On July 5, 1943, when the German Empire and the European Community began to face another situation of lasting operations on both sides, Hessman's old friend, Marshal Albert von Kesselin, was riding a spacious and comfortable Folk 42 passenger plane and flew through the vast Atlantic Ocean under the night.

Marshal Kesseling looked not very pleasant while sitting on this plane. Along the way, he was frowning and frowning through a lot of documents and handwritten letters that Hessman had given him.

Hessman wrote a lot of words of thanks and comfort in his letter, and explained to him that the current difficulties and situations Germany faced, originally defeated the Soviet Union to cede land and seek peace, and then went completely bankrupt. The negotiations with the Soviet Union ended at the end of June. At the same time, the Russian Empire officially returned to the historical stage of Europe and became an "active participant" of the European community and was also Germany's most important ally... In short, Hessman and Kesselin's old friend Empress Oliga was now satisfied, but Germany was in great trouble.

It is also for this reason that Hessman made a decision: to abandon the South American and Caribbean battles and to cancel the South American front.

As the commander-in-chief of the South American front, Marshal Kesseling naturally had to return without success.

However, before others left Cayenne (located in Guyana, the location of the South American Front Command), Hessman had arranged a new position for him, and was still an important position, and was the commander-in-chief of the newly established Atlantic Front!

Since the General Staff directly under the Eastern Front battlefield (in fact, the First Military Control Commissioner Guderian was the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front), the current German Wehrmacht only has two "front-level" commands, the Atlantic Front and the Indian Front.

The command of the Indian Front is located in Delhi, the capital of the British Indian Empire, and the commander-in-chief is Marshal Halde. This front command unified the command of the British and Indian troops and German troops in India. At the same time, the Indian squadron of the European Combined Fleet is also under the jurisdiction of the command. The Indian Ocean is also the area under the responsibility of the Indian Front. However, the main battlefield of the Indian Front is on land, and there are only a small number of US (British Canadian Army) submarines and camouflage attack ships on the sea. Therefore, it is natural that a German Field Marshal serves as the commander of the Indian Front.

But the one who plays a major role in the Atlantic Front should be the navy at all? Is it really appropriate to let an Air Marshal who has no understanding of the navy as the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Front?

With such questions, Marshal Kesseling met the Chief of Staff, the Hesman Empire, who came to Brest to greet him.

"Albert," Hessman hugged Kesseling at the airport, "must be very depressed at Cayenne?"

"It's okay," Kesselin smiled bitterly and followed Hessman into the car. He said to Hessman in the car, "It's just accomplishing nothing... But why did you arrange a job for me to command the navy? I don't have experience in this area?"

Hessman shook his head and smiled, "Arbert, do you know? The Navy just saw a shame."

"Defeated?" Kesselin asked nervously.

"It can't be considered a defeat," Hessman sighed. "The loss of 59 aircraft, of which 23 were ju288, was the result of sinking three aircraft carriers and several light ships."

"Are they three escort aircraft carriers?" Kesselin knew what was going on when he saw Hessman's face.

"Yes, three worthless escort carriers!" said Hessman. "Because the bomb's penetration is too strong and it explodes directly at the bottom of the ship, most of the crew members on the ship have the chance to escape."

On July 3, the winner of the European Community, the winner of the sea-air war in the Denmark Strait, sank two Borg-class aircraft carriers and one Casablanca-class aircraft carrier, severely damaged the Soviet Union, the Zhongchuang Soviet Ukraine battleship and the Russian Soviet battleship. Several light cruisers and destroyers sank or severely damaged them.

The European Community cost only 59 aircraft and crew members in their early 100s. Another submarine responsible for reconnaissance disappeared (it was later confirmed to be sunk and all crew members were killed).

However, Hessman was not satisfied with such a record and exchange ratio, especially with the excessive losses of the fighter planes.

There are two reasons for the major losses in the fighter jets, especially the ju288's 23 aircraft.

One is the Navy. The Navy Air Force (shore-based) and the Air Force had problems in cooperation and each fought. The Air Force and HNA dispatched the Ju288 fleet too early, but were caught by an American spitfire (before the Ju288 fleet arrived, the US fleet had already launched two waves of fire), and shot down 12 aircraft on the spot.

Another reason is that the weather over the Denmark Strait was not very ideal on July 3, and the visibility was poor. Therefore, in order to accurately deploy remote-controlled gliding bombs, the ju288 lowered its height. As a result, the 127mm anti-aircraft gun on the surface ship was easily shot with a shell equipped with a radio near-explosion fuse, and 11 were shot down.

In addition to the 23 expensive Ju288s, the losses of the Fokker Zero D and the Fokker 100 dive bombers were not small. During the day's operations, the German Navy also sent a carrier-based Fokker Zero D to cover the Fokker 100 (sented by the Second Air War).

But they encountered a strong opponent f6f, especially when f-190t chased a one-time fire attack at high altitude, Fokker Zero D fought hard with f6f at low altitude, and suffered a significant loss (the exchange ratio was about 1:1).

The Fokker 100 dive bomber was hit hard by the fierce air defense firepower of the US surface fleet and the f6f fighter.

Although this naval battle ended with the victory of the German side, the problems exposed were very worried.

"There must be a front-level command in the Atlantic Ocean," Hessman said, "and this command cannot be set up on ships. So it is inappropriate to be the commander-in-chief of the European Combined Fleet Commander Marshal Lütjens."

According to the standards of the German Wehrmacht, the European Joint Fleet is just an army-level unit. Units at the same level include the European Joint Transportation Command, the European Joint Underwater Fleet Command, etc.

Moreover, according to custom, the commander of the European fleet must command operations in places closer to the front line, so he cannot afford the overall situation.

"In addition, the surface fleet is not the absolute main force of Atlantic operations." Hessman continued, "The surface fleet's status is the same as that of the shore-based aviation, underwater fleet, transportation headquarters, island garrison troops, Guyana garrison troops and the West Coast garrison troops in Africa.

These troops together form the Atlantic Front, so the commander who unified the commander of the Atlantic Front does not necessarily come from a naval origin. In my opinion, this commander-in-chief must be proficient in air combat and must also have experience in fighting attrition. Albert, you are the most suitable candidate."

It is definitely a matter of letting a marshal from the army and air force command the Atlantic Ocean in the eyes of old naval powers such as Britain, the United States and Japan. However, it is normal for Germany, which only lacks naval commanders.

If it were just a fleet gun battle and a submarine battle, then the German Navy would have some talents. For example, Lütjens and Denitz were both good.

But the current Atlantic War must be dominated by air force, and Germany also relies specifically on dock-based aviation. Whether it is the ju288, he219, do217, me262, or the long-range strategic bomber me264 with a larger range than ju288, currently only the shore-based model is not the ship-based model.

Moreover, the anti-ship missiles HS293a and HS293d secretly developed by Germany (they are missiles with rocket boosters, not gliding bombs, and the HS293d also has a television guidance system that can be launched at a longer safe distance) have reached the final testing stage. These two epoch-making weapons also need to be carried by shore-based bombers such as Ju288 and Do217.

Therefore, in the future Atlantic operations, the role of shore-based aviation is significantly greater than that of surface fleets. The current missile technology has just begun. The firepower coverage of carrier-based missiles is too small to achieve long-range strikes. At the same time, the load capacity of carrier-based aircraft is too small, and it cannot be used to hang anti-ship missiles that weigh more than one ton at any time, and can only be carried by shore-based aircraft.

Whether it belongs to the Air Force or the Navy, Germany's shore-based aircraft are actually from the German Wehrmachtmann and Kesseling who slowly rush out during the interwar period. Therefore, it is indeed very appropriate for Kesseling to serve as the commander of the Atlantic Front.

"Then... the Navy's people won't have any objection, right?" Kesselin was silent for a while and said something he was worried about.

Now the Army and Air Force of the German Wehrmacht (including Naval Air Force) are actually one line, and the top leaders of the Air Force are all changed to the army. However, the Navy has its own system and has always maintained considerable independence.

"There will be no problem," Hessman shook his head and said, "Marty Reidel and I agreed that the commander of the Atlantic Front will be taken turns. You will be the two of you taking turns to serve. You will be able to work for half a year and make the unified command system smooth, and then replace Marshal Redel or Marshal Ruttsians as commanders. They will replace you in the first half of the year."

This time, Kesselin finally nodded, "This may still work, so what is the goal of the Atlantic Front?"

"Your specialty," Hessman smiled, "Take a war of attrition! Use the least amount of oil resources to maintain the confrontation on the Atlantic... Until we win the Eastern Front, this is a hard battle! In the entire National Wehrmacht, I think you are the only one who can fight such a war."
Chapter completed!