Iron Cross

Machar believed that the first test of ultra-long-range warfare on the Dunkirk was successful and it was necessary to further promote its use. The hull and deck of the Dunkirk were still too small. He suddenly remembered that there were still two hidden in the country. The huge H-class battleship hull is a semi-finished product. Although the degree of completion is very low and it is quite troublesome to transform, once the transformation is successful, the 60,000-ton armored aircraft carrier will serve as a platform far more suitable than the Dunkirk. He optimistically estimated that this level The main flight deck of an aircraft carrier can reach 280-290 meters.

In his vision, this 60,000-ton aircraft carrier will become a huge floating aviation base. In order to speed up the construction, it only needs to install a power unit and a strong enough deck. The speed requirement is the same as that of a normal warship, but the endurance does not need to be very long. Far. Sufficient supplies and ammunition are stored on the ship, and the hangar itself does not need to be large. The key is to accommodate the take-off and landing of large, heavy-loaded attack aircraft. He knew that the Ministry of Armament was currently studying improvements based on the Ju-198. Once the 2,500-horsepower BMW901 was successfully installed, the Ju-198 modification could perfectly replace the Joint Attack Aircraft in carrying special mines and successfully take off and land on the deck.

By then deploying such an aviation base made of giant aircraft carriers 1,000-1,200 kilometers west and north of the Azores will immediately allow the strike radius of the Azores to radiate to more than 2,500 kilometers. The coast or Canada isn't that far off either.

After receiving the telegram, Hoffmann was dumbfounded by Machar's "genius" idea. He asked Speer: "Are those two H-class ships still worth building? Why do I remember that they were dismantled a lot?"

"The overall completion rate is about 13-19%. Some of them were dismantled. But last year you ordered to re-promote naval construction and stopped dismantling them. It is estimated that there is still 10% completion rate." Speer frowned. , "Now we have the ability and resources to complete this crazy super aircraft carrier based on General Machar's suggestions. The problem is that it takes too long. I optimistically estimate that it will take at least 30 months, and there are so many new Yunlong modifications and large-scale aircraft carriers that have been started." The aircraft carrier is being renovated, and construction of the Axis class will begin early next year. In addition, Italy still has several warships to be renovated, and there is no spare energy to deal with this super aircraft carrier unless the others are cut off. "

"Let the designer make a design. Maybe a 60,000-ton aircraft carrier will be really needed in the future." Hoffman immediately thought of the United States' Midway-class. Although the United States has completely stopped the construction of this class, Hoffman did not Without knowing anything, he could only consider the most unfavorable situation, "But I will not rush into the construction of such a giant before the end of 1944."

"As you wish, Führer." Speer breathed a sigh of relief: Maybe everything would be victorious in 1944, and naturally there would be no need for such a waste of money and people. You must know that in addition to the 60,000-ton super aircraft carrier, the Führer can also The production task of four super submarines with a weight of more than 9,000 tons has been arranged. That guy is also in trouble. The designers said that the current domestic production equipment cannot support it at all, and it is recommended to reduce the tonnage - 7200-7500 tons is a more appropriate number, and today is the right number. Opportunity.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Hoffman expressed his understanding and agreed to slightly reduce the number, but the number remained unchanged, still four ships - which made Speer relieved.

"When will the second aircraft carrier be completed?"

"It is expected to be put into service in late December."

The second modified oblique aircraft carrier is the Ise. After the modification, the total tonnage exceeds 35,000 tons and is slightly larger than the Dunkirk. In view of the Dunkirk's modification experience, all ships were considered to be completely dismantled from the beginning. gun, so no detours were made. The modified main flight deck of the Ise is 228 meters long, and the bevel part is 160 meters. However, the ship is relatively old, and the Germans have only been able to make the maximum possible after some maintenance and replacement of the boilers. The speed reaches 26 knots. It is expected to carry regular aircraft including 8 Ar-352, 30 Bf-219 and 38 Ju-198 (36 aircraft are stored in the hangar), and 12 spare aircraft. The data of the same-class ship Hyuga is similar to it, but it will not be completed until late January and will not be put into use until February at the earliest.

"Can the overhauled Scharnhorst also be completed at the same time?"

"It's slightly late by two weeks, but the Ise still needs to be tested. The delivery time of the two sides should be basically the same, and it will not delay the formation of the second delivery fleet."

Hoffman nodded and expressed satisfaction: "In January next year, we will arrange for them to go from the Suez Canal to Madagascar and then to Argentina, preparing to provide the third wave of support to the Falklands, and by the way, cut off the South African route."

"Not going to the North Atlantic?" Speer was a little surprised.

Hoffman shook his head: "Although there is no evidence, I have an intuition that Roosevelt will not easily give up his attempt to recapture the Falklands. We must invest more power. Fighting in the South Atlantic is very detrimental to us, but compared to Bermuda Or the Caribbean, which is at least 10,000 kilometers away from the United States, which is far enough that the United States’ advantage will not be so obvious, and it can also cut off the South Atlantic-Indian Ocean-South Pacific route.”

Speer immediately understood: The United States does not only have to go around Cape Horn to transport warships and supplies to Australia. As long as the Americans are willing, they can start from the east coast, go to Brazil for supplies midway, and then go to South Africa. After replenishing it once, it can then reach Australia along the edge of the southern Indian Ocean. Although the journey is nearly 30,000 kilometers, there are not many places that can really threaten the US fleet.

Another hidden danger that Hoffman did not say was that the Americans continued to increase their troops in South Africa, preparing to attack their own layout in Africa from both land and sea. Although European countries are now very aggressive in grabbing colonies in Africa, if the Americans really When he got angry, he bet that none of these European countries could stop him, but if the Falklands were a thorn in the side, the Americans, who were worried that their logistics lines would be cut off, would not launch such a risky counterattack - without sufficient logistical support. With the fighting power of the Americans, even the Hungarians can easily deal with them!

"The head of state called back. He is very interested in your idea of ​​building a floating aviation base. However, domestic aircraft carrier construction is currently being queued up. It will take at least a year before the proposal has a chance to be implemented. Now he is more concerned about how to cooperate with Britain and the United States next. It will not be good for us if the fleet fights again," Krank turned to Machar.

"Don't worry, the Americans will definitely come. Submarines have set up a cordon far away on the east coast. Once the enemy fleet travels on a large scale, they will report the news. Now it depends on whether the enemy's force is large or small. The British-Canada route is the British Empire If the last lifeline is cut off for one month, its domestic normal life and production order will be affected; if it is cut off for two months, its military operations will be affected; if it is cut off for three months, it is estimated to enter a state of emergency. I think the US fleet may be at any time Fighting out, they are probably replenishing their military supplies." Machar said with a smile, "There is another possibility that the Americans give up on Churchill, or they only use strategic airlift to keep the British Empire in check..."

Everyone shook their heads. Although thousands of planes can transport 10,000 tons of supplies in one day, the planes themselves consume part of the fuel for the return journey. The net input is only 5,000-6,000 tons at most. If this number is all converted into oil, it will not even be enough to maintain the daily consumption of Great Britain. , let alone others. Although Roosevelt repeatedly promised to provide Britain with 1 million tons of refined oil products per month, in fact this goal has never been achieved. The highest record was only 680,000 tons, and the average was only about 500,000 tons per month.

In order to meet the needs of the army, the UK has launched multiple rounds of fuel-saving measures due to the situation. Almost all private cars cannot get fuel. Even taxis have begun to limit the scale and operating hours. Many inland water transport ships have had no choice but to switch back to fuel oil. For coal boilers, 4 new coal-to-liquid facilities have been urgently built in China, which can provide an additional 50,000-80,000 tons of gasoline and other by-products every month. With the support provided by the United States, the monthly stable consumption is about 450,000-500,000 tons. All the excess will be put into the reserve bank to cope with the days when foreign aid imports are cut off, but it can only last for 4-5 months.

Now even if the United States and the United Kingdom intend to resume strategic bombing, it is basically impossible to do so, because a thousand bombing missions will consume tens of thousands of tons of gasoline, which is definitely a luxury for Great Britain. On the other hand, the problem of food has been partially alleviated after the British government launched the planting of vacant areas such as fields and roadsides. Technical experts said that the coal-to-liquid output rate can be expanded to 150,000-200,000 tons within half a year. However, the problem of crude oil has replaced the problem of food. It is an indisputable fact that it has become Britain's biggest enemy.

"Sir, I have thought about the combat plan." Ozawa reported respectfully, "The initial idea is to use the break-up fleet to continuously exert pressure to force the enemy's main fleet to seek combat with me..."

"Using the break-up fleet as bait?" Machar raised his brows, very interested.

"Yes, the enemy should hate our engagement-breaking fleet. They have sent heavy bombers to follow and conduct surveillance every day for the past two days. My strategy is divided into three steps: the first step is to use the engagement-breaking fleet to lead the enemy into the engagement sea area we need. First, use long-range warfare to weaken the enemy and drag it into the night; second, use our dominant submarine force to launch an attack on the enemy to further weaken its strength; third, the main fleet engages in a decisive battle with the weakened enemy to win Defeat the opponent in one fell swoop.”

"This strategy is a bit like your country's nine-stage attack strategy?"

"Sir, the basic ideas are relatively similar. The enemy must solve the problem of breaking diplomatic relations. This is its greatest weakness. It is also our greatest advantage in waiting for the enemy to take the bait."

Mashaal thought calmly for a while and felt that Ozawa's idea was feasible. At present, the Axis fleet is slightly inferior to its opponents in terms of strength. To defeat the opponent without ending up in a lose-lose situation, it must rely on other aspects to make up for it. Inviting to attack is a good idea. He nodded: "I personally agree in principle. We will outline the plan and report it to Berlin. Then the fleet will refine the plan and let the submarines, Azores, HNA and even the air force cooperate with us."