The Rise of the Third Reich

Hitler was a rather stubborn person, and he could not be persuaded with a few words. So on the afternoon of March 1, the German High Command meeting continued, and the location was moved from the conference room to the Ministry of Defense Operations Room.

The current German Ministry of Defense is in charge of military and political affairs, and does not directly command operations, so this Ministry of Defense Operations Room is used for senior officials attending the High Command meeting to study strategic issues. In the center of this fairly large room, there are three large sand tables side by side, which respectively show the changes in the situation in the British-North Atlantic battlefield, the Middle East-North Africa-Mediterranean battlefield, and Europe under German rule.

"If Roosevelt does not intend to get involved in the war in Europe, we have no way to deal with the United States." Hersman stood in front of a map showing the situation of the British-North Atlantic battlefield, and said, "Because the United States is on the other side of the Atlantic after all, and it also controls the Panama Canal and has many strongholds in the Caribbean. In South America, the United States' influence is far greater than ours. If we want to land in Canada, seize strongholds in the Caribbean, and turn South America into our territory, then defeating the US Navy will be a must. And if the US Navy fleet is based on the east coast of the United States, it is almost impossible to be defeated under the cover of aircraft deployed on the east coast of the United States, the east coast of Canada, and the US military bases in the Caribbean."

Shore-based aircraft have huge advantages over carrier-based aircraft. They fly farther, carry more ammunition, are more numerous, and pilots are easier to train. Therefore, once Germany and the United States "divide the ocean and rule separately", there will be a situation where neither can do anything to the other. Even the United States cannot use carrier-based aircraft to fight against more than 10,000 shore-based aircraft.

"But the United States has made a fatal mistake!" Hersman picked up a baton and knocked on the British position on the sand table. "The Roosevelt government will not give up Britain, the big stronghold they used to attack and contain Europe. If they were willing to give up, the world war would be over now, and Britain, which has lost the Mediterranean, should have asked for peace. But Britain is still resisting, which shows that the United States will give Britain more firm support in the future." Hersman then drew a horizontal line on the map with his baton, "From New York through the North Atlantic through Iceland to Britain, this is Britain's lifeline, and it is also a noose around the neck of the United States. In the next two years, our struggle with Britain and the United States will revolve around this noose!" "Around the Atlantic route?" Hitler was stunned for a moment, "I thought we would land on the British mainland." "Leader, landing is very difficult, because Britain has been preparing for anti-landing operations since June 1940. Britain is an industrialized country with a population of 46 million, and Britain established it long before World War I. A national mobilization system was established. Millions of troops can be formed when necessary, and Britain's industrial strength is sufficient to equip them sloppily. We have no way to transport fifteen or twenty powerful armored divisions or motorized infantry divisions across the English Channel at one time.

In fact, before the outbreak of the war until recently, the General Staff was studying the possibility of landing on the British mainland. All studies have shown that the possibility of failure of the landing operation is very high, because the landing troops will face an enemy with more numbers and better equipment than themselves. Moreover, it is difficult for us to guarantee that the enemy will not destroy the port that is about to fall into our hands after the landing operation begins, and if we cannot obtain an intact port, it is difficult for us to quickly transport enough troops and supplies to the British mainland. "

It is actually not easy to launch a landing operation on the British mainland. Just think about how much effort Britain and the United States invested in the Normandy Landing Operation in history. With absolute control of the sea and air, the Allies also deployed 1,200 combat ships, including 13 battleships, 47 cruisers and 134 destroyers, and more than 4,000 landing ships. More than 5,000 transport ships and more than 13,000 combat aircraft were prepared. With so many ships and aircraft, more than one million ground troops were sent to the European continent in about one month. The opponents of these more than one million Allied troops were only about 400,000 German troops of varying quality.

If Germany wanted to land on the British mainland now, it would probably face 4-5 million British troops. And it was impossible for Germany or the European Community to provide so many ships to support the landing.

In addition, the British Royal Navy has not yet fallen to the point of being completely annihilated. They are still likely to rush out from the anchorage on the west coast of the British Isles late at night to cause heavy casualties to the German troops who are landing.

Therefore, the General Staff has repeatedly studied and decided to use blockade operations to greatly weaken Britain first, and then consider landing or forced landing in Britain.

If you want to completely blockade Britain, you can't rely on submarines. You must send out the main fleet - not a commerce-breaking fleet consisting of a battleship, an aircraft carrier and a cruiser, but a main fleet to completely blockade Britain!

"Like us, Britain also consumes a lot of oil," Hersman patted the edge of the sand table and said, "And they haven't mastered the technology to synthesize gasoline. So once the channel for oil imports is lost, Britain will only They can rely on reserves, but when their reserves are exhausted, the entire war machine cannot be maintained. In addition, Britain also relies on imports of food and most industrial raw materials from overseas. If the sea transportation channels are completely cut off, it means 46 million. People will start to starve and the British economy will completely collapse!”

"But the United States will take action before Britain collapses!" Hitler said coldly, "If they don't take action, then 46 million British people and powerful British industry will be at my disposal."

A few British elites can leave the EU and become Americans before the collapse of their own country, but the vast majority of British people can only stay and become Europeans. At that time, it is very likely that the British Pétain will come out to clean up the mess and make the UK a part of the European Community.

"Yes, they will definitely take action!" Hessman said, "And once the United States sends troops to intervene, we can have a decisive battle with the US fleet in the North Atlantic!"

Hersman picked up several model boats with the Stars and Stripes symbolizing American battleships and placed them on the sand table, and then took out more model boats with the flags of Germany, France, Italy and Japan.

“According to intelligence, before 1943, the U.S. Navy only had a maximum of 3 Colorado-class ships, 2 North Carolina-class ships, and 4 South Dakota-class ships, for a total of 9 super battleships, and the number of fleet aircraft carriers was only 7-8. . As long as we join forces with Japan, we can defeat the US Navy!"

This is actually a strategy of encirclement and reinforcements. Instead of attacking the British mainland, which is guarded by millions of troops, it will attack the British supply line, and then lead the U.S. fleet to a decisive battle. Relying on the quantitative and qualitative advantages of the battleships, it will seize control of the North Atlantic. The U.S. fleet was annihilated and seized control of the Atlantic Ocean.

"But the British navy has not been completely wiped out yet!" Hitler thought for a while and said, "In terms of the number of battleships and aircraft carriers, I'm afraid we don't have any advantage, right?"

"Including Japan," Hessman said, "They have 12 battleships, two of which are 70,000-ton super battleships, which are as powerful as the H41 type. And our Hindenburg class is in the United States. Before the Hua class entered service, it was more powerful than any British and American battleship. In addition, our carrier-based aircraft and shore-based aircraft also have huge performance advantages."

Hitler glanced at Goering, who was in charge of military production. Goering patted his chest and said: "My leader, the Hindenburg-class and Zeppelin-class under construction are very powerful and can definitely defeat American battleships and aircraft carriers!"

Hitler finally nodded and said: "Then we will solve the Atlantic battlefield first, and then go back to deal with the Soviet Union. But... we cannot hand over Iran to the Soviet Union! King Reza Khan is our friend, and we cannot betray our friends." "

He looked at Hessman and said, "Marshal, when can the troops be airlifted to Iran?"

"It depends on Turkey," Hersman said. "The straight-line distance from Romania and Bulgaria to Iran is more than 2,000 kilometers. Our Ju52 has insufficient range and needs to be refueled in Turkey."

Hitler asked again: "If Turkey is willing to let our planes refuel, when can the troops be dispatched?"

"Within three hours," Hersman said, "the 5th Mountain Division and the 22nd Airborne Division can be mobilized at any time."

These two divisions were originally planned to be used for airborne landings on Crete, but now that Crete is an isolated island, there is no need to capture it by airborne means.

"Ribbentrop," Hitler immediately said to the foreign minister present, "go tell the Turks to open several airports within three hours and prepare enough fuel for our use!"

There is no need to be polite to Turkey now, because Turkey has no choice. Unless they are willing to let the Soviet Union enter, they can only obey Germany.

"Also, how to solve the problem of Yugoslavia?" Hitler finally asked about the problem of Yugoslavia. Compared with the unreasonable demands made by the Soviet Union, this was really a small matter.

"Force the Yugoslav government to accept relevant League of Nations resolutions by force," Hersman said.

Hitler didn't say anything. He just said to Hessmann: "Marshal, go and talk to Mussolini. If he agrees, let's do it."

"Okay." Hessman nodded.

"Also, has the Japanese observation group left?" Hitler asked again.

"No," Hersman replied, "They want technical assistance from us and Italy."

"Marshal, you talk to them first," Hitler said. "If they can really use it, then give them something really useful."