The Rise of the Third Reich

"Marshal Imperial, a Chilean He115 seaplane reported that the American fleet was sighted in the southeastern Pacific, 40-100 nautical miles away from the coast of Chile. It was heading south when it was discovered, and it seemed to be preparing to attack Chile."

Holding the telegram he had just received, Air Marshal Kesselring, who had just taken over as Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, walked to Hessmann.

After the initial signing of the Soviet-Russian Armistice Agreement, the focus of Germany and the European Community's military deployment has shifted from the Eastern Front to the Atlantic, so some personnel adjustments are inevitable. Marshal Kesselring, who was born in the army and air force, was obviously not suitable to command the Atlantic Front in a decisive battle with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, so he handed over the position of commander of the Atlantic Front to Marine Marshal Lütjens, and returned to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. However, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, he rarely goes to his headquarters to work. Most of the time, like Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Reyder, he works in the General Staff Headquarters. Like Guderian, both men were actually Hessmann's deputies.

"Invasion of Chile?"

This news was indeed beyond Hessmann's expectations, and it also exceeded the analysis of the Atlantic War situation by the Atlantic Front Command, the European Combined Fleet Command and the German Naval Command - none of them had plans to fight the United States in the Pacific. .

Hersman took the telegram and read it. There was only a short line of text on it, and there was no other information except the report that a U.S. fleet was approaching the coast of Chile.

"That's all?" Hersman handed the copy of the telegram to Navy Commander-in-Chief Raeder.

"I'm afraid the Chileans themselves don't know much about the situation," Kesselring said. "They don't have many seaplanes to use for reconnaissance."

"What about us?" Hersman asked. "How much power do we have in Chile?"

"There is a Submarine Group 10 under the Submarine Command in the Port of Valparaiso, with 18 of the most advanced Type 21 submarines." The answer to this question was Admiral Redl, who told Hersman, "But Twelve of these 18 Type 21 submarines are currently performing missions in the Pacific, and only six remain in Valparaiso Port.”

Submarine operations generally do not go out in full force. Usually one-third stay in port to rest, one-third are on the way to the battlefield, and one-third are performing tasks such as breaking diplomatic relations, laying mines, and reconnaissance.

The submarines owned by the German Navy Submarine Command are mainly used to perform break-in missions. Therefore, the Type 21 submarines with Valparaiso Port as their home port also perform break-up tasks, so only 6 remain in port.

"Only 6 submarines?" Hessmann asked again when he saw that Raeder had finished and Kesselring didn't add anything. He didn't want to give up.

"That's all." Kesselring shrugged. "The Atlantic Front Command has never thought of deploying heavy troops in the Pacific... That area is under the jurisdiction of the 9th Fleet. And the New Asbania Federation does not want us to be in their territory. There are too many troops stationed on the land.”

The 9th Fleet of the European Community Navy is a headquarters fleet. Its headquarters is located in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, and is responsible for operations in the Pacific. However, since Japan has always felt uneasy about the existence of the 9th Fleet, the European Community has limited the strength of the 9th Fleet to the lowest level. In fact, it is just a show-off fleet.

However, the Pacific Theater is still under the jurisdiction of the 9th Fleet and has never been taken seriously. In the view of the German General Staff, the protagonists in the Pacific Theater are the Japanese after all.

In addition, the new Asbanian federal government led by Juan Peron regards his country as a world power - in terms of overestimating his own strength, he is quite like Mussolini!

Therefore, Juan Peron has always been reluctant to allow the troops of European countries to be stationed on the land of the New Asbania Federation.

"Six submarines cannot withstand the American fleet." Hersman crossed his arms and frowned, "It seems that we still underestimated the wisdom of the Americans..."

"There is also the navy and air force of New Asbania," Marshal Kesselring reminded. "They purchased many of our aircraft and ships, and also formed their own Pacific Fleet and Atlantic Fleet."

Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, the three countries that make up the New Asbanian Federation, were all well-known tycoon countries in the 1940s, similar to the Arab oil tycoons of later generations. The money is not bad, and there are resources and agricultural products that the European Community urgently needs to export. Therefore, many advanced weapons and equipment can be exchanged - in this regard, New Asbania's conditions are much better than Japan's. Japan's exports to Europe are quite limited, and the largest item is natural rubber. Therefore, in the Japan-Europe trade, Japan often has the problem of being unable to pay, while the New Asbania Federation can pay in full for all the weapons and equipment they can buy, and can also pay high prices.

Therefore, from the beginning of 1944, when Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay formed the New Asbania Alliance and joined the Axis Group, a large number of relatively advanced weapons and equipment (mostly eliminated by the German army) were continuously shipped to Argentina and Chile. and Uruguay.

Using these equipment, the New Asbania Federation established a sizable army, navy and air force in a relatively short period of time.

Among them, the new Asbanian Navy, which was formed by the merger of the original Chilean Navy and the Argentine Navy, actually formed its own two-ocean fleet!

However, the equipment and operational thinking of the New Asbania Navy's two-ocean fleet are outdated. Except for one "Kesselring" class aircraft carrier that is actually operated by German crews, there is no second aircraft carrier. , and there are not many submarines. The main force of the fleet is the battleship. In addition to the three battleships originally belonging to the Argentine and Chilean navies, including the "Rivadavia", the "Moreno", and the "La Torre", there are also ships from the European Community and the Roman Empire. Purchased 5 old-fashioned ships including the modernized "Hessen", "Hannover", "Schlesing", "Schleswig-Holstein" and "Duilio" Battleship replenishment - in fact, it is not entirely replenishment. These old battleships can still play a role in shore bombardment and inland warfare.

In addition, the New Asbania Navy is also equipped with many torpedo ships and torpedo boats also purchased from Europe for offshore defense. When dealing with the American landing fleet, these small and medium-sized ships may be more effective than their battleships.

In addition to surface and underwater ships, the New Asbania Air Force and Naval Aviation are also equipped with hundreds of fighter aircraft including Ju88, He115, SM.79, Bf109 and Fokker Zero.

"Then can their Pacific Fleet and air power be used?" Hersman directly asked the question to Admiral Redl.

"No," Redel shook his head and replied: "It doesn't work at all! No matter what kind of weapons the New Asbania Navy is equipped with, it cannot be an opponent of the Americans. Because their officers and soldiers are not of high quality and lack He has no training and no combat experience. Not only can he not compare with the naval officers and soldiers of Germany and France, but the officers and soldiers of the Roman navy are also much better than them. "

"So there's nothing we can do?" Hersman asked.

"You can't say that," Kesselin frowned deeply. "We still have Ju288 and Me264, and we have our airport near Buenos Aires. From there, we can take off from the U.S. fleet close to Chile. . If the Hs293D missile and the 'Reaper' missile are used, it should be able to hit the US fleet preparing to attack Chile. "

Hs293D and "Reaper", two TV-guided remote-controlled missiles, are undoubtedly the two killers in the hands of the German Air Force and Naval Aviation!

The former is smaller and can carry 2-3 pieces by the twin-engine Ju288. The latter is huge in size, but its destructive power and reliability are satisfactory. However, it cannot be mounted on an aircraft of the Ju288 level and can only be mounted on a 4-engine heavy bomber like the Me264.

"Hit with missiles?" Hessman smiled, "This is the trump card that has been hidden all this time!"

Kesselring nodded. Both the Hs293D missile and the "Reaper" missile use TV remote control guidance technology, which is called black technology! Ju288 and Me264 can be allowed to launch missiles 25-30 kilometers away from enemy ships - although this distance is impossible to avoid enemy carrier-based aircraft, it is enough to avoid carrier-based anti-aircraft fire attacks.

Therefore, as long as the German side can seize battlefield air superiority, it can destroy the enemy's large fleet at a very slight cost!

However, now Germany or the European Community does not have any fighter jets in the Pacific and cannot gain air supremacy at all. Therefore, it is risky to use Ju288 and Me264 mounted missiles for attack.

"This is the only way," Kesselring said. "If we want to mobilize the fleet from Belen, the voyage will be as high as 6,200 nautical miles, and it will take 16 days at a speed of 16 knots. Once Belen's fleet leaves, the Americans may move from Belen to Belem. Attack in the Caribbean... Because the Americans own the Panama Canal, they can quickly move the fleet from the Pacific to the Caribbean and the Atlantic! "

Now the Panama Canal is the trump card in the hands of the Americans! With the canal, the Americans can quickly mobilize fleets between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and can concentrate their forces on one of the two ocean battlefields, which once again magnifies the United States' numerical advantage!

"Santiago won't be a problem, right?" Hersman thought for a while and then asked about the defense situation of Santiago, the original capital of Chile and now the capital of the Chilean region of the New Asbania Federation.

"The problem is not big," Kesselin said. "The Chilean Army is not weak, and there are a lot of mountains and hills around Santiago, and it is far away from the coastline, which is conducive to defense. Unless the number of US troops landing reaches more than 100,000, Santiago will not be able to move quickly. Fall."

"Then let the Americans come ashore. Only in this way can we have a chance to fight a decisive battle at sea. We are not afraid of the numerical advantage of the United States now. What we are afraid of is that we cannot fight the Americans decisively on the ocean." Hessman thought for a while, "First Several aircraft carriers were sent from Belém to reinforce Chile, and a Marine Division was boarded, ready to go at any time.”