The Rise of the Third Reich

"Marshal, I think that after deploying three armored divisions, the 1st Armored Group is still capable of completing the mission of heading north." General Halder, the second munitions director, said to Marshal Hersmann, who was thinking, "Because the 1st Armored The group army still has 4 armored divisions, 3 motorized infantry divisions, and 2 SS motorized infantry standard units.

In addition, we can also transfer the 1st Cavalry Division to the 1st Armored Group. In this way, General Guderian had 8 divisions and 2 flag corps or infantry regiments equivalent to brigades, more than 1,300 tanks, assault artillery and hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers, which was sufficient strength. "

Due to the early merger of the Czech Republic, oil reserves are also very abundant, as well as the establishment of the General Administration of Arms and other reasons. At this time, the establishment of German armored divisions was more sufficient than in history, and they could still achieve the "ideal state" envisioned by Guderian. Each armored division had one armored brigade, and each armored brigade had two tank regiments. Each tank regiment has 2 tank battalions, and each tank battalion has 4 tank companies. Each company has 21 tanks, so a fully equipped German armored division has 336 tanks. 4 armored divisions have 1,344 tanks!

In addition, the German armored divisions, motorized infantry divisions, SS Motorized Infantry Standard Corps and the only 1st Cavalry Division also possess many self-propelled artillery and assault guns. With a 100% intact rate, the 8 divisions and 2 flag corps of the 1st Armored Army (after redeploying some armored divisions) have a total of nearly 1,600 tanks and assault artillery (self-propelled artillery). However, after traveling through the Ardennes Forest, the equipment's integrity rate has declined. There are currently more than 1,300 tanks and assault artillery (self-propelled artillery) that can be operated.

But this is also a very large number, probably much larger than the total number of tanks and assault guns owned by the seven armored divisions that assaulted the English Channel in history.

Moreover, the equipment of the German armored forces is now slightly better than at the same time in history. The No. 2 tank basically withdrew from the front line, and the 38t tank, the No. 3 tank, the No. 4 tank and the No. 3 assault gun became the main force.

Although the quality of the 43-caliber 75mm tank gun of the No. 4 tank still did not pass the standard, the 50mm anti-tank gun of the No. 3 tank was fully mature at the end of 1939 (this was related to Germany's early annexation of the Czech Republic, and Skoda used it to produce 1 anti-tank gun. The technology became a reference for Germany's development of 50mm anti-tank guns). Therefore, all No. 3 tanks were equipped with 50mm anti-tank guns, and their firepower was greatly improved.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable that figures like Manstein and Lundstedt now support the splitting of the 1st Armored Army. This Armored Army is actually a bit overpowered.

Seeing that Hessman was still hesitating, General Halder continued to persuade: "Marshal, destroying the main force of the French army earlier will be very beneficial to us in executing the 'Liberator Plan'. If we can win the battle in the first phase, By encircling the French army in Maginot, we will easily be able to attack the Provence line in the second phase of the battle. "

Of course, an "Operation Sickle" cannot completely defeat France, so the German General Staff and the Western Front Headquarters have always had plans to launch a large-scale offensive after "Operation Sickle". However, the specific offensive plan has not been drawn up yet, because no one knows what the outcome of "Operation Swinging Sickle" will be.

Therefore, the second phase of the operation currently has only two general goals: the first is the Paris-Brittany Peninsula line; the second is to advance to the Provence region, and if possible, capture Marseille and Toulon (the home port of the French Mediterranean Fleet) .

Occupying Paris is of course necessary to make an emergency landing in France, while taking Provence is a stipulation of the "Liberator Plan" - Hersman is a "Mediterranean victory theorist". In his view, seizing control of the Mediterranean and the oil resources in the Middle East is the only way for Germany to seize control of the Mediterranean and the oil resources in the Middle East. The key to victory.

Moreover, the task of seizing control of the Mediterranean and the oil resources of the Middle East must be completed before occupying the British mainland. Because once the British mainland falls, the British Empire will disintegrate, and the Soviet Union is likely to take advantage of the chaos to seize Iran and Iraq!

To seize the oil resources in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, it is better for Germany to have a naval base in the Mediterranean and a powerful naval fleet - a combination of a German fleet + German naval aviation is definitely safer than relying on Italy.

Therefore, the Port of Toulon and the French Mediterranean Fleet are both very valuable targets!

"Okay, then let's implement it according to the plan of the Western Front Headquarters!" Hersman was convinced by Halder - since Manstein, Lundstedt and Halder were all in agreement, then Hersman What else is there to worry about? After all, he was just a "political marshal" with the vision of future generations. If he really commanded the army to fight, he would definitely not be able to defeat big names like Manstein.

He thought for a while and added: "Arrange a meeting for Marshal Halder, General Kesselring and General Graeme to attend...to study the possibility of using bombing to block the retreat of the British and French forces from the sea."

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

…

"Pull hard! Pad hard! Don't worry about the Frenchman's firepower, don't worry about that..."

The battle to forcibly cross the Maas River has begun. Hundreds of rubber boats carrying nearly 1,000 German soldiers, supported by aircraft, artillery and tank firepower, headed for the west bank of the Maas River. Rudolf Ribbentrop, the son of the German Foreign Minister, is also rowing, braving all kinds of shells and bullets coming from the west bank of the Maas River. In addition to the sounds of various explosions and roaring planes, what he could hear in his ears was the rough voice of platoon leader Gustav Schwarzenegger and the screams that sounded from time to time.

The one who screamed was a comrade of Rudolf Ribbentrop named Paul Schulz. He was shot through the shoulder by a French bullet, leaving a lot of blood, and kept screaming. I wonder if he will become disabled?

"Give him a few injections!" Gustav Schwarzenegger knew that the screams of injuries would affect the morale of others, so he quickly ordered the medical soldiers who were dressing the wounds to give Paul Schultz an injection. How many stitches? F.

When the screams gradually stopped, the rubber boat suddenly hit the river beach, and everyone's bodies rushed forward.

"It's time!" Gustav Schwarzenegger shouted: "Come on, rush on, rush on me!"

Shouting, he raised an MP-38 submachine gun and jumped out of the rubber boat first. Rudolf Ribbentrop glanced at the frightening Schulz who was no longer screaming but his face was pale. He silently wished good luck in his heart, then jumped down to his knees with his rifle in hand. deep river water. Before he could stand still, a huge explosion sounded in his ears, followed by a huge water column and waves. He fell into the water before he could stand still.

"What bad luck!" Rudolf Ribbentrop sighed in his heart, and was about to struggle to get up. Suddenly someone picked up a handful on the back of his military uniform and lifted him up from the water, as if Like carrying a little chicken. Such a powerful guy is of course Rudolph's platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Schwarzenegger.

"Rudolph, don't be afraid, the firepower of Frenchmen is very weak!" Schwarzenegger patted the wet little Ribbentrop, "Come up and kill a Frenchman and you will be a man. When you get to Paris, you can Let’s have some fun with some French girls!”

Are there any necessary connections between killing French men and sleeping with French women? Little Ribbentrop held the rifle, pondered what Lieutenant Schwarzenegger said, and then charged with his head covered and dripping with water.

At the same time, at an altitude of 2,000-3,000 meters, another Rudolf—Hessmann’s eldest son, Rudolf Herssmann, was driving his Fokker Zero to chase a French aircraft that looked a bit like a catfish.

This is a French Bre.693 attack aircraft. Although it looks ugly, its performance is very good, with a maximum level flight speed of 490 kilometers per hour (at an altitude of 5,000 meters). It also has very good low-altitude performance and can carry out ultra-low-altitude horizontal bombing attacks. Its bomb bay is generally equipped with eight 50-kilogram bombs, which poses a great threat to vehicles and personnel on the ground.

However, in the eyes of the pilots flying the Fokker Zero, these flying catfish are nothing more than a delicious meal. After all, it was a clumsy twin-engine aircraft, and it was not as fast as the Fokker Zero. So as soon as Rudolf saw the Bre.693 emerging from the clouds, he flew the plane towards it without saying a word.

"Rudolf, I'll cover, you shoot and shoot it down!" Nowotny, who was forming a two-plane formation with Rudolf Hessmann, quickly flew the plane to follow and cover.

"Thank you!" Rudolf Herschmann replied, and then he concentrated on flying the plane toward the Bre.693. At this time, the French plane also discovered that two Fokker Zeros were eyeing it. He quickly began to dive to lower his altitude, trying to escape from low altitude.

This was originally a life-saving trick for fighters like the P40 and Spitfire to deal with the Zero. However, the Bre.693 is a twin-engine attack aircraft after all. Even its dive speed is only over 500, which is still much slower than the Zero.

"Ta-ta-ta, tap-ta-ta..."

Seeing that he could not rely on speed to get rid of the Fokker Zero, the electromechanical operator/self-defense shooter of this Bre.693 went crazy and fired with a 7.5mm machine gun located on the back of the aircraft that could fire backwards. However, the electromechanical operator and self-defense gunner was obviously frightened. He opened fire too early, and the bullets could not reach Rudolf Hessmann's aircraft.

There will be results! Seeing that the opponent was so confused that he ran out of bullets (only 100 rounds of ammunition were available), Rudolf Hessmann could not wait to go up and kiss the guy.

"Chug, click, click..." Rudolf Hessmann pressed the buttons of the machine gun and the machine gun at the same time. The distance was controlled very appropriately. The trajectories of the bullets and the 20mm machine gun shells completely overlapped (because they are two calibers of ammunition) (the trajectories only overlap within a certain distance), drawing a graceful arc and crashing into the fuselage of the French aircraft.

Rudolf Herschmann had his first victory in his life!