Chapter 566: Springboard to America (Part 1)

The Rotterdam Shipyard in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is one of the four shipyards in the Netherlands capable of building large surface ships of more than 30,000 tons. The small, peace-loving Netherlands actually has four shipyards that can build battleships! Europe's industrial strength in the 1940s really cannot be underestimated.

When Reichsmarschall Hersmann, the Minister of Defense of the German Empire, arrived at this large shipyard on April 1, 1942, the shipyard was a busy scene. The tall chimneys were filled with black smoke, and soot and dust were everywhere. There are more than a dozen large and small slipways lined up in a row, all of which are busy with military and civilian ships under construction. The most eye-catching one is undoubtedly the hull of a huge 30,000-ton battleship.

"Marshal of the Empire, the hull of this Lake Essay-class battlecruiser is very well built, better than our own!"

Amidst the clanging sound of knocking, Admiral Canaris, the director of the German Naval Armament Bureau, who arrived a few days in advance (the original spy chief, was sent to the navy by Hessmann at the end of 1941 to take charge of the armament manufacturing business) ) introduced the hull of the battlecruiser to Hessmann with his thumbs up, which will be owned by the German Navy.

Admiral Canaris said: "With a standard displacement of 28,500 tons, the main armor belt and the front armor of the turret are 250mm, the front and side armor of the command tower are 300mm, and there is a double armor deck with 100mm and 30mm respectively, which is enough protection. The firepower of any heavy cruiser. The nine 54.5-caliber 280mm main guns are powerful enough to sink three heavy cruisers at once, and its anti-aircraft firepower is also powerful enough, with 12 128mm high-level guns. It has dual-purpose guns, 28 40mm Bofors guns, and 32 13mm machine guns. Even if it is attacked by twenty or thirty aircraft at sea, it can still survive. But the most satisfying thing is its power system, which has 180,000 horsepower. Super horsepower, greater than our Bismarck-class and Hindenburg-class, and the power system used by the H41 is exactly the same, allowing this battlecruiser to run up to 34 knots, almost as fast as a destroyer, I guarantee it, in the world! No other country’s battleships and battlecruisers can catch up with it.”

The H41 type was improved on the basis of the "Hindenburg" class (H39 type). The four H-class battleships that were added after the end of the Western Front Campaign were all H41 type battleships. If the H39 battleship is the transition from a "destroyer ship" to a "decisive battleship", then the H41 type is a true decisive battleship.

When Germany began to design the H41 based on the H39, Germany had already won the victory on the Western Front. Moreover, Germany's shore-based aviation also demonstrated strong anti-ship capabilities, changing the strength comparison between the British and German navies. Moreover, the effect of using shore-based Ju88, He-115 (later changed to S.M.79) and Fokker Zero to cooperate with submarines to break engagements is much better than using surface ships.

Therefore, German naval engineers finally gave up the idea of ​​"breaking diplomatic relations" and positioned the H41 as a decisive battleship.

At the same time, starting from helping the Netherlands design the Lake Essay class, German hull engineers also gave up the outdated "dome armor protection" concept and concentrated the armor tonnage on the sides, deck, turret, command tower, and underwater mine protection area. and other key parts.

In addition, the H41's main gun has been upgraded on the basis of the H39, with the caliber increased from 406mm to 420mm (the number is still 8). As a result, it truly has the strength to compete with the "Iowa" and "Montana" class American super battleships under construction.

However, the Lake Essay-class battlecruiser, which contributed many technologies (new power system and new armor protection design ideas) to the H41 battleship, will never be built. Because Germany no longer needs a warship to break diplomatic ties - the issue of breaking diplomatic ties is now a "small goal" for the United States to consider.

"Three Lake Essay class ships can be converted into aircraft carriers," Hersman said to Admiral Werner Fox after visiting the hull of the Lake Essay class ships that were ready to be launched. How long will it take to complete the fully enclosed hangars of 30 Fw-190Ts and 30 Fokker 100s?

The medium and low-altitude model of the Fw-190T (Fw-190T-1) developed by the Fokker Company on the basis of the Fw-190 has now begun mass production and will soon replace the existing Fokker Zero. There is also a high-altitude model equipped with a turbocharger, called Fw-190T-2, which was finalized in early April and will be put into production soon.

According to the German naval aviation plan, the carrier-based aircraft on the German naval aircraft carrier will be composed of high-altitude fighters, low-altitude fighters and dive bombers. Among them, high-altitude fighter jets will be used to drive away enemy high-altitude bombers - while the Germans are developing the Hs293 wire-controlled glide bomb, they can certainly imagine that the enemy will use the same method to attack German surface ships.

After all, the wire-controlled gliding bomb is not a high-tech thing. With the capabilities of the United Kingdom and the United States in the electronic field, they should be able to copy it quickly.

However, until the United States successfully imitates the Hs293 wire-controlled glide bomb and equips its troops with it, Germany can still dominate the Atlantic Ocean with its small P.108S fleet.

For Germany, the next few months will be a precious strategic opportunity period. Once this strategic opportunity period is over, a naval war with the United States will be inevitable.

According to intelligence, the construction progress of the US "Essex" class aircraft carrier is very fast. The first ship, the Essex, will be completed and put into service before the end of 1942, and there will be 7-8 ships in service in 1943. It is really a "dumpling" ship.

In addition to the "Essex" class, there is also a 11,000-ton "Independence" class light fleet aircraft carrier that will soon be put into production. It is said that the US Navy Department placed an order for 20 ships in one go in early 1942, and the first ship will be completed in 1942, which is really as fast as flying.

"16 months at most," Admiral Canaris assured Hessmann, "it will be completed before the autumnal equinox of 1943."

"I'll give you 12 months at most." Hessmann patted Admiral Canaris on the shoulder and said very confidently, "It must be completed before the end of April 1943, because we will need aircraft carriers by then."

After negotiating with Admiral Canaris about accelerating the modification of aircraft carriers, Hessmann and the director of the German Naval Armaments Bureau took a Maybach limousine to The Hague, 20 kilometers away. Although The Hague is not the capital of the Netherlands, it has always been the political center of the Netherlands. Many government agencies, embassies and international organizations are located in The Hague. Queen Wilhelmina and Princess Juliana of the Netherlands also often gather in The Hague.

And today Hessmann went to The Hague to meet with Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Dirk Geer to discuss the issue of "protecting" Dutch Guiana.

"Prince, Princess, I have seen the hulls of all three battlecruisers. They are very good and we can buy them."

In a conference room in the Royal Palace of The Hague, Hessmann first met Prince Bernhard and Princess Juliana.

Both of them are undoubtedly pro-German... In fact, they are Germans, so Hessmann spoke to them in German.

"That's great, we can save a lot of money." Princess Juliana seemed very happy. Not only because of the sale of three expensive battlecruisers, but also because of the solution of the headache of the Dutch East Indies - how can the Dutch East Indies be better than South Africa? South Africa has gold mines and Boer compatriots, it is a real "colony". The Dutch East Indies has never colonized a few people, and the residents there are either indigenous people or Chinese.

"With South Africa, will you still be short of money in the Netherlands?" Hessman laughed, "40% of the world's gold is produced there, and the British Empire's wallet is supported by South African gold."

"All Dutch Germans will thank Germany, and the Dutch Germans and German Germans are originally one family." Juliana said with a smile, "I think Congress will soon approve the bill to join the European Mark... Once the war is over, we will join the European Community."

The Dutch and the Flemish in Belgium (actually the Dutch) are actually branches of the Germans. There is a tradition of being pro-German, especially the upper class of the Netherlands - three generations of queens have married German princes, and later Queen Beatrix married a Nazi prince!

But being pro-German is one thing, and fighting side by side with Germany is another. Although the Queen of the Netherlands and the government do not object to Dutch citizens joining the German army as individuals (there are many such people), they also encourage domestic factories to accept German military orders. But they have been unwilling to give in on the issue of joining the European Community. It is not that they are unwilling to join, but that they are unwilling to join before the end of the war. Because joining the European Community means sharing the fate with Germany, and means joining the war!

Hessmann fully understood the Dutch's unwillingness to fight. He shrugged and said with a smile: "No problem, the European Community welcomes the Netherlands to join at any time. However... in order for us Europeans to win the war, we still need the Netherlands to provide some convenience."

"Convenience?" The Dutch princess smiled, "As long as we don't join the war, everything is fine."

"No, of course not." Hessmann shook his head, "We don't need the Netherlands to join the war, we just need the Netherlands to give us a springboard to America."

"Springboard?" Juliana was stunned and looked back at her husband. Prince Hahnbert had understood Hessmann's request, and he said to his wife: "Dear, the Imperial Marshal wants Dutch Guiana."