Iron Cross

Schnewinder estimated that the British and American navies could assemble a fleet of up to 4 aircraft carriers (2 large and 2 small) and 5 battleships. The German and Italian navies, with island defense and pilot advantages, would have a higher chance of winning if it was a fleet battle - no one would fight you in a battle that you could win for sure.

His mind worked quickly and he considered more issues. Once this battle started, Britain and the United States would be unable to move in the Azores again - this was much more important than a marine brigade and supplies and equipment. The greatest significance of the Azores was to form a rope around the neck of the British Empire, and it was getting tighter and tighter. When those new Type 21 submarines were put into service on a large scale, the end of the British Isles would come, and Japan's occupation of India would eventually serve as Britain's gravedigger.

Instead of going through the trouble of the Sea Lion Plan and using 1 million troops to implement a landing plan that might not necessarily win, it would be better to withdraw 10,000 troops to South America to test the waters. After the United States wasted its strength on homeland defense, let them continue to waste their strength on other aspects.

He thought the Führer was right about one thing. The German and Italian navies would always compete with the British and American navies. It was impossible for them to let Japan lead them every time. That would slow their growth. Considering the amazing shipbuilding capabilities of the United States, they must continue to fight with the United States, fight with the United States first, disrupt the opponent's rhythm, and never let the opponent easily form an overwhelming advantage in the number of warships.

However, when he thought of the Azores, he felt a little tricky. After hesitating for a long time, he asked: "What if the main force of the navy went out to attack the Falkland Islands, and the United Kingdom and the United States took the opportunity to attack the Azores?"

"This is a problem." Hoffman frowned, "But we can't pin all our hopes on the fleet to help defend the islands. If every island needs the fleet to help defend, no matter how many warships there are, it will not be enough. In that case, can I still ask, what if the enemy pretends to attack the Azores, but actually attacks the Canary Islands?"

Schniewinder didn't have a good solution for this.

"The island ultimately needs to rely on its own strength for defense, at least it must be able to hold out until the support fleet arrives. Azores is the island where we have spent the most effort and invested the most. If we cannot form a solid self-defense system, it will be a joke." Hoffman said unsatisfiedly, "Just like you told me two days ago that there was a spy on the island. He has been leaking information to the outside world since the day we occupied Azores, but you have not caught him yet."

Keitel knew that the navy could not bear the blame, so he rarely spoke up: "We didn't expect there would be a spy, let alone that this spy was a native Portuguese. The Imperial Security Bureau made a mistake in its initial counter-espionage direction - it focused its main energy on the new landing personnel, thinking that there were spies mixed in with the engineers we brought to Azores, and it wasted its efforts..."

However, Keitel stopped here. The Security Bureau is a department directly under the head of state, and it would be embarrassing for the head of state to accuse too many people.

"No, we need to ask Bormann to work harder. He is an outsider who is not good at intelligence, but he has a keen sense of smell when it comes to catching spies, much more sensitive than those so-called insiders." Hoffman was furious. "Some of our generals are not pedantic, but almost stupid. Until now, they still refuse the Security Bureau to intervene in military affairs, and they still want to establish an army within the army and an independent kingdom! Such people, no matter what their rank, will be immediately transferred to the reserve on the spot once they are discovered." Everyone suddenly realized why Raeder and the generals of the old marshal's line stood aside. A very important reason was that the old marshal refused to let the Security Bureau intervene in naval affairs, and simply believed in the navy's own counterintelligence and supervision agencies-after Canaris was hanged, this agency had long been unable to handle the task. Seeing the atmosphere was awkward, Yodel quickly changed the subject and introduced the defense situation of the Azores: "After several months of construction, the Azores can now be described as impregnable. We have deployed a total of 4 Marine brigades, including the Admiral Scheer, which served as a fixed artillery position after being stranded. We have 47 artillery pieces with a caliber of more than 280mm, more than 100 155mm heavy howitzers, and stockpiled enough ammunition for three battles;

In terms of air defense, after repeated transfers and losses, we now have more than 480 aircraft of various types. The three main island air defense towers are under construction, and it is expected that one will be completed every month in May, June, and July. We have more than 300 anti-aircraft guns with a caliber of more than 88mm, and three radar stations have been built based on the air defense towers;

In terms of interception, we have expanded the original warehouses, docks, and oil depots in Angra do Heroes Port. , the first phase of the project will be completed next week, and it can store 120,000 tons of various types of oil. The second phase of the project will be completed in July, and the total storage capacity will be 300,000 tons. We have built a new submarine supply base, and the large cave will be completed in August. It is expected to accommodate 6 submarines at the same time, but now it can only be supplied by shore; more than 100 small warships including S boats, anti-submarine patrol boats, and minelayers are deployed on the island..."

"We must continue to work hard on anti-submarine operations. I heard that British and American submarines are rampant?"

"Yes, we have lost 11 merchant ships or transport ships in the past few months, but we have also sunk more than 20 submarines, both British and American." Schneewind did not dare to be careless, "There may be more than 30 British and American submarines in this sea area. The Navy plans to deploy more Ju-290 patrol aircraft for daily anti-submarine operations."

"Anti-submarine forces and submarine forces need to communicate more and listen to how our submarines evade anti-submarine forces. If you want supplies, merchant ships, equipment, materials, and personnel, I will give them to you, even at the cost of stopping the Atlantic Ocean. If the barrier project doesn't go well, you won't be able to explain it to the German people." Hoffman thought for a while and asked, "How many landmines were buried?"

"There are about 20,000 to 30,000 pieces..."

"Not enough, far from enough." He waved his hand, "Add 10 times more, 300,000 coins."

"But if this happens, Azore will completely become a military base from now on, and no one can live in it anymore."

"Housing people? Who wants to live there?" Hoffman roared, "The Azores is now the key noose to hang the British, and it will be the frontline against the United States in the future. I am also planning to move all the V-2 rockets there in the future. This is the most important military base in Europe, and you actually told me that you want to live there? "

Everyone could only look at the new chief of naval staff with sympathy, who was sweating constantly on his forehead.

"Who is the supreme commander on the island now?"

"Admiral Weiss himself."

"Very good, give Weiss an order to go underground and dig tunnels after the surface defense system is basically completed... In addition, I learned about their island defense experience on the Pacific front through Admiral Horikichi, which will be helpful to us. "Hoffman said with a smile, "Although the Japanese have been defeated repeatedly, they have seen the American landing campaign, so it's good to refer to it."

Everyone nodded unanimously.

"If there are no problems, please prepare a springboard plan according to this guideline. In the direction of Africa, the British and American troops in Kenya must be completely eliminated before July 15th, and the occupation of Kenya and Tanganyika must be completed. The transport ships will use the first two During the month of preparation time, supplies are being hoarded on the island of Madagascar. The British and American weapons captured in Africa do not need to be stored in the warehouse and will be sent directly to Argentina. As for the Navy, after Machar’s fleet has completed its rest and replenishment, the joint submarine force will immediately rely on the Azores to go to Britain. , Canada routes are broken, and one month is required to prepare, so that Churchill’s life cannot be too easy; now that the jets have been exposed, next month we will find a way to dispatch more than 100 jets to the Azores to participate in air defense and kill the majesty of British and American heavy bombers. "

At the end of the meeting, Zeitzler reported on the situation on the Eastern Front: "Due to the excessive rainfall on the Eastern Front this year and the long grouting period, Marshal Manstein hopes to postpone the third phase of the Spring Awakening Campaign until after May 17. Aircraft reconnaissance also showed that due to the abnormal calm in the northern and middle sections of the Eastern Front, the Russians were deploying troops there to fill the holes in the Southern Front. They wanted to ask Model's Army Group Center to launch a short assault to threaten the direction of Moscow and mobilize enemy forces. ”

"Okay, are there any specific difficulties?"

"Model proposed an additional 400 tanks and 600 aircraft."

Hoffman laughed secretly: This is Model's old habit. Whenever something important happens, he reaches out for equipment, and if he doesn't get it, he screams every day. However, the Third Reich is now much wider than it was in history. This amount of stuff is basically a week's output. He agreed without thinking, saying: "Strengthen these forces to Marshal Weikes' Eastern Army Group and let them End the rest and join the center for a fight. Since you want to deceive Stalin, then do something like this. The Army General Staff is responsible for cross-theater coordination. "

Once he heard that he could get more troops and supplies, Zeitzler agreed with great satisfaction.

The meeting of the Supreme Command had just ended. Hoffmann summoned Ribbentrop, who had returned from Paris without stopping, and asked from the beginning: "How about the secret negotiations with the French?"

"Pétain was still hesitant, but Darlan was very tempted," Ribbentrop explained. "Pétain's hesitation was that we had never been able to land in England. He believed this was the biggest hidden danger and tried his best to encourage us to land as soon as possible."

"It's a good idea, and it's very clever, but I won't go to land... I won't starve the British to death, and then I'll have to rush into trouble." Hoffman sneered.

"Do you want to encourage Darlan to get rid of...?" Ribbentrop did not finish the second half of the sentence, but Hoffman understood what he meant: suggesting that Darlan should be replaced.

"Don't..." Hoffman pondered for a moment and then said, "Young people are easy to be impulsive, and they don't care about the consequences when they are impulsive. If Darlan can be persuaded by us with just a few words, he will be easily persuaded by Americans in the future. It is better to find someone who is calm and reliable. politicians."

young people? Ribbentrop was stunned for a moment. Looking at the age of the head of state and then thinking about Darlan's appearance, he couldn't associate the word "young man" with the latter: this French navy man When the family were in their sixties, and they were eight years older than the head of state, they could not be equated with young people by any standard. Only when he was with Pétain, Darlan, who was in his sixties, could only be considered a junior.