Chapter 789: 12th Viking Wing of the Air Force
As for the attitude towards Turkey, now Eder can put it aside. However, a secret telegram suddenly came from Germany, which turned his attention to Northern Europe.
In fact, this telegram was very simple, after Germany warned Norway and Sweden, Britain and France were not dead on this, and were secretly preparing plans to seize Norway.
As the head of Germany, Hitler was very wary of the actions of Britain and France, hoping to get the support of Romania to preemptively take Norway.
The biggest concern for the capture of Norway was naval inferiority, so it was hoped that Romania would make some moves at sea to distract Britain and France. Of course, given the distance between the two, the stakes were not significant, so Germany hoped to be supported by Romanian HF201 fighters.
That's right, this long-range fighter has a lot of temptation for Germany, and its performance has been fully demonstrated in front of Germany in previous battles.
In order to strike first against Norway, the air force is particularly important when the navy does not have an advantage. At present, Germany has a long-range fighter, and at present, only the Bf110 twin-engine fighter. However, the number of fighters was small, and its performance in battles with British and French fighters was not convincing.
So the HF201 fighters from Romania, came into the sight of the Germans. The Germans hoped that Romania would be able to provide a wing of Zero fighters to join the war against Norway.
In the face of such a request from Germany, of course, Eder could not agree to it all at once, this is a fighter wing, and he called the Minister of the Air Force, Admiral Ankdra, to discuss the matter.
In the face of the king's summons, His Excellency the Admiral had already received the news. In fact, he was not willing to accept Germany's demands at all. At present, HF201 is really easy to use, and the high-altitude partner composed of RF20 fighters makes the Air Force like a divine help, which is simply a god killing God and Buddha killing Buddha, and no British and French fighter plane can fall well in front of it.
Even its best Spitfire fighter at the moment is still not pleasing when facing the combination of these two fighters, and the British Air Force in the Middle East has the most say in this regard.
What's more, the HF201 has an ultra-long range, which is more suitable for escort missions, coupled with the needs of the navy, making the current HF201 fighter the most urgently needed fighter in the army.
Although Admiral Ancrera was reluctant to set up a wing for the Germans to use, as a minister, he certainly did not only do it from a military point of view, in fact he also knew that sending a wing this time was inevitable.
The reason is simple, Romania also needs to protect iron ore from Northern Europe.
Yes, iron ore from Northern Europe is also very important to Romania on this plane. Its high-quality iron ore is suitable for smelting special steels, and Romania certainly does not ignore it, so the purchase of high-quality iron ore from Northern Europe is inevitable.
At present, 11 million tons of iron ore are exported to Germany per year from Northern Europe and 7 million tons to Romania, and as long as Britain and France land in Norway, then high-quality iron ore from Norway and northern Sweden will become impossible.
In the face of Romania's interests, this must be taken into account.
So His Excellency the Admiral, after thinking about it, said. "Your Majesty, there are currently two squadrons of HF201 fighters in the 8th Wing resting, and the 5th Wing deployed in Thessanica can also draw a squadron, and currently there is another squadron in the Aegean Islands. In addition, two newly trained brigades were transferred from the country, which was sufficient to satisfy the establishment of one wing. ”
Hearing Ankdra's answer, Edel nodded in satisfaction. However, after he saw His Excellency the Admiral who was about to speak and stopped, he knew in his heart that he was thinking, wasn't he feeling distressed about the HF201 that had been transferred to a wing, so he persuaded him with good words.
"I know what you're thinking, I'll give priority to the Air Force for new fighters."
Eder's words did not reassure Ankdra, and he asked. "Thank you for Your Majesty's concern, but for the current Air Force, the demand for bombers is higher than that of fighters, can you let the government tilt a little bit towards bombers in terms of resources, especially in the production of RU80 four-engine bombers, the current factory in Lviv, can only produce 18 aircraft per month, and the production speed is completely insufficient."
Ankdra's words surprised Eder, who did not expect that what his Air Minister wanted most was not a high-profile fighter jet, but a four-engine bomber that had not yet shown its power.
In fact, as the Minister of the Air Force, Ankdra is not very satisfied with the fact that the Air Force is gradually becoming a tactical air force. Think about it, at present, the task of the Air Force is basically to seize air supremacy, and to cooperate with the tasks of the Navy and the Army, the Air Force is basically playing a supporting role. Tasks completely at the disposal of the Air Force, not a single one.
Of course, this also has a lot to do with the current operational objectives of Romania, but Ankdra, who is the head of the Air Force, will certainly not rest on his laurels, and he also wants others to see that the Air Force has made a greater contribution to the war effort.
Then there is no better than a four-engine bomber to suit his requirements, think about the large range of two or three thousand kilometers, it is completely possible to carry out strategic bombing of the enemy's safe rear, hit the enemy's industrial production, transportation hubs, so that the enemy can not play the level that it should be when fighting against Romania. What a beautiful picture it is, it's exciting just to think about.
That's why he is not satisfied with the current production of strategic bombers for one wing a year. And now taking advantage of such an opportunity, Ankdra, of course, wants to fight for it.
Faced with Ankdra's request, Eder couldn't help but smile, of course he knew the thoughts of the head of the Air Force in front of him, wanting to show the greater capabilities of the Air Force in order to gain enough attention.
Eder did not object to this, and at this time he was also very receptive to the Air Force's need for strategic bombers.
At present, Romania is very satisfied with the situation on all fronts, although it is not dealing with the main forces of Britain and France, but it is good to be able to accomplish the set goal. So at this time, Eder began to pay attention to the construction of the strategic air force.
Although Romania has even taken the Suez Canal, the first target in the Middle East, judging from the current performance of the Romanian army, he does not think that the British army under the command of Wavell can become a stepping stone for the Romanian chariot to show its prestige. Unless the British decide to abandon the British Isles and send elite troops to support Egypt, the fall of the Suez Canal will be inevitable.
The superior naval and air forces alone were enough for the admiral to drink a pot.
So, on March 11, the newly formed 12th Air Force Wing of Romania moved from its homeland to the Baltic Sea, where they would join their German counterparts in guaranteeing German air superiority over Norway.
Although the Germans were preparing to invade Norway, the main objective remained the same as that of France itself, but how would they face the elaborate Maginot Line of France?