The Rise of the Third Reich

"Marshal Imperial, we are preparing to force the United States to launch an attack on the Hawaiian Islands."

Because he needed crucial assistance from Germany, Hiroshi Oshima had no intention of hiding anything and revealed Japan's plan for a decisive battle.

Oshima Hiro said: "Because the strength of the U.S. Navy has grown extremely rapidly, and our empire cannot catch up in any case, the final decisive battle in the Pacific should be fought sooner rather than later. At present, we still have considerable advantages in the Pacific, and our fleet We have an advantage in the number of aircraft carriers and battleships, and we also guard the Hawaiian Islands, posing a considerable threat to the US west coast. If we can force the US Pacific Fleet to launch a general attack on the Hawaiian Islands within 43 years, we will have a great chance of winning. Strategic bombing of the West Coast of the United States!"

"What? Strategic bombing of the West Coast of the United States?" Hersman was so surprised that he almost jumped up from his chair when he heard the news. "You have a long-range strategic bomber that can bomb the United States?"

"We don't have it..." Hiro Oshima said with a smile, "But your country must have it. Your country's Fokker 42 passenger plane can fly six to seven thousand kilometers, and the bomber developed based on the Fokker 42 must be able to fly 8,000 kilometers." Kilometer range, right? If it can use the Hawaiian Islands as a departure point, it should be able to pose a threat to cities on the west coast of the United States.”

Hiroshi Oshima was right. The Germans indeed have a long-range strategic bomber with a maximum range of more than 8,000 kilometers! And there’s more than one.

The Me264, jointly developed by Messchmidt and Fokker, has a super range of 8,800 kilometers and can take off from the Azores to bomb New York. The Ju390 with 6 engines developed by Junkers has also achieved success. It has a greater range than the Me264 and can fly up to 9,700 kilometers. Heinkel also developed a long-range bomber He274 with a maximum range of 7,000 kilometers.

These three long-range bombers all passed final test flights in the first half of 1943, and the Me264 eventually won. This type of long-range bomber has entered mass production and is produced by Messchmitt, Fokker, Junkers and Heinkel. The current monthly production has reached 60 aircraft.

Hersmann did not conceal Germany's achievements in the field of long-range bombers. He told Oshima: "We do have the Me264 heavy bomber with a maximum range of more than 8,000 kilometers, but using this type of aircraft to conduct strategic bombing of the United States is not worth it."

When the Me264 was originally designed, Hirschman planned to use it to bomb the United States. However, because the performance of the Ju288, a high-altitude and high-speed bomber, was so good, the Americans worked hard to develop high-altitude and high-speed interceptors (the Americans were not stupid, of course they knew that the German high-altitude aircraft were a great threat), and created a disposable jet at sea. Fire, the P47 high-altitude version was developed on land (the P47 uses a turbocharged engine, which has good high-altitude performance, and the high-altitude version has enhanced high-altitude performance). So far, the Ju288 has not blocked the Atlantic Ocean for the time being (Kesselin's order), let alone a four-engine heavy bomber like the Me264?

However, the temporary withdrawal of the Ju288 from the Atlantic Ocean does not mean that the aircraft has been eliminated, but that it needs to be fully upgraded. The engine must be equipped with a laughing gas combustion-supporting system GM1, and the remote-controlled gliding bombs carried must be upgraded to Hs293A/D series missiles.

After the upgrade is completed, the Ju288 will be able to attack at longer distances and fly higher and faster.

However, the Me264's maximum speed is only 560 kilometers, and its ceiling can only reach 12,000 meters. It cannot even fly 11,000 meters when carrying bombs, and its speed is even slower. If used to bomb the continental United States, it will definitely suffer heavy losses from the high-altitude P47.

If you want to reduce losses, you can only use night air strikes. However, the Americans have radio proximity fuses and night fighters improved from the P-38. It is also very dangerous to attack big cities in the United States at night, unless you use high-altitude penetration methods and drop bombs at an altitude of 10,000 meters.

But flying so high and at night, it was difficult for the pilot to find the target, which was a waste of bombs and precious fuel.

Therefore, when the Me264 entered service, the plan for strategic bombing of the United States had been cancelled, and the bombing target of this aircraft became the Ural Industrial Zone of the Soviet Union. Therefore, what is being produced now is not the ultra-long-range model of the Me264, but the heavy-load bomb model - the oil tank is reduced and the bomb bay is enlarged. It can carry 10 tons of bombs at a time to bomb targets 1,500 kilometers away.

"Your Excellency, Imperial Marshal," Hiro Oshima said with a smile, "We know that it is not cost-effective to use long-range bombers to attack the United States mainland, but our goal is not to use strategic bombing to force the United States to sue for peace, but to force the U.S. Pacific Fleet to attack without adequate preparation. Therefore, the bombing does not need to consider the actual damage caused to the Americans, but only the political and psychological impact.”

It is more than 3,000 kilometers from the Hawaiian Islands to the west coast of the United States, and the round trip is more than 7,000 kilometers. It is definitely not cost-effective to fly such a long distance for a night attack. Most of the bombs dropped will not hit the target, and the fuel consumption will be terrible.

But if we can force the U.S. Pacific Fleet to attack Hawaii, that's another matter... But can the Americans really be fooled?

"Okay, we can provide a batch of Me264." Hessman thought for a while and agreed to help. However, he did not want to send German air force personnel to the Hawaiian Islands-Germany now lacked pilots rather than aircraft, so he was willing to provide Me264 long-range bombers.

Although this bomber has a large range and can fly to an altitude of 12,000 meters, its technological advancement is far less than that of the Ju288. Because it only has high altitude and no high speed.

The engine used is not a 24-cylinder liquid-cooled type but an 18-cylinder air-cooled BMW802. The Japanese have already had the same technology, so there is no problem of technology leakage. As for the turbocharger used to improve the high-altitude performance of the BMW802, it is not a "not for sale" technology and has long been exported to Japan. However, Japan's high-temperature alloy technology is not good (high-temperature alloy is a restricted technology), and it has not been able to copy it until now.

"In addition, we also hope that your country can launch an attack on Newfoundland when the decisive battle on the Hawaiian Islands begins!"

Oshima then made another request that surprised Hirschman.

"Invasion of Newfoundland?" Hersman shook his head repeatedly. "Ambassador Oshima, do you know how many aircraft and coastal defense artillery the Americans have deployed in Newfoundland?"

Just look at a world map and you will know that Newfoundland is the springboard from Europe to North America. It is only 3,000 kilometers away from the west coast of Ireland, and only 2,600 kilometers away from the west coast of Iceland, even within the combat radius of Ju288.

In the days when Germany controlled the Atlantic sea power, the Americans were strengthening the defense of Newfoundland all the time. A large number of shore defense artillery were deployed at several locations suitable for landing, and at least 1,000 shore-based aircraft were also deployed on the island.

As we all know, shore-based aircraft have better take-off and landing conditions and can put more weight on combat performance (from this perspective, catapults are also combat effectiveness). Therefore, the combat effectiveness of shore-based aircraft is usually higher than that of aircraft with similar technical levels. Carrier-based aircraft must be powerful.

Moreover, the United States' current main shore-based fighter jets, the P51 and P47 (excluding high-altitude interceptor types), have strong ground-to-sea attack capabilities. They can be used as dive bombers with bombs attached, so they pose a great threat to enemy fleets entering their combat radius. big.

"It's just a feint attack." Hiro Oshima said with a smile, "And we expect that the decisive battle in the Hawaiian Islands will begin after the autumnal equinox. By then, there will be short days and long nights in the waters near Newfoundland, which should be able to cover the approach of the fleet."

But there are still high sea conditions after the autumnal equinox! Hersman wondered, could the ground troops still fight after crossing the North Atlantic after the autumnal equinox?

"Okay," Hessman stopped talking nonsense with Oshima, "Let's do our best... As for the Me264, we currently have 84 in stock and can give them to you. The payment method and price can be discussed slowly. , you can send someone to pick him up first and receive training on driving the Me264."

…

Japan, Tokyo.

When Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo received the telegram from Oshima Hiroshi, he had just had a close encounter with the "Asian Molotov" and had also promised to ensure that the Soviet Union's North Pacific route would not be violated... This was in retaliation for Belarus' refusal to cede Northern Huatai Island (Sakhalin) and its rejection of the undecided status of the Far East.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Germans have promised to provide 84 long-range bombers with a range of more than 8,000 kilometers!"

The person who reported to Hideki Tojo was not Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Aoi, but Gen Sugiyama, Chief of the Army Staff Headquarters. Because the acquisition of ultra-long-range bombers from Germany was an order given to Oshima by the Military Ministry, not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Only 84?" Tojo frowned deeply, "This is too few."

Sugiyama shook his head and said: "Germany does not seem to have plans to carry out strategic bombing of the United States, so they do not mass-produce long-range bombers. 84 is already the maximum number that can be provided."

"But can 84 hurt Americans?" Tojo asked.

Sugiyama Yuan smiled and said: "It depends on what kind of bomb is used!"

Hideki Tojo nodded and changed the subject: "In that case, hurry up and send someone to Germany to pick up the plane... Get the plane here earlier, and you can start the Japanese Empire's final battle plan earlier!"