Chapter 895 Atlantic Front
On July 5, 1943, when the German Empire and the European Community began to face a protracted war on two fronts again, Hersmann's old friend, Air Force Commander Albert von Kesselring, took a spacious and comfortable Fokker 42 passenger plane and flew across the vast Atlantic Ocean at night.
Sitting on this plane, Marshal Kesselring did not look very happy. Along the way, he either slept or frowned as he looked through a pile of documents and handwritten letters that Hersmann had given him.
Hersmann wrote a lot of words of thanks and comfort in the letter, and also explained to him the difficult situation Germany was facing at the moment - the original opportunity to beat the Soviet Union to cede territory and then go all out to deal with the United States was completely bankrupt. The negotiations with the Soviet Union ended at the end of June. At the same time, the Russian Empire officially returned to the historical stage of Europe and became an "active participant" in the European Community and Germany's most important ally... In short, Hersmann and Kesselring's old friend Queen Olga were satisfied, but Germany was in big trouble.
It was for this reason that Hessmann made the decision to abandon the South American and Caribbean operations and cancel the South American Front.
As the commander-in-chief of the South American Front, Field Marshal Kesselring could only return empty-handed.
However, before he left Cayenne (located in Guyana, the headquarters of the South American Front), Hessmann had arranged a new position for him, which was still an important position, the newly established commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Front!
Since the General Staff directly governed the Eastern Front (actually, the First Quartermaster General Guderian was the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front), the German Wehrmacht now only had two "front-level" commands, the Atlantic Front and the Indian Front.
The headquarters of the Indian Front was located in Delhi, the capital of the British Indian Empire, and the commander-in-chief was Field Marshal Halder. This front-line command unified the British and Indian forces in India and the German forces. At the same time, the Indian Squadron of the European Combined Fleet was also under the jurisdiction of this command, and the Indian Ocean was also the area responsible for the Indian Front. However, the main battlefield of the Indian Front was on land, and there were only a few US (Canadian and British) submarines and camouflaged attack ships based in Australia at sea. Therefore, it was reasonable for a German Field Marshal to serve as the commander of the Indian Front.
But the main role on the Atlantic Front should be played by the Navy, right? Is it really appropriate to let an Air Force Marshal who came from the Army and did not understand the Navy at all be the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Front?
With such doubts, Marshal Kesselring met the Chief of the General Staff, Imperial Marshal Hessmann, who personally went to Brest to greet him.
"Albert," Hessmann hugged Kesselring at the airport, "You must have been very depressed in Cayenne?"
"It's okay," Kesselring smiled bitterly and followed Hessmann into the big car. In the car, he said to Hessmann, "It's just that nothing has been accomplished... But why did you arrange a job for me to command the navy? I have no experience in this area?"
Hessmann shook his head and smiled, "Albert, do you know? The navy just made a fool of itself."
"Defeated?" Kesselring asked nervously.
"It can't be considered a defeat," Hessman sighed, "59 aircraft were lost, 23 of which were Ju288, and the result was the sinking of three aircraft carriers and several light ships."
"Three escort aircraft carriers?" Kesselring knew what was going on when he saw Hessman's face.
"Yes, three worthless escort aircraft carriers!" Hessman said, "Because the bombs were too penetrating, they exploded directly on the bottom of the ship, so most of the crew on the ship had a chance to escape."
The European Community, the winner of the sea and air battle in the Denmark Strait on July 3, sank two Borg-class aircraft carriers and one Casablanca-class aircraft carrier, severely damaged the Soviet, and destroyed the Soviet Ukraine battleship and the Russian Soviet battleship. In addition, several light cruisers and destroyers were sunk or severely damaged.
The cost for the European Community was only 59 aircraft and over 100 crew members, and one submarine responsible for reconnaissance was missing (later confirmed to have been sunk. All crew members died).
However, Hersman was not satisfied with such a record and exchange ratio, especially the excessive loss of fighter planes.
There were two reasons for the heavy loss of fighter planes, especially the loss of 23 Ju288s.
One was that there was a problem with the coordination between the Navy, Naval Aviation (shore-based) and the Air Force, and each fought on its own. The Air Force and the Naval Aviation dispatched the Ju288 fleet too early, and were caught by a Spitfire from the Americans (before the Ju288 fleet arrived, the US fleet had already launched two waves of Spitfires), and shot down 12 on the spot.
Another reason was that the weather over the Danish Strait on July 3 was not very ideal, with poor visibility, so the Ju288 lowered its altitude in order to accurately drop remote-controlled glide bombs. As a result, it was hit hard by the 127mm anti-aircraft guns on the surface ships with shells equipped with radio proximity fuses, and 11 of them were shot down.
In addition to the 23 expensive Ju288s, the losses of Fokker Zero D and Fokker 100 dive bombers were not small - in the battle that day, the German Navy also sent carrier-based Fokker Zero D to cover Fokker 100 (sent by the Second Air Force).
But they encountered a strong opponent, the F6F, especially when the Fw-190T was chasing the one-time Spitfire attack at high altitude, the Fokker Zero D fought hard with the F6F at medium and low altitudes, and suffered heavy losses (the exchange ratio was about 1:1).
The Fokker 100 dive bombers suffered heavy losses from the fierce anti-aircraft firepower and F6F fighters of the US surface fleet.
Although the naval battle ended with the victory of the German side, the problems exposed are very worrying.
"There must be a front-level command in the Atlantic," said Hersman, "and this command cannot be set up on ships. Therefore, it is inappropriate for Marshal Lütjens, commander of the European Combined Fleet, to serve as the commander-in-chief of the front."
According to the standards of the German Wehrmacht, the European Combined Fleet is only an army-level unit. Units of the same level include the European Combined Transport Command, the European Combined Underwater Fleet Command, etc.
And according to convention, the commander of the European Fleet must command operations closer to the front line, so he cannot bear the overall responsibility.
"In addition, the surface fleet is not the absolute main force in the Atlantic operations." Hersman continued, "The status of the surface fleet is the same as that of the shore-based aviation, underwater fleet, transportation command, island garrison, Guyana garrison and the West Coast of Africa garrison.
These forces together constitute the Atlantic Front, so the commander who commands the Atlantic Front does not necessarily have to be from the navy. In my opinion, this commander-in-chief must be proficient in air operations and must have experience in attrition warfare. Albert, you are the most suitable person."
Letting a marshal from the army and air force to command operations in the Atlantic is definitely nonsense in the eyes of old naval powers such as Britain, the United States and Japan. But in Germany, which lacks naval commanders, it is normal.
If it is just fleet artillery battles and submarine sabotage, the German Navy does have some talents. For example, Lütjens and Dönitz are both good.
But the current Atlantic War is definitely dominated by air power, and Germany is particularly dependent on shore-based aviation. Whether it is Ju288, He21262 or Me264, a long-range strategic bomber with a longer range than Ju288, there are currently only shore-based models and no ship-based models.
Moreover, the anti-ship missiles Hs293A and Hs293D developed secretly by Germany (they are missiles with rocket boosters, not glide bombs, and Hs293D also has a TV guidance system, which can be launched at a longer safe distance) have now reached the final testing stage. These two epoch-making weapons also need to be carried by shore-based bombers such as Ju288 and Do217.
Therefore, in future Atlantic operations, the role of shore-based aviation is obviously greater than that of surface fleets-compared to the current missile technology, the firepower coverage range of ship-based missiles is too small to achieve long-range strikes. At the same time, the bomb load of carrier-based aircraft is too small to carry anti-ship missiles weighing more than one ton at a time, and can only be carried by shore-based aircraft.
Whether it is the Air Force or the Naval Aviation, the German shore-based aircraft actually came from the German Wehrmacht Air Force that was slowly developed by Hessmann, Kesselring and others during the interwar period. Therefore, Kesselring is indeed very suitable to be the commander of the Atlantic Front.
"So... the Navy won't have any objections, right?" Kesselring was silent for a while and said what he was worried about.
Now the Army and Air Force (including the Naval Aviation) of the German Wehrmacht are actually on the same line, and the senior officials of the Air Force are all converted from the Army. But the Navy is a self-contained system and has always maintained considerable independence.
"It will be fine," Hessmann shook his head and said, "Marshal Raeder and I have agreed that the commander of the Atlantic Front will take turns between the two of you. You will work for half a year to get the unified command system in place, and then Marshal Raeder or Marshal Lutjens will take over as commander. They will work for half a year before you take over."
This time Kesselring finally nodded, "This may work, so what is the goal of the Atlantic Front?"
"Your specialty," Hessmann smiled, "fighting a war of attrition! Using the least amount of oil resources to maintain the confrontation in the Atlantic... until we win on the Eastern Front, this is a tough battle! In the entire Wehrmacht, I think you are the only one who can fight this kind of war."
Kesselring laughed, patted his chest and said, "Okay, leave the Atlantic Front to me. As long as the navy listens to my command, the Americans will definitely suffer a great loss in the Atlantic."