Chapter 548: The Deceiving Sea Lion
"What? You want to attack Ireland?"
The next day, still in the Eagle's Nest, Adolf Hitler seemed a little hesitant when he heard Hessmann's proposal to attack Ireland.
"Imperial Marshal, you know that both William II and I have made promises to the Republic of Ireland." Hitler said thoughtfully, "and the Irish now have a strong leader. If we invade, he will lead the Irish to fight us to the end, just as he led the Irish to fight the British."
The fighting spirit of the Irish and the English was very fierce in the 1920s and 1930s, and the Irish also adopted KBism. The Irish Republican Army and Sinn Fein were famous at the time!
"That won't happen," Hessman shook his head and said, "because the Irish leader is actually your admirer. If we really enter Ireland, he will lead the Irish to fight alongside us."
"What?" Hitler was stunned, "You said that Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera is my admirer? Why haven't I heard of it? Reich Marshal, do you have any evidence?"
Herssman's words are of course well-founded, because after Hitler's defeat and suicide, the Irish Prime Minister personally went to the German Embassy in Ireland on May 2, 1945 to mourn Hitler! And Irish President DeGrasse Hyde also publicly issued a letter of condolences.
What is a friend in need? This is a friend in need!
However, this "evidence" cannot be told to Hitler now, and Hitler now does not look like he is going to commit suicide...
But Hessman still found evidence to prove that the Irish leader is pro-German. He said: "Leader, the Irish military court has been sentencing Irish armed forces personnel serving in the British army for the past two years. Even those who died on the battlefield will be convicted. In fact, the Irish leaders know very well that only if we Germans win the war can they truly become independent and take back Northern Ireland, which is still occupied by the United Kingdom.
Moreover, if we eventually want to solve the United Kingdom by military means, then the battlefield of the decisive battle in Ireland is definitely more advantageous than starting a war in England. Because we do not have enough tank landing ships and infantry landing ships to deliver enough troops to the beaches of England at one time."
After the end of the Western Front, the spring of shipbuilding in Germany and even the entire European continent has arrived. After the Mediterranean Campaign, due to the active solution of the supply problems of oil and non-ferrous metals, Germany began to release the inventory accumulated before the war to meet the needs of the industries of European countries under its leadership, so the heavy industrial production of various countries quickly returned to the highest level before the war. However, under the leadership of Germany, the shipyards of European countries are now mainly busy with the construction of various surface combat ships so that Germany can have naval power that can overwhelm Britain and the United States. And various ships with landing capabilities have never been the top priority of the European shipbuilding industry.
Of course, not being a top priority does not mean that nothing has been done. As early as when the Z plan was formulated, Hessman proposed a plan to design and build landing ships and landing craft. Shortly after the battle on the Western Front, a series of ships for landing operations were designed, including various types of landing craft with a displacement of several tons to several hundred tons (numbered from A landing craft to O landing craft), and various landing ships with a displacement of 900 tons (light load) to 1500 tons (light load) (including P type, Q type, R type, S type and T type). However, the total number of these landing crafts and landing ships is still small. All the models added together, by the beginning of 1942, there were only more than 1,700 ships, which could only send three fully equipped motorized infantry divisions to the British beaches at most.
At the same time, the British were also doing their best to prepare for the decisive battle on the beach. The entire southern England near the English Channel was full of fortified defense zones. Hundreds of thousands of infantry and seven armored divisions guarding there were simply not enough for three motorized infantry divisions and one or two airborne divisions to deal with.
So landing in southern England has never been one of the options for the German Wehrmacht.
"Reich Marshal, what do you want to do?" Hitler thought for a moment in silence, then asked Hersmann.
"Now we should prepare for a landing battle in a big way. If the United States resumes supplying supplies to Britain, then we will prepare to land!" Hersmann said, "Gather ships and troops near the English Channel in northern France and Belgium, and pretend to be ready to force a crossing of the English Channel."
"Is this a scam?" Hitler asked.
"Yes, the real target is Ireland." Hessman said, "So only the landing ships and landing craft concentrated in Brest are real, and fake ones are used to replace them in other places.
At the same time, we should also prepare for a decisive battle at sea! This will be a battleship decisive battle comparable to Jutland. We will have 2 Hindenburg-class (H-class), 2 Bismarck-class, 2 Barbarossa-class, and 1 Scharnhorst-class (Gneisenau) available for battle. The Italians have 3 Veneto-class (Veneto, Littorio, Roma) available, and the French have 3 Richelieu-class (Richelieu, Jean Bart, Napoleon) available. Therefore, even without considering air superiority, we can defeat Britain.
After winning the naval battle, the landing forces of 3 divisions will take 1,700 landing ships to Ireland, and 2 airborne divisions will carry out air assaults in Ireland."
The Barbarossa class is the original O class, but it is different from the historical O class. It is actually the 380mm main gun type of the Scharnhorst class, with various technical indicators and Gneisenno modified with a 380mm main gun. The number is exactly the same.
The Italians now have three Veneto-class super battleships, and the No. 4 ship "Imperial" will also be commissioned in the near future. The French Richelieu-class ship No. 3 was also completed in early 1942, but it could no longer be called the "Clémenceau" but was renamed the Napoleon Bonaparte.
Therefore, after the Spring Equinox in 1942, Germany, Italy and France will have as many as 14 battleships at their disposal!
As for the British side, although they worked hard to build ships after the Shetland War, how can the industrial strength of the British country compare with that of most of Europe under the leadership of Germany? Therefore, by the beginning of 1942, the only available battleships in the hands of British Prime Minister Churchill were the "Nelson", the "King Camouflage V", the "Duke of York" (under sea trials and planned to be commissioned in March 1942), "Anson" " (under sea trials, scheduled to enter service in April 1942), and another battleship "Howe" will enter service in the second half of 1942.
In addition, the construction of three powerful "Lion"-class battleships, "Lion", "Fruit" and "Conqueror", was fully promoted after the Battle of Shetland. It is expected that they will be completed by the end of 1943 to early 1944. . There is also a battleship "Vanguard" that was also started soon after the Battle of Shetland and is scheduled to be commissioned in the third quarter of 1944.
"Well, by the third quarter of 1944, we will have 4 King George V class, 3 Lion class, 1 Vanguard class, and 1 Nelson class, a total of 9 super battleships. And the United States' South Dakota class, A large number of Iowa-class ships will also be put into service, and several Montana-class ships will be completed. By then, control of the Atlantic Ocean will be back in our hands!"
Churchill had a gift for always speaking inspiring words in the most difficult of times. But today in the bunker of the War Cabinet, everyone who heard him say these words had a sad face, looking like a disaster was about to happen.
Because most of the super battleships Churchill mentioned would not be completed and put into service until 1943 or 1944. In the first half of 1942, the United Kingdom and the United States had only one North Carolina class, two or three South Dakota class, three King George V class, and one outdated Nelson class. To sum up, there are only 9 ships, which is far less than the 14 ships of Germany, Italy and France.
Moreover...the Germans also have Japan's 80,000-ton super battleship, which is a ruthless character that can destroy the North Carolina class! There are one or two 80,000-ton battleships in the Pacific. The US Atlantic Fleet should just treat them as air now. Therefore, there are only 4 super battleships that the British Empire can really rely on now!
4 against 14. As long as you can do arithmetic, you will know that there is no hope. So knowing that 4 is much less than 14, the eldest princess Elizabeth has now begun to learn German, and has also corresponded with her cousin Prince Friedrich of Germany, and seems to be preparing for a vigorous aunt-nephew romance.
However, King George VI of England and his daughter took a completely different stance towards Germany. After Japan invaded the Hawaiian Islands, he still publicly called on the British people to unite and resist the impending invasion - of course, the king is an enlightened monarch and will not interfere in his daughter's private life, nor will he prevent Princess Elizabeth from taking the Swedish royal family's cruise ship Went to the Netherlands to date my cousin nephew Prince Friedrich of Germany...
"Mr. Prime Minister, the Spring Equinox is coming soon, and the weather in the North Atlantic and English Channel will improve, which will be conducive to combat and landing."
Admiral Alexander looked at Churchill, who still had the support of the king and was confident himself, and said with great embarrassment: "And now there is intelligence showing that Germany is in Calais, Normandy, Picardy, Brittany, France, and Brussels in Belgium. Troops are being assembled in Japan, Antwerp and other places. It seems that the invasion is imminent! And the Royal Navy is too weak now..."
Churchill glanced at the unsure Admiralty Minister and interrupted him, "No problem, we still have the Army and the Royal Air Force, and we have enough power to defend our homeland!"