The Rise of the Third Reich

I don’t know if it was because the critical situation on the Pacific battlefield promoted the harmony of the Japanese navy and army. There was no unpleasant quarrel at the Japanese base camp meeting on October 10. Moreover, the navy and army also reached an agreement on two issues: launching "Operation Czech-1" as soon as possible and "strengthening Japan-Germany cooperation" (actually asking Germany for help).

On October 12 (Berlin time), Lieutenant General Hiroshi Oshima and General Kiyoshi Hasegawa, the leaders of the Japanese Navy and Army delegation in Germany, jointly paid a rare visit to the Chief of General Staff of the German Wehrmacht Hersmann.

"Your Excellency, Imperial Marshal, our invincible Imperial Japanese Army recently achieved another unprecedented victory in the Pacific battlefield, sinking 9 US aircraft carriers and 1 battleship; sinking and damaging at least 12 cruisers and destroyers; sinking various types of transport ships and landing ships. There were about 40 ships and smashed the US military's offensive on Christmas Island..."

General Kiyoshi Hasegawa first boasted in English (he spoke English, Oshima spoke German, Hersmann could speak both, and there was a translator on site) - in fact, it was not a boast, measured by ordinary standards. The Japanese have been playing really well in the Pacific recently. He didn't lose any ships, but he sank dozens of American ships, large and small, including large aircraft carriers and battleships. If it were any other country, it would be difficult to bear such a huge loss.

But the United States is rich!

It is a wealthy country that can build dozens of aircraft carriers a year. The number of ships they lost in September and October is definitely not as many as the new ones entering service... Even if the number of aircraft carriers has increased, the real loss of the Americans is 6 escorts aircraft carrier and 1 fleet aircraft carrier. In September and October 1943, at least 10 escort carriers were in service, as well as 1 Independence-class and 1 Essex-class!

Therefore, the Japanese would definitely not be able to win the war if they exchanged a dozen aircraft for one ship.

"The Americans are attacking Dutch Harbor now, right?" Hersman saw Hasegawa Kiyoshi finished speaking, so he asked about the latest battle situation.

"Yes." Hasegawa Kiyoshi nodded and admitted. "However, it is currently just a large-scale air strike and there is no sign of landing... We have found no trace of the US landing fleet."

What this actually means is that the Japanese army now does not know where the main force of the U.S. 7th Fleet is - the I-166 submarine sent by the Japanese to track the U.S. fleet lost contact on October 10, and it is estimated that all its members were reincarnated.

The remnants of the Japanese Army and Navy aviation units on Amakonak Island and Unalaska Island also evacuated on the 11th, so it was impossible to send out long-range reconnaissance aircraft for search.

So most of the North Pacific is now a blind spot. No one knows where the U.S. 7th Fleet is? The U.S. break-up fleet that entered the North Pacific at the same time was nowhere to be seen.

Now the main force of the Japanese combined fleet is heading towards the central waters of the Aleutian Islands at full speed, hoping to prevent the two American fleets from joining forces. However, considering the fuel consumption of 15,000 tons per day, the combined fleet's current operations obviously cannot be sustained for long.

"The Americans have great strength," Kiyoshi Hasegawa changed the topic and said, "Although they suffered heavy setbacks, they can still maintain an offensive in the Pacific. If they want to break this offensive and force the United States to sue for peace, Japan and Germany We have to work together.”

cooperate? Are you asking for help?

Hersman had long known that the Pacific War would end up like this. This was a war between 6 million tons of oil and 260 million tons of oil! Americans would be foolish not to play the local tycoon card. And what can the rich and wealthy do? Fly together? Fighting a ship? Only if you can win can you win!

The only thing Japan can fight for is to die. Therefore, when the European version of the Lend-Lease Act was proposed at the beginning of the year, Hersman regarded assisting Japan with suicide weapons as a key project.

And after Japan rejected Hersman's "unreasonable request," Hersman did not give up his efforts to develop "artificial intelligence weapons." In April, Hersman instructed the Air Force Armament Bureau and the Naval Armament Bureau to issue a second round of development tenders for "artificial intelligence missiles" - because the V1-J human-operated missile had failed in previous "service tests" (although Germany It will not be equipped with V1-J missiles, but it still conducted service tests very seriously). There were two major accidents in a row, resulting in the loss of two Ju88 bombers and all crew members. Therefore, the entire project was deemed a failure, and after repeated considerations on the offensive, Hersman agreed to cancel the production contract for the V1-J manned missile using an unreliable liquid rocket engine and re-tender for manned missiles using jet engines.

In addition, Hersman also believes that after Japan has been consumed by the United States, it is likely that it will not be able to produce 1,500 outstanding pilots who can fly V1-J rocket missiles (this kind of missile is difficult to fly and requires Hanna. A pilot of Laich's level is required to fly it). Therefore, the Japanese now need "high-quality suicide missiles" that are more powerful, more reliable, easier and more flexible to operate and more comfortable.

In fact, the kamikaze tactics used by Japan in history were very unsuccessful, and they did not sink many valuable warships. According to later statistics, the Japanese kamikaze force dispatched approximately 1,298 aircraft, and the proportion of successful hits on US ships was only about 5%, and the sinking rate was even lower.

In Hersman's view, such a "kamikaze attack" was simply irresponsible suicide. With the production of American ships, if we use this exchange ratio to collide, the Japanese will definitely become extinct.

So Hessmann proposed the "high-quality suicide" tactic - this is an idea that is very consistent with German thinking!

"Admiral Hasegawa, Vice Admiral Oshima," Hessman said, "I have always been very active in promoting cooperation between Japan and Germany. And I also understand your difficulties, so I had people design some weapons that are very useful to you... artificial intelligence weapons."

Artificial intelligence weapons? Sounds very powerful!

German fan Lieutenant Admiral Oshima Hiroshi immediately said, "What weapons are they?"

"Missiles," Hessman said, "They are all operated by personnel and can perish together with the enemy."

Such artificial intelligence?

Hasegawa Kiyoshi and Oshima Hiroshi looked at each other and were a little disappointed. Japan had obtained similar weapons in 1941 and even copied them, but later gave up because the battlefield situation improved. After the Battle of Panama, the Japanese Navy actually picked up the V3 manned missile system that Germany had assisted Japan at the time and conducted research.

But the results of the research found that this manned missile had great limitations and was no longer suitable for today's battlefield. First of all, the "missile" (actually an airplane) with a pushback engine is difficult to control, and only the best pilots can control this missile.

Secondly, the design of the V3 manned missile has serious defects (mainly caused by the immature technology of the pushback engine), the flight accident rate is high, the engine is prone to fire (the heat dissipation of the pushback engine is a problem), and its speed is not fast enough compared to today's US carrier-based fighters, and it has no self-defense capability and is easily shot down.

If Hersman still takes out weapons like the V3 manned missile, the two Japanese devils will not be interested.

Hersman has stood up from his seat at this time and said to the two Japanese: "There are samples here in Tsosen, let's go and see. What else do you want? Let's talk about it after you finish reading this."

The samples of artificial intelligence weapons are placed in a building next to the General Staff Headquarters that is specially used to store and display various weapons-this is a venue shared by the German Navy, Army, and Air Force Armament Bureau. There are many exhibition halls in the building, which store real objects or models of various weapons used by the German army.

On the top floor of the building, in a grand exhibition hall with granite floor tiles and floor-to-ceiling glass windows, there is now an impeccable suicide weapon with exquisite design and workmanship - the "Silver Reaper" manned missile jointly developed by the British Rolls-Royce Company and the German Henschel Company!

A middle-aged, somewhat fat German Air Force Lieutenant (reserve conscript) spoke fluent Japanese to fully introduce the performance and characteristics of the "Silver Reaper" missile, which looks like a small plane at first glance, to the two Japanese generals.

He said: "This is a combination of the most advanced aviation technology from Germany and the United Kingdom, using top craftsmanship, and is a fine suicide weapon hand-made by technicians at the British Rolls-Royce factory..."

A suicide weapon hand-made by Rolls-Royce technicians, and it is a limited edition. This is certainly a luxury suicide weapon that most people would shy away from!

"Please look," the fat lieutenant was the manager of Mercedes-Benz in Japan before the war. He could speak Osaka dialect, just like a Japanese profiteer. He pointed at the silver suicide missile with a shell as perfect as a Rolls-Royce car and said, "The shell of this missile is made of the most advanced high-strength aluminum alloy, and the workmanship is very sophisticated. It also fully considers the safety of passengers and missiles. Nickel-chromium-manganese rolled steel is used as bulletproof steel plate in key parts, which can withstand the strafing of 0.5-inch (12.7mm) American aircraft machine guns..." "Suicide weapons also need to consider safety?" Oshima Hiroshi raised an objection at this time - even if he is a German fan, he can't imagine what the purpose of producing a suicide weapon that emphasizes safety is. "Of course, the purpose of Rolls-Royce and Henschel to manufacture this suicide weapon is not to kill the pilot, but to use it to destroy the enemy's warships. Therefore, before achieving the purpose of destruction, safety must be considered. Therefore, the design and manufacture of the 'Silver Death' fully consider the three major indicators of safety, reliability and comfort..."

"Comfortable?" Oshima Hiroshi frowned. Is this to let the special forces members finish their last journey comfortably?

"Yes, please look. This is the cockpit of the missile. It has a teardrop-shaped bulletproof glass canopy with a wide field of view. The cockpit also has a pressurization function, which can adapt to extreme weather conditions above 10,000 meters. The interior space is also relatively spacious, and you will not feel depressed even if you sit in it for a long time. In addition, there are hand-stitched leather seats, which are very comfortable and can relieve fatigue and tension. In addition, a DSC tape recorder is installed, so that pilots can listen to some relaxing music... Of course, the leather seats and DSC recorder are optional. In addition, the 'Silver Reaper' missile also uses the very safe W1B jet engine produced by Rolls-Royce, which can provide up to 500 kilograms of thrust, allowing the 'Silver Reaper' missile to reach a maximum level flight speed of 800 kilometers per hour, and a range of up to 200 kilometers. If installed on our German Me264 long-range bomber, it can completely rely on the guidance of the onboard FuG300 radar to achieve beyond-visual-range strikes."