Iron Cross

Unlike ordinary people, as a military expert, Hoffmann was very familiar with the development of radar in the Third Reich: Although radar was first invented and put into use by the British, and it shined in the Battle of Britain, the Third Reich except in the early stages of the war It did not pay much attention to the application of radar and fell behind. After subsequent research and development, its development speed was faster than that of the United Kingdom. The "local chain" radar used in the UK has a maximum detection range of 190 kilometers, but it can only detect a 120-degree sector-shaped airspace. Its antenna is an iron tower nearly 100 meters high, and its maneuverability is extremely poor. The similar "Freya" radar developed in Germany has a maximum detection range of 120 kilometers. It can not only achieve 360-degree rotation, ensure the flexible maneuverability of the equipment, but also provide the earliest identification of friend or foe. Immediately afterwards, as an improvement of "Freya", "Mammoth" not only had a detection range of more than 300 kilometers, but also was more reliable in accuracy. Unfortunately, like "Freya", it could not accurately measure altitude. The newly developed Aquarius radar has been upgraded a step further. It is placed on a rotating 60-meter steel tower for continuous scanning. Thanks to improvements made by German scientists, it can detect up to 300 kilometers (the improved version can detect up to 380 kilometers). ), not only can the direction and distance of the incoming enemy aircraft be known, but the altitude of the aircraft group can also be measured relatively accurately, which is enough to provide an effective early warning.

After thinking for a moment, Hoffman asked in confusion: "Could it be that the British have been able to effectively interfere with the Aquarius radar?"

"No." Kamhuber looked a little unwilling, "But they can interfere with Mammoth and Freya more effectively. The problem with the Aquarius radar is that there are too few of them. There are less than 5 in total on the Western Front, including one in Berlin. But the area where MAN was bombed yesterday happens to lack such an early warning radar."

"Why not decorate more?"

"Due to priority, the number of radars produced is very limited. Moreover," Jeshunek interjected, "This kind of radar is built on a 60-meter-high steel tower, and a corresponding command center must be built. The Air Force has other Early radars consumed a lot of resources and lacked necessary follow-up supporting equipment.”

"Resources?" Hoffman turned to Speer and asked, "I have stopped all the base camp fortifications that the Army was going to build. Can't these resources be transferred over?"

"My head of state, these resources have already been assigned to the U-boat cavern project and the Atlantic defense line project along the French coast." Speer replied expressionlessly, "This is the arrangement Marshal Lundstedt is not very good at." Satisfied, wish I could provide more steel and concrete.”

"The order of priorities must be changed. Preventing air attacks on the Western Front is the first priority, U-boats are the second priority, and the Atlantic fortifications should be moved back temporarily - it is a joke that those steel triangle cones can block the Allied forces. "Hoffman pondered for a moment before making a decision, "If the Allied forces cannot stop interfering with the empire's industrial production, materials and resources will become increasingly scarce, and even if the Atlantic Barrier is built, it will not be able to guarantee its own safety."

"The second reason is that we lack enough night fighters." Kamhuber added, "The night fighters currently have three wings, namely NJG1, NJG2 and NJG3. So far this year, we have shot down many There are 350 British bombers, but the British still retain at least 1,000 aircraft, but the remaining aircraft of our night fighter wing are less than 300, and there is a lack of experienced pilots. What's even worse is that we received a call from May. Seschmidt Company informed that according to the aviation rearmament case, the BF-110, which is currently used more at night, will be discontinued next month..."

Before Hoffman said anything, Speer jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on: "General Kamhuber, you can't blame me for this. The discontinuation of BF-110 is the result of the overall consideration of the high command. At the demonstration meeting of the Air Force Technical Department, you also believed that the Ju-88 would be more ideal as a night fighter after necessary improvements, and it would be enough to replace the BF-110. And I also promised you that once the Heinkel Company's Hs-219 project matures. , will be included in the priority procurement..."

Kamhuber laughed awkwardly: "Minister Speer, it's exactly what you said. I don't mean to blame you, but, it's just..." He said "only" three times in a row, but couldn't say anything. As for the subsequent twist, I only focused on Jeshunek's face. The latter looked embarrassed, his face flushed, and his body was actually trembling slightly - this was an obvious sign of renunciation and anger.

Now everyone knew there was a hidden secret. Seeing that Jeshunek himself refused to say anything, Hoffman named Garland and asked: "Garland, you should know the situation. Tell me what's going on."

Garland had no choice but to reveal the whole story: the Ju-88 was usually used as a bomber. The Western Front Air Force did not have many bombing missions, so the inventory was very small. Marshal Speller refused on the grounds that he also needed to take care of the anti-submarine patrol in the Bay of Biscay. Although the Eastern Air Force was equipped with more Ju-88s, Graeme also refused to let the Ju-88 combat units return to China for transformation on the excuse that the war was tight and the need to support ground operations was high. , only 15 BF-110s were handed over to deal with the problem, and then they spread their hands and said that this was the only remaining BF-110 that was idle on the Eastern Front. There were dozens more that had been converted into ground attack aircraft, and they could not be handed over either. come out.

Marshal Keitel keenly discovered the problem: the strategic adjustment of the Eastern Front had long been clear, focusing on contraction and consolidation. Most of the existing salients would be gradually flattened. Even the Sixth Army, which had been on the offensive and rushed towards the Caucasus and Stalingrad, stopped to rest. How could there be a situation of "the war was tight and needed to support ground forces"? It was obvious that General Greim, who was in charge of the Eastern Front Air Force operations, did not take the Air Force Chief of Staff General Yeshunnek seriously. Maybe this list also included Marshal Sperrle.

As Galland spoke, Yeshunnek clenched his fists tighter, and his face was so gloomy that it seemed that water was almost dripping out. Hoffman understood: Yeshunnek did not try, but this effort was ignored, or they simply looked down on the Air Force Chief of Staff and used all kinds of fictitious excuses to prevaricate him - the problem still lies in the bureaucratic system of the Air Force. The young Air Force Chief of Staff could not suppress these arrogant soldiers and generals.

Jeschonnek became a fighter pilot at the age of 15 in 1917 and successfully shot down two enemy planes. His qualification as a second lieutenant was acceptable. But the problem arose later. After World War I, he worked in the Army Ordnance Department when he was less than 20 years old. He became an officer of the General Staff in 1928. When he transferred to the Air Force in 1933, Kesselring, Stumpf and others were already colonels, but he was still a lieutenant. He was promoted to captain the following year by serving as an adjutant to Field Marshal Milch - it took him 17 years to go from second lieutenant to captain! His talent in staff work was recognized. In 1938, he became the Chief of Operations of the General Staff. Thanks to the appreciation of Goering and Milch, he was promoted again and again, as if to make up for the time he had lost before. He was promoted from captain to general within 8 years. But at this time, his qualifications seemed too shallow. As the Air Force Chief of Staff who was "promoted by rocket", he could not control the front-line generals such as Kesselring, Sperrle and Greim. Of course, Goering and Milch arranged for Jeschonnek to be the Air Force Chief of Staff for a different purpose. They saw that he was capable, had a shallow foundation, and was easy to control, so that he was often caught between the two and was in a dilemma, and had to rely on others everywhere. Because he was not good at socializing and was promoted too quickly, he had no friends in the Air Force. The only thing he had a good personal relationship with was General Richthofen. However, Richthofen was arranged by Hoffman to serve as the commander of the Navy Air Force, and Jeschonnek was even more isolated and helpless in the Air Force Command.

Field Marshal Keitel thought more: in addition to his qualifications, there may be factional reasons for Jeschonnek's exclusion - Jeschonnek was promoted by Goering and Milch to be the Chief of the Air Force General Staff, and he had also served as Milch's adjutant. In the eyes of many people, Jeschonnek had long been marked as the confidant of the two. After the Führer eliminated Goering and exiled Milch, Jeschonnek would also be on the purge list, so letting him continue to serve as Chief of the General Staff was nothing more than a transitional arrangement. Keitel remembered that he had the same concerns at the beginning, but Hoffman denied them. The Fuehrer said directly: "I have carefully considered choosing Jeschonnek to continue to serve as the Air Force Chief of Staff. In addition to his outstanding staff ability, I value him more because of his age, good understanding, high obedience and strong execution. The Air Force is full of too many old officers. How can we not rely on young people?" But Keitel knew this problem, but others did not. To put it bluntly, these senior generals were not convinced by the arrangements made by the Fuehrer at the previous personnel adjustment meeting. They did not dare to target the Fuehrer, but just took out their anger on Jeschonnek.

Keitel cast a sympathetic look at him: the wronged Jeschonnek was originally a punching bag for Goering and Milch, and now he has become the Fuehrer's scapegoat. This life is really sad.