"Martyman of the Empire, Walter Wink played well, scared the British away, and Dublin was temporarily saved."

At noon on May 5, Kesselin, the Chief of Staff who came from Toxson to Berlin to attend the headquarters meeting, immediately told him about the "Battle of Swos".

Although the Battle of Swos was only a confrontation between two brigade-level troops, it was decisive to the situation in Ireland. The British temporarily gave up their plans to attack Dublin and turned to defense, which gave the German army the opportunity to increase troops to Ireland... Of course, the British could also make a large increase in troops to Ireland.

Although Germany has the right to control the sea and has a great advantage in the air, it does not have the ability to cut off maritime traffic between Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Because after Germany landed in Ireland, the fighter forces of the Royal Air Force not only gave up the fight for air supremacy in the English Channel, but even the air defense in southern England was almost ignored and used all their strength to air defense on Northern Ireland, Scotland and Iceland-Scotland routes.

At the same time, the British local fleet devoted most of its energy to mine warfare in waters near Ireland. Not only did it dispatch rapid mine-braking cruisers and destroyers to mine, but it also used a large number of submarines to lay mines on the Brest-Coker Bay waterway, which also added a lot of trouble to the German army's operation to reinforce Ireland.

It was not until the morning of May 5 that the ships carrying the 3rd Armored Division all arrived in Cork Bay under the layers of escort of destroyers and minesweepers, which was much delayed than originally planned.

However, the operation to Dublin airlift troops was relatively smooth. In addition to the 7th Airborne Division, which was airborne in Dublin from the beginning, a paratrooper regiment, a parachute anti-tank battalion, a tank battalion and an artillery regiment of the 22nd Airborne Division were also airlifted to Dublin on the morning of May 4 and 5.

In addition, the 1st Marine Division, which arrived in Cork on May 2, has basically completed unloading operations, and the troops are heading for Dublin one after another.

"At the latest to tomorrow night, our troops in Dublin will be able to increase to nearly 50,000 of three divisions." Kesseling said, "Although it is slower than the original plan, it is generally satisfactory."

Hessman shook his head slightly, "But the British transported troops to Northern Ireland faster, faster than we had originally predicted, so we must speed up the movement."

On his desk were two reports from the Imperial Central Security Agency and the Military Intelligence Agency (the Military Intelligence Agency was developed by the General Staff’s intelligence agency, which was also firmly controlled by Hessman), and both pointed out that the British were madly transporting troops to Northern Ireland, and even pulled out many troops from southern England to prepare to transport them to Ireland.

Hessman said: "The British are preparing to fight a decisive battle with us in Ireland, which is consistent with the overall plan of the Sea Lion Plan for the Battle of Ireland. However, the British responded more fiercely and had greater determination. But this is better. The bigger the battle in Ireland, the faster the UK collapsed. If all the elite troops of the British Army were eliminated in Ireland, the British Isle might soon surrender without a fight. With the steel mills, shipyards, and aircraft manufacturers of the British Isle, Europe's industrial output can tie the United States."

Although Hessman has always been a firm anti-British faction, it has never been his opinion to break Britain into ruins. Getting the British industrial center in a complete manner is a real victory. So the current situation in Ireland can be said to be in the same way that Hessman is in the south of England, which is full of factories and big cities. Ireland is a big countryside, with ranches and potato fields everywhere, and it is not easy to smash it. Fighting with the British Army there is really ideal.

"And the British Empire is actually over, but the British themselves don't know it yet." Hessman said with a smile: "Although we are working hard to defend Dublin, we don't necessarily need Dublin. It's enough to have Cork Bay. Because we have many large-range aircraft. If we build a large air base in Cork Bay, the combat radii of Folk Zero, p.108, s.m.79, ju88, do217 and he-219 can cover the northwest waters of Scotland, and these aircraft take off from Bergen can cover the northeast waters of Scotland.

As long as Cork Bay is in our hands, the British will be pocketed, and the amount of imported materials from overseas will be at least 50% or 60% or more than now. So there will be no suspense in the land battle in Ireland. We don’t need to take the initiative to attack Belfast and take the defensive. When the airport expansion of Cork Bay is completed, we can force the British army to launch a death-like attack with bombing and blockade. In this way, we can win the Battle of Ireland with ground forces equivalent to one-third to one-half of the British army.”

Although the terrain of Ireland is flat, it is not wide. It is just an island of 84,000 square kilometers. Too many troops cannot be placed, and it is impossible to rely on mechanized troops to fight blitzkrieg or deep assault, because it can reach the beach in a few strokes. As long as the warring parties do not completely lose their control of the sea, they can use the weather that is not suitable for aircraft to dispatch materials to the island's troops, so it is unlikely to completely cut off the British army's retreat on the island. The biggest possibility is that the British and German armies are fighting a war of attrition on the island. Due to the restrictions on the island's terrain, this war of attrition will inevitably be more beneficial to the defense.

Kesselin's brows were frowning. He listened quietly to Hessman's words, pondered for a while, and then said: "There is nothing to worry about in the Battle of Ireland. The absolute advantage is on our side, and we can always win. However, the situation on the Eastern Front is very worrying recently. Marshal Guderian and General Rommel both reported that the number of cross-border reconnaissances of the Soviet Air Force was becoming increasingly dense, and spy infiltration activities were also extremely rampant. In addition, the intelligence department also reconnaissed that the Soviet-class battleship No. 2 Soviet-class battleship Ukraine and the Kronstadt-class battleship No. 1 Kronstadt-class battleship cruiser had begun to move towards Molotovsk without completing all the installation... The General Staff believes that these situations indicate that the Soviet Union is about to launch a war!"

Germany had long known that the Soviet Union was preparing for war. It was impossible for millions of military mobilizations to hide from Germany, an opponent who had been in war for a long time and was highly alert in all aspects.

However, preparation for war does not mean that war is about to begin, and Soviet mobilization can also be defensive. However, the operation of two Soviet-class battleships and one Kronstadt-class battleship transfer from Leningrad to Molotovsk was obviously preparing for the offensive.

Because the anti-ship capabilities of the Luftwaffe and naval aviation are obvious to all, the main battleships of the Soviet Navy cannot play a role in the Baltic Sea. Even once the Soviet Union's land attack began, these three precious warships were very likely to be bombed and sunk into the port. Therefore, the Soviet Union had to transfer these three warships to the safe Molotovsk in advance, and then attack from there to cooperate with the British and American naval fleets.

In addition, the intensive cross-border reconnaissance of aircraft is obviously preparing for the offense. If the Red Army was only preparing for defense, the main battlefield would be within the Soviet Union and there was no need to repeatedly reconnaissance of Germany's territory. Moreover, such reconnaissance could easily become the fuse for the outbreak of war, and the parties who hope to maintain peace would definitely be very cautious.

"The Soviet Union is waiting for us to increase its troops in Ireland," Hessman couldn't help frowning when he thought of the Soviet Union, which was moving towards war step by step. "It seems that Stalin is unwilling to live with a unified Europe after all."

Hessman then laughed again, saying: "It is actually not easy to delay the outbreak of the Soviet-German War until now... In fact, Stalin barely launched a war when the international situation was unfavorable to the Soviet Union. As long as we respond in the right way, we will surely win."

The so-called correct method naturally refers to the "blue plan". The general policy is to first take the defensive moment, open the door, lure the enemy into depth, then annihilate the enemy on the Polish plain, and finally counterattack and seize Ukraine and the Caucasus, forcing the Soviet Union to cede territory and seek peace.

As for the destruction of the Soviet Union, it was never the method that Hessman wanted to take, because that would cause Germany's vitality to be over-consuming by the Soviet Union, thus giving the United States a chance to breathe. The United States will defeat Japan, and at the same time strengthen its control over South America, forming a "American sphere of influence" in North and South America + Asia-Pacific region to compete with Germany. Although this was the end of the war that the Hitler government was willing to accept, it was something Hessman did not want to see.

Hessman thought for a while and said, "Albert, at today's meeting of the command, you should try to emphasize the potential of the Soviet Union's war as much as possible. You must let Hitler know that the Soviet Union is a difficult opponent to completely defeat from the outside. If we go to war with the Soviet Union, it will inevitably be a long-term and lasting war of attrition. Only by fully consuming the resources and population of the Soviet Union and preserving our own vitality as much as possible can we win at a lower cost.

Of course, before this, we should make our last efforts to strive for lasting peace in the Soviet Union and Germany."

"Fight for peace?" Keselin was stunned and immediately shook his head, "This is impossible...and what kind of peace conditions can we give?"
Chapter completed!