The Rise of the Third Reich

Berlintzossen, Grand General Staff.

"Lieutenant Colonel, Tokyo telegram." A major in charge of intelligence liaison handed a copy of the telegram to Hessmann's adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Pipe, who looked at it twice and looked happy, and immediately walked quickly to the conference room.

In the conference room, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral William Messer held a baton and pointed at a map of the Atlantic Ocean while making a report to Chief of General Staff Hersman and Defense Minister Schleicher. Also present were Navy Commander-in-Chief Raeder, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Weaver, Atlantic Front Commander-in-Chief Kesselring, Naval Aviation Commander-in-Chief Richthofen and others.

"The construction of the Belem Port base has now entered the final stage. The docks in the port have been massively expanded. The number of large dry docks (actually floating dry docks) has reached 6. The entrance to the Tocantins River Three anti-submarine nets have been deployed and minefields have been set up, which can effectively prevent the penetration of American submarines.”

Admiral Messer pointed to the five aircraft signs near the Port of Belém and said: "The Air Force and Naval Aviation have also built 4 division-level airports near the Port of Belém, which can deploy up to 2,000 aircraft. There is also another "A dedicated airport for jet aircraft." He slid the baton to Cayenne in Guyana. "Here, the engineering forces affiliated with the Navy, Air Force and Naval Aviation have also carried out long-term and large-scale construction. Currently, there are 20,000 berths there. There are piers for cargo ships, 4 regiment-level airports, including 1 regiment-level airport that can take off and land jet aircraft, 4 underground oil depots and 4 underground ammunition depots.

Air defense units were also deployed in large numbers to Belém and Cayenne. A total of 10 air defense regiments were deployed, equipped with a large number of 128mm, 88mm, 40mm and 20mm anti-aircraft guns. Anti-aircraft gun towers with fire control radars were also built in key areas. Can effectively counter the heavy bombers of the US military...

In addition, we also secretly built a large airport and a large number of defense facilities near Georgetown in Guyana, Venezuela. "

"William, let's talk about the brown plan." Hersman waved his hand. He was not worried about the air defense of Beren and Cayenne at all. Now American B-29s are still concentrated in Australia to bomb Japanese-controlled oil fields, while B-17s and The combat radius of the B-24 cannot reach Belém Port at all, and it can only blow up the Cayenne at most.

However, the Americans have never had an advantage over the Cayenne. The German Fw-190B/C/D and He219 are not easy to deal with. They have good high-altitude performance and particularly powerful firepower.

In addition, there are air defense towers near the Cayenne port and airport - fire control radars and 128mm heavy anti-aircraft guns installed on high concrete towers, coupled with radio proximity fuses, can effectively fight against American heavy bombers.

Moreover, even if the Cayenne port and airport were hit by more bombs and incendiary bombs, the German engineers there would quickly repair it and it would not be a problem at all.

Hearing Hessman's question, William Messer immediately turned to the topic: "At present, the preliminary preparations for the brown plan have been basically completed, and the troops, equipment, supplies, ammunition, etc. prepared for combat in the Americas have begun to be transferred. The troops, equipment and supplies for the first phase of operations are expected to be completed within 3-4 months.

In addition, the comprehensive preparations for the European Combined Fleet will also be completed within 3-4 months. At that time, the European Combined Fleet will take over the Veneto, Littorio, Rome, and Imperial of the Roman Navy. In addition, there will also be a batch of Kesselring-class aircraft carriers, Munich-class air defense cruisers, 1936 D-type destroyers and Type 21 submarine equipment units.

If the Japanese Combined Fleet can severely damage the main force of the US Navy in the Pacific as agreed, then the probability of success of the Brown Plan will be 100%. "

Having said this, William Messer frowned slightly, seeming a little worried about the Japanese.

"You can rest assured about this. The Japanese dare not betray us. We have many cards to play now." Just after Hersman finished speaking, his adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Pipe, handed over the telegram from Tokyo.

Hersman took a look at the telegram and laughed: "The Japanese have already drawn up a decisive battle plan, preparing to use the attack on Midway Island to lure the enemy, and then use battleships to attack the U.S. Pacific Fleet in a decisive battle."

"A battleship decisive battle?" Richthofen of the German Naval Aviation was surprised when he heard the news. "Are the Japanese kidding? That's the Pacific Ocean!"

"It would be nice if we could have a fight," Redl took over the topic. "The biggest obstacle in the brown plan operation, apart from the huge shore-based aviation deployed by the United States in Venezuela and the Caribbean islands, is the U.S. battleships. According to intelligence, the United States currently has four Iowa-class battleships and one North Carolina-class (USS Washington) equipped with 406mm main guns. In addition, four Soviet-class battleships belonging to the Soviet Union have also been moored. New York. These nine giant battleships will pose a huge threat to our combat operations."

This giant battleship is not all the United States has (or can control)! At this time and space, the construction of five Montana-class battleships in the United States has begun, and two more Iowa-class battleships have also been launched and are currently being outfitted. By the second half of 1945 or early 1946, all of these giant battleships will be able to service.

By then the United States will own or control 16 super battleships!

On the German side, there are only 2 Hindenburg class, 4 Schleicher class, 3 Alsace class and 3 Duke Alexander class, a total of 12 super battleships with 406mm cannons. Moreover, the firepower and armor of these super battleships are simply not comparable to the American Montana class.

"They are just some outdated battleships." German Naval Aviation Commander General Richthofen said with an indifferent expression, "Our TV-guided missiles will soon be equipped with troops, no matter how many battleships the United States has. use."

His views are consistent with Hersman, otherwise Hersman would not have been converted into an aircraft carrier by four H41 battleships.

Hearing Richthofen's point of view, both Redl and Messer looked a little unhappy - but Hersman was used to such embarrassing scenes. Germans are such a straight-laced person, they will tell you anything and won't hide it in their hearts.

"Of course battleships are useful!" Marshal Redl said in a heavy voice, "Unless radar-guided missiles can be developed, battleships will never be eliminated."

Radar-guided missiles are missiles in the true sense, while TV-guided missiles are just a transitional product with too many limitations. For example, TV guidance can only be used during the day. If it cannot be seen at night, there is no way to guide and control it.

In addition, TV guidance is actually remote control guidance and cannot be "ignored". Someone must use a remote control device to control the missile. Moreover, the signal transmission distance of the remote control device is limited, and there will be no signal if it exceeds 30 kilometers. Therefore, TV-guided missiles cannot strike beyond visual range at all - this is not only a problem of signal transmission distance, but also a problem of target search.

Although Germany now has radar that can search for surface ships from the air, the radar can only detect a rough outline, and it is difficult to distinguish between aircraft carriers, battleships and large cargo ships. If the missile is "blindly fired" based on the radar search results, it is very likely that the missile will not be able to find the target at all (current radars still have a large deviation). Therefore, aircraft carrying TV-guided missiles must still fly to a distance where the enemy fleet can be visually observed before launching TV-guided missiles.

Therefore, the only thing that can really be avoided is the anti-aircraft artillery of the enemy's surface fleet, and it cannot avoid the enemy's interceptors at all.

"The Americans can completely hide their battleship forces in the Caribbean Sea to the west of Trinidad. Use American shore-based aircraft all over the Caribbean islands for cover, and use night cover when we land on Trinidad. Strike suddenly and violently."

Redl quickly raised a possibility to prove his point.

According to the "Brown Plan", Trinidad is an island that the European coalition must occupy. Only by occupying the island can the coalition open the door to attack Venezuela and the Caribbean.

And the US military must know this too. Therefore, after Germany entered Guyana, it immediately took control of Trinidad and built a large number of airports and bases on the island, with thousands of shore-based aircraft deployed there!

If there are more than a dozen super battleships equipped with 406mm main guns guarding there, the coalition's landing operations will be very risky.

"Marshal Reich," Raeder said to Hessmann in a very positive tone, "in the brown plan, the battleship battle is inevitable. And we must achieve a great victory, because in terms of the number of cruisers and destroyers, our side has more The disadvantages cannot be made up for by quality.”

What Redl means is that if the battleships on both sides compete with each other and both sides suffer losses, then there will definitely be no chance of competing with cruisers and destroyers. According to intelligence, the total number of cruisers currently in service and under construction in the United States is no less than 70! There are as many as 900 destroyers and destroyer escorts under construction and in service...

Moreover, American cruisers and destroyers are not bad either. The mass-produced "Munich" class air defense cruisers and 1936 D-type destroyers produced in Europe are no better than similar American ships, and their numbers are much smaller.

Therefore, the European Combined Fleet absolutely cannot lose in the battleship level competition, and it cannot afford to lose!

Redl finally concluded: "Now our advantage lies in the army and aviation. In terms of large surface ships, we are only evenly matched. Even if we take into account the factors of remote-controlled missiles, we are not sure of victory. As for medium and light surface ships, our disadvantages are too great. If it cannot achieve a major victory in the battle of large surface ships, the United States can give full play to the numerical advantage of medium and light surface ships.

In addition, in terms of submarines, our Type 21 submarine has a large technological advantage and can pose a greater threat to the enemy's surface fleet..."

"Report!" Reidel's words were suddenly interrupted by a report. A staff officer had already walked into the conference room. "I just received a report from the naval observer group stationed in Japan. The Japanese combined fleet is leaving the anchorage of Etortu Island. They are going to A decisive battle with the U.S. Navy!”