The Rise of the Third Reich

The guided missile battleship "Gneisenau" has long been in the highest state of combat readiness. When little Hersman boarded the world's most powerful battleship with his luggage, something was going on on the missile decks on both sides of the battleship. Reloading operation. Everywhere there were sailors in neat white overalls and officers in white uniforms at work. The Reaper 2 TV-guided remote-controlled missiles with folded wings and tail fins (which will automatically pop up after the missile is launched) were lifted up by the mechanical crane arm and then carefully pushed into the flat launch tube. Little Hersman saw the back cover of a missile launch tube being opened, and two sailors in white overalls got halfway in, as if they were connecting some pipeline.

Unlike the Reaper 1 missile mounted on the aircraft, the Reaper 2 uses a rocket engine. The main component of the fuel is very dangerous hydrogen peroxide. Therefore, it cannot be stored in the missile body for a long time, but is placed under the missile deck in a special Inside the storage tank, the storage tank is connected to the projectile by pipes made of special materials. The missile can only be refueled within an hour before launch, and then the missile operator on the ship manually separates the missile and the pipeline. There can be no mistakes in the whole process, otherwise a major accident may occur!

At this moment, a Bavarian accent sounded from the ship's loudspeaker: "Please note that the fleet staff will hold a meeting in the fleet war room in 30 minutes."

Little Hersman raised his wrist to check the time, and then walked quickly to the fleet headquarters deck located below the stern deck. Because the guided-missile battleship "Gneisenau" was scheduled to serve as the fleet flagship before undergoing major modifications, the headquarters deck was expanded during the major modifications and many additional personnel were added for fleet staff (people like Hessmann Jr. ) single room in residence. Little Hersman found the room with the "Second Aviation Staff" sign on the door, opened the door and walked in. I found that the room was equipped with a single bed, writing desk, wardrobe and folding washbasin, and was very clean. This reminded him of his days on the battleship "Yamato" and the aircraft carrier "Taiho", especially the latter, which was a large armored aircraft carrier comparable to the B41 aircraft carrier. In the end, it was also sunk at Midway Island. nearby……

After settling his luggage, little Hersman walked to the headquarters operation room at the bottom of the bridge - this is a combat command center with a very spacious non-internal space and is protected by thick steel armor.

According to the current thinking of the German Navy, the flagship of the fleet (task force) commander should not participate in the decisive battle of the battleship formation, lest the enemy knock out the "brain" of the entire fleet with one shell. Therefore, guided missile battleships with smaller tonnage and relatively weak main gun firepower will replace the huge H39-class battleships and become the preferred flagship of the 2nd and 3rd fleets.

In order to make command more convenient and to make room for the missile command post, all four missile battleships had a main gun turret removed during the overhaul, freeing up space and weight to expand the bridge and add a missile command post. Sohe Fleet Command Center - consists of a communication center, a headquarters operation room and a command tower.

When little Hersman walked into the headquarters war room, all the fleet staff officers wearing white officer uniforms and black ties were almost there. Lieutenant Colonel Carl Schumann, the fleet's first aviation staff officer, saw little Hersman coming in, so he walked over and handed him a copy of the telegram and said: "Rudolf, the Atlantic Front Command has issued an order, and we are going to attack. Let’s attack with the main force of the fleet!”

There are currently 47 capital ships (fleet aircraft carriers, battleships, guided missile battleships, guided missile cruisers, heavy cruisers) in service in the European Combined Fleet, including 15 fleet aircraft carriers (8 Zeppelin-class, 3 Prussia-class, 2 Joffre class, 2 Seidlitz class), 12 battleships (2 Hindenburg class, 2 Bismarck class, 3 Richelieu class, 3 Veneto class, 2 Provence class), 2 guided missile battleships ( Gneisenau and Dunkirk), 2 guided missile cruisers (Wilhelm II and Maria Theresa), 16 heavy cruisers (3 Admiral Hipper class, 3 Deutschland class) , 2 Saffron-class, 2 Foch-class, 2 Duquesne-class, 1 Algeria-class, 3 St. Louis-class), all belong to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Fleets of the European Combined Fleet.

Among them, the 1st Fleet has 6 Zeppelin-class (all B41-type) aircraft carriers, 2 Saffron-class heavy cruisers and 2 Foch-class heavy cruisers. There are no battleships and missile ships, and a total of 10 capital ships.

The 2nd Fleet has 1 Zeppelin-class (B39) aircraft carrier, 2 Prussia-class aircraft carriers, 2 Seidlitz-class aircraft carriers, 1 Hindenburg-class battleship, 1 Bismarck-class battleship, and 3 Veneto-class battleships , 1 Provence-class battleship, Gneisenau guided-missile battleship, Wilhelm II guided-missile cruiser, 3 Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers and 3 Deutschland-class heavy cruisers, a total of 19 capital ships.

The 3rd Fleet used the remaining 18 main ships.

Now that the main force of the 1st Fleet has gone to the Pacific, there are only 37 battleships of the 2nd and 3rd Fleet left in the Atlantic direction.

"Rear Admiral Meyer means to form two Task Forces, the 20th and the 21st. The core of the 20th Task Force is the battleship, and the core of the 21st Task Force is the aircraft carrier..."

Lieutenant Colonel Schumann, who arrived one step earlier than Hersman Jr., briefly stated Major General Meyer's vision. Because there are three large fleet aircraft carriers and two light fleet aircraft carriers in the 2nd Fleet, Rear Admiral Meyer wants to use them to fight an aviation battle. Use 1 Zeppelin class (Zeppelin), 2 Prussia class (Prussia, Bohemia) and 2 Sesselitz class (Seidelitz, Sekt) as Task Force 21 the main force.

"There are only 248 commonly used carrier-based aircraft on the five aircraft carriers Zeppelin, Prussia, Bohemia, Seydlitz and Sekt," Little Hersman shook his head and said, "There are still some left to serve as aircraft carriers. With direct cover, only 180-200 aircraft can be dispatched at one time. It is difficult for the US fleet with shore-based aircraft cover and strong air defense firepower to pose a threat."

Little Hessman paused and then said: "On the Pacific battlefield, the Japanese army suffered great losses because of this, and almost destroyed all the aviation elite. In the Battle of Midway that ended not long ago, Japan's Taiho The air fleets on the three aircraft carriers, Akagi and Kaga, suffered devastating blows due to blind attacks."

Schumann nodded in agreement. Although he was not an ace pilot and had not flown carrier-based aircraft for a few days, he had stayed in the position of flight commander and aviation staff officer for a long time. I still have a very good understanding of the strength of the US aviation force on the Atlantic battlefield.

However, he still smiled and shook his head and said: "Major, our attack methods are much sharper than the Japanese, and we will not suffer as heavy losses as them. And in the Atlantic, we are eager to fight a fleet battle now. So you have to pay some price.”

He paused and then said: "If Admiral Hoffman (Kurt Hoffman) adopts Major General Meyer's suggestion, then you will be sent to the Zeppelin aircraft carrier as Erich. Lieutenant General Bei's aviation staff."

"Will you serve as the aviation staff officer of the task force alone?" Major Hersman was a little overjoyed, and immediately forgot about the fact that the 21st Task Force would probably encounter a tough battle.

Because although he is an expert in aviation warfare - the expert is no longer young, the younger Hessman has the resume of an ace pilot + aircraft carrier flight captain + Pacific battlefield observer, and is familiar with the use of carrier aviation - but his seniority is still higher than that in the navy. It's a bit worse. It's a bit reluctant to serve as the second staff officer, let alone serve as the aviation staff officer of the aircraft carrier force, which has very heavy responsibilities?

While the two were talking, there was a sound of footsteps outside the war room door. Fleet Commander Admiral Kurt Hoffmann and Fleet Deputy Commander (the German army rarely has deputy commanders, but the European Combined Fleet is an exception). Lieutenant General Xi Bei and Fleet Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Meyer walked in quickly.

The staff officers in the war room all stood at attention and gave them a military salute.

Admiral Hoffmann is the "Scharnhorst" battleship that sank in the Port of Heroes in the Azores in the early days of the World War (by the way, this battleship was salvaged after Germany occupied the Azores in 1943 , towed to Saint-Zenard, France, and repaired and modified by France's largest Penholt shipyard, with the goal of converting it into a guided missile ship). After returning to China, Hoffman signed up for the Naval Aviation School and obtained a carrier-based aircraft pilot certificate. But instead of becoming an aircraft carrier captain, he got a "Wilhelm II" class guided missile cruiser. He is now a recognized "missile warfare expert" in the German Navy.

"Everyone, I now announce the order jointly issued by the European Combined Fleet Command and the Atlantic Front Command." Chief of Staff Major General Meyer took out a red mimeographed document and began to read.

"Battle Order No. 165.

1. The 2nd Fleet attacked with its main force to the Atlantic waters near Guyana.

2. No matter what time, day or night, the 2nd Fleet must be ready to engage in a decisive battle immediately.

3. The Second Fleet may encounter the U.S. Navy fleet with superior strength, may encounter bombing by numerous U.S. shore-based and carrier-based aircraft, may encounter U.S. submarines, and may encounter various other forms of attacks. However, the fleet will never retreat and must cooperate with friendly forces to fight to the end.

4. Authorize the 2nd Fleet to use ship-based anti-ship missiles...

Signed: Gunther von Lütjens, Grand Admiral of the German Empire, Commander of the European Combined Fleet, Commander of the Atlantic Front. "