The Rise of the Third Reich

The thumping footsteps were heavy and rapid. The staff in the War Cabinet Headquarters underground on King Charles Street all involuntarily put down their business and looked in the direction of the footsteps, then turned their heads and sighed softly.

Although Churchill has been boosting the morale of the people through various speeches and has achieved impressive results, most British people are still confident about the prospect of war. However, the War Cabinet Command was full of "insiders" who knew the most core secrets of the war, but they were frightened countless times by the news brought by the heavy and rapid footsteps. And everyone working in the War Cabinet Command today knows that another main squadron of the German High Seas Fleet has gone to sea and will soon go to war with the Royal Navy. But can the Royal Navy win a victory big enough to change the balance of naval power between the two sides? Even those who were most optimistic about the prospects of war smiled wryly and shook their heads.

He said secretly: "There must be something tight again."

These people guessed right. The Communications Office of the War Cabinet Command had just received a report that the Faroe Islands would soon be bombed indiscriminately.

"What are the Faroe Islands?" Churchill and the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister Attlee exclaimed almost simultaneously when they heard the report of the Third Sea Lord Fraser, who was on duty at the War Cabinet Command today.

"This must be a trap!" Winston Churchill immediately made a judgment. "If the Germans wanted to seize the Faroe Islands, they would not have let two Bismarck-class and one Scharnhorst-class break into the Atlantic in December last year. Those three battleships have 22 380mm cannons, which are used for bombardment A tool for the coast.”

His judgment was correct. The German bombing of the Faroe Islands was indeed a trap, with the purpose of attracting the main force of the British Home Fleet to rush to the Faroe Islands. However, the reasons proposed by Churchill were not entirely correct.

The main reason why the Germans do not attack the Faroe Islands now is that they do not like it. The Faroe Islands are composed of 18 mountainous islands or rocks. There are not many places that can be used to build large airports, and due to the polar night phenomenon As soon as the autumnal equinox passes, it is easy for British battleships to approach under the cover of night and destroy the airfield there with naval guns.

Moreover, there are a lot of British defenders on the Faroe Islands, with a total of 30,000 to 40,000 people. In addition to a large number of shore-based aircraft, they also have dozens of large-caliber coastal defense guns (mainly 10-inch/254mm and 8-inch). inch/203mm naval gun), the difficulty of capturing the Faroe Islands seems to be smaller than landing in Ireland.

"Without the Bismarck and Tirpitz, could the Germans have captured the Faroe Islands?" asked Attlee, the new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Dominion Affairs.

Clement Richard Attlee was the leader of the British Labor Party and originally served as Lord Privy Seal in the wartime cabinet. However, as the war situation became increasingly unfavorable, the reputation of Churchill's government continued to decline. In order to appease the dissatisfaction of public opinion, Churchill reorganized the government in February 1942, making Labor leader Attlee the deputy prime minister, and also made him He also served as Dominion Secretary of State and President of the Privy Council.

"Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, I think they have this capability." Lieutenant General Fraser, the Third Sea Lord, replied truthfully, "According to the reconnaissance of the Mosquito aircraft, the German fleet has two Hindenburgs. The former is equipped with eight 406mm cannons and the two 'Barbarossa' class cannons, both of which can pose a serious threat to the forts on the Faroe Islands. In addition, a huge German bomber group is now heading towards the Faroe Islands. Flying to the islands, we will probably start bombing there in 15 minutes.”

"Mosquito" aircraft are really annoying guys. These fast, high-altitude aircraft equipped with radar can not only detect fleets on the sea, but also detect fleets flying in the air. They can even use their speed and high-altitude performance to fly to German bombers. Go over the group to get a closer look.

"A huge bomber group? Approximately how many aircraft are there?" Air Force Secretary Sinclair, who was attending the meeting, quickly asked.

"Coast Air Force reported that Mosquitoes conducting reconnaissance operations near Bergen had spotted a group of at least 100 four- and twin-engine heavy bombers heading toward the Faroe Islands. And these aircraft were not German. , but Italian and French aircraft.”

"Italian planes...what? Why are there French planes!?" Churchill was stunned again and again, "Did they read it correctly?"

"You read that right, it is indeed the livery of a French aircraft." Lieutenant General Fraser said with a wry smile, "According to the investigation, the Italians dispatched P.108 heavy bombers, and the French dispatched Ameo 350 series bombers. …And these bombers fly at very high altitudes, reaching 9,000-10,000 meters!”

"Damn, it's a high-altitude bomber!" Churchill said through gritted teeth, "The Germans must have succeeded in their turbocharged engines!"

Churchill only guessed half right. The Italian P.108 heavy bomber was indeed equipped with an engine with a turbocharger provided by Germany. However, the Ameo 357 bomber sent by the French Air Force to support the Germans was indeed equipped with the French's own Hispano Siza 12Z-9 turbocharged engine.

France, like the United Kingdom, neglected tactical bombers before the war and in the early stages of the war, but invested heavily in strategic bombers. Therefore, it also developed turbocharging technology to improve the high-altitude performance of the engine. By the end of the Western Front campaign in 1940, the French turbocharged engine was close to success. However, due to the subsequent defeat, the French aviation industry experienced a period of downturn.

However, after the Mediterranean Campaign in 1941, the French aviation industry began to recover rapidly, and many projects that were discontinued after 1940 were also revived. Among them, the fastest progress is made by France's D.520 series fighters and Ameo 350 series bombers. The former is a fighter with better performance than the Bf-109 series (if the same level of engine is used), while the latter can fly at high altitudes and at high speeds. The route and positioning are similar to the "mosquito" style.

At the same time, the strength of the French Air Force is also rapidly recovering. Relying on D.520 series fighters and Ameo 350 series bombers, the French Air Force has now rebuilt 10 fighter groups and 10 bomber groups. And starting from the beginning of 1942, the French Air Force began to fight side by side with the German and Italian Air Forces.

Obviously, the vast majority of French people have realized that Britain is bound to fail, so they have truly begun to side with Germany.

The Italian P.108 heavy bomber has finally matured after almost a year of repeated improvements and test flights.

Major Bruno Mussolini (Mussolini’s son), who is currently leading 60 P.108S bombers and 48 Ameo 357 bombers on a mission to bomb the Faroe Islands, is now interested in the latest P. The performance of the 108S heavy bomber is very satisfactory. After installing BMW's BMW-801R series engines and equipped with a pressurized cockpit, the P.108 heavy bomber has the ability to drop bombs at an altitude of 10,000 meters and a super-large range of nearly 4,000 kilometers.

However, high altitude and long range are not the biggest advantages of the P.108S bomber - the American B-17 and the British "Mosquito" also have the same capabilities, but the P.108S has all the advantages of the B-17 and the "Mosquito". Unparalleled precision strike capability!

The Germans installed their "black technology weapon" Hs-293V2 glide bomb on the P.108! This kind of bomb is similar to the laser-guided bomb of later generations, but there is no laser, only a pair of human eyes with a visual acuity of 2.0 or above - Dr. Herbert Wagner of Henschel Company installed an aluminum alloy on the SC-500 ordinary aerial bomb. A specially designed radio/wired remote control device is also designed for the wings and tail (the height is less than 4,000 meters, and the straight-line distance is within 6,000 meters, wireless remote control is possible). Allows the controller on the aircraft to fly the Hs-293V2 glide bomb remotely via radio or wire! In December of the same year, Henschel also added a liquid rocket engine to the belly of the Hs293V3, turning it into a simplified version of the missile, and its code name was also changed to Hs293A0.

However, the German Air Force and Naval Aviation (actually what Hessmann meant) were not very interested in the Hs293A0 missile. Instead, they were very interested in the Hs293V3 controllable glide bomb with a relatively simple structure. Because both Hs293A0 and Hs293V3 are "artificial intelligence" composed of "human eyes", "human brain" and "human hands". As long as the human eye cannot see clearly, it is impossible to hit, so the actual significance of long-distance launch is not great. In order to avoid enemy anti-aircraft artillery and aircraft, it is obviously more reliable to attack from high altitude than to attack from long distance.

The ship-borne 20mm, 37mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns of this era generally have a shooting height of 2000 meters to 4000 meters. Medium-sized anti-aircraft guns below 100mm usually only shoot to a height of 6000 meters to 8000 meters. If you want to shoot more than 10000 meters, you need to use 100mm. The above heavy anti-aircraft guns. There are generally few such heavy anti-aircraft guns on surface ships.

In addition, the high-altitude performance of carrier-based aircraft is usually not very good. After all, the main battlefield of carrier-based aircraft is below 5,000 meters. If a bomb is dropped from above 8,000 meters without "artificial intelligence" and "cat eye function", it is basically impossible to hit the water surface. Of a ship.

Therefore, it is far more reliable to attack from an altitude of 8,000 meters than from 8,000 meters away.

Therefore, the combination of "artificially guided bombs" and high-altitude heavy bombers has become the latest anti-ship combat mode. The P.108S, which has a long range and ultra-high altitude performance, a large enough bomb load and a large cabin area (requires space to install an "artificial intelligence" operating system), and is already a mature model, became the first to be equipped with the Hs293V3 of Axis bombers.

Therefore, P.108S is now General Gunther Lütjens’ trump card!