Chapter 696 Atlantic Strangulation War (5)

"Is this what the new German aircraft carrier looks like?" Cunningham asked Chief of Staff Spruance with a frown while holding a photo.

"It's the aircraft carrier with a strange shape. I heard it was modified from the French Dunkirk, but I didn't expect it to look like this." Spruance added, "After repeated reconnaissance, the reconnaissance plane confirmed that the squadron with this ship and Richelieu as the core was the one that carried out the mission of breaking up the commerce, not the main German fleet. At least the reconnaissance did not find anything."

Cunningham sighed for a long time and stopped talking. Everyone around him knew why he sighed: the British Empire, once the hegemon of the four seas, has now fallen to the point where it can't even control the shipping routes at its doorstep. A few years ago, they were still high-spirited to encircle and suppress the Bismarck, but now it's nothing more than adding another aircraft carrier, but the entire shipping route is cut off.

A staff officer asked in confusion: "Sir, since it was discovered, why didn't the Army Air Force use heavy bombers to bomb it? I can understand that shore-based attack aircraft can't reach it, but can't 4 heavy bombs work?"

"We dispatched 200 bombers to bomb once, but this guy can run 27 knots. Horizontal bombers are useless at high altitudes. At low altitudes, the enemy's carrier-based aircraft and anti-aircraft firepower are very fierce..."

This reckless bombing caused the Army Air Force to lose at least 19 bombers. Taking advantage of the overhaul opportunity, the Richelieu received a moderate degree of transformation in Italy. In addition to updating the radar, the focus was on strengthening the anti-aircraft firepower. The firepower of the Richelieu naval guns was concentrated on the front deck, and the rear deck was almost a platform layout, which was very conducive to strengthening the anti-aircraft firepower. The German workers dismantled the three triple-mounted 152mm dual-purpose anti-aircraft guns originally arranged in a three-point arrangement, the six twin-mounted 100mm caliber anti-aircraft guns arranged on both sides of the hull, and all anti-aircraft machine guns. It was replaced by 12 128mm twin-mounted electric anti-aircraft turrets that were consistent with the German anti-aircraft towers, and 48 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns and 8 Phalanx were installed. The firepower density was outrageous.

The Richelieu, which set out on its journey again, worked very well with the proximity fuse, especially when the forest of 128mm anti-aircraft guns erupted in full force, it was simply a metal storm. A B-17 or B-29 would be finished if it was hit by one shot. If the bombing altitude was lower, the Richelieu and the Phalanx on the Dunkirk would start to go crazy. This round of air strikes only hit the Richelieu with a 500-pound high-explosive bomb, which was simply a drizzle for the thick-skinned battleship. The Dunkirk was only hit by two near misses, but the two ships worked together, plus the destroyers and fighters next to them, to shoot down a total of 13 heavy bombers. Another 6 bombers struggled to return to the base, but were forced to be scrapped due to severe damage.

Faced with a fruitless battle and a loss rate of 10%, the Army Air Force was unwilling to make such a futile attempt.

After studying the photo for half a day, Cunningham asked: "What is the use of this strange deck?"

"Experts have two opinions. One is that setting up an angled deck like this is conducive to speeding up the launch of carrier-based aircraft - two decks can be released together; the other is that such a layout is conducive to enhancing the combat capability of aircraft carriers. After one deck is scrapped, the other can still work."

"It's similar to my idea. We can also make 1-2 such warships for testing. Although the Germans always make some weird things, we have to admit that some of their goods are still good, such as those water reconnaissance and ship reconnaissance, which are not at the same level as us." Cunningham's complaint was harsh, but it hit the nail on the head. The Seagull or Kingfisher water reconnaissance currently used by the US Navy were all in service before the 1940s. They are slow and clumsy, and can only be used as anti-submarine aircraft. As for ship reconnaissance - the US Navy said what is this? Shouldn't this be played by SBD?

"Water reconnaissance has been developed. Curtiss has developed the SC-1 seaplane reconnaissance aircraft, which has a range of more than 1,000 kilometers and a maximum speed of more than 500 kilometers per hour, almost as fast as the F4F. The Navy has placed an order for 500 aircraft impatiently, and it is expected to be put into service in batches next spring. As for ship reconnaissance, it is said that it is still under bidding, after all, the enemy has not been launched for long." Speaking of ship reconnaissance, Spruance's face was full of shame. At first, the F4F could not catch up with the Ar-372, and after changing to the F6F, it could not catch up with the enemy's Ar-352. The fleet was extremely annoyed, and the burning feeling was more painful than a slap in the face.

"I personally think that we will not imitate this new aircraft carrier in the short term. First, its specific value is unknown now. Not every innovation will bring good results. Second, time does not allow us to do so. The Germans can take a battleship and slowly modify it. The Essex class is mass-produced. How can they stop and modify it? It is better to start a few more ships with this time..." Cunningham was persuaded by Spruance. The key is that the British are now poor and have short ambitions. Everything depends on the Americans. Roosevelt said that Churchill dared not go west if he went east. He clearly remembered that soon after he took office, the two countries vowed to attack the Azores. As a result, nearly half a year has passed. Not only is the plan to attack the Azores far away, but even the Anglo-Canadian route is in danger. In addition, accidents have occurred in the Bermuda Islands and the Falkland Islands. It is really overwhelming. Although he theoretically commands all the British and American fleets and aircraft carriers, he still has to listen to the Americans on major policies. This feeling of frustration is not to mention. So even though the HMS Courageous, flying the Union Jack of the British Empire, joined the formation this time, Cunningham refused to transfer his flagship to the HMS Courageous and still stayed with the much smaller HMS Unicorn, on the grounds that the other ship was a new ship and the running-in was not yet mature. As for his actual thoughts, who can tell?

"Sir, the fleet replenishment has been basically completed. It can set sail on November 3. Admiral Ingersoll's artillery formation will set off one day earlier than us. This time the Joint Chiefs of Staff will tell us that we have two tasks, to destroy the enemy The army breaks the enemy squadron, restores the British-Canada route, delays the enemy's main fleet and prevents it from reinforcing the Falkland Islands, and annihilates it if there is an opportunity."

"Which of these two tasks is more important?"

"Equally important."

"This is impossible!" Cunningham shook his head, "I can give a counterexample right now. If the main force of the German fleet moves south quickly at this time, should we restore navigation or intercept it?"

"Volley!"

"Then the interruption of the British-Canada route is still inevitable. Do you want me to allocate part of my strength to attack the enemy's break-up fleet?"

Spruance was speechless for a moment. It was impossible to divide the troops. The main fleet currently had no significant advantage over the axis main fleet. If we divided the troops again, he might not be able to survive. But he knew the true nature of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, especially Admiral Jin. What is the intention? The latter is not enthusiastic about resuming the British-Canadian route at all. If the president had not issued a death order, Admiral Jin would not care about Fatty Qiu's life or death. But this cannot be said in front of Cunningham. The Navy also has "political correctness".

He had no choice but to explain: "The Joint Chiefs of Staff has assigned us 14 escort aircraft carriers, and we hope that we can effectively play their role."

"Do you have any good ideas?"

"The initial plan is to use 6 of the escort aircraft carriers as bait, and then prepare to eat the enemy's break-up fleet. If the German main fleet comes to rescue, we will fight the main force with the main force; if not, we will eat 1 aircraft carrier plus One new battleship is also acceptable." Spruance hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "Taking a step back, even if we fight with the Germans, both sides will suffer losses. Two more aircraft carriers will be commissioned next month. We still have the Franklin, and we spend more money than the Germans.”

Cunningham and a group of British staff were speechless, but they had to admit that this was the fact. Now the American tycoons were using the method of attrition to fight against the Germans - as the parties involved, they had personally been to the Bermuda Islands, and they knew very well the so-called "Bermuda" What is the true meaning of "Great Victory"?

"In this way we have to take a little risk and get close to about 1,500 kilometers away from the Azores." Cunningham stopped in front of the chart, "If we don't enter the Azores threat circle, the enemy will not be determined to fight this with us. Fighting."

"I think it's okay." Spruance nodded, "The German main fleet is very cunning now. It can't come out of the Azores air defense protection circle. There's nothing you can do about it. You have to take a little risk, but you can't get any closer. ”

At the same time that the British and American fleets were preparing to leave port for the battle, Machar's fleet had completed the replenishment of various materials, equipment and personnel ahead of schedule. The folding-wing Bf-219C performed well in this battle and won unanimous approval from the entire fleet. , achieved a complete replacement, and each aircraft carrier added 6-8 carrier-based aircraft. The Ar-352 won numerous praises, and the fleet introduced 12 more, bringing the entire axis fleet to 18, freeing up part of the original water reconnaissance aircraft. Focus on anti-submarine missions. The Ju-198 received a good response from the Dunkirk, and the pilots also thought it was a good aircraft after undergoing targeted adaptation training on the Azores, especially its dual functions of dive bombing and torpedo attack. .

The cautious Machar did not dare to adopt them all, and still adopted the policy of running in small steps and only allowed all the attack aircraft on the Skyhawk to complete the change. The final aircraft carrier capacity of the modified Skyhawk became a combination of 4 Ar-352s, 28 Bf-219s and 32 Ju-198s (plus 8 spare aircraft). If this battle proves that the Ju-198 can Taking on the heavy responsibility, he will recommend a comprehensive overhaul of the fleet.

This is one of the three suggestions put forward by the fleet. The first of the other two suggestions is about carrier-based fighter jets. The pilots reported that the F6F seemed to be increasingly difficult to deal with, and they urgently requested domestically to provide newer and better fighter jets. Schaer felt that the Bf-219, which continued to be tinkered with, could no longer shoulder the heavy responsibility, and that a brand-new carrier-based fighter must be used. He knew that the Ministry of Armament had not yet decided whether the next-generation carrier-based aircraft would adopt the Zidian modification or the Gale modification, but he believed that , no matter which one is better than the Bf-219, who is better and who is worse, can't we just go on the ship to verify it first?

Another suggestion was about cross-platform long-range warfare. Based on the practice of the Dunkirk, he had new insights.