When the news reached Berlin that the British, American, and Soviet navies would form a combined fleet, Hersmann was presiding over an arms production meeting in the Defense Building. The meeting was attended www.biquge.info meeting by Field Marshal Kesselring, Chief of the General Staff, General Halder, First Quartermaster General, Field Marshal Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Field Marshal Wyvre, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Speer, Minister of Economy and Director of the General Directorate of Armaments, as well as several Commanders of the Armed Forces, as well as the Directors of the Armaments Directorate of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Today's meeting was devoted to the plan for the production of armaments for the 1943 year -- as the world war was about to enter its fourth year, and Germany's enemies had changed from Britain to the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, all those present had a premonition that the war of 1943 would be quite intense. As a result, every effort was made to secure a larger share of production for their arms at the armaments conference, so the meeting did not go smoothly.

At this moment, Hersmann's adjutant Stauffenberg brought the bad news that had been expected for a long time - Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union had finally finished arguing and were going to organize a combined fleet to seize control of the North Atlantic.

"Political Commissar of the Allied Combined Fleet, Bulganin...... Hehe, that's interesting, who came up with it? Hersmann looked very relaxed, first teasing about Bulganin's new position, and then added, "It's not a big deal, it's just a combined fleet, and we have one too." ”

"Imperial Marshal, this time there are 4 Soviet-class and 2 South Dakota-class ships to deal with!" Admiral Raeder said in a solemn tone, "Our two Hindenburg-class ships can't beat them!" If we had been able to sneak up on 2 Soviet-class and 1 Kronstadt-class that rushed to Molotovsk, we would not be so passive now! ”

Hersman shook his head with a smile and said, "Marshal Raeder, now we are not dealing with 6 battleships with 406mm guns...... They are not a problem, if I really want to blockade the British and Irish islands, I can do it with mines and bombing ports. ”

Raeder was stunned, what Hersman said was right, it was not difficult to blockade Britain. Plans had been put forward in June to lay a large number of mines along the northern coast of Ireland and the northern coast of Scotland, which at that time would have been no difficult for the German Navy. But Hersmann and Kesselring vetoed the plan.

"We're just going to let the Americans come!" Marshal Kesselring said with a smile, "We have to let tens of thousands of Americans die in Europe, and they have nothing to gain, and they have suffered a terrible defeat." Only then will they know that Europe is European, not American. ”

Hersmann continued with Kesselring's words: "Americans can come to Europe, and we can go to America!" If they want to use the fleet for escort, then we will seize the Azores and the Canary Islands to make the routes to South America and Africa safer. ”

Since Germany seized most of the sea control in the Atlantic, the routes between the European continent and South America and Africa were also partially restored. However, these routes were not safe, and the rampant submarine activity of the British caused great losses to the merchant fleets of the European Community countries, which caused great headaches for the escort command led by Dönitz. The seizure of the Azores and the Canary Islands, which would allow German anti-submarine patrol aircraft (modified from the JU288 and FW-200) to extend the range of patrols, has long been on the agenda. However, it has been delayed because the General Staff once wanted to launch a landing on the Black Sea coast, but now the landing operation on the Black Sea coast has been postponed, and the Navy and Marine Corps have enough forces to launch an operation to seize islands in the Atlantic.

"As for the Americans who arrive in Ireland," said Hersman, "let the Army pick them up...... But this matter can't be rushed, let them come a little more, and a little more will die a little more! ”

The Eastern Front would be relatively quiet for the next few months, with the Army pitting the Americans on the island of Ireland on the Western Front. Moreover, Hirschmann also knows what tanks the Americans can come up with now -- the development and production of tanks is a very complicated system project, which must be taken step by step, and it is very difficult to develop by leaps and bounds, even in the United States, which has strong industrial strength. In the winter of 1942, all they could get out was the M4 tank or the M10 tank destroyer, and the M26 Pershing tank could not be built anyway. So land warfare on the island of Ireland is quite assured.

In addition, the U.S. Air Force is unlikely to have the upper hand on the island of Ireland, because Germany now has an abundant supply of rare metals, and the development of German aircraft engines is now going very well. The engines of the BMW-801 family used in the FW-190 series have now been developed to 2,000 hp for the BMW 801S, and an even more powerful BMW-801F (theoretically 2,400 hp) is in the final stages of testing. And the BMW-801TS, which has both the power of the BMW-801S and the turbocharging system of the BMW-801T, is now equipped with the FW-190B family of high-altitude fighters.

Therefore, Ireland now is a noose around the neck of the US imperialists -- it must be saved, but it cannot be saved, and human lives can only be lost in vain.

"And how will the Allied Combined Fleet deal with it?" Raeder asked, "This fleet will control the shipping lanes near the Arctic Circle for 6 months!" During this period, a large amount of supplies will be exported to Britain and the Soviet Union, which will be very unfavorable to us. ”

Fighting an enemy with the superior number and firepower of battleships during the polar night is not an easy task. Although the Germans also had the same killer weapon - V3 remote-controlled missiles, but V3 remote-controlled missiles must be able to see the position of enemy ships before they can hit, which means that the "Wilhelm II" class missile cruisers must be close to the opponent, and this is a very dangerous thing.

Moreover, the "Wilhelm II" class is a halfway missile cruiser, and the missile firepower is not strong, and it is particularly troublesome to load. Therefore, it is very unsafe to rely on just three "Wilhelm II" class ships to fight against the powerful Allied Combined Fleet.

However, the German Naval Armament Bureau has long had a solution, which is to develop a special light missile attack ship -- that is, based on the hull of a 1937 mine strike ship (standard displacement of 853 tons, speed 35.5 knots), equipped with two V1 remote-controlled missiles stored in the launch tube and a small number of self-defense weapons, to form a hit-and-run missile attack ship.

The development of the new small ship, codenamed the "V-type attack ship", will not be difficult, and construction work will begin in June, with ships 1 and 2 to be completed in December. Since 1943, 2 ships have been completed every month. However, these V-shaped ships are new ships after all, and I am afraid that it will take some time to really form combat effectiveness.

"Marshal Raeder, don't worry, the Allied Combined Fleet won't be controlling the Arctic Circle route for too long." Hersman smiled and said, "Because we have a very strong ally in the far east, Japan, and the Japanese Navy will inflict heavy damage on the American Navy for us, we just need to wait for the good news to come." ”

……

The fact that Japan was planning to attack Australia must have been good news for the Germans, whether or not the Japanese could achieve what they wanted. However, for Sadaichi Suzuki, the Minister of State of the Japanese Cabinet and President of the Planning Institute, it is undoubtedly a nerve-wracking matter.

The Suzuki Sadachi now works like the head of the State Planning Commission in the Soviet Union or the Minister of Economy and Director of the General Armaments Department of Germany, a key person in charge of wartime resources and production. However, he was not born in Japan's civilian system, but a retired army lieutenant general, graduated from Lu Shi and Lu University, but unlike other army generals, he also went to the Department of Economics of Tokyo Imperial University after graduating from Lu University, and is an army red deer who understands economics.

So before the outbreak of the Pacific War, he became the president of the Planning Institute as an economic expert supported by the army, and was in charge of Japan's wartime economy. The fact that the Imperial Japanese Army marched south to attack Australia was closely related to Japan's wartime economy.

Because the army's red deer can't go south, they have to go by boat. The Japanese army and navy did not have so many ships at their disposal, so they had to requisition civilian ships to maintain the wartime economy, and the number was very large!

"What? Ready to use 15 divisions? Seeing the battle plan sent by Ito Junichi, the deputy director of the Navy's Military Command Department, Suzuki Sadachi suddenly felt like someone had been knocked on the stick.

15 divisions! And it is not lightly equipped, but a super-heavy version of the configuration of at least 2 tank battalions (equipped with Type 97 medium tanks or Type 97 tank destroyers) in each division and regiment - this is not the kind of configuration, and it will not be able to defeat the mechanized American army on the Australian continent.

However, if such a division is fully loaded and then pulled on the baggage, 300,000 tons of ships are not enough, at least 400,000 tons! 15 divisions are 6 million tons...... How many merchant ships are there in Japan now? If 6 million tons are taken out, will the wartime economy still be maintained?

"It's impossible! Ito-kun, Japan doesn't have that many ships, you are the navy, you know this situation better than me. Suzuki shook his head desperately.

"Suzuki-kun, what are you anxious about?" Ito was confident, "It's not like you're going to send so many troops to Australia at once...... The battle at sea has not yet been decided, and it is still too early to land in Australia.

Moreover, these 15 mechanized divisions are just the troops needed for the final land victory, and they do not have to be transported to Australia all at once. Therefore, the planning institute only needs to have enough confidence and determination, and make a plan to carry out the general mobilization of shipping when necessary. ”

Sadachi Suzuki nodded in embarrassment, Tojo had already greeted him - the Australian war was imperative!

"So, when will the operation to the south of Australia begin?" Suzuki finally asked.

"It's already started!" Ito said with a smile, "The first phase of the operation to go south to Australia has now begun!" (To be continued.) )