Chapter 485: New York, Don't Cry for Me! (Part 1)

In the evening of April 30, 1943, when the main fleet led by Horikichi who had completed the Panama Campaign was about to enter the Port of Heroes, Tsukahara 243 led the mobile fleet to quietly reach a place less than 700 kilometers away from New York.

After crossing the Puerto Rico Strait and bypassing the air defense circle of the Bermuda Islands, the mobile fleet advanced covertly, and finally arrived at the departure point where Tsukahara hoped to arrive without any danger. Tsukahara did not participate in the Pearl Harbor attack, but Pearl Harbor veterans including Minoru Genda, Mizuo Fuchida and other Pearl Harbor veterans said that this voyage was much easier and simpler than the last one, and there were not even any merchant ships visible on the traditional route.

In fact, no one realizes that after Germany occupied the Azores, it greatly changed the balance of power in the Atlantic and posed a huge threat to the British and American sea routes. Not only did no ship dare to enter the 800-kilometer air defense zone of the Azores, Even the Mid-Atlantic route was almost completely cut off.

Some merchant ships once had a chance, relying on the cover of escort warships and their own speed, they planned to pass by a place more than 1,000 kilometers away from the Azores, but they were mercilessly attacked by joint attack aircraft. Waiting for the Germans to After the construction of large airports and bases on various islands, the threat to traditional Atlantic routes will become even greater - because of the deployment of Ju-290C on the islands.

This large four-engine patrol aircraft is an upgraded equipment of the "Atlantic Condor" Fw-200C. It is faster (maximum speed 440 kilometers per hour) and has a longer range (more than 6,000 kilometers). It can completely cover 1,000 nautical miles around the Azores. The wide range of sea areas, coupled with the sea search radar installed on the aircraft, is simply unfavorable. Once the merchant fleet is discovered by it, it will call in joint attack aircraft to attack if the distance is close, and deploy submarines in advance on the opponent's route if the distance is far. I don't know how clever it is to carry out an ambush on the only way, compared with the headless chickens bumping around like before. According to Dönitz's idea, if a break-up aircraft carrier formation could be permanently stationed near the Port of Heroes, almost no merchant fleet would have a chance to escape pursuit. This is what Hoffman has always emphasized, the navy's five-in-one strike force. The essence of joint operations.

With the Ju-290C serving as a monitoring post, the German army's negotiation process was greatly simplified and the efficiency was doubled. The U.S. merchant fleet was forced to have no choice but to take a winding sea route - first along the east coast of the United States. Go north, arrive near Prince Edward Island in Canada, then turn west, pass through the Gulf of St. Lawrence through the waterway behind Newfoundland, then head to Greenland, and then take the North Atlantic route to the UK to unload cargo. The overall distance is more than 4,500 nautical miles, which is longer than the original It's a quarter longer and has to deal with the high winds and rough seas of the North Atlantic. As a result, the Mid-Atlantic route, which was originally densely populated by merchant ships and had frequent traffic, became deserted, which ultimately facilitated mobile fleet assaults.

"Sir, we received a long telegram, which was sent from Berlin. However, the signature of the telegram is very strange. It was not sent by the German High Command, but in the name of Minister Speer. He came from the perspective of an architect. Tell us what targets in New York are worth bombing and that he thinks are easy targets.”

Tsukahara smiled slightly: "Have the Germans guessed it?"

"This name sounds familiar, architect?" Genda Minoru raised his head in confusion, "Isn't he a soldier?"

"He is the Minister of Arms of the Third Reich and the most trusted cabinet minister of the Führer, but he used to be an architect."

Genda Minoru clicked his tongue: "In Germany, even architects can now dictate military operations?"

Ryunosuke Kusaka shook his head: "This is not an ordinary architect. He controls the armaments production of all Germany and is known as the economic leader. Under his management, the arms production of the Third Reich more than doubled after the general mobilization. Chief Horikichi admired him very much and believed that we in Japan lacked such a soul figure, so that the economy and production were in a mess - the Minister of Finance was not worthy of being his student, but they all thought highly of themselves and were arrogant. "

"Hey... don't mention it." Minoru Genda was discouraged when it came to production. He took this opportunity to go to Germany to visit the production of military industrial enterprises. He could only drool when looking at the planes, tanks, and trucks coming off the assembly line. , think of those domestic industrial giants, although they look impressive on the outside, but when we compare the output, we feel ashamed of their weak productivity - I just feel that they are not much better than workshops, and this is called mechanized mass production.

While the senior executives were chatting, the pilots on the deck also gathered together to read the information attentively.

"New York travel brochure?" A veteran pilot was stunned on the spot. He turned around and asked Mizuo Fuchida, "Is this the wrong thing to send? We are going to bomb New York. What does it mean to give a travel brochure?"

Mizuo Fuchida laughed evilly on the spot: "Of course it was sent correctly! There is a map in the travel brochure, which is clearly marked. There are also various pictures in it, all of which are the most famous landmarks in New York. Sir, I am afraid that you have mistakenly recognized them. Target!"

"Okay, let's take a good look." Everyone cheered.

A sergeant leading the He-218 formation immediately shouted: "The Statue of Liberty is our group's target, don't grab it!"

"Our group wants the Empire State Building!"

“We’re in formation and want Rockefeller Center!”

"I'm going to bring incendiary bombs to blow up Long Island. They're all big capitalists!"

Just when the bomber pilots were happily fighting for the assigned targets, Mizuo Fuchida approached Shigeharu Murata: "The commander has a special instruction, asking you to pick the six most skilled pilots to mount a torpedo attack."

"Torpedoes?" Shigeharu Murata thought he heard wrongly, "Didn't you say you were going to blow up New York? Didn't you bring an 800-kilogram heavy-duty aerial bomb?"

"No." Mizuo Fuchida pointed to the tourist map and said, "There is a bridge on the East River in New York called the Brooklyn Bridge. Minister Speer pointed out that there is a bridge pier not far from the main channel of the river. The water depth is nearly 30 meters. The bridge deck is about 30 meters above the water. 40 meters. If a torpedo attack is used, it is very likely that the bridge will be blown to pieces. According to his experience, in order to prevent ship collisions at night, there are lights on the bridge piers to indicate, so it is easier to identify..."

Murata Shigeharu knew that this matter was risky, otherwise Mitsuo Fuchida would not have named the pilot with the best skills. He looked at the album carefully for a few times, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then said: "Okay, this I will complete the task.”

"Be safe and be careful!"

"No problem, don't worry."

At 9 p.m., the mobile fleet began to gallop westward at a speed of 24 knots, preparing to take risks and close the distance to about 400 kilometers...