Chapter 406 Breaking the Atlantic Ocean (End)

The Americans were obviously too happy too early. The land-based attack group on the Azores did not want to let him go. At 4:07 p.m., the first wave of joint attack aircraft arrived. At this time, there was not even a single aircraft that could cover the entire US fleet. Although the warships' anti-aircraft firepower was fully opened, they could not stop these death gods that fell from the sky.

The joint attack aircraft launched an attack in a way that was almost like training target practice. Two attack teams went down and sank the aircraft carrier USS Formidable, which was an obvious target on the left wing and slow in action. Spruance asked the fleet to fight to save the Indomitable on the right wing, but this could not stop the German aircraft group that was ready to kill. After paying the price of 3 aircraft being shot down, the three attack teams sent the battleship USS Anson, which continued to block the guns for the Indomitable, to the bottom of the sea.

After the Anson sank, the battleship USS Howe, a ship of the same class that had been hit by a torpedo and injured yesterday, rushed up to fill the position. In terms of the ability to block gunfire, the German army was far inferior to the US army. No matter how the German aircraft group moved left and right, they could not find a perfect gap to attack the Indomitable, so they could only deal with other enemy ships first. At 4:19, the battleship Howe was hit by another torpedo, and the angle of tilt to the right increased to 14 degrees, and the speed dropped to less than 11 knots. It was obviously impossible to perform the important task of covering. The heavy cruiser New Orleans replaced this position one after another. In the end, the two attack teams had no choice but to continue throwing torpedoes. The 10,000-ton heavy cruiser sank quickly after being hit by two torpedoes. Only less than 90 of the more than 1,000 officers and soldiers on the ship escaped.

After the first wave of joint attack groups retreated, the Indomitable, which was so lucky that it was outrageous, still did not get hit by the torpedo. All the fleet leaders, including Spruance, had no time to feel sad, and immediately ordered the ships to rescue the officers and soldiers who fell into the water, and then resolutely retreated.

The situation of the North Sea Fleet was also very bad. The deck of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, which was restored to balance after water injection, was in a mess. Although the horizontal armor belt of the main deck above the power compartment played a complete defensive role, the runway, hangar and other parts were completely destroyed. Although the flight deck after emergency repairs vacated a piece of open space, it could not guarantee the safe landing of the aircraft. Even if it landed, there was no place to place these aircraft, let alone the carrier-based aircraft to take off again. Considering that the forced landing on the sea was too dangerous, Ozawa reluctantly issued an order for the pilots to abandon the plane and parachute. The He-218 and Ju-98 crews jumped first, and finally the Bf-219s.

In this way, the aviation combat power of the North Sea Fleet was completely destroyed, just like the US fleet. The only thing to be thankful for was that most of the pilots were retained.

"Send a telegram to Berlin to inform the situation. Since the Strait of Gibraltar has not yet been opened, the fleet can only go to Spain or France for emergency repairs." Marshal sighed and gave the order helplessly.

"Are you ready for an artillery battle?" Vice Admiral Bay sent a telegram, "I heard that there are still unsunk enemy ships on the sea."

"Prepare the bombardment formation!" Crank gritted his teeth, "Except for the aircraft carrier and Admiral Scheer, the rest of our main battleships are basically intact. These American warships cannot be allowed to return alive." Marshal and Ozawa both agreed with this idea.

The attack that day was not completely over. At 5:37, with the last rays of the setting sun, Lieutenant Colonel Schiller led the third and last wave of joint attack aircraft to the battlefield and dealt a fatal blow to the US fleet - almost everyone, including Spruance, was desperate.

The aircraft sank the battleship Howe and the heavy cruiser Minneapolis neatly, and then sent two torpedoes to the Indomitable. A strange situation occurred. The Indomitable refused to sink. It still stubbornly floated on the sea surface with more than 3,400 tons of water inflow and a roll of 12 degrees. It even slowly sailed westward at a speed of 5 knots, while all the torpedoes of the joint attack aircraft had been dropped. Faced with this situation, Schiller obviously had no choice but to sigh and leave, thinking that he must come back to sink this tenacious warship tomorrow morning.

However, there was no need to wait until dawn. In the early morning, a U-boat discovered the Indomitable floating on the sea like a dead fish. After careful observation through the periscope, the captain discovered something even more bizarre - the entire warship seemed to be empty. He did not risk approaching the enemy ship, nor did he want to launch a torpedo to sink this tempting target. Instead, he sent a telegram in ecstasy: "Our ship captured an enemy ship, a severely damaged aircraft carrier."

This news caused a huge sensation. Even Raeder and Hoffman, who were far away in Berlin, were alarmed. Hoffman immediately issued instructions: "Save the ship as much as possible and tow it to a suitable place nearby."

At this moment, in the southwest of the Azores, the remaining US forces, with only a few destroyers left, were retreating rapidly towards the US coast.

"Sir, I understand why you gave up the Indomitable, but why didn't you send a destroyer to sink it?"

Spruance replied sadly: "To save ourselves."

"Save?" Chris looked confused, "It would be a great loss to our honor if this warship was captured by the enemy."

"It was too badly damaged to be saved or repaired." Spruance looked up to the east, as if he could still see the Indomitable, "but he could attract the enemy's attention and let them check the warship first, so that the Germans would not be able to deal with us."

"But..."

"I want to bring these naval officers and soldiers back as much as possible." Spruance pointed to the crowd behind them that looked very crowded and dejected due to the sudden influx of a large number of officers and soldiers. "They and the surviving pilots fought against the Germans. Having sufficient experience and technology is a precious asset that we cannot have in abundance and cannot be regenerated. I must bring them back to the country. Compared with their lives, these honors are not important. "

"You mean, we were defeated and Spruance lost all his battleships and came back with only a few destroyers?" Roosevelt couldn't believe his ears after hearing the news.

"Yes, it looks like this on the surface, but I don't think it is a complete failure. There are some positive factors in it." Admiral Jin said, "We sank an aircraft carrier and severely damaged the Zeppelin and A heavy cruiser disrupted the German fleet's attempt to break diplomatic ties in the South Atlantic."

"But we lost a total of 5 battleships, 4 aircraft carriers and 4 heavy cruisers."

"We have failed tactically, but not necessarily strategically." Admiral Kim said firmly, "President, at least we have achieved the expected goal - the enemy does not have an aircraft carrier that can be used in the Atlantic Ocean. And we still have three aircraft carriers available for use. At the end of this month and in the middle of next month, two new aircraft carriers, the USS Belleau Wood (Independence class) and the USS Yorktown (Essex class) will be put into service. In less than three months, we will We will have five aircraft carriers available for combat again. At the same time, the USS New Jersey (Iowa-class) will be put into service at the end of next month. We are far from being called a failure."

"We sank two George V-class battleships and three valuable armored aircraft carriers supported by the British. How do you plan to let me and Winston explain?"

"He has nothing to complain about. His troops lost 300,000 tons in the North Sea and only sunk one German heavy cruiser. We killed at least two German aircraft carriers." Admiral Jin strengthened his tone, "If he must If you want to argue, we can give him the Bellewood (Independence-class) and the Yorktown, and at the same time promise to support 10 additional British escort aircraft carriers and 500 naval carrier-based aircraft. In addition, we will do everything possible to satisfy the British in oil and tanks. people’s needs.”

"What's the next step? We are already inferior to the enemy in terms of strength." Roosevelt sighed. "The Navy is going to lie dormant for 3-5 months and then fight the Germans again?"

"No, I want Turner to direct Plan A."

"You..." Roosevelt trembled and pointed at General Kim, "Are you crazy?"

"I'm not crazy, really! President, you have to believe me, Turner has modified Plan A, and now there is a better and more complete Plan A+, which is very suitable for the situation after Germany loses its aircraft carrier." Admiral King The plan was quickly explained in concise language.

After hearing this, Roosevelt was doubtful. The expression on his face changed for a long time before he finally said: "This plan must be carefully discussed and studied by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and it must be supported and agreed by the majority of people."

"Of course." Admiral Jin showed a confident smile, "I believe they will agree with the revised plan."

"Führer, the situation is not ideal." Frick reported with a sad face. "After emergency assessment, it will take at least 5-6 months to repair the Zeppelin's damage. The Admiral Scheer has lost its repair value. We recommend that it be repaired in Azov." Find a place to sit on the bottom of the beach and let the cannons exert their power. "

"Okay." Hoffman waved his hand distractedly, "So we have no aircraft carriers available in the Atlantic Ocean?"

"It's all the fault of that damn Portuguese merchant ship, otherwise..."

"I will instruct Ribbentrop to negotiate with the Portuguese." Hoffman forced a smile, "Anyway, we killed 5 battleships, 4 aircraft carriers and 4 heavy cruisers this time, with no losses. The other party’s quarter is always a good deal. By the way, can the Indomitable be dragged back?”

"I'm afraid it can't withstand too many winds and waves, so I asked Tirpitz to tow it to the Madeira Islands." Frick glanced at Hoffman secretly and whispered, "Repair may be feasible, but it is more expensive than rebuilding. Expensive and a waste of time.”

"There is no need to waste effort on repairing it. Let our ship designers study and observe it. This is a good propaganda material for us - Minister Goebbels will know what to do next."

"yes."

"This incident shows that armored aircraft carriers have strong vitality. Combining Japan's Taiho modified drawings and the learning and reference results from the Indomitable, we are preparing to build two armored aircraft carriers locally." Hoffman said fiercely, "U.S. If people have it, we should have it too.”