Five Hundred and Forty-Three Down South

"Full left rudder! Heading to the south!" A chief officer stood on the bridge and loudly confirmed the password. For the first time, the German ocean-going fleet entered the waters of the South Atlantic on a large scale, escorting a huge transport fleet composed of 40 Hercules transport ships.

This was a large-scale naval operation. Germany imported a large amount of rubber from South American countries in one go, and then organized a fleet to return to European ports under the escort of the German High Seas Fleet. Those chemical companies and manufacturers who need rubber have long been waiting. They are looking forward to the arrival of natural rubber materials, and they are looking forward to the quality of high-quality rubber products that can improve the quality of their products.

Natural rubber was still an irreplaceable industrial raw material during this period. Although it is said that our company has developed a substitute for artificial rubber, artificial rubber is not as good as natural rubber in terms of quality and characteristics.

Has anyone ever wondered why German tanks used the complex design of crossed road wheels in previous lives? Because the edge of the tank road wheel needs to be wrapped with rubber, but the quality of German artificial rubber cannot meet the requirements, so it is necessary to use small diameter road wheels or cross road wheels to increase the contact area per unit length to alleviate the negative effects caused by insufficient rubber quality. influences.

The main purpose of the much-criticized German tank running mechanism is to compromise the performance of the rubber. This shows from another aspect that any technical shortcoming will bring earth-shaking changes to the design in application. . This is the power of industry, and this is why it is impossible for a traverser to allow the Tang Dynasty army to use rear-loading howitzers.

Now, because of Farben’s technological innovation, the rubber hoarded before the war in Germany is about to run out. Originally, rubber cannot be hoarded on a large scale, and it will deteriorate due to time. However, Farben has developed a new technology that can Through processing, new rubber is extracted from deteriorated rubber. Although this technology has about 15% waste, it allows the German side to hoard rubber materials before the war without knowing it.

This is also an important reason why Akado dared to equip German tanks with a single-row road wheel running mechanism in this time and space, and it is also the reason why the reliability of German tanks has been greatly improved.

Defeating the British Navy and not turning against the United States made it possible for Germany to purchase a large amount of rubber raw materials in South America. In order to prevent Germany from completely turning against it, the United States did not include rubber, an important industrial raw material, in its economic sanctions against Germany. Correspondingly, the German navy did not go south to attack the waterway from South America to North America. The two sides obviously played tacit cards when they were hostile. .

Moreover, the United States is really unable to prevent Germany from purchasing rubber from South America now, which has an obvious relationship with the maritime strength of both parties. For example, the United States can clamor for an arms embargo to Iraq. Everyone thinks there is nothing wrong with it, but one day Iraq clamors to sanction the United States and impose an arms embargo on the United States. This is a completely funny rhythm.

USS Enterprise and USS Lexington were sunk at Pearl Harbor,

As a result, the actual combat capability of the US Navy has been fatally affected. The U.S. Navy in the Pacific Ocean, which the United States regards as its own bathtub, is still being chased by the Japanese Navy, let alone in the South Atlantic Ocean where there is not much power.

This has to mention the issues left over from history. In fact, it is not that the US Navy does not want to develop its Atlantic Fleet, but that the Atlantic Ocean has always been restricted by the powerful British Navy. No matter who wants to develop his own navy in the Atlantic Ocean, he must first pass the British Navy.

However, this unreasonable but once invincible British navy was defeated by the newly rising German navy in a short period of time, which suddenly created a power vacuum in the North Atlantic Ocean, and the German navy is working hard to make up for this A vacuum area, so the U.S. government, belatedly, fell behind in the North Atlantic to the originally not powerful German navy.

In order to cope with the Atlantic crisis created by the German Navy, the aircraft carrier under construction by the United States has not yet been launched, and the aircraft carrier built by the British in Canadian shipyards and the United States has also not been launched. Now the United States is completely unprepared for two-front combat, so they are implementing the order of operations in the Pacific and then the Atlantic.

But at the same time, the British Navy did not think the same as the US Navy. They prepared a large number of attack fleets in the South Atlantic Ocean, with cruisers as the core, intercepting German merchant ships, causing a lot of trouble for the German Navy.

Last month they sank four ships belonging to Vichy France, Italy and Germany traveling between Germany and Brazil. Of course, the German navy could not tolerate the interference of the British navy on a transportation line it had finally established, so it immediately marched south to seek a decisive battle with the British naval fleet near the South Atlantic.

The German High Seas Fleet consisting of 5 aircraft carriers, 17 armored ships and cruisers of various types, and 25 destroyers faced the British South Atlantic Squadron consisting of 1 battleship, 7 cruisers, and 20 destroyers. The Battle of the South Atlantic between Britain and Germany broke out on May 22, 1938.

Two days later, an Italian battleship rushed to the nearby waters with 3 cruisers and 5 destroyers. The sea power of the Axis powers was even greater, while two destroyers of the British Navy left the battle area and went to the Pacific Ocean to assist in the defeat. The U.S. Navy defends Australia.

Immediately after the Vichy French fleet also entered the theater, a French battleship and a cruiser came to South American waters to investigate the sinking of their own transport ship. In fact, although they did not receive an order to fight the British Navy, the British Navy But they have been listed as enemy sea power that can be sunk.

On the morning of May 23, the German Navy's carrier-based aircraft spotted a British destroyer fleet, and then the first batch of carrier-based aircraft launched an attack. The two sides fired continuously. In the afternoon, the only three destroyers in the British destroyer fleet All were sunk. However, the bad news came that the main force of the British naval fleet had gone north, severely damaging the Italian naval fleet.

The Italian battleship was badly damaged, one cruiser was sunk, and two destroyers were also hit and sunk. The Italian Navy suffered its heaviest losses since the beginning of the war. However, their loss brought important information, and the German Navy fleet fixed the approximate location of the British Navy's South Atlantic Squadron.

The ensuing pursuit was even more difficult than anyone imagined. The British naval fleet quickly moved closer to the German navy that night, forcing the German navy's high seas fleet back for a full 30 nautical miles, and then opened the distance and continued northward. The heart wants to go north and return to Canada.

According to intelligence agencies, the only usable aircraft carrier in the UK, the Ark Royal, came out with the remnants of the home fleet, and it seemed that it wanted to ensure the absolute safety of its squadron. However, the German navy, which has absolute air supremacy at sea, did not give its opponent a chance. The two sides contacted again the next morning. The German carrier-based aircraft sank 4 cruisers and severely damaged the battleship Queen Elizabeth, the flagship of the British South Atlantic Squadron.

The British South Atlantic Fleet has only 2 cruisers left (the other cruiser was damaged by the Italians, fled in the other direction because of the speed drop, and finally returned to Canada for repairs). Combat power dropped to a negligible level, and Germany's course in the South Atlantic was restored.

It's just that British submarines are really not easy to kill. After all, anti-submarine escort is a long-term job, and it can't be done in one battle like fighting against the sea. So Lütjens was ordered to return, and then the German South Atlantic Fleet was established, consisting of two ironclad ships, two guided missile destroyers and two air defense destroyers, and began to cruise in the South Atlantic for a long time to provide escort for the German fleet.

Just when Germany and the United Kingdom were fighting for sea dominance in the South Atlantic, the Japanese navy was proud of it. Like the German navy, they were implementing their own southward plan. They defeated the US fleet in one go, fully occupied Malaysia and the Philippines, and drove the US Army to Australia.

The Greater East Asia "Alliance" seems to be invincible in the world, and it even has the momentum to dominate the Asia-Pacific region by relying on the navy of a single country, Japan. Coupled with the subsequent decisive victory of the German Navy in the South Atlantic, the three important groups were re-ranked for a while: the Axis Powers were already number one in the world, the so-called "Alliance" of Greater East Asia was second, and the Allies actually ranked second. Bottom.

This situation is actually not complicated: the once invincible British navy was defeated by the German navy, and the U.S. navy unexpectedly suffered heavy losses at Pearl Harbor. In addition, the industries of the two countries have just begun to exert their strength, and the lost ships have not yet been made up. That's why they lost steadily at sea.

However, this does not mean that the United States and the United Kingdom will still be in such a mess a year later. Akado knows that as long as they survive this difficult first year, even if the Axis powers have taken control of Europe, they may not be able to suppress the Allies. Let alone a mere Japanese.

He feels a little powerless now, and many things are no longer under his control. Relying on aid or secretly intervening can no longer have a big enough impact on the situation, nor can it change the outcome of some events. How to reach out into the East Asian region in the future, exert a strong influence on China, and change the post-war world pattern-all these need to be prepared now.

"Initiating a world war is such a technical task that ordinary people can't afford it." Akado put aside the combat report of the South Atlantic naval battle, and sighed with a wry smile.