The Rise of the Third Reich

What Hersman mentioned was the B-29 long-range bomber!

Historically, Japan was defeated in the Pacific. The strategic reason was of course the huge gap in national power. As for the tactical reasons, in addition to the defeat at Midway, the attrition in the South Pacific, and the success of U.S. submarines in breaking up the engagement, the strategic bombing of the B-29 was probably the last blow to Japan, dropping bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic bomb is also a B-29!

At present, it is impossible to bomb the Japanese mainland with B-29. The United States could not find an airport capable of reaching the Japanese mainland unless the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. But how could Stalin, who had long been a "loving father", have the time to compete with Japan?

But this does not mean that the terrifying B-29 bomber has no place to play. B-29s can take off from northwest Australia to bomb oil fields in Southeast Asia! With the B-29's high-altitude and high-speed capabilities, it may be difficult for Japan to defend itself.

Once Japan's oil fields in Southeast Asia are destroyed by American bombers, Japan's war potential will decline rapidly.

"Is it that kind of long-range aircraft with performance no less than that of the Me264?" Kesselin frowned deeply. He had also been having a headache for this kind of aircraft. "Although we don't know how efficient they are as bombers, as long-range reconnaissance aircraft they can also greatly improve the combat efficiency of American submarines. Once deployed to Australia, the Japanese oil tankers will probably suffer heavy losses!"

The tactic of using reconnaissance aircraft and submarines to cooperate was invented by the Germans and has achieved very good results in the North Atlantic.

At that time, the Germans were using reconnaissance aircraft modified from the Fw-200. Not only were their speed, ceiling, and combat radius inferior to those of the B-29, but their onboard electronic equipment was also inferior to that of the B-29. The German aircraft at that time Airborne radar is still the first generation, but there is no high-performance airborne sea search radar that can detect hundreds of kilometers today.

But even the Fw-200, whose performance was not very satisfactory, also played a very critical role in the North Atlantic.

Because the most ideal submarine breaking tactic is to set up a swarm ambush. With the anti-submarine capabilities of Japanese escort destroyers (the number of Japanese destroyers is too small, and most of them are concentrated in the main fleet), if they are ambushed by a wolf pack of dozens of submarines, they will definitely suffer heavy losses. .

The difficulty of a cluster ambush is of course to discover the enemy's escort fleet in advance. If the enemy cannot be discovered early enough, it can only set up ambushes in a few key sea channels (Taiwan Strait, Bashi Strait). However, Japan still has a certain number of anti-submarine patrol aircraft (mostly land attack aircraft and seaplanes) Modified, but there are also some "East China Sea" anti-submarine patrol aircraft with good performance), which are enough to conduct blockade patrols in key sea areas - submarines are actually not without resistance to anti-submarine patrol aircraft with superior performance. Submarines have anti-aircraft guns. , and there are also specially designed anti-aircraft submarines on the Atlantic battlefield (in this time and space, they were invented by the British, and Americans also have them now), which have destroyed many German anti-submarine patrol aircraft (modified with Fw-200 ), and Germany also used the same method to hit American aircraft on the east coast of the United States...

However, submarines are ultimately relatively weak when facing aircraft. Therefore, once the B-29 (reconnaissance type) appears in the South China Sea, it will pose a great threat to Japan's anti-submarine warfare!

"Now our Japanese friends are going to be in trouble." Marshal Kesselring is a commander who has been fighting on the front line of the anti-American battle for a long time. He knows how difficult the United States is to deal with, so he also knows the value of Japan very well, "Ludwig "We cannot let the Americans destroy the oil fields in Southeast Asia, nor can we let their attempts to break the war succeed."

Hersman nodded noncommittally.

Kesselring added: "The Fw-190C/D model can be provided to Japan for high-altitude interception operations."

In this time and space, although Germany has not suffered strategic bombing, under Hersmann's instructions, Germany has always attached great importance to the development of high-altitude and high-speed interceptors. The current main high-altitude and high-speed interceptor aircraft of the German Air Force is the Fw-190C/D series. In addition, the Me262 jet aircraft, which has not been mass-produced, is actually a high-altitude and high-speed interceptor aircraft.

It is now impossible for Germany to provide Japan with Me262 in large quantities, and Japan cannot afford the equipment (2 tons of high-quality aviation kerosene per hour, and 2 ultra-expensive jet engines per 100 hours), but the Fw-190C/D series Japan can still afford the high-altitude interceptor aircraft.

"We can't provide it," Hessman thought for a while, but rejected Kesselin's suggestion. "It's better to let our aviation fleet and radar station in Surabaya... We can let the Japanese hand over the Surabaya port to us, and we will block it for them. American bomber."

"Surabaya?" Kesselring didn't understand Hessmann's intention for a while, but Admiral Canaris reacted quickly and immediately asked: "Marshal Imperial, do you want to help the British regain Australia?"

The Port of Surabaya, located in the east of Java Island, is only more than 1,600 kilometers away from the northwest coast of Australia. It is a springboard for attacking Australia from Southeast Asia.

For the British government now in London, Australia is a "occupied area" controlled by the United States and must be recovered. Of course, Germany also wants to turn Australia and New Zealand into the territory of the European Community - this is a huge territory, and it is also rich in coal mines, iron ore and uranium mines!

Therefore, after Leningrad returned to Petrograd, the German General Staff began to plan the operation to "recover" Australia, and also tested Japan's attitude. But there was no positive response - of course Japan was not active. If Germany captured Siberia and the Far East to the north, India to the west, and Australia to the south, you can imagine what Japan's future geographical situation will be.

And now Hersman plans to take advantage of the opportunity of American B-29s stationed in Australia to force Japan to allow Germany to occupy the Surabaya base.

In this way, the German and British troops could use Surabaya as a springboard to "recover" Australia.

"I'm afraid Japan won't agree, right?" Canaris shook his head and said. He is not a pure soldier, but a veteran spy. He is also very familiar with the conflicts between Japan and Germany.

"But Australia and New Zealand must also be recovered," Hersman said. "How can we not recover such a large territory? There is no room for negotiation on this matter. If we don't take advantage of the Japanese's difficulties now, we can I’m afraid it will be even harder in the future.”

He paused and said, "We can reveal the news to Japan that the United States may launch strategic bombing of oil fields in Southeast Asia and see their reaction."

…

Now the Japanese military delegation in Germany has withdrawn, but the channels for high-level exchanges between the two armies are still open.

Therefore, the Japanese base camp learned the news on February 12, Tokyo time, that the United States might transfer a long-range bomber group to Australia through Midway Island.

"Strategic bombing of Nanyang oil fields? Is this possible?" Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo asked.

"Yes." Chief of the Army Aviation Headquarters Takeo Yasuda immediately gave a positive answer, "The German Me264 can perform such a mission. The Americans have long attached importance to the development of long-range bombers, and it is entirely possible to have the same product. "

"So do we have a fighter jet that can shoot down the Me264?" Tojo asked again.

"Yes," Takeo Yasuda replied, "the Type III Feiyan fighter equipped with a German imported engine has enough high-altitude performance to fight against the Me264. Kawasaki is currently copying and upgrading the DB601E engine of the German Mercedes-Benz Company. I believe that domestic models with better high-altitude performance will be available soon.”

In fact, the DB601E is not an engine suitable for extremely high altitudes, but an engine for medium and high altitudes. But its high-altitude performance is better than any Japanese engine, and there is still room for improvement. For example, using a supercharger that is more suitable for extremely high-altitude environments and adding a laughing gas combustion-supporting system - this will add a lot of weight to the Type III "Feiyan", but the weight can be reduced by reducing the fuel tank.

In addition, the Japanese Army Aviation Headquarters did conduct comprehensive tests on the Me264, including "interception tests."

The final conclusion is that the three-type "Feiyan" II fighter can occupy a high-altitude position in advance under the command of radar, and then use dive attacks and powerful firepower (two 20mm cannons and two 12.7mm machine guns) to Me264 was beaten to pieces.

Tojo thought for a while and said: "In this case, the Aviation Headquarters will come up with a batch of improved "Jieyan" that can be used at high altitudes as soon as possible for the air defense of Palembang Oilfield...We can also gather a batch of Type 3 120mm in Palembang. Anti-aircraft guns. This can give the invading B-29 a devastating blow, making it afraid to peek at Nanyang again."

Some of the Type III "Jellow Swallow" IIs have been produced, but they have all been transferred to the Hawaiian Islands. Midway Island is now occupied by the US military, and Palmyra Atoll is also being attacked by the US military (31st Task Force), and there is no way to It serves as the transition airport for Type 3 "Feiyan" Type 2 aircraft.

Therefore, it is now difficult to mobilize the Type 2 "Jieyan" from the Hawaiian Islands. However, the Army Aviation Headquarters still has dozens of DB601 engines available, and it can immediately assemble dozens of Type 2 "Jieyan" IIs.

"There is another way to intercept the US military's long-range bombers." Takeo Yasuda proposed another method at this time, "Use jets to intercept!"

"Jet type?" Tojo was stunned, "Do we have such a plane?"

"There are 200 of them!" Takeo Yasuda said, "The Silver Death missile is actually a jet aircraft. With slight improvements, it can be used to intercept high-altitude and high-speed bombers like the Me264. And... the effect is far better than that of the Type III The Feiyan II fighter is the best.”