Iron Cross

The activation of the "Crow" was a sudden move by Big "C" Menzies. The occupation of the Azores Islands was completely unexpected by the London authorities. They thought that the German army broke into the North Atlantic just to break diplomatic relations in a wandering way, and waited for the German fleet to rush in. After Minato occupied it overnight, even the slowest person knew that something was wrong.

At this time, no one cared about Portugal's attitude - the Germans were there and could not be driven away without force. After the outline of the Treaty of Lisbon on the lease of Atlantic islands between Germany and Portugal was announced, the London authorities felt even more worried. Anyone who knew something about the situation in the Atlantic knew how the war situation would change after that, and Portugal's ambiguous attitude had already It fully shows that its position has gradually slipped towards Germany.

The Azores Islands guard the central waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, about 1,600 kilometers away from the mainland of Portugal and more than 2,300 kilometers away from France. Their geographical location is very important. The U-boat force, which originally had to be based in France, has obtained the coveted supply base, which can not only speed up the supply pace and extend the patrol time of at least 4,500 kilometers, but also receive dual support from the European continent and the Azores. Under the premise that the number of submarines is fixed and the controlled sea area remains unchanged, the frequency of submarine dispatches can be nearly doubled. And now that German surface ships have the ideal port of Heroesport, they can stay in the Atlantic for a long time to break diplomatic ties, and their deterrent power will more than double?

The person in the Navy who was happiest about the successful occupation of the Azores was neither Raeder nor Machar, but Commander-in-Chief of the Submarine Force Dönitz. He finally understood why Hoffman originally asked him to temporarily reduce the production of old models. Concentrating on preparing for mass production of the new XXI-class submarines, the head of state has truly fulfilled his promise of "significantly increasing the density of submarines without increasing the number." This joy even exceeded the joy of being awarded the rank of marshal. On February 22, 1943, Hoffmann issued an order to promote two generals, Dönitz and Richthofen, to the rank of Marshal for their long-term contributions and merits. A man named Admiral of the Navy.

Other officers who participated in the "Tsunami" operation also received promotions or medals: Machar was promoted to Navy Admiral, Major General Bei became Lieutenant General Bei, Lieutenant General Kumetz became an admiral, and the naval officers and soldiers who made the greatest contribution were all Many officers who transferred from the Air Force were promoted to the first level. Due to personality reasons, many thorns in the air force wereted five or six years hanging around with second lieutenants and lieutenants. After joining Hainan Airlines, they were promoted twice in less than half a year, and they immediately became outstanding.

The day after the news came out, more than 40 ace pilots (groups) suddenly submitted applications to transfer to Hainan Airlines. The Air Force Chief of Staff, General Jeshunek, was so angry that he did not dare to break out in public. Finally, Hof Manju mediated, first approving these applications as commander-in-chief of the Air Force, and then adding 100 Italian pilots to the Air Force to calm the situation - the Italian Air Force, like the German Air Force, was the party's base. After Mussolini entered Addis Ababa with great pride, he decided to "contribute" more strength to the Axis cause. The Germans in his army looked down upon him, but experienced Italian pilots were a hot commodity.

The Azores, the Madeira Islands (900 kilometers from Casablanca, North Africa), the Cape Verde Islands (600 kilometers from Dakar, West Africa), and the Spanish Canary Islands together constitute the cornerstone of Germany's Atlantic waters. , for the United Kingdom, is an increasingly strengthened blockade noose, which makes people breathless: Madeira Islands, Cape Verde Islands, and Canary Islands have cut off the traditional shipping links between the British mainland and South Africa. The Azores has cut off the traditional route between the British mainland and South America, and seriously affected the British-American and British-Canadian routes.

Salazar's decisiveness and ruthlessness can be seen at this point: Don't the Germans want the Azores? I might as well leave Madeira and Cape Verde to you and see if Britain and the United States can still sit still? Of course, he also had deeper considerations. Germany had set a precedent by seizing the Azores Islands. Maybe Britain and the United States would follow suit and seize the Cape Verde Islands in a while. He might as well just keep doing it and ignore it— —It has quite the neutral demeanor of the Qing Dynasty.

Hoffman didn't expect Salazar to be such a bachelor, and couldn't help but take a few glances at the dictator. Even though he knew that the Portuguese were not well-intentioned, he still couldn't resist the temptation of these islands. The Supreme Command immediately issued a Orders to occupy and consolidate all the above-mentioned islands, the most important of which is the Azores. The island is also about 2,300 kilometers away from the United Kingdom, which means that unless the United Kingdom and the United States dispatch their navies to conduct a landing battle, aircraft alone will be unable to do anything about it. What the United Kingdom lacks most now is a fleet, so Germany has gained a rare window period.

Calculated based on the island’s 600-kilometer defense circle, after German aircraft and fleets stationed on the island, all ships departing from the North American continent must turn northeast from Newfoundland and detour around Greenland if they want to reach the UK safely. This dangerous zone can only be avoided by turning the sea towards Great Britain, and the overall voyage will be about 800-1,000 nautical miles further. A longer voyage is still a trivial matter. With such a foothold in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the axis including the submarine force, surface fleet, aviation force, etc. all have a foothold, and the efficiency of breaking diplomatic relations will be doubled.

What made the British even more crazy was that after the signing of the German-Portuguese agreement, the French also joined in the fun and suddenly announced that they had reached an agreement with Germany on the Syrian issue, and the Pétain government would send troops into Syria again. Although the specific content is unknown, French insiders told the British that as part of the exchange of interests, France would give both Richelieu-class ships to the Germans: the first ship, the Richelieu, was basically completed and stayed in Dakar, but it was injured and would return to France for repairs immediately; the second ship, the Jean-Bart, was 77% complete overall, and the Germans might continue to build it. In addition, the light cruiser De Grasse, which has been accelerated at the Jolyon shipyard since November, will also be delivered to Germany for outfitting after the hull is completed as soon as possible.

The British originally thought that this was reserved by the Pétain regime to restore its own naval strength, but they did not expect that this time they gave it to the Germans. In addition to the transfer of the Toulon fleet agreed upon between France and Germany, the Germans obtained almost all the remaining French warships, including the elite Richelieu and Dunkirk classes, except for the warships sunk or expropriated by the British before and after the "Ballista" operation. This made the British hate it, but they could not do anything to the French. The French Navy hated the British much more than the Germans. When Germany used airplanes to kill the British Mediterranean Fleet and occupied Egypt, the French sailors cried and laughed, and were as happy as if they had won a victory. After the German army severely taught the British fleet a lesson in the North Sea this time, French public opinion also applauded, believing that it was the retribution that the British had to pay for their betrayal.

Seizing the Azores immediately became the UK's overriding priority, and it also became a consensus in the military circles of Britain and the United States. On the day the German army appeared outside Angra do Heroes, Britain and the United States received intelligence that TF27 (Task Force 27) led by Rear Admiral Brown of the United States Navy was less than 400 nautical miles from the Azores. His initial order was to quickly organize armed forces to recapture them, but after learning that the German fleet, including the Tirpitz, two Deutschland-class, two Hipper-class heavy cruisers and two aircraft carriers, was intact, he decisively gave up on this tough task - TF27 only had one Independence light aircraft carrier and one Pennsylvania battleship, and it was obvious that they were no match for either air warfare or traditional artillery warfare.

To capture the Azores, it is necessary to grasp the dynamics of the island. Now it is impossible to send out aircraft for reconnaissance, and the fleet dare not approach for a while, so it can only use the most traditional manual reconnaissance. However, Germany immediately implemented martial law after occupying the Azores. Except for the German-owned ships, the port strictly implemented the policy of allowing out but not in, and it was impossible to send spies from Portugal to infiltrate, which made Churchill and Pound very anxious.

After racking his brains, Menzies suddenly remembered the possible existence of a hidden agent. MI6 finally found "Crow" by reading the top-secret files with a try-and-see attitude, and Tom fell into London's sight. He immediately reported to Churchill as if he had found a treasure, and got approval to activate this intelligence agent who had been lurking for 25 years.

"Did you make contact?"

Churchill was now quite anxious, otherwise Menzies would not have used an ordinary telegraph liaison to activate a spy who had been lurking for a quarter of a century yesterday. This was a very dangerous thing in the intelligence system, but now he really couldn't take care of these.

"The contact was made, and the other party agreed to continue to serve and collect intelligence as much as possible, and he also has a radio station."

"Very good! Very good! This brave intelligence agent will save countless lives in the future. Who was the superior who sent "Crow" out to lurk? That gentleman made a very wise and far-sighted decision." Churchill asked.

"The superior of 'Crow' died of illness 25 years ago. Because of the sudden death of the direct contact and the end of World War I, 'Crow' was in a forgotten corner and never received any orders."

"So he waited in vain for 25 years? Will he be full of resentment towards us?" Churchill was shocked and suddenly became worried and asked anxiously, "Do you think this person is still reliable now?"

"This..." Menzies couldn't say it, but the Prime Minister was staring at him now, and he couldn't not answer. He thought for a long time before speaking, "To be honest, I know nothing about him. I don't even know what kind of person he is. Although his photo, his resume, and his personality are introduced in the archives, it has been 25 years, and these things are completely unreliable. We can only rely on our feelings now. Prime Minister, either we trust him without reservation, or don't read any messages he sends, so as not to interfere with decision-making."