. However, Carbonir Island and The garrison on the Basque Island cannot retreat. Is there no problem there? "

"No problem. The terrain of these two islands is very high and will not be swept away by tsunamis. Moreover, the Americans have dug tunnels there. We took a lot of effort to capture them. They should be used to hide troops."

"Well," Hipple thought for a while and said, "put a battalion on the Basque Island and a company on the Carbonir Island. Let them be more careful, prepare more food and water, and try their best to stay as safe as possible after the big explosion. Stay in the tunnel for a while.”

"Okay, okay, I'll notify them right away."

The "big bang" that Hipple refers to is, of course, a nuclear explosion! Plans for dropping atomic bombs were prepared during Operation Columbus.

One of the options is to drop atomic bombs somewhere on the west coast of Concepcion Bay, near the entrance of Concepcion Bay and the Churchill Naval Fortress after the airdrop and airborne operations fail, in order to clear the way for the landing fleet to force a landing.

The second option is to drop the atomic bomb in Concepcion Bay, the Churchill Naval Fortress and the gathering area of ​​the US armored forces after the airdrop and airborne operations are successful. The second option does not provide for the simultaneous release of three atomic bombs, and it can also be One or two, the exact number depends on the situation.

However, an atomic bomb must be dropped, not only to scare the Americans, but also to clear the mines, submarines and torpedo boats in Concepcion Bay. The landing fleet of the European Combined Fleet would not dare to enter Concepcion Bay unless they were cleaned up.

And if an atomic bomb with an equivalent of 20,000 tons is dropped in a bay less than 20 kilometers wide, it will most likely set off huge waves hitting the shore, just like a tsunami.

Therefore, the troops deployed in the ports and fishing ports on the west coast of Concepcion Bay must be moved and concealed before the nuclear explosion occurs. Because the terrain of these ports and fishing ports is very low (it is impossible to build ports on the edge of cliffs tens of meters high), they are easily swept away by tsunamis. As for the troops deployed on the platform, they will not be killed by the tsunami, but they still need to do a good job in radiation protection. That's why they worked tirelessly to dig trenches and trenches, and received many strange protective supplies. As a result, the military headquarters of General Hipple's airborne troops ran to the original underground ammunition depot.

However, the German army's active contraction and actions of digging trenches and building fortifications were viewed by the Allied Command on Newfoundland as an attempt to "hold on and wait for reinforcements."

"Joseph," British Royal Navy Vice Admiral Fraser walked into the combat command center with the report from the F-13 reconnaissance plane he had just received, and said to Joseph Collins, commander of the US Army's Newfoundland Ground Forces, "it was discovered that The German landing fleet is located 500-550 nautical miles northwest of Newfoundland, and it should be coming from Iceland.”

"500-550 nautical miles? When will they arrive?" Joseph Collins asked.

"36-72 hours." Fraser gave a large time range, "It will arrive on the 29th at the latest."

"On the 29th..." Joseph Collins crossed his arms, "The 16th Armored Division and the 11th, 13th, and 17th Airborne Divisions may not have time to recover the area on the west coast of Concepcion Bay before then."

Joseph Collins now dispatched more than 50,000 U.S. officers and soldiers from 4 divisions to counterattack on the west coast of Concepcion Bay. Although the number was only twice that of the Germans, they had an overwhelming advantage in firepower and tank numbers.

The 32nd and 33rd Divisions (actually mechanized infantry divisions) belonging to the 6th Army (U.S. Army) have also been mobilized from their original fronts and will be able to participate in offensive operations on the morning of the 28th at the latest.

In addition, 10 independent heavy artillery battalions (equipped with 240mm and 203mm heavy artillery) have been transferred from the coastal defense artillery positions and are being transferred to the battlefield on the west coast of Concepcion Bay. Once in position, attacking U.S. forces would have overwhelming fire support.

Therefore, Collins was not worried that the troops of up to six divisions that he had or planned to invest would not be able to defeat the German army falling from the sky without much heavy equipment.

However, the approaching German landing fleet made him very worried, because he knew that although his six divisions were powerful, they were not a superhuman force, and it was impossible to end the battle before the 28th.

"They can't enter the Gulf of Concepción," Fraser told Collins confidently. "The mines, torpedo boats and U-class submarines can block the German fleet for at least two weeks. In addition, the cannons at Churchill Fortress are not vegetarian. of.

Moreover, the Z Fleet and the 11th Task Force of the Royal Fleet are coming... If all goes well, the German landing fleet will become the prey of the Z Fleet and the 11th Task Force. "

"Are we sure of the battle at sea?" Collins looked at Fraser with suspicion.

"Yes!" Frazier answered in the affirmative.

"Okay," Collins nodded, "Then let's make a battle plan to recapture the western shore of Concepcion Bay within two weeks, no, within one week."