Quote:
Originally Posted by IronDuke99
Sorry, but exactly how many early helicopters does Germany have to make this heliborne invasion of Switzerland possible and how are these troops organised? What heavy weapons do they have?
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I was thinking of using Gebirgsjaegers -- the 1st through 7th Mountain Divisions -- in operations against Switzerland, using a mixture of conventional foot/motorized infantry, and vertical envelopement.
Essentially the Fa 223 Drache in both the conventional and Zwilling form would be used.
The Fa223 could transport 1,000~ kg of cargo up to altitudes of around 2,400~ meters, and heavy experiments were done using the early Fa223 prototypes for mountain war:
In early 1944, a Dornier Do 217 crashed high up on the Vehner moor in Lower Saxony, between Osnabrück and Oldenburg, and it was decided to send the V11 to recover the wreckage. Unfortunately the V11 ended up crashing nearby before it could attempt to lift the Do 217's remains. It was then decided to attempt to recover both using the V14. Flown by Karl Bode and Luftwaffe helicopter pilot Helmut Gerstenhauer, the operation was begun on 11 May 1944. A small team of Focke-Achgelis men and a Luftwaffe recovery company had already dismantled the V11, and the V14 made 10 flights carrying loads beneath it in a cargo net and setting them down where they could be loaded on to road vehicles. All the major parts of the V11 and the Do 217 were retrieved and much useful experience was gained.
Following this, the Air Ministry decided to evaluate the helicopter's potential as a transport in mountainous regions, and the V16 was assigned to the Mountain Warfare School at Mittenwald, near Innsbruck, with the V14 as a backup. The objective of the tests was to see how the Drache would perform as a general-purpose all-weather transport, and numerous landings were made at altitudes of over 1,600 m (5,200 ft) above sea level, plus experimental transportation of artillery guns to mountain troops. When the trials ended in October 1944, a total of 83 flights had been made, with a total flying time of 20 hours.
The highest town in Switzerland -- Juf, is at 2,160 metres.
I've been reading a bit (okay I started months ago, and never finished), on Switzerland's war plans. Essentially, they planned to abandon the majority of the low-lands if Germany invaded, and hold out from high altitude strongholds.
What happens if helicopter envelopment makes that strategy infeasible?
Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
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