The Rise of the Third Reich

"Want to buy Zeppelin and Prussian classes?"

Hersman looked at the Japanese naval admiral in front of him - Hasegawa Kiyoshi, the head of the Japanese naval military delegation to Germany with very slender eyes and a long face. He felt a little helpless in his heart.

Because as soon as he heard the request made by the other party, he knew that the Japanese continued to go on the wrong path. The Japanese are too focused on "ship protection" and regard aircraft carriers as treasures, and they are not willing to throw away one.

In Hersman's view, in addition to the "European Community" class (the E aircraft carrier modified from the H41 hull) aircraft carrier that can take off and land jets, other aircraft carriers include the "Zeppelin" class and " The value of the "Prussia" class (modified from the hull of the Dutch battlecruiser "Esse" class) is not too high.

Of course, both the "Zeppelin" class and the "Prussia" class have the possibility of installing an angled flight deck, but the modification project is very extensive and will take at least 6-8 months, and will also add several thousand tons of weight to the aircraft carrier. The weight is also increased in the upper part, which will affect the seaworthiness of the ship.

Historically, the United States' Essex-class aircraft carriers reduced the weight of the ship by reducing the number of artillery guns on the aircraft carrier. However, under the current fierce fighting situation, it is definitely impossible to remove the anti-aircraft guns on the aircraft carrier. Therefore, it is not easy to install an angled flight deck on the "Zeppelin" class and the "Prussia" class.

However, Hessmann still cannot sell the ready-made "Zeppelin" class and "Prussia" class aircraft carriers to Japan, otherwise he will become a public enemy of the German navy.

"This is impossible," Hersman shook his head. "The Zeppelin class and Prussia class cannot be transferred, but I can arrange for European shipyards to produce armored aircraft carriers for you."

"Is there any free slipway that can be used to build a large armored aircraft carrier?" Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa immediately asked with interest.

Slipways that can build giant ships of tens of thousands of tons are now a scarce resource. All large slipways in Japan now have ships rebuilt. As far as Kiyoshi Hasegawa knows, large slipways in Europe are also occupied by projects, leaving almost no free space for Japan.

"Petrograd has two large slipways, with a length of 300 meters and a width of 42 meters, which is enough to build a large aircraft carrier."

Hersman was talking about the Leningrad Baltic Shipyards and the Royal Russian Navy Shipyards, which built two Soviet-class battleships.

Because the Soviet Union retreated from Leningrad very hastily, neither of the two large shipyards was damaged enough, and most of the shipyard workers and technicians did not retreat (the Soviet Union no longer needs to develop its shipbuilding industry for the time being).

The two shipyards are now entrusted to Germany's Germania Shipyard and France's Penholt Shipyard, preparing to start construction of the "Kesselring" class aircraft carrier.

Seeing Hasegawa Kiyoshi's hesitation, Hersman added: "Orders can be sent to the Germania Factory in Germany and the Penholt Factory in France."

Germania Shipyard and Penholt Shipyard are both major European factories, and their technology is absolutely guaranteed. Moreover, two Russian shipyards in Petrograd have also built large ships such as the "Soviet" class, and their technical accumulation is sufficient.

"Okay then," Kiyoshi Hasegawa laughed, "We hope to order a Zeppelin class and a Prussian class... both are improved models. We need to make improvements based on the original design. Moreover, we also Engineering and technical personnel should be dispatched to the factory for supervision.”

The request made by Kiyoshi Hasegawa was planned long ago... The Japanese not only want the Germans to help build aircraft carriers, but also master Germany's most advanced aircraft carrier construction technology and shipboard system technology through these two orders - now Germany Although they are allies with Japan, it is really hard to say whether Japan and Germany can live in peace for a long time after defeating the United States!

"It's feasible in principle. You can discuss the specific situation with the people at the shipyard and the European Community Arms Export Committee." Hersman shrugged and said, "Although you have not recognized the Russian Empire, this does not affect the Germania Shipyard and Pentagon. Hult Shipyard takes orders.”

Currently, the EC's arms exports (sales within the EC are not counted as exports) are subject to unified control, but Hersman has already nodded, so it will be easy to pass the Export Committee's hurdles.

"By the way," Hessman asked about the war situation in the Pacific before accepting the meeting with General Kiyoshi Hasegawa. "The Americans are dispatching on a large scale this time. Our spies lurking in San Diego recently discovered in the port 2 Wyoming class battleships, 2 New York class battleships, 2 Mexico class battleships, 1 Florida class battleship, 1 South Dakota class (USS Washington), 2 Iowa class, 4 Essex class aircraft carriers, 4 Independence-class aircraft carriers, and another two to three hundred ships of various types!”

The Eyes of the U.S. Pacific Fleet San Diego has been the target of surveillance by German intelligence agencies as early as the 1930s. The Stasi organization set up a spy network there. Although it was unable to penetrate the top brass of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, it could still monitor the military port.

So after Hessman learned that the U.S. Pacific Fleet was dispatched, he immediately ordered the Military Intelligence Agency to further investigate the situation, and soon obtained some extremely valuable information - all the old American battleships had arrived in the Pacific, and all of them had gone to sea. Fighting.

"What? There are 2 Wyoming-class battleships, 2 New York-class battleships, 2 Mexico-class battleships, and 1 Florida-class battleship in San Diego Harbor?" Hasegawa Kiyoshi was stunned. "These seven battleships are now..."

Hessman said: "They have all gone to sea, together with two or three hundred other ships! Now the San Diego Harbor is empty. The people in the Naval Liaison Office will send the report to you soon... This is absolutely reliable intelligence! "

Hasegawa Kiyoshi took a breath!

In the opinion of Hasegawa Kiyoshi, these seven old American battleships are no longer valuable for fleet artillery battles. Therefore, the purpose of the Americans transferring them from the Atlantic to the Pacific was definitely not to fight Japanese battleships like the Yamato.

And if this kind of battleship is not involved in a fleet battle, it has only two uses, one is air defense; the other is shore bombardment.

If it is for air defense, it does not make much sense to transfer them all the way from the Atlantic Ocean. Because the U.S. Atlantic Fleet also has the need for air defense operations, it would be better to dispatch a few more cruisers with powerful anti-aircraft firepower than to dispatch them.

Therefore, Kiyoshi Hasegawa immediately made a judgment: The purpose of the Americans mobilizing seven old battleships to the Pacific was to attack the islands!

The American counterattack in the Pacific will begin soon!

…

"Your Excellency, Marshal, the Combined Fleet and Military Command have judged that the target of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's counterattack may be Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands or Christmas Island, 2,080 kilometers south of the Hawaiian Islands."

In Tokyo, Japan, in the Navy Ministry Building, Navy Minister Isoroku Yamamoto, Military Commander Osamu Nagano, Military Command Deputy Secretary Ito Seiichi, and Yokosuka Defense Chief Nagumo Chuichi all gathered in a conference room.

The person speaking now is Major General Ito Seiichi, Deputy Chief of the Military Command Department. This person is the soul of the Japanese Navy Military Command Department. Of course, he is also a fan of beauty. He once studied at Yale (the elites of the Japanese Navy are all top academics, and they all studied in prestigious American schools, no? Harvard is Yale or Columbia University). When he was a naval attaché in the United States, he was very familiar with Spruance, the current number one fighter in the Pacific Fleet.

"Ito-kun, tell me your judgment," Yamamoto Isoroku interrupted Ito Seiichi who was reading from the script, "Is it Dutch Harbor or Christmas Island?"

Unlike in history, Japan only captured the westernmost islands of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. In this time and space, the Japanese navy once had a greater advantage in the Pacific, so it captured the most valuable Dutch island in the Aleutian Islands. port.

However, precisely because they have captured too much strategically valuable territory, the Japanese army in the Pacific is now somewhat short of troops.

It is impossible for the Japanese to place hundreds or thousands of shore-based aircraft at every strategic point, because the total number of commonly used aircraft owned by the Japanese navy and army is only about 9,000 - although Japan's annual domestic aircraft production can reach one There are more than 10,000 aircraft, but training pilots is a very fuel-intensive undertaking. Japan relies on Japan's effective oil supply of more than 6 million tons a year. In more than a year after the war, the number of standing aircraft was increased from more than 4,000 to 9,000. It is already no small miracle (many of the pilots are "miracles" with only dozens of hours of flying time).

However, 9,000 standing aircraft are still not enough for the vast battlefield that Japan needs to defend.

Especially after the United States adopted the abominable aircraft carrier-breaking tactic, Japan had to deploy aircraft on some islands in the Western Pacific, coastal areas of its homeland, Taiwan Island, the Philippine Islands and other places, wasting a large amount of troops.

Moreover, the Japanese Army has deployed more than 1,000 fighter planes in Manchuria and North Korea to deter or prepare to attack the Soviet Union. According to the plan of the Japanese Army, once the German army captures Moscow, Japan will march to the Far East, Mongolia and Siberia... Therefore, the Kwantung Army's aircraft and tanks cannot be removed!

In addition, although Japan gave up its plan to attack Australia and New Zealand, it did not cease the war with the Australian and New Zealand authorities, and the US troops stationed in Australia and New Zealand did not withdraw. Therefore, air battles in the South Pacific are carried out every day, and the Japanese have deployed thousands of fighter planes in this direction!

Therefore, the Japanese navy and army currently have only more than 4,000 aircraft that can be used on the frontal battlefield in the Pacific, of which more than 1,000 are carrier-based aircraft. There are only more than 3,000 aircraft that can be used to defend the first-line islands (including the Aleutian Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, the Line Islands where Christmas Island is located, Midway Island behind Hawaii, and Wake Island).

The troops are not abundant at all, so it is very important to judge the target of the US military attack in advance.