The Rise of the Third Reich

"Ludwig, do you think Japan will lose the Battle of the Hawaiian Islands?"

On the afternoon of January 28, in the garden of the Chancellery in Berlin, which was covered with snow, the two most powerful men in Germany, Chancellor Hitler and Chief of General Staff Hessmann, were walking side by side and discussing the world. exchange views on the progress of the war.

"No, I'm not sure." Hessman laughed, "But I think they will probably lose. The question is just how much they lose and how many Americans they kill. But this is definitely a good thing for us."

"Oh?" Hitler was stunned, "I thought you were a pro-Japanese faction."

"Nothing," Hessmann shook his head, "I am neither pro-Japanese nor anti-Japanese. All my positions are based on the interests of the German Empire. I was willing to win over and help Japan before because Germany needed Japan to go. Contain the United States.”

"No need now?"

"What are the Japanese doing now?" Hersman smiled. "Their use of bacterial weapons against the United States actually did us a big favor."

"Very busy?"

"Yes," Hessman smiled and nodded, "It allows us to gain a route to attack the United States... This is actually good for Japan as well."

"Route? From where?" Hitler asked.

Hersman replied: "Launch an attack on the United States from the Caribbean! So we should take advantage of the opportunity for the United States to regain the Hawaiian Islands to change the political structure of the South American continent, foster a powerful Argentina that can provide us with logistical support, and control Brazil and Uruguay.”

The biggest difficulty for Germany in fighting in South America and the Caribbean is not the combat effectiveness of the US military, but the pressure on logistics.

If Germany wanted to attack the Caribbean islands from Guyana and gain a route to invade the United States, it would have to deploy heavy troops in Guyana. For example, 1 million to 2 million ground troops, 5,000 to 10,000 aircraft, 5,000 tanks, etc.

The bases required for so many troops and the consumption in South America are astronomical. Guyana, with only a few hundred thousand to one million people, cannot even solve the problem of feeding the army, let alone other things.

If the bread consumed by more than 2 million combat troops and at least hundreds of thousands of logistics personnel every day has to be shipped from mainland Europe. Then the Guyana-Europe logistics line will drag the Germans attacking the Americas to death - it's not that Germany can't get so many ships, but the Guyana-Europe route is too close to the Caribbean Sea, and the U.S. fleet and submarines are completely destroyed. under serious threat. Even the P51B/C taking off from Trinidad and Tobago can be equipped with bombs to bomb the fleet approaching Guyana!

Moreover, the Americans have deployed the B-29 as a reconnaissance aircraft in the Atlantic battlefield since the end of 1943. Due to the B-29's long range and high speed, it can cover a very vast sea area and is difficult to be shot down. Therefore, the B-29 can detect German transport convoys at a distance of 2,000-3,000 kilometers from Guyana, creating very favorable conditions for the attack creativity of U.S. submarines, break-up fleets and shore-based aviation.

Therefore, in the past few months, the Europe-Guiana route has become a route that has broken the heart of General Dönitz, commander-in-chief of the European Joint Transport Command, but no matter how hard Dönitz tries, the loss rate of ships cannot be reduced.

In the end, Marshal Kesselring, the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Front, had to order the European coalition forces stationed in Guyana to shrink, abandon a large number of peripheral strongholds, and shrink to three strongholds: Georgetown, Paramaribo and Cayenne. At the same time, the number of army and aviation forces in Guyana was reduced to reduce the pressure on maritime transportation.

Of course, the shrinkage of the European coalition does not mean that the Americans can easily capture Guyana - because Guyana's terrain and degree of development determine that the US military cannot take the land route to capture Georgetown, Paramaribo and Cayenne, and can only engage in landing operations. This is actually a landing battle to seize an island on the mainland. It cannot be fought without overwhelming sea and air superiority.

The U.S. Atlantic Fleet simply does not have the strength to overwhelm the European Combined Fleet, so the U.S. military can only destroy the airports in Georgetown, Paramaribo, and Cayenne through continuous air strikes to ensure the safety of the Caribbean Sea and the Panama Canal.

"As long as we can get the support of Argentina," Herschmann continued to tell Hitler, "we can take advantage of the opportunity of the main force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet to move westward to force Brazil and Uruguay to submit. In this way, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Guyana on the east coast of South America will With everyone on our side, we can find airports to deploy shore-based aviation near the coastlines of Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil to cover the routes.”

"Covered route?" Hitler asked, "Aren't you going to take the direct route from Europe to Guyana?"

"Take the Mediterranean-Suez-South Africa-Argentina-Uruguay-Brazil-Guyana route."

"Driving in such a big circle?" Hitler thought for a moment, "Is there enough fuel?"

"That's enough," Hessman said. "Starting from the second half of 1942, we have mass-produced standardized coal-fired steam transport ships - the Unity Ship."

The idea of ​​the Unity Wheel comes from the American Liberty Wheel. It is also powered by a coal-fired steam engine. It has a dead weight of 8,000 tons, a maximum speed of 13.5 knots, an endurance of 13,500 nautical miles, a payload of up to 11,500 tons, and a cargo capacity of about 6,500 tons. In addition to bulk carriers, Tuanjie also has a tanker model, which can load about 6,000 tons of fuel at a time.

However, this slow steam freighter is not suitable for the crisis-ridden direct route from Guyana to Europe. Not to mention encountering the US commerce-breaking fleet, even if it encounters the US wolf pack (because the B-29 can discover the European transport fleet a long time in advance, it is easy for the US submarine to launch a wolf pack ambush), it will suffer heavy losses.

So Kesselring hopes that these solidarity ships can have a "safe route", even if it takes a long detour.

Although the "Mediterranean-Suez-South Africa-Argentina-Uruguay-Brazil-Guyana route" is 13,000 nautical miles long, it takes 10,000 nautical miles more than going directly from Europe to Guyana, but it is much safer.

Among them, the section without shore-based aviation cover is the section from South Africa across the Atlantic to Argentina, which is nearly 5,000 nautical miles away from the Caribbean Sea firmly controlled by the United States, and has long been beyond the coverage of the B-29. Without the reconnaissance of the B-29, it is difficult for the US submarines to launch a perfect wolf pack offensive.

Moreover, it is impossible for the US fleet to go 5,000 nautical miles to disrupt the trade when Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina all turned to Germany.

"In addition, once Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and other countries turn to us," said Hersmann, "Argentina's annual more than 3 million tons of oil, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay's food, and Brazil's labor and coal (Brazil and Argentina both have some coal mines, which are not enough to support industrialization, but there is no problem in meeting the consumption of hundreds of solidarity ships) can all be used by us. In this way, South America can provide most of the logistical materials consumed in the Guyana-Caribbean battlefield, and the things that need to be transported from Europe and the Middle East will be greatly reduced."

Hitler nodded, and he understood Hersmann's big plan a little. The Japanese's misdeeds seemed to be a blessing in disguise, giving Germany an opportunity to establish hegemony in South America.

And the United States, which lost South America, would no longer be a world power that could compete with Europe. At best, it would be a contained regional power.

"So the Japanese's biological weapons were used in the right place?" Hitler asked.

"Yes, they used it right!" Hersman smiled, "If they didn't use it, the Americans would not have concentrated their main naval forces to attack the Hawaiian Islands... If the main naval forces of the United States did not attack, we would not be able to use force to force Brazil and Uruguay to join us, and we would not be able to establish a united front against the United States in South America. Without the support of South American countries, we in Europe simply do not have the power to maintain a military force in Guyana that can threaten the US mainland." "But if Japan is defeated in the Hawaiian Islands, the United States may still concentrate all its efforts to fight us in the Caribbean, right?" Hitler seemed to lack confidence in defeating the United States. "Yes," Hessmann said, "but we are very confident that we can approach the U.S. mainland along the Caribbean islands. There may be huge casualties, but for the German Empire to dominate the world in the future, the current efforts are completely worth it."

"But approaching... does not mean landing!" Hitler reminded, "Ludwig, you don't really think we can land in the United States?"

"No, I don't think so." Hessmann shook his head, "but we can force the United States to surrender through strategic bombing... The islands in the Caribbean can become the starting point for strategic bombing."

"Strategic bombing to force the United States to surrender?" Hitler shook his head again and again, "My Reichsmarschall, the American P47 will destroy all your Me264s!"

"There will be a way," Hessmann replied, "We already have Me262 jet fighters and Ar234 jet bombers, as well as Rolls-Royce'Silver Reaper' missiles. Moreover, Junkers, Heinkel and Adora are currently developing new long-range jet bombers, while Henschel and Volkswagen are stepping up the development of heavy airborne missiles based on 'Silver Reaper' technology... I believe that by 1945, we will have many means to break through the US air defense system. "

"But how many tons of bombs can be dropped?" Hitler was still very skeptical. "Jet planes are so fuel-consuming, how many can we equip?"

"How many tons of bombs can be dropped is not a problem," Hessmann stopped, his hands behind his back, and looked at the distant sky, "The key to the problem is what kind of bombs to drop. "