Chapter 673 Blue Plan No. 3

Armed with a secret agreement initialed with Russian Empress Olga, German Defense Minister Reichsmarschall Hessmann flew back to Berlin from Tallinn.

"The French Breguet?" After getting off the Fokker 36, Hersman quickly noticed that there were more than a dozen ugly twin-engine aircraft that looked like catfish lined up on a tarmac at the airport. These aircraft were painted with The emblem of the French Air Force.

"Yes, that's the plane of the 18th Attack Group of the French Air Force." Marshal Kesselring, who greeted Hersmann at the airport, went up to hug Hersmann, then kissed Chloe's fingertips, and then they were all familiar with each other. The general introduction was about the French plane that had just flown to Germany. "They are all the latest models of Breguet BR.703, equipped with the Land God 14P50 air-cooled engine, with a maximum output of 1,200 horsepower."

"1,200 horsepower? It's almost catching up with BMW's small 14-cylinder engine." Hersman praised, "It seems that the French have come up with something really good."

Kesselring nodded: "The performance of these aircraft is similar to our Hs-129, or even better. The armor is strengthened based on the Breguet 690 series, and a French 47mm anti-aircraft gun is installed on the belly of the aircraft. It has a tank gun and a lot of ammunition. It is a very good attack aircraft and can just fill the quantity gap of Hs-129. "

The French suffered enough from German tanks in the Western Front Campaign in 1940, so they suppressed their evil energy to develop anti-tank attack aircraft. Moreover, the French happen to have a pretty good attack aircraft in their hands, namely the Breguet 690 series. This aircraft was developed in the late 1930s and had not yet been put into mass production by the time of the Western Front Campaign. Therefore, it is a very new aircraft and has a lot of room for improvement.

Around the time France officially declared war on Britain, the French's belated anti-tank attack aircraft Breguet BR.703 was finally finalized and put into production. By July 1942, more than 500 aircraft had been produced, organized into three attack groups (equivalent to aviation regiments), and there were 360 ​​commonly used aircraft.

These aircraft were probably originally used to deal with Germany when necessary, but after Hersman showed his trump cards (atomic bombs, ballistic missiles and sarin gas), Pétain and Darlan also thought about it - Germany has a The murderous Minister of Defense, who also has many secret weapons that are inhumane, cannot be messed with. So they handed over these three attack aircraft groups to the Germans.

This made Chief of General Staff Kesselring and Air Force Commander-in-Chief Val T. Weaver (he did not fall to death at this time and space because Hersman prohibited senior generals from flying airplanes personally). They were worried that they would not have enough attack aircraft are available. Therefore, they immediately dispatched these three attack aircraft groups to the 6th Air Force, preparing them to exert their power in the upcoming "Blue Plan" counterattack. The Breguet aircraft currently parked at Zossen Airport are preparing to transfer to the Courland Peninsula.

"The French artillery divisions also arrived very quickly. They should all be in place before the major counterattack begins." Kesselin asked again, "Marshal of the Empire, how is the Russian Empress? Is she still obedient?"

"Of course she is obedient. Her wings are not strong yet, so she can only rely on our support." Hersman said with a smile. "It's a pity that her appeal in Russia is limited, and it is impossible to replace the Bolsheviks."

"In fact, it doesn't have to be completely replaced," Kesselring suggested. After thinking about it, he said, "It would be ideal if the Soviet Union could be divided into two."

"Split into two?" Hessman smiled, "Of course it would be best, a small Russia against a big Soviet Union... Then Olga would have to be obedient. But this is easier said than done. It is very difficult to fight for a long time, and we cannot rely on our support alone. The Queen does not have many supporters in Russia, at least the people of Leningrad do not support Olga.”

He paused and then said: "Let's take this matter step by step. By the way, Olga wants to go to the Soviet-German Friendship Concentration Camp to recruit soldiers. Can you make arrangements?"

"No problem," Kesselring laughed. "Now there are more and more people in the Soviet-German Friendship Concentration Camp. If Queen Olga can take some away, it will save us a lot of food money."

…

Hersmann and Chloe separated at the airport. Chloe returned to Zossen's estate, while Hersmann and Kesselring went to Berlin to meet Hitler in the same car.

Now that the Battle of Warsaw has been fought for more than fifty days, the Soviet army has also reached the point where the division veterans are tired, and they have increased their troops several times. Although the German high command does not know how many Soviet troops there are on the front lines of Minsk and Leningrad, it seems that there should be relatively empty there.

In addition, it is almost August, and Belarus and Ukraine usually enter the mud season in October, making marching and fighting very difficult.

So it’s time to start implementing the Blue Counterattack!

"Leader, the General Staff recommends launching a counterattack code-named 'Blue 3' between August 1st and 10th."

In the large office of the Chancellery, Marshal Kesselring placed a copy of the "Blue 3" combat plan in front of Prime Minister Adolf Hitler.

"Blue 3" is part of the "Blue Plan", whose main content is to launch a major counterattack against Leningrad, Minsk and Ukraine.

Among them, the attack on Leningrad was imaginary, and the ultimate goal was to encircle Leningrad.

"Leningrad must be destroyed!" Flipping through the summary of the "Blue No. 3" plan, Hitler began to talk nonsense again - although he was a good strategist, he always had some weird ideas on battle and tactical issues.

"Use artillery and aircraft to destroy it!" Hitler waved his fist vigorously, looking very excited - I don't know how those comrades with Leningrad household registration provoked him?

"Okay," Hessmann didn't waste time talking to him and agreed, "We will arrange French artillery and the latest Me-264 heavy bomber to complete this task."

The Me-264 heavy bomber is a long-range strategic bomber jointly developed by Messerschmitt and Focke. It was officially launched after the Western Front Campaign in 1940. At the same time, Junkers' Ju290/Ju390 project, Focke-Wulf's Ta-400 project and Heinkel's He-274/He-277 project were also carried out.

The German Air Force controlled by Hessmann and Kesselring did not put forward too high requirements for the "ultra-long-range heavy bomber" project.

The basic performance indicators only mentioned the combat radius: no less than 4,000 kilometers (Herssmann planned to start bombing the United States after capturing the Azores, so a 4,000-kilometer combat radius was enough); practical ceiling: no less than 12,000 meters; maximum speed: more than 550 kilometers; maximum bomb load: more than 5 tons (at least one atomic bomb can be carried, and two V1 missiles can also be mounted under the wings); self-defense firepower: at least 12 13mm machine guns.

Among these long-range aircraft under development, the Me-2264 uses the high-power engine of the BMW-802T (turbocharged) series jointly developed by Fokker and BMW for many years.

The BMW-802 series is a large-displacement air-cooled 18-cylinder, and the turbocharger has been fully mature after years of research and development. Most importantly, rare metals used to produce engines and turbochargers are now in sufficient supply, and high-octane aviation gasoline has become very easy to produce due to the large oil fields in the Middle East.

With the ability to use non-ferrous metals and high-grade gasoline lavishly, it is certainly not difficult to produce a long-range aircraft like the Me-264. Therefore, the project established in 1940 completed its test flight in May 1942, and was put into production at the BF-FK Aviation Association factory in the Baltic in June. So far, a squadron of 12 Me-264s has been in service in the German Air Force.

However, it is nonsense to use 12 or 24 Me-264s to flatten Leningrad. Unless a nuclear bomb is used, it will be difficult to flatten a large city like Leningrad even after bombing for several years.

As for using the French artillery division to bomb, it is even more impossible. There are too many places that need those French artillery to bomb, and it is not Leningrad at all.

So Hersmann is now deceiving Hitler, so as to save him from nagging... Anyway, Hitler has no power to directly command the battle - now Hersmann himself does not have this power, because the Chief of the General Staff gave it to Kesselring.

"Good!" Hitler did not know that he was deceived. He nodded with satisfaction and continued to look through the summary of the "Blue No. 3" plan.

Leningrad is a feint, while Minsk and Ukraine are real attacks, but these two places are also treated differently.

Minsk is not a must. If it is easy to take it, take it. If it is not easy to take it, forget it. As long as the short-term encirclement cuts off the retreat of the Soviet Western Front, the mission is completed.

Ukraine is a key area to be captured and occupied! Among them, the Black Sea coast and the Crimean Peninsula (the Crimean Peninsula does not belong to Ukraine now) are the most critical and need to be captured first. Because once Crimea and the Black Sea coast of Ukraine fall into the hands of Germany, the German army can move to the Caucasus region in the next step.

The Caucasus oil producing area currently produces more than 60% of the Soviet Union's oil, with an annual output of more than 20 million tons! If it is seized by Germany, Germany's annual oil production (including synthetic gasoline) will exceed 60 million tons, and the Soviet Union's annual oil production will be reduced to about 15 million tons.

The reduction of oil will directly reduce the number of Soviet mechanized equipment!

The tank sea is likely to disappear as a result!