The Rise of the Third Reich

"What? Are we going to attack the mainland of the United States? I thought we needed to take over Puerto Rico before bombing the mainland of the United States."

In the luxurious office of the Chancellor of the German Empire, Adolf Hitler listened to Hersmann's report on the results of the Battle of the Bermuda Islands. Before he could issue a "declaration of victory", he was stunned by the battle plan proposed by Hersmann. .

Of course Hitler knew that the General Staff had been planning to attack the United States - without attacking the United States, how could the Americans happily shell out 500 billion European marks in compensation?

But Hitler did not expect that the attack on the United States would begin immediately at this time. He originally thought that the mainland United States would not be bombed until after the Caribbean War.

"Prime Minister," Hessman smiled proudly, "If we don't attack the United States now, it will be difficult to succeed in the Caribbean war, right?"

Hitler was stunned, and Hersman explained: "According to intelligence, the number of combat aircraft currently owned by the United States is still far greater than ours, and the Caribbean battlefield is the focus of the deployment of American aviation forces. Trinidad alone The number of US military combat aircraft on the island exceeds 3,000.

If we could not manage to divert Caribbean aircraft to the east coast of the United States, the attack on Trinidad would turn into a bloody war of attrition. "

Hitler understood a little bit, "Reichsmarschall, is our attack on the United States mainland aimed at forcing the Americans to withdraw troops from the Caribbean battlefield?"

"right."

"What can we use to attack?" Hitler asked again. "Our longest-range bombers can't reach the mainland of the United States, right?"

"It's actually within reach."

"Enough?" Hitler asked, "What type of plane?"

"Me264 long-range bomber," Hersman said, "the latest model Me264F bomber has an ultimate range of 9,500 kilometers."

"That's the ultimate range." Hitler shook his head. "If bombs are attached and the fuel consumed during the takeoff formation is added, it will be difficult for the Me264 bomber to reach the United States, right?"

"It's difficult," Hersman said, "but there is a way to solve it." He paused, "We have the Reaper 1B air-launched missile that can be launched from 500 kilometers away."

The prototype of the Reaper 1 air-launched missile, the Reaper man-operated missile, has a range of 300 kilometers. If the pilot's cockpit is changed to a fuel tank, the range of 500 kilometers is not a problem at all. However, because the Reaper 1 missile is an anti-ship missile and does not need such a long range, the fuel tank was reduced during design and the charge was increased.

The Reaper 1B is an air-launched cruise missile, so the design focused on increasing the range in order to gain the range to attack the United States - in fact, the Reaper 2 ship-based anti-ship missile also has a modification of the cruise missile, called the Reaper 2B model, also has a range of 500 kilometers.

"It's about 3,680 kilometers from Porto Heroes in the Azores to Boston," Hersman said. "If you deduct the 500 kilometers of the Reaper 1B missile, the distance the aircraft needs to fly is only 3,180 kilometers. As long as the aircraft are not in formation. For flight, the range of the existing model Me264 long-range bomber is sufficient.”

"In addition, we can also dispatch missile carriers to launch V1B cruise missiles." Hersman then proposed a cheaper tactic to attack the United States mainland - dispatching "Kesselring" class aircraft carriers equipped with V1B missile launchers. The U.S. coastline is 500 kilometers away to launch missiles against the United States.

The maximum speed of the Kesselring-class aircraft carrier is 26 knots. Due to the high reliability of the marine diesel engine it uses, the aircraft carrier can maintain a high speed of about 24 knots for a long time. Therefore, the aircraft carrier can use the cover of night or bad weather to sneak close to the United States and wait until it is within a distance of 500 kilometers before launching missiles.

Moreover, the Kesselring-class aircraft carrier carrying V1B missiles can still carry a certain number of carrier-based aircraft, and has strong self-defense capabilities. If multiple aircraft carrier groups act together, they can completely withstand US air strikes and successfully complete missile launch missions.

"Can a missile launched 400-500 kilometers away hit the target?" Hitler was still a little doubtful.

"Yes." Hessman said, "We have some guidance and correction methods that can launch 30% of the missiles within a radius of 6 kilometers from the target. For strategic bombing, this accuracy is acceptable "

The accuracy of the V1 missile in history is actually not bad, causing huge casualties and property losses to the UK. And this was achieved in the absence of effective correction means. At that time, the correction means were mainly a combination of spy reconnaissance and radio signal tracking.

Experts from the German Naval Armament Bureau have prepared a "traditional" correction method for the V1B missile - seaplane sighting! To this end, the German Navy purchased a "Sukuf" class cruise submarine from the French Navy for modification, removed the heavy guns, and increased the number of seaplanes (equipped with captured American OS2U "Kingfisher" seaplanes). In this way, when the cruise missile attacks the United States mainland, the seaplane can quietly conduct some observation.

In addition, spies to observe the impact of missiles have of course been sent to potential strike targets such as New York, Washington, Boston, and Philadelphia.

However, no matter how much you look at the sight, you don’t need to think about it. The circular probability error is only a few hundred meters. A circular probability error of 6,000 meters is actually not bad. And Hessmann did not really intend to use cruise missiles to force the United States to surrender - his purpose was just to tell the Americans that their country was not safe and that Germany had attack methods that they could not guard against.

In addition, using cruise missiles to attack major cities in the United States is also to accumulate experience for possible nuclear strikes in the future.

According to Hersman's order, "Super Reaper" and A-series ballistic missiles that can carry 2.5-3 tons warheads are under intensive development.

And the work of miniaturizing the atomic bomb is also in progress!

"Well," Hitler said, "Ludwig, you are the Chief of the General Staff... I fully support your decision on whether to launch a missile attack on the United States."

Just as the conversation between Hersmann and Hitler was about to end, the phone on Hitler's desk suddenly rang. Hitler picked up the receiver, and Ribbentrop's voice came immediately.

"My leader, Marquis Ciano, just called me. President Roosevelt of the United States has fallen ill and suffered a stroke."

"Roosevelt had a stroke?" Hitler asked. "Is he going to die?"

"No, we are out of danger now, and it seems we can continue to govern... because after waking up, the President of the United States sent an invitation to the Roman Caesar to visit the United States."

"Mussolini agreed?"

"Yes, Roman Caesar sees this as an opportunity to make peace. He wants to know, have the terms of our peace changed?"

"Not yet," Hitler said. "If the High Command Conference and the European Community Leaders Conference make a new decision, the Roman Caesar will be notified as soon as possible."

After saying that, Hitler hung up the phone. Then he said to Hessman: "Roosevelt has had a stroke and it seems he won't live long."

Hersman was not surprised at all by the news. Roosevelt, who had been so prosperous in history, also died in early 1945. Now that the United States is about to lose the war, Roosevelt must be in a very depressed mood. It is completely normal to lose a few months to live.

"He is a great man," Hessman smiled. "It's a pity that he met us! This is his greatest misfortune!"

Hitler shrugged, "Perhaps dying as soon as possible would be a relief for him... At least he doesn't have to be responsible for the defeat." He thought for a while and then asked: "Ludwig, do you think there will be any surprises in the November election?" Will the United States become a country governed by a fascist party or a Nazi party? "

In fact, the Nazi-fascist transformation of the United States may not necessarily be a good thing for Europe, but politicians in the 1940s did not think about the problem in this way. They were accustomed to using YS patterns to divide camps. If the United States became fascist (Nazified), it would seem that it would be comrades with the United States of Europe and the Roman Empire.

Therefore, Hitler, like Mussolini, had expectations for the "Nazi-Fascist Revolution" in the United States.

"No." Herschman said with certainty. "Before the United States is defeated in the war, neither the Fascist Party nor the Bolshevik Party can be elected. And even if the Fascist Party is elected, can we exempt the United States from paying reparations? Can we allow the United States to fight in the war?" Will it eventually become a powerful country that can compete with the United States of Europe?”

"Of course not," Hitler said, shaking his head.

"Yes," Herschmann nodded and said with a smile, "So now is not the time for the American Nazi Party or the American Fascist Party to come to power. Otherwise, American Nazi comrades may become social democrats. So we "We should wait until the Democratic Party or Republican Party of the United States becomes a traitor to betray the interests of the United States, and then find ways to help the fascist party come to power."

Hersmann's ideas were of course different from Hitler's. He didn't really want to see a fascist or Nazified America - which was not necessarily good for Germany and Europe. After all, the overall national strength of the United States is too strong. Once it is completely mobilized by Nazism or fascism, it might really become an American version of the Third Reich!

Herschman's real idea was to let the American Fascist Party or the Nazi Party become a force that divided American politics after the war. And considering that the Wall Street plutocrats have far greater influence on American politics than German industrial capitalists, it would be difficult for the American Fascist Party or the American Nazi Party to make them obey.