The Rise of the Third Reich

"It's the Germans, it's the Germans who are coming!"

"Oh my God, what came out of the belly of the plane was a tank! German tanks have arrived in Ireland!"

"Now Ireland can finally become independent, and Northern Ireland will definitely come back..."

"Quick, quick, quick, raise the white flag, we can't fight the Germans, Germany is not Ireland's enemy."

When the first 38t tank drove out of the opened nose door of the Me323 transport plane, the raid on Dublin was already a complete victory. Because the last doubts in the hearts of the Irish have been completely dispelled by these tanks brought in by air.

Even the terrible German tanks were flown in by plane. How could these German supermen not be able to defeat the British guys in Northern Ireland? If Germany wins in Northern Ireland, then the British Empire is dead. Once the British Empire is dead, what else can the United States and Germany have to fight across the Atlantic Ocean? No matter how rich Americans are, can they fill up the Atlantic Ocean?

If the Americans wanted to land on the coast of Europe, it would be impossible to win without tens of thousands of aircraft to provide cover and hundreds of thousands of soldiers armed to the teeth at once. And to carry tens of thousands of aircraft on an aircraft carrier, at least one hundred or dozens of big ones like the Essex would have to be built. With so many aircraft carriers, even if the Americans were to build them, it wouldn't take ten or eight years to build them. By then, the Germans would have already turned Europe's western coastline into an insurmountable line of defense.

It seems that Americans can no longer come to Europe now, and the Irish must embrace the thick legs of the Germans!

So when Lieutenant Otto Skorzeny and his soldiers got off the Me323 plane and followed the 38t tank in a posture to attack the Presidential Palace, they were greeted by dozens of white Irish flags waving in the wind.

News that the Irish were happy to welcome the Nazis quickly reached London. Although the British do not have troops stationed in Ireland, there are still many official agencies there, and there are also pro-British factions in Ireland. Although they are not the mainstream and cannot change the general trend of pro-Germany and anti-Britishness in Ireland, they can still give the British Tell the news.

So the arrival of the Germans and the "surrender route" of the Irish authorities was known to the British government from the beginning.

At 6 o'clock in the afternoon on May 2, the situation was completely clear. In addition to the 12 large planes that first landed in Phoenix Park, hundreds more planes flew over the open area north of Dublin and dropped bombs. Tens of thousands of heavily armed German Nazis. They all received a warm welcome from the Irish people!

In addition, more than a dozen transport planes landed directly at the heavily guarded Dublin Airport. Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera personally went to the airport to welcome a certain German general.

"It seems that it is definitely Ireland!" British Prime Minister Winston Churchill exhaled softly, his tone seemed relatively relaxed.

It is better to fight on Irish soil than on English soil.

"The President and Prime Minister of the Irish Free State betrayed the Empire and their people." Churchill said in a majestic and serious tone. "As the sovereign state of Ireland, the British Empire has the obligation to defend Ireland from the ravages of the German Nazis."

After Churchill said this, he looked at the Imperial Chief of Staff, Viscount Brooke, and the First Sea Lord, Dudley Pound.

The chiefs of the British Army and Navy knew that Churchill wanted a full understanding of the plans for the war in Ireland.

Viscount Brooke said: "Mr. Prime Minister, the 12th Army in Montgomery, Northern Ireland is ready and ready to move south to launch an attack on Dublin at any time."

Churchill nodded and said: "Very good, let Montgomery command the troops to march into Dublin immediately! While the Germans have only a few airborne troops arriving, catch them by surprise!"

"The Royal Navy will also attack from the Firth of Clyde!" said First Sea Lord Dudley Pound. "It is only 200 nautical miles from the Firth of Clyde to the sea off the Gulf of Cork in Ireland. Our battleships spend more than ten It can be reached in an hour, and the heavy cruiser can arrive faster. If nothing happens, the home fleet will encounter the German fleet trying to enter Cork Bay early tomorrow morning. If the Germans avoid fighting, then we will be in Cork. Mines were laid outside the bay and the port was shelled, making it temporarily impossible for the Germans to use Cork Bay.”

"If they don't avoid the battle, it will be a decisive battle between the fleets!" Churchill took a puff of his cigar and frowned, "Can the local fleet defeat the European combined fleet?"

Of course this is impossible! According to reliable information, even excluding the Richelieu and Barbarossa, which are undergoing overhaul, there are currently 2 Hindenburg-class, 2 Bismarck-class, and 2 Scharnhorst-class battleships available in the European Combined Fleet. (The British regarded Scharnhorst's No. 2 ship Gneisenno and 2 Barbarossa-class ships as the "Sharn" class), 2 Richelieu-class ships and 4 Veneto-class ships, a total of 12 ship.

On the British side, two of the King George V-class ships have lost their combat effectiveness. Among them, the Prince of Wales is still rusting in the Shetland Islands and is basically a pile of wreckage, while the King George V was towed to the United States not long ago along with the hulls of two newly launched Lion-class battleships. . In addition, the Duke of York, also belonging to the King George V class, is still stranded in Canada. Howe and Anson are escorting two Queen-class ships and several other cruise ships transporting troops and "non-combat important personnel" on their way to Canada.

Therefore, the battleships currently available to the British Home Fleet are 7 battleships including 5 Queen Elizabeth, 1 Repulse and 1 Ramillies. They are simply no match for the 12 German, Italian and French super battleships.

Dudley Pound said: "Prime Minister, we have deployed a large number of submarines in the waters west and south of the island of Ireland, and have also sent out Sunderland 'Shot' seaplanes to conduct a large-scale search, and the European Combined Fleet has not been found. traces. If the destination of the German fleet that is rushing out of the English Channel is Cork Bay on the Island of Ireland, the Home Fleet should have a chance."

"It seems to be a trap!" Fatty Qiu puffed on his cigar and said thoughtfully, "My intuition tells me that this is a trap! The Germans must have some way that we don't know to attack the home fleet..."

"Maybe," Dudley Pound shrugged and said, "But the Home Fleet should still attack! Because... we must find out what other trump cards the Germans have. If they really have it, I would rather lose the two Queen Elizabeths. level, and don’t want to lose the Lion and the Brave.”

Churchill smoked his cigar in silence for a while, and finally nodded slowly, "Okay, let the Home Fleet try it... Maybe the Germans are bluffing, they are best at this."

…

"North Sea was damaged, Danube was damaged, destroyer Z48 sank, and 4 freighters and 2 T-type ships were lost. In addition to the previous losses of Norway Sea and Z44, Theresa Maria of Zhongchuang and the Rhine...our 5th Fleet has suffered heavy losses."

On the guided missile cruiser Friedrich I, Colonel Gerhard Wagner, Chief of Staff of the 5th Fleet of the European Combined Fleet, took the damage report that had just been calculated and reported to the fleet commander, Admiral Rolf Karls, with a heartbroken look on his face.

On the afternoon of May 2, the 5th Fleet once again encountered a major bombing attack by nearly 1,000 aircraft sent by the Royal Air Force. Although Jeshunek also sent more fighter jets to support it, the losses were still considerable.

"Have Lieutenant General Paulus been found?" General Karls asked about the situation of Paulus who fell into the water.

"We found him. He, Colonel Alberg, the chief of staff of the 1st Marine Division, and Captain Attenborough, the captain of the Norwegian Sea, were all salvaged by the French." Colonel Wagner said, "But Paulus The lieutenant general caught a cold after being soaked in the water for too long. He was already running a fever when he was picked up. Now he has been sent to Paris for treatment. It seems that he will not be able to make it in time for the Irish campaign. "

"It's really unlucky," General Kars shook his head. "Then let's send a telegram to express our condolences. He is an alumnus of our Naval Academy."

While Admiral Kars was feeling sorry for Paulus, there was a knock on the door of his commander's cabin. A fleet staff officer came in and reported to him the urgent military intelligence report he had just received.

"Commander, the British Home Fleet is leaving the Firth of Clyde!"

General Karls and Colonel Wagner looked at each other. There was a big battle about to happen now!

"Can the Maria Theresa participate in the war?" General Karls asked.

"The main gun turret at the stern of the Maria Theresa was blown up, but the two V3 missile catapults amidships were intact."

The V3 missiles Colonel Wagner mentioned are of course not man-operated, but wire-controlled models that are fully mature and can be used in actual combat. Its control principle is the same as that of a wire-controlled glide bomb, but it has an additional piston engine and a set of propellers, both installed in a pod at the tail of the missile. It has the same layout as the V1 missile that is still under development.

In addition, in order to facilitate remote control of the V3 missile at night, six light bulbs are installed on the tail wire barrel of the missile. In this way, the missile remote controller located in the remote control room on the top of the bridge can visually determine the location of the missile at night.

In fact, this V3 wire-controlled missile is a remotely controlled unmanned aircraft. The German military began research in this area as early as the 1930s. The process of this space-time missile is almost exactly the same historically, but historically the focus of German missile research and development has been long-distance bombing. In this time and space, Hersman, because of his foresight, determined from the beginning that cruise missiles should be used for short-range attack and remote control guidance. The last thing that came out was this short-range wire-controlled missile used for anti-ship. The wire-controlled missile catapult modified from a seaplane catapult was shot into the sky. It can fly twenty or thirty kilometers at a speed of 600 kilometers per hour. There is also a Armor-piercing warhead, the warhead is also equipped with 850 kilograms of explosives. The overall manufacturing difficulty is much smaller than the historical V1, and the project has been waiting for priority supply, so it has been put into actual combat two years earlier.