The Rise of the Third Reich

When Hersmann quickly walked into the conference room of the new Wehrmacht Navy headquarters building in Kiel Port (originally in Wilhelmshaven, but that place was always bombed at night, so it was moved to Kiel Port), a room full of German All the naval admirals stood up to greet him respectfully.

After the Western Front campaign, Hersmann's prestige in the German Army was established. Although he was not the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, Hersman was in charge of the entire Western Front campaign from planning to pre-war preparations. Later, when the war started, he became the acting chief of general staff and was the de facto supreme commander of the German Wehrmacht.

However, the German Navy was not convinced by him at that time. No matter how good Marshal Hessmann was, he was still a Field Marshal. Why should he dictate to the Navy? Do you know how to sail the boat? Can you tell the difference between southeast, northwest and northwest when you are at sea?

But now, a bunch of awesome German naval admirals are really convinced! The god of war is the god of war. The third-rate guy who commanded the Italian navy actually drove the British Royal Navy out of the Mediterranean and sank 4 battleships and 1 aircraft carrier. Although the Italian Navy also lost one battleship and two aircraft carriers, at first glance it seems that the losses are about the same. But the German naval admirals meeting here today are all experts, and of course they know how valuable the Mediterranean campaign commanded by Hessmann was.

The two aircraft carriers that the Italians lost were just "cruise cruise ships". They were not modified from "blue ribbon cruise ships". They were just ordinary cruise ships of more than 20,000 tons. This kind of goods is everywhere in the ports of EU countries and has little value. As for the sunk battleship "Count of Cavour", it was an old ship before World War I. Although it has undergone major changes, its foundation is too poor and its value is very limited.

The four battleships lost by the British included the "Rodney", which was one of the seven battleships in the world! It is also one of the two giant ships in the British Royal Navy that can threaten the "Bismarck" class.

After losing the "Rodney", the British only had one "Nelson" with a terrifying 16-inch cannon, while the German Navy had two "Bismarck" class ships. Moreover, in the Mediterranean campaign, the German naval aviation and the Italian Air Force cooperated, showing powerful anti-ship capabilities. It proves that the theory of "controlling the sea with air" is completely applicable to the main fleet in combat state.

Therefore, this Mediterranean battle has pointed the way to victory for the German Navy! Therefore, the German naval admirals who were meeting at the naval headquarters today were all gearing up and wanted to immediately command the fleet to attack and compete with the British Royal Navy.

"Your Excellency Marshal, what did Admiral Darlan say?"

At the beginning of the meeting, German Navy Commander-in-Chief Raeder asked about Darlan's statement - Marshal Pétain had agreed in principle to follow Germany, but after the defeat, the French army showed some signs of warlordism. The military leaders below may not obey the government's orders, and the French navy is still very powerful, so it is normal to disobey Germany.

Therefore, the attitude of French Navy Commander-in-Chief Darlan determines to a large extent whether the French Navy can truly follow Germany.

"He wants us to take Gibraltar first!" Hessman said with a sneer. "I have already promised him a deputy head of state in the European Community, but he still refuses to let go. It seems he is still not convinced!"

The reason for dissatisfaction is that Britain has not been finally defeated. In this case, Germany's position as the leader is unstable. After all, what Germany has achieved now was also achieved by the French Emperor Napoleon in history.

"Marshal," Redel thought for a while and said, "the British navy will never watch Gibraltar being taken away by us. Because once the German, Italian and French navies join forces, the British mainland may not be protected. Instead of fighting in the English Channel, Britain will It’s better to fight in the Strait of Gibraltar, so the battle for Gibraltar will be fierce!”

If the final battle were to take place in the English Channel, it would be the fleets of Germany, Italy and France attacking the British fleet. The time will be around the spring or summer of 1942. At that time, the Italian "Roma", the German "Hindenburg", "Ludendorff", "Barbarossa" (O-class), and "Schlieffen" (O-class), as well as two "Zeppelin"-class aircraft carriers will join active service. The navies of Germany, Italy and France will have an overwhelming advantage, and the British Home Fleet will be completely annihilated near the English Channel!

So now it has become an inevitable choice for Britain to block the Strait of Gibraltar.

Hersman said: "I have mobilized the 'Gustav' cannon and the 'Dora' cannon, 16 K5 train guns, 6 'Karl' mortars and 4 'Big Bertha' howitzers. In terms of firepower Said it was enough to destroy the British fortress on the Gibraltar Peninsula."

Redl shook his head and said: "We have all studied how to destroy the Fortress of Gibraltar (this is an exam question at the German Naval Academy). Of course, the fortress can be destroyed with super-large-caliber artillery, but the problem is that the British fleet will come from the sea to destroy it. Our artillery positions."

The selection of these cannons was of course targeted. Gibraltar's terrain was difficult and the British had been operating it for many years. The location of the fort was carefully selected. It must be destroyed with train guns, super-large-caliber mortars, and super-large-caliber howitzers.

Moreover, the placement of these cannons is very particular. The K5 cannon, the 'Gustav' cannon and the 'Dora' cannon are all train cannons and cannot be deployed in areas without railway access. They bombarded the 6-inch cannon emplacements deployed on the west side of Gibraltar Rock Front, as well as the solid fortifications on the windmill platform in the northern section of Gibraltar Rock Peak.

After these strong fortifications and forts were destroyed, the Germans were able to storm the northernmost part of the Lower Windmill Mesa. Then those mortars and howitzers with a shorter range can be moved to the foot of Fengmo Terrace, relying on the shielding of Fengmo Terrace to avoid the firepower of the four British forts between Fengmo Terrace and Europa Terrace, and use 420mm and 600mm artillery shells at the same time. Destroy them.

Therefore, the best place to deploy K5 guns, 'Gustav' guns and 'Dora' guns is on the railway between Algeciris and Tarifa on the west side of the Gibraltar Peninsula - the approximate location is here In this area, the railways are not necessarily originally laid, some temporary railways can also be laid. But moving further north is not possible, because the north is full of mountains and it is difficult to build railways.

This area is close to the Strait of Gibraltar, so there is not much to worry about during the day when the weather is good, but at night and when aircraft cannot be dispatched, British battleships coming from the Atlantic direction can be a huge trouble.

Although this train gun has a large caliber, it is not an armored fort after all. It has no protection, and its rate of fire is extremely slow. It cannot hit a battleship at all.

"Marshal Raeder," Hessmann said with a smile, "This is also the reason why I came to Kiel Port." He looked at Raedel, "Can the High Seas Fleet be dispatched now?"

"High Seas Fleet?"

Raeder and Admiral Rolf Karls, commander of the High Seas Fleet, looked at each other.

Admiral Karls immediately asked: "Marshal, what is the goal of the High Seas Fleet's attack?"

"Attack Shetland!" said Hersman.

"What? Shetland Islands?" Admiral Kars was surprised.

He originally thought that Hersmann wanted the High Seas Fleet to exclude a break-up squadron from breaking into the Atlantic from the Norwegian Sea and Denmark Strait. Unexpectedly, Hirschman proposed to occupy the Shetland Islands!

This is no longer a break of diplomatic relations, but a direct severance of diplomatic relations!

"Marshal, it is impossible to capture the Shetland Islands." Admiral Carls shook his head. "It is only more than 200 kilometers away from Scotland, only more than 100 kilometers away from Scapa Flow, and another important British stronghold in Faroe. The distance between the islands is only more than 300 kilometers. Northern Scotland, Scapa Flow, Shetland Islands and the Faroe Islands have now formed a defense body, and there are likely to be more than 1,000 shore-based aircraft deployed!"

The Shetland Islands are part of the island chain that blocks the German fleet from entering the Atlantic Ocean. The British have been operating there for nearly two years, and of course they cannot be breached casually.

Hersman nodded and said slowly: "But Norway will join our side soon. Prime Minister Quisling is our man. He has already controlled the parliament and the army. They built in Bergen and Stavanger There are several large airports that can deploy at least 500 aircraft. It is only three to four hundred kilometers away from the Shetland Islands. This distance is just right for our Fw-190 and Fokker Zero to exert their power. "

Hessman is no longer a "liar". After fighting in the Mediterranean Campaign, he is already an expert in sea and air combat, so he knows how to fight the British in the Shetland Islands.

In fact, it doesn't matter whether Shetland can be captured in the end. As long as the main force of the British Home Fleet can be attracted from the vicinity of Gibraltar to the vicinity of Shetland, and at the same time, the continuous battles over the North Sea can be used to consume a large number of outstanding British pilots, it will be considered a victory.

With the current strength of the German Air Force and Naval Aviation, it is not difficult to achieve this. On the one hand, the high-low combination of the Fw-190 and the Fokker Zero can exert great power; on the other hand, Germany's air power has been dominant since the war began, so the losses were not great. Instead, a large number of ace pilots were trained, and However, the British lost at least 1,500 veteran pilots due to two huge losses in the French battlefield and the Mediterranean battlefield. The number of ace pilots could not be compared with Germany at all.

Therefore, once an air attrition war begins, Germany will definitely have an advantage in exchange ratio. Choosing to launch a war of attrition over the North Sea would give both sides no particular advantage in rescuing parachuting pilots. In this way, Britain's final losses would definitely far exceed that of Germany.