“The mobile flak vehicle is also fairly self-explanatory, and the Russian influence in the design is again quite clear. The Soviet’s ZSU-23-4 ‘Shilka’ self-propelled anti-air vehicle proved to be incredibly effective against low-flying aircraft throughout the Arab-Israeli wars and in the later conflicts between Iran and Iraq, and this Wehrmacht replica — which appears to mount four cannon identical to the Shilka’s twenty-three millimetre guns — has proven to be absolutely lethal against any allied aircraft that flies within range of its guns… an effective slant range that we estimate to be approximately four thousand metres.
“Following that, we have some further evidence of original designs in the development of the Wehrmacht’s new range of vehicles.” Using the laser-pointer included in the remote control, he pointed out each picture in turn. “This IFV, assault gun and SP flak are all obviously developed from the original T-54/55 hull platform, as they clearly have the same layout of five road wheels with rear drive sprocket, front idler and no return rollers… although that’s about where the similarities end. The IFV appears to have been inspired by the Realtime Marder infantry fighting vehicle, although being based on an MBT hull would suggest the armour is somewhat heavier, and it mounts a small, two-man turret armed with one of the same 23mm cannon as the Shilka, along with at least three firing ports on either side, judging by the pictures we’ve been able to obtain. Carrying capacity appears to be standard, with a crew of three and space for seven or eight grenadiers.
“The assault gun has taken the Realtime Soviet ISU as a starting point, and the similarity is there for anyone to see: it has a long, low crew compartment forward, with a heavy, hull-mounted gun of limited traverse and elevation. The weapon is big — substantially larger than the eighty-eight mil of the MBT — and Commander Donelson and I concur that the most likely armament is the SIG33 150mm infantry gun. The vehicles aren’t common, and seem to be attached in twos or threes at battalion level to provide support for advancing infantry in neutralising strongpoints, as were their assault guns in Realtime.” Thorne paused as he took a long breath.
“There are also reports of other vehicles we’ve not yet been able to obtain pictures of, and their strategy seems to be to use their new, powerful equipment to punch holes in the front lines and push forward while more conventional forces fill those gaps and solidify the gains.” He paused again.
“One thing I’ve also been able to piece together is that it appears the Wehrmacht has given the Waffen-SS a greatly expanded offensive role in this era than was the case in Realtime. All of the vehicles I have pictures of here display the unit insignia of the 3rd SS ‘Totenkopf’ Division, and the manner of their employment as shock troops in the initial phases of the invasion so far suggests the Waffen-SS is being used in a manner similar to that of the modern US Marine Corps… on a side note, I’ve also noticed it’s fairly easy to identify Schutzstaffeln armoured units, as standard Wehrmacht tank unit numbers are being displayed in red while the SS units are displayed in yellow.
“The upshot of all this information is that without control of the air, which the RAF has lost completely, there’s little chance of halting armoured advances using these new vehicles. The T-55 in standard form would be invulnerable to the British army’s two-pounder gun from the front and flanks, and while the heavier three-point-sevens have been able to penetrate their armour, and the new ten-pounders at least partially-effective from the flanks, there aren’t enough of either of those weapons to make anything more than localised dents in the enemy’s advances. Although we were obviously able to prevent Reuters from getting heavier armaments into the tanks, the tried and true eighty-eight millimetre they already have is more that powerful enough to defeat any known British tank without difficulty.” He took another breath before moving on to other areas.
“With regard to something much closer to home here at Scapa Flow, the British Home Fleet sortied early this morning, as we all know, with the intention of interdicting invasion forces crossing The Channel. While we know the attempt was unsuccessful, we do have information that the fleet was able to inflict serious damage on a large enemy surface force off the Dogger Bank this afternoon.” The next still images to appear were of a damaged and burning warship — a large one.
“Squadron Leader Trumbull wasn’t able to get much footage, as the engagement was mostly over by the time he overflew it, but several things did become apparent.” He took another breath before continuing. “This vessel is an enemy aircraft carrier — something which in itself is a substantial departure from Realtime events. The fact that it appears to also be far larger than anything we’d have expected of the Kriegsmarine is also unsettling, although in this case, aircraft from Ark Royal were able to catch its planes on deck and inflict very serious damage indeed. We’re unlikely to know what the fate of this vessel is, but the images here are enough to suggest that at the very least it’ll be out of action for some time — with any luck it may prove to be unsalvageable.” He changed the pictures again, this time to display the damaged but triumphant Bismarck.
“We believe the carrier is based on the same hull form as this vessel, which some of you may recognise as a Yamato class superbattleship, with approximate displacement of sixty to seventy thousand tonnes and a main armament of nine 460mm rifled guns in three triple turrets. This is what we know in this era as the battleship Bismarck, and as you can all see, there’s evidence of damage inflicted upon her aft, but she was the remaining capital ship holding the area of battle at the end of the engagement earlier today. With armour as thick as forty to sixty centimetres in places, there’s every chance the shells of the Home Fleet simply bounced off or shattered on impact rather than managing any effective penetration.” Another picture change… “This vessel was the only other capital ship of either side to survive the main engagement.” The image was of a severely damaged Gneisenau, decks awash and burning heavily in three places, but nevertheless able to gain control of the beating inflicted upon her by Queen Elizabeth. “What you’re all looking at is a Scharnhorst class battlecruiser, however close examination of the main armament indicates she’s not carrying the Realtime complement of nine eleven-inch guns, and instead appears to be mounting three twin turrets of some type. In light of a never-realised Realtime plan to rearm this ship class in just such a fashion, we can only assume she’s instead carrying three twin turrets of fifteen-inch guns, of the type that would’ve originally been mounted aboard the Realtime Bismarck.” He shut down the projector altogether and took a few steps forward toward his unit, all eyes following him closely.
“We all have a general understanding of what happened out off The Dogger Bank today: the Home Fleet was all but annihilated, with just Ark Royal and a damaged Malaya managed to make it clear of the battle area, both ships expected back at Scapa Flow sometime early tomorrow morning. There hasn’t been time to get much more detail on what’s happening, but the one glaringly significant point to come out of all this is that, as we feared, Reuters and his unit have been operating in this era for many years aiding Hitler and the Nazis… possibly even before the NSDAP originally took power in 1933. The massive increase in shipbuilding the Kriegsmarine has been able to pull off here over the original, Realtime Z-plan isn’t something that could’ve been accomplished overnight: this kind of increase in naval capability could only have been made possible if the entire infrastructure of German shipbuilding and industry in general had been reorganised, upgraded and massively expanded, and that’s something that would take years to complete.” He took another deep, slow breath as he prepared to finish up.