Nine Hundred and Eighty First Draw From the Bottom

"It's not about transporting troops. A transport fleet of this size can only transport tens of thousands of people... It's useless to transport tens of thousands of people to Iceland at this time. ≧," a German intelligence analysis officer frowned and looked at his hand Finally, he opened his mouth and said to the people around him.

An officer in the distance immediately expressed his thoughts: "It is necessary to confirm the extent to which the Allied forces' sea power in the entire North Atlantic has been strengthened, how many warships and transport ships they have added."

Another army general sat in his seat and asked the officers around him worriedly: "Is the Atlantic Barrier infallible? You must know that we don't have much strength on the British side. Once the United States and Britain land on the British mainland, I think we will Know if we have the capability to drive them overboard there."

The general beside him nodded, and then pointed to the coastal areas of Britain and Ireland with the pointer in his hand: "We have planted 300,000 mines on several beaches suitable for landing, and these places have been reinforced with 50,000 tons of reinforced concrete." Coastal fortifications."

"There is a main machine gun position reinforced with reinforced concrete every kilometer, supplemented by temporarily reinforced machine gun positions at an average of 300 meters. We have deployed at least 70,000 soldiers in Ireland, and there is also an armored battalion as support."

"We still have at least 300,000 soldiers in the British mainland. They have an armored force that can repel at least 200,000 enemy troops from landing operations." The German officer in charge of the defense of the British occupied area introduced in detail the situation of some key areas. The composition of the defense system and the relevant tactics prepared by the German army.

"Anti-landing is actually only an intermediate link in the entire defense system of the Atlantic Barrier. Once the long-range reconnaissance aircraft and submarine forces detect the enemy's movement, the aircraft carrier fleet will go to sea to prepare for combat. Including our aircraft carrier fleet, we can at most Gather more than 1,000 aircraft near the enemy's landing site, seize air supremacy and annihilate the enemy's landing transport fleet." A head of the naval department said confidently: "Under the cover of offshore land-based aircraft, it is impossible for the enemy to seize air supremacy , so the Atlantic Barrier is impregnable."

"On the other hand, we still have a mobile force of more than 100,000 people in France. If the enemy lands in the UK, we can also provide rapid support across the channel." Another German army officer joined the discussion. Thinking that landing across the Atlantic is an impossible task: "The British and American navies are not so powerful."

From the defeat of the British until now, the German army has a year to strengthen the defense of the entire occupied area. In fact, the Germans did exactly that. They recruited a large amount of cement to build coastal fortifications, deployed a dense radar air defense network, and deployed reconnaissance aircraft and submarine warning nets in the open sea.

There are hundreds of thousands of German troops waiting for the attack, waiting for the attack of the Allied forces in Britain, Ireland and France. These troops have a large number of tanks and cars, and their fast mobility is very powerful. The Luftwaffe in these areas has so far maintained a strong combat effectiveness of more than 700 aircraft.

If necessary, there are more than 200 aircraft in Germany that can be supported at any time. This force is not the SS Youth Corps that was defeated from the Soviet-German battlefield in another time and space, but a well-trained and well-armed main force force. One out of every ten of them has participated in a real war, which is not inferior to the troops on the Soviet-German battlefield.

Coupled with the fact that the main fleet of German aircraft carriers remained motionless and shrank in Wilhelmshaven willingly as the navy, the Americans had to mobilize at least all of them before they dared to fight a landing battle with the German army on the Western Front with an unknown outcome. This is another reason why the main force of the German navy does not go to the Mediterranean to fight the autumn wind. They have to guard against sudden attacks by the United States such as the present one.

"If it's not personnel, it can only be supplies. In the same way, it's not tanks or land combat equipment, and anti-aircraft guns are impossible..." Because the information was inaccurate, these German generals had to use the method of elimination bit by bit Speculate on what the British and American coalition forces are preparing for. Although this stupid method is not efficient, it can rely on guesswork to make the most complete preparations.

A German general waved his hand and denied the previous speculation: "It is not anti-aircraft guns or cement for defense. We have not logged in to Iceland. The Americans will not suddenly convulse to strengthen the defense of Iceland. They are still preparing to attack. ! It must be so."

"Bombers! Their B17 bombers are very similar to our butcher bombers, and can cover many places below its attack radius!" An air defense authority from the Air Force put forward his opinion. He felt that the Allies would mobilize bombers to raid German industrial facilities without fighter escort.

Not a land attack, nor a sea attack—then the threat of attack from the air looms large. Large bombers can fly directly from Canada or the United States to Iceland, so it is only necessary to transport ground crew and ammunition, as well as some supporting maintenance equipment and fuel. And the quantity of these materials is not a lot, which can fully explain the increase in the opponent's transportation volume discovered by the submarine force.

There is a difference between knowing where the enemy is going to attack and knowing where the enemy is going to attack. There are too many places that can be attacked from Iceland, and it is obviously unrealistic for the German army to defend comprehensively.

A raid on Ireland, or even a bombing of Liverpool, would have had little effect on Germany, which had only recently recovered part of its port and was not worth a large-scale bombing target; the same was true for Ireland, which would have very limited impact on Germany other than angering the locals .

Bombing the north of England and bombing Ireland is basically a waste of troops. It is impossible for the United States and the British to spend so much time preparing an attack with such a low cost ratio. What was bombed was someone else's land, and it didn't disturb or destroy Germany at all-isn't this a disease?

It is also impossible to cross over the UK or Norway, and then attack the mainland: the first is that after all, the range is too limited, and the ammunition load of the bombers is severely weakened; the second is that these aircraft will be deployed in the three directions of the UK, Norway and Germany. Land-based fighter jets surrounded and intercepted, and were wiped out in the North Sea.

"Norway! The Americans want to bomb Norway's iron ore production plant!" The German air defense authority clapped his hands and came to his own conclusion: "Only bombing Norway is worth investing such a huge amount of air power! Only bombing Norway can interfere with our local production!"

...

"Bombing! Bombing Norway is our only option now. The infrastructure of the UK is relatively complete. Our bombing of Germany will definitely pass by there, and it will be easily detected by the German radar deployed there." A British military officer looked triumphantly. Looking at the B17 bombers that landed on the Icelandic airport one after another: "For today, we have worked hard for a long, long time."

Britain insisted on staying in Iceland, and one of the original plans was to keep the last hope for bombing Europe. Now the production of b17 bombers in the United States has finally met the front-line needs, and finally accumulated a scale of almost 300 in the country. This makes the Icelandic Air Force Base have a certain strategic value.

On the other hand, it will take time for the UK to build Iceland. After a full year of tug-of-war with German submarines, the slow-built Iceland Air Force Base finally became a usable base, so the US and the UK immediately came up with this plan. Start to implement it.

The last reason why the U.S. military is only now starting to implement this plan is that during the Romanian Air Defense Battle, Germany proved that its fighter jets have the ability to tear through the Allied bomber defenses-so all b-17s produced must be modified , equipped with more powerful firepower and more advanced air force engines.

The Americans hope to use a higher flight altitude, better fire defense, and faster flight speed to evade the ta-152 fighter jets equipped by the German army and suppress the 30mm caliber cannon it is equipped with. The newly produced b-17s for this purpose are all equipped with thicker steel plates and larger caliber cannons-this seriously affects the b-17's ammunition load and some range is lost.

This time the Americans felt that their preparations were foolproof. After all, with such a huge air force concentrated, it was another covert raid operation. It can be said that they were determined to achieve certain results in the first battle. All pilots have been rigorously selected and trained to deal with the threat posed by German fighter jets.

"The Norwegian spies brought back news that the Germans only had a few fighter jets in Norway, and they had about 100 fighter jets. They couldn't afford to consume them at all, and they couldn't stop our bombing of the target in time." An American official said Looking at the b-17 bombers connected to each other on the ground, he proudly boasted to the British military officer beside him: "The only question now is, once we start bombing Norway, how safe is the Icelandic base?" ensure……"

"We have the most advanced Meteor fighter jets in the world, more than 20... There are also 20 Hurricane fighter jets and 31 P-40 Rolls-Royce improved models." The commander-in-chief of the British Air Force Base is also the British government-in-exile in Iceland Hugh Dowding, the current commander-in-chief of the Air Force, said: "Since the meteor appeared, there have been no German planes here."

"That's good! We will take off in a few hours and attack the Norwegian iron ore factory at night!" The US military official said with his hands behind his back: "God bless America!"

"God bless the British Empire!" Hugh Dowding also prayed at the same time, and now all he can do is pray. u