As the clock struck on the hour, Hitler regained from his post-war thoughts about dealing with the nations of Western Europe, and finally remembered the original purpose of his meeting with Jonas tonight.

According to Hitler's plan, in addition to thanking Jonas for his immortal contribution to this party congress tonight, it is more important to strike while the iron is hot, and from his current situation and political position, he will be completely included in his camp. But what Hitler didn't expect was that he was easily taken away from the topic: whether it was to settle Franco or deal with Western European countries in the future, it was the focus of his greatest concern at the moment, and the strategy proposed by Jonas was like lightning in the night, which made him suddenly open his mouth and discover a new and vast space!

In the face of this huge role played from the macro strategic level, he and Raeder's little bit of military power are insignificant and not worth mentioning at all. Hitler knew very well that he was the Führer of Germany first and then the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and that the grand ambition of building a thousand-year Reich was no better than the destruction of Raeder's state within a state. Hitler found himself underestimating the role of the youth in front of him: he was not only a brilliant aviation general, the cornerstone of consolidating his absolute dominance, but also an excellent forerunner of imperial strategy, from whom even he would draw important inspirations!

"Jonas, I would like to ask you to be my naval advisor. You don't have to do extra work for that, just like Mr. Speer did. I wonder if you're willing to give in? Hitler spoke slowly, his gray-blue eyes looking directly into the eyes of the young man. The idea had sprung up ten minutes earlier when Hitler had received a different version of the situation at sea from Raeder, and it became even more ingrained as Jonas demonstrated a flexible strategic approach.

Now, although Hitler was assisted by Ribbentrop in diplomacy and Keitel in military affairs, everyone knew that the former was only a tool of Hitler's centralization, while the latter did not understand the navy and lacked an overall economic mind. Jonas's talent is enough to make up for this shortcoming, and the most important thing is that he can be fully trusted by his own people! Where can we find a second one in the whole of Germany?

Jonas's face changed slightly, and his heart was excited and trembling. The good news is that after so many years of foreshadowing, Hitler finally recognized his own value and opened the door to his core decision-making circle; What is surprising is that Hitler is really the lord who used a series of power schemes to trade to gain power, and his tricks are tricky and poisonous. As head of state, Hitler's natural naval adviser was the commander-in-chief of the Navy, and if he accepted this so-called role, then where would Raeder be placed? This is a blatant slap in the face to Raeder, announcing that he has completely thrown himself into the camp of the National Socialist Party!

Although Jonas immediately saw through Hitler's intentions, he could not do anything about it. Because for him, Hitler's actions were outright conspiracy. Less than a week ago, Jonas used a few pieces of music to make himself an absolute admirer of the Führer, "defending him to the death as a gun." If you even push back to draw a line with Raeder now, wouldn't you immediately overthrow your own personality?

"Thank you for the trust of the Führer, I will definitely do my best!" After quickly weighing the pros and cons, Jonas made a decisive choice. Since you can't have both, you have to choose the side that has the most benefits, and with the current situation, there is no doubt that following Hitler's side to exert influence on him will be more conducive to the victory of this war. As for the old marshal who had single-handedly cultivated him, Jonas could only silently apologize: he used carrier-based aviation to destroy the main force of the enemy Royal Navy, which could be regarded as repaying Raeder's kindness in the past.

Awakened by Jonas, Hitler summoned Walter and Kološik (finance ministers) early the next morning and asked them to list the goods that could be imported into Spain and how much they could import into Spain based on the current economic situation. The two worked very efficiently, and submitted a long list in less than two days. Wärter also proposed that since goods could be procured, workers could also be imported from Spain to ease the labor pressure caused by Germany's growing domestic arms orders. This proposal was immediately accepted by Hitler: the unemployment rate in Spain was still high, and this would undoubtedly help Franco to ease the domestic contradictions to a considerable extent.

On 14 September, Ribbentrop met with Franco again on the new terms, and this time, Franco, who had been touched in the underbelly, was finally unable to maintain his previous attitude. The Germans had shown enough sincerity that if he had been clinging to the huge loan had been ceased, the responsibility for the breakdown of the negotiations would be on his side, and the threat implicit in Ribbentrop's words would no longer be just empty statements. You know, Hitler's Germany has never been a good type, and whoever wants to be an arrogant thorn in the coffin, Poland is his best example!

After some fierce bargaining, the two sides finally reached an agreement on the issue of compensation for the German army. Germany will order 500 standard landing craft, 30 M-class minesweepers, 300,000-ton transport ships and other bulk items from Spain, with a total amount of more than 500 million marks; At the same time, it accepts 500,000 workers dispatched from Spain and signs long-term labor contracts for at least 2 years. Germany supported the armament of the three anti-aircraft artillery regiments, promised Spain sovereignty over Gibraltar and the right to use it completely after the war, and as for the British occupation of Gibraltar for more than 200 years, Germany supported in principle Spain's claim for compensation from Britain after the war.

Originally, according to Jonas's idea, Spain should also produce at least 5,000 more military vehicles for Germany to fill the vehicle gap caused by the doubling of the number of mechanized divisions in the army, but when it came time to prepare for implementation, it ran into obvious trouble. The Army's refusal to use low-quality Spanish domestically produced vehicles is also very detrimental to logistical maintenance, but if Spain is asked to manufacture German products, Opel is unwilling to hand over the drawings and technology. In the eyes of the latter, Spain, with a population of 20 million, is a promising market, and there is no reason for it to prop up a potential trade competitor.

In response to this situation, Jonas could only shake his head helplessly, and the situation in Germany now is very different from the situation in history in 1944, and it is impossible to demand obvious sacrifices from the capitalists for the war. All he can do now is to expose the future general mobilization system to the tip of the iceberg. In this way, when the German-American war breaks out and the country urgently needs to increase its arms production capacity, the German top leadership will be able to have a clear direction and strategy ready-made.

Two days later, a contented Hitler took a special train to his villa in Upper Salzburg to rest and spend the summer, and Jonas received his first benefit in the inner decision-making circle - a detailed plan for the capture of the fortress of Gibraltar.

In this plan, codenamed "Operation Felix", the German army will send four divisions: the 16th Motorized Division and the 16th Panzer Division will be stationed in Valladolid and Cáceres in central and western Spain respectively, and their task will be to cover the flank of the main attacking force and defend against a possible counterattack by the British army from the Portuguese direction, while the 1st and 3rd Mountain Divisions will be the main attack mission, bulldozing the target from the front. In order to suppress the fire of the defenders of the fortress, the Germans provided up to 28 additional artillery battalions for the attacking troops and provided air support from 3 army aviation wings.

Although the 800 mm Gustav cannon was still being developed, which made the German army much lighter on the scales of victory, in this plane, the booming German naval aviation made up for it to a large extent. Modeled after the 500kg bomb used by the HNA, German engineers have developed an armor-piercing version of the ground attack, designed to penetrate the fortress with precision from the top. The bombs were originally intended for the Maginot Line, but were not used because of the rapid collapse of France, and Gibraltar is now the stage for them.

Knowing that the Army had this weapon, Jonas adjusted his plan and proposed that the Italian fleet also be involved in the artillery support. Although there is a large area of towering boulders on the east coast of Gibraltar, which can naturally block artillery shells from attacking the flat area to the west, the terrain at the southern end is much flatter and can be covered by artillery fire.

At first, Jonas was wary of the fleet's entry into the battle for fear of shore artillery fire from Gibraltar, but if he could pull out six key 234-mm batteries with dive bombing, there would be no more obstacles. As for the accuracy of the bombing of the Army bombers, Jonas had no doubts: during the time he participated in the war on the Western Front, he was extremely impressed by the precise support of the JU-87, and against stationary medium-sized targets, the old bird hit rate was almost 100 percent!

Considering that there were a large number of British spies planted in Spain, it was impossible for the German army to move through the entire Iberian Peninsula undetected, so the German high command gave up the consideration of a surprise attack and chose a righteous and bright attack to boost morale and shock the enemy's people. On 17 September, the German Army significantly reduced its air raids in the middle of the Channel, and the troops began to recuperate, ready to be stationed at various airfields in southern Spain. At the same time, German reconnaissance planes frequently dispatched and took a large number of photographs of the target area, which served as an important support for the attacking troops.

"Jonas, I'm going to have to bother you to go to Italy. The leader has just sent a telegram that his fleet will be in attack on October 5th, and that someone will need to communicate with him to ensure that the whole battle is coordinated, and you are the best person. Looking at Jonas with a stunned expression, Hitler patted him on the shoulder and said warmly, "You have the best relationship with the Italian generals, and no one will be in trouble." And this time, you might even be able to witness the fall of the Gibraltar Fortress from the sea. ”

。 The fastest website for mobile version update: m.