The Rise of the Third Reich

Rudolf von Heinsberg-Hersmann, who was wearing the uniform of a major in the German naval aviation, and his good friend Val T. Nowotny, who also had the rank of major in the naval aviation, followed Natalie Leigh. Sinskaya quickly walked into the office of the Chief of General Staff of the Defense Forces.

"His Majesty the Imperial Marshal!"

The two young men made a German salute and then stood upright across from Hessmann's desk.

"Sit down." Hessman waved to the two of them and asked them to sit on the chair opposite his desk.

"Val T, have you flown the Me262T aircraft?" Because of Rudolf's relationship, Hersmann and Novotny were very familiar with each other - after Rudolf returned to Germany, he was a frequent visitor to Hersmann's house.

Nowotny sat upright in his chair and replied: "It flew by."

"How does it feel?" Hersman asked.

The carrier-based version of Me2e262 is designed to allow Me262 jet aircraft to board aircraft carriers.

This was originally a difficult goal to achieve, because carrier-based jet aircraft require a relatively large thrust-to-weight ratio, and the Me24 engine cannot provide sufficient thrust. But after the British mainland surrendered, the originally stagnant Me262T project ushered in a turn for the better.

Because after testing three of the most advanced British jet engines, including the British Rolls-Royce RB.23 Wieland 1, Rover's Derwent 1 and De Harvet's H1 ( (all experimental models), Germany's jet engine technology has made a qualitative leap - the British also got engines from Jumo, BMW, Henschel and a large amount of cash they urgently needed. In fact, this was a time for both parties to All benefited a lot from the technical exchange.

Soon, Jumo used some technology obtained from the United Kingdom to upgrade its own engines and launched the Jumo004e jet engine, which increased the thrust to nearly 1,220 kilograms with almost the same weight and fuel consumption as the Jumo004b. .

This breakthrough allowed the design of the carrier-based Me2e262T-0 aircraft (prototype) to be assembled in late October 1943, and tested by Major Nowotny and Major Tierfeld.

"It's a great aircraft with a lot of thrust. It should be able to take off from an aircraft carrier with the help of a hydraulic catapult and an elevation flight deck." Nowotny said, "But it's not easy to land it on the ship... ...The landing speed will be very fast. If the blocking rope cannot be pulled in time, a serious accident will occur. "

The angled flight deck is still a secret, and neither Novotny nor Rudolf knows about it.

"There is already a way." Hersman was still keeping secrets and did not tell Novotny the specific situation. Instead, he changed the topic, "Val T, Rudolf, the Naval Aviation Command told you to help Japan. About training jet pilots?”

"I told you, it's just..." Novotny seemed a little confused.

"If you have any questions, just ask," Hersman said.

"We just don't have many jet pilots of our own," Novotny said. "Shouldn't we train our own people first?"

Due to lack of urgency, the German Air Force and Naval Air Force still have not officially fielded the Me262 or any other jet aircraft. Therefore, there has been no large-scale training of jet pilots - this is very expensive. The Me262 is a fuel-swallowing tiger, burning at least 2 tons of aviation kerosene in an hour of flight. Calculated based on 100 hours, it is at least 200 tons. If you want to train 5,000 jet pilots, at least one million tons of refined aviation kerosene will be burned (1 million tons is actually not enough, because jet pilots The training elimination rate is also not low).

Moreover, the fuel consumption of 5,000 commonly used Me262s for daily training flights and mission flights will also be an astronomical figure. The current Luftwaffe and naval aviation simply cannot afford it.

So Hessmann was willing to help the Japanese train 180 "Silver Death" missile pilots (actually 400 people were trained). He really spent a lot of money. He would burn more than 80,000 tons of aviation kerosene alone!

And after these 400 people completed training. Not only could Japan get 180 missile pilots, but it could also get up to 220 (actually certainly not that many, because some would fall to their deaths) pilots who could fly jets. This number is likely to exceed the number of jet pilots Germany has itself.

"Our jet pilot training is also in progress," Hersman raised his finger and pointed at his son, "Didn't Rudolph get his jet certificate?"

While attending a short-term training course at the Naval Academy in Kiel Port, Rudolf also received training in flying jet aircraft and obtained a certificate to fly a jet aircraft in early October.

Because he learned some Japanese during the Pacific War, he was able to communicate with Japanese pilots. So he was selected as an instructor at the Brandenburg Jet Pilot School, and Nowotny is now Rudolf's boss and the principal of the Brandenburg Jet Pilot School (Rudolf is the vice principal).

Hersman continued: "The reason why the current progress is not fast is because there is no need for it at the moment. The Fw-190 is enough to meet the needs of the battlefield, and there is no need to equip a large number of jet aircraft for the time being. Moreover, the Me262 is not fully mature, and other jet aircraft The model is also not mature enough.

And the Japanese...those Japanese pilots are not flying jet fighters like the Me262, but this 'Silver Death' suicide missile. "

Hersman handed a photo of the "Silver Death" to Nowotny, "This is this kind of missile. It was designed by Henschel Company and produced by the British Rolls-Royce Company."

Henschel and Volkswagen are now the two major missile manufacturers in Germany. The former has two major products, Hs293 and Fritz-X, and the latter has V series missiles. However, the missile factories of both companies are now working overtime to produce, and there is not much sufficient production capacity.

So Henschel, after getting the order, subcontracted the production of the "Silver Death" project to the British Rolls-Royce.

"Japanese pilots will drive these missiles to ram American warships!" Hersman said, "and the responsibility of the Brandenburg School is to teach them to fly missiles. Honorary Captain Hannah Leitch of the Wehrmacht will also attend Brandenburg School She is the test pilot of this missile. She will teach you instructors first." He looked at Nowotny and Rudolf, "Do you understand?"

"Understood, Your Majesty Imperial Marshal." Novotny and Rudolf replied at the same time.

…

Shortly after Nowotny and Rudolf left Hessmann's office, Natalie Lesinskaya brought two more Japs, Navy Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa and Army Lieutenant General Yoshitoshi Tokugawa.

The latter was the leader of the Japanese Army Aviation Corps and the first pilot in Japan to fly into the sky. In addition, he is also a respectable nobleman and the head of the Shimizu Tokugawa family. Well educated and fluent in English, German and French. He is responsible for the management of the 84 Me264 crews currently undergoing training in Germany.

After several months of training, 58 of the 84 crews have passed the assessment (Germany is not Italy, and there has never been a 100% graduation rate), and 15 of the remaining 26 crews must undergo extended training and make-up exams. .

There was also a crew member who was at the bottom of the test score, and the captain and co-pilot committed suicide out of shame. Now both of them are living in the German Air Force Hospital for treatment...

However, Tokugawa Yoshitoshi was not here today to discuss with Hirschmann whether to send another crew to Germany for training. He was here to say goodbye to Hirschmann. In addition, he also wanted to take away 42 Me264 bombers.

"What? There are 42 Me264 aircraft going back to Japan with Lieutenant General Tokugawa?" Hersman was a little surprised, "But these aircraft have not yet completed the modification to mount the 'Silver Death', and the crews have not received relevant training. "

"Your Excellency, Imperial Marshal," Tokugawa Yoshitoshi replied, "These aircraft do not need to undergo modifications in this area, because they will soon be performing combat missions."

"Combat mission?" Hersman asked, "Is it the Aleutian Islands?"

"Yes." Hasegawa Kiyoshi replied.

In fact, these 42 Me264s will be used to drop ceramic bacterial bombs on the West Coast of the United States! But this is a secret for both Hasegawa Kiyoshi and Tokugawa Yoshitoshi.

"Is the progress in the Aleutian Islands going smoothly?" Hersman asked again.

The Battle of the Aleutian Islands began on October 9 and continues until now (October 30, Berlin time), but Hessmann did not get much information about this battle.

"It's going well so far." Kiyoshi Hasegawa, like Hersman, didn't know what was happening on the Aleutian Islands frontline, so he could only speak vaguely.

"Oh." Hersman knew that the other party was perfunctory, but he did not pursue the question any further. Instead, he said to Hasegawa Kiyoshi and Tokugawa Yoshitoshi, "Since you have decided, we will cooperate, and 42 Me264s will The last factory maintenance will be carried out. In addition, the two Me262 jets will be disassembled into parts and shipped to Japan in Me264... There will also be technicians from Messchmidt who will be responsible for assembling the Me262 aircraft. At the same time, the relevant techniques for maintaining Me262 and Me264 are taught.”