Chapter 650: Making Trouble (1)
As the "Dawn" campaign is about to begin, the "Pearl of Peace" project is gradually reaching its climax...
High-level officials in the United States, including Roosevelt and General Kim, essentially underestimated the destructive spirit of the Germans. How could Hoffman's appetite be restrained by a small Falklands and Argentina? While the U.S. Navy is accelerating its war preparations and promoting the "Joint Elements" operation, the German fleet has begun its own journey of making waves.
"Set anchor!"
Lieutenant General Bei gave the order. The curved anchor chain of the Veneto-class battleship Impero was straightened, and each section passed through the anchor chain hole and made a clanging sound. A few minutes later, the boatswain shouted: "The anchor chain is out of water!" The windlass winched the anchor chain and Put in the anchor chain locker. The sailor used a hose to wash away the mud on the anchor claw, and the anchor was lifted. The bell rang in the main cabin, and the main shaft drove the propeller, pushing the Empire's huge hull forward slowly.
Lieutenant General Bei finally breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the fleet take action again. This was the fifth refueling of the artillery formation since the start of the "Peace Pearl" project and the second refueling at sea. He had suffered enough from these Italian short-legged battleships along the way. With the same displacement of just over 40,000 tons, the Tirpitz has a endurance of almost 7,500 nautical miles/20 knots, while the Italian Veneto-class battleship has less than 4,000 nautical miles/20 knots. During the transfer from Madagascar to the Malvinas Island, it He could also improve the navigation situation by overloading fuel, but he was going to fight today and he didn't dare to take a risk. He could only carry the fuel according to the standard and let the oil tanker carry out replenishment operations in a disciplined manner.
Lieutenant General Bei had meritorious service in the last battle. Machar's battle report clearly stated that not only was his military rank promoted from major general to lieutenant general, but he also served as the commander of the artillery formation. He was in charge of the formation's flagship Tirpitz and led four Venetian ships. Together, the Tow class forms the core of the firepower of the Axis Combined Fleet. Although it sounds majestic, if Lieutenant General Bei had to choose, he would rather serve as the commander of the reconnaissance formation - although there are only two battle cruisers, Strasbourg and Gneisenau, as the main ships, but he is very interested in this. The two warships are very familiar with each other, and they don't have to worry about fuel issues all the time, so they are much more confident in commanding them.
However, Machar rejected this transfer request. On the one hand, he believed that Lieutenant General Bei had an unusually brave personality. For the reconnaissance fleet that required carefulness, caution, and comprehensiveness, Lieutenant General Bei did not seem to be suitable, but he was very suitable for the artillery formation; On the other hand, there is the command factor. There are a total of 5 main battleships in the fire formation, the German Navy has only 2, and the Italians have 3. If Lieutenant General Bayi had not taken up this position, Machar would not have been able to find another more suitable one. The commander will be an Italian officer. Although the Italian navy generals are much more reliable than the army, when the mobile formations, transport formations, and reconnaissance formations are all commanded by the German army, how can Machar allow the command to be vacated? What if the Italians get confused and run away when the war with the Americans is at its most intense?
Therefore, no matter which angle he looked at, Lieutenant General Bei had no choice but to accept this position, so he had no choice but to start working in this position: everything else went very smoothly, except for the refueling, which really made him scratch his scalp a little bit—— The sailing distance from the Falklands to Rio de Janeiro is more than 2,000 nautical miles. Coupled with the anti-submarine navigation route and the need to break diplomatic ties, the actual fuel consumption exceeds 75% of the warship's inventory, forcing him to perform very dangerous offshore refueling operations. Now he is 10 miles away from Brazil. The shore-based aviation base is only less than 600 kilometers away. It would be really great fun if we come here for refueling and resupply.
The "Peace Pearl" project has never been a strategic operation with a single goal. Seizing the Falklands is only the first phase of the mission. The second phase of the mission deployed by Hoffman to the fleet is very ambitious - to eliminate the main force of the Brazilian Navy and destroy Brazilian ports and eastern coastal aviation bases. .
Although Brazil has more than 1.5 million Axis descendants, and the separatist tendencies and National Socialist Party in several southern states are very strong, Hoffman never believed that Brazil could be completely occupied with just a few divisions. What he wanted to do was to subvert Brazil. regime, allowing the pro-German forces in the south to successfully separate, split Brazil as much as possible, and obstruct its military, political and economic cooperation with the United States. The top priority is to destroy Brazil's main pro-American navy.
Although South America is very large, Brazil, with a total area of more than half of Europe, occupies a huge share. However, unlike Europe, the interior of South America has rugged terrain or tropical rain forests, which are not suitable for human habitation. The main activity zone is still in the coastal areas, and communication and connections between various regions also rely on the ocean. Whoever controls the sea power will have a huge strategic advantage. Therefore, the three South American ABC countries (named "Three Countries" in English), including Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, (Alphabet) conducted a vigorous naval arms race for decades. Although its scope and scale cannot be compared with that between Britain, Germany and later Japan and the United States, it is equally exciting and intense.
This arms race ended hastily because the countries were unable to maintain it after the Great Crisis of 1929. But even now, the scale of the navies of the three countries is still commendable. Take Brazil as an example. Although the Brazilian navy is the weakest among the three South American countries, it still has A group of warships such as 2 old battleships and 2 old cruisers. In the eyes of the Axis Fleet, these warships are just a few stronger grasshoppers. However, if Machar needs to demonstrate in Brazil to press for change, they must be destroyed. these warships. Another consideration is the need to break diplomatic relations. These old warships have all been used to escort South American routes, posing a moderate threat to German submarines.
Marshal adopted a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, he sent powerful ships to the route to shoot down the daring Brazilian warships. On the other hand, he rushed to Rio de Janeiro to prepare to wipe out the Brazilian navy. The only thing that made him depressed was that the two American battleships, the Iowa and the West Virginia, were running too fast. He originally planned to deal with them together, otherwise, when these warships joined forces with the US Atlantic Fleet, the difficulty of dealing with them would increase exponentially. Unfortunately, Admiral King's rapid retreat broke his dream.
After refueling, the bombardment formation moved quickly and soon increased the speed to 24 knots. The Brazilian coastline retreated rapidly. The southwest wind blew in the sky, and the waves overlapped like hills, hitting the rocks on the shore recklessly, making a loud noise that shook the sky and the earth. The splashing water curtain was bright white, and instantly shattered on the rocks, turning into piles of snow-white foam.
At nightfall, under the cover of the thick darkness, the German bombardment fleet led by the Tirpitz was like a ghost emerging from hell, ready to launch a fierce attack...