Chapter 1017: Two Pieces of Intelligence

At the Führer’s residence in Berlin, flowers were in full bloom. Everything was so beautiful and splendid. At least, outside Akado’s window, it was impossible for there to be bloody corpses, rubble, and craters. He was very, very far from the front line, just as far as Hitler’s Reichstag had been from the front on November 30, 1941, in another timeline.

If all his efforts thus far had been unable to truly surpass the Nazi Germany of that other timeline, then as long as his troops at the front advanced just one more step, his Germany would have gone further than Hitler’s. And clearly, his troops would do more than just advance one step.

“Knock, knock, knock.” A soft knock pulled Akado back from his thoughts. He looked up from a pile of documents and reports and ordered, “Come in!”

“Heil Führer!” Gascoigne stood at attention, gave a German salute at the door, and then walked to Akado’s front. He was holding the latest news obtained by the Wehrmacht’s intelligence department and quickly presented it. “Intelligence from the Far East, and also from ‘Beehive’.”

“Oh? Let’s hear it.” Akado hadn’t expected to receive intelligence from the distant Far East this time. He was very interested in this, as there was still a force on that remote battlefield tying down America’s attention. At least in Akado’s mind, Japan was still a very useful asset.

Gascoigne placed the file in his hand on the only remaining clear spot on Akado’s desk, then returned to his position and began to speak. “We don’t have many intelligence personnel over there. We only know that the Soviet army has transferred a large number of defensive forces from that region in an attempt to rescue Moscow, and the Japanese army has taken the opportunity to achieve certain combat results. But on the whole, the two sides are still in a state of stalemate.”

“Also, due to the time lag, the intelligence we get from there will probably be a little late, so this report can only reflect the battlefield situation from about two weeks ago.” Seeing that Akado did not speak immediately, Gascoigne paused and added, “Of course, if there are any major changes, we will still get some information, so there shouldn’t be any major changes over there.”

Akado nodded. He, of course, knew exactly what Japan was capable of. For the current Japanese army to dream of achieving a breakthrough and occupying a large swath of Soviet territory, to occupy the entire Far East, was simply a fool’s dream. So Akado was certain that even if the Soviet Union lost, Japan could only maintain the status quo.

He knew better than anyone that the Japanese army’s logistical resupply capability was even more trash than Germany’s. Germany was currently using its reduced losses to barely break even with its replacement and attrition numbers, but Japan’s losses were no less than in the last world, and they simply couldn’t replace them.

“Japan is already a spent force. If nothing unexpected happens, even if they don’t make any major blunders, they will be completely defeated by the United States within a year or a year and a half. We don’t have much time left to face the Soviet Union alone,” Akado said slowly to Gascoigne after a moment’s thought. “Does the intelligence department have any way to help Japan?”

Now, Germany’s wavering on the Far East issue, its strategy of trying to use Japan to tie down the United States, could be said to have completely failed. For Germany to try and remotely control the outcome of a full-scale war in Asia from distant Europe, it truly lacked the power to do so.

Originally, Akado had provided Japan with the early development of the Zero fighter. The result was that Japan had almost knocked America out of the war in the initial stage. Yamamoto Isoroku’s superb performance had immediately sent Akado into a panic—which had resulted in Germany making a blunder and helping the United States crack the deception of the invincible Zero.

Immediately after, the Japanese Navy, unable to withstand the attrition, had begun to contract its defense line. The facts had proven that Akado’s plan to interfere in the Pacific War was truly too superficial and lacked any follow-up means of control. The U.S. military had, in an instant, gained an overwhelming advantage, turning the duration of the Pacific War, which Germany had hoped to prolong, into a possibility of being shortened.

Reality had once again given Akado a resounding slap in the face. The events that had already taken place had once again proven that, without an ocean-going navy and overseas bases, it was impossible to interfere in a war raging in a distant place based on wits alone. In fact, the problem Germany faced was simple: its navy just couldn’t get to the Pacific to give the Americans a good thrashing.

“I’m afraid we’ve already lost the opportunity to do so,” Gascoigne replied to Akado’s question with regret. “We’ve tried many methods, including trying to help the Japanese break the American codes… but this work has not yet been completed. We have only grasped a part of the U.S. military codes. We are still a long way from a complete decryption.”

Akado nodded with resignation. He also knew that unless he provided the Japanese with this kind of heaven-defying, sure-win cheat, then with Japan’s meager resources, it truly had no ability to keep up with America’s massive industrial strength. In at most another year, the United States would establish its absolute advantage in the Pacific theater, and then turn its attention to other directions.

Thinking of this, Akado turned his gaze to a stack of operational reports on the German-Soviet front. This report was from the Army General Staff, and its content was about the specific plan on how to capture Moscow.

He sneered inwardly. Roosevelt, even if you are truly confident of finishing off those pitiful Japanese idiots, by the time you turn your sights on me, Europe will already be a solid iron plate, and the Soviet Union will no longer exist… At that time, what means will you have to compete with me?

Akado glanced at Gascoigne, who was standing in front of him, and then waved his hand. “Forget it. Since we have no ability to interfere in the distant Pacific theater, let’s just leave it alone for now… At least let’s finish all the important work we have on hand before we go and watch other people’s plays.”

“Yes! My Führer!” Gascoigne stood at attention, his head held high as he replied.

“Then, the other piece of news from ‘Beehive,’ is it about the Soviet’s recent, detestable tank destroyers?” Akado asked tentatively, with a frown. After all, there hadn’t been as much news from Chelyabinsk recently as in the past, because the German army had, in fact, already firmly grasped the battlefield initiative on the German-Soviet front.

Gascoigne, who was standing there, nodded and immediately began to elaborate. “The Soviet army is ordering its entire rear to speed up and to use every tank chassis that can be converted, to modify them into self-propelled anti-tank guns, to make up for the gap in armored strength between the Soviet army and our own.”

“The intelligence from ‘Beehive’ is that in just the last few days, Chelyabinsk has rushed out 100 T-34 chassis, converted into the SU-76 model tank destroyer with a closed fighting compartment.” After reporting this news, Gascoigne closed his mouth and then fixed his eyes on the listening Akado.

“This number is twice that of the King Tigers we are providing to the front. If we count the Jagdpanthers… it’s roughly the same,” Akado calculated. He found that even with such a simplification of the equipment’s quality and performance, the armored vehicles the Soviets were mass-producing had only just reached Germany’s current production level.

But this was still a terrifying number. It should be known that the reason Germany was able to achieve such a high speed of tank production was entirely due to the various mechanical assembly line equipment used in German factories, as well as the thousands of skilled workers. And these were things that the Soviet Union was precisely short of, or even had none of.

“Has ‘Beehive’ said if there is any way to delay the production speed of this weapon as much as possible… After all, this thing is not a taxi. It will cause a certain amount of losses to our troops,” Akado said, glancing at Gascoigne, who was staring at him.

“The ‘Beehive’s’ meaning is that if possible, it would be best for us to bomb Chelyabinsk. The effect would probably be very good,” Gascoigne immediately replied. He himself was also in favor of the German Air Force carrying out a long-range strategic bombing raid to destroy the Soviet heavy industrial base in Chelyabinsk.

Akado shook his head, rejecting this suggestion. He said to Gascoigne with some resignation, “The second bombing of Iceland is in preparation. We have a limited number of strategic bombers in our hands and cannot meet the bombing demands in two directions at the same time.”

Germany’s strategic resources were simply too few. It was completely impossible for it to produce B-17 strategic bombers by the thousands, like the United States. Its limited metal resources had to meet the needs of the army, navy, and air force. The portion allocated to strategic bombers was very small. If it weren’t for the desperate support of Akado, Dick, and the others, this awe-inspiring German strategic bomber force would never have even existed.

But even so, the number of German “Butcher” strategic bombers could only hover around the 600 mark. Considering the fuel consumption, the production speed of the bombs, and the number of targets that needed to be bombed—this was the largest-scale strategic bomber force that the German army could maintain.

“Ring, ring, ring…” Just as Akado was rejecting the suggestion of a long-range strategic bombing, a telephone on his desk suddenly rang. And so Anna, who had been standing behind him all along, deftly picked up the ringing receiver from the pile of telephones.

“Hello? This is Akado.” For a call to be put directly through to the desk of the Führer’s residence office, the person on the other end must be one of the few top figures in Germany. So Akado didn’t waste any words and just stated his name. As he listened to the other end of the line, he also signaled for Gascoigne to find a place to sit.

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