Chapter 455 Ireland

The German minesweepers worked hard for two days and finally cleared a channel to the port of Cobh, Ireland.

Several Liberty ships departing from the port of Bordeaux, France, entered the port of Cobh.

During World War II, due to the rampage of the German Navy's submarine forces, British transport ships suffered heavy losses. For Britain, which relied on maritime shipping, the cutting of maritime transport lines was simply a noose to strangle the British Empire. After research, the most effective way to fight German submarines is to build transport ships faster than the speed at which German submarines sink transport ships! (Does this conclusion still need research?)

The Thompson Shipyard in the UK used the research results of the British National Physical Laboratory to design a non-mainstream ship type that was rare at the time: the bow column was tilted forward and the bottom of the ship was V-shaped, rather than the most common U-shaped at the time. This type of ship has less resistance than the U-shaped bottom when sailing, thereby increasing the speed, and the cost is also cheaper. According to the Thompson Shipyard's estimate, the cost of such a ship can be controlled within 100,000 pounds. Since this type of ship was first built by the Thompson Shipyard, it is also called the Thompson ship.

At that time, British shipyards were busy building more important combat ships and had no ability to build transport ships, so Britain wanted to entrust the United States to build transport ships and sent a "Imperial Liberty" and design drawings to the United States.

The United States improved its design and used welding instead of riveting (except for the ribs). There are many advantages to doing this. First, it can greatly speed up the construction speed. Second, it can save steel and reduce the total weight. A Liberty ship can save about 200 tons of steel by welding than riveting. Third, the United States also lacked experienced riveters at the time. Relatively speaking, welders with low technical content are easier to train and can be employed faster, which is of great significance during the war.

Because it is based on the design of the "Imperial Liberty", and in February 1941, President Roosevelt announced in a "fireside chat" that a large number of new transport ships would be built to provide material transportation for the European battlefield. He said that these ships "will bring freedom to the European continent." At the launching ceremony of the first ship, Roosevelt quoted a famous saying from Patrick Henry, a politician in the American War of Independence, in his speech: "Give me liberty or give me death". So this type of transport ship was named "Liberty Ship".

The design of the Liberty Ship is very simple, but very practical. Compared with transport ships of the same tonnage, the cargo capacity is much larger, which is also the advantage of the "Liberty Ship". It has five cargo holds, three in the front and two in the back, and can carry a total of 10,800 tons of cargo.

Normally, a Liberty Ship can carry 2,840 jeeps, or 440 M3 "Stuttgart" light tanks, or 260 M4 "Sherman" medium tanks, or 525 M8 armored vehicles, or 390 half-track personnel carriers, or 425 5-ton trucks... Its carrying capacity is quite amazing.

With the roar of the engine, one after another, the Jackal tanks, with their long gun barrels raised, drove out of the cabin of the Liberty Ship and headed for the nearby railway station.

The mobility of the tanks and tracked armored vehicles of the armored forces is divided into two types. Short-distance and battlefield combat mobility relies on the tanks and armored vehicles to drive themselves, but the engines and tracked travel systems of tanks and armored vehicles have a lifespan. The cost and price of tracked marches are very high. The motor hours of tank engines are strictly limited and are saved as much as possible. Therefore, long-distance road marches require the use of tank flatbed trailers, and long-distance marches try to choose rail transportation.

The Irish army has long been assembled near the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, rubbing its hands and ready to go.

Ireland and Britain have been feuding for a long time. Now there is such an opportunity to beat the dog when it is down. Not only young people in Ireland are eager to sign up for the army, but young people of Irish descent from all over the world have come to support Ireland. The number of people who came from the United States alone has exceeded 10,000,

which really gave Roosevelt a headache. After all, it was awkward for these "Americans" to help the Irish fight the English with German weapons.

But he couldn't order these people to go to Ireland. After all, Roosevelt knew that at this critical juncture, such an order would only arouse the disgust of many Irish descendants in the country, and might further reduce his pitifully low approval rating.

"Have the British sent more troops to Northern Ireland?" Yannick asked about the situation in Ireland at a routine defense meeting.

Rundstedt replied. "Your Highness, it seems that the British have no intention of supporting Northern Ireland. They even withdrew a lot of troops and weapons and equipment from Northern Ireland. Many Northern Irish people also fled back to England."

As mentioned earlier, the British occupied Ireland as early as 1169 and began to dominate Irish culture and politics. In 1541, in order to strengthen management, King Henry VIII of England immigrated a large number of immigrants from the British mainland to Ireland. These immigrants included both English and Scottish people. Most of them settled in the province of Ulster in the northeast of the island of Ireland and lived together with the local Irish.

As the number of British immigrants in Northern Ireland continues to grow, the number of British descendants in the area has gradually far exceeded that of the Irish.

Now most of these British descendants have to flee back to England. If they continue to stay in Northern Ireland, once Northern Ireland falls, these Irish people don’t know how to retaliate against them.

Therefore, the port of Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, has been extremely busy these days, with everyone scrambling to get on board. Fortunately, the port of Belfast is only 50 kilometers away from Scotland, and each ship can go back and forth several times a day.

Wolfram von Richthofen, commander-in-chief of the Army Aviation, asked. "Your Highness, do you want to bomb the port of Belfast?"

Yannick thought about it and shook his head. "No, let them withdraw as much as possible. Reinhard, let our agents in Northern Ireland spread the news that the Irish intend to kill all these descendants of England. Let these descendants of England flee back to England as much as possible."

The current population of Northern Ireland is about one million, and more than half of them are descendants of England. How much food will these hundreds of thousands of people eat when they flee back to England?

"It seems that there is no suspense in conquering Northern Ireland. I heard that the British fleet in Alexandria has withdrawn to India?" Long before Rommel arrived in Cairo, the remaining British fleet that was hiding in Alexandria went straight to India through the Suez Canal.

"I don't know if the British royal family will leave." In the original time and space, the German Air Force bombed London for eight months during World War II. The British royal family insisted on staying in London, and some royal family members even joined the army to serve. Although the symbolic significance was greater than the actual significance, the encouragement given to the people of the entire Commonwealth of Nations was immeasurable.

I don't know if the royal family will stay in London this time. After all, if Northern Ireland falls, the royal family will have to take a considerable risk if they want to evacuate.