The Rise of the Third Reich

"Roosevelt!"

Hysterical roars came from the office of the Prime Minister's Office, and almost even the glass windows of the Prime Minister's Office were shattered by the sound.

While walking, Defense Minister Schleicher was discussing how to give Wilhelm II a grand burial. Reich Marshal Hersmann was also startled. It wasn't that he had never heard any harsher sounds than this, but he was afraid that Hitler would want to attack the American emperor on impulse.

Of course, US imperialism must be fought. But not right now, what we have to deal with right now is the British Empire. Now defeat the British Royal Navy, and then join forces with the Japanese to deal with the US Navy. As long as the U.S. Navy is defeated, victory in the world war will be basically achieved.

Hersmann and Schleicher looked at each other, then both quickened their pace and walked into Hitler's spacious and luxurious Chancellor's Office - this was not the old Chancellery at 77 Wilhelm Street, but at 2 Voss Street. The newly completed Prime Minister's Office.

It is much more luxurious and extravagant than the old Chancellery opened during the Bismarck era, and it also has a very strong and spacious bulletproof bunker! However, this "Leader's Bunker" has not been used so far, because the harassing air raids by British bombers on Berlin are not a threat at present, and in most cases they are dropping paper bombs.

And on the latest issue of "paper bombs" thrown from the sky, there is the entire content of the "Atlantic Charter"!

Hitler was obviously angry about this. When Hersmann and Schleicher walked into Hitler's office, the guy was tearing a piece of "paper bomb" into pieces, crumpling it into a ball, and throwing it hard. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it almost hit him. The head of a certain Imperial Marshal.

Hersman dodged the paper bullet and then asked knowingly: "Leader, are you angry because of the declaration issued by Roosevelt and Churchill?"

"Of course! I'm very, very angry!" Hitler waved his fist and roared, "Roosevelt is the most insidious, cunning, and shameless villain I have ever seen in my life! He did not dare to openly declare war on the German Empire, but he used What a ridiculous declaration to provoke the German Empire..."

"Leader, in fact, Roosevelt used more than just a false declaration to provoke." Hessmann told Hitler calmly. "Based on reliable intelligence, he also sent a task force to Iceland."

"Fleet?" Hitler was startled, and then his face became a little more angry, and his facial features were distorted. "Does he think we don't dare to sink American warships? Imperial Marshal, is this an excellent opportunity?"

"No." Hessman shook his head and said, "The Americans are not that stupid. They sent the old battleship Arkansas and the small aircraft carrier USS Raider, which are not of much value."

If the Americans dared to send the main force of the Atlantic Fleet to Iceland, Hersman might want to conduct a sneak attack.

However, a pre-World War I dreadnought and a small aircraft carrier that cannot take off and land aircraft in slightly higher sea conditions are really not worth letting the United States enter the war in advance for them - this may very well solve Japan's problems and cause the Pearl Harbor incident to fail. occur!

Hitler took a sharp breath and suppressed his anger, "But with such an American fleet near Iceland, can we still defeat the British on the high seas?"

"There is no problem," Hessman promised. "The Navy will definitely win a decisive victory this time!"

As he spoke, Hersmann took a thick document bag from the adjutant Schnetz who was following him and placed it on Hitler's desk. Contained in the document bag is the combat plan just submitted by the Navy Headquarters - "Storm Plan".

Different from the "sea-based" operations that the German Navy was accustomed to in the past, this "Storm Plan" uses aircraft to play the leading role. The people who led the formulation of the plan were Naval Aviation Commander General Hans Jeshunek and Air Force Chief of Staff. Admiral Wolfgang von Richthofen and Commander of the Naval Aircraft Carrier Force, Vice Admiral Helmut Heyer.

"Plan Storm" was formulated with reference to the situation in the Great Battle of the Eastern Mediterranean. It planned to invest all 3 battleships, 2 aircraft carriers, 4 heavy cruisers, and some other lighter ships to form a huge "feint attack force"—— 1st High Seas Fleet.

According to the plan, after leaving the port of Kiel, the First High Seas Fleet will sail along the coasts of Denmark and Norway, and 10 large transport ships and oil tankers will also go to the port of Bergen in Norway. After the fleet arrives in Bergen, the transport ships and oil tankers will temporarily stay in Bergen, while the main force of the fleet will bombard the Shetland Islands under the cover of the aircraft carrier, giving the illusion of preparing to occupy the Shetland Islands. The purpose was to use the main fleet as bait to attract aircraft from the British Home Fleet and the British Navy and Air Force to fight.

"You want to use your precious battleships and aircraft carriers to attract enemy aircraft?" Hitler carefully read the outline of "Project Storm", then raised his head and looked at Hessmann blankly, "Isn't this too risky?"

In fact, Hessman was also shocked when he saw "Project Storm". Although he came up with the idea of ​​pretending to attack the Shetland Islands, he did not expect Jeshunek and Richthofen to actually So bold, taking out super battleships like the Bismarck and the Tirpitz as bait. If this was sunk by the British, how would future naval battles be fought?

However, Air Force Chief of Staff General Richthofen told Hersman at the time: "According to recent air combat results, we have a huge advantage in terms of exchange ratio. Our Fw-190 and Fokker Zero The coordination is almost impeccable. The British have to use 3-5 fighter jets to get 1 of our fighter jets.

Therefore, as long as we can dispatch a sufficient number of Fw-190s and Fokker Zeros, the ships on the sea will not suffer too much losses. And since the air battle will be fought over our side, every time a British aircraft is shot down, it means that at least one British crew member is killed or captured. Such a shootdown is more valuable than our shooting down an enemy plane over the English Channel. "

For Britain now, the loss of aircraft is nothing. They can produce it in large quantities themselves, and Americans will continue to lend it to them. What is truly valuable are pilots, especially veteran pilots with good skills.

If British pilot training is as rigorous as that in Germany, a fighter pilot will have to undergo at least 24 months of rigorous training before entering the training group of the aviation regiment. If you are a carrier-based aircraft pilot, after completing the regiment training, you have to participate in 6 months of special aircraft carrier training - if such an experienced pilot can kill or capture more than 1,000 people in a battle, he will be " The "Gneisenno" was worth losing!

As for the "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz" being impossible to sink, the German Naval Command has already confirmed that these two super battleships are very durable and have powerful anti-aircraft firepower. They have air superiority. Under such circumstances, it is impossible to be sunk. At most it would only be a little superficial injury, and it would be like new again after a month or two of repairs.

In addition, General Hans Jeshunek also told Hersman, "Before we dispatch the fleet, we will first dispatch aircraft to conduct devastating bombings of the airports and radar stations on the Shetland Islands. Therefore, the British aircraft They can only take off from Scotland and the Onik Islands, which will prevent their Spitfires from staying for a long time, which is extremely beneficial to us. Moreover, the more valuable the bait we put out, the more likely it is to attract the real big ones. fish!"

This is the German version of not being able to let go of your children and trap the wolf!

After Hessmann's explanation, Hitler gritted his teeth and said: "The two Bismarck-class ships must not be lost, and the two aircraft carriers must not have any accidents!"

"There will be no surprises," Hessmann said. "Seidlitz and Sekt will adopt an all-fighter configuration this time. Each aircraft carrier will be equipped with 2 squadrons with a total of 32 Fokker Zeros. All All piloted by the best pilots, they can definitely save the battleships and aircraft carriers."

Among these best pilots is Hessmann's precious son Rudolf. He now has 20 kills in hand, and he can get the Blue Max Medal with 5 more. This kind of record is considered outstanding among the German Air Force and Naval Aviation, so his military rank was promoted in March and he became a Naval Aviation Lieutenant.

A month ago, due to adjustments to the 1st Carrier Air Group on the aircraft carrier "Seidlitz", the dive bomber squadron was temporarily transferred away, so his squadron was sent up and four more aircraft were added. Since he had the highest rank among the 1st Carrier Aircraft Group (the original captain was transferred with the dive bomber squadron) and had the most number of kills, he was asked to act as the commander of the 1st Carrier Aircraft Group. team leader.

At 2:10 pm on the same day that Hersman explained various details of "Project Tempest" to Hitler, little Hersman had just completed a beautiful landing and transferred a brand-new Fokker Zero that he had just received. The C-3 aircraft stopped steadily on the flight deck of the Seydlitz.

Prince Philip Weisenfeld, now a second lieutenant in the naval aviation force, had already been waiting for him on the deck. When he saw little Hersman emerging from the cabin of the plane, he quickly ran over.

"Rudolf, Lieutenant General Haye wants you to go to the conference room immediately. It is an emergency meeting." The prince said to little Hersman.

Lieutenant General Heyer is the commander of the aircraft carrier force of the German High Seas Fleet and the captain of the "Seidlitz". Although his military rank is much higher than Hersman Jr., Hessman Jr. is the acting captain of the carrier-based aircraft group, so he is considered a direct subordinate of Lieutenant General Haye.

"Emergency meeting?" Little Hersman patted Prince Philip Weisenfeld and said with a smile, "It seems that we are going to the battlefield again. This time I can get enough kills to get the Blue Max Medal!"