Hersmann's efforts to persuade Hitler to declare war on the United States failed again On this issue, he was somewhat powerless, because at the moment there were too many Germans who did not want to go to war with the United States.
Even his wife Chloe didn't want to fight with the United States, and now everyone thinks that victory is in sight, so why bother with any more complications, didn't the last big war be lost because of the United States' participation And it was impossible for Germany to land on the east coast of the United States and then conquer all of North America.
This is really impossible, even if the US Atlantic Fleet is not enough to confront Germany, and the navies of Germany, Italy and France will not dare to operate in the waters off the east coast of the United States, which can be covered by US shore-based aircraft.
Because the Americans have a terrifyingly large capacity to build aircraft, and the United States also has enough reserve pilots.
The number of Americans with various civilian pilots is hundreds of thousands, which is several times more than Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, which once used government power to promote "100,000 pilots."
Therefore, it is possible to train a large number of pilots of military aircraft in a relatively short period of time after the start of preparations for war.
In addition, Germany now does not have the ability to send dozens of divisions of heavily armed troops to land on the east coast of the United States, and even to send these troops to land on the beaches of the British Isles.
Otherwise, Hitler would not have always considered luring surrender, and Hersmann would not have always tried to blockade Britain.
But it will not be easy to completely blockade Britain, although the combined naval strength of Germany, France and Italy is now greater than that of Britain, but the geographical advantage is on the side of Britain.
The British controlled the Shetland and Faroe Islands, while the Americans controlled Iceland.
Although the German High Seas Fleet broke through the Danish Channel in December, it moved the capital ships including Bismarck, Tirpitz, Gneisenau, Seydlitz, Seckert, Admiral Hipper, Blucher, Prince Eugen and Lützov from the port of Kiel to Gibraltar.
However, the attack from Gibraltar to cut off the North Atlantic was too far away, close to the British mainland, and the port of Brest was very close to the North Atlantic, but it was also threatened by shore-based aircraft from the British mainland, and Raeder did not dare to use it as a port for the fleet to be stationed for a long time.
In addition, Germany's two aircraft carriers, the Seydlitz and Seckert, are no longer in Gibraltar, and the main forces of the Italian Navy are escorting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
And until two Zeppelin-class and five "Blue Streamer" aircraft carriers refer to aircraft carriers converted from luxury cruise ships are commissioned, it is simply impossible for the German Navy to leave the protective circle of shore-based aircraft.
So to use the fleet to cut off the North Atlantic routes, that is to say, it was simply impossible to do it in the first half of 1942.
After leaving the Eagle's Nest, Hersmann returned to the headquarters of the General Staff in Berchtesgaden, and immediately invited the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Field Marshal Raeder, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Admiral Graeme, to his office.
"Marshal, General," said Hersman with a smile, "you have read Lieutenant General Paulus's report."
"I've seen it, it's very interesting," Raeder smiled, "I like the idea of the navy's armored unit, maybe the German Navy should have an armored division too." ” "The Army carrier is not bad," said Graeme, "and while it would be a mistake for some Army ship engineer to operate such an aircraft carrier, the idea of combining an aircraft carrier with a landing ship is a good one." ” "We already have amphibious tanks," Hersman said, "and we'll have army carriers, or amphibious assault ships."
It can be retrofitted with the C aircraft ship under construction, and the HS123 can also be put on board as a carrier-based attack aircraft. ” The amphibious tank was improved on the basis of the No. 3 tank, and the German General Directorate of Armaments first secretly developed the No. 3 submersible tank in 1940, and later developed the No. 3 amphibious tank.
More than 300 vehicles have been produced one after another, but they are not equipped with troops, but are placed in warehouses ready to be used when they land on British soil.
As for the C carrier, it is a 12,000-ton escort aircraft carrier, a combination of an armored hull of the light cruiser class and a commercial diesel engine.
With a maximum speed of only 20 knots, it can carry 30 aircraft.
As many as 20 C ships are currently under construction, which are being built not only in Germany, but also in Italy and France.
Hersman is ready to convert part of it into amphibious assault ships and equip them with two-wing HS123 attack aircraft.
The length and wingspan of the HS123 are smaller than those of the Zero, and with some minor changes, it is completely possible to take off and land on the deck of the C ship.
"But these things should belong to the Marines," Hersmann said, after a pause, "and there are Marines in Germany now, but they are not developed enough."
We should develop the Marine Corps into an independent combat force that condenses the functions of the navy, land and air force, and it should have its own air power and landing ships, and it should have armored forces that can conduct amphibious landing operations.
In addition, the officers and men of the Marine Corps should be selected from the three armed forces: the navy, the army, and the air force. ” As he spoke, he glanced at Senior General Graeme, who had served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Aviation, "General, now I need a senior general with combat experience in the Navy, Army, and Air Force to serve as the commander-in-chief of the new Marine Corps. ” General Robert Ritter von Graham is what Hersmann said was a senior general with experience in the army, navy and air force, he was an artilleryman, transferred to the German Air Force in 1915, and received the Blue Max Medal on October 8, 1918, becoming an ace pilot.
Later, he served as the commander of the German naval aviation, which can be regarded as having naval experience.
"Imperial Marshal," said Admiral Graeme, who understood what Hersman meant, laughed, "and then I will be the new Marine Corps Commander." “ Hersman looked at Field Marshal Raeder again, who immediately said, "I also agree that Admiral Graeme will be the commander-in-chief of the Marine Corps, and the Navy will fully support him." ” "Very well," Hersman nodded, "It's January 20th, and the vernal equinox will be in two months, and the weather in the North Atlantic and the English Channel will improve, which will be conducive to sea and landing operations."
I hope to get German troops on land across the English Channel before the autumn equinox this year."
"Before the Autumnal Equinox" Raeder and Graeme glanced at each other, and Raeder said: "2 Hindenburg-class and 2 Zeppelin-class will definitely be able to enter service before the autumnal equinox, and with these 2 super battleships, we will definitely be able to defeat the British Royal Navy and win sea supremacy." ” The Hindenburg class is the H39 class, with a standard displacement of 56,000 tons, a full load displacement of 63,000 tons, and is equipped with 8 406 main guns.
However, based on the experience of the two naval battles of Hawaii's Big Island, the waterline and main gun turret armor of the Hindenburg class are still somewhat deficient, not only can they not be compared with the Japanese Yamato, but even if they meet a battleship of the North Carolina class, they may be evenly matched.
However, the two Zeppelin-class with a standard displacement of 30,000 tons and a full load displacement of 38,000 tons are powerful enough.
In particular, Fokker has now completed the design of the German version of the Fokker 100 Comet, replacing the water-cooled engine of the "Comet" dive bomber with an air-cooled engine, which has greatly improved the landing performance.
With such a dive bomber, which can carry 500 kg of armor-piercing bombs, the Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier will have a truly formidable combat power.
In addition, the development of the V1 shipborne anti-ship missile, the Fritz X radio-guided bomb and the HS293V2 guided gliding bomb are now in the final stages.
The development of the FW190 carrier-based version, which Fokker is responsible for, is also nearing completion.
Therefore, the German Navy did not necessarily have to rely on the Hindenburg-class battleships to seize sea supremacy.
Admiral Graeme, who was about to become the commander of the German Marine Corps, shook his head with some concern.
"Reich Marshal, there should be no problem at sea, even without relying on battleships, the JU88, S79 and Fokker 100 can completely crush the British Royal Navy.
But it was not easy to land on British soil, because the size of the British Army was already very large.
If we can't send enough troops and equipment to the British mainland at one time, there is a good chance that the landing force will be bogged down by the fierce counterattack of the British army. ” Hersmann nodded, the current German navy and air force are indeed capable of seizing sea supremacy in the English Channel.
However, they did not have the ability to send too many troops to land on British soil at once.
"So how about we not land on British soil, but in Ireland," Hersman asked.
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"Ireland" Raeder asked, "to undermine Ireland's neutrality" After the outbreak of the Second World War, Germany and Britain fought over Ireland.
For this reason, Emperor Wilhelm II repeatedly guaranteed the neutrality of Ireland during his lifetime, and Hitler made the same assurance.
The Republic of Ireland itself, under the threat of the British, had been forced to adopt a pro-British policy, and it was now difficult for Ireland to agree to the entry of Germany, and the Irish did not want their country to become a battlefield of war between Britain and Germany.
"This can be considered," Hirschman shrugged, "Ireland now has only an army of 40,000 men, and the weapons and equipment are so poor that they can't stop us at all."
And Ireland is not as heavily fortified as it is in the south of England, so if we suddenly land in Ireland, we can stand firm.
As long as they can gain a foothold, the army will be able to fight the British army in Ireland.
As long as we can annihilate the main force of the British Army, we can successfully occupy LinkedIn. ” Ireland was a must for the British, because once Germany took the island of Ireland, then the island of Britain would be completely blocked.
Therefore, as long as the German army can go to the island of Ireland, it is not afraid that the British army will not come to the decisive battle. t1706231537: