The Rise of the Third Reich

"What, the British blew up the Pope?"

It was only on the morning of February 16th, US time, that President Roosevelt received the news that Pope Pius XII had died in a British plane bombing on the night of the 15th. In addition to being surprised, Roosevelt secretly exclaimed that he was lucky. If a British plane had taken the Pope to see God a few months earlier before voting in the US general election, Catholic voters might have cast their precious votes for Republican Willkie.

"So, the British strategic bombing has achieved good results?" President Roosevelt asked.

Although Roosevelt was a Protestant, he believed there was a subtle connection between the Pope and Jesus. Therefore, the Pope is blessed by Jesus and his luck will never be too bad. If even his old man was blown up to heaven by a British bomb, then the damage to the city of Rome must have been serious!

Bombing the pope is of course a bad thing. It will cause Catholic countries to have a great dislike of Britain.

But as long as the bombing effect is good enough, these useless Catholic countries can still be deterred from joining the war.

Admiral Marshall frowned and replied: "Actually, the damage to the city of Rome was not serious... About two to three hundred buildings were damaged in the bombing, and the number of personnel losses was about several hundred."

"Only a few hundred people were killed? Isn't that too few?" Roosevelt felt a little incredible.

Rome is a big city with a population of over one million, and one of the hundreds of people killed in the bombing was an ecumenical patriarch! What about God's blessing as promised?

"It's so unfortunate," Roosevelt felt that he had said something wrong and quickly changed his words. "The U.S. government must condemn all atrocities that kill innocent people in war!"

If the British killed thousands or tens of thousands of Italians in one day, and one of them was the Pope, it would undoubtedly be a great victory. France and Spain would be too frightened to join the German side in the war.

But if only a few hundred civilians and a pope were killed, it would undoubtedly be an indiscriminate atrocity that must be condemned.

"Mr. President, should we also condemn Germany's atrocities in attacking unarmed commercial ships in the Atlantic?" Secretary of State Hull suggested. The slap can't just be slapped on the British's ass, otherwise sympathy for Britain in the United States will diminish.

He paused and then added: "Also, is it necessary to suspend the transfer of heavy bombers like the B-17 to the UK?"

Roosevelt looked at Marshall, and General Marshall considered and said: "The performance of the B-17 in the first battle was not as good as we imagined... During the day on the 15th, 18 B-17s broke into the sky over Rome from an altitude of 9,200 meters, effectively avoiding They received ground anti-aircraft fire, but they were attacked by 12 Fokker Zero aircraft, six of which were shot down."

"Didn't you say that the Fokker Zero's high-altitude performance was not good?" Roosevelt asked puzzledly.

Marshall replied: "President, the Germans have obviously noticed this problem, so they have developed the Fokker Zero that can be used at high altitudes. So it seems more dangerous for the B-17 to operate during the day."

In fact, the Fokker Zero C-3 fighter equipped with a new type of engine is still an engine positioned at medium and low altitudes. It's just that its high-altitude performance has been improved by using a supercharger, and it can also rely on "drugs" to temporarily significantly improve engine performance, allowing it to gain a brief but satisfying speed at an altitude of 10,000 meters.

However, the "major victory" achieved during the day on the 15th was mainly due to the British ground crew making a stupid mistake (this mistake has been made in history), which caused the B-17's machine gun to be frozen and unable to fire, and it would certainly die if it was beaten without fighting back. It was very ugly.

"Then let's temporarily stop providing Britain with aircraft that can be used for strategic bombing." Roosevelt sighed.

If the B-17 is really powerful, he would not mind resisting the pressure from domestic Catholic forces and continue to hand over this aircraft to Britain. After all, the United States is not a predominantly Catholic country, and most of its citizens still believe in Protestantism.

But now this kind of aircraft has encountered its nemesis in Italy and cannot be dispatched during the day, so there is no need to provide it to the United Kingdom. For night bombing, the British's own Wellington bombers and Lancaster bombers are enough. The United States does not need to be the big villain.

"President, due to the unexpected death of the Pope, the Holy See must elect a new Pope." Harry Hopkins frowned and interjected, "And the new Pope is likely to lose his neutrality. sex!"

The Ecumenical Church has never been politically neutral, and Pius XII, who was just killed by an "artificial intelligence" British bomb, was a pro-British and American pope. After his death, the Holy See will naturally elect a new pope, and the results of the election are likely to be unfavorable to Britain and the United States.

Although the influence of the Catholic Church in the United States is not great, Latin America, the backyard of the United States, is a country that believes in the Catholic Church. The churches there are theoretically obedient to the Vatican. If the church changes its position to support Germany and Italy, it will be difficult for the pro-American forces in Latin American countries to suppress the pro-German and Italian forces.

Today, it is difficult for the United States to play a decisive role in the election of the ecumenical Pope. I'm afraid it won't be long before America's backyard becomes uneventful.

Thinking of the big trouble caused by a British bomb, President Roosevelt frowned more and more.

…

On February 16, the whole of Rome was immersed in sorrow and anger. In a rare moment of solidarity between the National Fascist Party and the Vatican, black-shirted fascists paraded through the streets alongside cassock-clad priests, holding banners denouncing British atrocities. Sometimes they sang Catholic hymns, and sometimes they sang the songs of Italian Fascism.

People soon gathered in the Piazza Venezia. Mussolini, wearing a military uniform and looking murderous, stood on the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia and began a eloquent speech, scolding all eighteen generations of British Prime Minister Churchill's ancestors, and even He vowed to bomb London to the ground, and at the end of his speech he issued an order in a serious manner, requiring the German and Italian troops in the Mediterranean to immediately launch an attack and launch the most violent offensive against the despicable and cruel British invaders from sea, land and air.

And while Mussolini was shouting about revenge for a pope he hated very much, Yamamoto Isoroku and Kuroshima Kameto were walking on a heavily guarded platform of Rome Central Station. .

Thanks to the British bomb that killed the Pope, the Kuroshima Turtles and several elite Japanese navy staff officers were about to leave Rome for the port of Taranto. Because the Italian fleet will set off early tomorrow morning to bombard the British army in Tubruk.

Because Japan is an ally of Germany and Italy, the Kuroshima Turtles can board the "Veneto", the flagship of the Italian fleet, to observe the naval battle at close range.

But what Yamamoto and Kuroshima are now concerned about is not the upcoming naval battle. The two of them are discussing the super battleship proposed by Hersman last night that would focus on Germany, Japan, Italy and France to defeat the United States before a large number of super battleships are put into service in the United States. Navy vision.

"2 Hindenburg-class, 2 Bismarck-class, 4 Veneto-class, 2 Richelieu-class plus our 2 Yamato-class...there are a total of 10 super battleships!" Commander Kuroshima Kameto said. He smiled and said, "The United States will have up to eight super battleships by then. We seem to have a good chance of winning!"

Hirschman's plan was to cause trouble for the United States in the winter of 1942. At that time, the United States had approximately four South Dakota-class, three Colorado-class, and at most one Iowa-class super battleships.

"But the key is the two Yamato-class ships!" Yamamoto Isoroku said lightly. "Without these two Yamato-class ships, it is impossible to rely on the eight super battleships of Germany, Italy and France. And... Britain may There are several super battleships that have fled to Canada, so to ensure victory, two Yamato-class ships are essential.”

Kuroshima Kameto understands what Yamamoto Isoroku means. The Yamato-class is too precious and is Japan’s national treasure. How can it be sent to the Atlantic Ocean casually? Whose responsibility is it if it gets damaged?

"But Marshal Hessmann promised to provide most of the special steel needed for the 110th and 111th ships..." Kuroshima Kameto said, "In this way, the construction of the 110th and 111th ships will not be troubled by the lack of materials."

Ships 110 and 111 are the No. 3 and No. 4 ships of the Yamato class. Construction started after the Yamato and Musashi were launched. However, due to Japan's full-scale preparation for war since 1940, resulting in a serious shortage of special steel, the construction projects of ship 110 and ship 111 have encountered difficulties, and it seems difficult to complete them as scheduled.

Yamamoto Isoroku smiled bitterly upon hearing this, "But those are Yamato and Musashi! Do you think we can really send them to Europe?"

"But Marshal Hersman is still willing to send four aircraft carriers converted from large cruise ships to the Pacific Ocean," Black Island Turtle Man said, "They will also be equipped with carrier-based aircraft and pilots!"

The motherships converted from four cruise ships are certainly precious to Japan, but they can still be taken out by gritting their teeth, but the carrier-based aircraft pilots on the motherships are difficult to obtain. To convert a cruise ship into a mothership, 18 months is enough, but to train a carrier-based aircraft pilot in accordance with strict requirements, it will take at least 3 years! And the ace pilots sent by Germany who can fight with real swords and guns may not be able to be trained even if they take 10 years.

According to Hessman's promise, the four cruise ship-modified motherships will be equipped with a carrier-based aircraft fleet of 60 "commonly used aircraft" (referring to combat organization)... This is 240 elite pilots (referring to drivers). This is A powerful fighting force. Currently, the Japanese Navy's combined fleet only has more than 400 carrier-based aircraft pilots.

Yamamoto Isoroku still shook his head, "Kurojima-kun, this matter is not as easy as you think. At least I, the commander-in-chief, cannot make the decision. Let's wait and see the situation in the future."