The Rise of the Third Reich

It is now October 5, 1941, and there is less than a month left before the planned mobile force of the Japanese Combined Fleet will gather at Dankanwan Bay, Etorofu Island in northern Japan.

Hersmann's eldest son Rudolf arrived in Japan a week ago with 79 other German Navy carrier-based aircraft pilots. However, little Hersman and others were not immediately sent to their aircraft carrier by the Japanese. Instead, they first arranged for them to travel to Japan's scenic spots for three days, and then sent them to the dormitory of the Etajima Naval War School to settle down. down.

Then the instructors from the Naval War School will explain to them the various rules and regulations and special flags of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and teach them to identify the appearance of Japanese and American ships, etc. On the morning of October 5, Minoru Genda, the aviation staff officer of the Japanese Combined Fleet, made a sudden visit and found little Hersman who was attending class in a classroom at the Etajima Naval War School.

Genda came here for the special pre-war training of the Japanese aircraft carrier-based aircraft unit. He found little Hersman, who had a relationship with him in Germany, and raised this question: "Mr. Hersman, you are the ace." A pilot with 26 kills must know the tactics and characteristics of British and American aircraft, right?”

"Of course," little Hersman said with a smile, "I have shot down 26 enemy planes, 18 of which were fighters, and I was shot down by them three times."

Genda Minoru nodded and asked: "All of your achievements were achieved with the Zero aircraft?"

"It's the Fokker Zero," said Hersman Jr., "It's not exactly the same as your Zero. It has a self-sealing fuel tank, a stronger body, and a more powerful engine. The latest improved model also has a first-level and second-level engine. High-speed supercharger and MW50 system - this system increases engine power in a short time by injecting a 1:1 mixture of water-methanol.”

Young Hersman's uncle is Anthony Fokker, the owner of the Fokker Aircraft Company. He learned the difference between the Japanese Zero and the Fokker Zero from his uncle.

"Although the Fokker Zero is a better aircraft than the Japanese Zero," Hirschmann glanced at the expressionless Genda Minoru and said with a smile, "but its dogfighting performance at medium and low altitudes may not be as good. Japanese Zero. This is because the improvements made by Fokker increased the weight of the aircraft, thereby offsetting the advantages of the engine. In addition, the first-stage two-speed supercharger has no effect at medium and low altitudes. It only improves the aircraft's performance. In terms of high-altitude performance, the MW50 system has no effect at medium and low altitudes. These things will increase weight.”

"Then what's the point of the improvements made by Fokker?" Minoru Genda asked with a frown.

"Of course it makes sense," little Hersman smiled. "Fokker's improvements can improve the pilot's chance of survival after the aircraft is shot, and improving the aircraft's high-altitude performance can also allow the Fokker Zero to fight against the Spitfire. 'Fighters with good high-altitude performance have a better chance of winning."

"Is it to seize a high-altitude position to prevent enemy planes from diving from above?" Minoru Genda asked. He has been studying air combat on the European battlefield, so he knows some of the British methods of fighting the Fokker Zero.

Little Hersman nodded and said: "When the Fokker Zero first appeared, the British didn't know how to deal with it. At that time, they would fight with us at medium and low altitudes, so it was easy to beat them down. However, Later, the British gradually discovered the two major shortcomings of the Fokker Zero's poor high-altitude performance and poor dive performance, so they adopted a high-altitude dive and one-shot attack method, while we adopted the Bf-109 or Bf-109. Fw-190 and Fokker Zero use high-low matching tactics.

However, there are always times when the Fokker Zero is alone, because it has a long range and can escort Ju88 and S.M.79 for long-distance attacks, while the range of Bf-109 and Fw-190 is not large. Therefore, in order to give the Fokker Zero a certain high-altitude performance, a supercharger and MW50 system were installed. And in order to improve the pilot's survival probability in air combat, some armor was added. Therefore, the Fokker Zero has become heavier and heavier, and the corresponding low-altitude combat performance has declined, but it is still sufficient on the European battlefield. "

The small upgrade space is the biggest disadvantage of the Zero. Improvements were difficult to make because the aircraft was too small and nimble. Although Fokker Company's several modifications of the Fokker Zero improved the pilot's survival probability in combat and the aircraft's high-altitude performance, they sacrificed a lot of flexibility and maneuverability. The reason why Hessmann feels that the low-altitude performance is "sufficient" is because his actual combat experience is getting richer and his opponents are getting better and better.

But in Japan at this time and space, because there was no "China Incident" for pilots to practice, the elites of Japan's HNA had no actual combat experience.

"Then the Americans must know how to deal with the Zero fighter, right?" Minoru Genda frowned and expressed his worries.

Little Hersman nodded and said: "They must know. In fact, they have developed an aircraft specifically to deal with the Fokker Zero. It is called the Mustang Fighter (P51). It has very good performance and is a very difficult opponent."

In this time and space, the "Second Fokker Disaster" occurred in 1939, which made the British more actively seek advanced fighter jets, which prompted the P51 to enter service ahead of schedule. However, the current P51 is not equipped with the superior performance "Merlin" engine. Therefore, it is a medium-low altitude aircraft. Although its fighting performance is not as good as the Fokker Zero, its diving performance greatly exceeds the latter, and it is very sturdy.

"This kind of aircraft is more flexible and difficult to catch. However, the British and American pilots who fly this kind of aircraft do not fight with us. They still use the method of flying away with one hit. If they miss, they dive and escape. When you chase it, you will either roll or roll. Just speed up and rush down, so you must seize the opportunity to fire, and hit directly with the 20mm cannon. It must be fast, accurate, and hard..."

Little Hersman spoke eloquently, but Genda Minoru frowned upon hearing this. The Zero fighter is proud of its mid- and low-altitude combat. But now the British have been trained by the Germans for two years with the Fokker Zero, and they have figured out some ways to deal with the Fokker Zero. However, Japanese naval aviation pilots do not know the characteristics of British and American aircraft, and they may suffer a loss when they go to the battlefield.

"Captain Hersman," Minoru Genda asked, "can you fly the aircraft to imitate the tactical maneuvers of British and American aircraft?"

The first task that Hara Minota Minoru arranged for these aces from Germany was to serve as training partners for Japan's elite pilots who had never been on the battlefield, so that they could master the methods of dealing with American fighter jets such as P51 and P40 in the shortest possible time.

Little Hersman smiled and said: "Of course you can, but you can't use the Zero. Its dive performance is not very good. Under normal circumstances, we use the Bf-109 to imitate the Spitfire aircraft for tactical training. "

Now the German aviation regiment, whether it is the Air Force or the Navy, has a training group, and it is almost a compulsory course for the training group to let veteran pilots fly Bf-109 or D.520 to imitate the "Spitfire" aircraft to attack.

"No, not the Zero." Genda Minoru smiled, "We have 30 He-112s, which were purchased from Germany. They have been kept in the warehouse since they were purchased, but they are well preserved and are as good as new... …Can any of you fly?”

…

"No, no... The plan to attack Malaya, Singapore and the Philippines has been submitted to His Majesty the Emperor a long time ago, and we have promised His Majesty to occupy Southeast Asia within 100 days. How can we change the plan now and divert our troops to Hawaii? "

October 5th is also the day when the Japanese base camp liaison meeting discusses the Hawaiian operation. It was Chief of Staff Gen Sugiyama who spoke in opposition. The territory in Southeast Asia that is easy to clean up is not large, so the idea of ​​going to Hawaii is completely nonsense in his opinion.

Moreover, Oahu is a fortress island. How can it be so easy to capture? If not, tens of thousands of people would die just like the Port Arthur Fortress. Of course, dead people would be nothing. How could the imperial army be afraid of death? But if the war lasts for several months, can the navy ensure continuous logistics?

Even if the Navy dares to guarantee it, the Army firmly does not believe it. This is absolutely not possible! Because it will definitely be the Army that will be starved to death by then, and the Army cannot be fooled by the Navy.

Nagano Shushen and Oikawa Kojiro looked at each other. The Army disagreed, and the Navy had no troops to fight even if they wanted to.

However, the Navy will not just give up. It may be inspired by Hessmann, or it may be because there are 80 more ace carrier-based aircraft pilots. Yamamoto Isoroku has become a lot more courageous. In the Navy's own operations At the meeting, an alternative plan to capture Hawaii in two steps was proposed.

The first is of course a fleet battle. It may not be easy to attack Oahu, but it is still completely feasible to have a decisive battle with the US Navy near Hawaii - and this is also a prerequisite for occupying Hawaii.

So Yamamoto Isoroku thought that he could create the illusion that Japan was going to invade Hawaii, and attract the American fleet wandering outside (reconnaissance found that the American fleet was very dishonest and often went out to waste fuel) to the vicinity of Hawaii, and gathered them together to annihilate them. If the goal of mass annihilation can be achieved, it will not be too late to allocate troops to attack Hawaii. This two-step approach is much more reliable than the all-or-nothing approach proposed by Marshal Hessmann.

Nagano Shushen said: "Since the Army does not agree to attack Hawaii, the Navy still has a feint attack. It does not need to use 5 divisions. It is enough to use a mixed brigade of several thousand people first... How many sacrifices will your Army be willing to make for the great cause of the empire? Thousands of people?”

Thousands of people? This is nothing, even if all the imperial troops die, they can still bear it.

Sugiyama Gen and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo looked at each other, and then Sugiyama Gen nodded and said: "When has our army ever been afraid of death? As long as it does not affect the fight south, the army is not afraid of anything. Tell me, how do you want to fight?"