The Rise of the Third Reich

"Shimada-kun, the Germans want to send their U-boats to the Pacific. Do you think this is okay?"

In the Prime Minister's residence in Tokyo, Tojo Hideki informed Navy Minister Shitaro Shimada of the message from Oshima Hiroshi at the cabinet meeting.

Shitaro Shimada's round, doughy face had an expression of indifference. In this time and space, there was no Battle of Midway that devastated the RB Navy (Midway Island was occupied by RB shortly after the Battle of Hawaii), so he, as the Lord of the Navy, lived a very proud life.

The great situation of the big RB empire now is all caused by the navy! Now the navy is the hero of RB! And the Army... is a bunch of cowards who only dare to follow the Navy and take some small credit.

"Whether the U-boats come or not depends on the Army's intention." Shitaro Shimada said slowly, "Although the German U-boats are not as good as the Imperial Navy's large submarines in terms of performance, they are better in numbers. If they arrive in the Pacific It can indeed threaten the US-Australia route, but... they may pose a greater threat to the North Pacific route!"

"Can U-boats cut off the North Pacific route?" Hideki Tojo asked.

"Of course." Shimada chuckled and said, "American ships can fly the red flag of the Soviet Union, but their warships cannot do this. How could it be possible to defeat Germany with the Soviet Pacific Fleet's anti-submarine capabilities? Wolves?"

It was a tacit agreement to hoist the red flag on the giant ship of capitalism. In exchange, the Soviet Union and a certain country in East Asia would not attack RB's lifeline in Manchuria. But this tacit understanding only exists for commercial ships, and military ships cannot be like this. Otherwise, what if the US emperor's aircraft carrier hangs a red flag and attacks Wujun Port?

Therefore, these American ships flying the red flag can be escorted by Soviet warships, but cannot be helped by American destroyers.

The strength of the Soviet Pacific Fleet is limited, with only 13 destroyers and 19 frigates (all small ships under 1,000 tons, equivalent to German lightning strike ships). Moreover, the Soviet Red Navy has never fought anti-submarine escort warfare and has no experience at all. It is basically a dead end when encountering the German Sea Wolves that were honed in the Battle of the Atlantic.

As he spoke, Shimada narrowed his eyes and looked at Hideki Tojo, "But submarines launch torpedoes from underwater. Who knows whether this is an RB submarine or a German submarine? Moreover, the Soviet Union's North Pacific route If we break off, we will face a complete blockade. If the Kwantung Army jumps over the wall and starts a war with me in Manchuria, I'm afraid..."

"Hmph!" Hideki Tojo snorted coldly, "Our Kwantung Army has 25 elite divisions and more than 600,000 troops. How can we still be afraid of the Soviet Union?"

"Oh." Shitaro Shimada's small round eyes widened, and he said in his heart: The Army finally realized its shame!

"But..." Tojo Hideki changed the topic and said seriously: "Our empire is a country of faith and has always kept its promises. No one in the world knows this. Now the "Neutrality Treaty" between our empire and the Soviet Union has not been written. Qian, how can we break the treaty and start a war with the help of other countries? If we do this, how can we lead the Asian countries to build a greater East Asian co-prosperity circle?"

As expected, he is still a shameless Army Red Deer! Shitaro Shimada despised the RB Army in his heart for a while.

"But Germany also has to give an explanation." Tojo frowned and touched his bald head.

The Soviet Union cannot be offended, at least not now... In the past two days, the Soviet Union and Germany were evenly matched. The Soviet Union captured Warsaw and Germany surrounded Leningrad. To be honest, the Soviet Union seemed to have the upper hand.

This shows that the Soviet Red Army is really powerful! According to a report from the Army delegation to Germany, the Soviet tanks are very powerful. The T-34, KV-1 and KV-2 all weigh dozens of tons! The barrels of the guns are thick and thick, and the armor is extremely thick. Neither the RB Army's anti-tank guns nor the Type 1 47mm anti-tank guns can hit them.

Moreover, the number of Soviet tanks is extremely large. It is said that they can produce 20,000 tanks of various types a year! I can't stand it even if I give out one-tenth of the Kwantung Army!

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to go to war with the Soviet Union. The risk is too great and cannot be taken.

But Germany cannot be offended. Now the army is counting on Germany to provide Tiger tank technology, the navy is counting on Germany to assist special steel battleships, the aircraft carriers also want German radars, and the aviation forces of the army and navy are also counting on Germany to provide new engine technology.

Without these things, it would be very difficult for RB to maintain its advantage over the United States in the Pacific for a long time.

"Then let the German surface ships come to the Pacific." Tojo Hideki asked Shimada, "Shimada-kun, if Germany sends a small surface fleet to the Pacific, can it threaten the North Pacific route? It's just a threat. , not cut off.”

Threat and cutoff are two concepts. The former only causes the Soviet Union and the United States to suffer losses, while the latter forces the Soviet Union to fight tooth and nail.

Shitaro Shimada thought for a while and replied: "If it is a surface fleet, a Seydlitz-class aircraft carrier and a heavy cruiser plus a few destroyers are enough to threaten the North Pacific route."

Hideki Tojo nodded, "Well, let's do that. One aircraft carrier, one heavy cruiser, five destroyers, no more. And we can't use the ports controlled by RB and the RB Empire as bases."

"Where should the German fleet go?" Shitaro Shimada asked.

"Then let's take Cam Ranh Bay." Tojo scratched his head and said, "Aren't we discussing French Indochina with the French now? Let France rent Cam Ranh Bay for another 50 years."

…

"What? Cam Ranh Bay? There is also a fleet with a total tonnage of no more than 80,000 tons and can only have 2 main fleet squadrons? Got it, let's think about it."

Hersman hung up the phone with a click from the RB Embassy. The RB people's fear of the Soviet Union made him a little annoyed, but he didn't have much energy to deal with it now. Because fierce fighting has broken out on the Belarusian front!

During the four days from August 26 to 29, the offensive of the German Army Group North went relatively smoothly, with the 3rd Armored Army (commanded by Reinhardt) and the 4th Armored Army (commanded by Huth) as the main forces. Pushed southward for about 120 kilometers.

However, their furious advance ended here. The 4th Armored Group encountered strong resistance from the Soviet army near Zaslavl and was temporarily blocked. The 3rd Armored Army was blocked in Logoisk, about 44 kilometers northeast of Zaslavl.

However, it was Soviet infantry, not tank groups, that blocked the vanguard of the two armored armies. The Soviet Belarusian Front seemed to want to first weaken the German army with the Minsk Fort, and then launch a counterattack with a tank cluster to repel the German army. This was Hersman's personal opinion. When he received a call from Oshima Hiroshi, Hersman Exchanging views with Kesselring and Halder.

"Marshal of the Empire, RB wants to give us Cam Ranh Bay?" Kesselring seemed to be intrigued by the blockade of the North Pacific route.

"Hmph," Hessman snorted softly, "but they are still afraid of the Soviet Union and dare not let us completely cut off the Soviet Union's North Pacific route."

"So is it possible to bring RB's battleships to the Atlantic Ocean?" Halder said. "I heard from people in the Navy that RB now has two Yamato-class battleships. As long as one comes, we can maintain the battleship in the North Atlantic after the autumnal equinox." Advantage."

Now the German Navy is also studying the situation in the North Atlantic after the autumnal equinox, and the situation is quite troublesome. Because 4 Soviet-class ships and 2 Kronshtadt-class ships were not originally planned, and now they suddenly join the British and American camps, it will indeed reverse the balance of power between the two sides in the North Atlantic after the autumnal equinox.

However, Reichsmarschall Hersmann did not seem worried about this and vetoed the plan to attack Soviet battleships passing through German-controlled waters before the Soviet Union declared war on Germany.

Hessman shook his head and said with a smile: "I still refuse!"

The Yamato and the Musashi are RB's national treasures, and they are not willing to lend them to Germany. The Nagato and the four Kongo-class ships are not acceptable, but the Fuso-class and Ise-class ships are willing to lend them. However, battleships of this level are of little use in the North Atlantic, so Halder suggested that RB send 2-4 old battleships and at least 1 aircraft carrier for operations in the Indian Ocean.

"Let's talk about the RB side later," Hessman continued. "Today we will study the war situation in Belarus. What do you two think?"

"We can wait for another two days," Halder said. "Maybe the Soviets are mobilizing armored groups to prepare for a counterattack."

Kesselring nodded, seeming to agree with Halder's opinion: "You can wait, consolidate the position, and repair the roads in the rear... Now the battle with the Soviet Union is not a blitzkrieg, but a frontal decisive battle. In the division of armored forces Before the victory is determined, the initiative on the battlefield hangs in the balance, and we cannot rush forward. "

The current mode of confrontation between the Soviet Union and Germany is indeed not a blitzkrieg, because the Soviet Union is ready to take the initiative to start a war, and there is no possibility of a sudden attack and defeat of the Red Army. Moreover, the Soviet army now has relatively strong armored and mechanized combat capabilities, and has also learned the German tactics of concentrated use of tanks.

Therefore, until the winner is determined in a large-scale tank battle, it cannot be considered to have the initiative on the battlefield.

Halder said at this time: "It would be good to advance to the Zaslavl-Logoisk line. We can stabilize it first, and then concentrate the armored forces to make a detour to Dzerzhinsk, southwest of Minsk, and cut off the railway there. Wire……"

As soon as he said this, Stauffenberg walked in quickly and gave Hessmann a military salute: "Marshal Reich, the Air Force's night reconnaissance discovered the Soviet armored cluster! They are heading north from Dzerzhinsk Movement, may want to attack the right side of the 4th Armored Army!”