Chapter 581 Operation Sea Lion 3

"Marshal, we only have two 800mm cannons, and there are dozens or more forts on the other side, including many false targets. How can we destroy them all?"

Ludwig Beck had no confidence in breaking through the British defenses in Calais. In fact, it was impossible.

"The Imperial Marshal, the Naval Headquarters and Marshal Schleicher are planning to adopt a plan to pass at night. As long as it interferes with the opponent's fire control radar, there will be no problem." German Naval Chief of Staff Otto von Schrader General also came to Calais with Hersman.

This time Hersman's trip to Calais was quite grand, bringing with him many big figures from the navy, land and air force, and a huge press group following him. In Calais, he not only had to inspect the headquarters of the English Army Group, but also inspected several "appearance troops", as well as the forward forts, airports and radar stations. It seemed that they really came to inspect the readiness of the England Army Group for sea-crossing operations. They also asked the accompanying reporters to take many photos and videos - these photos and videos are all materials needed to produce promotional materials.

Among the German journalists Herschmann brought to Calais was a former Stasi co-operative named Richard Sorge who was repatriated by the Japanese in November 1929. After the Soviet Union returned to Germany, he was recruited by the Stasi organization to become a cooperative agent. Later, he applied to go to China and worked as a reporter for "German Agriculture News" and "Frankfurter Zeitung". After staying in China for several years, Sorge applied for transfer to Japan and worked in Tokyo as a special correspondent of the "Frankfurter Zeitung" in Tokyo.

However, his spy work in Japan had some "small problems" at the end of 1941, and he was caught by people from the Special High Police Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Japan - he was found to have connections with some people in the Japanese Bolshevik Party, and was also implicated. He was involved in the "Ozaki Hidemi Case" and was arrested by the Japanese military police.

However, he did not stay in the Japanese prison for long before he was released by the German Embassy in Japan. But I couldn’t continue my job in Japan, so I returned to Germany and continued to work as a reporter in the editorial office of the Frankfurter Zeitung, specializing in reporting military news...

Of course, the most Comrade Sorge can do now is to take some photos from a distance. He is not qualified to get close to Imperial Marshal Hessmann, let alone eavesdrop on Hessmann and General Otto von Schrader. , and the conversation with General Ludwig Beck.

"The plan to pass at night... is fine." Hessman raised his head, looked at the huge "Dora" cannon with its barrel raised high, and smiled, "But since these two cannons have arrived in Calais, try to Fire a few shots, and then let the Ju288 drop the Fritz X bomb, so the British may think that the vibration of the explosion damaged the radar. "

Allowing the large landing ships assembled in Wilhelmshaven to pass through the Strait of Dover is the first difficulty of the "Sea Lion Project".

These ships are all produced by shipyards in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium, and their speeds are very slow. It is impossible to follow the fleet to cross the Denmark Strait, so they can only forcefully cross the Dover Strait.

In order to allow them to pass smoothly, the Navy Headquarters formulated several sets of plans. Among them were the scattering of aluminum chaff strips to interfere with the passage of British radar convoys at night, the destruction of the British fort at Dover with "Dora" and "Gustav" cannons, and the use of Ju.288 aircraft to drop Fritz X bombs There are plans to destroy the British forts, and there is also a plan to create false targets to lure the British forts to fire.

…

The head of the Red Army Intelligence Service, Philip Ivanovich Golikov, walked into Stalin's office in the Kremlin. It was time for him to report to the fatherly leader of the Soviet Union alone.

"Comrade General Secretary," Golikov said, "German Defense Minister Hessmann has been inspecting Dunkirk, Calais, Normandy, Cherbourg and other places in the past two days. Our intelligence agents were mixed in with the reporters. Went along."

"Hmm." Stalin hummed, without looking up, and continued to listen to the report on industrial production.

This year is the final year of the Soviet Union’s Third Five-Year Plan, and the situation is naturally gratifying in all aspects. Steel production in the first quarter has exceeded 6 million tons! The production of petroleum and refined oil products also increased significantly in the first quarter. In particular, the production capacity of the Second Baku Oil Field began to increase significantly. The risk that the Soviet oil production areas were too concentrated and close to the front line was also alleviated. The aviation industry and the machinery industry were also in good shape in the first quarter of 1942. Thanks to the technology provided by the Americans, the quality of Soviet tanks, cars and aircraft had also been improved.

In short, the situation in all walks of life is very good, it is a great good, not a small good!

"Comrade General Secretary, according to our intelligence reconnaissance, the German troops deployed in Dunkirk, Calais, Normandy and Cherbourg are probably not the main force."

Stalin raised his head and held the carved pipe in his mouth, "Not the main force?"

"Yes, although the Germans built a large number of barracks in Dunkirk, Calais, Normandy and Cherbourg, and there are military restricted areas everywhere. However, the activities of personnel and vehicles are obviously less, and it does not seem that there is a large army deployment. And Cherbourg Cities in Fort, Calais and other places are very depressed. Restaurant business is slow and there is no trace of the police. "

"No ****," Stalin blinked, "Maybe the German army has strict discipline and there is no such immoral thing." "

"The German troops were actually not that strict... and among the troops now concentrated at Dunkirk, Calais, Normandy, Cherbourg, there were many French and Italian troops."

"Haha," Stalin laughed, "our intelligence agent is really careful and a good comrade."

"He was an excellent intelligence agent."

"Then he found out when Germany was going to attack?" Stalin asked.

"It's basically determined to be early May 1942." Golikov replied, "The specific date is not known yet."

"What about the situation on the Polish front? Has there been any change?" Stalin changed the topic and asked about the situation on the Eastern Front.

“It’s basically the same as before,” Golikov said. “It’s just that the Polish Defense Forces on the front line have received a batch of anti-tank weapons, which seem to be weapons used by individual soldiers. In addition, they are still working day and night. Strengthen the fortifications.”

Now the Iron Fist anti-tank grenade launcher has been distributed to Germany's front-line troops. This weapon played a certain role in the Battle of Oahu, but it did not attract the attention of the Soviet Union. Because the US military only has light tanks on Oahu, they are not comparable to the Soviet T-34, KV-1, and KV-2.

Moreover, the U.S. Army on Oahu was almost completely wiped out. There are no witnesses or first-hand information on many situations on the battlefield. The samples of the Iron Fist anti-tank grenade launcher were not shipped out - maybe because they were too rough. During the hasty retreat, it was discarded as something unimportant. Therefore, although the US military takes this matter seriously, it has no clue for a while.

"Oh." Stalin nodded, "Is there anything else interesting?"

"There are some," Golikov said. "Americans, British and Germans have recently been collecting an ore called uranium, which seems to be related to secret weapons."

"Secret weapon?" Stalin took a puff of cigarette, "Do you know what it is?"

"have no idea."

"Then go find out."

"yes."

Stalin waved his hand and asked Golikov to leave his office. After a while, People's Commissar of Defense Voroshilov and Red Army Chief of General Staff Shaposhnikov walked in together.

"Comrade Stalin, I have good news for you. The battleship USSR has just arrived safely in the White Sea and is currently heading towards Molotovsk!"

As soon as Voroshilov saw Stalin, he immediately reported the good news he had just received.

The battleship USSR was handed over to the Red Navy to begin sea trials on Lenin's birthday, April 22. The route for the sea trial was from Leningrad to Molotovsk. The whole journey is nearly 3,000 nautical miles - considering that many sea areas along the way are battlefields, the sea trial of this Soviet battleship is still risky.

"Okay!" Stalin showed a rare smile, "The Germans do not dare to attack the Soviet Union, which shows that they are afraid of our Soviet Union!"

Shaposhnikov, Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, frowned slightly when he heard this conclusion, and Stalin noticed the slight change in his expression.

"Comrade Shaposhnikov, do you have something to say?"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin," Shaposhnikov said. "The visiting American and British military delegations all believe that our offensive on the Eastern Front may not necessarily achieve a decisive victory."

A rather high-level joint British and American military delegation is currently visiting the Soviet Union to discuss how to defeat Nazi Germany.

American and British military experts are not very optimistic about the prospect of the Soviet Union taking the initiative to attack the German Eastern Front.

"Oh?" Stalin narrowed his eyes and looked at the Chief of General Staff of the Red Army, "What do they want to do? Don't they want us to attack?"

"Comrade General Secretary, they have proposed another way to defeat Germany." Shaposhnikov said, "Deploy B-17 bombers on Soviet soil...deploy in large numbers, oh, and P51 fighter jets, that's A very good fighter. Then the Americans flew B-17s from the Soviet Union to bomb oil fields in the Middle East and Romania.”

"But... how are these B-17s and P51s deployed?" Stalin shrugged. "I would rather lend the airport to the Americans and provide our aviation gasoline and bombs. But there are still a lot of things that need to be shipped from the United States. Right? Can Americans still maintain the North Atlantic route?"

"They can't." Voroshilov interjected, "So we hope that we can help and let American freighters fly the Soviet flag and be escorted by Soviet warships to transport supplies to Iceland and Murmansk in our country."