Imperial Overlord

How many troops did the Black Sea Fleet have before the war? Actually not much. In real history, the Axis powers have never threatened the survival of the Black Sea Fleet. Even after the German army captured Sevastopol, the Soviet Black Sea Fleet still calmly retreated to further stations.

But now it's different, the Germans have a chillingly strong fleet in Gibraltar: at least one battleship is there, and it's a new type of battleship!

The Soviets didn't know that the German naval commander in Gibraltar had no ability to go to sea at all.

Ernst Lindemann, a newly promoted vice-admiral, had just taken over the defense of Gibraltar from the British.

The fleet assigned to him is indeed powerful, including the battleship Warrior and the counterattack battle cruiser, his strike force is not much worse than the German Baltic Fleet.

Moreover, in order to transport supplies to the German troops in the Middle East and North Africa and other theaters, the aircraft carrier Radiance is also serving in the Mediterranean fleet.

At the same time, the aircraft carrier also undertakes a training mission, which is responsible for training part of the basic take-off and landing training of the German naval aviation.

On the battleship Warrior, there are almost all interns. After the training of these interns, all of them were dispatched a while ago to go to the Baltic Fleet to conduct actual combat firepower dumping training on the other side—that is, the bombardment of Leningrad.

Now the sailors on the battleship Warrior are all real novices who have only been on the ship for less than 20 days and have no combat effectiveness at all.

As for the battle cruiser Repulse, there is not even enough sailors to go out to sea, so it can only be maintained regularly in the port, waiting for more naval cadets to arrive.

In other words, the German Mediterranean Fleet, which seems to be very well-equipped and luxurious today, is actually infinitely close to zero in combat effectiveness.

When Ernst Lindemann was depressed in Gibraltar that his fleet was not capable of combat, the Soviet Black Sea Fleet was too frightened by the power of the Axis to go out.

France has at least 5 battleships in the Mediterranean Sea. Although they are stationed in two ports, they are not very enthusiastic about participating in the German action plan, but after all, this number is there.

The Italian navy is also quite fierce, with a total of seven battleships, although four of them are relatively old models, they are also much stronger than those old battleships of the Soviet Union's Black Sea Fleet.

Including the battlecruisers, and counting the non-combatant German warships, the Axis fleet in the Mediterranean was about 16.

This number is enough to give the navy of any country a headache, let alone the Soviet navy, which has almost no battleships.

If Germany is willing to deploy battleship fleets in the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea, it may be able to form a luxurious lineup of 25 battleships in the Mediterranean Sea, and it will only take a few minutes to annihilate the Soviet Army's Black Sea Fleet.

Of course, like a person who knows how warm and cold the water is, the commander-in-chief of the German Navy, Reeder, knows his own family affairs, so it is impossible for him to use so many warships.

First of all, the French would not cooperate, and their capital ships never came out in full force. Even with the recent progress in German-French relations, Darlan would not agree to dispatch battleships.

On the Italian side... the fleet can be dispatched, but it's hard to say what conditions are put forward.

According to Mussolini's consistent performance, it is estimated that he will make an idea in good places such as Sevastopol or Odessa.

To say that this can be regarded as karma, Germany has put forward a lot of demands in Libya and Egypt and other occupied areas. Italy is in pain in this regard.

Alexandria is now shared by Germany and Italy, but Port Said, which controls the Suez Canal, is the exclusive domain of the Germans.

There is also the Italian colony of Libya. Now there is also a port called Sirte, which has become an area controlled by the Germans. If the Italians want to intervene, there is no door. Even the garrison is the German SS troops.

With these lessons learned, Italy also pays attention. Once Germany activates the Italian fleet in the Black Sea competition, it is estimated that the other side will find these "losses".

Therefore, if Germany wants to care about the Soviet port on the Black Sea, it is estimated that the price of inviting Italy will not be able to pay.

Therefore, it seems that the power of the Axis powers seems to be extremely powerful, but in fact these powers are either still brewing, or they are just in the mirror.

"It is impossible for the German fleet to enter the Black Sea, so the Turkish side is likely to make a certain compromise." Zhukov is not a politician, he can only consider the problem from the worst result.

Once Germany had access to the Black Sea supply line, the supply problem for Army Group South was almost solved.

You know, the Black Sea is not surrounded by mountains and mountains, but a plain area that is very easy to control.

After the Germans captured Odessa and suppressed Sevastopol, the rest was pretty simple.

As long as you send your own transport fleet from Italy and Libya, you can quickly reach the Black Sea and complete the complex supply tasks in the past.

"If the Germans control the Black Sea, then there is no possibility of stability in the Caucasus!" Zhukov said, looking at the map.

Stalingrad - there will be a battlefield where the final war, whether won or lost, will affect the future of the Soviet Union.

"We must defend Odessa, this is our few chances left!" As the commander, Zhukov cheered for his generals.

"Defend Odessa! Never take a step back!" All the Soviet officers present stood up, and UUkanshu www.uukanshu.com shouted and assured.

The southern cluster was originally the elite of the Soviet Union preparing to attack the Romanian oilfields, so it had stronger combat power and firmer beliefs.

If this is not the case, they would have been instigated by the local people here in Ukraine - after all, Ukraine hates Russia, and the grievances between the two regions cannot be explained in one sentence or two.

"We have deployed about 1 million people and a reserve of 200,000 people on this line of defense. If the Germans want to break through here, they will have to pay a heavy price!" The chief of staff raised his chin and encouraged everyone.

Everyone believes that with this line of defense, at least more than 200,000 enemies can be wiped out! Victory will eventually belong to them, to the brave and tenacious Russian people!

"There is another good news to tell you! The great leader Comrade Stalin is about to arrive in Stalingrad! He will sit there and watch us win the Great Patriotic War! Ulla!" Zhukov took the opportunity to wave his own arm.

"Ula!" Everyone shouted!