The Rise of the Third Reich

When the news that the navies of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union would form a combined fleet reached Berlin, Hessmann was chairing an arms production meeting in the Ministry of Defense building. The meeting was attended by Chief of the General Staff Marshal Kesselring, First Munitions Director General Halder, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Marshal Redl, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force Marshal Weaver, Minister of Economy and Director of the General Administration of Armaments Speer, and several The Director-General of the Arms, as well as the Directors of the Armed Forces Bureau of the Armed Forces of the Navy, Army and Air Force.

Today’s meeting will discuss the arms production plan for 1943. Seeing that the world war is about to enter its fourth year, and Germany’s enemy has changed from Britain to Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union, everyone attending the meeting has a feeling of war in 1943. A pretty intense premonition. Therefore, at the armament meeting, everyone tried their best to win more production shares for their own arms, so the meeting did not go smoothly.

At this moment, Hessmann's adjutant Stauffenberg brought a piece of bad news that had been expected for a long time - Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union had finally finished wrangling and were organizing a joint fleet to seize control of the North Atlantic.

"Allied Combined Fleet Political Commissar Bulganin... Hehe, that's really interesting. Who came up with it?" Hersman seemed very relaxed. He first teased Bulganin about Bulganin's new position, and then said, "It's no big deal. Yes, it’s just a combined fleet, we have that too.”

"Marshal Imperial, this time there are 4 Soviet-class ships and 2 South Dakota-class ships to deal with!" Marshal Raeder said in a solemn tone, "Our two Hindenburg-class ships cannot defeat them! If we were there before The two Soviet-class ships and one Kronstadt-class ship that were able to sneak attack on Molotovsk will no longer be so passive!”

Hessmann smiled and shook his head and said: "Marshal Redl, what we have to deal with now are not battleships with main guns... They are not a problem. If I really want to blockade the British and Irish islands, mines and bombing of ports can also be used." Do it.”

Raeder was stunned. Hersman was right. It was not difficult to block the UK. The Navy proposed a plan in June to lay a large number of mines along the northern coast of Ireland and the northern coast of Scotland. At that time, such an operation was not difficult for the German Navy. But Hirschmann and Kesselring rejected the plan.

"We just want the Americans to come!" Marshal Kesselring said with a smile. "We have to let tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of Americans die in Europe without gaining anything and suffering terrible defeats. Only in this way will they know that Europe is European, not American.”

Hersmann continued Kesselring's words: "The Americans can come to Europe, and we can also go to the Americas! They want to use the fleet for escort, so we will take the opportunity to seize the Azores and Canary Islands and open the way to the Americas. Routes to South America and Africa are becoming safer."

As Germany seized control of most of the Atlantic Ocean, routes to the European continent, South America, and Africa were partially restored. However, these routes were not safe. British submarine activities were rampant, causing great losses to the merchant fleets of various European Community countries and causing a great headache for the escort command led by Dönitz. Seizing the Azores and Canary Islands will allow Germany's anti-submarine patrol aircraft (modified from Ju288 and Fw-200) to expand their patrol and warning range, so it has long been put on the agenda. However, because the General Staff once wanted to launch a landing on the Black Sea coast, it has been delayed so far. However, now that the Black Sea coast landing operation has been postponed, the Navy and Marine Corps have enough strength to launch an Atlantic island seizure operation.

Hessman added: "As for the Americans who arrive in Ireland, just let the Army deal with them... But this matter cannot be rushed. Let them come more, otherwise more people will die!"

The next few months would be relatively quiet on the Eastern Front, and the Army would be able to compete with the Americans on the island of Ireland on the Western Front. And Hessman also knows what tanks the Americans can come up with now - tank development and production is a very complex system engineering, and it must be done step by step. It is very difficult to develop by leaps and bounds, even the United States, which has strong industrial strength, cannot exception. In the winter of 1942, all they could produce were M4 tanks or M10 tank destroyers. The M26 Pershing tank could not be built no matter what. Therefore, the land war on the island of Ireland is very certain.

In addition, the U.S. Air Force cannot have the upper hand on the island of Ireland, because Germany now has an abundant supply of rare metals, and Germany's aerospace engine development work is proceeding very smoothly. The BMW-801 series engines used in the Fw-190 series fighters have now been developed to the 2,000-horsepower BMW-801S, and another more powerful BMW-801F (theoretically with 2,400 horsepower) has also reached the final testing stage. The BMW-801TS, which has both the power of the BMW-801S and the turbocharging system of the BMW-801T, is now also equipped with the Fw-190B series of high-altitude fighters.

So now Ireland is a noose around the neck of American imperialism - it must be saved, but it cannot be saved, and human lives can only be lost in vain.

"So how do we deal with the Allied Combined Fleet?" Redl asked. "This fleet will control the shipping lanes near the Arctic Circle for 6 months! During this period, a large amount of supplies will be exported to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, which is very detrimental to us."

It is not easy to engage in a night battle on ice and sea during the polar night with an enemy who has the superiority in battleship numbers and firepower. Although the Germans also have the same trump card - V3 remote-controlled missiles, the V3 remote-controlled missiles must be able to clearly see the enemy ship's position before they can hit it. This means that the "Wilhelm II" class guided missile cruiser must be close to the opponent, and This is a very dangerous thing.

Moreover, the "Wilhelm II" class is a guided missile cruiser that became a mid-level missile cruiser. The missile firepower is not strong, and it is very troublesome to load it. Therefore, it is very unsafe to rely on just three "Wilhelm II" class ships to fight against the powerful Allied fleet.

However, the German Naval Armament Bureau has long had a solution, which is to develop a dedicated light missile attack ship - based on the hull of the 1937 type lightning strike ship (standard displacement 853 tons, speed 35.5 knots), carrying 2 stored missiles The V1 remote-controlled missile in the launch tube and a small number of self-defense weapons form a hit-and-run missile attack ship.

The development of this new type of small ship, codenamed "V-type attack ship" is not difficult. The construction work began in June, and the No. 1 and No. 2 ships will be completed in December. From 1943 onwards, two ships were completed every month. However, these V-shaped ships are a new type of ship after all, and it may take some time before they can truly become combat effective.

"Marshal Redl, don't worry, the Allied fleet will not control the Arctic Circle routes for too long." Hersman smiled and added, "Because we also have a very powerful ally in the far east, Japan. The Japanese Navy will severely damage the US Navy for us, now we just need to wait for the good news to come. "

…

Japan's plan to attack Australia is definitely good news for the Germans, regardless of whether the Japanese can achieve what they want. However, for Japan's Cabinet Minister of State and President of the Planning Institute, Suzuki Teiichi, it is undoubtedly a nerve-wracking matter.

The job that Suzuki Teiichi is doing now is similar to that of the director of the State Planning Commission of the Soviet Union or the economic minister and director of the General Administration of Armaments of Germany. He is an important person in charge of wartime resources and production. However, he did not come from the Japanese civil service system, but a retired Army Lieutenant General, a serious military officer, and a graduate of the University of China. However, unlike other rustic army generals, he was a graduate of the University of Mainland China. After graduation, he also attended the Department of Economics at Tokyo Imperial University, and he is an army officer who understands economics.

Therefore, before the outbreak of the Pacific War, he became the president of the Planning Institute as an economic expert supported by the Army, specifically responsible for Japan's wartime economy. The Japanese Imperial Army's march south to attack Australia was closely related to Japan's wartime economy.

Because the army's red deer cannot go south, they must go by boat. The Japanese army and navy did not have that many ships available, so they had to recruit civilian ships to maintain the wartime economy, and the number was very huge!

"What? Are you going to use 15 divisions?" Seeing the combat plan sent by the deputy chief of the Navy Command Department, Ito Seiichi, Suzuki felt like he had been slapped.

15 divisions! And it is not a light equipment, but a super-heavy version of the configuration in which each division strengthens at least two tank battalions (equipped with Type 97 medium tank or Type 97 tank destroyer) - not such a configuration, it is also deployed on the Australian mainland. But the mechanized US military.

However, if such a division needs to be fully loaded with men and loaded with baggage, a 300,000-ton ship is not enough, and at least 400,000 tons is needed! 15 divisions is 6 million tons... How many merchant ships does Japan have in total now? If 6 million tons were used, would the wartime economy still be maintained?

"This is impossible! Ito-kun, Japan does not have that many ships. You are a navy, and you know this situation better than I do." Suzuki Teiichi shook his head desperately.

"Suzuki-kun, what are you in a hurry for?" Ito was quite confident, "It's not like we want to transport so many troops to Australia at once... The battle at sea has not yet been decided, and it is still early to land in Australia.

Moreover, these 15 mechanized divisions are only the forces needed for the final decisive victory on land and do not need to be shipped to Australia at once. Therefore, the Planning Institute only needs to have enough confidence and determination, and make a plan to carry out the general mobilization of shipping when necessary. "

Suzuki Teiichi nodded awkwardly, Tojo had already greeted him - the Australian war is imperative!

"So, when will the battle south to Australia begin?" Suzuki finally asked.

"It has already begun!" Ito smiled, "The first phase of the battle south to Australia, Operation Mi, has now begun!"