The Rise of the Third Reich

"Passed the Strait of Dover? Great!"

Headquarters Conference Room, Ministry of Defense Building, 73 Wilhelmstraße, Berlin. Adolf Hitler danced his fists excitedly. He was about to say a few inspiring words, but he saw that the faces of several generals in military uniforms present looked a little heavy.

Hitler, a former army corporal who never knew much about military issues, asked: "We broke through the Strait of Dover with only the loss of 7 ships and 2 torpedo boats. This is a good start, right?"

"Yes, a good start." Hessman smiled slightly, "But it is just the beginning... Today is the most critical day of the entire Sea Lion operation. It is expected that the Royal Air Force will use its greatest strength to attack our 5th Fleet and the landing fleet launched an air attack.”

"Then can we withstand it?" Hitler looked worried.

"Losses are unavoidable," Hessman said, "but the British losses will definitely be greater, because the air battle will inevitably occur over our fleet, and the downed British pilots will either be killed or captured. Today... they Maybe 1,000 captains will be lost, and our loss is not expected to exceed 200 captains."

You can't be afraid of losses in a war. Since you have decided to storm the English Channel, you must be prepared to lose your aircraft carrier and "missile cruiser"!

At this moment, Hersman's adjutant Stauffenberg walked in quickly, raised his hand solemnly and elegantly, and then said to Hersman: "The Western Front Headquarters just called, and the radar detected a large number of aircraft. Flying from the direction of England to the waters near Normandy.”

Hersmann nodded and said to Hitler: "Leader, they are here to die!"

…

The morning fog has dissipated, and the weather is fine over the strait. A few thin white clouds are floating in the low altitude. At an altitude of 8,000 meters above the sky, the spring sunshine brings a sense of warmth to the people in the cabin through the clear and bright glass cover.

John Randall Daniel held the control stick with both hands and let the plane fly forward steadily. He turned his head and looked down on the right side of the cabin, and saw a scene that he would never forget.

This is a large fleet of thousands of aircraft! In the sky below, everywhere you look, there are densely packed and layered planes, all large and small, flying with a momentum that blocks the sky and the sun.

As a long-lived pilot who joined the Royal Air Force in 1937 and has been fighting on the front line since the beginning of the world war, it was the first time for Major Daniel to see such a spectacular scene, and it was also a scene in his dream. But in his dream, he was driving a Mosquito fighter and leading a "thousand-plane formation" to bomb Berlin, the German capital.

In reality, his destination today is only the waters near Normandy in the middle of the English Channel. The German Grand Fleet is right there! According to reports from submarines who risked their lives for reconnaissance, there were at least 3 battlecruisers and 8 aircraft carriers in the waters near Normandy!

8 aircraft carriers! Now the German navy is so rich that even aircraft carriers can attack in batches.

On the other hand, the Royal Navy is getting more and more outrageous now. The enemies are attacking the English Channel, and the battleships of the Royal Navy still dare not show up. Are they determined to be a fleet in the Firth of Clyde?

Fortunately, in addition to the Royal Navy, the United Kingdom also has the Royal Air Force. Let the Royal Air Force defend the United Kingdom from aggression today! At least the Royal Air Force still has many men who are not afraid of death!

Daniel felt a little sad when he thought of the Royal Air Force soldiers who were not afraid of death. He joined the 7th Royal Air Force Training Squadron in December 1937. The friends who were training with him at that time were either killed or missing. Only He is still fighting to defend Britain.

What makes him even more sad is that as the war continues to worsen, the skills of the new pilots who join the Royal Air Force's front-line combat units are getting worse and worse, and many of them have only flown forty or fifty hours before going to the front line. No matter how brave such a pilot is, if he encounters an experienced German ace, will he still die?

He took another look at the densely packed various types of fighter jets and bombers below, and thought: "These are 1,000 aircraft. They should be enough to break through the defense of German fighter jets..."

"They are coming! Altitude 9000, 12 o'clock direction, it is Fw-190 and an unknown twin-engine model. Daniel, you take the 141 Squadron to drive them away."

Daniel's earphones came with the order from the commander of the wing, Colonel Liptrotter. The German planes were coming and the air battle was about to begin!

…

"Look, planes, there are so many planes!"

Hearing Lieutenant Carl Weiser's shout, Lieutenant Ribbentrop, who was walking on the back deck, quickly raised the Zeiss telescope he always carried and looked into the northern sky.

While his vision was bright and clear, the picture instantly gave him a tingling feeling. All he could see were planes everywhere above and below the thin clouds. Hundreds of planes were strangled together, big and small. , single shot, double shot, strings of bullets, thick smoke, bursts of explosions, and parachutes like white clouds, forming a magnificent war picture in the sea and sky!

"The enemy plane has broken through! Fire quickly!"

I don’t know who shouted, and then a quadruple 20mm machine gun roared. Four strings of flames suddenly rolled into the air, shooting out a fire net and a rain of bullets. I don’t know what it was. The model aircraft was immediately blown up by the volley and turned into a ball of fire!

"Bomb! Starboard!"

"Bomb! Port!"

"Dive bomber found! 10 o'clock, altitude 3500!"

On the bridge of the Norwegian Sea amphibious assault ship, people loudly reported the positions of bombs and dive bombers from time to time. The elderly captain Attenborough was personally maneuvering the ship, and the 18,000-ton amphibious assault ship was under his control. It was as nimble as a torpedo speedboat, dodging seven or eight bombs dropped from high altitudes in a row - bombs dropped by high-altitude horizontal bombers were not only poor in accuracy but also easy to dodge, posing a limited threat to sailing ships, but this was only for the British An appetizer prepared for the German fleet.

More than a dozen SBD dive bombers finally broke through the obstacles of German, Italian and French fighter jets such as Fw-190, Fokker Zero, Bf-109, MC.205 and D.520. Six of them rushed to the Norwegian Sea. Above the amphibious assault ship - the British pilots flying the SBD regarded the amphibious assault ship as a valuable aircraft carrier, and roared down. Two of them were quickly turned into fireballs by the Bofors anti-aircraft guns on the Norwegian Sea and a Z-type destroyer escorting the Norwegian Sea, but the other four still dropped 1,000-pound bombs.

"Rumble..."

Lieutenant General Paulus, who was watching the battle in the bridge, suddenly felt that the floor beneath his feet suddenly jumped twice, making it difficult for him to stand. Just when he wanted to grab something, the two 1,000-pound bombs that had penetrated the flight deck penetrated again. It penetrated several very thin decks and finally exploded at the bottom of the Norwegian Sea.

The force of the explosion caused the ship to shake violently, and Paulus fell hard to the ground, banging his head on the hard floor, and stars suddenly appeared in his eyes. I don't know who pulled him up by the collar, and then yelled at him: "Lieutenant General, can you swim?"

"Yes...but I haven't swum for a long time." Paulus replied subconsciously. He is not a person who particularly likes to exercise. He learned swimming at the Naval Academy.

"Then let's think about how to swim!" The guy with the loud voice continued, "Because our warship is finished and we have to abandon it now!"

Only then did Paulus realize that the voice speaking to him belonged to Captain Attenborough of the Norwegian Sea.

The Norwegian Sea amphibious assault ship was actually bombed and sunk!

At this time, Paulus, his division headquarters and the officers and soldiers of the division's direct units had to abandon the ship and dive into the water. Thousands and hundreds of people were drowned and bombed. Hundreds more were drowned and bombed. All the equipment of the division headquarters and division units were also lost. ) were all wearing life jackets and soaking in the oil-filled seawater waiting for rescue. From time to time, bombs, planes, parts, or large numbers of living people would fall from the sky.

Looking at the chaotic maritime battlefield, Lieutenant General Paulus, soaking in the sea water, really missed the clean and comfortable office in Zossen.

When Lieutenant General Paulus, commander of the 1st German Marine Division, fell into the sea, British ace pilot Major Daniel also fell into the sea, hanging on a parachute of course. Because his Mosquito was shattered by a twin-engine fighter with 6 or maybe 8 guns - this German aircraft was so brutal!

However, his life was still relatively small. He jumped out of the cabin without any damage and fell into the sea safely. Everything was fine, no injuries at all. The only thing that made him feel bad was that the sea was full of German warships. Now he will be captured by the Germans and sent to a concentration camp! I don’t know if I will get beaten? I heard that Nazis are very unreasonable...

He thought in frustration that when he was about to be captured, the man would have already plopped into the sea. Then I heard someone ask in German: "What country are you from?"

"I am... Hahaha!" Major Daniel looked around and suddenly laughed. It turned out that there were many German officers and soldiers wearing life jackets around him, and further away there was an aircraft carrier that was burning and sinking. !

"Why are you laughing?" Someone noticed the British army logo on Major Daniel's clothes and asked in English.

Major Daniel laughed even louder: "Because we are going to win, we sunk your aircraft carrier! We win!"

Many of the German officers and soldiers soaking in the sea could understand English, and they immediately started shouting.

"He's a damn Brit!"

"beat him!"

"Hit me hard!"