The Rise of the Third Reich

"Push forward, the military song is loud,

Join forces with freedom.

Brave and fearless, unswervingly loyal,

We are invincible!

We are the Army and we are proud of it.

We are the Army and we proudly claim it..."

On December 20, 1942, a few days before Christmas, the gloomy atmosphere in London, which was under the double clouds of war and hunger, was suddenly swept away by majestic marches and loud military songs.

The American savior, who saved Britain and France in the last world war, and who was eagerly awaited by the British people for three years in this world war, finally lined up neatly, singing to the tune of majestic music. The passionate military songs came to the capital of the British Empire.

Britain is about to be saved!

The streets of London are now crowded with British people dressed in festive costumes. Although everyone looked disheveled, everyone looked extremely cheerful, and everyone wore a winner's smile. It seems that it is not the people of the British Isles who are suffering from hunger now, but the Europeans across the Channel.

Oh, of course Europeans are starving!

There is no doubt about this! All the newspapers in Britain declared that now most people in Germany, France and Italy can't even eat boiled eggs. Hunger is gripping Europe, people's anger has become uncontrollable, and the fire of revolution is spreading everywhere.

In short, if it persists just a little longer, the German Empire will fall apart just like it did in 1918. The British Empire will be able to taste the sweetness of victory again, and at the same time impose a treaty that is 100 times harsher than the Treaty of Versailles on the evil Germans.

And now that the Americans are sending troops to Europe in large numbers, what reason does Britain have for not persisting?

"God bless America! God bless Britain!"

"Long live the U.S. Army! Down with the Nazi bandits!"

"Well done boys, kill a few more Nazis..."

The onlookers on both sides of the street shouted vigorously, the elderly men and women were so excited that tears filled their eyes, the young girls blew kisses one by one, and the children also waved paper Stars and Stripes and Union Jack flags vigorously.

The proud American soldiers, carrying M1 rifles, wearing helmets and combat boots, were also in high spirits, waving to the welcoming crowd from time to time. It was as if they had just returned triumphantly from the fiercest battlefield.

Of course, it's not that these Americans are thicker-skinned than the steel plates of the Iowa-class battleships. In fact, they all thought they were going to Ireland to beat up the Nazis soon - they didn't know that their tanks, cannons, aircraft and ammunition were all sunk. Into the Norwegian Sea. This was a military secret known only to a handful of people in the American Expeditionary Forces.

"Damn it! What are we doing in the UK?" General Patton, who was sitting in a brand-new jeep (which was shipped to the UK at the end of 1941), waved to the British people with great dignity, and at the same time, he was a little dejected and laid mines with his old buddies. Deli spoke - his armored division now does not have a tank or an armored vehicle, not even an anti-tank gun. It is just a rifle division with not many bullets. If you encounter a German armored division, you will probably have to raise your hands and surrender.

"George, it's not that bad. The president will send us tanks and artillery soon." Bradley comforted Patton and said, "And we are not useless in London. At least we can boost the morale of the British. When we come By the time they arrived, they were about to collapse.”

General Patton snorted: "If the British know that we Americans can't do anything but eat, they will definitely collapse even more."

"They won't know, it's a secret." Bradley shook his head, "And it's useless even if someone leaks information that shouldn't be leaked, because no one will believe it... We are the last hope of the British. !”

General Patton nodded and sighed: "That's right. Apart from us, what else can the British expect now? They have actually lost the war... they just don't want to admit it."

As an outstanding general, how could General Patton not know the significance of the destruction of the NR21 fleet to the Irish Campaign.

Bradley smiled faintly and whispered: "George, so we need to stay in London even more... In fact, our value in London is greater than in Ireland!"

"Bigger?" Patton was a pure soldier, and his political response was incomparable to Bradley, the man who historically served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Yeah," Bradley smiled, "The United States needs us in London, and the United States needs us to defend London...if the British can't defend Ireland!"

When it came to military issues, Patton's judgment immediately became sharp. He frowned and shook his head slightly: "The British cannot hold it... Now the Germans have enough power to seize the island of Ireland, because the Soviet-German battlefield has been covered by heavy snow. There is nothing we can do, the battle in Ireland is actually lost!"

…

"Marshal Reich, the Americans have arrived in London." At Zossen's General Staff Headquarters, Marshal Kesselring handed a stack of photos to the visiting Hersmann.

Hessman took the photo, looked through it, and then smiled: "A group of riflemen can do nothing but boost the morale of the British."

"But the Americans still have ways to transport supplies and troops to the UK. The Americans can use fast cruise ships and aircraft carriers to transport troops and supplies." Navy Commander-in-Chief Raeder was also in Kesselring's office. He and Air Force Commander-in-Chief Val Marshal T. Weaver came with us.

So what was held today in the office of Chief of General Staff Kesselring was actually a meeting between the heads of the German Navy, Army and Air Force and the Minister of Defense.

Redl told Hersman that as the climate gets colder, the climate in the North Atlantic will become very harsh in the next two to three months, making reconnaissance and attack very difficult.

"It won't be long!" Hessman said with a smile. "The war on the island of Ireland will end no matter what this winter. Then Britain will be ours... It doesn't matter even if Churchill and George VI go to Canada."

In Hershman's opinion, the capture of Ireland meant the end of British resistance. George VI and Churchill left for Canada, and Elizabeth ascended the throne in London. From then on, they would play one British role and another.

The island of Ireland is now almost at the end of the process. The delays in the past few months were not all due to the Soviet Union launching a war, but also due to material hoarding and facility construction.

After all, Ireland is an island some distance away from the European continent, and the airports and ports in the German-controlled areas on the island are relatively small (the main port in Ireland at this time is Belfast in the hands of the British), which makes it difficult to meet the high-intensity requirements. The need for combat. Therefore, it will take several months to expand. At the same time, weapons, ammunition and various supplies must be stockpiled, and the force configuration must be adjusted. The troops previously deployed on the island of Ireland were mainly lightly equipped airborne troops and marines. After the British army massively increased its troops, it was no longer possible to rely on a small number of light-armed troops to capture Ireland. The battle in Ireland had to be decided by heavy-armed troops.

By mid-December 1942, a large number of heavy armored units drawn from the Soviet-German battlefields were in place. At the same time, the Irish Army Group, commanded by Field Marshal Wilhelm Little von Loeb, was also established at the end of November 1942.

There are three armies under the jurisdiction of this army group. One is the 1st Army of the German Wehrmacht, commanded by General Johannes Blaskowitz. The troops under its jurisdiction include the 1st Infantry Army (3 infantry divisions), The 5th Infantry Corps (3 infantry divisions) and the 15th Armored Corps (administering the 3rd Armored Division, the 20th Armored Division, and the 10th Armored Grenadier Division). The Army Headquarters also has direct jurisdiction over the 2nd Marine Division and the 10th Marine Division. Rocket Artillery Brigade (the smoke launcher unit was officially renamed Rocket Artillery Force in October 42), 11th Rocket Artillery Brigade, French 11th and 12th Heavy Artillery Divisions, and 6 heavy armor battalions (506-511) and 6 heavy assault guns Battalion (211-216).

One is the 1st Army of the Irish Republican Army, which includes 8 Irish infantry divisions and 1 Irish artillery brigade.

The other group army is designated as the Italian Irish Expeditionary Force, commanded by General Giovanni Messe. The troops under its jurisdiction include the Italian 2nd Army (with 3 infantry divisions under its jurisdiction) and the 35th Mountain Army (with 3 infantry divisions under its jurisdiction). Mountain Infantry Division) and units directly under the group army (9th Semi-Motorized Division, 52nd Semi-Motorized Division, 3rd Rapid Division, 135th Armored Division and Expeditionary Force Artillery Group).

The combined strength of the three armies totaled 30 divisions and 3 brigades, plus 1 artillery group and 6 terrifying heavy armored battalions, with a total strength of more than 500,000. There are more than 2,000 tanks (excluding reserves), assault artillery, and self-propelled artillery in the pipeline, 264 of which are terrifying Tiger tanks!

In addition to the feared Tiger heavy tank and the Rhino tank destroyer that shined on the Soviet-German battlefield, a large-caliber infantry support assault gun called the Grizzly assault gun was used to deal with enemy solid positions. Shipped to Ireland.

This Grizzly assault gun and the Rhino anti-tank destroyer are "distant relatives", both modified using the turf magic of the No. 4 tank. The difference is that the Grizzly is a weapon designed for infantry and fortifications. It is not equipped with a long-barreled 88mm cannon, but a 150mm 12-fold short-barreled assault cannon (Stuh). And its armor is far stronger than that of the "Rhinoceros", which is enough to brave the firepower of enemy infantry and anti-tank weapons.

With such strong strength, victory on the Irish battlefield seems to be only a matter of time.