Chapter 1179 Air Assault Force

The proposal put forward by General Arnold, commander of the Army Air Force, was actually debated within the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a long time. Because occupying Santiago and completely bombing Buenos Aires can indeed deal a heavy blow to the Nazi power in America. As long as the Argentine dictator Peron fell, Germany's layout in South America would be completely destroyed. Without the support of the New Asbania Federation, it would be difficult for the large European coalition forces to gain a foothold in South America, let alone use South America as a springboard to attack the Caribbean.

Of course, the Pentagon generals are not naive. They knew that even if Peron fell, the European coalition would not really retreat from South America with its tail between its legs. But they must first save the New Asbanian Federation before they can attack the Caribbean or somewhere on the east coast of North America.

In this way, the US military successfully attracted the European coalition's main attack direction to southern South America. Regardless of whether the European coalition can win in southern South America, the United States can win at least 6-12 months to strengthen defense and train its troops. In order to prepare for a possible decisive battle on the North American continent, Truman signed the General Mobilization Agreement after he officially took office as president. Order to further expand the size of the US military. Among them, the U.S. Army Ground Forces and Army Air Forces are the focus of expansion.

According to Truman's order, excluding the Army Air Corps, the number of U.S. Army troops will expand to 10 million by the end of 1945, of which the number of front-line combat troops will exceed 5.5 million!

The strength (number) of the Army Air Force will also exceed 2.5 million before the end of 1945, and the number of combat aircraft it possesses will exceed 50,000!

In addition to an increase in the number of personnel and aircraft, President Truman's order also saw the U.S. Army and Navy aviation forces undergo a comprehensive upgrade of equipment. The P-82 will equip the Army Air Force in large numbers. The F7F will not only become the main model of the U.S. Naval Air Force, but will also board aircraft carriers and become carrier-based aircraft.

The strength of the U.S. Navy's surface fleet will also be restored to a certain extent. Not only will super battleships like the Montana class be put into service, but there will also be three "Midway" aircraft carriers with a full load displacement of 60,000 tons!

In addition, the U.S. Navy's torpedo boat force will also receive a large-scale expansion in 1945. By the end of 1945, the U.S. Navy's PT boat squadrons will exceed 500! The number of PT boats entering the battle order will exceed 6,000!

By then, there will be a large number of wooden-hulled PT boats that can perform offshore defense (can perform tasks such as lightning strikes, mine-laying and depth-charge mine clearance) on the east coast of the United States, the east coast of Canada and the Caribbean islands.

Together with shore-based aircraft and the R-class submarines being mass-produced (this is a light submarine suitable for offshore activities, with a maximum underwater speed of more than 10 knots), they will form the offshore defense system of North America and the Caribbean islands. .

Finally, the improved XB-44 of the B-29, which has high hopes, will begin to be equipped with a large number of troops before the end of 1945. The improvement of this aircraft focuses on increasing the range and speed. The maximum combat radius will exceed 4,350 kilometers (larger than the historical project), and it can drop bacterial bombs into Luxembourg, which has become the German mainland!

The U.S. military believes that such countermeasures are enough to deter the Germans from dropping atomic bombs on the United States.

It is precisely because of their illusions about a "protracted war" and countermeasures that the leaders of the US military have been slow to make up their minds to withdraw from Chile.

"Do you think it is necessary to withdraw from Chile?" Wallace looked at the frowning generals.

"Yes!" Henry Arnold gave an affirmative answer. His Army Air Corps had suffered heavy losses over Buenos Aires, and it was becoming too much to bear.

"We can take another look." The opinion given by Army Chief of Staff Marshall made Arnold a little disappointed. "Perhaps... we can set a date for retreat." He glanced at Secretary of War Wallace. "We cannot delay this indefinitely."

"Okay, let's set a date like this." Wallace asked, "So... when will we end our military operations in Chile and Argentina?"

"April 1." William Leahy already had the answer. He said, "April 1 is the 11th day after the vernal equinox. The weather in the North Atlantic will gradually improve, and the daytime will be longer than At night, this is conducive to the Germans launching landing operations in the higher-dimensional Newfoundland area. "

Military operations landing on Newfoundland and its surrounding areas are unlikely to be carried out during the autumnal equinox-vernal equinox period, which is the polar night period in the Arctic Circle and the harshest climate season in the North Atlantic. It is unlikely that Germany would cross the 2,000- to 3,000-kilometer windy ocean and land in the harsh climate of Newfoundland during this period.

But once the vernal equinox passes, the weather in the North Atlantic begins to improve, and the days become longer and longer. By summer, transatlantic landings will be possible!

"Okay..." Although Wallace did not want to give up military operations in Chile and Buenos Aires, the defense of Canada's east coast cannot be ignored. He thought for a moment and added: "But there is no need to abandon Valparaiso Bay. We should maintain our position there until the autumnal equinox this year."

"I think it's okay." William Leahy didn't argue with Wallace about whether to completely withdraw from Chile. This was a matter of face. What he cared about now was the reality. "We can start withdrawing from April 1st. First, we will withdraw the bombers of the Army Air Force and deploy them to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. These planes will have a certain anti-ship capability when equipped with bat bombs... Although it is not enough to fight against the enemy's large combat ships, it is enough to attack the transport fleet."

"Okay, okay, that's it, it will be foolproof." Wallace nodded repeatedly, then looked at his watch, stood up and said, "It's almost time to go to the White House. I think Mr. President will agree with our proposal."

...

General of the Airborne Forces Theodore von Hipple is an old classmate and old subordinate of Hessmann. He is also the founder of the famous Miuta Special Forces. In the most difficult times of Germany, he and his Miuta fighters have always loyally played the role of the secret guardian of the empire.

After the outbreak of the World War, Hipple and Miuta's troops were included in the airborne troops founded by Student and became a member of the airborne troops. Hipple himself has served as the director of airborne training and the commander of the 22nd Air Force. Now he is the commander of the 1st Air Assault Army.

The so-called air assault army is actually an enhanced version of the airborne army, which has enhanced the assault capability on the basis of airborne. Or it can also be understood as a heavy airborne force that can fight hard battles.

Unlike ordinary airborne troops who rely on parachutes and gliders as the main means of airborne landing, air assault troops will use a large number of transport aircraft such as Me323 and ZSO523 with "air assault capabilities" - this type of transport aircraft is very special. Not only does it have a large carrying capacity and can transport tanks weighing 20 to 30 tons, but it can also land directly on relatively flat grass and has the ability to land assault troops behind enemy lines.

On March 21, 1945, only 10 days before the second phase of the "Gauchburg Plan" was officially launched. In order to prove that the ZSO523 heavy air assault transport aircraft can carry a latest E-25 tank destroyer and land on a not-too-wide lawn. Admiral Hipper and his capable general, Colonel Otto Skorzeny, commander of the 1st Air "Brandenburg" Medium Assault Brigade, personally took a ZSO523 transport aircraft with an E-25 tank destroyer in its belly, and landed on the lawn of the Potsdam Palace just as the sky was getting bright.

When the huge aircraft stopped steadily at the edge of the palace lawn, the nose hatch that was originally closed was pushed open by the mechanical device, and then the roar of the motor was heard from the belly of the aircraft, and at the same time, a cloud of smoke with the smell of gasoline came out.

Imperial Marshal Hessman, who was sitting in a moving Steyr open-top command car, was attracted by the scene of the tank destroyer driving out of the belly of the aircraft, and he waved his hand to signal the car to stop. Then he stood up straight in the car, raised a telescope and began to look at the planes and tank destroyers a few hundred meters away.

The ZSO523 "Super Giant" aircraft, with a maximum take-off weight of more than 50 tons and a maximum cargo capacity of 30 tons, can be considered a "big plane" even in later generations. In this era, probably only a few large seaplanes in the United States and Japan can compare with it.

But it can land on a piece of grass and transport an E-25 tank destroyer or a Type 4 tank directly to the enemy's rear!

This is simply unimaginable and absolutely beyond the Americans' expectations. According to the intelligence collected by the Central Security Bureau and the Military Intelligence Bureau, the Americans did not deploy too many troops on the strategically located Newfoundland Island. On this desolate island of more than 110,000 square kilometers, there are less than 200,000 ground troops (excluding antiaircraft and coastal artillery troops), and most of the troops are stationed on the coastline - there are mostly cliffs dozens of meters above sea level (Newfoundland is mainly a plateau), and it is impossible to land. Only a small part of the area is sandy and gravel beaches, and there are usually dangerous highlands and plateaus near these sandy and gravel beaches. The Americans only need to build some sufficiently strong machine gun and artillery bunkers on these highlands and plateaus to completely block the nearby sandy and gravel beaches with powerful firepower from a high position.

In addition, the tops of the highlands and plateaus along the coast of Newfoundland are relatively flat grasslands, which are enough to deploy armored troops. Therefore, the US military (Allied forces) with a large number of heavy troops deployed armored troops on these coastal highlands and plateaus. It is not a large organization, usually some armored combined battalions including tank companies, tank destroyer companies, infantry companies, artillery companies and antiaircraft gun companies. Although the number of people is not large, there are many tanks/tank destroyers. If a lightly-armed German landing force climbed up a terrace several dozen meters high, these armored combined battalions would be able to show their prowess.

Because of these highlands, terraces and the armored combined battalions on them, the elite staff of the German General Staff had no idea how many brain cells they had lost. In the end, it was General Hipple, the founder of the German special forces, who came up with a brain-opening plan to airdrop the armored forces directly onto the island of Newfoundland!