Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 117



Only Noblemtl

#117

I too had a strong desire to quickly end the European front.

To be honest, my earnest wish was to beat up the Japanese more than the Nazis.

How much effort did the Philippines and the provisional government put in for him?

But somehow, the place I ended up in was none other than Europe.

Even the Pacific War broke out six months earlier than I remembered.

I thought the seals would be okay since there was no Pearl Harbor, but that wasn’t the case.

So, I too was feeling impatient.

still,

“This is not it.”

“What do you mean? Now that North Africa has been cleared out, isn’t it time to attack the mainland?”

“That, that”

“And wasn’t it the United States that strongly insisted on landing on the European mainland in the first place?”

“Yes, it was Britain that was staunchly opposed to that.”

The situation is 180 degrees different from just a few months ago.

Until recently, Britain had been foaming at the mouth, saying that a landing operation with them as the main attacker was absolutely impossible, but this attitude has changed drastically.

The reason they suddenly decided to launch a surprise attack on German positions along the French coast was because of a sense of insecurity.

Although they withdrew from North Africa, the European continent was still in Nazi Germany’s grasp.

Germany, which had been forced to withdraw its troops due to the momentum of General Winter last winter, began to increase its momentum rapidly as the weather got warmer.

And the Soviet Union was barely holding on, literally grinding people out.

What about Japan in the Pacific?

After beating up our seals in the waters near Guam, they were running wild as if they had found their own world.

However, the fact that the Axis and Allied powers appeared to be on equal footing was only superficial; the truth was completely different.

“Should we consider the ending as already decided?”

“yes.”

The moment the United States decided to enter the war, the outcome was already decided. The only variable was when and how the outcome would come out.

That’s why Britain is in such chaos now.

If they want to make a big splash in the post-war reorganization of the world order, they need to have some achievements of their own.

“It would be good if we could create a forward base before attacking the mainland, but even if that’s not the case···.”

“A surprise attack is necessary, if only to relieve pressure on the Eastern Front.”

And the reason Britain is so excited about this operation is because of the humiliation it suffered in February.

Germany wanted to concentrate its naval fleet at Brest in Norway.

Since we would probably be defeated if we fought the British Royal Navy in the Atlantic anyway, the idea was to gather in Norway and focus on defending Norway.

They also attacked a convoy carrying Soviet aid supplies heading to Murmansk.

The shortest route from Brest to Norway is across the English Channel.

“No, even if the German Navy were a cripple, they would never go down this path.”

“I’ll go out to the Atlantic and come back.”

However, Führer Hitler, who was always serious about breaking common sense, drew up an operational plan to force his way through the English Channel.

And it works.

“What? The German fleet passed through the English Channel?”

“What on earth did the British Navy and Air Force do?”

Naturally, Britain suffered a terrible blow to its pride, and the result was the current situation.

The problem was that there were too many people who agreed with this British argument.

The first ally, as always, is the steel arch-enemy.

The Soviet Union was having a tough time as the North African campaign ended sooner than expected.

This was because all the power that would have been directed to North Africa in the history of the Yuan Dynasty was invested in the East.

Naturally, Stalin continued to put pressure on the Allied powers, including the United States and Britain.

“When do you plan to open the Western Front?”

“Do you want us all to die like this?”

Even Stalin was not the only one who hoped for a quick opening of the Western Front.

“I don’t mind if it’s a double-sided wire, but wouldn’t it be better to just finish one side quickly?”

“Yes, we can’t just leave those Jabs alone.”

The Navy, which had been in a state of desperation since its crushing defeat in October, was doing its best to get revenge on Japan.

The only thing that worried those seals was a possible war in Europe.

“What if we end up focusing too much on Europe?”

“Yes, if Europe wasn’t in a more or less finished state when we started fighting Japan···.”

“There is a possibility that even after all preparations are made, a situation may arise where you are pushed back to the back of the priority list.”

It’s not a needless worry, because wasn’t the Pacific War relegated to the back burner in history?

For that reason, the seal guys also desperately wanted something to be done quickly so that the war in Europe could end quickly.

“But you’re going to stick your head into it when it’s obvious that you’re going to get some stupid results?”

Bradley sighed lightly at my words and said,

“We know that you are absolutely right, Commander. But the British will never accept it.”

Bradley was right.

“Shouldn’t we perfect our amphibious warfare doctrine through small-scale operations before conducting large-scale amphibious operations?”

“You will be able to obtain information about German defensive positions in the English Channel.”

“A comprehensive test of the Allied forces’ amphibious operation capabilities is also necessary.”

Unfortunately, the reasons Churchill argued for the necessity were all correct.

In contrast, my grounds for opposing it are,

“Isn’t this operation seriously flawed? If we carry out the operation with such flawed information, we cannot guarantee the safety of the deployed soldiers.”

It was very flimsy compared to the evidence the British put forward.

But that doesn’t mean I can tell you not to waste your energy because I know all the amphibious warfare doctrine and lessons you want to know from the 21st century.

“Where is there a safe operation? I heard that the US military’s air raids on the Japanese mainland were like that.”

“And in the case of the US military, since they haven’t arrived from the mainland yet and they are said to be lacking in training, it’s okay if they don’t participate in this surprise attack.”

I had no words to say when they told me not to worry about it since we were just going to do it between us.

However, as if he knew my difficulties, Marshall sent a package just in time, and I was able to break free from my dumbfounded state.

“Let’s launch an air raid.”

“Is it an air raid?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t it be much more effective to capture the factories that produce tanks than to capture the tanks deployed on the front lines?”

The package Marshall sent was none other than a B-17 bomber.

“This is the model used in the Tokyo air raids that everyone knows. It has a range of over 6,000 kilometers and an operational radius of 3,000 kilometers, so it can easily make a round trip to Berlin and even Norway.”

“Hmm.”

“Amphibious landings are good. If we’re going to do it, wouldn’t it be better to make the Germans even more helpless?”

As things turned out this way, Churchill’s expression naturally became rotten.

But there were those who agreed with my opinion, drooling over it: none other than the Royal Air Force.

“How many air raids were done on Brest and those bastards are fine?”

“You’re just going to cross Dover in a hurry, and you’re just going to watch?”

“The Japanese are so good at capturing our ships, why can’t you?”

After the great success of Operation Cerberus, which had just so badly damaged British pride, the Air Force, and especially the heavy bomber units, were subject to a great deal of criticism.

This was because the massive bombing they had concentrated on Brest, where the German fleet was stationed, had all turned out to be useless.

In that situation, if I talk about bombing, of course you can’t help but like it.

“Bombing. Well, I don’t know how effective that would be.”

“Brest too. To be honest, the bombing of Tokyo didn’t actually cause much damage, did it?”

There were subsequent comments that the results of the bombing were not very good compared to the cost involved.

“Well, not all of them. I’ve taken down aircraft carriers by bombing.”

People were speechless at the appearance of Doolittle, who had achieved the greatest feat in the Mitchell Special Forces.

“And the B-17 we brought is more than capable of making a round trip to Berlin.”

Of course, the B-17 was sturdy, but with the Luftwaffe still alive, bombing the European mainland was not an easy task.

In actual history, the B-17 was a good prey for the Luftwaffe. The loss rate, which had soared to as high as 25%, was able to be reduced to 7% thanks to the appearance of the improved P-51 Mustang.

“We also have an escort plane to watch the bombers all the way to Berlin. The Mustang.”

Churchill insisted on a surprise attack on Dieppe until the end, but I was the victor.

There’s no way a team like Dieppe could beat Berlin.

##

“It’s been a while.”

“I see. Your face is···”

Brigadier General Doolittle had lost a lot of weight and looked gaunt.

“It must not have been easy traveling around the country.”

Even before I left, those who had participated in the Mitchell Special Forces were wandering around the country, serving as living poster boys for the U.S. Army.

“Oh, that wasn’t so bad. It was more like Lieutenant General Mitchell’s nagging…”

Ah, ah. I understand what it must have been like.

If we only look at the result, it was the greatest feat of the war, destroying a light aircraft carrier that was under repair at Kure Naval Port, but if we look at the actual operation itself, it was a huge mistake.

“By the way, you have a difference of opinion with the bomber unit regarding how to operate the escort aircraft?”

“yes.”

Doolittle nodded to my words and continued his explanation.

“The bomber squadron wants the Mustangs by their side the whole time, but that’s like keeping a hunting dog on a chain.”

Doolittle argued that the fighters should be used as escorts, taking advantage of their strengths, rather than moving with slower bombers.

“I think it would be better to get ahead of the bombers, destroy them before the Luftwaffe can form a large interceptor formation, and then return.”

It was certainly a sound that would have caused panic in a bomber formation.

You said you would escort me, but you’re saying you’re going to abandon the person you’re escorting and go hunting wherever you want?

But looking at it from a broader perspective, it wasn’t bad.

“There will be a limit to the speed at which the Luftwaffe can be replenished anyway.”

“That’s right. Why haven’t they been near London since the Battle of the Mainland?”

I nodded. Brigadier General Doolittle lowered his voice and whispered quietly.

“And honestly, Commander, you know very well that bombing isn’t very effective.”

In the meeting with the British, we bragged about our latest technology while complaining about the poor performance of the Needle Bomber and the poor pilot skills.

There is a state-of-the-art device called the Norden bombsight that can help you achieve a target accuracy of 6,400 meters with an error margin of less than 30 meters.

But in reality, the boasting was a bit strong.

So this thing was similar to the magnetic proximity fuse or something that the seal guys made for the torpedoes a while ago.

It’s the latest technology, but the performance is a dud.

The Army test site where this was tested was in the desert.

The weather is good there, there is no threat of interceptors, and it is a place where pilots fly up and test all the time, so it must be a very familiar place for pilots.

So, I could roughly predict the wind direction and speed, and when I experimented in that situation, the results came out very well. And this is a kind of analog computer…

It was better than aiming with the naked eye, but for the money I put into it, it was a failure.

“So you’re saying we should use the bomber force as bait to catch the Luftwaffe?”

“No matter what you do, you just have to go to Berlin, right?”

I laughed at Doolittle’s comment that whether it was destroying key facilities such as munitions factories and railroads through bombing, or defeating the Luftwaffe and securing air supremacy, the only thing that would ultimately be needed was to cripple the German army.

“That’s right. No matter how or where you go, as long as you get to Berlin, that’s it. I’ll talk to the bomber unit. Oh, and by the way, if you’re going to take the B-17s all the way to Berlin, wouldn’t it be bad if the results aren’t great?”

“yes?”

“Let’s change the bomb.”

There were technical reasons why Curtis LeMay abandoned high-altitude precision bombing and instead used low-altitude incendiary carpet bombing.

This was because there was no technology to resolve the issue of bombs being blown away in high-altitude jet streams and flying in the wrong direction.

So wouldn’t it be better for us to abandon high-altitude precision bombing, which won’t work anyway, and use a more certain method?

Anyway, my dream is Tokyo Hot.

I thought it might be a good idea to try Berlin Hot first.

A message to the Germans