At a secret flight testing ground on the outskirts of Berlin, two strange-looking aircraft were already prepared, their silver wings gleaming under the sunlight.
What caught the viewer's eye most was that neither of these aircraft had propellers—that's right, they were both the world's earliest jet aircraft.
One was an experimental aircraft developed by Heinkel, codenamed He-280, with engines installed in nacelles on both wings, featuring a straight-wing design, elliptical wingtips, and twin vertical stabilizers on both sides of the horizontal tail; it was powered by two Heinkel axial-flow turbojet engines, each with a thrust of 500 kilograms.
The other was a prototype developed by the Messerschmitt company, codenamed Me-2280; it was quite similar, but upon closer inspection, differences could be seen: the nearly triangular tail surfaces intersected in a cross shape at the tail, and two axial-flow turbojet engines produced by the Junkers company were installed directly beneath the swept-back low-wing, with a thrust of 550 kilograms.
This was an extremely important demonstration, not only because the Führer was present to watch, but also because the Imperial Air Force would determine the tender results for the new generation of aircraft based on the performance of this test flight and a comprehensive evaluation of previous test results, with order quantities in the thousands.
At this moment, the weather was clear and the wind speed was low, making it the perfect time for a test flight.
According to the original plan, the project was supposed to start at 2:00 PM, but now it was almost 3:00 PM, and they still hadn't received the order to begin.
The test pilots, ground crew, and related technical personnel on the side had already repeatedly checked the aircraft; now, they could only watch the command center conference room eagerly, hoping those big shots would come out to observe soon, while passing the time by chatting and bragging out of boredom, as the feeling of waiting was not pleasant after all.
"Schultz, I heard the Fat Man fell from power because he angered the Führer? Was the charge of treason pinned on him by the Gestapo?"
Although the products of the two companies were rivals, the test pilots were very good friends who often exchanged opinions on the aircraft.
"You've always been well-informed; who do you think will take over as Commander-in-Chief?"
"Are the affairs of big shots something we can discuss?"
Schultz frowned, looked at the Leibstandarte soldiers on guard duty nearby, and whispered, "If I were you, I wouldn't get involved in such matters; I'd stay as far away as possible."
"Come on, aside from slandering the Führer, there's nothing you wouldn't dare say. Didn't you once see the Reichsmarschall as a clown?"
Wendel, who was test-flying the Me-262, had dealt with Schultz for a long time and couldn't help but expose him.
"Spit it out; keeping it bottled up is painful. If you have something valuable to say, I'll treat you to a drink at the club tonight."
"Didn't you see that the Führer himself arrived today? The meeting has been dragging on, and with the test flight time pushed past 3:00 PM from 2:00 PM, they might be arguing fiercely inside."
"This is the first time I've encountered such a strange situation. It's hard to say who will succeed the Commander-in-Chief, but a new round of purges in the Air Force is likely inevitable—if you still have any memory of the purge of the SA back then."
Wendel shrugged indifferently: "Purges or whatever might scare the big shots, but for an Aryan with pure blood like me, it doesn't matter. Maybe a few positions will open up at the top."
"Fine, since you want to hear it so much, I'll tell you."
"I really can't guess the successor to the Commander-in-Chief, but as you said, Marshal Milch is going to be sidelined. The Gestapo has come after him again, and now there is no one to shield him from the wind and rain, so I will likely leave the test pilot team next."
"What does this have to do with you?"
Wendel asked in confusion, "If you really had a connection with Marshal Milch, you wouldn't still just be a captain after all these years."
"Really, think about it."
Schultz patiently explained, "After Milch is sidelined, Dr. Messerschmitt will have no opponents. With his means and connections, plus the performance of the Me-2280 in previous test flights, winning the order is almost a certainty."
"Without the project, I naturally won't need to perform test flight missions anymore."
Wendel didn't say anything; he knew Schultz was right: back in 1928, when Milch was serving as the Chairman of German Civil Aviation and President of Lufthansa, Messerschmitt developed the M20 airliner. As it turned out, Milch's close friend died in a flight accident while testing the M20. In his grief, Milch believed Messerschmitt was responsible for his good friend's death and lacked empathy afterward, becoming his lifelong enemy from then on.
After the design of the Bf-109 was completed, Messerschmitt could barely obtain government orders under Milch's nose, so he had to turn to selling M37 and M36 transport aircraft to Romania to maintain enterprise operations.
Upon learning of this, Milch publicly accused Messerschmitt of being a traitor and ordered the Gestapo to investigate; fortunately, Messerschmitt had a deep friendship with Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess, so the matter was dropped.
During the development of the jet aircraft, although the Me-262 started slightly later, its performance had always been superior to the He-280; it was only because of Milch's obstruction that the Air Force had delayed confirming the status of the Me-262.
If Milch were to fall, Dr. Messerschmitt would certainly be among the crowd cheering and celebrating.
"If you don't work as a test pilot, what do you plan to do? Go to the Eastern Front?"
"No."
Schultz said self-deprecatingly, "Nobody yells 'Everything that flies in Germany belongs to me' anymore. The Navy is planning to establish its own aviation force. The Führer has approved an aviation corps with a complement of about 400 aircraft, and the Navy is now desperately recruiting personnel from the Air Force."
"Some of the people who go are disgruntled job-hoppers, some are troublemakers pushed out by their superiors, and some are lunatics craving adventure... I'm also preparing to go to the Navy; perhaps a change of environment will be good for my rank."
"Hahaha, I think you fit all three categories! It's settled, I must treat you to a good meal to see you off..."
"Stop shouting... the Führer is here."
Schultz's speculation was completely logical: because the content involved was so extensive, the aviation armament coordination meeting, originally scheduled to end in one hour, was forced to be extended by another hour, which delayed the test flight time.
The meeting started off quite plainly. After Keitel spoke, Speer, known as the Economic Führer and the soul of the wartime system, officially announced that he was taking over the organization of aircraft manufacturing and the authority to allocate raw materials from the Air Force Technical Department. From now on, the Air Force Technical Department would only assume purely technical functions. Although everyone found it hard to accept, they knew it was imperative—it was a wartime system after all, and furthermore, this situation was by no means unique to the aircraft manufacturing industry; the tank manufacturing industry had already taken a step ahead in adjusting and optimizing.
Someone muttered privately: "Looking at this situation, I'm afraid that in a while, the equipment departments of the three armed services will all be separated from their branches and become subordinate agencies of the Reich Ministry of Armaments."
"Equipment departments of the three services? You underestimate the architect's appetite. A wartime system management committee that oversees the overall situation will be established soon. At that time, the Führer will be in command, and Speer will be in overall charge. Only agencies at the level of the Reich Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor (Organization Todt), and the Ministry of Weapons and Military Industry will be qualified to be subordinate agencies. The equipment departments of the three services will likely be even lower than that. Haven't you heard his slogan—everything for the sake of winning!"
Obviously, those present at the meeting were not convinced by Speer, who had suddenly attained a high position and had not yet revealed his true capabilities; they thought he had only risen to power by serving as the Führer's architectural designer.
Soon, this idea of theirs was hit by a storm—the Führer, who came to attend the meeting in person, instructed Speer to put forward the Aviation Armament Reorganization Plan.
"The 'Aviation Armament Reorganization Plan' has been personally reviewed and approved by the Führer. There is only one core—from now on, aircraft manufacturing must compress multi-model production lines and focus on the production and subsequent improvements of a single model. At the same time, large-scale decentralized collaborative production will be carried out, meaning that different parts of the same model of aircraft will be produced by different manufacturers, and finally assembled at the final assembly plant, with no further emphasis on the design company completing the production."
"This determination is unshakable. If you express opposition or hold a skeptical attitude toward this, I suggest you go to the Army and learn about the Tank Armament Reorganization Plan."
Everyone gasped; the Tank Armament Reorganization Plan was no longer a secret in high-level circles: the production lines for the Panzer II and Panzer III, which had rendered great service to the Empire, were ruthlessly terminated. From now on, the Army would no longer produce the Panzer II, and those already equipped would be gradually phased out—either sold to Axis little brothers in exchange for strategic materials, or returned to the factory to be modified into self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles (equipped with four 20mm autocannons).
The Panzer III was slightly luckier; its chassis production line would be retained, specifically for producing the StuG III, which the infantry needed most.
The Führer had issued an order that before the end of 1942, all Panzer III tanks must be returned to the factory to be converted into assault guns. Even the Panzer IV could not escape the fate of modification; short-barreled Panzer IVs were to be discontinued, and those already produced were to be successively converted into long-barreled Panzer IV Ausf. Gs.
The Army General Staff originally had some complaints about such major changes, but they were silenced in the face of Speer's ironclad guarantees—after switching to a wartime system, all factories would organize production in three shifts to increase output, and military plans would never be delayed.
Speer even set a wager: he guaranteed that within the next six months, on the premise of completing the modification tasks of the relevant old model tanks on schedule, he would simultaneously provide the Wehrmacht with 150% of the original order quantity of new tanks, all of which would be the latest Panzer IV Ausf. G. Furthermore, considering that the gaps left by the Panzer II and Panzer III still needed to be filled, this quantity would exceed the original production capacity by more than double.
If he couldn't do it, he would resign and go home directly, but if he, Speer, completed this plan, then the generals in the High Command and the Army General Staff who questioned this would each have to stand guard for him for one week, one by one, until everyone had taken their turn.
This wager frightened the originally aggressive generals; they grumbled, but none dared to step forward to accept Speer's challenge.
This wager was so famous that within two days it had spread throughout the Empire's armament industry. Now, all military industrial enterprises and all branches of the armed forces knew of Speer's determination, and the aviation industry was naturally no exception; everyone in the meeting venue held their breath, waiting for what would come next.