Chapter 116 Air Defense Fortress.

   "Josie, Happy New Year!" In the barracks, an old acquaintance, Brigadier General William Ross, gave Josie a bear hug.

The former colonel commander of the 8th Regiment of the 4th Division in front of him has now been promoted as the war progressed and ended, officially entered the ranks of generals, and became the fourth division, the third machine infantry brigade the Brigadier.

  The U.S. military stationed in Hamburg is also the Fourth Division of the Third Army.

  The Third Army is Patton's troops. In the original time and space, it should be stationed in Bavaria.

  But because the US-occupied area has moved to the north-central region with Hamburg as the core, the most valiant garrisons were naturally stationed in the north.

  As for those stationed in Bavaria, it has become the Ninth Army, which has not been formed for a long time.

   "Happy New Year, William, and congratulations on your promotion!" Josie also responded.

  When Josie arrived in Paris before, the time has officially entered 1945, so this Happy New Year is just right.

  As for the reason why Josie came to see Ross for the first time, it was also very simple.

  One is because he is planning to live here temporarily.

  Although Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, because it is also one of the heavy industry centers in Germany, it was a key target of the Allied forces during the previous war.

  As early as before the U.S. military entered the war, the British Air Force included Hamburg as the bombing target of the first echelon.

  As the U.S. military entered the war and the German Air Force declined, Hamburg suffered even more.

  During several years of war, the city of Hamburg suffered 187 air raids, and the bombings were basically incendiary bombs that did great damage to the city.

  So now that the war is over, there are not many completed houses in Hamburg.

  After Ophelia arrived here, she also lived in a farm in the suburbs, but it was relatively remote there, coupled with the turbulent social environment after the war.

   Josie might as well live in the barracks to be safe and comfortable.

  Another reason is that in a week at most, the transport fleet jointly formed by the Chicago consortium and the council will arrive in Hamburg, and Josie has to set up an outpost for them.

   This will definitely require the help of the military. After all, it is their garrisons who are in charge of Germany now.

   "How long are you going to stay this time?" After exchanging pleasantries, the two sat down, and Brigadier General Ross asked.

   "It will take a few months!" Josie then mentioned that he was a representative of the five consortiums, and expressed the hope that the military would send some people to help.

  Of course, the soldiers are not required to do any work, but they are required to be supervisors and maintain law and order.

   As for the labor force... Hehe, there are millions of people lying in the Rhine camp.

  Although the U.S. military did not treat those captives as cruelly as said in the marketing account of later generations, it did not make them feel better either.

  Although they were not asked to work, they were only provided with food of about 500 calories per person—normal people need at least 1200K energy intake a day even if they don’t work.

   Coupled with the extremely poor sanitation environment and so on.

   Live worse than pigs and dogs.

  So just like the captives who worked for Josie in Austria, as long as they are fed enough to make them live in a decent way, there are a lot of people who will be willing to work.

   There is no need to worry about labor issues at all.

   "So that's the case, but I can't decide this matter!" William Ross said after hearing Josie say this.

   "Of course I understand, I came to you just to catch up on the old days, and I will stay with you for a while by the way. As for this matter, I will go to see General Eisenhower tomorrow to ask for his approval!" Josie said.

  Because the damage to Hamburg is too serious, even if it is the second largest city, it is impossible for the US military to set up its headquarters in Germany here.

  So the top U.S. military leaders headed by Eisenhower are basically in Hannover, another big city in the middle.

  Because the importance of this city is backward, and when the Allied forces attacked, the local German army surrendered quickly enough, so the damage was not serious, and it became the most complete large city in the hands of the US military.

  After listening to what Josie said, Brigadier General Ross nodded. That's right, such an important matter must be discussed directly with Eisenhower.

"This is a simple matter. I'll let you clean up a few officers' barracks for you to live in first. As for your follow-up personnel, it's actually easy to deal with. There are two anti-aircraft towers built by the Germans in the city center. They are large in scale and well preserved. It’s fine. As long as you get the consent of General Eisenhower, I can arrange a house for your personnel to live in, and it’s no problem to house thousands of people there.” Brigadier General Ross said after thinking about it.

   "Ah, I know that kind of anti-aircraft tower, and I have seen it in Vienna. It is indeed a good choice." Hearing what Brigadier General Ross said, Josie immediately understood what the other party was talking about.

   That is the eight super air defense fortresses that Mustache ordered to be built in Hamburg, Vienna, and Berlin during World War II.

When Mao Xiong invaded Berlin, he used 203 heavy artillery for more than a week, but failed to blast the three fortresses in Berlin. In the end, he had to take a detour and occupy the entire Berlin before the three fortresses surrendered. surrender.

  In the original time and space, the British army tried to destroy these fortresses to fill a cup after hearing about the suffering that the bear had suffered under the three fortresses.

   Then stuffed 25 tons of explosives into one of the forts, and then invited media from allied countries to watch.

  The result was embarrassing. 25 tons of explosives only blew up one layer of the fortress.

  The British lost face on the spot, and they definitely couldn't let it go, so four months later, another blast was organized.

  This time, it took a full 35 tons of explosives to barely blow up one of the air defense fortresses, but it only blew up the fortress in half, and it was still not completely blown up.

  Since then, no one has tried to move these forts.

  By the 21st century, these seven and a half fortresses have become popular tourist attractions in the three cities.

  And in this world, because there are no British people making fun of it, the eight fortresses have been completely preserved.

  These eight fortresses, each of which can accommodate thousands of people, is talking about comfort and spaciousness.

   If you really want to squeeze it, it can accommodate tens of thousands of people-it was originally built according to the garrison standard of 15,000 people.

   Not to mention, if you can get such a fortress as the headquarters of your own industry in Hamburg, it would be pretty good.

  So Josie immediately proposed the idea of ​​buying two forts.

   "Buy? Of course, they are the property of our military now, but like other things, this also requires the approval of the headquarters!" Hearing Josie's thoughts, William Ross said without hesitation.

   These two fortresses were occupied by the army after the surrender of the German army. Naturally, they belong to the property of the Ministry of War. There is nothing wrong with this.

   As for money? Hehe, with Josie's relationship, it is completely possible to pay in installments, and then lease it to the council and the Chicago consortium in his name, and then return the money to the Department of the Army.

   Once out and in, Josie earned two super fortresses for nothing.

  (end of this chapter)