The Rise of the Third Reich

Nowadays, various meetings between the Japanese cabinet and the base camp are basically haggling between shameless navy chiefs and army giants, as if they are a vegetable market.

The result of the bargaining was of course that the navy was dissatisfied and the army was not happy, because the Japanese empire could not divide it no matter how little resources it had.

Therefore, Yamamoto Isoroku's request was not 100% met at the emergency cabinet meeting on March 19, Showa 18 (1943).

The final bargaining result was that six Unryu-class aircraft carriers were built at full strength. The Taiho aircraft carrier, the Shinano battleship, and the Kii battleship also strived to be completed and put into service before the end of May in Showa 19 (1944).

In addition, the Kaga and Akagi will also be renovated at the opportunity to install armored decks to improve their air defense capabilities.

At the same time, the army and navy also reached an agreement to eliminate individualism, coordinate materials and personnel, strive for savings, and improve efficiency, so as to eventually increase the annual production of Japanese aircraft to 50,000 aircraft. The aircraft production plan for Showa 18 will also be adjusted to 30,000 aircraft, of which 20,000 will go to the Navy and 10,000 to the Army.

In return for the Army's concession on the issue of aircraft allocation, Yamamoto Isoroku also agreed to support the Army's plan to expand its tank force and march south to New Zealand.

The Japanese Army will complete the formation and training of 4 tank divisions by the end of May 19, but the plan for 7 independent tank brigades has been cancelled.

The Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet will form a Southern Fleet dedicated to operations in the South Pacific to support the Japanese Army's plan to attack Australia.

As for the most critical oil issue, the Japanese army and navy have also reached an allocation plan, in addition to the 150,000 tons of oil per month necessary to ensure domestic production. The Navy gets 70% of the remaining oil and the Army gets 30%. At the same time, investment in the Nanman oil shale project and the Fushun coal liquefaction project was increased. The fuel obtained from the oil shale and coal liquefaction was all controlled by the Army and was not included in the overall oil distribution plan.

In the end, the top brass of the Japanese navy and army also happily reached an agreement on asking for help from the European Community and the Roman Empire.

A week later, the new Japanese Foreign Minister Aoi Shigemitsu, the Privy Councilor Yoshisaburo Nomura (the Japanese ambassador who wanted to commit hara-kiri in the United States), and the Japanese Ambassador to Germany Lieutenant General Hiroshi Oshima and others came with a group of people. A long list of requests for help arrived in Berlin, the German capital.

…

"500 tons of tetraethyl lead additive, 10 sets of Bergeus hydrogenation equipment with a daily output of 500 tons of synthetic fuel, 200,000 tons of special steel for ships, 50,000 tons of steel for tank armor, 100,000 tons of special plywood for aircraft, and special glue for aircraft 3,000 tons…”

German Defense Minister Schleicher, who was awarded the title of Marshal of the Reich and the title of Marquis, wore reading glasses and whispered the list brought by Ribbentrop in the headquarters conference room at No. 73 Wilhelmstrasse.

"Haha," he put down the list halfway through reading, smiled at Hessman, who was once again in charge of the General Staff, and said, "Our Japanese friends seem to be more mature, and the requirements made this time are relatively easy to meet."

"That's because you won the British mainland," Hessman said in a flattering tone. "Without the British mainland factories, we wouldn't be able to produce so much tetraethyl lead additive, nor would we be able to produce 100,000 tons of aircraft. Special plywood and 3,000 tons of glue, special steel for ships and armor steel for tanks are not very rich.”

Tetraethyl lead additive is used to increase the octane number of gasoline - gasoline with tetraethyl lead added is the famous leaded gasoline in later generations! After adding this additive, the octane number of gasoline can be increased by 20-30. For example, the octane number of German gasoline refined from Romanian light crude oil is originally 87, but after adding tetraethyl lead, it can be increased to 97 -107, this is the so-called C3 fuel.

However, C3 fuel is not the aviation gasoline with the highest octane number. In 1943, the United Kingdom and the United States had already mastered gasoline with an octane number of 130-150. Of course, the British and American high-octane gasoline labeled 130-150 Compared with the German C3, it is actually not too far ahead. It's just that the testing methods of the two sides are different. Britain and the United States use a dedicated single-cylinder variable compression ratio engine so that higher test data can be obtained.

However, it is undeniable that the United Kingdom and the United States have a leading advantage in gasoline antiknock technology. This is because before the outbreak of the world war, both Britain and the United States had large oil companies that could invest heavily in anti-knock agent research. Without such companies in Germany, it would be impossible to accumulate technology.

Fortunately, under the supervision of Hirschmann and the efforts of IG Farben (the technology for producing tetraethyl lead additive from the United States was exchanged for synthetic gasoline technology), Germany still gained knowledge in this area.

However, Germany's output of tetraethyl lead additive has never been large. After all, Germany's currently controlled oil production is also very limited, and it does not need much gasoline antiknock agent at all. Moreover, the cost of producing tetraethyl lead additive specifically for aviation gasoline is high and the technology is also very difficult. If it were not for the capture of the British mainland, Germany would not be able to distribute the 500 tons of tetraethyl lead additive that Japan wanted.

In terms of special plywood for aircraft (wooden aircraft) and special glue, although the level between Britain and Germany is now almost the same, Germany does not have sufficient production capacity to supply Japan. The British mainland has been blocked by Germany for a long time, so it has focused on developing the plywood industry, and now has a lot of production capacity to provide.

In addition, Germany is now fully committed to building ships and tanks, and there is not much special steel to sell to Japan. Therefore, the 250,000 tons of special steel proposed by Japan must also rely on British factories for production.

"Two Imperial Marshals," Minister Hess asked on behalf of Hitler who was visiting Britain at this time, "The Japanese have not given up the plan to attack New Zealand. Will Britain refuse to provide tetraethyl lead, plywood, glue and special steel?"

"They will not refuse," Hessman, who knows the British better, smiled, "On the contrary, they will actively get the order, and then slowly harm the Japanese!"

"Then what should we do?" Hess asked, "We can't punish Britain for Japan, right?"

The Nazis are racist in their bones. Hitler and Hess are very dissatisfied with Japan's insistence on attacking New Zealand. It is estimated that they will secretly cause trouble for the Japanese people in the future.

"What can we do?" Hessman shook his head. "Let's work on the Japanese and make them give up attacking New Zealand. I don't think the Americans will wait until 1944 to attack again. Our Japanese friends will soon be in a tough battle!" He glanced at the Navy Commander-in-Chief Raeder again, because the German Navy's aircraft carriers and missile cruisers participated in the Panama Campaign and also sent a military delegation to the Japanese Navy. Therefore, he had some understanding of the situation in the Panama Campaign and Japan's subsequent deployment. Raeder said: "In the Pacific battlefield, the Battle of Panama should be a turning point. Japan's strategic offensive posture can no longer be maintained. The top leaders of the Combined Fleet are more pessimistic about the war than the Japanese informed us. They believe that the American offensive will soon begin.

Because the Japanese Navy exposed very serious shortcomings in the Battle of Panama, their surface ships' air defense capabilities were seriously insufficient. The American dive bombers paid almost no price when breaking through the Japanese ship's air defense firepower network. And Japan's Zero fighters also had difficulty fighting against the US P51, F4U and F6F... If we cannot provide effective emergency assistance to Japan, then the Battle of Panama will not be the only setback encountered by the Japanese Navy in 1943."

"What is the top priority?" Schleicher asked.

"We provide the Bofors anti-aircraft gun system," Raeder said. "The air defense system of Japanese ships can only resist torpedo attack aircraft but not dive bombers because they do not have medium-range anti-aircraft gun systems."

Anti-aircraft gun systems are not 40mm cannons with high firing angles, but involve a series of issues such as gun operation, protection, sighting, and fire control. Moreover, it is very troublesome to integrate this anti-aircraft gun system into Japanese ships.

Schleicher nodded, without comment, and asked, "Anything else?"

"We also need to help Japan improve its Zero fighters," Raeder said. "If Japan will face a decisive battle in 6-10 months, then their new fighters will not have enough time to equip the troops in large quantities."

"Perhaps we can provide them with aircraft or aircraft engines," Hess reminded.

"We can provide some, but it won't be very useful." Hessman took over the topic and said, "In 1942, the Japanese produced 18,000 aircraft and consumed no less than 15,000 aircraft. How many can we provide?"

Aircraft during World War II were consumables. With a fleet size of less than 10,000 Japanese aircraft in regular use, the annual consumption of aircraft was always more than 15,000 (of which only 30-40% were lost in battle), and the consumption of engines was even more, at least more than 20,000. It would be useless for the Germans to provide 2,000-3,000 engines. If they had to provide a large number of them, Germany's own aircraft engines would not be enough.

"What should we do then?" Hitler's successor, the minister who wanted to take care of everything, Hess asked. "We can't just watch the Japanese get defeated by the United States, can we?"

Hersman snorted softly and said, "Even if we provide engines and even a large number of aircraft, these confused Japanese will still be defeated by the United States! And the time will be around 1944... They will be beaten up by the Americans first, and then beg for mercy, and seek a peace that can preserve some of the fruits of victory. In this way, we have to face the giant United States alone!"

"Is it that serious?" Hess was stunned by what Hesman said, and his face turned ugly.

"Yes." Hesman nodded and said, "So the problem now is not to aid Japan, but to use aid to force Japan to obey our will. Japan must listen to our command, only in the future can it defeat the United States with us.

Otherwise, we might as well concentrate our resources to defeat the Soviet Union!"