The Rise of the Third Reich

Egypt, Port Said, early morning on December 14, 1940.

Snow-white searchlights pierced the night. Countless trucks rushed between warehouses and docks. Indian soldiers with red cloths on their heads shouted from time to time, urging hundreds of Egyptian coolies to speed up loading and unloading goods. The cranes on the docks moved back and forth. The frequency of oscillation is also much higher than usual.

Standing on the top of the bridge of the battleship "Rodney", looking at the busy unloading scene on the dock, Vice Admiral James Somerville, Commander of Fleet H, couldn't help but think of the lifeline maintained by blood and fire in the Atlantic Ocean. .

Since the great battle in July last year, although there have been no large-scale fleet battles in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the British Empire still has not escaped the situation where its life hangs on a thread.

The "submarine + aircraft" tactics used by the Germans to break diplomatic relations once pushed the British Empire to the point where its lifeline was almost cut off. It wasn't until someone figured out how to install an aircraft catapult on a large cargo ship to eject the Hurricane fighter into the sky that the losses were controlled to a certain extent. However, the losses of Hurricane aircraft and pilots increased accordingly. These Hurricane aircraft that were ejected into the sky suffered great losses. They were either destroyed by the Fokker Zero or forced to land at sea because they ran out of fuel and could not fly back to the British mainland. Most of them could not be recovered.

Thanks to the timely provision of volunteer pilots and aircraft by the Americans, Britain's lifeline continued to be maintained. But the losses are still huge. From July to now, the UK has lost about 500,000 tons of merchant ships every month. In the past year or so, the British Empire has lost more than 8 million tons of cargo ships, and the total tonnage of newly built merchant ships is less than 3 million tons. The total tonnage of the British Empire's merchant ships has now been reduced from 15 million tons before the war to less than 13 million tons. This is not because Vice Admiral Somerville failed in mathematics, but because Britain has captured many French soldiers at sea and in British and American ports. Freighters from , Belgium and Belgium supplemented the losses.

However, 500,000 tons of merchant ships are sunk every month, which can still deal a fatal blow to the British Empire. Because a considerable part of these merchant ships are loaded with goods and raw materials purchased from the United States or other parts of the world. They sank to the bottom of the sea together with the merchant ships, which was equivalent to Britain's remaining gold reserves sinking into the Atlantic Ocean!

Under rapid consumption, Britain's gold reserves were close to bottoming out by October. They had to raise funds by allocating special national debt to wealthy Indian princes to maintain the situation, so that the bankrupt British Empire could endure until the Lend-Lease Act of the United States was passed by Congress.

However, the most lethal threat to the British Empire is not the above, but the crisis in the Mediterranean! This is why Vice Admiral Somerville and his Force H will now appear in Port Said at the northern mouth of the Suez River.

Due to Germany's deployment of hundreds of aircraft on Sicily, the Strait of Nice is now completely blocked. Fleet H stationed in Gibraltar did not dare to go deep into the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Fleet based in Alexandria had to face the dual pressure of German aircraft and the Italian fleet.

Once the Mediterranean fleet is severely damaged and loses control of the Mediterranean Sea, no matter what kind of victory the British Army achieves in North Africa and East Africa, and no matter whether Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey will jump out to serve as British cannon fodder. Dominance in North Africa and the Middle East would soon change hands, and then Britain might even lose India...

Britain, which has lost the Middle East and India, may no longer be the British Empire that once claimed that the sun never sets. Germany, which has acquired the Middle East and India, will undoubtedly successfully integrate Europe and become a behemoth more powerful than the United States.

Therefore, Vice Admiral Somerville led the strengthened H Fleet (including the battleship Rodney, the battleship Queen Elizabeth, the battleship HMS Warrior, and the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal) all the way around the African continent to reach the Mediterranean Fleet. Convergence.

In addition to the battleships and aircraft carriers originally owned by the main force of the Mediterranean Fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet now has eight ships including Warspite, Malaya, Sovereign, Rodney, Queen Elizabeth, Warrior, Resolution, and Lorraine. A battleship, as well as three aircraft carriers: Ark Royal, Glory, and Eagle. It can be said that it is already very powerful and should be able to deal a devastating blow to the Italian Navy!

…

Salzburg, Berchtesgaden.

I don't know if he wanted the anxious "Caesar of the 20th Century" Mussolini to relax, but Hitler did not meet him in serious Berlin, but chose to meet in the beautiful Berchtesgaden.

The meeting place between the two parties was the Eagle's Nest, a villa with an altitude of 1,881 meters. This villa, which can be called a miracle in the history of architecture, was built by Emperor Wilhelm in 1938 as a 50th birthday gift for Hitler.

The German emperor originally planned to make Hitler Count of Berchtesgaden, but Hitler refused and only accepted the Eagle's Nest.

However, Mussolini has not yet gone up to the Eagle's Nest, but is a guest at Marshal Hersmann's villa in the small town of Berchtesgaden at the foot of the mountain. Hersmann prepared to have a heart-to-heart talk with Mussolini before meeting Hitler with the Italian leader.

"Mr. Prime Minister," Herschmann said to Mussolini with a smile in a very spacious and beautiful living room, "General Halder has had several phone calls with me. He told me everything about the situation on the North African front. I’m sorry...the situation is indeed not satisfactory, but it’s not particularly bad.”

Mussolini forced a smile and said: "I have given an order to Marshal Graziani to hold it at all costs...keep it..."

He didn't know where to hold his ground, because the Italian army completely collapsed on December 10. By December 17, the Italian 10th Army had lost 237 artillery pieces, 70 tanks, and approximately 38,300 soldiers. The British army followed the defeated Italian army, advanced westward along the Victoria Highway, passed the Halfaya Pass, and invaded Italian Libya.

"Just defend Benghazi," Hessman suggested kindly. "I think it can still be defended there. Perhaps two divisions of fresh troops can be transported from Italy to deploy defenses in Benghazi in advance."

"Benghazi?" Mussolini's face turned livid, "No, absolutely impossible!"

Hersman shrugged and said with a smile: "Prime Minister, whether the battle line will retreat to Benghazi actually depends on the outcome of the maritime battle. The battle in North Africa is actually part of the Mediterranean battle, and the key to the Mediterranean battle is the battle for sea power. As long as The Italian Navy can defeat the British Mediterranean Fleet with the support of German air power. The defeat on land in North Africa is temporary, and the Italian army can eventually realize the ideal of the Prancing Horse Pyramid. But if we fail in the Mediterranean..." His tone suddenly became solemn. Get up, "Our two countries might even lose the war!"

The possibility of losing the war certainly exists! Although Hessmann tried his best to suppress Hitler's idea of ​​attacking the Soviet Union, it is hard to say whether Stalin would be deceived by Britain and the United States into attacking Germany.

As for the final trump card of the atomic bomb, although Hirschmann said in front of Hitler that it could be built in two or three years, in fact he was not sure.

Therefore, to ensure undefeated, the best route is to win the Mediterranean! With the resources in North Africa and the Middle East, Germany can really say that it is invincible.

"Failure?" Mussolini looked at Hessmann in surprise, "Marshal, what are you talking about? How could we fail? Now Germany has conquered almost all of Europe, the Soviet Union is also a friend of Germany, and there is Japan in the East Echoing our sentiments, the UK is fighting alone.”

Mussolini was quite shrewd and had weighed his options repeatedly before entering the war. It is a pity that Hitler in history got into big trouble with the Soviet Union, and Japan gave the United States an excuse to participate in the war. As for Italy, it lost the war in the Mediterranean despite its obvious strength.

Hersman winked at Mussolini. "The possibility of losing the war cannot be completely ruled out at present. But considering the serious consequences of defeat, I suggest using an overwhelming naval victory to completely rule it out! The victory of this naval battle will also make Italy become Egypt , Sudan and Syria.”

Under Hersmann's plan, oil-producing countries such as Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait must all be protected by Germany. The Kingdom of Jordan will also be protected by Germany, while the State of Israel will be formally established on Palestinian land.

Therefore, the two territories that can be allocated to Italy around the Mediterranean are Egypt and Sudan. Considering Italy's combat effectiveness, it would be good to get the rich territory of Egypt, not to mention Sudan?

"What about Greece?" Mussolini still did not forget Greece, which gave him a severe lesson.

"Then add Greece," Hessman knew that he still needed to catch Mussolini's appetite, so he nodded and said, "Greece can be given to Italy. But we must first defeat Britain. In order to achieve this goal, it should be established Unified Mediterranean Theater Combined Command provides unified command of all German, EC and Italian forces in the Mediterranean area.”

"Unified command of all armies?" Mussolini asked.

"Yes," Hersman said, "including the Army, Navy and Air Force."

"Then who will be the commander-in-chief of the joint command?" Mussolini asked again.

"Me!" Hessman smiled, "I will hold this position concurrently until we defeat the British army and navy in the Mediterranean. In six months at most, we will win in the Mediterranean!"