The Rise of the Third Reich

At 5 o'clock in the afternoon on December 8, shortly after the commander's flag of the Allied Combined Fleet was raised on the battleship Soviet Union, the huge ship formation on the sea began to diverge. Twelve old British and American battleships joined the NR21 fleet, and the main force of the Allied Combined Fleet began to speed up and sail eastward.

Of course, the division of troops at sea could not be hidden from the radar on the Ju288 in the sky. The news was quickly reported by telegraph to the battleship Hindenburg, the flagship of the European Combined Fleet, which was approaching Iceland.

Admiral Lütjens was standing at the window of the bridge at this time, using the dim light outside to watch several 1935-type lightning strike ships dragging aluminum foil hydrogen balloons as they accelerated toward Reykjavik Port—— These aluminum foil hydrogen balloons are specially made, and the size they display on the radar screen looks like a battleship!

The purpose of Admiral Lütjens sending them out was to lure the U.S. shore batteries at Sandergelchi (on a peninsula) into firing. In order to allow the Ju288 in the sky to find the target, and then use remote control gliding bombs to destroy it.

According to intelligence, the Americans built a twin-mounted 406mm-caliber armored turret that can rotate 360 ​​degrees on the Sandergelzi fort. If it is not destroyed, it will be a bit dangerous for the German fleet to approach.

So tonight (actually there is no difference between night and day in Iceland during this season), the German Naval Aviation will dispatch 72 Ju288 night bombers (not high-altitude type) and 60 He219 long-range night fighters (installed with radar and auxiliary fuel tanks) , with a range of nearly 3,500 kilometers), taking off from bases on the island of Ireland to bomb airfields and forts in Iceland.

"Oh, the troops have been divided?" Admiral Lütjens asked without looking back, "Do you know the specific situation?"

"I don't know," Fleet Chief of Staff William Messer shook his head, "Ju288's radar is not that good."

"Can the He-115 on the Suez Canal be obtained?" Admiral Lütjens asked.

The Suez is also a D aircraft carrier, which is a seaplane carrier modified from the C aircraft hull, carrying 15 He-115 seaplanes (3 spares). This seaplane carrier is now cruising less than 300 nautical miles south of the Arctic Circle route, ready to send out seaplanes for attack or reconnaissance at any time - these seaplanes are not as valuable as the Ju288 and can drop flares at lower altitudes. Instead, 12 can be dispatched at a time to drop a sufficient number of flares.

"It's enough," William Messer replied.

"Then send out for reconnaissance," Admiral Lütjens ordered. "It's important to find out the specifics."

According to intelligence, the Allied Combined Fleet has 25-28 battleships, which is very powerful! Among them, there are four new battleships: the South Dakota class, the Soviet class, the Kronshtadt class, and the King George V class. Among them, there are 2 South Dakota-class ships, 4 Soviet-class ships, 2 Kronshtadt-class ships, and 3 King George V-class ships, for a total of 11 ships.

Among these 11 cutting-edge battleships, the ones that Roosevelt valued most were the four Soviet-class battleships with 406mm caliber giant guns and a full load displacement of up to 65,000 tons. These four battleships seem to be the second most powerful battleships in the world in terms of main gun caliber and tonnage. As long as they do not encounter the Japanese Yamato class, they should be invincible.

However... the German military's view is opposite to Mr. Roosevelt's. They believe that the four Soviet-class ships are nothing more than foreign powers. It can't compare to the Yamato class, nor can it beat the Hindenburg class. Even if it encounters the Italian Veneto class, the French Richelieu class, and the German Bismarck class, it will probably not be a match.

The 406mm main gun of the Soviet class can penetrate the side main armor belt of the Veneto class, Richelieu class and Bismarck class, and the 380mm main gun of these three levels of battleships can also penetrate the main armor belt of the Soviet class!

This is not just a guess. The Soviet class was designed with the help of the Italian Ansaldo company and built with the help of the German Naval Armament Agency! The main gun system and power system of this class of battleships are purchased from Germany, but a small part of the steel used in shipbuilding is imported from Germany, and most of it is produced in-house. Among them, the most critical facade armor steel, horizontal armor steel and mine protection armor steel are all produced by ourselves through the introduction of German technology.

However, what Germany transferred to the Soviet Union was not its own KCn/A case-hardened alloy steel, but the KC armor steel technology developed by Krupp in 1895 (the core technology cannot be bought after all), and KC armor steel The bulletproof capability is far inferior to the KCn/A armor steel developed in 1928.

Moreover, according to the reconnaissance of the German intelligence agency, the Soviets did not actually fully master the technology of KC armor steel and were unable to produce KC armor steel exceeding 200mm. Therefore, all armor steel plates with a thickness exceeding 200mm were surface-hardened steel with a simple process. This makes the bulletproof capabilities of the Soviet-class battleships far less impressive than the paper data. Although it has a total weight of more than 23,306 tons of armor (more than the Yamato-class), and the thickest part of the side armor even reaches 420mm, but in fact The ballistic protection capability is not as good as the 320mm armor of the Bismarck class, the 330mm armor of the Hindenburg class and the 328mm armor of the Richelieu class, not to mention the 360mm armor of the Veneto class.

"Marshal, the seaplane has found out the specific situation of the enemy fleet coming to Iceland." At 8 o'clock in the evening, Lieutenant General William Messer reported the reconnaissance of the He-115 seaplane dispatched by the Suez seaplane carrier. As a result, "there are 11 battleships, all very fast, all cutting-edge battleships, and 4 of them are definitely Soviet-class."

"11 ships..." Marshal Lütjens said with his fingers. "We have 2 Hindenburg-class ships, 2 Bismarck-class ships, 2 Richelieu-class ships, 4 Veneto-class ships, and 2 Barbarossa classes. The class can compete with a Gneisenau, so it’s 13 to 11!”

William Messer reminded: "Marshal, we still have 3 guided missile cruisers and 4 V-class missile boats, so the advantage is completely on our side!"

…

"Comrade General Secretary, a telegram from the Soviet Union." Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Marshal Pavlov carefully walked into the war room of the Supreme Command in the Kremlin and reported to Stalin, who was studying the situation on the Soviet-German front line, what he had just said informed.

"The Allied Combined Fleet Command has decided to start a war with the German-controlled European Combined Fleet in the waters west of Iceland." Pavlov said, "Comrade Kuznetsov said in the telegram that our strength far exceeds that of our opponents. So victory is expected."

"Oh." Stalin responded in a low voice, still staring at the map. "Victory at sea can be expected, but what about on land? The battle to relieve the siege of Leningrad, the defense of Warsaw and Kiev, and the tug-of-war on the Belarusian front... four large-scale battles, with millions of troops invested. , and how sure are you?”

"Comrade General Secretary, Warsaw can definitely be defended, and there will be no major problems on the Belarusian front." Marshal Pavlov said after careful consideration, "But in the battle of Kiev and the liberation of Leningrad, to be honest, we are not very sure."

"Not sure?" Stalin frowned, put the holder of the carved pipe into his mouth with his right hand, took a big drag, and then blew out a cloud of smoke.

"Yes," Marshal Pavlov nodded slightly and said, "The Southwest Front Army is currently weak, and the reactionaries on the right bank of Ukraine are very rampant, so the situation is very unfavorable. As for Leningrad... the Germans are obviously besieging the city for reinforcements, which is very unfavorable."

Stalin remained silent, apparently deep in thought. After a while, he suddenly asked: "What about Ireland? Is it possible for Britain and the United States to win in Ireland?"

"The key to Ireland lies at sea." Marshal Pavlov said, "As long as we can defeat the Germans at sea, American ground troops and air power will continue to arrive in Ireland. At the same time, the German logistics line will be affected by our The threat of the square fleet will be eliminated, so that the victory of the Battle of Ireland will be certain."

Stalin did not speak anymore, but raised his hand and waved. Pavlov took a few steps back knowingly, then turned and left.

"Call Comrade Beria." Stalin whispered as soon as Pavlov left.

Beria soon came to the war room and stood beside Comrade Stalin with great respect.

"We now need a channel to contact the Germans." Stalin surprised Beria as soon as he spoke.

However, he quickly asked calmly: "Comrade General Secretary, who do you want to contact?"

"Hitler and Hessmann need to be in contact with each other." Stalin said lightly.

"So... what's the level of contact?"

"Informal, and at the same time, you need to be able to communicate with Hitler and Hessmann." Stalin pondered for a moment, "The people around Hessmann can go find Natalie... It's best to get in touch before the end of the Irish campaign. "

"Comrade General Secretary, are there any conditions?" Beria guessed that Stalin probably believed that Britain and the United States would win in Ireland. In this way, the overall situation in Europe will become the same as that at the peak of the Napoleonic Empire. This is the bottom line acceptable to the Soviet Union. In fact, if Germany had not landed in Ireland and demonstrated the possibility of defeating Britain very quickly, Stalin would not have Will go to war with Germany.

"No reparations, no ceding of territory." Stalin said, "The Soviet Union can also help adjust the relationship between Britain and Germany... It can sign a trilateral mutual protection treaty between Britain, the Soviet Union, and Germany, and maintain the balance of power among Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union in Europe."