Albert Kesselring's aviation expert

In the Polish campaign that started World War II, Kesselring's 1 Air Force was responsible for supporting the Northern Army Group under the command of General fedor von bock. Although Kesselring was not a subordinate of Bok, he cooperated closely with Bok and obeyed Bok's orders in many aspects to meet the needs of ground war. Kesselring should provide close support to the ground forces as far as possible, concentrate the available air force and give full play to the flexibility of the air force at key points (such as the battle of La Chu). He also tried to cut off the communication lines of the Polish army through a series of bombing operations in Warsaw, Poland, only to find that even a one-ton bomb might not blow up the bridge.

Kesselring was shot down by its air force in Poland. He was shot down five times during the whole World War II. In recognition of Kesselring's performance in the Polish War, Hitler personally awarded him the Knight Iron Cross. Kesselring's 1 fleet did not participate in the preparations for the upcoming battle on the western front. On the contrary, it is still stationed on the eastern front, responsible for establishing a new air base and air raid protection network in occupied Poland. However, after a plane carrying German invasion plan documents forced to land in Belgium (the famous Melunxi incident), Goering dismissed Haimrle Ferme, commander of the 2nd Air Fleet, and appointed Kesselring to take over the post. The latter flew to his new headquarters in Mü nster the next day (1940 65438+ 10/3). Ferme's chief of staff, Major General Joseph Kamhuber, was also dismissed, and Kesselring appointed his own chief of staff, William Speedel.

After arriving in the western front, Kesselring learned that the task of the 2nd Air Force was to support Bok's B Army Group. He inherited a complicated air invasion plan from Ferme, which described the airborne action plan to occupy the bridges and airports in The Hague and Rotterdam in the "Dutch Fort" area. There are several hours of action in the planned timetable that are accurate to the minute. The paratroopers are under the command of aviation general Kurt Studen, and the success or failure of the operation depends on getting in touch with the mechanized troops quickly. In order to achieve this goal, Kesselring promised Bok that he would provide as much personal support as possible. But air and ground operations will start at the same time, so there will be no time to suppress the Dutch air force responsible for defense.

The Dutch campaign began in May 1940. Although the initial air combat went smoothly and Kesselring's fighter and bomber units gained the upper hand against the weak Dutch air force, paratroopers met fierce resistance in The Hague and Rotterdam. 1940 On May 4th, in response to Studen's request for assistance, Kesselring ordered the bombing of the center of Rotterdam, which triggered a fire and caused a lot of damage to the city.

1940 in may 14, the Netherlands surrendered. The 2nd Air Force continued to try to seize the new airport in Belgium, and at the same time, it did not forget to provide support for the rapidly advancing army troops. The French campaign went very smoothly. General heinz guderian, an armored soldier, crossed the Meuse River in Sedan on May 1940+03. In order to support this breakthrough, Kesselring transferred the Eighth Air Force led by Lieutenant General wolfram von Richthofen to the Third Air Force. On May 24th, the Allied Forces split in two, and only one seaport in Dunkirk was still under control, while the Germans were only 15km away. However, General Gert von Lang Stedt ordered to stop the attack that day, which was a "fatal mistake" in Kesselring's view. The burden of the Germans holding their ground and preventing the Allied troops from retreating from Dunkirk fell on the shoulders of Kesselring pilots. Their attack was interfered by bad weather and the Royal Air Force, and most of the allied forces finally successfully withdrew from Dunkirk. 1940, 19 In July, Kesselring was promoted to the rank of Marshal, which was a special reward for him and his troops. Kesselring's 2nd Air Force remained on the western front until May of 194 1, even though it was incorporated into the sequence of soviet strike. On the one hand, this is to deceive the Soviet army, on the other hand, until June 1 day, when the German army is scheduled to attack, its airport facilities in Poland are not yet complete. When the Germans launched the "Battle of Barbarossa" to invade the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 194 1, these facilities had been deployed, so Kesselring established his new headquarters in Belanyi, a suburb of Warsaw.

The task of the 2nd Air Fleet in this battle is to support the Central Army Group under Bok's command, and the two men once again continued their previous close cooperation. Kesselring's task is to gain air superiority as soon as possible while supporting ground operations, and if possible. To this end, he has a huge air force of 1000 aircraft, accounting for about one-third of the total strength of the German Air Force.

When the Germans attacked, a large number of planes of the Soviet Air Force were still parked on the ground. Soviet troops also carried out wrong tactics, such as using bombers with incomplete formation and no escort to meet the German fleet at a standard distance, which caused greater losses. According to Kesselring's report, in the first week of the battle, the Second Air Force destroyed 2,500 Soviet planes in the air and on the ground. However, Goering questioned the authenticity of the report and ordered his men to re-examine it. With the advance of the German army, the German side has been able to directly count the number of planes destroyed on the ground, but found that the estimate in the report is too low. A few days later, Kesselring will be able to fly on the front line by himself on the Fw 189 reconnaissance plane.

After gaining the air superiority, the 2nd Air Fleet turned to support the ground forces' operations, especially to protect the flanks of the armored forces' attack targets, so as to ensure that the armored forces could advance rapidly. When the enemy counterattacked, Kesselring devoted all his forces. At this time, the army has fully believed in the value of air support, but it also tends to rely too much. At that time, Kesselring had to persuade the army to concentrate all air support forces in important areas. Kesselring also tried to improve the air joint combat capability of the troops through new tactics, and appointed Colonel Martin Fibiger as the special commander of close air support. By July 26th, Kesselring reported that * * * had destroyed Soviet tanks 165, vehicles136 and artillery 194.

194 1 Later, the 2nd Air Fleet supported the final German attack on Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, with the code name "Typhoon Action". Facts have proved that the risk of air force attacking Moscow is extremely high. Just like Britain before, the city has a good all-weather airport, and the German Air Force has to deal with a large number of anti-aircraft guns stationed there in addition to fighting Soviet fighters. Moscow is rainy and foggy in autumn, which is extremely unfavorable for the German attack. German bombing had little effect, and the loss of personnel and materials was very heavy. In order to change the passive situation, Kesselring carried out several air strikes in Moscow to explore ways to enhance the bombing effect in bad weather. He asked the pilots who attacked the ground to do their best. 194 1 year1kloc-0/month, Kesselring was appointed commander-in-chief of the southern theater and was transferred to Italy together with the adjutant of the 2nd Air Fleet. The latter temporarily served as a member of the Southern Theater Command. It was not until June 1943 that Kesselring really had a separate staff committee for the Theater Command and the 2nd Air Force. In the position of commander-in-chief of the theater, Kesselring was directly responsible to the German high command, commanding all the armed forces in the region, but at first this arrangement was of little significance, because most of the German frontline combat troops were controlled by Italy.

Kesselring made great efforts to organize and protect the supply fleet of German and Italian armored forces in North Africa, and established a solid air superiority in the local area, making it impossible for the British to dispatch submarines and planes to attack the Mediterranean base of the Axis fleet-malta island. Without the materials (especially oil) carried by the fleet, the Axis forces will not be able to carry out combat missions in North Africa. Through Kesselring's successful management and emergency plan, General erwin rommel's supply to the German African troops in Libya has greatly increased. Due to the improvement of military strength, Rommel prepared to attack the British troops in Gachara, while Kesselring planned the "Battle of Hercules", and attacked Malta from sea and air with the Italian 185 Lightning Airborne Division and Remke Parachute Brigade, hoping to ensure the smooth supply and communication lines between the Axis countries and North Africa.

In the Battle of Gachara, Rommel divided the troops he commanded into two parts: one part was the German African Army Motorized Army commanded by Rommel himself and the 20th Italian Motorized Army, which was responsible for detouring to the south wing of the 8th Army of Lieutenant General Nierlich; The other is an Italian 10 and 2 1 2 infantry under the command of armored general Ludwig Cromwell, who is responsible for delaying the remaining forces of the British Eighth Army. This command arrangement went wrong on May 29th,1942-Clouville was captured by the British. Due to the lack of qualified generals, Kesselring temporarily took over the command of his troops "Clouville Cluster". When he flew to the meeting place on the Fi- 156 Stork contact plane, he was shot and killed by the British troops who blocked the German traffic line on the ground, so Kesselring called all available Stuka and attack planes to launch an air strike against him. His attack was quite successful, and the British army was forced to retreat after being hit hard.

Then, Rommel and Kesselring clashed over the performance of the former in the Battle of Bill Hagen. Rommel's first infantry assault failed to occupy this important area, and the Free France 1 Brigade under the command of General Marie Pierre Knig held fast and was located in the southern hub of the British Gasala defense line. Rommel asked for air support, but he still couldn't break through the defense in this area. Kesselring believes that the reason is poor coordination between ground forces and air attacks. Even so, Bill Hagen was still occupied by the Germans on June 10. What impressed Kesselring even more was that Rommel successfully occupied the bloody sand, 438+0, on June 26th, for which the former dispatched additional aircraft forces from Greece and Crete. Because of his performance in North Africa, Kesselring was awarded the Iron Cross of Oak Blade Knight on July 1942.

After the bloody victory, Rommel won in Mersa-Matru, and the German logistics capacity reached its limit. Thanks to the support of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Bumblebee, the Maltese fortress regained its vitality and intercepted supplies to the African legion everywhere. The conclusion that the fate of the desert fox was decided by the rocks in Malta finally came out. Finally, it caused a series of disastrous consequences in the first battle of El Alamein, the battle of Manhal and the second battle of El Alamein. Kesselring thought that Rommel was a great general when he commanded a mobile army with the size of a legion, but he was too emotional and capricious when he commanded a larger army. Rommel had a nervous breakdown in the final stage of the African war and was hospitalized for depression. For Kesselring, this proves his point.

In September 1942, Kesselring was briefly considered to succeed Wilhelm Keitel as the Minister of High Command and friedrich paulus as the Minister of Operations, which shows that Hitler attached great importance to Kesselring. In the end, however, Hitler thought that Kesselring and paulus could not get away from their present posts. 1942 10, Kesselring was authorized to command all German troops in North Africa except Rommel's German-Italian armored forces. His subordinates include commandos, liaison officer Enno von Rintelen, who speaks fluent Italian, and German troops in the Balkans and Greece.

1942165438+1At the beginning of October, the allied forces launched "Torch Operation" to land in French North Africa, and Kesselring's troops were in crisis. He ordered General Walter Nehrig, a former commander of the African Army and an armored soldier who recovered after being injured in the Battle of Alam Hallefa, to go to Tunisia to take over the newly established XC army. Kesselring ordered Nehrig to build a bridgehead in Tunisia, and then push westward as far as possible, so as to gain room for circuitous maneuver. Later, in the Battle of Kesselring Pass, his troops also successfully attacked the allied forces, but due to the strong resistance of the latter and a series of mistakes of the Axis forces, the offensive finally had to come to an end. At this point, Kesselring tried to gather the materials needed by his troops and then transported them from Sicily to North Africa. However, due to the constant attacks by allied planes and submarines, the final results were minimal. The Allies finally made a breakthrough in the attack in April, and the defense of the Axis forces in Tunisia collapsed in an all-round way, and the German and Italian armies captured 275,000 people. Such a heavy loss is second only to the battle of Stalingrad.