Hitler was a stubborn man, and he was not persuaded in a few words. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 So on the afternoon of March 1, the meeting of the German High Command continued, and the venue was transferred from the conference room to the war room of the Ministry of Defence.

At present, the German Ministry of Defense is in charge of military administration and does not directly command operations, so this Ministry of Defense War Room is used to study strategic issues for senior officials attending meetings of the High Command. In the center of this rather large room, three large sand tables are placed side by side, showing the changes in the Anglo-North Atlantic theater, the Middle East-North Africa-Mediterranean theater, and the German-ruled Europe.

"If Roosevelt is not going to get involved in the war in Europe, there is nothing we can do with the United States." Standing in front of the map showing the situation in the Anglo-North Atlantic theater, Hersman said, "Because the United States is on the other side of the Atlantic, after all, and controls the Panama Canal, and has many strongholds in the Caribbean. In South America, too, the influence of the United States is much greater than ours. If we want to land in Canada, seize a stronghold in the Caribbean, and turn South America into our territory, then defeating the U.S. Navy will be a must. However, if the US Navy fleet is based on the east coast of the United States, it is almost impossible to defeat it under the cover of aircraft deployed on the east coast of the United States, the east coast of Canada, and the Caribbean. ”

Shore-based aircraft have a huge advantage over carrier-based aircraft, they fly farther, have a larger bomb load, are more numerous, and pilots are easy to train. Therefore, once Germany and the United States "divide the ocean and rule," there will be a situation in which neither can help the other. Even the United States cannot use carrier-based aircraft against more than 10,000 shore-based aircraft.

"But the United States made a rather fatal mistake!" Hersman picked up a baton, tapped on the British position on the sand table, and said. "The Roosevelt administration would not abandon Britain, the great stronghold they used to attack and contain Europe. If they were willing to give up, the world war was now over, and Britain, having lost the Mediterranean, should make peace. But Britain is still resisting, which means that the United States will give Britain more firm support in the future. ”

Hersman then drew a horizontal line on the map with his baton, "From New York through the North Atlantic through Iceland to England, which is the lifeline of Great Britain and the noose around the neck of the United States." In the next 2 years, our struggle with Britain and the United States will revolve around this noose! ”

"Around the Atlantic route?" Hitler was stunned for a moment, "I thought we would land on British soil." ”

"Leader, the landing was very difficult, because Britain had been preparing for anti-landing operations since June 1940. Britain is an industrialized country with a population of 46 million, and it had a national mobilization system long before World War I. Millions of armies could be formed if necessary, and Britain had enough industrial strength to equip them so-so. And we will not be able to transport fifteen or twenty powerful armored or motorized infantry divisions across the English Channel at once.

In fact, before the outbreak of the war and until recently, the General Staff was studying the possibility of landing on British soil. And all the studies show that the failure of the landing operation is very likely, because the landing force will face an enemy who is outnumbered and outequipped by itself. Moreover, it is difficult for us to guarantee that the enemy will not destroy the ports that are about to fall into our hands after the landing operation begins, and it will be difficult for us to quickly transport enough troops and supplies to the British mainland if we cannot obtain intact ports. ”

It is not easy to launch a landing operation against the British mainland, just think about how much power Britain and the United States invested in the Normandy landing operation in history. With absolute sea and air supremacy, the Allies also invested 1,200 combat ships, including 13 battleships, 47 cruisers, and 134 destroyers, and more than 4,000 landing ships, more than 5,000 transport ships of various kinds, and more than 13,000 combat aircraft. No matter how many ships and planes, in about one month, more than a million ground troops were sent to the European continent. And the opponent of this million Allied forces was nothing more than about 400,000 German troops of uneven quality.

If Germany were to land on British soil, it would probably have to deal with 4 million to 5 million British troops. And it is unlikely that Germany or the European Community will come up with so many ships to support the landing.

In addition, the British Royal Navy is not now completely annihilated. It is still quite possible that they will rush out of their anchorage on the west coast of the island of Britain in the middle of the night, inflicting heavy casualties on the landing Germans.

Therefore, the result of repeated studies by the General Staff was to establish the question of greatly weakening Britain by blockade operations first, and then considering landing or making a forced landing on Britain.

And if you want to completely blockade Britain, you can't rely on submarines, you have to send out the main fleet - not a broken fleet consisting of a battleship plus an aircraft carrier and a cruiser, but a complete blockade of Britain with a main fleet!

"Britain consumes a lot of oil, just like us," Hersman said, patting the edge of the sand table, "and they haven't mastered the technology to synthesize gasoline." Therefore, once the channel for oil imports was lost, Britain could only rely on reserves to sustain itself, and when their reserves were depleted, the entire war machine could not be sustained. In addition, the UK also relies on imports of food and most industrial raw materials from overseas. If the sea passage is completely cut off, it means that 46 million people will start starving, and the British economy will completely collapse! ”

"But the United States will strike before Britain collapses!" Hitler said coldly, "If they don't make a move, then 46 million Britons and powerful British industry will be at my disposal." ”

A handful of British elites could leave the EU and become Americanes before the collapse of their homeland, but the vast majority of Britons could only remain as Europeans. It is likely that Britain's Petain will come out to clean up the pieces and make Britain part of the European Community.

"Yes, they will definitely make a move!" "And if the U.S. intervenes, we can fight the U.S. fleet in the North Atlantic!" ”

Hersman picked up a few model boats with the Stars and Stripes that symbolized American warships and placed them on the sand table, and then took out more model boats with German, French, Italian, and Japanese flags.

According to intelligence, before 1943, the U.S. Navy had a maximum of 3 Colorado-class, 2 North Carolina-class and 4 South Dakota-class, a total of 9 super battleships, and the number of aircraft carriers in the fleet was only 7-8. As long as we join forces with Japan, we can defeat the US Navy! ”

In fact, this is still a routine of encircling points and sending reinforcements, not attacking the British mainland, which is guarded by millions of troops, but attacking the British supply lines, and then leading the American fleet to a decisive battle, relying on the quantitative and qualitative superiority of battleships to annihilate the American fleet in the North Atlantic and seize Atlantic sea power.

"But the British Navy hasn't been wiped out yet!" Hitler thought for a moment and said, "In terms of the number of battleships and aircraft carriers, we probably don't have any advantage, right?" ”

"Counting Japan," Hirschman said, "they have 12 battleships, two of which are 70,000-ton super battleships, which are equivalent to the H41 type." And our Hindenburg class, before the Iowa class of the United States entered service, was also more powerful than any British and American battleship. In addition, our carrier-based and shore-based aircraft also have significant performance advantages. ”

Hitler glanced at Goering, who was in charge of military production, and Goering patted his chest and said: "My leader, the Hindenburg and Zeppelin classes under construction are very powerful and can definitely defeat American battleships and aircraft carriers!" ”

Hitler finally nodded and said, "Then we will settle the Atlantic theater first, and then go back to the Soviet Union." But...... We can't hand over Iran to the USSR! Reza. King Khan is our friend, and we cannot betray our friend. ”

He looked at Hersman, "Marshal, when can we airlift troops to Iran?" ”

"It's up to Turkey," Hersman said, "with a straight-line distance of more than 2,000 kilometers from Romania and Bulgaria to Iran, our JU52 does not have enough range and needs to be refueled in Turkey." ”

Hitler then asked: "If Turkey is willing to refuel our planes, when will the troops be dispatched?" ”

"Within three hours," Hersman said, "the 5th Mountain Division and the 22nd Airborne Division would be ready to go at any time." ”

These two divisions were originally planned to be used for the Cretan airborne, but now Crete is an isolated island, and there is no need to take it by airborne means.

"Ribbentrop," Hitler immediately said to the Foreign Minister present, "go and tell the Turks to open a few airfields within three hours and have enough fuel ready for us!" ”

Now there is no need to be polite to Turkey, because Turkey has no choice but to submit to Germany unless they are willing to let the Soviet Union in.

"Also, how to solve the Yugoslav problem?" Hitler finally asked the question of Yugoslavia, which was a small matter compared to the unreasonable demands made by the Soviet Union.

"To force the Yugoslav government to accept the relevant resolutions of the League of Nations." Hersman said.

Hitler didn't say anything, but said to Hersmann: "Marshal, go and talk to Mussolini, and if he agrees, do so." ”

"Okay." Hersman nodded.

"Also, is the Japanese observer group gone?" Hitler asked again.

"No," Hirschman replied, "they want technical assistance from us and from Italy." ”

"Marshal, you talk to them first," said Hitler, "and if they can really be used, then something really useful should be given." (To be continued.) )