The Rise of the Third Reich

Kuchler is the commander of Army Group North. In the German Wehrmacht command system led by Hersmann, the commander of Army Group has great authority and can decide major issues. Therefore, Kuchler could order the troops outside Leningrad to launch an attack without consulting the General Staff, but he still had to report it to the General Staff after the order was issued.

When his report was sent to the General Staff of Zossen via radio waves, Imperial Marshal Hersmann was having a headache about the battle taking place in the Atlantic.

It seems that the war with the Americans will continue!

Because Germany’s request to purchase 3 million tons of C3 fuel through the Netherlands seems to have fallen into the sea without even a wave. It was obvious that Roosevelt would not be able to get through what Kennedy had promised.

In addition to refusing to sell oil, the Americans also sent a huge fleet out of the Caribbean Sea, and this fleet caused headaches for both Hessman and Redl in the past two days.

"The Americans' target is not the Azores..." Redel shook his head, "Our reconnaissance plane did not detect their approach."

The Azores were captured by Germany in 1942. At that time, the Ju288 plus remote-controlled glide bombs had just come out, and the U.S. Atlantic Fleet simply did not dare to confront Germany in the mid-Atlantic and simply withdrew to defend the Azores. Therefore, Germany took over this key location in the mid-Atlantic without much effort.

Subsequently, the Azores became a maritime fortress that Germany painstakingly managed. The German army built a naval base and underground oil depots on Terceira, the third largest island in the archipelago. It also built several large airports nearby and deployed Ju288, He219, Fw-190 and other fighters to block and cover the mid-Atlantic route. .

After the main force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet (3rd Fleet) rushed out of the Caribbean Sea, both the German Naval Command and the European Combined Fleet believed that they were headed for the Azores. So a reinforcement fleet was immediately dispatched from Gibraltar, including a regiment of Marines and a tank destroyer battalion belonging to the Marine Corps.

At the same time, the main force of the European Combined Fleet, under the command of Marshal Lütjens, headed straight for the Azores Islands, preparing to fight the American fleet there.

But now the main force of the European Combined Fleet (departing from the French port of Brest) has almost arrived at the Port of Heroes, and the reconnaissance planes sent by the Azores Islands have not found any trace of the American fleet.

Because all the reconnaissance aircraft of the German Navy are now equipped with new airborne radar systems using British technology, there is no possibility of seeing the main force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet (not a few ships, but dozens or hundreds of ships) No, unless they are not close to the Azores.

In other words, their target is not the Azores!

"Will he return?" Hessman asked thoughtfully.

"It's possible." Redel nodded, "But it's not very big... The American fleet rushes out and turns around and then goes home. What's the point of this?"

Doesn't it make sense? Hirschman thought, maybe Roosevelt just wanted to show off?

"How is Cape Verde's defense?" Hessman asked again with a frown.

Cape Verde is also a must-defend stronghold. Controlling Cape Verde can protect most of the west coast of Africa. If it is captured by the Americans, there will be problems with the European Community's rule in Africa - although Germany did not use large-scale troops in sub-Saharan Africa, after the surrender of the British mainland, almost the entire sub-Saharan Africa was controlled by the European Community.

"Cape Verde doesn't have much of a problem," Redl said thoughtfully, "but the Americans' target may also be South Africa! We can't live without South Africa's gold."

South Africa is now a Dutch colony - it was given in exchange for the Dutch East Indies. However, the Japanese did not fulfill the agreement to send a fleet to assist the German army in landing in South Africa (they helped the German army capture Madagascar). South Africa later fell to Germany due to the surrender of the British mainland and became a nominal overseas territory of the Netherlands. However, most of the gold produced in South Africa was deposited in the United European Bank, effectively becoming a guarantee for the European mark.

Therefore, losing South Africa will be somewhat of a problem for Germany.

"Let the fleet search near Cape Verde," Hersman suddenly realized that once the U.S. Navy breaks through the Atlantic blockade with Ju288 as the backbone, it will be very troublesome. "At the same time, we are preparing to send more troops to South Africa. In addition, we must rebuild the Atlantic blockade." Hersman asked again, "Can Heroes Port be used as the home port of the fleet now?"

Porto Heroes is located on the south coast of Terceira, the third largest island in the Azores. It is protected by a series of mountains and has become a natural haven. But Heroic Harbor is not the only good harbor on Terceira. There is also Terceira Bay on the east coast of the island, which, like the Port of Heroes, was built as a military port by the German army.

"It can be used as a home port for the squadron," Redl said, "but the entire European Combined Fleet will definitely not be able to accommodate it."

"Then put an aircraft carrier squadron there." Hersman said, "Now the Americans have effective means to deal with the Ju288, so we can no longer rely on the Ju288 as a trump card. We must let the Ju288 cooperate with the carrier-based aircraft. Fight to ensure the reestablishment of the Atlantic Blockade."

When Hessmann was discussing with Raeder how to re-block the Atlantic Ocean and prevent Americans from entering and exiting at will, First Munitions Director Guderian suddenly walked quickly.

"Marshal of the Empire, there may be an army mutiny in Leningrad!" Guderian raised his hand in salute. "Marshal Kuechler has ordered the troops to launch an attack on the city of Leningrad and provide help to the mutinous troops."

"Mutiny?" Hessman was stunned again and again.

What are you doing? This is 1943 and not 1991. Why did the troops mutiny?

"Really?" Hessmann asked in disbelief.

"It's absolutely true!" Guderian said, "At least one Soviet infantry regiment has surrendered to the Russian Empress, and more groups have mutinied."

"Marshal Imperial, is the war with the Soviet Union coming to an end soon?" Redel couldn't help but interject, "Does this mean we can concentrate our efforts on dealing with the United States?"

"Or make peace with the United States." Guderian said quickly. "The Soviet Union is not easy to defeat. Even if it has internal problems, we must make great efforts to succeed."

If you want to contain the United States, you must fight with the Soviet Union!

If you want to destroy the Soviet Union, you must fight with the United States!

Raeder and Guderian each proposed a possibility, but Hessmann just shook his head.

Neither peace with the Soviet Union nor peace with the United States can be achieved by Germany's unilateral efforts! Not only did Roosevelt refuse to sell oil, but he also sent a fleet to break through the Atlantic blockade. He didn't know where he was going to cause trouble. It looked like he was not trying to make peace.

"Now we must be prepared to fight the United States and the Soviet Union at the same time!" Hersman said. "If the Queen really returns to Petrograd, then the door to negotiations with the Soviet Union will be closed. And will the United States negotiate with us by then? And...it’s hard to say, it’s not up to us.”

"Then should we negotiate peace with the Soviet Union immediately?" Redl asked in a low voice, "Leningrad is still Leningrad now."

In fact, Hessmann really wanted to do this, but this would not work, because neither Hitler nor the German Emperor Wilhelm III would be happy, and the pro-Russian and anti-Soviet Junker officers would also oppose Hessmann... This evil man would do it Too big.

"Let God decide this time!" Hessmann thought for a while and said, "Now we must fully support Army Group Northern. Marshal Kuechler can give him anything he wants!"

…

God is very likely to be on the side of Russian Empress Olga this time, because something unexpected happened in Leningrad at this time.

This was caused by the fact that on the morning of June 12 (the second day after the Kaminsky gang started causing trouble), the "blue hat internal security forces" stationed in the city center mobilized massively outside the city in full view of the public.

Leningrad is the second capital, and the people here are well-informed and flexible. Of course, we know what the "Blue Hat Troops" do - they are the supervisory team and the last defenders of Leningrad.

Now they are actually heading towards the front line south of the city in a hurry. This shows that the German and White Russian troops have begun a large-scale attack on the city and have made great progress.

The city of Leningrad cannot be defended! The Leningrad household registration will soon become the Petrograd household registration...

The first people to react to this incident were not the families of anti-GM elements in the city, but the cadres and their families who had not yet had their turn to be evacuated. Leningrad is a very large city, and there are many people who need to be evacuated first. There are two Three hundred thousand, and there is still a lot of machinery and equipment to be transported. Therefore, evacuation is a process, and since the main transportation lines from Leningrad to the outside world are not open, the evacuation process is relatively long.

By June 13, more than 100,000 comrades who needed to be evacuated first had not yet left. Together with tens of thousands of other cadres who had originally planned to stay in Leningrad, they all Spontaneously embarked on a journey to leave Leningrad - because at this time not only a large number of "blue hats" drove out of the city, but there was also intensive gunfire, and German planes were also flying wildly on the battlefield in the south of the city. Indiscriminate bombing.

Listening to the intensive sound of gunfire, all Leningraders believed that the city would soon change hands, and a large number of Bolshevik Party cadres swarmed to the north of the city with their families and bags of belongings, which made everyone even more confused. Have faith - Her Majesty will soon return to her loyal Petrograd!

Under this expectation, the revolutionary order in Leningrad began to collapse!