English Channel.
The Channel is like a castle's moat, preventing the
ravaging of England by invading armies - a cataclysm
periodically experienced by other European nations.
Napoleon marched his army a thousand plus miles
from Paris to Moscow but he dared not attempt
crossing a twenty mile channel.
Assault on Britain.
Hitler's generals figured they'd need 13 divisions,
about ninety thousand troops, in the first wave.
Another two hundred thousand troops would soon
follow. This would include 3 armored divisions.
Tanks.
Britain could muster maybe 6 divisions total
to meet the assault if this were June, following
Dunkirk. Were the attack made in October
the number of British defenders would double.
River Barges.
Hitler gave his army a month, until mid-August,
to prepare for Sea Lion, his Channel invasion.
Germany's rivers and canals were being stripped
of their barges in order to ferry troops from French
ports to English shores. Normally, the barges
safely sailed calm waters. Now they may venture
onto rough seas, loaded with troops and military
hardware. RAF pilots routinely sink and damage a
number of these invasion craft gathering in places
like Calais.
Kriegsmarine doesn't share in glory.
The German Navy read about the Battle of France
in the newspapers like everyone else.
The greatest victory in German military history and
Grand Admiral Raeder is simply a bystander.
Half his surface fleet is off the coast of Norway
sitting on the ocean's bottom.
Raeder tells Hitler, his Navy cannot protect German
troops crossing the Channel from the Royal Navy.
Hitler's go to guy.
Hermann Goering. Reich Marshall.
A six star general who designs his own uniform.
A World War I fighter pilot ace. Hitler's oldest
Nazi friend. They've been together since before
the '23 Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. Goering
took a bullet in the pelvis. Crazy times.
He's been fighting opioid addiction ever since.
Now Goering is Air Minister and he tells Hitler
there will be no need for an invasion.
His Luftwaffe will have the Brits begging
for peace.
Ace up the sleeve.
Dowding's secret weapon. Radar.
Mounted atop a three hundred foot tower
these powerful beams detect German planes
taking off anywhere along the Channel's
French coastline. You also get an idea where
the planes are headed and how many there are.
It's a real force multiplier. No more wasting
aircraft and pilot time on long patrols.
And you can efficiently allocate your fighter
strength to match the enemy threat.
Here's the best news yet.
The Germans don't yet know anything about it.
Brilliant.
* * * * *
© Tom Taylor
OVER EASY
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