"4-5 ton super bombs? Am I hearing this correctly? Even a 1-ton armor-piercing bomb is enough to deal with a Nelson-class battleship!"
Ernst Udet, the German Air Force Director of Weapons Production, holding a cigar, walked over to the window and abruptly pulled open the thick curtains. In the sunlight, the sparsely haired head reflected a dazzling glare.
In that moment, sitting across from him at the desk, Rogan recalled the idiom "exceptionally clever." Yet, for Udet, the current situation was probably the result of both his past indulgence and his present hard work!
Despite a period of wild living in his youth, General Udet, with his outstanding flying skills, extraordinary boldness, and legendary experiences, remained one of the most prominent and respected stars in the German Air Force. During his tenure overseeing the German Air Force weapons production department, a batch of excellent combat aircraft such as the Bf-109, Stuka, and Ju-88 were put into service. Through campaigns like the attack on Poland, the invasion of Norway, the sweep through the Western Front, and the Battle of Britain, the rejuvenated German Air Force had become the most formidable attacking force in the world!
As one of the "brains" behind these achievements, Rogan was also enjoying unprecedented honors. After the classic airborne assaults on Dunkirk and the radar stations at White Cliffs were serialized in major newspapers, they were later made into military propaganda films by the Imperial Propaganda Ministry at the end of last year. They not only served as essential training material for the German paratroopers but also became the highest-grossing films in German cinemas during the New Year period. In the 1941 edition of the calendars printed and distributed by the Imperial Propaganda Ministry, Rogan was fortunate enough to be featured as the "cover figure" for December, truly elevating his influence to a new level! Meanwhile, this young Air Force Operations Chief was using his "foresight" to help the German war machine avoid one historical pitfall after another.
"Hmm, with these super heavy bombs, even the strongest bastions of the Gibraltar Fortress won't stand a chance! The data I have has been speculated and verified by explosive experts!" Rogan said calmly. His so-called "experts" were actually from a black-and-white documentary about the British Royal Air Force using super bombs to destroy German dams. To this day, he still remembered the astonishing scenes after the dams were breached and the vivid descriptions by the host!
"Sigh... bombs might be easy to manufacture, but the key is finding an aircraft capable of carrying them! Even our Heinkel 111s and Junkers 88s, even when overloaded, would struggle to meet the requirements!" Udet slightly opened the window, and the cold air rushed in, bringing an unusual freshness to the tobacco-laden room.
In the chill, the small pot of crocuses on the windowsill swayed gently.
Placing his cigar on the ashtray on the table, Rogan suggested, "Perhaps... we could try retrofitting existing transport planes. The Gibraltar Fortress is known for its strength, and whether the railway guns of the Army can achieve the desired effect remains uncertain! I think we should prepare for all possibilities! Even if we successfully capture Gibraltar, there will still be other strongholds on our future path. We can't transport heavy railway guns to the front line every time!"
"Indeed! 'The Rock' is known as the most formidable coastal fortress on this planet! Over the past 200 years, how many times has the British military repaired and reinforced it? When I visited Spain, I heard that the main concrete layer of the Gibraltar Fortress was ten meters thick, and even the powerful battleship cannons couldn't penetrate it!" After returning to the German Air Force, Udet mainly focused on weapons production and test flights of new aircraft. Thus, he did not participate in the famous "Condor Legion" going to Spain for combat. Instead, he went as a member of a military delegation after the Spanish Civil War ended. On that occasion, Germany and Spain signed more than twenty cooperation agreements. Germany provided complete industrial machinery and weapons production lines in exchange for strategic resources such as tungsten sand, zinc, lead, mercury, fluorite, azurite, mica, cork, and wool from Spain.
"So, if we had 4-5 ton armor-piercing bombs, the Air Force alone would be enough to shake this super fortress!" Rogan reorganized his thoughts.
Udet agreed, "Alright, my friend Hans! I'll assign a special technical team to handle this matter! However... I can't guarantee the timeline! Who knows, the Army might be raising the Imperial flag on the Rock in half a month!"
"I don't expect the engineers to 'knock out' these big guys like making iron fists, the key is to think long-term!" Rogan said with a smile.
"Well, don't underestimate our research and development capabilities and production speed! Perhaps we'll give the British a big surprise!" Udet said confidently. After 1941, the production of German fighters and bombers increased by 80% compared to 1939. The production problems that had plagued this director of weapons production were greatly alleviated, allowing him to shift his focus from the complex numbers to the development and production of new weapons: The FW-190 was not scrapped despite Hermann Göring's departure. The first squadron equipped with this fighter was being sent to Britain for combat, and the monthly production quickly exceeded 200 aircraft. Improved versions of the Ju-88 and He-111, two medium bombers, were sent to Britain for combat testing. A series of secret projects such as long-range bombers, V1 rockets, radio-guided bombs, etc., were being carried out intensively. In short, Germany, which outwardly claimed to seek world peace, was accelerating on the track of war!
Exiting Udet's office, Logan took the elevator back to his own floor. The current structure and operation of the German Air Force were in a strange state. Two months had passed since Hermann Göring's death, yet the Fuhrer still "occupied" the position of Air Force Commander-in-Chief, unwilling to move. Milch and Kesselring, who had previously been rumored to be under secret investigation, had neither been transferred nor promoted. What was even more puzzling was that the large Air Force General Staff remained leaderless, with important personnel transfers and appointments being directly issued by the Supreme Command under the name of the Air Force Commander-in-Chief, and combat operations involving multiple air fleets being coordinated by the Air Force Operations Department.
Before Logan could even settle into his chair, his aide, Karl August, popped in. "General, the 5th Air Fleet reports that due to recent snowstorms in Norway, the transfer operation of the 10th Air Army may be postponed until next week!"
Turning to look at the bright sunshine outside the window, Logan suddenly sighed, "The cold of the Nordic countries... Russia's winter must be just as harsh!"
August carefully asked as he put away the telegram folder, "Why are you concerned about the weather in Russia?"
"How could I not be concerned?" The room door was closed, and Logan didn't mind making such suggestive remarks. Although August's rank was not high, he had access to highly classified information from the Air Force Operations Department. "Operation Barbarossa" had already been outlined in the fall of 1940 and perfected by the end of the year. In preparation for the attack on Russia, Germany had been systematically evacuating and resettling residents from East Prussia for over two months, and had been compensated for houses and livestock from farmers. Germans living in Poland had undergone similar mobilization. Furthermore, the military airfields in Poland were being systematically expanded and upgraded, and the prisoners of war held in Germany and Poland had been secretly transferred to France—their camps were being quietly expanded!
"Are you worried that the war will drag on into the cold winter?" The young and handsome aide didn't seem to think that the Russians could endure the long summer and autumn.
"It's not a matter of whether to worry or not, but to be fully prepared for all eventualities! We must consider how the severe cold will affect our equipment, which is why all aircraft models are undergoing rigorous testing in Norway this cold winter!" With that, Logan picked up a draft of the battle plan from his desk. In the past, he had found such meticulous wording and piles of data tiresome, but now he found much pleasure in them.
"You are truly visionary!" August quickly complimented.
Instead of replying, Logan began to study the draft that had been sent in that morning. When he turned to the second page, he frowned slightly. "Summon Colonel Doerr for me."
"Yes!" August astutely discerned the situation and hurried out. After about a minute and a half, a colonel in his early forties, named Doerr, knocked on the door and entered.
Logan placed the document in his hand on the table, gesturing for him to sit in the chair in front of him.
"Colonel! I've read part of your draft, which basically continues our usual operational mode. However... you seem to have overlooked something here, that is, in the hilly areas of Southern Europe, our fuel transportation may be slower than expected. If logistics transportation continues to be arranged according to our usual experience, there may eventually be a predicament where both aircraft and paratroopers are waiting for fuel at the airfield! On the battlefield, every second may become the key to victory or defeat!"
The relatively young staff officer among colleagues bowed his head in thought for a moment, cautiously and humbly saying, "Respected Minister of Operations, our plan has already taken into account the actual conditions of the railway lines in Southern Europe, and thus calculated a certain amount of lead time. However, if it arrives at the front line too early, it may be prone to enemy counterattacks. Secondly, we must coordinate with the Army because their personnel and supplies rely more heavily on railway transportation..."
"I understand what you mean. The Army's advance is indeed important, but if our plan fails to achieve a decisive victory, do you know how many casualties may increase in the later stages?" Logan asked calmly.
"That..." The colonel had no answer.
"An officer who can adapt to changes is a good officer, but an officer who can only adapt to changes can never become a commander!" Logan closed the folder and handed it back, with the word "Mercury" written in bold letters in the corner of the folder cover.