On July 5, 1943, when the German Empire and the European Community were once again faced with a protracted two-front war, Hersmann's old friend, Air Force Commander Albert Brown. Feng. Marshal Kesselring flew over the vast Atlantic Ocean in a spacious and comfortable Fokker 42 airliner at night. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Sitting on this plane, Marshal Kesselring did not look very pleasant, and all the way except to sleep was frowning and looking through a large number of papers and handwritten letters that Hersmann had asked him to hand him over.

In the letter, Hersmann wrote a great deal of thanks and comfort, and at the same time explained to him the difficult situation in which Germany was now facing—that the opportunity to first cut the Soviet Union apart and sue for peace, and then to deal with the United States with all its might, was completely ruined. Negotiations with the Soviet Union ended at the end of June, and at the same time, the Russian Empire officially returned to the historical stage of Europe, becoming an "active participant" in the European Community and Germany's most important ally...... In short, Hersmann and Kesselring's old friend, Empress Olga, were satisfied, but Germany was in big trouble.

It was for this reason that Hersman made the decision: to abandon the South American and Caribbean operations, and at the same time to cancel the South American front.

And Marshal Kesselring, as the commander-in-chief of the South American front, naturally had no choice but to return in vain.

However, he has not yet left Cayenne (located in Guyana, where the South American Front Command is located), and Hersman has already arranged a new position for him, which is still an important position, as the newly created commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Front!

Since the General Staff had direct jurisdiction over the Eastern Front (in fact, with First Quartermaster Guderian as Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Front), the current Wehrmacht was left with only two "front-level" commands, the Atlantic Front and the Indian Front.

The headquarters of the Indian Front was located in Delhi, the capital of the British Indian Empire, and the commander-in-chief was Field Marshal Halder. This front command is under the unified command of the British and Indian forces and the German forces in India, and the Indian detachment of the European Combined Fleet is also under the jurisdiction of this command, and the Indian Ocean is also the area of responsibility of the Indian front. However, the main battlefield of the Indian front is on land, and there are only a small number of U.S. (Canadian and British) submarines and camouflaged assault ships based in Australia. Therefore, it was only natural that a German field marshal should be the commander of the Indian front.

But the main role played on the Atlantic front should be the Navy, right? Is it really appropriate to let an Air Marshal from the Army, who does not understand the Navy at all, be the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Front?

With such doubts, Marshal Kesselring met with the Chief of the General Staff, who had personally come to Brest to meet him, Marshal Hersmann.

"Albert," Hersman hugged Kesselring at the airport, "must have been depressed in Cayenne, right?" ”

"All right," Kesselring smiled bitterly, and followed Hersman into the car, in which he said to Hersman, "but nothing...... But how did you give me a job commanding the navy? I don't have any experience with that, do I? ”

Hersman shook his head and smiled, "Albert, you know what? The Navy has just been disgraced. ”

"Defeated?" Kesselring asked a little nervously.

"It's not a defeat," Hirsman sighed, "59 planes were lost, 23 of which were Ju288s, and the result was the sinking of 3 aircraft carriers and several light ships. ”

"3 escort carriers?" Kesselring could tell what was going on by looking at Hersman's face.

"Yes, 3 worthless escort carriers!" "Because the bomb was so penetrating that it exploded directly at the bottom of the ship, most of the crew on board had a chance to escape," Hersman said. ”

On July 3, the victorious European Community, which fought in the air and sea battle in the Danish Strait, sank 2 Borg-class aircraft carriers, 1 Casablanca-class aircraft carrier, heavily damaged the Soviet Union, the battleship Zhongchuang Soviet Ukraine and the Russian Soviet, and several light cruisers and destroyers were sunk or heavily damaged.

On the side of the European Community, the cost was only 59 aircraft and a crew in their early 100s, and one submarine in charge of reconnaissance was missing (which was later confirmed to have been sunk). The entire crew was killed).

However, Hersmann was not satisfied with such a record and exchange ratio, especially with the excessive loss of fighters.

And there are two reasons for the heavy losses of fighters, especially the loss of 288 Ju23 aircraft.

One is that there is a problem with the coordination of the navy, naval aviation (shore-based) and air force, and they are fighting their own battles. The Air Force and Navy flew the Ju-288 fleet prematurely, only to be caught by an American Spitfire (the U.S. fleet had already fired two Spitfires before the Ju-288 group arrived), shooting down 12 of them on the spot.

Another reason was that the weather over the Danish Strait on July 3 was not very ideal and the visibility was poor, so the Ju288 lowered its altitude in order to accurately drop the remote-controlled gliding bomb, and as a result, the 127mm anti-aircraft guns on the surface ships were hit by shells equipped with radio proximity fuses, and 11 of them were shot down.

In addition to the 23 expensive Ju288s, the losses of the Fokker Zero D and Fokker 100 dive bombers were not small - during the day's operation, the German Navy also sent carrier-based Fokker Zero D to cover the Fokker 100 (sent by the Second Air Battle).

However, they encountered a strong opponent, the F6F, especially when the Fw-190T was chasing a one-time Spitfire attack at high altitudes, and the Fokker Zero D fought hard with the F6F at medium and low altitudes, and the losses were not small (the exchange ratio was about 1:1).

And the Fokker 100 dive bomber was hit by the heavy anti-aircraft fire of the American surface fleet and the F6F fighters.

Although the naval battle ended in victory for the German side, the problems exposed were very worrying.

"There has to be a front-class command in the Atlantic," Hersman said, "and it can't be on a ship." Therefore, it is not appropriate for the commander of the European Combined Fleet, Field Marshal Lütjans, to be the commander-in-chief of the front. ”

The Combined European Fleet, by the standards of the Wehrmacht, was only a unit of army group size. Units of the same level, as well as the European Combined Transport Command, the European Joint Underwater Fleet Command, and so on.

And according to convention, the commander of the European fleet had to direct the operation relatively close to the front line, so he could not afford the overall situation.

"In addition, the surface fleet is not the absolute main force of operations in the Atlantic." Hersman went on to say that "the surface fleet has the same status as shore-based aviation, the underwater fleet, the transport command, the island garrison, the Guyana garrison and the West Coast of Africa.

Taken together, these forces constitute the Atlantic Front, so it is not necessary for the commander to unify the command of the Atlantic Front. And it seems to me that this commander-in-chief must be proficient in air warfare, and he must also have experience in fighting a war of attrition. Albert, you're the right fit. ”

Asking a marshal from the army and air force to command operations in the Atlantic must seem to the old naval powers of Britain, the United States, and Japan to play the harp. However, in Germany, where there is a shortage of naval commanders, it is normal.

If it was just a fleet artillery battle and a submarine breakdown, then the German Navy also had some talent. For example, Lütjens and Dönitz are good.

But the current Atlantic war is definitely dominated by air power, and the German side also relies on shore-based aviation. Whether it is the Ju288, He219, Do217, Me262 or the Me264, a long-range strategic bomber with a greater range than the Ju288, there is currently only a shore-based type and no carrier-based type.

And the anti-ship missiles Hs293A and Hs293D, secretly developed by Germany (they are missiles with rocket boosters, not gliding bombs, and Hs293D also has a television guidance system that allows it to be launched at a greater safe distance) is currently in the final stages of testing. These two epoch-making weapons also need to be carried by shore-based bombers such as the Ju288 and Do217.

Therefore, in future operations in the Atlantic, the role of shore-based aviation will obviously be greater than that of the surface fleet -- compared with the current missile technology, which has just started, the firepower coverage of ship-based missiles is too small to achieve long-range strikes. At the same time, the bomb load of carrier-based aircraft is too small, and it is simply impossible to mount anti-ship missiles that weigh more than a ton at every turn, and can only be carried by shore-based aircraft.

And Germany's shore-based aircraft, whether they belong to the air force or naval aviation, are actually from the Wehrmacht Air Force, which was slowly stirred up by Hersmann, Kesselring, and others during the war. Therefore, it was indeed very fitting for Kesselring to be the commander of the Atlantic Front.

"So...... The people in the Navy won't have an opinion, right? Kesselring was silent for a moment, and said what he feared.

Now the army and air force (including naval aviation) of the Wehrmacht are actually one line, and the top echelons of the air force are all converted by the army. However, the navy has its own system and has always maintained a considerable independence.

"There will be no problem," said Hersman, shaking his head, "I have agreed with Marshal Raeder that the commander of the Atlantic Front will be held by the two of you in turn. You will work for half a year to get the system of unified command in order, and then you will be replaced by Marshal Raeder or Marshal Lütthejes as commander, and they will replace you after half a year. ”

This time Kesselring finally nodded, "This is probably okay, so what is the goal of the Atlantic front?" ”

"Your forte," Hirschman smiled, "a war of attrition!" Maintain confrontation in the Atlantic with a minimum of oil resources...... Until we win on the Eastern Front, it's a tough battle! In the entire Wehrmacht, you are the only one who can fight this kind of battle. ”

Kesselring laughed, patted his chest and said, "Well, the Atlantic front is handed over to me." As long as the people in the navy obey my command, the Americans will definitely suffer a great loss in the Atlantic. (To be continued.) )