Chapter 236 Is the Italian army reliable? (Third update!) The German army actually has no shortage of steel because their production capacity has not been integrated. Once the integration is completed, a strong foundation will soon emerge. Originally, according to the plan, the wartime system should be entered next year, when production capacity would enter a stage of rapid explosion. But by that time it was already too late. Because the German army lost everything in the winter of 1942 and had no hope of coming back. Now because of Nagumo Chuichi, it is possible to enter the wartime system early. As for Nagumo Chuichi's steel request, Colonel Rutte could still only convey it on his behalf. After all, he is just a small colonel and does not have that many rights at all. "There is one more thing waiting for us now." Nanyun Zhongyi took a deep breath and looked at the map and said.
“What?” the other three naval commanders asked curiously. “Port Said, we must win here.” Nagumo Chuichi said with a serious expression. Originally a small fishing village, it was built with the opening of the Suez Canal. Later it became the largest coal filling station in the world. This can be said to be the key point guarding the shipping routes of countries along the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. It is an important cargo entrepot with complete loading, unloading, storage and ship repair facilities. It is also an export port for cotton, rice, fur, etc. in the eastern Nile Delta. The more important ports have shipbuilding industries, which means that if they capture them, they can also build some warships. And Port Said still stores a large amount of supplies. If they can capture this place and cooperate with the supplies in Alexandria, they will not be short of supplies for at least a long time. After listening to Nagumo Chuichi's analysis, the other three naval commanders thought for a while and then agreed with his suggestion. Subsequently, the naval fleets of the four countries took a brief rest and began to move towards Port Said. The results of their discussions were also sent back to their respective base camps. First of all, Marshal Dönitz looked at the telegram sent by Colonel Rutte and fell into deep thought. Psychologically speaking, he agrees with the suggestions put forward by Chuichi Nagumo. After all, this is of no harm to the German army. Especially the supplies from the two 30,000-ton cargo ships can definitely solve the German army's urgent needs. Rubber and tungsten ore are particularly in short supply in the German army. On the contrary, steel is not in such urgent demand. The German army would not suffer too much by exchanging steel and aircraft for these resources.
The only problem is that the navy does not get much benefit. “It’s hard to handle!” Dönitz couldn’t help but sigh while looking at the telegram. However, I am very interested in Nagumo Chuichi's proposal that if the German army can build an aircraft carrier, they can provide carrier-based aircraft and pilots. Why the German Navy doesn’t have an aircraft carrier? It’s not that it can’t be built, but that if it can be built, it doesn’t have any aircraft. Unless they agree to transfer the command of the aircraft carrier to the air force, but in that case, wouldn’t the point of building an aircraft carrier be lost? Thinking of this, Dönitz kept banging on the table and weighing things in his mind. To be honest, he agreed with this plan. After all, the Japanese army is indeed countless times stronger than them in using aircraft carriers. In the end, he decided to send the telegram intact to Wolf's Lair and let the supreme commander resolve the matter. The result was as expected. Regarding Nagumo Chuichi’s proposal, Wolf Cave’s answer was that he could agree to it. However, resources need to be doubled, and tens of thousands of tons of materials cannot last long. This involves another person, and that is the suggestion made by Cun Yunsheng. William conveyed Cun Yunsheng's words to Wolf Lair intact. also fully expressed his concerns. If the German army cannot replenish the losses on the front line to last year's level before winter comes, then the German army will inevitably fail. According to Cun Yunsheng's suggestion, the German army staff deduced and finally came to the conclusion that this winter is a crucial year for the German army. The current reserves of the German army simply cannot meet the consumption on the front line. So when Dönitz's telegram was sent, the German commanders believed that it was a blessing from God. I agreed to Nagumo Chuichi's proposal without even thinking about it. And expanded resource requirements, because the German troops on the Eastern Front numbered millions. Not only that, Speer also came online urgently and was responsible for the industrial integration of France and Italy. According to the requirements, five to six light aircraft carriers must be built within two months. At the same time, there are also various tanks, aircraft, artillery and other equipment. In addition to these, the German army also gave Rommel an order to cross the Suez Canal and reach Persia as soon as possible, and cooperate with the Persian army there to attack the Soviet army in the Caucasus. Rommel was stunned when he received the telegram. "Are you kidding me? Crossing the Suez Canal? Joining Persia?" Rommel looked in disbelief, then looked at the telegram in his hand, confused. Is the High Command crazy? Don’t you know the specific situation of the North African Army now?
Let him cross the Suez Canal? Who will handle the logistics supply? How many hundreds of kilometers is this? Wrong! Aren’t the navies of the four countries going to occupy Port Said? If they can capture Port Said, logistics will not be a problem. For a time, Rommel was very looking forward to the fact that the navies of the four countries could occupy Port Said. “Marshal, what should we do in Cairo?” Lieutenant General Georg, commander of the 21st Armored Division, asked hesitantly. “Leave it to the 15th Armored Division. They are equipped with hundreds of m3 tanks. With the addition of the Italian army, there should be no problem in taking Cairo.” Rommel lost confidence in the end. How deep is the Italian army’s trap? The German army is very clean. It can be said that the Italian army is jokingly called by them, and it is not even at the level of a cooking class. Does it mean that the Italian army cannot fight? No! The main reason is that the logistics cannot keep up, so there is no will to fight at all. This is what made Rommel panic. It would be a big deal if the Italian army really gave him a surprise. "Marshal, why don't you move the Italian troops here?" Lieutenant General Georg thought for a while and made a suggestion. Hearing this, Rommel thought for a while, then shook his head and said. “Forget it, let the Italian army be responsible for the outer defense line, and let the 15th Armored Division speed up the attack. We must capture Cairo within three days.” “Your 21st Armored Division must also speed up. The leading troops must arrive along the canal within two days to collect ships crossing the river.” “Yes.” Lieutenant General Georg responded quickly. … "Your Excellency Lieutenant General, all the fighter planes you requested will be in place within ten days, but isn't one hundred too few?" When Colonel Rutte took the telegram from Dönitz, he directly found Nagumo Chuichi. , said expressionlessly. To be honest, it is not appropriate for him to do such things as negotiations. But there is no way, the German army cannot find suitable people now. And the Navy Ministry is considering whether to promote him to rear admiral. Otherwise, the lowest rank in the other three countries is major general, and he is the only colonel, which is a bit unfair. "Huh? One hundred is too few?" Nan Yunzhong was confused and didn't understand what this meant. Originally, he thought that one hundred was too much, and the German army might not agree to it.
After all, the Stuka bombers are indeed quite good. In his eyes, the sale of one more such advanced fighter aircraft will have a huge impact on national defense security. The results of it? He was told that he had bought too little. In fact, the German army does not value Stuka bombers very much now. Because of the ju-88 bomber and FW190 fighter jet. Especially the modified JU-88 bomber has very powerful performance. It’s just that as the war becomes increasingly tense, the German army’s current productivity is focused on fighter aircraft. So, when Nagumo Chuichi proposed to use Stuka bombers in exchange for resources, Air Marshal Göring agreed without saying a word. After all, these are some aircraft models that are ready to be phased out in exchange for a large amount of resources to produce more advanced fighters. Why not do it. According to Göring's estimate, two 30,000-ton cargo ships should be able to add thousands of new fighter jets. One of the important reasons restricting the production of fighter aircraft is rubber. Because the tires for aircraft taking off and landing require rubber. Without rubber, the plane cannot take off. Now that there is a lot of rubber, the production speed of fighter aircraft can be increased again. But this resource is simply not enough. So, Goering's telegram to Dönitz clearly stated that more Stuka bombers could be sold, but the requirement was to exchange for more resources. “Are you prepared to survive?” Nagumo Chuichi asked cautiously. Facing a country like the German army that conquered the entire Europe with its strength, Nagumo Chuichi was not so arrogant. Although he is an excellent aircraft carrier commander, he is really not good enough against Germany, Italy and France. What he said was all cautious and cautious, without any arrogance as before. "No, these fighters are all second-hand fighters, but you can rest assured that we strictly follow the maintenance requirements, and after running in, the performance is very good." Colonel Rutte shook his head, and then explained the reason for selling these fighters. After hearing this, Nanyun Zhong immediately understood. It turned out that they were all second-hand mobile phones, but second-hand is just second-hand. They are not qualified to choose now. And with the rigor and stubbornness of the German army, the maintenance should not be too bad. Thinking of this, Nan Yunzhong nodded and said. “No problem, but the steel part?” “The first batch of 100,000 tons of steel can be shipped from southern Italy.” Colonel Rutte breathed a sigh of relief.
He was really not suitable for this kind of negotiation, so he could only convey Marshal Dönitz's wishes. “Thank you so much. With these things, we can hold back Mi Zhu’s fleet.” Nagumo Chuichi kept bowing to Colonel Lutte. Colonel Rutte looked embarrassed. Why does he like to bow so much? “Our request is to bring more resources such as rubber and tungsten ore. We are currently integrating European industries. With these resources, we can produce more weapons.” “As for your plan to build a light aircraft carrier, it has also been approved, but our Dr. Speer suggested that a few merchant ships can be modified first.” Colonel Rutte said again. Dr. Speer read the telegram relayed by Colonel Rutte, actually inspected the shipyards in France and Germany, and combined it with the intelligence that the Allied fleet was about to arrive. I feel that it is too slow to start building light aircraft carriers now. It is better to learn from the US military and transform a few light aircraft carriers. The war has been fought to this point, and the intelligence between the countries generally understands each other. For example, if the United States explodes a large number of aircraft carriers in a very short period of time, it will naturally attract the attention of the intelligence agencies. It’s just that the German army did not have so many resources to build aircraft carriers before, so no one paid attention to this information. But it’s different now, so the information was dug out again. “Merchant ships transformed into aircraft carriers?” Nagumo Chuichi really didn’t expect that the other party could think of this. Because the Japanese Navy has also renovated a large number of merchant ships, the reason why I didn't say it was naturally a little selfish. That is an aircraft carrier converted from a merchant ship. The quality is too poor and the number of ships it carries is too small. Even called a special aircraft carrier by the sailors, it is as thin as a cicada's wings and as slow as a snail! So at the original meeting, Nagumo Chuichi did not propose the idea of converting merchant ships into aircraft carriers. He believes that with the mentality of the European powers, they naturally look down upon these ad hoc aircraft carriers. Who knows, someone took the initiative to bring it up. This made him a little confused. Are you willing to transform such a thin aircraft carrier? But since the other party brought it up, it was hard for him to say anything. The two sides are still negotiating some cooperation details. Outside Cairo, fighting broke out again. “These British troops are really a bunch of turtles, they can really hide in the city.” A German soldier put down his telescope for a moment, licked his dry lips, and said helplessly. In desert areas, people are particularly prone to dryness and chapped lips, but fresh water is very scarce, so they often have to lick their lips in order to lubricate them. This is all experience! It’s just during this period that I feel a little better. It was really hard before, haha. Beside the German second lieutenant is an armored reconnaissance vehicle. This armored vehicle has been privately modified by the soldiers. There are oil barrels hanging on both sides. Of course, it is not diesel, but fresh water.
“Bring me a pot of water, I almost died of thirst.” The German second lieutenant ordered to his men. Soon, his subordinate handed over a kettle. Without saying a word, the German second lieutenant unscrewed the lid of the kettle and poured it into his mouth. This kind of water packed in gasoline barrels, even if it is extremely clean. It also smells like gasoline! So every time they drink water, they drink it bravely. My mouth is full of the smell of gasoline, but I can only endure it in order to survive. Compared to dying of thirst, they can still drink gasoline-smelling water. After drinking the water, the German second lieutenant said to the soldiers on the armored vehicle: "I saw no trace of the British army's activities. It seems that they are really planning to be a turtle." The weather is very hot, and eggs can be cooked on the armor at the hottest time. Unfortunately, the armored vehicle does not have an exhaust fan, so the taste of being in such a hot armored vehicle is definitely very sour. Last time, we could have taken Cairo in one go, but the logistics failed to keep up, so we temporarily stopped the attack. As a result, the base camp ordered the North African Army to rush to the Suez Canal as soon as possible. So, the war in Cairo was stalled. Now the 15th Armored Division and the Italian army arrived, so they resumed the attack. "Second Lieutenant, is the Italian army reliable?" The subordinate's words made the German second lieutenant fall silent. (End of this chapter)