Iron Cross

On April 27, Keitel received a detailed battle report of the Panama campaign in Berlin, and was greatly surprised by the overall process of Horikichi successfully destroying the Panama Canal, annihilating the US aircraft carrier formation, and successfully retreating: any of these three things can be done. It was not easy, but Horikichi managed to do all three things in one go. He was so moved that he immediately ran to report to Hoffman.

"Have the results been verified? There are no exaggerations or false reports?" Seeing Keitel's happy face, Hoffman asked anxiously - the Japanese have criminal records.

"It has been verified. Both Machar and General Krank guarantee that the situation is true. Of course, our losses are not small." Keitel flipped through the verification telegram. "The loss rate of carrier-based aircraft pilots exceeded 20%, and the casualty rate of the Marine Brigade was Nearly 40%, all heavy equipment and landing craft were basically abandoned - the brigade needs to be completely replenished to regain its strength. Commander Test was shot and sunk, and many warships including Tirpitz, Richelieu, etc. were damaged. , there were more than 500 casualties among naval officers and soldiers except pilots."

He then added on Japan's losses: "The Japanese lost more, with a pilot loss rate of nearly 25%. They lost three battleships, Mutsu, Hiei, and Hayabusa, and some small ships. The remaining battleships were also of varying severity. I waited for the injury, but successfully obtained the Béarne aircraft carrier from the French. "

"Mutsu sank?" Hoffman was a little surprised. He looked down at the battle report and said to himself, "It turns out that Mutsu and Hiei were seriously injured, and then Horikichi used it to fill the canal - this kind of behavior The style can be very different from the average Japanese.”

Keitel nodded in agreement: "It can be seen that this general is very courageous. Of course, he also made a request to us: in view of Japan's weak industrial strength and shipbuilding capabilities, he hopes to get some compensation, such as giving up the Skyhawk aircraft carrier Give or lease to Japan.”

Hoffman shook his head: "This is impossible! After the Europa sank and Zeppelin was injured and repaired, we are also short of aircraft carriers. The only one we can use now is the Skyhawk - I can't transfer the only available aircraft carrier to Japan, even if I agree , Redel will not agree. By the way, what is his attitude towards this battle report? "

"This..." Keitel hesitated.

"What's wrong with him? Is he quarreling with you again?" Hoffman said displeasedly. "I have reminded him many times that the navy serves the overall situation of the war. Don't think about the problem only from the perspective of the navy. You must obey the supreme commander. Within the navy, the fleet, submarines, naval aviation, marines and island bases will be integrated into one, and we should not look at the problem narrowly from the perspective of the fleet.”

"No, he talked to me once in the afternoon and tactfully stated that he might resign in the near future."

"Resign?" Hoffman frowned. This was an unexpected change, but he soon figured out why: Redel was clearly opposed to this Panama war and thought it was too risky. and radical, but he did not have much say. The whole thing was carried out after direct discussions between Horikichi and Hoffman. It was the product of "over-the-top diplomacy". Now the Panama Battle is not only won, but also won beautifully. Of course Redel He felt that his face was shameless; secondly, Redl had always criticized Ozawa's appointment, believing that it undermined the tradition of the German Navy, but in fact, everyone from Machar to ordinary officers and soldiers could accept Ozawa's appointment. Do you think there is anything wrong? Finally, and most importantly, with the strong participation of the Navy and the Marine Corps, the ship faction or surface ship faction represented by Redel has changed from the only mainstream to one that competes with the submarine faction, the navy faction, and the land fleet. The factions on the same level as the War Faction gradually lost their right to speak, especially since several consecutive military operations were ordered directly by the Supreme Command, bypassing Redel, which made the old marshal feel very disappointed.

In addition to the tense relationship with Keitel, Hoffman also knew that the relationship between Raeder and Machar was also very ordinary. Raeder was relatively conservative and always insisted on protecting the ship first. He was incompatible with Mashaal, who was an outsider. He was considered steady in his eyes, but radical in the eyes of the old marshal. Originally, the relationship between the commander of the aircraft carrier force, Krank, and the old marshal was not bad, but because of the conversion of a series of battleships into aircraft carriers, Krank and Hoffmann , Speer were on the same front, and they had different opinions with the old marshal. Except for Navy Chief of Staff Frick, the rest of the Navy's top brass had some vague differences with Redel, but of course they were still on good terms with each other. .

"What do you think I should do?"

Keitel wanted to say that the head of state could accept his resignation and directly serve as the commander-in-chief of the navy. The reason why Redel approached him about resigning first was to test the head of state's tone, but he could not figure out what Hoffman's real thoughts were. Bian changed again: "This... I think we should try our best to retain him. Marshal Redel is highly respected in the navy. He..."

"You didn't tell the truth. This is very bad. This is not a peacetime bureaucratic dispute. We have to look at the problem from a standpoint that is truly beneficial to the war." Hoffman scolded Keitel with a straight face, repeating one thing after another. , "He is still hesitating, but I cannot hesitate. If he really offers me his resignation, I will accept it. Of course, he has made special contributions to the revival of the German Navy. After retiring from the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, he can still It would be good to use your spare energy in other areas, such as taking up the post of General Counsel of the Navy.”

Keitel thought that he might have made a mistake again, but the head of state was much more decisive and quickly made up for it: "You can also serve as the commander-in-chief of the navy according to the methods of the army and air force."

Hoffman was noncommittal about this and explained: "The position of Chief of Naval Staff Frick also needs to be changed. His personality is more suitable for cultivating naval reserve talents or undertaking supervisory tasks. We need to be wise and able to consider the overall situation and A chief of staff who looks at problems from a strategic perspective, who can come up with clever, strange, and brilliant moves, and an honest person who does not stick to the rules and always follows the rules - that is what the Royal Navy can do. Let Otto Schneewind return as the chief of the navy's general staff. , In addition, Kumetz has a soft character, let him manage the Baltic Fleet and related bases.”

Otto Schneewind originally served as Chief of the Naval General Staff and was highly regarded. However, due to a so-so relationship between him and Raeder, he was transferred to serve as the nominal commander of the High Seas Fleet and was succeeded by Raeder's confidant Frick. In fact, Schnewind was not as qualified as Machar in terms of qualifications (he was only promoted to major general in October 1937, and Machar was one year earlier than him), so this position became very embarrassing - he could not control Masha at all. Er and Crank. In the direction of the Baltic Sea, because the Red Navy has no strength, Germany has not dispatched the main naval force. At most, it will do some transportation, escort, and anti-submarine work. Hoffman believes that this is suitable for Kumetz's personality.

Keitel was shocked: This was a sign that the head of state was going to attack the independent naval kingdom.

Sure enough, after thinking for a moment, Hoffman formed a package adjustment plan: From now on, he will also serve as the commander-in-chief of the navy, with Dönitz, Richthofen, and Machar serving as the first, second, and third deputy commanders respectively. , and then add Wetzel (General, responsible for armaments), Schneewind (Admiral, Chief of General Staff), Krank (Admiral) and Weiss (Admiral, Commander of the Marine Corps) to form a standing meeting of the Navy.

"From now on, the daily work of the Navy will be presided over by Marshal Dönitz." Hoffman thought for a while and added, "He probably has little energy to take care of submarines as well. He promoted Hans-Georg von Friedberg to Lieutenant General. , responsible for the daily affairs of the submarine force, anyway, he is the second commander of the submarine. "

Keitel was naturally overjoyed at this result: after the adjustment, the Navy would no longer be an independent kingdom that could not penetrate with needles or splash with water, but would be under the unified management of the Supreme Command. This meant that the National Defense Forces had achieved great unification. As the supreme commander, The Chief of General Staff of the High Command is no longer just a decoration. In a sense, the Supreme High Command can exert the advantages of centralization better than the American Joint Chiefs of Staff system. After all, the United States does not have a Chief of General Staff who oversees the three services. This system is even better than The Grand General Staff under Ludendorff's management during World War I had higher authority - the navy was not concerned at that time.

"Now you are the real Chief of Staff above all the Chiefs of Staff." Hoffman warned worriedly, "Although I have used various methods to forcibly integrate the various services together and give you higher authority, But it will also put forward higher requirements for future joint operations of the three armed forces. The authority of the Supreme Command cannot rely solely on power, but mainly on ability and coordination. It must rely on performance. I hope you can think carefully about the next step of work. In the future, the Supreme Command can Hold an executive meeting of the Chiefs of Staff to decide on major campaign policies.”

"Yes, Head of State!" Keitel burst into tears of gratitude and stood respectfully.

"How is the situation on the Eastern Front now?"

"The situation is going well: in the direction of the Caucasus Mountains, all enemy resistance has been eliminated, and a total of more than 100,000 Russian troops have been eliminated; in the direction of Grozny on the right wing, our army has surrounded 6 divisions and 3 brigades, with about 40,000 people, and has been basically eliminated. The enemy resisted, and the main force of the Red Army retreated towards Astrakhan. The entire South Caucasus Plain fell into the hands of our army. During the pursuit, more than 200,000 enemy troops were wiped out. On the left wing, towards the meander of the Don River, we had already killed the Russians. Overwhelming the meander of the Don River, the front was restored to the level it had been in September last year. The only regret was that the enemy's Don River Front retreated too quickly, and not many enemy troops were eliminated by the cluster in the middle. The total number of enemy troops wiped out was more than 400,000, which was better than what was envisioned in the campaign. It’s more than 100,000 yuan less, and of course our losses have also been reduced accordingly.”

Hoffman nodded with satisfaction: "This is not bad. We have basically achieved the goals set in the first stage of the Spring Awakening Campaign. Don't think about killing the enemy all at once. That is impossible. I have the patience to slowly wear out Stalin. Has the front line stopped now?"

"Stopped. The grouting period has arrived and the roads are muddy. In order to protect the precious armored forces, Marshal Manstein stopped the pursuit five days ago and began to prepare for the second phase of the battle. If everything goes well, the second phase of the battle will be in Launched in 2 weeks.”

"Very good, I have confidence in him."