Chapter 451 Shetland Islands
When Hessmann walked quickly into the meeting room of the new headquarters of the Wehrmacht Navy in Kiel Port (originally in Wilhelmshaven, but that place was often bombed at night, so it was moved to Kiel Port), all the German naval generals in the room stood up respectfully to greet him.
After the end of the Western Front, Hessmann's prestige in the German Army was established. Although he was not the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, the entire Western Front campaign, from planning to pre-war preparations, was led by Hessmann. Later, when the war started, he served as the acting chief of the general staff and was the actual supreme commander of the German Wehrmacht.
However, the German Navy was not convinced by him at that time. No matter how good Marshal Hessmann was at fighting, he was still an army marshal. Why did he give orders to the navy? Do you know how to drive a ship? Can you tell the directions when you are at sea?
But now, a group of awesome German naval generals are really convinced! The God of War is the God of War. He commanded the Italian Navy, a third-rate ship, to drive the British Royal Navy out of the Mediterranean and sink 4 battleships and 1 aircraft carrier. Although the Italian Navy also lost a battleship and two aircraft carriers, at first glance, it seems that the losses are similar. But the German naval commanders meeting here today are all experts, and of course they know how valuable the Mediterranean campaign commanded by Hessmann is.
The two aircraft carriers lost by the Italians are just "cruise ship conversions", and they are not converted from "Blue Ribbon Cruises", but ordinary cruise ships of more than 20,000 tons. This kind of stuff is everywhere in the ports of EU countries and is not very valuable. As for the sunken battleship "Count Cavour", it is an old ship before the First World War. Although it has been greatly modified, its foundation is too poor and its value is very limited.
The four battleships lost by the British include the "Rodney", which is one of the seven major battleships in the world! It is also one of the two giant ships in the hands of the British Royal Navy that can threaten the "Bismarck" class.
After losing the Rodney, the British only had one Nelson with a daunting 16-inch cannon, while the German Navy had two Bismarck-class ships. Moreover, in the Mediterranean campaign, the German naval aviation and the Italian Air Force cooperated to show strong anti-ship capabilities. It proved that the theory of "controlling the sea with air" is completely applicable to the main fleet in combat.
Therefore, this Mediterranean campaign has pointed out the direction to victory for the German Navy! So today, all the German naval generals who met at the Navy Headquarters are eager to command the fleet to attack and fight the British Royal Navy.
"Marshal, what does Admiral Darlan say?"
When the meeting just started, the German Navy Commander-in-Chief Raeder asked Darlan about his statement-Marshal Pétain had agreed in principle to follow Germany, but the French army after the defeat showed some signs of warlordism. The military leaders under the government's orders may not necessarily obey, and the French Navy is still very powerful now, so it is normal not to obey Germany.
Therefore, the attitude of the French Navy Commander-in-Chief Darlan largely determines whether the French Navy can sincerely follow Germany.
"He wants us to take Gibraltar first!" Hessmann sneered, "I have already promised him a vice-presidential position in the European Community, but he still refuses to give in. It seems that he is still unwilling to accept it!"
The reason for his unwillingness is that Britain has not been finally defeated. In this case, Germany's position as the boss is not stable. After all, the current achievements of Germany were also achieved by the French Emperor Napoleon in history.
"Marshal," Raeder thought for a while and said, "The British Navy will never watch Gibraltar being taken away by us. Because once the German, Italian and French navies meet, the British mainland may be lost. Instead of fighting in the English Channel, Britain would rather fight in the Strait of Gibraltar. Therefore, the Battle of Gibraltar will definitely be very fierce!"
If the final decisive battle is held in the English Channel, it will be a group fight between the fleets of Germany, Italy and France against the British mainland fleet. The time will be around the spring or summer of 1942, when Italy's "Roma", Germany's "Hindenburg", "Ludendorff", "Barbarossa" (O-class), "Schlieffen" (O-class), and two "Zeppelin" class aircraft carriers will be in service. The navies of Germany, Italy and France will have an overwhelming advantage, and the British Home Fleet will be annihilated near the English Channel!
So now blocking the Strait of Gibraltar has become the inevitable choice for Britain.
Hessmann said: "I have mobilized the 'Gustav' gun and the 'Dora' gun, 16 K5 railway guns, 6 'Karl' mortars and 4 'Big Bertha' howitzers. In terms of firepower, it is enough to destroy the British fortress on the Gibraltar Peninsula."
Raeder shook his head and said: "We have all studied how to destroy the Gibraltar fortress (this is an exam question for the German Naval Academy). The fortress can certainly be destroyed with super-large-caliber artillery, but the problem is that the British fleet will come from the sea to destroy our artillery positions."
The selection of these cannons is of course targeted. Gibraltar has a rugged terrain, and the British have been operating for many years. The location of the fort is the result of careful selection. It must be destroyed by railway guns, super-large-caliber mortars, and super-large-caliber howitzers.
Moreover, the locations of these cannons are all particular. The K5 gun, the 'Gustav' gun and the 'Dora' gun are all railway guns, and they cannot be deployed in places without railways. The targets of their bombardment were the 6-inch gun emplacements deployed on the west side of the Gibraltar Rock and the strong fortifications on the Windmill Terrace on the northern section of the Gibraltar Rock.
After these strong fortifications and forts were destroyed, the Germans were able to storm the northernmost part of the Lower Windmill Mesa. Then those mortars and howitzers with a shorter range can be moved to the foot of Fengmo Terrace, relying on the shielding of Fengmo Terrace to avoid the firepower of the four British forts between Fengmo Terrace and Europa Terrace, and use 420mm and 600mm artillery shells at the same time. Destroy them.
Therefore, the best place to deploy K5 guns, 'Gustav' guns and 'Dora' guns is on the railway between Algeciris and Tarifa on the west side of the Gibraltar Peninsula - the approximate location is here In this area, the railways are not necessarily originally laid, some temporary railways can also be laid. But moving further north is not possible, because the north is full of mountains and it is difficult to build railways.
This area is close to the Strait of Gibraltar, so there is not much to worry about during the day when the weather is good, but at night and when aircraft cannot be dispatched, British battleships coming from the Atlantic direction can be a huge trouble.
Although this train gun has a large caliber, it is not an armored fort after all. It has no protection, and its rate of fire is extremely slow. It cannot hit a battleship at all.
"Marshal Raeder," Hessman said with a smile, "This is also the reason why I came to Kiel Port." He looked at Raeder, "Can the High Seas Fleet be dispatched now?"
"High Seas Fleet?"
Raeder and Admiral Rolf Karls, commander of the High Seas Fleet, looked at each other.
Admiral Karls immediately asked: "Marshal, what is the goal of the High Seas Fleet's attack?"
"Attack Shetland!" said Hersman.
"What? Shetland Islands?" Admiral Kars was surprised.
He originally thought that Hersmann wanted the High Seas Fleet to exclude a break-up squadron from breaking into the Atlantic from the Norwegian Sea and Denmark Strait. Unexpectedly, Hirschman proposed to occupy the Shetland Islands!
This is no longer a break of diplomatic relations, but a direct severance of diplomatic relations!
"Marshal, it is impossible to capture the Shetland Islands." Admiral Carls shook his head. "It is only more than 200 kilometers away from Scotland, only more than 100 kilometers away from Scapa Flow, and another important British stronghold in Faroe. The distance between the islands is only more than 300 kilometers. Northern Scotland, Scapa Flow, Shetland Islands and the Faroe Islands have now formed a defense body, and there are likely to be more than 1,000 shore-based aircraft deployed!"
The Shetland Islands are part of the island chain that blocks the German fleet from entering the Atlantic Ocean. The British have been operating there for nearly two years, and of course they cannot be breached casually.
Hersman nodded and said slowly: "But Norway will join our side soon. Prime Minister Quisling is our man. He has already controlled the parliament and the army. They built in Bergen and Stavanger There are several large airports that can deploy at least 500 aircraft. It is only three to four hundred kilometers away from the Shetland Islands. This distance is just right for our Fw-190 and Fokker Zero to exert their power. "
Hessman is no longer a "liar". After fighting in the Mediterranean Campaign, he is already an expert in sea and air combat, so he knows how to fight the British in the Shetland Islands.
In fact, it doesn't matter whether Shetland can be captured in the end. As long as the main force of the British Home Fleet can be attracted from the vicinity of Gibraltar to the vicinity of Shetland, and at the same time, the continuous battles over the North Sea can be used to consume a large number of outstanding British pilots, it will be considered a victory.
With the current strength of the German Air Force and Naval Aviation, it is not difficult to achieve this. On the one hand, the high-low combination of the Fw-190 and the Fokker Zero can exert great power; on the other hand, Germany's air power has been dominant since the war began, so the losses were not great. Instead, a large number of ace pilots were trained, and However, the British lost at least 1,500 veteran pilots due to two huge losses in the French battlefield and the Mediterranean battlefield. The number of ace pilots could not be compared with Germany at all.
Therefore, once an air attrition war begins, Germany will definitely have an advantage in exchange ratio. Choosing to launch a war of attrition over the North Sea would give both sides no particular advantage in rescuing parachuting pilots. In this way, Britain's final losses would definitely far exceed that of Germany.