In October 1942, U.S. President Franklin Franklin. Roosevelt was faced with a difficult trade-off. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 His opponents, German leader and Chancellor Adolf Hitler, and Reich Field Marshal Hersmann also had to make trade-offs on many seemingly critical battlefields.

Since relations with the Soviet Union could not be maintained, Germany was finally caught in a situation of war on multiple fronts. However, the situation is certainly much more favourable than it was at the same time in history - Germany is now in a position to cope with a war on multiple fronts. Moreover, there was already a "first line" in this "multi-front", that is, the front of the war with Britain was at the time of victory.

"From the end of 1942 to the end of the muddy season in the Soviet Union in 1943, we should strive to end the war that should be on our own soil!"

At a meeting of the High Command on October 3, Hersman set out the immediate priorities, saying: "As long as we settle the British homeland, then the empire will be invincible." ”

"Imperial Marshal, if we are going to take LinkedIn territory in the next 6 months, can we still afford a large-scale offensive on the Black Sea coast?" Hitler asked.

He was clearly more concerned about the Eastern Front. Britain now looks like a dead tiger, and after months of complete lockdown, Britain has had to rely on stockpiles to survive, although oil reserves are barely maintained, food is enough for the time being, and coal and iron ore can be coping for the time being (Britain itself is a major coal producer, and iron ore reserves are relatively abundant). But there was a severe shortage of non-ferrous metals other than tin ore, and without them, the British war machine immediately went into serious trouble.

Because there was not enough aluminum, British aircraft began to use wood and steel as materials for their fuselages and wings in large quantities from June 1942, which led to an increase in the empty weight of British aircraft. At the same time, due to the lack of rare metals, the engine standards of British aircraft and tanks began to regress, and the engines became heavier and less heat-resistant. Add to this the shortage of high-quality gasoline derived from the lack of oil (without good gasoline, the performance of aircraft engines will deteriorate further), and the serious lack of pilot training due to the lack of gasoline. Now the RAF has almost disappeared from the skies over the English Channel and the island of Ireland.

The German Navy can now swagger across the English Channel during daylight with good weather!

German planes could even fly in and out of southern England (south of London) at will, and indiscriminately bomb British radar stations, airfields, ground batteries, and other targets.

And on the island of Ireland, Britain has piled up a large number of ground forces, albeit a large number of them. However, because the air superiority was firmly grasped by the European coalition led by the German army, every attack was fought weakly, and there was no point in increasing casualties.

If it had not been for Germany's war with the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, the clamor of peace in Britain would have drowned out the stubborn Prime Minister Churchill - in fact, in May 42, before the Soviet-German war, Churchill and Britain's main war faction were already preparing to run away to Canada!

Even after the Soviet-German war, the business of neutral-flagged cruise ships between Britain and Canada (after Germany took full control of the North Atlantic route, British-flagged cruise ships were no longer allowed to pass, but neutral cruise ships were agreed to transport the British to Canada, but these cruise ships had to be strictly inspected by the German Navy to prevent strategic goods from flowing into the British mainland) Far from being cold, the business became even more prosperous. It is clear that the UK government is continuing with its plans to move to Canada.

Under these circumstances, Hitler and Hess, who had always been pro-British, believed that Britain would join Germany-led Greater Europe as long as they could establish an unshakable advantage on the Eastern Front, so they were now keen to fight the Soviet Union.

"I'm afraid not." Hersman shook his head and said, "We now have two formidable enemies, and a half-dead but very insidious one. Therefore, there is no leniency in the use of troops, and there must be trade-offs. If we use our army and fleet in the Black Sea, then we can land on the shores of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. But it was not easy to advance from the coast of the Sea of Azov to the Caspian region, which could not be done before the end of the muddy season in 1943. Without completing the offensive from the Sea of Azov to the Caspian Sea, it will be impossible for us to cut off the connection between the Baku-Grozny oil-producing region and Moscow. Therefore, my opinion is to postpone the offensive on the Caucasus and South Russian regions until 1943. ”

Adolph. Hitler looked again at the Chief of the General Staff, Field Marshal Kesselring. Kessellin nodded and said: "The General Staff also thinks so, at the moment we are making relatively good progress in Ukraine, and it is estimated that we can capture the entire right-bank Ukraine by May 43." So that we could launch a large-scale offensive in the South Russian region in the summer of '43. ”

"The target is the Caucasus oil-producing region?" Hitler asked.

Kesselring shook his head and uttered a place name that made Hersmann sound a little frightened: "It's Stalingrad!" Attacking from Kyiv and advancing 1000 km to the east is Stalingrad. If we can take Stalingrad, then the communication between the oil regions of the Caucasus and Moscow will be cut off.

Moreover, Stalingrad and Kharkiv and Donetsk, which need to be captured on the way to Stalingrad, were important industrial towns in the Soviet Union! If our plans for an offensive on Stalingrad were completed, then the war potential of the USSR would be reduced by 50% as a result. ”

"But...... Can we win? Hitler asked, "1,000 kilometers to advance!" ”

"Yes!" Marshal Kesselring said with great confidence, "because the Soviet Red Army had to relieve Leningrad in the summer of 1943!" Otherwise...... Empress Olga would get her Petrograd, plus a population of 2 million, an army of 600,000, and a well-established industrial base. ”

The current siege of Leningrad is completely encircled and encircled without fighting, and it is clear that the purpose is to force Leningrad to become Petrograd by starvation. And this is a situation that Stalin and the Bolshevik Party did not want to see in any case.

Therefore, this winter and next summer, the Soviet Union will definitely launch the battle to relieve the siege of Leningrad. At that time, the elite troops of the Soviet Union will definitely be concentrated around Leningrad, and the southern Russian region will be relatively empty.

"Marshal of the Empire, do you agree?" Hitler asked Hersmann again.

"Agreed." Hersman nodded. Although frightened to hear the name Stalingrad, Hersman agreed to the plan developed by the General Staff.

"So...... We can't hit the Russians hard before the summer of 1943? "Hitler seems to be reluctant." Are we going to watch the Russians take advantage of this winter to recover? ”

"Nope." Hersman shook his head, "We will continue to fight the USSR!" ”

"Where to strike?"

"At sea!" Hersman said, "We're going to fight the Soviets at sea...... The Soviet Union must first be completely blocked, this is the best way to weaken the war potential of the USSR! ”

Stalin's three five-year plans, though, allowed Soviet industry to achieve a lot. But the USSR was still not a country that could be truly "self-sufficient". Although the Soviet Union was self-sufficient in raw materials, it also had a wide range of industries.

However, the foundation of Soviet industry was too thin after all, and many products were only quantitative but not qualitative, so it was necessary to obtain key components and high-tech materials from the United States.

"Lockdown?" Hitler frowned, "By the aircraft carrier Sedlitz?" ”

Admiral Raeder added: "There are also the missile cruiser 'Emperor Frederick III', the reconnaissance cruiser Warsaw, the light cruiser Posen and four other destroyers, as well as one seaplane carrier, two fast supply ships, two fast refueling ships and four camouflage attack ships." ”

"That's all?" Hitler asked, with some skepticism, "Is it enough?" ”

Raeder replied, "Enough! They are enough to block the North Pacific routes. ”

"Okay, so where are these ships at the moment?"

"In the Mediterranean, Alexandria."

……

The small expeditionary fleet, now assembled in Alexandria, Egypt, under Italian rule, was called the "Eastern Detachment of the Combined European Fleet", and the commander of the fleet was Leopold. Vice Admiral Simmens, Chief of Staff of the Fleet and Captain of the flagship Emperor Frederick III missile cruiser was Hans-Karl. Colonel Mayer, the captain of the main aircraft carrier USS Seydlitz, the main force of the fleet, is Gerhard. Colonel Wagner. And Hersmann's eldest son, Rudolph. Feng. Heinsberg-Hersmann was also part of the expeditionary fleet.

He is now piloting his new plane, a Fokker FW-190T carrier-based fighter-bomber, in dive bomb training.

"Captain, I missed a lot."

As soon as the training bomb was dropped, fluent English came from the headphones of Hesman Jr., a Japanese devil talking to him -- watching him drop the bomb from the flight console of the Seydlitz was Shigeru Itaya, a Japanese Navy Shozo Itaya who liked to carry a broadsword and go on the plane without a parachute.

Shigeru Itaya was a liaison officer and observer sent by the Japanese Navy to the Eastern Fleet in Europe, and was also responsible for studying the new German carrier-based aircraft, the FW-190T-1. In the words of his good friend Hersman Jr., the FW-190T is an all-purpose miscellaneous aircraft that can do everything, but can't do anything.

The aircraft can not only fight in the air, but also carry bombs and rockets to attack surface ships, and it is said that special dive-bombing and torpedo attack versions are being developed (FW-190T-2 and FW-190T-3).

In addition, although the aircraft is a carrier-based aircraft, it has quite good high-altitude performance (because the BMW-801S has an MW50 jet afterburner system and a supercharger that can adapt to high-altitude environments). It can cover the JU288 bomber carrying remote-controlled gliding bombs, and can also escape from high altitudes without being able to defeat enemy carrier-based aircraft.

However, the shortcomings of this aircraft are also obvious, the combat performance at medium and low altitudes is poor, the landing speed is too fast, and the bomb delivery is not accurate...... In short, I can't do anything. (To be continued.) )