Chapter 1055 Brown Plan
Berlintzossen, Grand General Staff.
"Lieutenant Colonel, Tokyo telegram." A major in charge of intelligence liaison handed a copy of the telegram to Hessmann's adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Pipe, who looked at it twice and looked happy, and immediately walked quickly to the conference room.
In the conference room, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral William Messer held a baton and pointed at a map of the Atlantic Ocean while making a report to Chief of General Staff Hersman and Defense Minister Schleicher. Also present were Navy Commander-in-Chief Raeder, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Weaver, Atlantic Front Commander-in-Chief Kesselring, Naval Aviation Commander-in-Chief Richthofen and others.
"The construction of the Belem Port base has now entered the final stage. The docks in the port have been massively expanded. The number of large dry docks (actually floating dry docks) has reached 6. The entrance to the Tocantins River Three anti-submarine nets have been deployed and minefields have been set up, which can effectively prevent the penetration of US submarines.”
Admiral Messer pointed to the five aircraft signs near Belem Port and said: "The Air Force and Naval Aviation have also built 4 division-level airports near Belem Port, which can deploy up to 2,000 aircraft. There is also another "A dedicated airport for jet aircraft." He slid the baton to Cayenne in Guyana. "Here, the engineering forces affiliated with the Navy, Air Force and Naval Aviation have also carried out long-term and large-scale construction. Currently, there are 20,000 berths there. There are piers for cargo ships, 4 regiment-level airports, including 1 regiment-level airport that can take off and land jet aircraft, 4 underground oil depots and 4 underground ammunition depots.
Air defense units were also deployed in large numbers to Belém and Cayenne. A total of 10 air defense regiments were deployed, equipped with a large number of 128mm, 88mm, 40mm and 20mm anti-aircraft guns. Anti-aircraft gun towers with fire control radars were also built in key areas. Can effectively counter the heavy bombers of the US military...
In addition, we also secretly built a large airport and a large number of defense facilities near Georgetown in Guyana, Venezuela. "
"William, let's talk about the brown plan." Hersman waved his hand. He was not worried about the air defense of Beren and Cayenne at all. Now American B-29s are still concentrated in Australia to bomb Japanese-controlled oil fields, while B-17s and The combat radius of the B-24 cannot reach Belem Port at all, and it can only blow up the Cayenne at most.
However, the Americans have never had an advantage over the Cayenne. The German Fw-1219 is not easy to deal with. It has good high-altitude performance and extremely powerful firepower.
In addition, there are air defense towers near the Cayenne port and airport - fire control radars and 128mm heavy anti-aircraft guns installed on high concrete towers, coupled with radio proximity fuses, can effectively fight against American heavy bombers.
Moreover, even if the Cayenne port and airport were hit by more bombs and incendiary bombs, the German engineers there would quickly repair it and it would not be a problem at all.
Hearing Hessman's question, William Messer immediately turned to the topic: "At present, the preliminary preparations for the brown plan have been basically completed, and the troops, equipment, supplies, ammunition, etc. prepared for combat in the Americas have begun to be transferred. The troops, equipment and supplies for the first phase of operations are expected to be completed within 3-4 months.
In addition, the comprehensive preparations for the European Combined Fleet will also be completed within 3-4 months. At that time, the European Combined Fleet will take over the Veneto, Littorio, Rome, and Imperial of the Roman Navy. In addition, there will also be a batch of Kesselring-class aircraft carriers, Munich-class air defense cruisers, 1936 D-type destroyers and Type 21 submarine equipment units.
If the Japanese Combined Fleet can severely damage the main force of the US Navy in the Pacific as agreed, then the probability of success of the Brown Plan will be 100%. "
Having said this, William Messer frowned slightly, seeming a little worried about the Japanese.
"You can rest assured about this. The Japanese dare not betray us. We have many cards to play now." Just after Hersman finished speaking, his adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Pipe, handed over the telegram from Tokyo.
Hersman took a look at the telegram and laughed: "The Japanese have already drawn up a decisive battle plan, preparing to use the attack on Midway Island to lure the enemy, and then use battleships to attack the U.S. Pacific Fleet in a decisive battle."
"A battleship decisive battle?" Richthofen of the German Naval Aviation was surprised when he heard the news. "Are the Japanese kidding? That's the Pacific Ocean!"
"It would be nice if we could have a fight," Redl took over the topic. "The biggest obstacle in the brown plan operation, apart from the huge shore-based aviation deployed by the United States in Venezuela and the Caribbean islands, is the U.S. battleships. According to intelligence, the United States currently has four Iowa-class battleships and one North Carolina-class (USS Washington) equipped with 406mm main guns. In addition, four Soviet-class battleships belonging to the Soviet Union have also been moored. New York. These nine giant battleships will pose a huge threat to our combat operations."
This giant battleship is not all the United States has (or can control)! At this time and space, the construction of five Montana-class battleships in the United States has begun, and two more Iowa-class battleships have also been launched and are currently being outfitted. By the second half of 1945 or early 1946, all of these giant battleships will be able to service.
By then the United States will own or control 16 super battleships!
On the German side, there are only 2 Hindenburg-class, 4 Schleicher-class, 3 Alsace-class and 3 Duke Alexander-class, a total of 12 super battleships with 406mm cannons. And the firepower and armor of these super battleships are not comparable to the American Montana-class.
"They are just some outdated battleships." Admiral Richthofen, commander of the German naval aviation, said indifferently, "Our TV-guided missiles will soon be equipped to the troops, and no matter how many battleships the United States has, it will be useless."
His point of view is consistent with Hessmann, otherwise Hessmann would not have been converted into an aircraft carrier by 4 H41 battleships.
Hearing Richthofen's point of view, Raeder and Messer looked a little unhappy-but Hessmann has long been accustomed to such embarrassing situations. The Germans are so straightforward, they will tell you everything and will not hide it in their hearts.
"Battleships are certainly useful!" Marshal Raeder said in a heavy voice, "Unless radar-guided missiles can be developed, battleships will never be eliminated."
Radar-guided missiles are missiles in the true sense, while TV guidance is just a transitional product with too many limitations. For example, TV guidance must be used during the day, and there is no way to guide and remotely control it at night.
In addition, TV guidance is actually remote control guidance, and it cannot be "fired without caring", and someone must use a remote control device to control the missile. Moreover, the signal transmission distance of the remote control device is limited, and there will be no signal beyond 30 kilometers. Therefore, TV-guided missiles cannot achieve beyond-visual-range strikes at all - this is not just a problem of signal transmission distance, but also a problem of target search.
Although Germany now has radars that can search for surface ships from the air, radars can only detect a rough outline, and it is difficult to distinguish between aircraft carriers, battleships and large cargo ships. If the missile is "blindly fired" according to the results of the radar search, it is very likely that the missile will not find the target at all (current radars still have a large deviation). Therefore, aircraft equipped with TV-guided missiles must still fly to a distance where they can visually observe the enemy fleet before they can launch TV-guided missiles.
Therefore, the only thing they can really avoid is the anti-aircraft artillery of the enemy's surface fleet, and they cannot hide from the enemy's interceptors at all.
"The Americans can completely hide their battleship forces in the Caribbean Sea west of Trinidad. Use American shore-based aircraft scattered across the Caribbean islands for cover, and use the cover of night to launch a sudden and swift attack when we land on Trinidad."
Redel quickly proposed a possibility to prove his point.
According to the Brown Plan, Trinidad is an island that the European coalition forces must occupy. Only by occupying the island can the coalition open the door to attack Venezuela and the Caribbean.
And the US military must know this. So after Germany entered Guyana, it immediately controlled Trinidad and built a large number of airports and bases on the island, with thousands of shore-based aircraft deployed there!
If there are more than a dozen super battleships equipped with 406mm main guns guarding there, the landing operation of the coalition forces will be very risky.
"Imperial Marshal," Raeder said to Hessmann in a very affirmative tone, "In the brown plan, a battleship decisive battle is inevitable. And we must win a big victory, because in terms of the number of cruisers and destroyers, our disadvantage cannot be compensated by quality."
Raeder meant that if the battleships of both sides competed and both sides suffered losses, then the battle of cruisers and destroyers would definitely be a failure. According to intelligence, the total number of cruisers in service and under construction in the United States is no less than 70! And the number of destroyers and escort destroyers under construction and in service is as high as 900...
And the American cruisers and destroyers are not badly built. The "Munich" class anti-aircraft cruisers and 1936 D-type destroyers produced in large quantities in Europe are not better than similar American ships, and the number is too small.
Therefore, the European Combined Fleet must not lose, and cannot afford to lose, in the battleship competition!
Raeder concluded: "Now our advantages lie in the army and aviation. We are only evenly matched in terms of large surface ships. Even if we consider the remote-controlled missiles, we are not sure of winning. As for medium and light surface ships, our disadvantages are too great. If we cannot win a big victory in the competition of large surface ships, the United States can give full play to the number advantage of medium and light surface ships.
In addition, in terms of submarines, our Type 21 submarines have a greater technological advantage and can pose a greater threat to the enemy's surface fleet..."
"Report!" Raeder's words were suddenly interrupted by a report. A staff officer had already walked into the conference room. "Just received a report from the Naval Observation Group in Japan. The Japanese Combined Fleet is leaving the anchorage of Etorofu Island. They are going to have a decisive battle with the US Navy!"