Chapter 476 Shock (Part 1)

Late at night on April 22, on the sea about 500 kilometers away from Puerto Rico, Mizuo Fuchida led all attack aircraft of the mobile fleet to swoop in. Since this was a ground attack, all Ju-98s were equipped with bombs and incendiary bombs.

At 23:07, still 180 kilometers away from Puerto Rico, he decisively issued an order: "Lower altitude and advance..."

This skill was learned from Germany. Although American radar can detect targets 150 kilometers away, when the altitude of the fleet drops to about 35 meters, the detection distance will be reduced to about 70 kilometers due to the curvature of the earth. In Soko After many trials during training on Terra Island, it always works. The difficulty this time lies in low-altitude flight at night, but it is not difficult for the Axis carrier-based aircraft group, which is the world's best at this time.

According to Mitsuo Fuchida's order, the fleet descended from a medium altitude of about 3,000 meters to a low altitude of about 800 meters. After maintaining the attitude and flying for 2 minutes, it further dropped to 300 meters, and then gradually changed to 100 meters, 50 meters, and 35 meters. ...It is not impossible to drop directly from 3000 meters to 35 meters, but it is very easy to cause accidents. Forming a staircase can improve the safety rate. In fact, many of these top pilots can fly at a height of about 20 meters, but that was on the calm and well-illuminated Indian Ocean. The 35-meter-high night sky raid has basically reached the limit.

At almost the same time, Major General Cohen, who was commanding in Puerto Rico, received a telegram that made him laugh and cry - a line of commendation and promotion. Because of his outstanding performance in the Panama War, he was promoted to Army Lieutenant General.

The results of the battle arranged for Cohen are not small, including: 2 battleships, 1 fleet aircraft carrier (the Falcon was only damaged by the Navy carrier-based aircraft and was eventually sunk by the Army Air Force), 2 light aircraft carriers (the Army Air Force was divided into Not knowing the difference between an oil tanker and a light aircraft carrier, I reported it in a daze. Strictly speaking, it was not a false report, and Washington admitted it.) There were 4-5 cruisers and destroyers each, and they shot down more than 200 enemy planes and severely damaged the enemy's landing force... …

The results of the battle sounded brilliant, and the promotion was certainly reasonable, but Cohen could guess what the big shots in Washington were thinking: Since our losses cannot be covered up - it is really difficult to block news in a democratic country, then we should exaggerate it appropriately. The enemy's losses, and to be honest, the U.S. military's watershed is not too much, and it is far inferior to the "brilliant record" of the Japanese Navy in history, which frequently sank 8 or 10 aircraft carriers.

This is the result of a series of political transactions. The Army needs to create a hero for this battle, and after many choices, only Cohen can barely get involved; the Navy, because of the death of Fletcher and a large number of officers, can easily show its sadness in front of the media. Color, coupled with the fact that this time Lu Aviation made great efforts but Hainan Airlines had reservations, so it gave up competing with Lu Airlines for credit. The president and the top leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reached a consensus. Roosevelt ensured that these generals passed before Congress, the people and political groups. The generals expressed their continued support for the president - supporting Roosevelt's re-election. This was a tacit political understanding.

After careful deliberation, Franklin Roosevelt and his close aides concluded that judging from the current situation, this term would not be able to end the war, and Roosevelt must be re-elected in order to continue the war. At such a critical moment, it is okay to take some responsibility for the generals. On the contrary, it can win the favor of the soldiers. Although American soldiers generally do not participate in politics, their influence is obviously there. If there are war heroes to stand up for the president, it will be Couldn't be better.

Although the entire battle is not completely over, Cohen is fully aware of how the next step will evolve: on the one hand, the mainstream media will downplay the destruction of the Panama Canal, and will definitely pat their chests and say that "the impact is not big"; on the other hand, they will definitely The epic and tragic events that emerged during the war were vigorously publicized, arousing the common hatred among people across the United States. As for the shining points, it is easy to find out. Titles such as "Thwarted the Axis Group's attack on the East Coast of the United States" and "Repelled the Axis Superior Navy's attack on the Caribbean and defended the countries of Central and South America" ​​can be easily mentioned. .

He turned to look at the ground crew who were still busy in the hangar, and felt a little sad: these young men had welcomed the army aviation officers and soldiers transferred from the west coast this time. Although the latter were as high-spirited and energetic as ever, the ground crew had already Close to collapse - most of the pilots they have come into contact with have been killed or missing one after another in the past few days, and no one knows how many survivors this new group of comrades will eventually have.

"Sir, the radar room reported that a large number of enemy aircraft were found, more than 60 kilometers away from us, and flying at a very low altitude."

"What? So close!" The chief of staff on the side was angry, "What is the radar room doing? Such neglect of duty, I will send them all to a military court."

"It's too late, hurry up... prepare for air defense and sound the alarm." As soon as Cohen said that, the shrill air defense alarm sounded over Puerto Rico, but it was obviously too late. Mizuo Fuchida quickly led the attack fleet to the airport. In the sky above, when they approached the target, they had already climbed high. The huge Axis aircraft group seemed to be in an uninhabited land, strafing and dropping bombs recklessly. The entire airport turned into a sea of ​​fire, especially the hangar, oil depot, tower, and runway. Heavy.

"It's over!" the chief of staff wailed, "The plane just arrived in the evening..."

"This is damn politics!" Cohen tore the telegram in his hand into pieces, but before being carried away by his anger, he loudly ordered, "Don't worry about the plane or anything else, focus on protecting the pilots!"

Looking at the sky full of flames and scattered anti-aircraft firepower, Mitsuo Fuchida was very satisfied: the last time he attacked Panama at night, he had thought of approaching at a low altitude, but he did not execute it because of the loss, and he rushed in normally, but he lost all of a sudden. More than 10 aircraft have learned their lesson this time and took the risk to fly close at night at low altitude. Only 3 aircraft have been lost so far. The effect seems to be much better than last time...

"Blow it up, blow it up hard! Just flatten it to the ground!"

The night bombing caused serious damage to Puerto Rico. Most of the more than 150 aircraft that had arrived in the afternoon and had not yet been put into use were destroyed by fire and bombs. The fuel depot, hangar, and runway were once again severely damaged, and hundreds of people who were unable to evacuate in time were Ground crew and more than a dozen pilots were killed in the raid.

This was not over yet. At dawn, Tsukahara led the mobile fleet to arrive near Puerto Rico. Although there was not a single battleship, 6 heavy cruisers and more than 50 203mm artillery provided fire coverage to the US engineering troops who had just been undergoing emergency repairs. , shrapnel and limbs flew across the entire base, and there were ruins and broken walls everywhere, and it was a horrible scene.

Around ten o'clock, Tsukahara led the mobile fleet to forcefully break through the Dominican and Puerto Rico straits and then depart. The battleship formation and the decoy fleet successfully arrived in Martinique under French control, facing the Germans and Pétain's With the signed authorization document and the black muzzle of the Axis fleet, the French surrendered obediently in the face of overwhelming force deterrence. Not only did the entire fleet get their wish, they harvested the Béarne aircraft carrier, and also put Martinique on inventory. Nearly 20,000 tons of heavy oil were swept away.

"It would be great if Martinique could be built as an advance base." said the excited Kuolu Renyi. "This way, the waterways between North and South America can be easily cut off."

"This is impossible." Horikichi smiled faintly, "After this incident, the Americans will definitely manage key defense points in the Caribbean. The French's Martinique may not be able to be saved soon."

"The mobile fleet broke through the Dominican and Puerto Rico straits and headed north. General Tsukahara reminded the fleet to pay attention to air defense. Next, the mobile fleet will not be able to cover us." Aviation Staff Genda Mikai reported.

"How many planes does he have left?"

"103 aircraft were modified from Zero War, 64 aircraft were modified from Comet, and 59 aircraft were modified from Tianshan...all reserve aircraft were used up!" Minoru Genda added, "A total of more than 70 pilots (groups) were lost due to various reasons, of which the German side was about Early 20s, the rest is all ours.”

"The loss rate is more than one-fifth. We also lost Mutsu, Hiei, Hayabusa and several destroyers. The price we paid is also quite high." Horikichi sighed, his face obviously not looking good: Hikari Those more than 50 pilots are equivalent to the training results of one year before the war.

"The pilots on Socotra should be available soon." Minoru Genda is optimistic about this. "This loss should be able to make up for it. By the end of this year, about 500 pilots will be able to join the mobile fleet. Moreover, there will be more There seems to be no more big battles.”

"Far from it, the Indian Ocean Strategy will be launched soon, and the combined fleet will still be the main force by then." Horikichi sighed, "I don't know what the country thinks of this, but I hope they are not as short-sighted as I thought."

"Sir, this is an unprecedented victory." Kusuka Renyi said angrily, "We destroyed the entire US aircraft carrier force, killed at least 1,000 enemy planes, and paralyzed the canal. Only the American pilots we captured There will be more than 200 people. If you are blamed for this, who will be willing to lead troops to fight for the empire in the future? "

"You know too little about high-level politics. The results are not necessarily the key. Lines or factions are decisive. My personal honor and disgrace are insignificant. I only hope that these results can stop the mouths of some people in the country and not chill the hearts of the soldiers... …”

Kusaka Renichi couldn't answer this sentence, so he had to change the subject and asked: "Why did Tsukahara-kun lead the mobile fleet so far away? It's very dangerous for us to have no air cover."

"What else can I do? Go hit the east coast."

"Ah?" Kusaka Renyi was frightened, "Just rely on the 200 aircraft and a few heavy cruisers of the mobile fleet to attack the east coast of the United States?"

"Who says it isn't? However, the US aircraft carrier formation has been almost beaten by us. If it is operated properly, the risk is not great. We will return to the Azores as planned. We can go slower on the road now and pay attention to anti-submarine warfare."