Chapter 677 Dawn (7)

Seeing that there were signs of conflict between the land and sea, it was Eisenhower who stepped forward to protect the enemy at the critical moment: "I don't think there is a contradiction between fighting the German fleet and attacking the Falkland Islands. At present, the army needs to be deployed in French Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia and other places. The direction is unfolding, and it is urgent to eliminate the interference of the enemy navy. Their turning to the Bermuda Islands is certainly a huge threat to the homeland, but in turn it can free the troops in Port-au-Prince, and they can carry out tasks in a safe area - at least the 'Joint Elements' first In the second stage, we need to eliminate this interference. As for the third stage, our focus is to prioritize defeating the German and Italian fleets. Whether we defeat the German and Italian fleets near Bermuda or achieve this goal near the Falkland Islands, I would say , it is more ideal to be near Bermuda, after all, it is closer to the mainland and can receive effective support. "

Admiral Jin nodded. What Ike said made sense. He did not show weakness and met the Army's requirements. It seemed that it made sense for him to be reused by Marshall. He thought for a while and then asked: "What if the enemy is just a hypocrite?" After flicking the gun, he immediately retreated to Azores?"

"Then let's keep an eye on them first and create opportunities for the Army to take action." Eisenhower replied, "I'm thinking, if there is no interference from the German fleet, can we destroy the Falkland Defense Force with just the transport fleet and supporting escort aircraft carriers? military?"

"Well..." Now it was Admiral Jin's turn to mutter: "Yes" seemed a little rash, "No" seemed a little guilty. At the critical moment, Hewitt came out to support him and said, "I don't think the problem is big. The aircraft carriers and destroyers we will give to the Royal Navy at the end of this month will be put into use, which can greatly enhance the strike force."

Of course, Marshall understood the principle of giving up when things are good, and immediately said: "This is good. The first and second phases of the army are not expected to be completed until early November. It happens that the two sides are united, and the navy uses the main fleet to deal with the main force of the German and Italian navy. , the Royal Navy Squadron and the Army will attack the Falkland Islands - we can still fulfill the President's request to launch the Falkland Offensive Campaign on Christmas Eve."

"Then I think everyone will go to the hospital together later to report the meeting to the president. Is this the order to issue first?" Li Hai, who presided over the meeting, asked the two of them.

Admiral Jin and Marshall looked at each other and nodded in unison.

So the order was quickly issued: the army troops in Port-au-Prince continued to carry out road raids, and Admiral Ingersoll led the main force of the fleet to turn to the Bermuda Islands to fight Germany and Italy. At the same time, the British and American troops in the Bermuda Islands were required to prepare for defense and provide support for the navy. Buy time.

"This is very much like the Battle of Midway..." After listening to the battle concept reported by Ozawa, Machar frowned and said, "It's just that Midway has now been replaced by Bermuda. Do you think we will do it?"

Ozawa's face froze, and he looked a little unnatural. He still hasn't figured out why the Battle of Midway failed inexplicably at that time. Not only did it fail, but it also cost four aircraft carriers in one go, which is simply unbelievable. However, he was not personally involved, and it was inconvenient to publicly comment on this matter, because Nagumo and Yamamoto would be involved if he talked about it. The current common explanation within the Japanese Navy is that the password leak led to passivity, but Ozawa knew that it was definitely not that simple. It's just that everyone agrees not to expose it. You must know that the losses at Midway have only been fully released now, and many of them are still blamed on Horikichi. It's really unclear.

He smiled bitterly and said: "There is still a difference. The US military has already laid an ambush at Midway and is preparing to raid us. Now the US military is still wandering around the Caribbean and will not arrive until at least three days later."

"You're going to have a fight?" Crank asked.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Let's fight. If we don't fight, we won't be able to return to China to explain. We can't always hide from the Americans. Then the confidence and morale we have finally built up will be lost..." Machar said thoughtfully, "But we must first Take down Bermuda and do it quickly, we only have 24 hours.”

"Reporting to the commander, the attack fleet is ready."

"Very good." Ozawa looked at the time. "At 5:15, the air defense fighters took off first. At 5:45, the attack aircraft groups took off one after another. They completed the assembly before 6:30, and then waited for the US military to attack and follow them. If the enemy does not come, then start the night attack directly after dark, and the aviation commanders of each department will become familiar with the position again..."

Machar nodded and ordered: "Give power to Lieutenant General Bei. After dark, the artillery formation will move forward at maximum speed. At 3 o'clock in the morning, I hope the artillery shells will fall on the Bermuda Islands!"

There was indeed some debate on the Bermuda Islands about whether to attack the German and Italian fleet before dark. However, the tradition and morale of fighting the enemy when they see it still inspired British and American officers and soldiers to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the opportunity to return home to air attack the island. On the one hand, air defense The troops were well prepared, but also took other measures: long-range heavy bombers represented by B-17s and B-25s would land on the mainland after completing their missions, and the local airport would provide light guidance; other short-range bombers would After completing their missions, fighter jets and attack aircraft will parachute back near Bermuda and never land to avoid exposing their targets.

In fact, this choice is also wise. It is too difficult for these rookies to play Night Landing.

At 6:45, the huge sunset began to slowly fall into the sea, and a group of British and American aircraft appeared in the sky.

"Come on... let you taste the power of a hedgehog!"

The Hedgehog class was originally a product of the Hoffman Phalanx, a newly started anti-aircraft destroyer, and was expected to be installed on the Z-class destroyer under construction on the slipway.

In order to enhance the anti-aircraft firepower, the designers piled up weapons on it, using 6 sets of three twin-mounted 88mm dual-purpose guns (long-range air defense), 1 Bofors high-range group (medium-range air defense) and 12 Phalanx (short-range air defense), and even retained 2 torpedo tubes. However, problems arose in the subsequent specific construction process. The first was that the center of gravity was raised after the weapons were piled up, and the navigation performance, especially the ocean-going performance, was not good; the second was that the firepower was too bloated, resulting in some gun positions overlapping and insufficient firing range.

Another thing worth noting is that although the 88mm proximity fuze initially adopted by Germany was successful, the effect was greatly reduced after the 88mm shells were squeezed in because of their relatively small size, and the killing power was greatly weakened. At this time, the 128mm electric full-function controlled anti-aircraft guns equipped on the domestic anti-aircraft towers played a major role and were very effective in actual combat. Therefore, the design was revised and turned into two twin 128mm high-level guns in front and behind, and then the torpedo tubes that were in the way were also cut off.

After this restoration, the firepower was too much, and finally 1 Bofors was reduced to 12, 12 Phalanxes were changed to 8, and then an additional fire control radar was added, and finally all the modification tasks were completed. Therefore, the four destroyers (Z33\Z34\Z38\Z39) that were supposed to be completed in the spring of 1943 were delayed until May-June. The model was also changed to D-class destroyers, and the standard displacement increased to 3,200 tons, codenamed D1-D4. The Z35\36\43\44\45 waiting on the slipway will also undergo similar transformations and become the 5-9 ships of the D series.

In order to adapt to the evolution of large-scale and intensive air defense firepower, the German Navy also launched an upgraded version of the Hedgehog class - the Porcupine class, with a tonnage further enlarged to 6,000 tons, promoted to the light cruiser level. The main armament is still the same as the Hedgehog class, but with more and more reasonable layout, including three twin-mounted dual-purpose high-altitude and flat-range guns (long-range air defense), 20 40mm Bofors high-altitude groups (medium-range air defense) and 12 dense arrays (short-range air defense). Relying on its larger tonnage and more slender hull, it can achieve better defense effects. German designers didn't know that Japan was also working on transforming the next two ships of the Agano class into anti-aircraft cruisers, but the general idea was relatively similar - this was all experience gained in the war.

"The enemy plane will arrive in 4 minutes..."

"Take the initiative to intercept..." Ozawa looked at the setting sun that had already sunk halfway into the sea, "Use the last bit of brightness to let the carrier-based aircraft shoot down some first..."

Because heavy bombers fly slowly, the SBD and TBF were mainly used in the attack in the early stage, and the F4U and some Spitfires provided them with defense. Now the German fighter group, which was mainly composed of Bf-219C, finally met its opponent. Compared with the F6F carrier-based aircraft commonly used by the US Navy, the F4U and Spitfire are not only faster and more maneuverable, but also have stronger firepower (the F4U generally has 4 20mm cannons).

Although the quality of British and American fighter pilots was not as good as that of experienced German pilots, they actually had the upper hand in terms of aircraft performance. Therefore, they did not play out a huge score difference like the 1:5 and 1:6 that the Japanese often played. The exchange rate of fighters was only 1:2. Even with the SBD and TBF shot down, the overall exchange rate was only 1:3. Fortunately, it was late, and the two sides could not see each other clearly. The experienced German aircraft came up with a way to fly at low altitude and escape, relying entirely on the sea surface anti-aircraft firepower to fight back. Because the British and American pilots were not good enough and could not fly at ultra-low altitude, the battlefield suddenly became stratified. The British and American aircraft lured to low altitudes tasted the fierce dense firepower. That posture was not a batch of ammunition, but a group of metal storms. Once they were covered, there was no possibility of escape. Moreover, the German ships now had fire control radars to provide aiming, so they were not afraid of the night at all.

The low-altitude attack aircraft group did not gain any advantage, and the high-altitude heavy bombers did not gain any advantage either. The B17\B25 arrived at the battlefield after dark. The clever Crank ordered the aircraft carrier to stop all anti-aircraft firepower and avoid all bright lights, allowing only cruisers and destroyers to conduct anti-aircraft shooting. The aircraft carrier was completely hidden in the darkness, blending in with the surroundings like a black hole. The heavy bombers could only drop bombs at bright lights, with a hit rate of only 20% to 30%, and even fewer at night...