The Rise of the Third Reich

Second Lieutenant Rudolf von Heinsberg-Hersmann and his friend and boss Second Lieutenant Walter Nowotny walked side by side into the building housing the General Headquarters of the Southern Front of the German Wehrmacht in Rome. A captain staff officer was waiting in the lobby on the first floor. He saw two young men wearing naval aviation uniforms and immediately went up to inquire.

"Are you Lieutenant Novotny and Lieutenant Hersman?"

"Yes, I'm Ensign Hersman."

"I am Lieutenant Nowotny."

"Please follow me." The captain's staff led the two of them into a large room with a large map table on the second floor. In the room, Admiral Jeshunek was talking to a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of a rear admiral. Both Hersman Jr. and Novotny knew the rear admiral. He was Helmut Haye, the first captain of the aircraft carrier Seydlitz.

"Ah, you are naval aviation pilots. This is great. You must know something about naval warfare. This will save me a lot of trouble." Helmut Heyer laughed when he saw the two second lieutenants, "I This is Rear Admiral Haye, I have a few questions for you.”

Rear Admiral Helmut Heyer is no longer the captain of the Seydlitz, but the commander of the German Wehrmacht Navy's aircraft carrier force. The purpose of his coming to Italy this time was to investigate the naval battle of Ponta Stillo - both Italy and Britain claimed to have won the battle, but Hessman felt that they were both bragging. But he felt that this lively naval battle, involving battleships, aircraft carriers and shore-based aircraft, could well demonstrate the true strength of the Italian Navy and Air Force. Understanding the situation will help in the next stage of "aiding Italy and resisting the British".

So Hessmann sent Major General Helmut Haye to lead a team to Italy to conduct an investigation. After Major General Haye arrived in Rome, he discovered that some German pilots also participated in the Battle of Ponta Stillo. So they asked one of the officers to come to Rome for questioning, and they met Hessmann's son.

"Who won the naval battle of Ponta Stillo?" Major General Helmut Haye asked.

"The British." Little Hersman replied, "The battleship Caesar was hit by the British and was on fire. It should have been hit by a 15-inch shell. At least it was a heavy damage."

"The Italians bombed a British mothership?"

"It's the British Eagle," said little Hersman. As a carrier-based pilot in the German naval aviation, Hersmann was trained to identify enemy and friendly fleets. Most of the German, British, French and Italian capital ships can be recognized.

"But the Italians threw 250 kilograms of high-explosive bombs, which would not cause serious damage to the Eagle." Lieutenant Novotny added.

"What about the two battleships that were severely damaged?"

Hersman Jr. said: "Two battleships were slightly damaged, but there was no loss of power or firepower."

Major General Helmut Heyer asked again: "The Italians really dispatched hundreds of planes to bomb?"

"We don't know this clearly," Novotny said. "The Italian Air Force did not organize large group assaults, but carried out multiple waves of attacks in squadron units, and each attack used high-altitude horizontal bombing to target surface ships. Not much of a threat.”

Hersman Jr. said: "However, the S.M.79 medium bombers they use are really good. They are fast, have a long range, and their self-defense firepower is not weak. They are a very good torpedo attack aircraft and medium-level bombers, and there are many of them. !

If properly used, the Italians can gain control of the Mediterranean without our help. "

Novotny added: "The Italians' fighter jets are somewhat outdated, with insufficient range and speed... This may be related to their engines not being good enough. In addition, we also encountered a carrier-based version in the Battle of Ponta Stillo. "The Spitfires were only slightly slower than the shore-based Spitfires, but they were still very difficult to deal with."

"Ship-borne Spitfire?" Rear Admiral Helmut Haye repeated in a low voice and nodded. "This really needs our attention!"

After using the Fokker Zero for nearly a year, the German naval aviation has actually discovered some problems. This small aircraft is not very rugged, offers insufficient protection to the pilot, and has little room for upgrades. Because it is too small and too light, it is impossible to install a more powerful engine - the high-horsepower air-cooled engine of the BMW 801 series currently equipped for the Fw-190 cannot be installed at all.

The "small double-row air-cooled engine" that can be installed on the Zero fuselage is limited by its size. Without a supercharger and a jet afterburner, it can almost reach 1,200 horsepower. And 1,200 horsepower is far from the performance limit of a piston engine.

It seems that this battle in the Mediterranean is the final opportunity for the German HNA's "Zero Advantage" to exert its power... If the Italians are willing to improve their air force, then at most they can add another combat aviation regiment equipped with Fokker Zeros. It can help the Italians solve the British Mediterranean Fleet in the first half of 1941.

…

"Admiral, what do you think? Does the suggestion made by the Germans make sense?"

In the Palace of Venice, Mussolini, wearing a short-sleeved military uniform, asked General Francesco Priccolo, the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, who was standing in front of him respectfully.

Just one day ago, General Jeshunek, Chief of Staff of the German Southern Front Headquarters, suddenly sent him a proposal - it was said that the Germans studied the improvements to the Italian Air Force after studying the Battle of Ponta Stillo. suggestion.

"Leader, the German suggestions make sense," said General Francesco Priccolo, "but the Italian Air Force is an independent air force, not a naval aviation force. We have many tasks to bear, not only It is to support the navy in the Mediterranean...According to the suggestions made by the Germans, it seems that we can defeat the British Mediterranean Fleet by relying on our Italian Air Force. So what does the Italian Navy do?

Moreover, if we convert all S.M.79 medium bombers into torpedo bombers, then who will complete the air support missions in North Africa and Greece? "

After the Battle of Ponta Stillo, the British Mediterranean Fleet became much more low-key. The main force stayed in Alexandria and never moved again. It only sent submarines to break diplomatic relations. The threat to Italian maritime transport in the Eastern Mediterranean was greatly reduced, so the speed of Italian military preparations for war in North Africa and Albania was also greatly accelerated.

According to the plan of the Italian General Staff, the Italian army in North Africa will begin to march towards Egypt in September. The 200,000-strong army will crush them. It will take up to 3 months to overthrow the British army in Egypt.

The Greek campaign that started in October was even more of a "walk in the garden" style military operation. The 80,000 Italian troops could defeat the 30,000 Greek troops in a few days at most, and then turn this small country into a part of the Roman Empire.

When this victory is about to be won, what is the need to improve the anti-ship combat level of the Italian Air Force? Waiting for the Italian Army to capture the Suez Canal, wouldn't the British Mediterranean Fleet have to leave the Mediterranean in despair?

…

"The Italians are definitely a loser. The question now is how we should take advantage of their failure!"

At the meeting of the German High Command on August 10, 1940, Marshal Hersmann, the Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht, cursed poor Mussolini with a crow's mouth at the beginning. Then the question of how to take advantage of the Italians' failure and turn Italy into an integral part of the German tank was raised.

"Everyone, from today's Italy, I think of the Austro-Hungarian Empire back then." Hessmann glanced at Hitler, a former Austro-Hungarian citizen, and said, "Obviously, the performance of the Italian army is far inferior to that of Austria-Hungary in the past. In the Mediterranean, They clearly have the strength to defeat Britain, but they have delayed it until now, and they have never realized that destroying the Mediterranean fleet is the only correct way to win the North African campaign. "

War requires logistics, but logistics in North Africa can only rely on sea transportation! Whoever controls the sea in the Eastern Mediterranean will win North Africa. Historically, even though Germany sent the Afrika Korps, North Africa was still not captured. The reason is that the British Royal Navy controls the sea power in the Eastern Mediterranean.

To control the sea power in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is not certain to rely on the Italian Navy to fight fleet battles - after all, the quality of the British Royal Navy is obvious, and even if the equipment is not as good as Italy, it will not be difficult to defeat.

Therefore, the only way is to control the sea with air, and use the Italian air force and aviation supported by Germany to blow up the British navy.

Since Germany has not launched a large-scale air attack on Britain, it has no plans to attack the Soviet Union. Therefore, enough air force can be gathered to deal with the British Mediterranean Fleet no matter what.

So Hessmann is not worried about not being able to win the war in the Mediterranean and North Africa. What is really troubling him now is how to use Mussolini's failure to completely turn Italy into a part of the German tank, rather than becoming a part of it as in history. A hindrance.

"Marshal, what are you going to do?" Adolf Hitler asked.

"We cannot send troops to aid Italy unconditionally!" Hessmann had already made a plan. "Italy must join the European Customs Union, and the entire Mediterranean theater must have a supreme joint command to unify the command of Germany, Italy and perhaps the French navy. Volunteers."

The referendum in France has ended. 90% of French people with voting rights participated in the vote to choose the surrender plan. 73% of the votes allowed France to surrender by "joining the European Customs Union, the Monetary Union and handing over part of its fleet." ". With the banner of referendum, the French Navy Volunteers have become a patriotic organization that "conforms to the will of the French people", and the Free France led by De Gaulle is undoubtedly a traitor ****.

Hessmann knew that if the Mediterranean battlefield could be successfully won, the possibility of France becoming part of the German tank would be greatly increased.