The Rise of the Third Reich

Newfoundland time, April 28, 1945, 11 o'clock in the middle of the night.

Admiral Erich Bey, commander of Task Force 15 of the European Combined Fleet, was wearing a raincoat and standing on the missile deck of the flagship battleship Bismarck. He watched with his own eyes as several sailors removed and repaired a Yagi antenna that was damaged by strong winds. .

At this time, his ears were filled with the roar of the sea breeze. Raindrops hit the thick steel plates, crackling, and the nearly 50,000-ton ship body was constantly shaking in the waves. If it were not for the well-trained old navy, there would be no Way to stand firm on the Bismarck. As for the "landlubbers" who were incorporated into the several-thousand-ton landing ships of the 15th Task Force (all of them were landlubbers compared to the old navy), Admiral Bei couldn't even imagine how dizzy they were now.

However, for the veteran navies who have been fighting in the North Atlantic for a long time, violent storms of this level are commonplace.

"It's done, sir!" A captain who was leading several sailors to repair the missile fire control radar shouted to General Bei, "The radar is repaired. As soon as the storm passes, our missiles will be of great use. "

Admiral Bey nodded, turned to Vice Admiral Lindemann, the captain of the Bismarck and commander of the 111th Battleship Group, and said: "Ernst, the 'fort' plan will be implemented soon. The Bismarck and Tirpi Please don’t make any mistakes.”

"Understood, General." When Major General Lindemann, who has a pair of big ears and is nicknamed the "Elephant of the Sea", answered, there was a look of worry that could not be wiped off his face.

General Bei clearly understands what the "elephant" is worried about? The 111th Battleship Group (the groups under the European Combined Fleet are all composite and can operate alone) although it has 2 Bismarck-class battleships, 2 "Deutsche"-class heavy cruisers, 4 "Munich"-class air defense cruisers and 8 1936 The D-type destroyer is also covered by a minesweeper brigade, but it is not enough to break into Concepcion Bay.

Therefore, after Major General Lindemann received the order to forcefully break into Concepcion Bay, he expressed to General Bei several times that he could not complete the mission. And Erich Bay's view on the "Fort" plan was the same as Lindemann's - this was simply an impossible task! Therefore, Lindemann and his own opinions were reported to the 1st Fleet and the Atlantic Front.

However, Marshal Rolf Karls, commander of the 1st Fleet, and Marshal Lütjens, commander of the Atlantic Front, ignored them and strictly ordered that the "Fort" plan must be implemented.

Admiral Bei, who didn't know what to say to Lindemann, sighed, turned around and walked towards the commander's cabin at the stern of the ship. After entering the cabin and handing the raincoat to the adjutant, he hurried back to the commander's cabin.

"Sir, we have just received an order from the 1st Fleet Headquarters." Colonel Wolfgang Roman, Chief of Staff of the 11th Task Force, handed a copy of the telegram to Admiral Bei, "The command ordered that we must arrive on the 29th Arrive 20 nautical miles west of the entrance to Concepcion Bay before 3 a.m. and be on standby. In addition, all ship personnel must put on white protective clothing, goggles, masks and gloves before 3:30.”

"What?" Erich Bei was stunned again and again - what kind of orders are these? If it is 20 nautical miles close to the entrance of Concepcion Bay, it will be right under the muzzle of the US shore gun. If the weather turns fine, it may be attacked by US bombers... In this case, how can the fleet Can I be on standby? What's the difference between that and waiting to be beaten?

Also, why wear that weird white hazmat suit, along with sunglasses, a mask, and gloves? What the hell is going on? Why do Americans want to use chemical weapons?

Questions remain questions, but orders must still be carried out. Erich Bay immediately ordered Colonel Roman to convey the orders of the 1st Fleet to the various groups below and the landing fleet under the command of the 11th Task Force - which required wearing strange white clothes and sunglasses. It's not just the sailors who wear gloves. The army officers and soldiers who are so seasick that they can't even find the north in the landing ship have to dress up like this. In fact, this is not necessary at all, because these guys are all sick, so they can only Lying in the cabin to rest, there was no way to get on the deck.

At the same time, Lieutenant Brandt, who was guarding the Grays Harbor Airport, also received similar orders. He and his men had to put on protective clothing and gloves at 3:30 a.m. on the 29th, and were always ready to wear goggles and gas masks.

All buckets and water bottles carried by soldiers must also be filled with drinking water before 3:30. Starting at 3:30, all drinking water must be from buckets and kettles.

In addition, all officers and soldiers must enter trenches or bunkers before 3:30, and all enter bunkers after receiving orders.

"Lieutenant Colonel, are all men in the trenches and bunkers?"

In an underground command post at the airport, Lieutenant Brandt loudly asked Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger, who was responsible for commanding all German officers and soldiers at Grays Airport.

"Yes, Lieutenant." Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger actually didn't know what was going to happen. "Everyone gets into the trenches and bunkers."

"But there's still a war going on," Brandt asked. "How can we fight when everyone is hiding?"

Schwarzenegger didn't know how to fight. This was the first time he encountered such an unknown order.

"Find a way to overcome it!" Schwarzenegger said with a frown. "The orders from above must be obeyed... There is no room for bargaining. I will personally inspect after 3:30, and anyone who does not comply with the orders will be placed in solitary confinement." ”

Personal inspection and confinement were also orders from above. As a glorious National Socialist fighter and Nazi Party member, he naturally had to obey the orders of his superiors unconditionally.

"But..." Brandt is a socialist with the ability to think independently, and he does not want to lose his life because of the strange orders from the top.

"Nothing but!" Schwarzenegger's voice became louder, "An order is an order!"

Facing the furious Nazi giant, Brandt did not dare to say anything more. He could only attend the meeting with a lot of questions, and then got out of the bunker, risking his way along the deeply dug traffic trenches. The rain began to thin, and he walked towards the position where his paratrooper platoon was located.

While the rain became sparse, the American artillery shells became denser, and 105mm and 155mm grenades fell like raindrops. The powerful U.S. artillery group repeatedly plowed through the defense line that the German paratroopers had worked hard to build. Balls of orange fire exploded one after another on the position, lifting mine wires, sand, weapon fragments, and occasionally human limbs. sky. The 240mm cannons on Bell Island also joined the bombardment. Their power was huge. Every roar blasted a gap in the German front line, completely destroying all personnel within the range of its power.

This round of shelling was launched after the US military prepared for most of the night. The Americans braved the pouring rain and used trucks to drag more than 400 M1 105mm howitzers and M1 155mm howitzers to the front-line artillery positions, plus self-propelled artillery belonging to the 16th Armored Division and the 21st Armored Division (each with 54 M7 "Priest" or M12 self-propelled artillery) and the 240mm cannon on Bell Island, forming a strike firepower of more than 500 barrel artillery, repeatedly hitting the German forward positions at Grays Harbor Airport and Grays Harbor, shelling The fragments screamed and flew wantonly, turning the German front line into a terrifying sea of ​​fire.

Lieutenant General Walton Walker and Major General Ross stood on the height of a hill less than 5 kilometers away from Grays Harbor Airport, braving the falling rain and looking at the rolling fire in front of them through binoculars. Not far ahead of them was the ice-filled lake that shielded the north of the airport. The smoke from the German front was blown across the lake by the sea breeze, and reached the hill where the two American generals were watching the battle. The strong smell of gunpowder made the two I'm in a very good mood.

The Germans can certainly withstand this level of shelling, but losses are still inevitable. When they are sufficiently weakened by the bombardment, it will be the armored group's turn to launch an attack!

Major General Ross put down his telescope and shouted loudly to Walton Walker: "Lieutenant General, they can't support it for long. Tomorrow at the latest, we can capture the Grays Harbor Airport. In addition, the troops attacking Grays Harbor have also deployed The deployment is in place and ready to launch an attack at any time.”

Walton Walker nodded, "Major General, as long as I'm here, you can command the troops to attack Grays Harbor... we must win it as soon as possible!"

Even though the Germans occupied a large area on the west coast of Concepcion Bay, the only ports that were really usable were Port Carboniel and Port Grace. The other fishing ports and beaches are of little use. At most, there are some infantry and a small number of tanks and armored vehicles. They are simply not enough to face the as many as 300,000 well-equipped American soldiers on Newfoundland.

Therefore, capturing Port Gray is basically half the battle. If Port Carbonear is captured, the US military will probably win the battle on Newfoundland!

"Lieutenant Admiral, welcome aboard the destroyer HMS Athabascan!" Captain Cook, chief of staff of the Newfoundland Squadron of the Royal Navy's Canadian Fleet, said to Fraser, who was aboard the destroyer HMS Athabascan. A military salute, "The Newfoundland Squadron is now ready to face the German invasion fleet!"

The Athabascan destroyer is a tribal-class destroyer with a full load displacement of more than 2,400 tons. It was incorporated into the Canadian fleet before the fall of the British mainland in 1943. It is currently the largest of all British ships stationed on Newfoundland, and is therefore the flagship of the fleet.

For Fraser, who had commanded a battleship, this small destroyer was really not worth mentioning. However, at this moment, he still showed confidence, nodded and said to his chief of staff: "Let me tell you, our submarine discovered a huge German invasion fleet 50 nautical miles west of Newfoundland. Their goal is Kang Septim Bay! Raise the Z flag now...The British Empire needs everyone to stand their ground!"

Chapter 1257 Atomic Bomb Fourteen

Although there is only a small "Tribal" class destroyer as the flagship, Vice Admiral Fraser, as the fleet commander, is confident of victory at this moment!

This confidence in victory is not unfounded blind optimism, but is completely well-founded. Because this Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy now has a large fleet that can exert its power in the offshore.

In addition to the flagship destroyer USS Athabascan, the Newfoundland fleet also had another 20 escort destroyers, as well as a large number of torpedo boats and U-class submarines. In the past two or three days, Fraser used the bad weather and darkness as cover to mobilize most of the ships to Concepcion Bay.

Moreover, there is the powerful Churchill Naval Fortress on the east coast of Concepcion Bay, with eight 406mm cannons that can support battles at sea at any time. In addition, the entrance to the bay was blocked by tens of thousands of mines. After the German fleet approached, Fraser even ordered PT torpedo boats to block the water channel originally reserved for British and American ships. Now, 5 nautical miles inward from the entrance of Concepcion Bay are all dense mine blockades.

In order to prevent mines from being cleared by German minesweepers, Fraser also deployed a large number of PT torpedo boats in the mine blockade zone. As long as the German ship hull entered the mine zone, it would be attacked by MK15s launched by these PT boats. A head-on torpedo strike!

The mission of the 20 escort destroyers is to use 127mm and 76mm main guns to protect PT torpedo boats from attacks by German torpedo boats that venture into the bay - wooden-hulled PT boats are inferior to those with steel in terms of tonnage, firepower and speed. The S-100 boat has a shell, so the encounter between the two will definitely be detrimental to the PT boat. Now with escort destroyer protection there is no big problem.

As for the large surface ships of the Germans, would they dare to rush into Concepcion Bay without destroying the mine array and the Churchill Naval Fortress on the east coast of Concepcion Bay?

After much deliberation, Fraser really didn't think there was any way for the Germans to win the battle on Newfoundland.

At this moment, the light rain that had been falling finally stopped, and a ray of morning light shone directly from the east, making the fish-belly white sky shine. Fraser looked at the direction where the golden light flashed and breathed out softly: "The good weather has finally come... The decisive battle is probably coming soon, right?"

…

"Marshal, the weather has improved in the North Atlantic."

"Is it getting better? That's great." Admiral Lütjens, commander of the EC Atlantic Front, breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the report that the weather had improved. "Has the early warning aircraft set off?"

"We've already set off. 6 Me264Hs and 6 Bv138Es took off 30 minutes ago."

It turned out that the stormy weather not only appeared on the island of Newfoundland, but also swept across the western part of the North Atlantic, causing a large area of ​​​​the sea to be shrouded in wind and rain. Early warning aircraft of the European Community Navy and the German Air Force were unable to take off, and even the Type 21 U-boat The investigation ability has also been severely compromised.

Therefore, in the past nearly 30 hours, the EC Atlantic Front Command lost control of the North Atlantic and was unable to dispatch carrier-based aircraft and shore-based Me264s to support German paratroopers on Newfoundland.

Now that the storm has finally ended as predicted, the Atlantic Front Command can finally put most of the Atlantic Ocean under its nose again.

"Have Task Force 20, Task Force 21, Task Force 10, and Task Force 15 reported losses?"

"Just reported," replied Air Force Admiral Carl Kohler, chief of staff of the Atlantic Front, "there are... 12 destroyers and landing ships damaged in the wind and rain, all of which were minor injuries. No losses were reported for large surface ships."

"Where is Task Force 15 now?" Lütjens asked again.

Admiral Hermann von Fischer, deputy chief of staff of the Atlantic Front and chief of staff of the European Combined Fleet, said: "Sir, Task Force 15 has arrived at point T and is ready to launch an attack on Concepcion Bay at any time. "

Marshal Lütjens nodded slightly, and then glanced at Air Marshal Kesselring, who was sitting in the corner of the combat command center - he was the representative of the base camp and also had the right to use the atomic bomb!

"Albert," Lütjens' tone suddenly became serious, "Are the 801st, 802nd and 803rd Bomb Groups ready?"

The 801st, 802nd and 803rd Bomber Groups are the three bomber groups used to drop atomic bombs. Now they have been deployed to the Porto Heroes air base in the Azores, and the three terrifying atomic bombs have been put in place and assembled (the plutonium-239 charge has not yet been installed into the atomic bomb, and it has not been transported to Porto Heroes). Airport). All it takes is Marshal Kesselring's order to carry out the atomic bomb dropping operation.

"One of the bomber groups can be dispatched within 2 hours." Kesselring paused, "What is the target?"

"It's the entrance to Concepcion Bay," Lütjens said. "According to intelligence and reports from the 1st Air Assault Army, the Americans (and the British) dropped a large number of mines there, possibly more than 10,000!

In addition, there are a large number of PT torpedo boats and U-class submarines operating in Concepcion Bay. There is no way to completely eliminate them in a short period of time, except to drop atomic bombs! Use an atomic bomb to create a landing channel! "

What Lütjens meant was to use atomic bombs against mines, light submarines and torpedo boats... Compared with the American atomic bomb that killed tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of Japanese in another time and space, the one that is now going to be dropped in the Bay of Concepción "Heisenberg Device" No. 3 is probably the scum of the atomic bomb world, an atomic bomb used to "explode fish."

However, this is the only tactic that can quickly clear Concepcion Bay and create conditions for the invasion of landing ships and the 111th Battleship Group. This tactic of "exploding fish" with atomic bombs was actually proposed by Hersman. Of course, he knew about Operation Crossroads in another time and space, and he also knew about the huge power of atomic bombs exploding in water.

At that time, the Americans placed a 21,000-ton atomic bomb 55 meters underwater. After the nuclear explosion, about 2 million tons of seawater and sand were sprayed into the sky, and quickly formed a water wall 1,800 meters high, 610 meters wide, and 91 meters thick. When the water wall rushed to the beach 5.6 kilometers away, it was still 4.6 meters high and repeatedly hit the beach 9 times.

There is no doubt that any mines, torpedo boats, submarines or other ships that are not heavy enough within the range of the underwater explosion of the atomic bomb will be destroyed. If an atomic bomb hit the entrance of Conception Bay, let alone mines, I am afraid that even fish and shrimps will die.

In addition, if a 1,800-meter-high water wall appears on the sea, it will definitely scare the American and British troops on the island, and they may surrender directly. If they don't surrender, then drop two more atomic bombs...

Marshal Kesselring nodded: "Okay... the target is Conception Bay." He paused, "Because the plane dropping the atomic bomb will drop the bomb from an altitude of 10,000 meters, the weather must be absolutely good. In addition, the atomic bomb is a "semi-remote control" bomb, and its landing point can be adjusted to avoid accidental injuries. In this process, absolute air superiority is required, and the American interceptors must not be allowed to get close to the Me264 responsible for dropping the atomic bomb.

Finally, our troops on the west coast of Conception Bay must enter the bunker before the atomic bomb is dropped, and take protective measures at the same time."

Different from the idea of ​​the Americans in another time and space who used the atomic bomb as a strategic weapon from the beginning, the German Wehrmacht regarded the atomic bomb as a tactical weapon (if it was a strategic weapon, it would have to be controlled by Hitler), so it formulated regulations for using ground forces, navy and aviation to cooperate with atomic bomb operations. Of course, there were preparations for radiation protection and accidental bombing. Although the possibility of an atomic bomb accidental bombing was too great, no one could guarantee that it would not happen. That was why Brandt and his comrades dug holes for several days and put on various "anti-atomic bomb" protective equipment.

"No problem... We have nearly 2,000 aircraft near Newfoundland." Lütjens was interrupted by the report of the staff as soon as he spoke.

"Report, the U-3055 submarine discovered a large-scale American fleet on the Atlantic Ocean about 700 nautical miles southeast of Newfoundland!"

700 nautical miles southeast of Newfoundland, a large American fleet! ? What's going on?

Kesselring and Lütjens looked at each other, and Kesselring asked: "Is their target the Azores?"

"Should be...right," Lütjens nodded, "The Americans should be...trying to mobilize our main fleet."

"We can't let them bomb the Azores!" Kesselring said, "Even if the 'Heisenberg 3' is dropped, there are still two Heisenberg devices and corresponding charges stored in the Angra do Port base!"

The plutonium-239 that can be loaded with two 20,000-ton equivalent atomic bombs must not be damaged at all. Although they cannot be detonated by bombing - 40 kilograms of high-abundance plutonium-239 are contained in 40 sturdy lead containers and placed in different underground warehouses, it is impossible to produce a chain reaction. But it is still possible to cause nuclear leakage and heavy casualties.

In addition, 40 kilograms of plutonium-239 is a priceless metal. If it is really damaged in the enemy's bombing, it will be a heavy loss!

"No, there will be no problem!" Lütjens assured immediately, "I will immediately mobilize the 10th Task Force to pursue! The 10th Task Force has 8 Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers and 640 standing Fokker 636 fighters." He thought for a moment, frowned and said, "Albert, the 801st Squadron must attack immediately! Because the situation of our army on the west coast of Conception Bay is very critical, and we can't hold on for too long."