Chapter 1007 The Second Battle of Midway (7)

Hoffman believed that he was going further and further down some evil paths, especially the introduction of the "spear thrower" tactic, which exacerbated this self-mockery.

At nightfall on August 25, 1944, with an order from Marshal, the main German fleet launched an attack on El Salvador.

"First-level combat readiness"

"First-level combat readiness!"

On the four ships that looked like aircraft carriers, all ground crews immediately became busy, and the battleships protected them tightly in the middle.

Only by boarding the ship and observing carefully can you find that although they also have flat decks and hangars like aircraft carriers, in fact, there are no aircraft or bombs in their hangars. This warship converted from a 15,000-ton tanker uses brand-new weapons and has a majestic name in Hoffman's mouth - spear throwers.

This is the world's first modified aircraft carrier that does not use aircraft as a means of combat. Its means of attack is rockets - the Führer calls them missile aircraft carriers.

Robert Goddard, an authority on rocket development in the United States, once described a terrible scene to the Joint Chiefs of Staff: dozens of German cargo ships loaded with rockets were launched hundreds of kilometers away from the US coastline, and the densely populated and industrially equipped eastern cities turned into a sea of ​​fire. Now his "dream" is finally coming true. The whole set of tactics will use rockets to open the way and create better opportunities for the aircraft carrier formation to break through - just like the medieval wars where the cavalry charged before the spear throwers threw thousands of flying spears in their hands, forming a dense killing scene.

A violent and saturated beauty armed with modern technology - before this, only Hoffman knew how to appreciate it, but after today, everyone knows how to appreciate it.

The four Spear Throwers are actually equipped with two types of rockets. One is a 16-ton V2+ missile with a warhead of 1,000 kg and a maximum range of 600 km. They will be launched at a position of about 500 km; the other is a 3.5-ton V3 missile, which uses a ramjet engine, a warhead of 750 kg, and a maximum range of 450 km. They will be launched at a position of about 400 km.

These are two rockets with different forms and operating logic.

V2 is a typical ballistic missile. Each Spear Thrower can carry 24 regular and 12 spare missiles. It has a fast speed, up to Mach 4.8. There is nothing on the earth that can defend it.

V3 is a typical cruise missile. Like its predecessor V1 rocket, it is very similar to an unmanned suicide plane, but it is faster than V1, nearly 750 km/h, exceeding all current piston engine aircraft. Although it is difficult to defend, it can still be shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Each Spear Thrower can carry 64 regular and 32 spare missiles.

Although both are called missiles, they are different in size, launch method and cost.

Each V2+ missile costs about 140,000 marks, while the V3 missile costs about 30,000 marks. Compared with the price of V1, which is only 7,500 marks, it is a big increase in price, but it is a drop in the bucket for Germany now.

When launching the last air raid on Great Britain, Germany used up all the V2+ missiles produced in the early stage in one go. After the full-speed production in the past few months, more goods have been accumulated. After the ground launch, silo launch and railway mobile launch have been successful, Hoffman is finally going to try ship-borne launch.

However, Germany has obviously not used the will wheel as a launch platform as Goddard expected, because the rocket needs to be erected and stabilized before launch, and then fuel needs to be stored. Therefore, using tankers to transform missile carriers is the most preferred goal after Hoffman and experts discussed.

The main cabins of the four tankers loaded with rockets have been transformed into missile and launch sites. The deepest cabin has been reinforced with 100mm armored steel to store rocket fuel. Generally speaking, rockets are not dangerous before fuel filling. The biggest risk is this batch of flammable, explosive and corrosive fuel. Therefore, not only must the cabins be reinforced, but the filling must also be done at night to avoid possible harassment by enemy aircraft. The most important task for the ground crew now is to inject this batch of fuel into the rocket body fuel tank.

Germany's rocket level is unique in the world. If jets and Britain can barely be said to be comparable, rocket technology is far ahead of other countries. After the speech in Peenemünde, many problems that plagued the development of Germany's missile industry, such as resources, materials, manpower, and development direction, have been solved one by one, achieving far more outstanding results than in history.

In history, the farthest V2 hit was only 370 kilometers. Now the modified V2+ can easily hit 600 kilometers, and it has entered the practical stage ahead of schedule and achieved mass production.

At the launch site test base, there is the Super V2 (later renamed V4), which has passed the acceptance and is composed of two-stage rockets in series. It has a maximum range of 1,200 kilometers and can hit the target from the Peenemünde base all the way to the waters off Norway. It is expected to start mass production in October, and the submarine-launched performance of the missile is being modified at the same time. Currently, the V6 rocket, which is two-stage in series plus four additional boosters, is being tested intensively. It has an estimated range of 2,500-3,000 kilometers and can hit the target from Peenemünde all the way to the Barents Sea. It is a strategic submarine-launched rocket prepared to be placed in the XXX-class super submarine. The maximum carrying capacity of the warhead is 5 tons - it can carry super bombs.

The V8 rocket, which uses a three-stage rocket with four boosters and has a range of more than 5,000 kilometers, has also completed the relevant design and is ready to carry out ground ignition tests at an appropriate time. According to Braun's schedule, it is expected to be produced in 1949-1950, with a warhead carrying capacity of 5 tons. It is planned to carry not only super bombs but also more advanced nuclear fusion bombs.

However, the development of the V5 cruise missile is not smooth. The development requirements for this missile are that it can be mounted on an aircraft, the weight cannot be greater than 800 kilograms, the range is not less than 120 kilometers and the penetration speed is not less than 900 kilometers per hour. Now only any two of the three goals can be achieved.

Since the V5 cannot be achieved, the V7 based on the V5 and prepared for anti-radiation cannot be achieved for the time being (weight not more than 250 kilograms, warhead not less than 50 kilograms, range not less than 60 kilometers).

As can be seen from the model, now those ending in odd numbers have become cruise missiles, and those ending in even numbers have become ballistic missiles. Hoffman plans to re-introduce the naming method in the next stage to distinguish between cruise and ballistic missiles.

The accuracy problem that has plagued German rockets in history has gradually improved. The V2+ ballistic missile and V3 cruise missile use a triple guidance mechanism: first, inertial gyroscope; second, enemy radio radiation guidance; third, our own radio command guidance. If necessary, V3 can also be equipped with improved infrared guidance.

At the same time, this time, Mr. Conrad-Zuse's masterpiece was installed on the V2+ ballistic missile. The Z5 core computer, which uses a combination of electron tubes and relays, has a computing speed of nearly 800 times/second. The reason why it is called the core is that the computing system installed on the rocket only needs to install the given logic for calculation without having general programming capabilities or complete computing capabilities. It can be installed on it after being greatly simplified. For confidentiality, a timed self-destruct device is also installed.

In Germany, the general-purpose Z5 computer with a speed of 1,000 times per second has played a role in various core fields. The next goal of Conrad Zuse's research team is Z6, a large-scale general-purpose computer built with electron tubes and transistors, with a computing speed of 10,000 times per second. This scientific research project, which Hoffman called "my pension", is now valued at more than 500 million Reichsmarks. Once Z6 is successfully manufactured, it will be valued at at least 1.5 billion marks. Colleges and universities, scientific research institutions and even key government departments in Germany and even Europe can use it, and it is a natural monopoly.

The circular probability deviation of the improved V2+ ballistic missile has been reduced from 10-12 kilometers of the early V2 to 7-8 kilometers. Because of its slow flight speed, the guidance effect of V3 is obviously better. When there is a clear instruction to relay guidance, the circular probability deviation is directly reduced from 5-6 kilometers to 2-3 kilometers.

While the rocket soldiers were busy, two XXI submarines quietly poked their heads out off the coast of El Salvador - they will jointly form the relay guidance of missile launches to contribute to improving the accuracy of hits.

"Report to the commander, everything is ready, and it can be started." At about 2 a.m., the telegram that everything was ready finally reached Lieutenant General Dornberg. He looked at Marshal, who smiled and nodded, indicating that he could give the order.

Dornberg, the head of the Peenemünde base, who was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General for his meritorious service, held his breath and issued the "start" order, and the javelin thrower tactics were immediately launched.

"Ignite!"

The missile carrier surrounded by battleships in the center quickly launched, and one missile after another began to drag the terrifying tail flame into the sky: V2+ was launched vertically, and the tail flame kept rising but at a clear angle, and V3 was launched at an oblique angle, rising first and then gradually leveling.

All the naval officers and soldiers stared blankly at the flames that swept through the sky one after another, and then suddenly burst into fierce cheers: "Long live the empire!"

"It's really shocking!" Marshal laughed, "Now I can finally imagine what it feels like to have 500 missiles fall on London."

"I can't say it's successful yet. I'll have to ask the pilots to identify the results and take as many photos as possible."

"Of course."

After the missiles were launched, the ground crew and pilots on the four aircraft carriers also made final preparations, ready to attack El Salvador at dawn...

A few minutes later, while most of the V3s were still flying in the air, the V2+s that had passed through the atmosphere and returned to the earth had begun to fall according to the predetermined targets. The US military radar station in El Salvador only saw a bright spot flashing across the screen, and the troops on duty on the ground watched these strange meteors rush to the airport, port, and barracks...

Then there was a violent explosion!

"Boom!"