Chapter 764 Axis Powers' Cairo Conference - Dumpling Ship

On the afternoon of January 3, while the fierce battle was in full swing on the British Isles, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler was sitting on a spacious and gorgeously decorated Fokker 42 passenger plane waiting for people.

This plane was modified from the Fokker 42 transport plane, which was a transatlantic long-range transport plane used to replace the Ju52. Its maximum range exceeded 6,000 kilometers and it could fly directly from Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, to Paramaribo, the capital of Guyana.

The emergence of this long-range transport plane not only met Germany's needs for transporting dignitaries and special materials to Paraguay in South America, but also served as a liaison transport plane between Japan and Germany, flying from Muscat, which was controlled by Germany, to Banda Zia, which was controlled by Japan, bypassing the Indian Peninsula.

So not long ago, when Hitler decided to hold the Axis summit in Cairo, Egypt, which was ruled by Italy, several Fokker 42 long-range transport planes (passenger planes) flew to Tokyo, Japan to pick up Hideki Tojo and Isoroku Yamamoto.

Just when Hitler was getting a little impatient, there was a sound of people coming from the stairs, and then he saw Defense Minister Reich Marshal Hersmann, his wife Chloe, and adjutant Stauffenberg walking into the cabin together.

It turned out that the person Hitler was waiting for was Hersmann.

"Leader, Mr. Minister, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Hersmann nodded to Hitler and Foreign Minister Ribbentrop in the cabin, and then smiled at Ribbentrop's wife Annalis.

"Reich Marshal, you are half an hour late..." Hitler asked, "What happened?"

Hersmann was very punctual and rarely late, let alone making a figure like Hitler wait for half an hour, which had never happened in the past.

"Leader, you guessed it right." Hersmann took off his military coat and handed it to Stauffenberg, and sat on the chair opposite Hitler. "I'm telegraphing to General Halder. The 7th Paratrooper Division has just captured Hartlepool Port! At the same time, a regiment of the 1st Marine Division and the 516th Heavy Armored Battalion have also crossed the Tees River."

"Great!" Hitler clapped his hands, "The British are finished now, we won!"

Taking the British mainland is victory!

This is the consensus of the German military and political leaders, because after taking the British mainland, Germany can avoid the situation of fighting on two fronts-although the battle with the United States in the Atlantic will continue, it is a struggle for sea power, which will not endanger the foundation of the empire, nor will it tie up many army and air force troops.

Because without the British springboard, no matter how strong the American industrial power is, it is impossible to cross the Atlantic and land in Europe.

And Stalin has now asked for peace, and the problem on the Eastern Front is nothing more than where the empire can expand.

"Leader," Hessmann smiled, "The British are not completely dead yet, they will launch a counterattack, they still have a little strength, and the Americans have not given up."

"Americans?" Hitler frowned in annoyance.

Negotiations between Hess and Kennedy, the US ambassador to Switzerland, are still going on. The latest price offered by the Americans is that they can stop aiding the Soviet Union - the condition is that Germany must stop aiding Japan, then Germany will destroy the Soviet Union, the United States will slaughter Japan, and Australia and New Zealand will be controlled by the United States, and the United States and Germany will divide the world in the future.

The conditions sound good, but how can destroying the Soviet Union be easier than slaughtering Japan?

According to the plan of the German General Staff, the ultimate goal of the summer offensive in 1943 is Stalingrad. Even if it can be achieved, it is just to capture Ukraine and cut off the connection between the Caucasus oil producing area and Moscow.

To destroy the Soviet Union, Moscow and Leningrad must be captured at the same time. Leningrad is easier, after all, it has been besieged. And capturing Moscow is a task that cannot be completed in 1943. In the most optimistic case, this is also a goal that can only be completed before the winter of 1944, and it may even be delayed until 1945.

It seems easier for the United States to destroy Japan. In 1943, the "dumpling ship" Essex class and Independence class were put into service in large numbers. Moreover, the United States now has several fighters that can outperform the Zero, such as the P51, P47, F4U and F6F.

If there is no containment in the European and Atlantic battlefields, the Americans will use 100% of their strength to attack Japan. I am afraid that Japan may not even survive 1943. According to the analysis of the German General Staff and the German Navy Command, the defense of Japan's homeland may be able to last until 1945, but the Combined Fleet will definitely not last until 1944 in the face of the overwhelming sea and air superiority of the United States. Once the Combined Fleet is finished, the Japanese Empire will only have one way to wait for death.

In addition, Hersman also proposed a possibility-the Soviet Bolshevik Party is likely to retreat to the Far East and East Siberia, and then join the American camp with their East Asian allies.

In this way, the United States will own North and South America, Oceania, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Northeast Asia after the world war. The land, population and resources controlled are far more than Germany and the European Community.

In order to eliminate the Soviet Union, Germany will definitely pay millions of casualties, which is extremely unfavorable for Germany's future domination of Europe!

Finally, how to digest the 100 million or so Russians after the demise of the Soviet Union is also a big problem. If they are to be eliminated, I am afraid it will chill the hearts of the people of European countries. If they are not eliminated, then the Germans will become a minority in the European Community...

So after weighing the pros and cons, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff's opinion was to severely weaken but not destroy the Soviet Union, and at the same time to unite with Japan to contain the United States.

"The United States is not trustworthy," Hersman then put forward a well-known point of view, "They deceived Mr. Hess last time, and this time the peace talks are not guaranteed to be sincere. One of our submarines discovered another American transport fleet crossing the Atlantic a few hours ago. Among them, 5 are suspected to be aircraft carriers!"

"Five aircraft carriers!?" Hitler's good mood was gone all at once. How could the Americans' aircraft carriers never be defeated?

It turned out that the submarines discovered the Essex, Princeton, Bellows, and the aircraft carriers Aquitania and Berengaria. Among them, Princeton and Bellows were the 2nd and 3rd of the "dumpling ship" Independence class. These aircraft carriers are now loaded with tanks, planes, artillery and ammunition and are heading to Iceland. And... Roosevelt, the transport captain, is really rich! He is really rich!

In addition to the Independence class, which was originally planned to be used for commerce raiding, the Essex class's second ship, the Valiant, has also begun sea trials and will be in service soon. According to the plan, by the end of December 1943, the US Navy will have 9 Essex class and 11 Independence class ships. If the United States and Germany can reach an armistice agreement, the construction speed of the dumpling ship will be accelerated!

"In addition, the five cruisers of the European Combined Fleet also captured a T2 oil tanker each and seized 50,000 tons of C3 fuel."

Hersman reported another "good news". However, Hitler shook his head repeatedly - seizing one T2 means that more T2s will slip through the net... Hitler really doesn't understand the world of the American rich.

"The United States has unlimited potential," Hersman said with a wry smile, "If we don't curb it, then our generation may not have to worry, but our descendants will definitely suffer from the Americans."

Hitler nodded, "And the Soviet Union! If we can't destroy it, we must castrate its potential so that it can never confront us."

In fact, Hitler wanted to destroy the Soviet Union, but the generals of the German Wehrmacht said in unison that it couldn't be destroyed, so he had no choice.

"Of course," Hersman smiled and said, "We will take over the entire Ukraine! It is the only place in the Soviet Union that is suitable for developing industry."

This has been proven by history. The Soviet Union with Ukraine is a superpower that can confront the United States, and Russia without Ukraine can't get up even if it has a great emperor. No matter how you do it, it's just a Russian oil and gas company.

…

"Yamamoto-kun, the Navy's Type 18 Land Attack Plane should be able to fly farther than this German plane, right?"

When Hitler and Hessmann set off for Cairo, the Fokker 42 plane that Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and Navy Minister Isoroku Yamamoto were riding had already flown over the Indian Ocean.

For this long-range passenger plane that flies high, fast and is very comfortable, Tojo Hideki was extremely envious. That's why he asked about the Type 18 Land Attack Plane that was being developed on the way - the "Lianshan" long-range bomber in history. The Japanese Navy proposed a range of more than 7,000 kilometers, a ceiling of more than 10,000 meters, a maximum speed of more than 580 kilometers, and a bomb load of 4 tons.

"In fact, we have planes that can fly farther than this Fokker 42." Isoroku Yamamoto smiled and said, "Our Type 2 longboat can fly 7,500 kilometers, which is the plane with the longest range in the world."

The world's longest range plane is now the Me264 long-range bomber, which can fly 8,000 kilometers with a bomb load of 5 tons! However, the Japanese still don't know the specific situation of Me264.

"Type 2 longboat?" Tojo shook his head, "It can't fly high, and it's very slow... It's impossible to use it to bomb the US mainland!"

"The US mainland is not the key," said Yamamoto Isoroku, "The key is the Panama Canal!"

Although the US "dumpling ships" are still running transportation, the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Pacific has already felt the pressure. The activities of only three anti-shipping aircraft carriers have caused the Japanese to lose hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo ships. If these Essex-class and Independence-class ships that are put into service like dumplings all arrive in the Pacific, then Yamamoto Isoroku is not sure whether the Japanese Combined Fleet can continue to fight.

Therefore, preventing these "dumpling ships" from reaching the Pacific is the most concerned thing for the Japanese side. And to attack the Panama Canal, it seems that the arrival of the "dumpling ships" can be delayed...