Chapter 816 German Version of the Lend-Lease Act

"Ludwig, I think you should be very clear that without the help of Japan, we cannot effectively control the world, even if we control the heart of Eurasia, because the power of the United States is beyond imagination and is too powerful. , only Germany and Japan can defeat it..."

The person who was talking to Hersmann was Major General Carl von Haushofer, the German Ambassador to Japan. He was Hersman's boss, Hessman's instructor when he was studying in the military academy, and Chloe's teacher when she was studying at Munich University. He has a deep connection with the Hersman family.

In addition, he was also very close to Hitler and Hess. Many of Hitler's ideas about regional politics came from this person. Chapter 16 on foreign policy in Mein Kampf is almost entirely Haushofer's idea.

After news of the Panama War reached Berlin, Hitler immediately instructed Ribbentrop to recall Haushofer from Tokyo to report on his duties. The day after Haushofer arrived in Berlin, he personally visited Hersmann and Chloe.

Hersman knew that the purpose of Haushofer's visit was to act as a lobbyist for the Japanese. When he met with Oshima Hiroshi three days ago, Hersman proposed additional conditions for aid that were difficult for Japan to accept, and Hersman The opinions clearly represent the German Wehrmacht.

"Doctor," Hessman said in a helpless tone, "I know that the United States is very powerful. If it is not severely damaged and contained, it is impossible for Germany to control the world. In fact, from the beginning, I regarded the United States as has become its main opponent, and I also know that Japan can play an irreplaceable role in the war against the United States. However, Japan is on the road to failure. If it is not corrected in time, then the Lend-Lease Act alone will lead to failure. It is not enough to save the situation in the Pacific War."

"Oh," Haushofer raised his gray eyebrows and asked, "Is the Wehrmacht prepared to support the Lend-Lease Act?"

Germany is different from the United States. The Lend-Lease Act alone is useless if it is passed by the parliament. It must be agreed by the Wehrmacht. This is not because the German Wehrmacht is overbearing and unreasonable, but because Germany does not have such rich materials at its disposal. In order to make the most effective use of limited resources, Germany established the General Administration of Armaments jointly controlled by the Wehrmacht and the government long before the war. All production and resources related to armaments are managed by the General Administration of Arms. Although the director of the General Administration of Arms, Speer (who is also the chairman of the Economic Committee), is a Nazi, he must obey the will of the Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht - after all, it is now specific It was the General Staff that directed the war, not Hitler's Chancellery.

And even Hitler himself would not reverse the order of the Pacific battlefield and the Soviet-German battlefield. The victory or defeat in the Pacific battlefield only determines whether Germany can dominate the world, while the victory or defeat in the Soviet-German battlefield is directly related to the survival of the Third Reich!

"Doctor, of course we are willing to support the Lend-Lease Act." Hersman nodded and said, "But our support is conditional. We must obtain the right to direct the Pacific War, and at the same time guide Japan's arms production. Only in this way can the supplies provided by the Lend-Lease Act be valuable, otherwise we might as well use all the supplies on the Eastern Front. As long as the Soviet Union is defeated, the Third Reich can last at least a hundred years or even longer."

Karl Haushofer pondered for a moment and said, "How are we going to support Japan?"

"The first is to provide 40mm anti-aircraft guns..." Hersman reached out and took a list from Adjutant Stauffenberg, which was drawn up by the German Wehrmacht General Staff and the Naval Headquarters. "A lot of 40mm anti-aircraft guns are needed. Our production lines with France, Britain, Sweden, Norway and Italy must be at full capacity to meet Japan's needs."

The 40mm anti-aircraft guns Japan needs are indeed astronomical, because they don’t have any now!

If we were to follow the European Combined Fleet's standard air defense weapons configuration, just 13 battleships (including 4 Yamato-class ships) would need thousands of them!

In addition, Japan also has about 10 aircraft carriers, 15 heavy cruisers and 15 light cruisers (there were battle losses after the war, the specific situation is confidential, and the German side does not know), and about 70 destroyers (there were also many losses after the war) All must be equipped with a 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun system.

In addition to surface ships, Japan's ground forces defending the islands also need 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns. Therefore, the total demand must be 5,000 doors even if it is less!

And this is not just about 5,000 guns. The ship-borne Bofors anti-aircraft gun is a system with quite automated loading and operating equipment, very advanced sighting and fire control equipment, and even guns are installed on some large ships. control radar. Of course, it is inevitable to provide tens of millions of rounds of 40mm anti-aircraft artillery ammunition. Although Japan has the ability to produce various ammunition, they currently do not have a 40mm artillery shell production line, and Germany must provide assistance.

Therefore, the funds and resources required for this project of installing anti-aircraft guns alone exceed the expenditure of providing thousands of aircraft!

As for the project of replacing another useless 25mm cannon with a 20mm Oerlikon cannon, as well as the issue of providing radio proximity fuses for the 127mm cannon, they were not considered because of the need to control costs and speed up progress. .

"The second is various shipborne radars..." Hersman continued, "The project of providing radars to Japan will be carried out at the same time as the project of replacing the European joint fleet with new radars. We will hand over the eliminated radars to the Japanese. "

Because of the acquisition of British radar technology, the European Combined Fleet is now preparing to replace more advanced radars in batches. Therefore, the old radars were eliminated and given to Japan. This project costs less, but it is a lot of trouble. You also have to help install and train Japanese radar operators - the Japanese can install the anti-aircraft guns themselves, but not the radar.

“Again, we provide ‘Alliance’-class freighters and ‘Unity’-class tankers.” The “Alliance”-class freighters and “Unity”-class tankers mentioned by Hersman are actually knock-offs of American Liberty ships and T3 tankers.

During the period from late 1942 to early 1943, the European Combined Fleet captured many American freighters and oil tankers. Some of them were handed over to shipyards in Germany, Italy and France for research. The results of the research showed that although these two types of ships are not technically advanced, they can be manufactured in large quantities at low cost, and they are also "assembly line" products. , it is easy to increase production.

So Hersman immediately instructed the General Administration of Armaments to imitate the "Liberty" ship and the T3 tanker to deal with the Americans' disruptive war. On the Atlantic battlefield, the role of the United States and Germany has also changed. Now it is the American submarines attacking the European Community and Rome. The Empire's transport ship!

Since the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japanese merchant ships have been the prey of American and British submarines and break-up aircraft carriers. Starting from the second half of 1942, the loss figures continued to rise, with the average monthly loss exceeding 100,000 tons. And this was achieved when American submarines were unable to fully exert their power due to torpedo quality issues!

But the torpedo problem will not always plague the United States. The Americans just use advanced but technologically immature products. At worst, they will use backward but reliable products. So as the U.S. submarine force grows larger and larger, the Japanese will soon face the siege of the American wolf pack.

Facing the siege of Sea Wolves, the Japanese Navy cannot guarantee the safety of their transport fleet in any case. Even the European Joint Escort/Transportation Command cannot do this now.

Therefore, the only way to maintain transportation volume is to build more ships. As long as the number of new ships exceeds the number of losses, maritime transportation can be maintained. Japan's shipbuilding capabilities cannot cope with the United States' "submarine sea" in any case.

If Japan's shipping cannot be maintained, no matter how many planes Germany provides, Japan will still be unable to fight!

"The fourth focus of assistance is large-caliber artillery!" Hersman continued.

"Cannon?" Karl Haushofer asked, "Japan can produce large-caliber artillery."

"But it's not enough!" Hessman said, "They have many islands that need to be defended. Large-caliber coastal defense guns are very important, otherwise they will not be able to deal with the approaching bombardment of American battleships. Considering the number of islands that Japan needs to defend, they Hundreds of large-caliber artillery pieces may be needed. Only Europe can provide that many in the short term, and they will not have time to manufacture them themselves.”

He paused and then said: "The fifth priority of assistance is suicide aircraft!"

"Suicide...?" Karl Haushofer frowned, "This will lead to hell!"

"I don't care how many Japanese there are in hell," Hersman smiled. "They're too slow on this, and we have a more reliable product... the V1 human-operated missile. It's carried by an airplane and powered by a rocket engine. Propulsion, maximum range 100 kilometers.”

The V1 missile in this time and space was developed as a tactical weapon rather than a strategic weapon, so it does not pursue a large range, but only pursues high accuracy and power. There are three guidance methods: one is human control; the other is radar guidance; and the third is television guidance. However, the more mature method currently is only human fucking - this is tailor-made for Japanese people!

"The sixth assistance project is the Ju88 bomber used to launch V1 manned missiles. Using Ju88 to launch V1 manned missiles will be the main anti-ship mode of the Japanese aviation force in the future."

Hersman said: "In addition, we will also recommend that Japan devote all or mainly its aviation industry's research and development efforts to the production and upgrade of the Zero and Comet models. Because we believe that before the end of the war, the Japanese will not It is possible to build better fighters than the improved Zero and Comet dive bombers. As for those messy heavy bombers, they are a waste of resources. Even if Japan barely builds a bomber group that can reach the west coast of the United States, it will not be able to break through. An air defense network composed of P47 and P51 and anti-aircraft artillery shells with TV fuzes.”