The Rise of the Third Reich

Armed with a secret agreement initialed with Russian Empress Olga, German Defense Minister Reichsmarschall Hessmann flew back to Berlin from Tallinn.

"French Breguet?" After getting off the Fokker 36 passenger plane, Hersman quickly noticed that there were more than a dozen ugly twin-engine aircraft that looked like catfish lined up on a tarmac at the airport. These aircraft were painted with The emblem of the French Air Force.

"Yes, that's the plane of the 18th Attack Group of the French Air Force." Marshal Kesselring, who greeted Hersmann at the airport, went up to hug Hersmann, then kissed Chloe's fingertips, and then they were all familiar with each other. Generally speaking, the French plane that just flew to Germany was introduced. "They are all the latest models of Breguet BR.703, equipped with the Land God 14P50 air-cooled engine, with a maximum output of 1,200 horsepower."

"1,200 horsepower? It's almost catching up with BMW's small 14-cylinder engine." Hersman praised, "It seems that the French have come up with something really good."

Kesselring nodded: "The performance of these aircraft is similar to our Hs-129, or even better. The armor is strengthened based on the Breguet 690 series, and the French's own 47mm anti-aircraft gun is also installed on the belly of the aircraft. It has a tank gun and a lot of ammunition. It is a very good attack aircraft and can just fill the quantity gap of Hs-129. "

The French suffered enough from German tanks in the Western Front Campaign in 1940, so they suppressed their evil energy to develop anti-tank attack aircraft. Moreover, the French happen to have a pretty good attack aircraft in their hands, namely the Breguet 690 series. This aircraft was developed in the late 1930s and had not yet been put into mass production by the time of the Western Front Campaign. Therefore, it is a very new aircraft and has a lot of room for improvement.

Around the time France officially declared war on Britain, the French's belated anti-tank attack aircraft Breguet BR.703 was finally finalized and put into production. By July 1942, more than 500 aircraft had been produced, organized into three attack groups (equivalent to aviation regiments), and there were 360 ​​commonly used aircraft.

These aircraft were probably originally used to deal with Germany when necessary, but after Hessmann showed his trump cards (atomic bombs, ballistic missiles and sarin gas), Pétain and Darlan also thought about it - Germany has a The murderous Minister of Defense, who also has many secret weapons that are inhumane, cannot be messed with. So they handed over these three attack aircraft groups to the Germans.

This made Chief of General Staff Kesselring and Air Force Commander-in-Chief Val T. Weaver (he did not fall to death at this time and space because Hersman prohibited senior generals from flying airplanes personally). They were worried that they would not have enough attack aircraft are available. Therefore, they immediately dispatched these three attack aircraft groups to the 6th Air Force, preparing them to exert their power in the upcoming "Blue Plan" counterattack. The Breguet aircraft currently parked at Zossen Airport are preparing to transfer to the Courland Peninsula.

"The French artillery divisions also arrived very quickly. They should all be in place before the major counterattack begins." Kesselin asked again, "Marshal of the Empire, how is the Russian Empress? Is she still obedient?"

"Of course she is obedient. Her wings are not strong yet and she can only rely on our support." Hersman said with a smile. "It is a pity that her appeal in Russia is limited and it is impossible to replace the Bolsheviks."

"In fact, it doesn't have to be completely replaced," Kesselring suggested. After thinking about it, he said, "It would be ideal if the Soviet Union could be divided into two."

"Split into two?" Hessman smiled, "Of course it would be best, a small Russia against a big Soviet Union... Then Olga would have to be obedient. But this is easier said than done. It is very difficult to fight for a long time, and we cannot rely on our support alone. The Queen does not have many supporters in Russia, at least the people of Leningrad do not support Olga.”

He paused and then said: "Let's take this matter step by step. By the way, Olga wants to go to the Soviet-German Friendship Concentration Camp to recruit soldiers. Can you make arrangements?"

"No problem," Kesselring laughed. "Now there are more and more people in the Soviet-German Friendship Concentration Camp. If Queen Olga can take some away, it will save us a lot of food money."

…

Hersmann and Chloe separated at the airport. Chloe returned to Zossen's estate, while Hersmann and Kesselring went to Berlin to meet Hitler in the same car.

Now that the Battle of Warsaw has been fought for more than fifty days, the Soviet army has also reached the point where the division veterans are tired, and they have increased their troops several times. Although the German high command does not know how many Soviet troops there are on the front lines of Minsk and Leningrad, it seems that there should be relatively empty there.

In addition, it is almost August, and Belarus and Ukraine usually enter the mud season in October, making marching and fighting very difficult.

So now it’s time to start implementing the Blue Counterattack!

"Leader, the General Staff recommends launching a counterattack code-named 'Blue 3' between August 1st and 10th."

In the large office of the Chancellery, Marshal Kesselring placed a copy of the "Blue 3" combat plan in front of Prime Minister Adolf Hitler.

"Blue 3" is part of the "Blue Plan", whose main content is to launch a major counterattack against Leningrad, Minsk and Ukraine.

Among them, the attack on Leningrad was imaginary, and the ultimate goal was to encircle Leningrad.

"Leningrad must be destroyed!" Looking at the summary of the "Blue 3" plan, Hitler began to talk nonsense again - although he was a good strategist, he was always a little weird in terms of battles and tactics. idea.

"Use cannons and planes to destroy!" Hitler waved his fist vigorously, looking very excited - I don't know where those comrades with Leningrad household registration provoked him?

"Okay," Hersman agreed without talking nonsense to him, "We will arrange French artillery and the latest Me-264 heavy bomber to complete this mission."

The Me-264 heavy bomber is a long-range strategic bomber jointly developed by Messerschmitt and Fokker. The project was officially established after the Western Front Campaign in 1940. Also being carried out at the same time are the Junkers Ju290/Ju390 project, the Focke-Wulf Company's Ta-400 project and the Heinkel Company's He-274/He-277 project.

The German Air Force, controlled by Hersmann and Kesselring, did not put forward too high requirements for the "ultra-long-range heavy bomber" project.

The basic performance indicators only mention the combat radius: no less than 4,000 kilometers (Hersman plans to start bombing the United States after seizing the Azores, so the 4,000-kilometer combat radius is enough); the practical ceiling: no less. Above 12,000 meters; Maximum speed: more than 550 kilometers; Maximum magazine load: more than 5 tons (can carry at least one atomic bomb, and it is also required to be able to carry 2 V1 missiles under the wings); Self-defense firepower: at least 12 13mm machine gun.

Among these long-range aircraft under development, the Me-2e-264 uses the BMW-802T (turbocharged) series of high-power engines jointly developed by Fokker and BMW for many years. .

The BMW-802 series is an 18-cylinder large-displacement air-cooling machine, and the turbocharger has become fully mature after years of research. Most importantly, rare metals used in the production of engines and turbochargers are now in abundant supply, and high-octane aviation gasoline has become very easy to produce due to the availability of large oil fields in the Middle East.

You can use non-ferrous metals and high-grade gasoline lavishly. It is certainly not too difficult to build a long-range aircraft like the Me-264. Therefore, the project established for 40 years completed the test flight in May 1942, and started production at the BF-FK Aviation Complex factory in Baltica in June. So far, there is a squadron of 12 Me-264s in service with the Luftwaffe.

However, using 12 or 24 Me-264s to level Leningrad is nonsense. Unless nuclear bombs are used, it will be difficult to level a big city like Leningrad even if it takes several years.

As for using French artillery divisions to bombard, it is even more impossible. There are too many places where those French artillery are needed to bombard Leningrad.

So Hessmann is now lying to Hitler, so as not to listen to his nagging... Anyway, Hitler has no power to directly command operations - now Hessmann himself does not have this power, because the Chief of General Staff gave it to Kesselring.

"Okay!" Hitler didn't know that he had been deceived. He nodded with satisfaction and continued to read the summary of the "Blue 3" plan.

Leningrad is a false attack, while Minsk and Ukraine are really to be attacked, but these two places are treated differently.

Minsk is not a must-win. If it is easy to win, take it. If it is not, take it down. As long as it is surrounded for a short period of time and cuts off the retreat route of the Soviet Western Front, the mission will be completed.

And Ukraine is a key area to be captured and occupied! Among them, the Black Sea coast and the Crimean Peninsula (the Crimean Peninsula is not part of Ukraine now) are the most critical and need to be captured first. Because once Crimea and Ukraine along the Black Sea fall into German control, the next step is for the German army to move into the Caucasus.

The Caucasus oil-producing area currently produces more than 60% of the Soviet Union's oil, with an annual output of more than 20 million tons! If captured by Germany, the annual oil production (including synthetic gasoline) controlled by Germany will exceed 60 million tons, and the annual oil production controlled by the Soviet Union will be reduced to about 15 million tons.

The reduction of oil will directly reduce the amount of mechanized equipment in the Soviet Union!

The sea of ​​tanks is likely to disappear as a result!