The Rise of the Third Reich

January 2, 1943, 10 p.m.

"There are still 60 seconds to prepare!" Captain Otto Skorzeny stood up from the folding chair and walked to the door of the Me323 transport plane.

"Everyone is in position, check the parachute gear." After giving the order, he opened the cabin door forcefully, and gusts of cold wind blew in, making everyone in the cabin shiver. The explosions of anti-aircraft shells also became louder. Looking out from the cabin door, groups of gray Me323 transport planes were arranged in a dense formation, moving quickly through clusters of blooming sparks and thick beams of searchlights.

Now tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the 7th Parachute Division of the German Wehrmacht have flown over the city of Hartlepool on a huge Me323 transport aircraft and a Go242 *** towed by a Ju88.

Hartlepool is an ancient port city that emerged in the 7th century, but its position in the shipping industry has long been replaced by the nearby British steel industry center Middlesbrough. Its small port and outdated facilities can only handle small ships, not large ones. Therefore, the British did not deploy heavy troops in this city (the British heavy troops were also limited and could not be deployed everywhere), but they still placed two anti-aircraft artillery battalions (also militiamen) equipped with QF3 76.2mm anti-aircraft guns in Hartlepool. ), a militia brigade attached to the North Yorkshire Division and a Coast Artillery Battalion.

The QF3 anti-aircraft gun is an old gun from 1914. Its range and height are limited, and it does not have a radio proximity fuze, so it is just a scary thing. The fighting continued for a long time, but not a single Me323 transport plane or Ju88 aircraft was shot down.

On the outside of the airborne group, the escorting He219 fighter jets were fighting with the British Mosquito night-fighting aircraft. From time to time, huge fireballs flashed in the dark night.

"Everyone follow me! Jump!" The green signal light next to the plane door suddenly turned on. Captain Skorzeny shouted to his men, and then he was the first to jump out of the door.

The white parachutes were like groups of giant dandelions, very conspicuous in the night sky, floating and swaying, filling the sky, and slowly descending towards the land of England.

However, what is hung under these parachutes is not all German paratroopers or paratroopers' equipment. 80% of the parachutes falling from the sky are actually deceptive false targets - just a small parachute with a wooden figure hanging on it.

Looking from the ground to the sky, the airborne troops have been expanded several times, as if 30,000 to 40,000 German supermen armed to the teeth are falling from the sky, and they are falling everywhere. This will greatly confuse the British troops in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, causing them to miss the best opportunity to counterattack!

While the very eye-catching airborne operation was going on, near a beach near the North Sea, an Italian frogman unit commanded by Major Borghese of the Italian Navy was quietly approaching.

Like Italy in history, the now prosperous "New Roman Empire" also has no way to build an elite army of millions like Germany. But this did not prevent the Italians from establishing a small number of elite troops.

For example, the Italian Air Force's S.M.79 fleet (now eliminated), the bomber force equipped with P.108 heavy bombers, the Italian Navy battleship force, several rather elite Italian army divisions, and the mysterious Italian frogman force.

These Italian frogmen were probably more capable than their German counterparts, and although they did not shine in the Mediterranean campaign, tonight they will go down in history.

Sixty Italian frogmen driving a "Pig" type special submarine were quietly surfacing at this time. Looking out through the diving goggles worn by Major Borghese, the white sandy beach in the distance was filled with thick and long black iron bars. These were supposed to be anti-landing obstacles, and they were planted all along the coast of England wherever there were sandy beaches.

This beach in Hartlepool is no exception. Since 1940, the British have been adding barriers called "rail walls". Because it is close to the center of the British steel industry, there is no shortage of rail rail materials, so there are now thousands of rail rails on the entire beach.

These rails are now the target of Major Borghese and his frogmen. However, they do not need to destroy them all, only a part of them, about 300 of them.

Because the landing operation will begin around 9 a.m. on January 3, when the tide begins to rise. Most of the obstacles will be submerged, but some will pose a threat to landing craft and landing ships and must be destroyed with explosives.

It is also the time of high tide, so the rail villages that need to be destroyed are located where the sea water and the beach intersect.

At this moment, Major Borghese felt that the special submarine he was driving hit the underwater beach. He straightened up, and then raised a hand to gesture to his subordinates behind him. A group of frogmen all got off the special submarine, bent over or kneeling on one knee on the underwater beach, with only half of their heads exposed.

Major Borghese slowly backed up and moved slowly to his second-in-command.

"It's almost here. One person has to blow up at least five rails. According to intelligence, there should be British machine gun bunkers and patrols near here. If we are discovered by them, we will be fascist martyrs."

While he was speaking, a beam of light from a searchlight suddenly passed by nearby, scaring a group of fascist frogmen to shrink their heads.

"You won't become a fascist martyr," the deputy smiled. "At most, you will be taken as a prisoner by the British, and I don't know if you will be beaten?"

He was not joking, because it was winter now, and even if they were wearing special thermal insulation diving suits, it would be impossible to avoid rapid loss of body temperature. They would not be able to last long in the cold sea water.

Therefore, after completing the mission, it was impossible for these Italian frogmen to return on the "Pig" submarine to send them to the large submarine off the British coast. Therefore, they could only find a place to hide near the beach (this beach is more than ten kilometers long and can be defended It's relatively strict, but as long as you get past this section there is a place to hide), there is still a possibility of being hunted and captured by the British.

"There will be no problem," Major Borghese smiled. "Although these British are against Christ (they bombed the Pope), they are still gentlemen...Okay, let's start taking action now!"

If this mission was for the Russians, they certainly wouldn't come.

…

"What? There are huge numbers of Kraut paratroopers in Hartlepool, Scarborough, Grimsby, and Abel and Bangor in Wales? Damn it, that's impossible!"

London, underground on King Charles Street, in the headquarters of the War Cabinet, British Prime Minister Churchill looked at the report sent by his staff and immediately shook his fat head.

It turns out that Hartlepool was not the only city where paratroopers were discovered tonight, but a total of 5 cities reported being attacked by a large number of German paratroopers!

And this is of course impossible. Launching an air assault against one city would require hundreds of large transport aircraft. To attack five cities at the same time, the Germans would need to invest at least 3,000 large transport aircraft. How could the German Air Force be so generous?

Moreover, even if the Germans have so many large transport aircraft, they will not airdrop to five cities separately, but will use them concentratedly in one place.

"Only one city was actually attacked. The Germans airdropped false targets in several other cities..." Viscount Brooke, the Imperial Chief of General Staff, looked livid when he spoke.

Originally, like Churchill, he thought that the Germans would not really invade, at least not before the spring equinox in 1943.

"Where will it be?" Lieutenant General Stilwell, Chief of Staff of the European Allied Forces, asked.

"We don't know now," Churchill handed the report to Stilwell, "because the Germans dropped aluminum chaff to jam the radar, so we don't know how many planes are in the sky. But... the truth will come out in a few hours. ”

"Prime Minister, we must send reinforcements as soon as possible!" Stilwell said, "The 24 hours after the enemy lands are critical... If they are allowed to gain a foothold, we will be in big trouble."

Of course there are reinforcements. There are at least three to four million people wearing military uniforms and holding guns on the island of Great Britain. Regardless of whether they are militiamen or regular troops, they can always fight.

But these people are not the key to the success of the counterattack. The key is the tanks and armored soldiers!

Because the German airborne troops and marines have armored forces, it is difficult to rely on infantry to counterattack, and armored forces must be invested.

Since the 2nd, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Armored Divisions are not on the island of Great Britain (the 7th Armored Division is in India, the 8th Armored Division is in Canada, and the remaining 4 armored divisions are in Ireland).

Therefore, Fatty Qiu did not have many armored units available. In addition to the American 2nd Armored Division, there were only three British armored divisions: the British Guards Armored Division, the 1st Armored Division and the 6th Armored Division.

"The infantry can be ordered to set off immediately," Viscount Brooke suggested, "troops can be drawn from Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Norwich and Newcastle for reinforcements. As for the armored troops... they can be ready to go at any time."

"There won't be any problems with the roads, right?" Lieutenant General Stilwell reminded. "The roads in central England have been bombarded indiscriminately in the past two days, and many bridges have been blown up. Can the large army still pass through?"

Viscount Brooke frowned and said: "It will definitely delay some time, but it shouldn't be a big problem. After all, England's road facilities are very good. The roads that the Germans can destroy in two days are limited... A few bridges are more troublesome, but they are also A floating bridge can be built.”

"Can we reach our destination within 24 hours?" Churchill asked.

Viscount Brooke shook his head, "The armored troops may not be able to catch up, but the infantry is fine."