Operation Mercury was one of the few painful memories of the German army in the European war. In order to deal with the threat posed by the Allied forces on the southern flank of the Mediterranean before the launch of the "Barbarossa" plan, the Iron Alliance mobilized nearly 30,000 paratroopers and mountain division soldiers, as well as 1,000 aircraft of various types.

There are examples of the great success of Han paratroopers in Japan, and before the Battle of Crete, there was a lot of confidence in Operation Mercury in Germany.

But the result was the last thing the Führer and the German General Staff wanted to see and believe. The most elite German paratroopers were shot like targets by the second-rate forces of the Allied powers, and there were even incidents of paratroopers being stoned to death with crutches by old men who were residents.

It was also after the Battle of Crete that the Führer forbade the large-scale use of paratroopers in the following campaigns, making the German paratroopers ordinary infantry for a time. But the General Staff of the Wehrmacht did not abandon the Airborne Forces, they sent staff officers to Japan to investigate, and discovered the gap between the Chinese and German paratroopers. The first is individual soldier communication equipment; The second is the heavy firepower of the paratrooper units. Germany did not have the kind of large transport aircraft that could carry light tanks and other heavy equipment. In a word, the shortcomings of the large aircraft led to the fact that the German paratroopers could not possess heavy firepower, and could only rely on the light guns in their hands to deal with various weapons in the enemy's positions during combat.

Coupled with the lack of individual communication equipment, the troops could not be quickly assembled after the airborne, so that more scenes of being besieged by the enemy appeared.

In terms of communicators, with Germany's scientific research capabilities, it is not difficult to develop, but large aircraft are not a short-term success.

The Army and Air Force almost simultaneously proposed to the Führer that Germany should have its own large aircraft, and at least one capable of carrying forty tons of supplies. These two proposals made the proud Führer roll his eyes.

After the engineers of the aircraft companies of Messerschmitt, Junkers, and Hinkel were summoned to Berlin, they were personally received by the Führer.

The mustache was not interested in wasting too much time in such a meeting, and directly asked: "How long will it take for us to have our own big plane?" ”

This sentence made the engineers who were a little excited to see the capital immediately quiet down.

As the most prestigious aircraft designer, Ebas reluctantly stood up first in the eyes of everyone's expectation, "Führer, we have no experience in this area before, and it will take three years at the fastest time on our own!" ”

Ebas, who had designed the Ju-88 Stuka bomber, saw the Führer's frowning brows, and hurriedly added, "If you can get the help of the big man, I think a year will be enough!" ”

But the Führer's brows are furrowed even more, and it's a big man again! If it's just to ask for Dahan's help, then we can just buy their Tyrannosaurus Rex in Dahan! "Gentlemen, we have to rely on our allies for everything, and that would be a mortal threat to our German industry, or we must rely on our own strength! Germany must have big planes! ”

The Führer, in his usual domineering tone, ended the conversation.

The big plane is a symbol of a strong country, the death of the German paratroopers, and the dream of the Führer.

But in the negotiations on the introduction of the Tyrannosaurus Rex military transport aircraft, Ribbentrop lost the magic of invincibility, and the Han Emperor refused to make any concessions on the Tyrannosaurus Rex project.

In His Majesty's words, it is "nothing to talk about". As compensation, His Majesty agreed to export to Germany the Royal Aircraft Manufacture's DY-3 air cavalry military transport aircraft, converted from a DC-40 airliner.

This kind of transport aircraft with a load capacity of 27 tons has good flight performance, can be used to airlift materials and soldiers, can also airdrop paratroopers, and can also airdrop heavy paratrooper equipment below 20 tons. It can be regarded as basically meeting the requirements of the German army.

In the subsequent battle of "Orion" in Cyprus, the DY-40 showed its skills. Although the performance of the No. 3 tank for paratroopers with redesigned armor thickness is not mainstream, it is much better for paratroopers who lack assault means than to break through with flesh and blood.

Moreover, after the comprehensive study of the Han Guards Corps, the squad and platoon level firepower of the German paratroopers was also greatly strengthened. The development of the K-2 military flag individual communicator has enabled paratroopers to call for help in time when they encounter danger, and the speed of troop assembly has more than doubled.

At various airfields in Crete and Greece, Aunt Juncker acted with the newly introduced air cavalry and airdropped more than 30,000 German paratroopers into Cyprus, and in just four hours, the German paratroopers with increased firepower took the city of Paphos, on the southwest coast of the island, which in Greek mythology was the birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. But more importantly, there was a large military airfield here, which was the most important supply base for the British army on the island.

With the loss of Paphos, the resistance of the British troops on the "island of Eros" became more and more difficult. With the support of nearly 1,000 transport planes of the German follow-up troops, they quickly joined the battle.

The airborne operation began in the morning, and by nightfall the Germans had already entered Nicosia, and the British and Cypriot colonial forces on the island had retreated to the narrowest northeastern corner of the spoon-shaped island. If they are not evacuated in time, they can only be eliminated and captured.

The British Royal C Fleet (Mediterranean Squadron), based in Alexandria, Egypt, ventured out to meet the defeated land forces on the island in the face of a serious imbalance in the air forces of the two sides over the Mediterranean.

The Luftwaffe's Ju-90 Stuka twin-engine bombers gave the C fleet a lot of damage. With the Italian Navy unable to fight any longer, the convoy escorted by three cruisers and four destroyers sailed along the waters of Palestine and Lebanon in the direction of Turkey, but in the early morning German bombers spotted the fleet led by British Vice Admiral Andrew Cunningham.

Two hundred and eighty bombers began the bombardment of the C fleet, two cruisers and four destroyers were all sunk, and only the light cruiser Glasgow fled back to Egypt.

The British Royal Navy's meritorious ship USS Shuishen was sunk by the V-5 air-to-ship missile used by the German army for the first time, which shocked the various military powers of the two major groups.

Prior to this, the Hong's Penguin anti-ship missiles of Dahan had been put into actual combat, but in the Battle of Hawaii, the Hong's Penguin did not achieve much success, which once made the pilots of the Royal Air Force have certain doubts about the power of the anti-ship missiles, although compared with the powerful large aerial bombs, the missile's hit rate is higher.

However, the sinking of the light cruiser Shuishen once again strengthened the determination of various countries to develop various types of ship-to-ship missiles on a large scale. Of course, not only anti-ship missiles, but also the V-3 surface-to-surface missile positions set up by Germany in Amiens, France, have begun to threaten the British mainland, and even several V-2s have fallen in London, which has caused great panic among the British people.

In the Mediterranean, the British Royal Navy defeated the Italian Navy in the Battle of Taranto and Cape Matapan in succession, but the British army lost two successive battles to seize the island, and in the Mediterranean, the only important British island base was Valletta Naval Base on Malta Island.

One Entente nation after another was defeated and surrendered, and Britain desperately needed a victory to inspire the confidence of the people to resist. But for Churchill, he knew very well that relying on Britain alone, not to mention winning, even the defense may not be able to hold out for long, once Africa is lost, the Han navy enters the Mediterranean, and even enters the Atlantic, the end of Britain is not far away!

"Allies, if the allies of the Entente still have their own ghosts, then we will be broken by each one! The British people have done their best to resist and counterattack the enemy, who is several times outnumbered, and the German and Han fascists have aimed all their firepower at Britain! "Churchill's telegrams to Roosevelt and Stalin have torn off the guise of statesmanship.

But it was clear that the Soviet Union, which was also on both sides, was not capable of supporting Britain, or rather, was able to do so, and Stalin's character would not have given Britain a single ounce of support.

The only thing Britain can rely on is the United States! According to the customs of the Han people, they are also the same ancestors. Although in the Pacific theater, the United States also suffered heavy losses, and even lost control of the entire Pacific Ocean, and could only retreat to the west coast of its homeland. But this did not prevent the United States from sending troops to support Britain and landing in North Africa and even on the European continent.

Washington, White House.

President Roosevelt, Secretary of State Hull, and a group of think-tank experts are studying America's next steps.

Undoubtedly, Britain cannot be defeated. At this point, the most selfish Americans will also agree that if Britain surrenders, then the United States will no longer have to intervene in Europe. What they have to study is how to support and which to support.

Economically, American cargo ships risked being sunk by German U-boats and were constantly transporting supplies to Britain. According to statistics, in the past month, the United States has sunk nearly 600,000 tons of transport ships, which is also a big burden for the United States, which has the world's largest shipbuilding capacity.

Due to the total annihilation of the Pacific Fleets of the United States and the Soviet Union, the Entente has lost its naval supremacy in the Pacific. After the Aleutian Islands were captured by the Japanese fleet led by the Yamato ship, the United States completely lost the ability to transfuse blood to the Soviet Union through the west coast.

Even if the German sea wolves in the Atlantic are more ferocious, the United States cannot give up this only lifeline. The months of the year when the Arctic Ocean were ice-free became the only opportunity to deliver supplies to the Soviet Union.

"It's time to send troops to Africa! Otherwise, we will have no chance. After the loss of Hawaii, the continental United States was bombed for several days, which made Roosevelt look much older.

"But the president, the Mexicans, with the support of the Han State, have already begun to move. We must maintain sufficient forces in the south. As Rose's old partner, Hull still feels that the safety of the country is more important.

"Mr. President, Mr. Secretary of State is right, if the Han army chooses to land in Mexico, our West Coast defense line will be completely useless, and we must maintain sufficient forces in Southern California and even Texas." As a veteran White House think tank, Dries shares the same view as Hull, who believes that Mexico, backed by the Han army, is preparing for a bloody disgrace, and that the Han army is most likely to evade the US West Coast defense line and choose to land on the California Peninsula.

"If they really dare to come, that's the best!" Roosevelt slapped the armrest of the wheelchair hard! This man, who turned the tide after the Great Depression and was known as the best president in the history of the United States, showed the charisma of a leader in the face of a treacherous war situation.

"Gentlemen, it is impossible to hope that the war will be kept out of the United States! Then, the vast territorial depth of the United States and even Canada is our greatest reliance, if the Han army dares to come, will we, the US Army, who are fighting at our doorstep, still be afraid of them? As for Britain, we must support, and it is Britain that stands in front of us to prevent us from being attacked on both sides. Without Africa, the Mediterranean would be dangerous; Without the Mediterranean, Britain would be in danger; Without Britain, gentlemen, do you think the Atlantic can hold the Germans in the way? ”

Roosevelt's oratorical ability can definitely rank in the top ten among political figures in the world, and Zhong Yi even thinks that Luo Cripple can enter the top three. At this moment, Mr. President, with his passionate and methodical speech, once again impressed all the elites in the White House office.

Dwight David Eisenhower was promoted by Marshall, Chief of the Army General Staff, at the beginning of the war. Within the U.S. military, many people like to call Eisenhower Ike.

Roosevelt accepted Marshall's proposal to appoint Eisenhower commander of the U.S. Expeditionary Force. And after coordinating with Churchill, Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of the Entente **** that would carry out the landing in North Africa, although this was Eisenhower's first time commanding a large-scale campaign alone.

Admiral MacArthur expressed support for his old subordinates, saying, "Ike is extremely skilled in organizing and coordinating Allied forces with a variety of national interests, and he is the right person to command a multinational coalition." ”

Of course, MacArthur, who had returned home in the Philippines, was able to go out again after a brief stint as the principal of the West Point Military Academy. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Theater of Operations, with overall responsibility for defense against the Han landing, and was authorized by the President to decide on the war against Mexico in an emergency.

The commander-in-chief of one theater of operations had the right to go to war against another country, which had never been done in the short history of the United States, and in this respect Roosevelt's charisma was far from being matched. At this point, His Majesty the Emperor of Han has a common opinion with Luo Cripple: leave the professional work to the professionals!

In April 1942, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the United States and Britain drew up a specific plan for the "Torch" operation in London, and the allied forces of 11 Allied powers, including the United States, Britain, Canada, France, and Greece, decided to land at the same time in Casablanca, Morocco, and Oran, Algiers, in Algeria, in order to strike at the German and Italian forces and regain the strategic initiative in North Africa.

Then, the multinational forces will fight a decisive battle with the Han forces in Northeast Africa in Sudan and Ethiopia, completely driving the Iron Alliance forces out of Africa and sabotaging the plan of the Han and German alliances to plot the Mediterranean.