The Rise of the Third Reich

Otto Skorzeny, a tall and evil man with a scar on his face, has now been promoted to the rank of captain. Like Rudolf von Ribbentrop, he also left the lukewarm Irish battlefield - before repelling the Soviet world revolution on the Eastern Front, the German High Command could not spare enough troops to defeat Ireland. For the battle, we can only maintain it for a while.

Otto Scholz, a soldier who performed outstandingly on the Irish battlefield, was transferred to the Eastern Front by General Kurt Student, who was responsible for carrying out the operation to capture the Kronstadt Fortress, and served as an air force commander. Captain of the Assault Group.

On August 13, 1942, when gunfire rang out on the beach of Kotlin Island, a heavily armed Otto Scholz was climbing from a speedboat onto a flying boat. This is a Bv222 spacecraft with 6 engines. It is actually a spaceship-style seaplane parked in Tallinn Port.

This extra large seaplane was originally a tender order issued by Lufthansa to Heinkel, Dornier and Blom Voss (a shipyard) for use in transatlantic commercial flights. The final winner of the bid was Blohm Voss Shipyard. The design they submitted was a large ship-shaped fuselage with a W132 engine (the final production was equipped with a 1,000-horsepower BMW323 engine) and a high single-wing and stable pontoon design. seaplane. It has a take-off weight of up to 49 tons and can carry 11-12 crew members and 24 passengers.

However, after this large seaplane was produced, it was not handed over to Lufthansa. Instead, it was requisitioned by the German Naval Aviation due to the outbreak of the war and became a long-range water transport aircraft.

At the beginning, the German naval aviation only acquired 12 such large aircraft. However, after the Mediterranean Campaign, Germany's resource supply situation improved, and its production capacity also increased significantly due to the industrial capabilities of France, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries. Therefore, the Naval Air Force ordered more Bv-222 for long-distance transportation. By August 1942, the Naval Air Force had a total of 40 Bv-222 spacecraft, all of which were now concentrated in Tallinn Port.

These Bv-222s have been upgraded and equipped with 1,200-horsepower engines, further improving their ability to carry personnel and equipment. Each Bv-222 can now carry 30 fully armed soldiers, and 40 Bv-222 can carry a total of 1,200 soldiers. Although not much, Tallinn is only 280 kilometers away from Kotlin Island, where Kronshtadt is located. Even including the time to board and disembark, 4 hours is enough for a round trip. It can fly at least three round trips during the day to send 3,600 soldiers to Kotlin Island.

"I am Second Lieutenant Ley, the captain of V13. The plane is about to take off. Everyone please fasten your seat belts. I wish you a pleasant journey."

Otto Scholz was the last person to board the Bv-222 seaplane. As soon as he got on the plane, a crew member closed the door. Then the captain's voice came from the speakers on the plane. Scholz immediately sat down in an empty chair and buckled himself in again. This is when the plane's engine has started to rotate, and there is a huge noise.

"It's really a race against time!" Scholz closed his eyes, and the general content of General Stuart's speech when he summoned him and a dozen other air assault group captains appeared in his mind.

There is nothing else to do this time, just be quick! An air blitz must be fought! It is necessary to seize at least half of Kotlin Island before the Soviet Red Army's reinforcements arrive on the island in large numbers.

Therefore, the planes will not fly in formation, but will take off as soon as they are loaded with people to save valuable time.

…

22 tanks drove forward in the slightly fading fog. Behind these tanks were the same number of LWS amphibious transport vehicles, and more than two hundred Marines who had jumped off the amphibious transport vehicles. Even with headphones on, Captain Ribbentrop could hear bursts of shell explosions coming from 2,000 meters behind him.

That was the fort of the Soviet Red Army bombarding the beach where Ribbentrop and his companions had just landed. This was Kotlin Island where the Kronstadt Fortress was located. It would not be an exaggeration to say it was a dragon's pool and a tiger's den!

Not to mention how many forts there are on Kotlin Island, but in the Gulf of Finland on the north and south sides of Kotlin Island, there are 42 fortress islands that were reclaimed from the sea! Each fortress island is equipped with armored turrets with extremely thick armor protection and equipped with heavy artillery.

However, these turrets are very old and were all built before World War I. The oldest armored turrets even date back to the era of Tsar Alexander II.

Because the turret is too old, the installed cannon also has problems such as too slow rate of fire, insufficient range, and blind spots in shooting. It is not always possible to capture the German amphibious assault troops landing on the beach on the southwest coast of Kotlin Island.

Moreover, the German intelligence service is well aware of the situation on Kotlin Island and the Kronstadt Fortress (many of Olga’s white men are former senior generals of the Russian Navy, and even Hessmann himself did so more than 20 years ago. Having been to Kotlin Island), I know the specific location of each armored fort (including the fort on the island), defense situation and firepower arrangement. They also knew the locations of the roads, barracks, and warehouses on the island, and even learned where the newly built airport on the island was through aircraft reconnaissance and photography.

Now Captain Ribbentrop's tank company formed a cluster with another armored marine company to seize the only military airport on the island, Red August Airport. The airport is located west of the center of the island, about 3.5 kilometers from the city of Kronshtadt, and there is a Red Marine barracks nearby. The houses of the barracks were already vaguely visible. About a platoon of Marines quickened their pace, passed the tanks that were advancing along a wide road, and ran towards the buildings in the distance.

Ribbentrop knew that there would be a Red Army defense there and the battle was about to begin, so he retreated into the crowded and hot turret and closed the hatch.

"I am Ribbentrop, all vehicles are searching for targets! Stop moving forward now, and the artillery is ready to fire high-explosive shells." He closed the hatch and gave orders through the intercom.

The No. 3 P tank is equipped with a KwK40L/2475mm main gun. This kind of artillery is not effective against tanks, but it is absolutely useful against infantry and infantry fortifications. After all, it has a caliber of 75mm.

"Boom!" Ribbentrop had just given the order when he felt his tank shake slightly, and there was the sound of shrapnel hitting the steel plate. He knew that there were Soviet artillery nearby firing at him!

"Has anyone found the target? Where is the enemy?" Ribbentrop asked quickly. He is riding a No. 3 tank now, not a "Tiger" or a "Panther". The Soviet 45mm anti-tank gun and 76.2mm cannon can turn his tank into a fire!

"Captain, it's 10 o'clock, it seems to be 10 o'clock..." the voice of Sergeant Major Max, commander of the No. 4 car, came from the earphones, "There seems to be a cannon there!"

"No, it's the 12 o'clock direction. The artillery is in the woods next to the gate of the military camp." At this time, the commander of another tank gave another answer.

Ribbentrop pushed open the hatch again and leaned out half of his body, wanting to see what was going on.

"Whoosh..." Another group of artillery shells roared over, and the sound of the shells breaking through the air made Captain Ribbentrop's hair stand on end.

"Boom!" Dozens of huge plumes of smoke suddenly burst out from the woods on the right side of Ribbentrop's car. Looking at this, you knew that it could not be fired by a 76.2mm cannon. The heat wave rushed toward Ribbentrop. , so frightened that the battle-hardened young master thought he was going to die for his country.

"Yes... it's a howitzer, a 122mm howitzer!" Ribbentrop, who was trembling all over, sat back in his seat. After realizing that he was unscathed, he said loudly, "There must be Soviets nearby. Artillery observers! All vehicles move toward the forward barracks immediately!"

The Soviet artillery fire just now missed, but it was very close, so Ribbentrop did not dare to leave the vehicle here to be bombed. Although the No. 3 tank is not very afraid of howitzer bombardment, the LWS amphibious transport vehicle has little armor.

Just when Ribbentrop's tanks and armored vehicles were almost shelled, fierce fighting was taking place inside and outside the military camp of the 2nd Marine Brigade of the Red Navy's Baltic Fleet.

This military camp is the military camp in front of Ribbentrop and the others. There is a brigade headquarters and two marine battalions stationed here. But now there are no soldiers from the 2nd Battalion guarding this military camp. The mission of the 2nd Soviet Marine Brigade is to protect the entire Kotlin Island together with the Kronstadt Fortress Brigade.

Therefore, 2 of the 4 battalions of this brigade are stationed in various locations, and the other 2 are responsible for patrolling the island. When the Germans came over, there were less than one battalion of officers and soldiers guarding the barracks, and they didn't have many anti-tank weapons. They were the Marine Brigade guarding the island, so in theory they didn't need anti-tank weapons.

Theoretically, when enemy tanks landed on Kotlin Island, the turret group of Kronshtadt Fortress should have been flattened by enemy battleships. What use can anti-tank guns be used when surrounded by a large group of enemy battleships?

But now something strange happened. The German fleet was not seen approaching, and the turrets in the fortress were not bombarded, but German tanks suddenly landed on the island!

How did these tanks appear? In the Baltic Fleet headquarters in Kronstadt, when Vice Admiral Tributz was confused, a fleet staff officer had already rushed into the war room.

"Air attack! The radar station reported that a large number of enemy planes were approaching!"