Capítulo 238: Chapter 316 P City
The car raced on the highway, and Colonel Edman detailedly explained everything here. "General Rommel, there are four transport pipelines buried on both sides of the road, leading directly from the port of Sirte to P City."
"Four?" Rommel couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "So many? What do they usually transport?"
Colonel Edman replied, "Usually, there's only one pipeline transporting freshwater from the port of Sirte, and the other three pipelines are virtually useless except for routine maintenance."
"Interesting." It must have cost a lot of manpower and resources to lay such long pipelines. Yet, once laid, they are left unused?
After thinking for a while, Rommel signaled Colonel Edman to continue.
Colonel Edman pointed to a bunker that flashed by on the roadside. "As you can see, there is a bunker every 500 meters along the highway, with a squad of soldiers stationed in each bunker. In addition to the conventional squad weapons, there is a 12.7mm heavy machine gun or a 20mm autocannon on the top floor of each bunker. There are also several patrols that patrol back and forth irregularly, enough to ensure the safety of the highway."
Rommel couldn't help but be amazed. Indeed, he had seen many two or three-story bunkers along the way. Keep in mind that from the port of Sirte to P City is over 200 kilometers, which means there are over 400 bunkers in between, with over 4,000 soldiers, nearly half of a division's strength.
Why did His Highness attach such importance to P City?
"Colonel Edman, have you been responsible for the construction of P City all along?"
Colonel Edman shook his head. "No, I was transferred here just three months ago. Frankly speaking, if I had to stay in such a godforsaken place for seven or eight years, it would have driven me crazy. Fortunately, His Highness understands us and rotates personnel every ten months."
"What exactly is P City? A supply station?"
"In fact, I can't really say." Colonel Edman scratched his head. "We build whatever we're told to build. So far, P City has reached a scale of 200,000 buildings. Of course, there aren't that many people. Including the guards along the road, the entire P City has just over 15,000 people.
In addition to housing, all kinds of facilities are also readily available. Since there's not much to do, and the terrain is spacious, the current airport has expanded to accommodate a thousand aircraft with eight runways, allowing eight planes to take off simultaneously."
"Heh!" A thousand aircraft, that's a super-large airport. There are hardly any of that size even in Germany!
"There are also quite a few armored repair shops. With the right technical personnel, we can repair up to twenty tanks or armored vehicles simultaneously. In addition, medical and recreational facilities, among other amenities, are all available."
Rommel nodded thoughtfully. It sounded like a supply station.
But he found it a bit strange. Why deploy such a force to guard the highway?
As they continued to drive, after over two hours, Rommel saw a tall building in the distance, looking like it had to be thirty to forty meters high, with a width of fifty to sixty meters—a gigantic structure. "What is that?"
Colonel Edman swiftly introduced, "That is the Zoo Anti-Aircraft Tower, said to be designed and named by His Highness. It's 70 meters long, 70 meters wide, and 40 meters high, constructed with reinforced concrete for the brick walls, reaching a thickness of around 3 to 4 meters."
In the original timeline, this type of large defensive tower was a reinforced anti-aircraft tower located in Berlin, primarily serving to protect government buildings in the Berlin government district. Simultaneously, it provided shelter for Berlin citizens during bombing raids, and the anti-aircraft tower also housed medical facilities.
At the very top of the tower, there were four twin-mounted anti-aircraft guns, the most powerful anti-aircraft guns in Germany at the time. Each gun could fire at a rate of 12 rounds per minute, and the twin-mounted 128mm anti-aircraft guns could achieve a firing rate of 24 rounds per minute. A tower equipped with four anti-aircraft guns could achieve a firing rate of 96 rounds per minute, forming a highly dense barrage, preventing high-altitude bombers from approaching.
In addition to defending against the attacks of the British Royal Air Force, the Zoo Anti-Aircraft Tower can also serve as a massive war refuge. The layout of the entire anti-aircraft tower typically consists of 5-6 floors:
- The first floor functions as a shelter for Berlin citizens during air raids, equipped with independent power and water supplies to sustain normal living conditions for up to nearly ten thousand civilians during wartime. The surplus space can also store ammunition and weapons.
- The second floor is the repository for Germany's most valuable collections and treasures. To prevent important collections from various museums in Germany from being damaged by enemy air raids, they were uniformly stored on the second floor of these anti-aircraft towers, which also had temperature control capabilities.
- The third floor houses a critical domestic medical institution in Germany, with over 60 medical personnel working there. It is equipped with 100 hospital beds and several operating rooms. The renowned German ace pilot, Hans-Ulrich Rudel, underwent leg amputation surgery in the anti-aircraft tower.
- The remaining fourth, fifth, and sixth floors are primarily used for the residence of soldiers and combat personnel, including some command posts and radio communication departments.
During the entire WWII period, Germany built eight anti-aircraft towers—three in Berlin, two in Hamburg, and three in Vienna. In the defense zone of these anti-aircraft towers, neither the enemy's air force nor army could advance further, opting to detour. Not a single anti-aircraft tower was captured by enemy forces throughout the war. Even on the eve of Germany's defeat, the Zoo Anti-Aircraft Tower, utilizing 20mm anti-aircraft guns and 128mm heavy artillery in direct fire, stubbornly hindered the Soviet Union's final advance. When the Soviet army attacked the Reichstag building, they faced heavy firepower from three anti-aircraft towers, preventing any further progress. After Germany's surrender, soldiers in these anti-aircraft towers surrendered one after another.
After the war, Allied forces took over these anti-aircraft towers. Initially intending to demolish them all, the Allied engineers attempted to use 25 tons of explosives for the first time, but the attempt failed, and the anti-aircraft towers remained standing. Eventually, after four months and more than 35 tons of explosives, over 400 holes were drilled into the reinforced concrete of the anti-aircraft tower, finally destroying one. The same method was later used to destroy other anti-aircraft towers, but it was not as effective as the first attempt. Therefore, they abandoned the demolition of other anti-aircraft towers. Consequently, these anti-aircraft towers have become tourist attractions in modern-day Germany.
"With P City, there are four of these anti-aircraft towers." Listening to Colonel Edman's explanation, Rommel's brow furrowed deeply. "Colonel Edman, are you hiding something from me? Does P City have some other secret?"
Colonel Edman innocently replied, "Your Excellency, you are currently in charge of P City. How could I dare to hide anything from you?"
"Then tell me, why are there anti-aircraft towers here that even Berlin doesn't have?"
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