The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The next second, Rommel announced that the meeting was adjourned.

The reason is of course to keep it secret... This does not mean that the generals cannot be trusted, but that the fewer people know about some things, the safer they are.

Rommel has always done this very well, perhaps because of the lessons he learned in the previous battles in North Africa: there are many people talking on the battlefield in North Africa, and there are also Italian officers, who often cause problems by leaking secrets.

"I don't think we have the ability to attack the island of Malta, Captain!" Rommel said while handing Qin Chuan a stick: "Are you crazy? If we can barely do it before the United States enters the war, the two of us will The aviation wing can seize air superiority, push back the enemy fleet, and then implement landings, but now..."

Rommel spread his hands and said: "We can't even get close to the island of Malta!"

"First of all, we are just making a gesture, General!" Qin Chuan said.

"Yes!" Rommel said: "But we must at least threaten the enemy, otherwise the enemy will not take us seriously. Even attacking from the direction of Libya is much more realistic than attacking the island of Malta!

"But attacking Libya is not realistic!" Qin Chuan said, "That would cause us to suffer heavy casualties!"

Today is different from the past. In the past, the armored units of the Afrika Korps could barely get air support from the aviation wing, but now there are several times more Allied fighters and bombers... The armored units almost came out of the Gabes defense line. It would be bombarded mercilessly by Allied air power.

"I know!" Rommel said: "That's why we have such a headache, because we should be lucky to even block the Allied attack. Even if it is just a gesture, it may expose us to unexpected risks!"

What Rommel said was right, even if it was not in line with Rommel's character, it was reality.

But Qin Chuan said there was no need to take such risks.

"General!" Qin Chuan said, "Do you remember how the Allies forced our fighter planes out of Sicily?"

"Of course!" Rommel replied: "They have high-altitude bombers... You mean we also use bombers? No, no, we don't have bombers that can fly that high!"

Rommel is right, Germany does not have a long-range strategic bomber... This is mainly due to the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. At the same time, it takes time to develop a long-range strategic bomber, and the cost is quite high, none of which Germany can afford.

Italy does have long-range strategic bombers, which are the previously mentioned Piaggio heavy bombers, but on the one hand, they are not many in number and have poor performance. On the other hand, their flying altitude is only more than 8,000 meters, and they have no air superiority. Carrying out bombing under such circumstances is simply courting death.

"My idea may be a bit whimsical, general!" Qin Chuan said: "I mean... we may need an unmanned aerial vehicle. I don't know what it is, but I hope it can be like a rocket launcher. I am Thinking about it this way, since the rocket launcher can fly to the target with the warhead, why can't we let it fly farther? From Sicily to the Maltese Island..."

Rommel was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth for a long time and looked at Qin Chuan blankly.

"I don't know if we have this kind of equipment, general!" Qin Chuan said: "I just have this idea, maybe... this is just an idea!"

"No, Captain!" Rommel replied: "We have this kind of equipment. In fact... we can't say we do!"

"Are you telling the truth?" Qin Chuan pretended to be surprised.

In fact, of course Qin Chuan knew that this was Germany's V-series missile. The Germans had been studying unmanned aerial vehicles since the early 1930s, because this equipment was not restricted by the Treaty of Versailles... At that time, no one knew what unmanned aerial vehicles were capable of. They don't think it is a weapon, so the Germans can rest assured that they have ten years of technical reserves.

However, due to the outbreak of World War II, Germany, which was short of funds, suspended the research and development of unmanned aerial vehicles.

This is quite a pity, because Hitler did not and even the world did not realize the value of this equipment.

Until June 1942, RAF bombs were dropped on German cities, and Luftwaffe bombers lost more aircraft and pilots in retaliatory bombings against England. So the German Air Force began to consider other methods to carry out air strikes against England... Only then did it think of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Then, two years later, the first "flying bomb" (the British called it "aircraft missile") took off and flew to the United Kingdom. Although it did not cause any casualties, the "flying bomb" deviated from the target by 24 kilometers, but it hit the British Scared half to death, and even caused panic among everyone.

Because the British didn't know what kind of weapon this was, they only knew that this equipment could hit directly from France to the UK across the English Channel. They even thought that this equipment had considerable accuracy... In fact, the initial V1 missile had no accuracy at all. , whether it can hit the target or cause casualties depends entirely on luck.

But the "authority fans", the British at the time did not know this. What they thought was: If this equipment has accuracy, then that's fine. They can hit from France to the UK. Then they can bomb London arbitrarily and wherever they want. Where to explode? Or it can be used on the battlefield with a range of 250 kilometers. Can any army get close to Germany? Tanks, artillery, airports... were wiped out before even seeing the enemy more than 200 kilometers away. Is it necessary to continue this war?

This psychological shock actually caused a group of British people to advocate negotiating peace with Germany.

"Yes, it does!" Rommel nodded, and then said: "It's just that we didn't successfully develop it!"

After a pause, Rommel said: "Maybe we should contact Colonel Conrad, he is the person in charge of this project!"

This surprised Qin Chuan.

The call was answered quickly.

Rommel said into the phone: "Colonel, can you come to Sicily?"

"Sorry, General!" Colonel Conrad replied: "You know, I'm always busy, and anything can be solved over the phone, right?"

"Oh, Colonel." Rommel glanced at Qin Chuan and said, "Do you remember the name Frick?"

"of course I remember!"

"Uh-huh!" Rommel replied: "He wants to see you. I hope you can discuss some issues with him... Otherwise, I will ask him to wait until you are free..."

"No, no, no..." Conrad's excited voice came from the other end of the phone: "General, I'll be there soon! Tell the captain, I will take the fastest plane to your place, Sicily, right?"

"Yes, Sicily, Enna!"

After putting down the phone, Rommel put on a helpless expression: "You know what? Captain, this colonel is a weirdo. Only you can make him so anxious!"