130

March 2, 1942

New Fuhrer's Residence in Berlin, Germany

"Holy shit."

I was wondering if things were going well these days, but then something happened in a strange place.

Really, how can you not just ignore it?

Taking responsibility for the crushing defeat in the Malaya campaign, Halifax resigned as Prime Minister, and Mr. Gallipoli, Winston Churchill, became the 62nd Prime Minister of Britain.

On the day Halifax resigned, Cadogan, who was serving as foreign minister in Halifax's cabinet, also expressed his gratitude.

Churchill appointed Anthony Eden, a former foreign minister and hardliner against Germany, to the vacant position of foreign secretary, and appointed Labor Party leader Clement Attlee as deputy prime minister.

It was absolutely undesirable for Churchill, who was very hostile toward Germany, to become British Prime Minister, so the Foreign Office and the military watched the new British cabinet with uneasy eyes.

Still, since he is busy waging war with Japan, many people are asking what Churchill will do right now, but you never know.

Not only is he not well known because he is buried under prominent competitors such as Hitler, Hideki Tojo, Mussolini, and Stalin, but Churchill is also a formidable fool.

Churchill already had a record of manipulating the strict Ottoman Empire into joining the war on the side of the Allies during World War I, and when Germany surrendered, he insisted on driving the Soviet Union out of Eastern Europe and even drew up a plan for a preemptive attack against the Soviet Union called Operation Unsinkable.

Although it was aborted due to opposition from the British military leadership and the United States, if Operation Unsinkable had become a reality, World War II would have ended in 1946 or 1947, not 1945.

That many more people would have died, and our country's liberation would have been delayed.

Since it's Churchill, I can't help but be nervous.

If he's that guy, it's no wonder he does some idiotic things anytime, anywhere.

We are already in a state of turmoil because of the Soviet Union, so there is one more thing to worry about.

I can't help but sigh. I feel like I'm being ignored by the whole world.

The British lawmakers and people who accepted Churchill, who had made numerous mistakes until now, as Prime Minister were also amazing.

Although there was no opposition to Churchill becoming prime minister, the British people generally seemed to accept the emergence of a new prime minister.

Are you saying that old man Churchill is better than Halifax, who was defeated and shamed by the yellow race?

But in actual history, Churchill was also beaten by the Japanese army, right?

Nevertheless, he served as chancellor until the fall of Germany, and was even appointed chancellor once more after World War II.

Looking at this, I don't know whether Churchill's ability to incite was great or whether the British people had a bad memory.

In some ways, Churchill was also a truly amazing human being. For an ordinary person, he made mistakes that would have ended his political career, not just once, but several times, yet he remained in politics and became prime minister.

Ability is an ability, but luck seems to be amazingly good.

Anyway, what is certain is that from now on, we, Germany, must also be a bit more nervous. I'll have to tell Heydrich to focus more on intelligence gathering in England.

Although concerns increased, there was no lack of good news.

One is that the Furenudel that has been released on the market is receiving considerable positive reviews from the public, and the other is that a prototype of a jet aircraft developed by Heinkel has been released.

The Bf109T operated by the Naval Air Corps is a well-made product, but it is expected to lack performance to fight the next-generation carrier aircraft of potential enemies Britain and the United States, so a next-generation carrier aircraft to replace it was needed.

Heinkel, which was struggling after losing the competition with Messerschmitt, was entrusted with the development of the next jet aircraft. This time, with the determination to succeed, the founder of Heinkel, Dr. Ernst Heinkel, rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

Perhaps because the president personally led the development, Heinkel delivered the finished product in the spring as promised. His name is He 290.

It was made based on the He 280, which was eliminated from the competition with the Me262, so the difference was impossible to tell just by looking at the outside.

Goering said he suspected that the He 280 was released as is. When he looked at the photos of the two aircraft, it was not unreasonable for Goering to have such suspicions.

According to the catalog, the maximum speed is 850km/h, the climb rate is 1300m/min, and the maximum altitude is 13100m. The armament is the same as the He 280, with three MG151/20 cannons. This is very good performance.

What has been released is a finished product, and there are still many tests to go through, including landing and landing on an aircraft carrier, so it is important to not be complacent, but it is encouraging news.

The world's first jet aircraft, the Sea Vampire, succeeded in landing and landing on an aircraft carrier only in December 1945, so it started three years earlier.

"How long do you think it will take for all the tests to be completed?"

"We are looking at a maximum of four months, Mr. President."

"Right. Marshal Leder and the Navy are also very interested in the He 290. So, please try harder in the future."

"I will do my best."

Seeing Dr. Heinkel speaking with a determined expression like Admiral Yi Sun-sin fighting the Battle of Myeongnyang gave me confidence.

With this, you don't have to worry about aircraft issues.

The next news was related to the development of a new heavy tank. I left it with Guderian and forgot about it, but he suddenly came to me today saying that the blueprint was completed.

"Marshal Guderian, what is that again?"

When I pointed to something covered in a large cloth, Guderian rubbed his hands with a commercial smile.

"This is a model of a new heavy tank. "We made it 1/16th the size of the actual tank."

Hoo. You even made a model? Are you looking forward to more of this?

"Okay then, let's take a look."

"All right."

When Guderian snapped his fingers, the cloth was lowered and a new, shrouded tank was revealed.

The identity of the new tank is-

"This is... .!"

It was a Königstiger (Bengal tiger).

"The official name is 'Panzer 6, Type B Tiger II'."

The actual Koenigstiger is a monster with 150mm front hull armor sloping at 50 degrees, a 185mm turret front, and a weight of nearly 70 tons. However, Guderian's Koenigstiger was very different from the original in many ways.

The armor thickness on the sides and rear is the same at 80mm, but the front of the hull has 100mm armor with a 55-degree slope, making it smaller than the actual Tiger II.

Another notable difference was that the main gun was equipped with a 105mm 68 caliber main gun rather than the 88mm 71 caliber KwK 43 tank gun.

"The estimated weight is 56 tons. "It is expected to be able to achieve speeds similar to those of the Panther as it will be equipped with the newly developed 850-horsepower Maybach HL234 engine."

This was the result of Guderian's preference for medium tanks with a well-balanced offense and defense, such as the Panzer IV and Panther, instead of heavy tanks that had excellent defense and firepower, but were limited in mobility and reliability.

"How do you feel, Mr. President? "With this level of performance, no other tank in the world can match it."

It is a tank with the defense and firepower of a heavy tank and the mobility of a medium tank. It is truly a tank that perfectly meets the requirements of modern MBT.

"Not bad. "But I think we need a little more armor."

"But if you increase the armor, your mobility will decrease as much as the armor increases."

"So, just increase it a little bit. I think it would be appropriate to increase the front of the hull by 20mm and the front of the turret by 30mm. "At this level, there won't be any major problems with mobility."

In particular, due to the performance of German tanks throughout France, tank development in each country was also much faster than in actual history. It would not be surprising at all if the IS-2 or M26 Pershing appears next year or the year after.

Therefore, it was necessary to reinforce the tank's armor in advance. However, if you increase it too much, you will have to throw away mobility and reliability, so just a little, not less.

***

March 3, 1942

10 Downing Street, London, England

"Welcome, general."

Britain's new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, welcomed a Frenchman living in exile in London with a bright smile.

"Congratulations on becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. Prime Minister."

"Haha, thank you."

When Churchill became Prime Minister, the person who was more surprised than anyone else was none other than De Gaulle.

When Churchill sent a messenger to De Gaulle and proposed a secret meeting, he was treated as an old-timer.

Despite his missteps throughout Norway, the old man remains in office thanks to the mercy of the current Prime Minister, Halifax.

Even when Churchill met with de Gaulle and confessed without hesitation about his ambitions, de Gaulle listened to Churchill's words with one ear and passed them off with the other.

I felt grateful that he had invited me, even though no one in London paid any attention to him, but he spouted off such strange nonsense that I had to believe him.

If he becomes prime minister one day, he will use the United States to liberate France and advance to Berlin?

And then destroy the Soviet Union? The sound of a passing dog laughing! However, Churchill was saying those nonsense with sincerity.

'Just wait and see, General. The day will come when not only the British people but the whole world will think that I was right. certainly.'

I never thought those words would really become reality. De Gaulle was dumbfounded. He felt like he had to admit that he had underestimated him.

Perhaps he predicted everything that would happen next. Japan's attack, Britain's crushing defeat, and even a counterattack that will happen someday.

"I am really surprised that you became prime minister. "Your Excellency, did you really predict this whole situation?"

"Of course."

Churchill answered De Gaulle's question as if it were obvious. It was so natural that de Gaulle did not even suspect that Churchill's words were false.

"If it weren't for that, would I have been able to be here now? Well, I didn't predict everything, and unexpected things happened along the way, but about 80% of them were all within the range of my expectations."

"That's really amazing."

The two smoked together. Churchill had a cigar in his mouth, which he always liked to smoke, and De Gaulle had an ordinary cigarette in his mouth.

De Gaulle asked, exhaling strong cigarette smoke from his mouth.

"Mr Prime Minister. Now that you are prime minister, what are your future plans?"

"Of course it means destroying Germany."

When de Gaulle looked at him with a sullen expression, Churchill burst into laughter.

"It's hard to look at this person with a straight face. It is impossible to go to war with Germany right now. Not only the Congress but also the people will reject it. You're busy fighting with the bastards, but you're in a fight with the Germans? You may be thinking that this is nonsense. First of all, it is important to get the people to support war with Germany. To do that, we need to make the people feel strong hostility toward Germany. That's the first plan."

"It makes the British people hostile to Germany…" . What should I do to do that?"

Churchill stretched out his upper body and brought his face close to De Gaulle. And he whispered in a quieter voice than before.

"You guys need help from France."

***

March 5, 1942

USSR Moscow Kremlin Palace

Even after rooting out and exterminating all the 'reactionaries' who were lurking in secret throughout the Soviet Union, Stalin still had homework to do.

A new heavy tank mentioned in the conversation between Hitler and Guderian. It also protected against a 15cm shell from the front!

A new heavy tank that protects against 15cm shells from the front. I thought the Panther and Tiger were the latest models, but that's not true?

Stalin summoned Joseph Kotin, who designed the KV tank, and asked for his opinion by showing him a wiretapped conversation between Hitler and Guderian.

"Germany's 15cm gun is equivalent to our 152mm gun."

"Don't I know that? Just get to the point."

"sorry. In any case, protecting this from the front means that the frontal armor is over 250mm. There is no way to know how thick the side armor is, but since the front armor is over 250mm, it is estimated that the side armor is over 100mm."

If the front is too thick and the sides are too thin, there is a risk that the tank's center of gravity will tilt forward. If the center of gravity is shifted forward, the burden on the moving part increases, causing a decrease in reliability.

Therefore, it was common to have some degree of armor on the sides and back, even if it was thinner than the front.

Putting all this together, the weight of this new heavy tank was expected to easily exceed 120 tons.

"No ordinary engine can handle this weight. However, it makes sense if Germany developed a new engine."

"her."

"What the armament is is not mentioned in the conversation, so I can only guess, but my guess is that a tank of this weight is very likely to be equipped with a large-diameter cannon that is much larger than existing tank guns. "A 15cm gun, maybe even bigger."

It is a tank equipped with 250mm frontal armor and a 152mm main gun or equivalent gun. If you encounter this tank in battle, it will be impossible to destroy it using normal methods.

What if not one, but dozens of them appear on the battlefield?

Like a lion hunting a sheep, it will slaughter all the tanks it encounters. Stalin smoked a cigarette out of nervousness.

There are no tanks equipped with 152mm class guns in the US and UK. At least that was as far as Stalin knew. But the Soviet Union has the KV-2.

Through spies who had already infiltrated the Soviet Union, Germany would have learned of the existence of the KV-2 owned by the Soviet Union, and would have created a new heavy tank to counter the KV-2.

By all accounts, Germany was clearly preparing for war with the Soviet Union.

No matter when the time comes, Hitler will attack the Soviet Union. Just as he attacked and conquered Poland, and then France.

The only way to avoid being killed is to kill the other person first.

But there was something to prepare before that.

If war breaks out, the Red Army will most likely face the German army's new heavy tanks, and current weapons will never be able to destroy Germany's new tanks.

The 85mm main gun-equipped T-34 currently under development is intended to deal with Panthers and Tigers, so it is a natural fit for new heavy tanks, and the KV-2 and KV-3 will be no different.

Therefore, a new tank is needed. A tank with a powerful main gun that can destroy the enemy's new heavy tank with one shot.