Chapter 547 Starting From Ireland

Hersmann's efforts to persuade Hitler to declare war on the United States failed again!

He is somewhat powerless on this issue because there are currently too many Germans who do not want to fight the United States. Even his wife Chloe doesn't want to go to war with the United States - now everyone thinks victory is within sight, why bother creating more complications? Wasn’t the last war lost because the United States participated?

And it is 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 U.S. Atlantic Fleet is not enough to confront Germany, the navies of Germany, Italy and France would not dare to operate in the waters near the east coast of the United States that can be covered by U.S. shore-based aircraft.

Because Americans have terrifyingly large aircraft manufacturing capabilities, and the United States also has enough reserve pilots. There are hundreds of thousands of Americans with various civilian pilot licenses! It is several times more than those countries such as Germany, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom that once used government power to promote the "100,000 pilots". Therefore, a large number of military aircraft pilots can be trained in a relatively short period of time after preparations begin.

In addition, Germany currently does not have the ability to send dozens of divisions of heavy-armed troops to land on the east coast of the United States, and it does not even have the ability to send these troops to land on the beaches of the British Isles. Otherwise, Hitler would not have been considering inducing surrender, and Hessmann would not have always been thinking of blockading Britain.

But it is not easy to completely block the United Kingdom. Although the combined naval strength of Germany, France and Italy is now greater than that of the United Kingdom, the geographical advantage is on the British side. The British controlled Shetland and the Faroe Islands, and the Americans controlled Iceland.

Although the German High Seas Fleet broke through the Denmark Strait in December, it will include Bismarck, Tirpitz, Gneisenau, Seidlitz, Sekt, Admiral Hipper, Blücher Major ships such as the Er, Prinz Eugen and Lützow were transferred from the port of Kiel to Gibraltar. But it is too far to cut off the North Atlantic from Gibraltar - the port of Brest is close to the British mainland, but it is very close to the North Atlantic. However, it is also under the threat of shore-based aircraft from the British mainland, and Redel does not dare to use it as a fleet for a long time. Stationed port.

In addition, Germany's two aircraft carriers Seydlitz and Sekt are no longer in Gibraltar, and are escorting the main force of the Italian Navy to fight in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Before two Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers and five "Blue Ribbon" aircraft carriers (referring to aircraft carriers converted from luxury cruise ships) enter service, it is impossible for the German Navy to leave the protective circle of shore-based aircraft.

Therefore, using the fleet to cut off the North Atlantic route is just a matter of theory, and it was impossible to do it in the first half of 1942.

After getting off the Eagle's Nest, Hersmann returned to the General Staff's station in Berchtesgaden and immediately invited the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Marshal Redl, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, General Graeme, to his office.

"Marshal, General," Hessman said with a smile, "Have you read Lieutenant General Paulus's report?"

"I've seen it, it's very interesting," Redl smiled, "I like the idea of ​​the naval armored force. Maybe the German Navy should also have an armored division."

"The Army aircraft carrier is not bad," Gram said. "Although it is a mistake for the Army's ship engineers to operate such an aircraft carrier, the idea of ​​combining an aircraft carrier with a landing ship is still a good one."

"We already have amphibious tanks," Hessman said. "We also have army aircraft carriers, or amphibious assault ships. They can be modified using the C aircraft carriers under construction, and Hs-123 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. The German Arms Directorate 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. Instead, they are placed in warehouses to be used when they land in the UK.

As for the C aircraft carrier, it is a 12,000-ton escort aircraft carrier. It is a combination of a light cruiser-level armored hull and a commercial diesel engine. The maximum speed is only 20 knots and can carry 30 aircraft. There are as many as 20 C aircraft carriers currently under construction, not only in Germany, but also in Italy and France. Hersman plans to convert part of it into an amphibious assault ship and equip it with bi-wing Hs-123 attack aircraft. The length and wingspan of the Hs-123 are smaller than those of the Zero. As long as some minor changes are made, it can take off and land on the deck of the C aircraft carrier.

"But these things should belong to the Marine Corps," Hessman paused and then said, "Germany now has a Marine Corps, but it is not developed enough. We should develop the Marine Corps into a condensed sea, land and air force. A functional independent combat force... it should have its own air power and landing ships, and armored units that can conduct amphibious landing operations. In addition, the officers and soldiers of the Marine Corps should be selected from the three armies of the sea, land and air force.”

As he spoke, he glanced at General Graham, who had served as the commander-in-chief of the naval aviation, and said, "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 Greim is the senior general with experience in the navy, army and air force that Hessmann mentioned. He was born in the artillery and transferred to the German Air Force in 1915. On October 8, 1918, he received the Blue Max Medal and became an ace pilot. Later, he served as the commander of the German Naval Aviation Force, which can be regarded as naval experience.

"Imperial Marshal," General Graham understood what Hessman meant, and he smiled and said, "Then let me be the new commander of the Marine Corps."

Herssman looked at Marshal Raeder again, and the latter immediately said: "I also agree that General Graham will be the commander-in-chief of the Marine Corps, and the Navy will fully support him."

"Very good!" Hessman nodded, "It is January 20th now, and the spring equinox will be two months later. The weather in the North Atlantic and the English Channel will improve, which is conducive to maritime and landing operations. I hope that the German army can land on the land on the other side of the English Channel before the autumnal equinox this year!"

"Before the autumnal equinox?"

Raeder and Graham looked at each other, and Raeder said: "Two Hindenburg-class and two Zeppelin-class battleships will definitely be in service before the autumnal equinox. With these two super battleships, we will definitely defeat the British Royal Navy and win sea control."

The Hindenburg class is the H39 class, with a standard displacement of 56,000 tons, a full load displacement of 63,000 tons, and equipped with 8 406mm main guns. However, based on the experience of the two Hawaiian Island naval battles, the Hindenburg class still had some deficiencies in waterline and main gun turret armor. Not only could it not compare with the Japanese Yamato, but even if it encountered a battleship of the North Carolina class, it would probably be evenly matched.

However, the two Zeppelin class ships with a standard displacement of 30,000 tons and a full load displacement of 38,000 tons were powerful enough. In particular, Fokker has now completed the design of the Fokker 100 (the German model of the Comet), replacing the water-cooled engine of the "Comet" dive bomber with an air-cooled engine, which greatly improved the landing performance. With this dive bomber that can carry 500 kg armor-piercing bombs, the Zeppelin class aircraft carrier will have truly formidable combat power.

In addition, the research and development of the V1 ship-borne anti-ship missile, the Fritz-X radio-guided bomb, and the Hs-293V2 guided glide bomb are now in the final stage. The development of the Fw-190 ship-borne type, which is under the responsibility of Fokker, is also nearing completion.

So the German Navy does not have to rely on Hindenburg-class battleships to seize sea control.

Admiral Graham, who is about to become the commander of the German Marine Corps, shook his head with some worry.

"Imperial Marshal, there should be no problem at sea. Even without relying on battleships, Ju88, S.M.79 and Fokker 100 can completely defeat the British Royal Navy. But it is still not easy to land on the British mainland, because the scale of the British Army is already very large. If we can't send enough troops and equipment to the British mainland at one time, the landing troops are likely to be in trouble because of the fierce counterattack of the British army."

Hersman nodded. The current German Navy and Air Force are indeed capable of seizing sea control in the English Channel. But they do not have the ability to transport too many troops to land on the British mainland at one time.

"Then... instead of landing on the British mainland, how about landing in Ireland?" Hersman asked.

"Ireland?" Raeder asked, "Do you want to destroy Ireland's neutrality?"

After the outbreak of World War II, Germany and Britain once fought for Ireland. For this reason, Emperor William II had repeatedly guaranteed Ireland's neutrality when he was alive, and Hitler also made the same guarantee.

The Republic of Ireland itself was forced to implement a pro-British policy under the threat of Britain. Now it is difficult to get Ireland to agree to Germany's entry - the Irish people do not want their country to become a battlefield for the British and German exchanges.

"This is conceivable," Hessman shrugged. "Ireland now has only 40,000 troops, with poor weapons and equipment, and can't stop us at all. Moreover, Ireland is not as fortified as the south of Britain. If we suddenly land in Ireland, we can gain a foothold. As long as we can gain a foothold, the army can fight a decisive battle with the British Army in Ireland. As long as we can annihilate the main force of the British Army, we can successfully occupy Britain."

Ireland is a must-defend place for Britain! Because once Germany takes over the island of Ireland, the British Isles will be completely blocked. So as long as the German army can land on the island of Ireland, they are not afraid that the British Army will not come to fight a decisive battle.