The Rise of the Third Reich

March 22, 1942, early morning.

The sudden noise broke the tranquility of Wilhelmshaven. Preston Mi, a "returned German" who had lived near the military port for 10 years and had already integrated into German society, was actually an agent of the British MI6. With sleepy eyes, he opened the window of his residence facing the port and discovered that four huge light gray figures and a large group of smaller ships had appeared in the distance.

The long ammunition supply convoy drove into the port, which had always been heavily guarded. The crane on the dock was swinging back and forth, hoisting heavy artillery shells onto the deck.

Thick oil pipelines extend from underground oil depots to warships, and high-quality heavy oil shipped from Romania and the Middle East is continuously injected into the oil tanks.

Preston, who had been lurking in Wilhelmshaven for 10 years, and whose only mission was to observe the German navy, raised a small telescope and began to carefully observe the four newly appeared large warships with a somewhat sad gaze. He was an older man who had been an officer in the Royal Navy, participated in the Battle of Jutland, and witnessed the end of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow!

But since he was sent by MI6 to open a bakery in Wilhelmshaven 10 years ago, he has witnessed the rebirth of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet. From almost non-existence, to initial revival, to growing into a fleet that can compete with the Royal Navy, and now it has become a powerful fleet that can crush the British Royal Navy in terms of strength and record!

Preston, who is a naval officer himself and has observed the German High Seas Fleet in the Port of Kiel for more than 10 years, is basically a ship expert. Just after a few glances from a distance, he knew that the four large warships entering Wilhelmshaven now were more powerful than any British warship of the same type!

These are two battleships with a standard displacement of at least 55,000 tons and two aircraft carriers with a standard displacement of at least 30,000 tons! The former should be the legendary "Hindenburg" and "Ludendorff". Their main gun should be 406mm, which is powerful enough to be compared with the main gun of the "Nelson" class. Although the condition of the armor cannot be seen from the appearance, it should be quite good.

As for the two aircraft carriers, they should be the Zeppelin class... Judging from their size, if the full hangar storage method is used, they should be able to carry 70-80 carrier-based aircraft.

Preston felt like crying when he thought of carrier-based aircraft. That little Fokker Zero plane killed countless brave Royal Navy pilots, one of whom was his son! Moreover, Preston also knows that the Germans have recently been frequently testing a new carrier-based dive bomber with better performance than the Fokker 99 dive bomber... In several carrier-based aircraft pilot schools near Kiel Port, the Fokker 99 The trainer aircraft have all been replaced.

"The attack power of the carrier-based dive bomber squadrons on German aircraft carriers will be more powerful than in the past. The future of the Royal Navy..." Preston no longer dared to think any further.

Now two "Hindenburg" class battleships and two "Zeppelin" class aircraft carriers are gathering at Kiel Port to add ammunition and fuel, and they are likely to attack the Denmark Strait next. If they broke into the Atlantic, Germany's maritime power in the Atlantic would have an overwhelming advantage.

The end of the British Empire... is near.

…

"Standard displacement of 56,000 tons; full load displacement of 63,000 tons; 12 Wagner-type high-pressure heavy oil boilers, 3 Blohm-Voss steam turbines, the maximum power can reach 150,000 horsepower, and the maximum speed can reach 28 knots... "

Admiral Gunther Lütjens, Commander of the High Seas Fleet, was like a treasure at this time, introducing his new flagship to the Chief of the General Staff, Imperial Marshal Hersmann, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Marshal Redl, who came to inspect.

The design of the "Hindenburg" class battleships underwent major changes during its construction. The reason was that the sinking of the "Scharnhorst" gave Hessmann reason to suspend the "battleship-breaking" tactic.

Therefore, the H-class under construction at that time gave up the diesel engine that was relatively fuel-efficient but heavy in weight and volume (using a diesel engine can increase the range), and switched to the same power system as the Bismarck-class. Although the maximum speed dropped by 2.8 knots, It also saves a lot of space and tonnage that can be used to increase the armor thickness. Therefore, the "Hindenburg" class has stronger 150mm-330mm side waterline armor (20-degree bevel) and 80mm-125mm deck armor than the Bismarck class. It also has mine protection armor, mine protection compartments, main turrets, and auxiliary turrets. The armor thickness of the turret and conning tower is the same as that of the Bismarck.

In addition, this class of battleships also retains the "German-style" dome armor design, which wastes a lot of tonnage. As a result, with a total armor weight of more than 20,000 tons, it only achieved a so-so defense level based on paper data. The theoretical defense capabilities are not even as good as the American Iowa class under construction.

As for the main guns of the "Hindenburg" class - eight 406mm DrhC/34 main guns, because they still use high-speed light projectiles, they have two major weaknesses: insufficient long-range accuracy and insufficient overall power. The power is not as powerful as that of the United States at the same time. 1 main gun and Japan's 410mm main gun. However, no matter how incompetent these eight main guns are, they are only of 406mm caliber. They are used to fight against the 14-inch "toothpick cannon" of the King George V class and the Nelson, which also uses high-speed light projectiles, as well as the 15-inch cannons of the five Queen Elizabeth class ships. That's more than enough.

Moreover, the Americans now have only one "Washington" with a powerful 16-inch cannon, and it is still fighting against the Yamato in the Pacific. Therefore, these two "Hindenburg" class ships, whose performance is not very ideal, can still dominate as long as they enter the Atlantic Ocean.

Besides, it's already past the vernal equinox. Once the vernal equinox passes, the climate in the North Atlantic will become milder, and the days will still be longer and the nights will be shorter. It is very suitable for aircraft carriers to exert their power, so in Hersman's opinion, the "Hindenburg" class can just show off, and most likely will not have the opportunity to fight against British battleships.

As for the war, there are two "Zeppelin" class aircraft carriers and three aircraft carriers "Europa", "Bremen" and "Potsdam" converted from cruise ships - three cruise ships converted The aircraft carrier is not in Wilhelmshaven now, but is anchored in the Port of Bergen, Norway, together with the battleships Barbarossa (O-class) and Schlieffen, as well as a dozen other small and medium-sized ships, waiting for Gunther Lütjens to lead the The main force of the fleet went to rendezvous.

The aviation regiments on the two "Zeppelin" class ships (according to the latest regulations, aircraft carrier-based aircraft units with more than 60 commonly used aircraft will all be reorganized into aviation regiments) have 72 commonly used aircraft. "Europa" and The aviation group on the "Bremen" each has 60 commonly used aircraft, and the flying group on the "Potsdam" has 36 commonly used aircraft. A total of 300 commonly used aircraft are enough to deal with the British Home Fleet.

Following Admiral Gunther Lütjens as he walked around the deck of the battleship "Hindenburg", Hessmann showed a satisfied smile - although he was not really satisfied with the "Hindenburg". But when he saw off the main force of the High Seas Fleet on behalf of the headquarters today, he would not show such "dissatisfaction".

"Admiral, this is the most powerful battleship in Europe," Hessmann said to Admiral Gunther Lütjens in the luxurious officers' lounge on the "Hindenburg". "It is enough to become the flagship of the European Combined Fleet." core!"

The European Combined Fleet is a multinational combined fleet that includes the main navies of Germany, Italy, France and Spain!

Hersmann and Hitler had been trying to promote the establishment of a "United European Fleet" since the Battle of the Western Front. But after learning about the recent Battle of Hawaii, I was able to get my wish.

Because the Battle of Hawaii severely damaged the U.S. Navy, it sank and destroyed 10 U.S. battleships and 1 aircraft carrier, and also occupied the Hawaiian Islands (American resistance continues, but the main islands of Hawaii are now occupied by Japan). This completely disappointed people who originally thought that the United States might be the key force to change the outcome of the war, and the power to prevent France from falling to Germany no longer existed.

French President Pétain and French Navy Commander-in-Chief Darlan, who had been waiting for a long time, finally made up their minds to let France board a German warship and formally declare war on Britain. After France joined the German camp and declared war on Britain, Admiral Darlan also agreed to let the French naval fleet fight alongside the German and Italian navies.

Hitler and Hersmann struck while the iron was hot and persuaded Mussolini and Darlan respectively to form a unified European fleet under unified command. Admiral Gunther Lütjens will serve as the commander of this combined fleet.

"Admiral," Hessman said, "the news of the formation of the European United Fleet has now been officially announced to the outside world, and I know that the British have agents lurking in Wilhelmshaven...so as soon as your fleet goes to sea, London will know. They You will also guess that your destination is Gibraltar, because Hindenburg and Ludendorff are the most powerful battleships in Europe, and the flagship of the European Combined Fleet must be one of them.

So the British will know that the destination of your fleet is Gibraltar, and the General Staff believes that they may use aircraft carriers to set up an ambush midway... This is the only chance for the British to make a comeback! "

General Gunther Lütjens nodded and replied with a smile: "Your Excellency, Imperial Marshal, you know that our High Seas Fleet has formulated a complete penetration plan to ensure that the British aircraft carriers and shore-based aircraft will not Cause too much damage to the fleet."