The Rise of the Third Reich

It was 3pm on August 3, 1944, cloudy.

Southeast Pacific, off the coast of Peru.

A He115 twin-pontoon seaplane with a slender fuselage and wide wings flickered in the clouds. This seaplane first flew in 1936 and its modified shore-based torpedo bomber were very prosperous in the early days of the war. The best reconnaissance aircraft and torpedo bombers of the German naval aviation played a great role in the war against Britain.

By 1944, this aircraft had a maximum speed of only 355 kilometers per hour, a ceiling of only 5,200 meters, a serious lack of armor and self-defense firepower, and no airborne radar. It could no longer meet the needs of the German naval aviation. So as early as In 1943, these aircraft completely disappeared from the German naval aviation establishment.

But for Captain Alexis Suarez, a pilot of the naval aviation force of the New Asbania Federation (composed of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and several states in southern Brazil), the performance of the He115 is still very satisfactory. A speed of more than 300 kilometers per hour is enough for coastal reconnaissance missions. The super long range of up to 3,350 kilometers gives the He115 the ability to patrol the waters off Peru. If the U.S. Navy fleet goes south along the west coast of Peru, then the new Asba with the He115 The Nian Navy can detect it in time.

However, Captain Suarez and his comrades from the 10th Reconnaissance Group of the New Asbania Naval Air Force, which is responsible for patrolling the Pacific waters north of Chile, now simply do not believe that they will one day encounter the American fleet heading south.

Because the Americans are very busy now. On the one hand, they have to deal with the bitter battle in the direction of the Hawaiian Islands. According to the war situation announcement published above, the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet taught the United States a severe lesson in the Midway-Aleutian Islands battle in July. People, causing the U.S. Pacific Fleet to lose about half of its troops!

On the other hand, in the Caribbean-Atlantic battlefield, the European Combined Fleet is also about to launch an attack - because the Soviet-German War has come to an end. In July, due to Japan's sneak attack on the Far East of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union and Russia, who were in the midst of a civil war, signed an armistice agreement. They said they wanted to "unite to resist Japan." For Germany, the Soviet-Russian armistice also meant victory on the Eastern Front.

Now the Germans could finally withdraw their main force from the Soviet-German battlefield and transfer it to the Atlantic battlefield.

And for the newly formed New Asbanian Federation, this means a victory that will soon be won.

A united, strong, and prosperous New Asbanian Federation that can compete with the United States will soon become the leading force in South America!

And the new Asbanian soldiers of my generation are so lucky to be the founders of this federation.

The captain, who was in a happy mood, skillfully controlled the plane while admiring the beautiful scenery outside the window. White clouds floated past like cotton wool, one after another, one after another, making people feel as if they were in heaven, with the Almighty God by their side.

At this moment, Schneider, a German young man sitting behind Suarez and holding a Zeiss telescope to carefully search for targets on the sea, suddenly shouted in Spanish.

"Captain, west! West! At 9 o'clock, two monoplanes! Approaching!"

Suarez took a quick look and saw two black spots in the distance approaching quickly, obviously with bad intentions.

The He115 seaplane piloted by Suarez is still 20 nautical miles away from Peru's territorial waters, so these two planes are unlikely to belong to Peruvians, and as far as Suarez knows, the Peruvians don't have many usable monoplanes at all - -Compared with Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, which have rich natural resources, Peru is basically a pauper. This country's navy and aviation are just for show.

Thinking of this, Captain Suarez quickly shouted: "Everyone is ready, Hans (Schneider), determine the type of aircraft."

"It seems to be F4U, God! It's an American F4U carrier-based fighter! We can't escape, we are finished..."

Two F4U carrier-based fighter jets are definitely invincible!

However, Captain Suarez was not too nervous. It was not that he was not afraid of death, but that he had his own ingenious plan to escape.

"Don't worry, they can't catch us." Suarez's brows were knitted as he spoke. F4U fighter jets are not afraid, but where did they come from? Definitely not Peruvian.

"We're going to descend now, Hans, send power to the command center immediately. Carlos, use your machine gun!" After saying that, Captain Suarez immediately turned the control stick, and the plane first turned eastward, and then turned to the east. It swoops toward the sea at a 45-degree angle.

The He115 is a seaplane. It is impossible to escape the pursuit of F4U at medium and high altitudes. The only way out is to lower the altitude and fly close to the sea. If the F4U also drops in height and reaches the point where it is close to the sea, it will have to drive carefully.

Moreover, Suarez also flew the plane eastward, that is, toward the Peruvian coastline. Today, Peru is still a neutral country that is pro-American. Although its politics and military are controlled by the United States, it has become an important transit base for the United States to support Brazil. But we will not casually shoot down a Chilean plane that "accidentally entered". Even if Suarez's He115 makes an emergency landing in Peru, the people on board can be released and returned to the country through diplomatic channels - while Peruvians are pro-American, they also have to leave a way out for themselves. !

"Captain! Over there!"

Shortly after the He115 seaplane broke out of the clouds and dropped to a height close to the sea, Hans Schneider, who had just finished sending the telegram, suddenly shouted again.

Following Schneider's finger, Captain Suarez saw clusters of smoke plumes rising from the sea. The smoke pillars were so dense, there were dozens or hundreds of them. There is no doubt that there is a sizable fleet now seriously heading south down the Peruvian coastline.

Their target must be Chile!

Schneider said loudly: "The fleet! It must be the American fleet...the distance is about 60-70 kilometers!"

Captain Suarez gritted his teeth: "Damn it, the Americans are going to invade us, coming from the Pacific! Send power to the headquarters quickly, our New Asbania Federation is going to be in catastrophe now."

While he was speaking, two American F4U carrier-based fighter jets had already arrived behind him, and the sound of machine gun firing also rang out at the same time.

…

"Admiral, it's an Asbanian He115... It seems we have been discovered!"

At the same time, Admiral Spruance, commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet, who was riding in the aircraft carrier "Essex", also received the report. He now also serves as the commander of the newly formed Task Force 56, commanding more than 100 ships and a larger number of troop transports and landing ships, sailing to the port of Valparaiso in Chile.

"Shoot it down!" Spruance just uttered a few words and decided the fate of the Chilean He-115 (Captain Suarez and his comrades failed to escape the F4U pursuit), and then he I forgot about it.

He now commands a powerful maritime force that can crush the entire New Asbania Federation! There are three "Alaska" class battlecruisers alone. There are more than 20 cruisers of the "Baltimore" class, "Oakland" class and "Cleveland" class.

As for the "Essex" class aircraft carriers, which are the main strike force of the fleet, there are as many as 8 - in the previous Second Battle of Hawaii, 2 Essex class were sunk by the Japanese and 2 were seriously damaged. The remaining Essex-class aircraft that can still be used in combat are all here - and each aircraft carrier has at least 80 commonly used carrier-based aircraft. There are a total of 640 commonly used carrier-based aircraft, which is enough even to go to Midway Island to fight the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet, let alone deal with a country like New Asbania?

Even Admiral Spruance, who is known for his caution, felt that Nimitz sending a large fleet like Task Force 56 to attack Chile was a bit over the top.

In addition, Nimitz also left 7 old battleships (2 Wyoming class, 2 New York class, 2 Mexico class and 1 Florida class) and 16 escort aircraft carriers in the Hawaiian Islands, continuing to operate in Hawaii. The bluff of the islands created the illusion that the main force of the U.S. Navy was still on the battlefield in the Hawaiian Islands, ensuring that the actions of Task Force 56 were completely beyond German expectations.

Based on the current situation analysis gathered from all aspects, Halsey's bluff has achieved a certain degree of success. The main force of the European combined fleet is currently scattered in ports such as Brest in France, Gibraltar in Spain, and Belem in Brazil.

The U.S. 56th Task Force and the landing force led by the elite 1st Marine Division are now less than 1,000 nautical miles away from Valparaiso, the largest port in Chile. With an average speed of 16 knots, in a few dozen hours, those Chileans who dream of following the German tanks to make a fortune will experience the power of American bombs and artillery shells!

Then it was the turn of the Argentinians, the Germans' "general agent" in South America, to be unlucky!

Now it doesn't matter even if the 56th Task Force's whereabouts are exposed. In just a few dozen hours, can Germany still let their large fleet fly to the Pacific Ocean? Even if we drive from Belem Port, it is still seven to eight thousand nautical miles, and we can't reach it in less than half a month.

So all the Germans can do now is to send a few planes to Santiago (the capital of Chile) to take all Chilean dignitaries to Buenos Aires for refuge.

Just when Spruance was complacent and wanted to give the Germans a heavy blow on the west coast of South America.

The news that "the huge US naval fleet is approaching Chile" has spread along the radio waves to the General Staff of the Defense Forces in Zossen, Germany, more than 12,000 kilometers away.