Chapter 714 Atlantic Strangulation War (23)

"The Joint Chiefs of Staff will let us continue to cover the army's attack on Cape Verde, send the other two regiments to the island as soon as possible, and capture it at all costs!"

After listening to the confidential staff report, Ingersoll was shocked: "At any cost? One regiment of the Army has been scrapped!"

"So the other two regiments are required to reinforce, and then the Army's 3rd Division can be used... This is an order personally given by the president." Based on the information and tone of the telegram, Turner immediately guessed that something had happened within the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"What about the German fleet? With our current strength, we cannot defeat the German main fleet."

"Washington told us not to worry, they were going to fight the Germans in Bermuda."

"Are you sure they went to Bermuda?"

"There is no definite evidence, but the Germans issued an emergency broadcast threatening to attack the east coast, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff speculated that they went to Bermuda." Turner analyzed, "I think the Germans wanted to relieve the siege of Cape Verde, but they He was unwilling to fight us head-on, so he used this method to force us to retreat..."

"Damn it, then let's keep fighting." Ingersoll cursed repeatedly. It was definitely not a good idea to go back and save Bermuda now. Not to mention that the fleet was too scarred to fight a tough battle. Even if it wanted to fight, it couldn't be at a place designated by the Germans. Fighting on the battlefield is too passive.

Major General McDonald, commander of the 5th Division, also received a telegram from Marshall, with a very stern tone, telling him to capture Sal Island, otherwise the situation would be bad! The telegram didn't include the specific details of what was wrong, but MacDonald believed that this was a very serious signal. If he couldn't do it, his future might be really bad. So he gave an impassioned speech to his men, and led the second regiment to land, preparing to personally command the next battle.

In the afternoon, the U.S. Army, which had received fresh blood, continued to attack the German army in units of companies and battalions. The fierceness of its offensive and the fiery firepower were dizzying. The navy sent a large number of light warships to approach and bombard the Germans to cooperate with the army's offensive. From 14:00 to 17:00, the US military launched four consecutive rounds of attacks and continued to advance step by step, nearly doubling the size of the beachhead.

"Sir, didn't you say that the US military suffered heavy losses last night? Why are the Americans fighting so hard today?" One of his subordinates asked Link in confusion.

"The losses of the US military yesterday are undeniable. Haven't you noticed that the enemy's battleship heavy artillery coverage frequency has been reduced a lot?" Link sneered, "As for the US military who fought with us today, they are not yesterday's troops, they are new forces. "The regiment was probably disabled yesterday."

"When will reinforcements arrive? If we continue to fight like this, sooner or later we will be overwhelmed by the Americans using human sea tactics."

"The head of state is still thinking of a way. He will not leave us alone. Didn't submarines come to support yesterday? We must hold our position and tell the brothers to fight hard and see how many Americans can die!"

While the two armies of Cape Verde and the United States were fighting continuously, the main force of the Axis Fleet had sailed about 1,000 nautical miles away from Bermuda. Machar was concerned about the war situation in Cape Verde. He heard that S-boats and submarine forces had teamed up to kill several US military ships. After the warship, he was obviously very happy and said to Ozawa with great interest: "If the report is true, it means that in the field of battleships, our German-Italian Axis Fleet not only overwhelms its opponents in terms of quality, but also outnumbers them in terms of quantity. The opponent, once the naval power of your country's combined fleet is added, the Axis Navy has completely overwhelmed the opponent, and it is a good time for a decisive battle. "

Relatively speaking, the Axis and Alliance estimates of each other's battleships are relatively accurate. After Cape Verde, the number of active battleships owned by Britain and the United States dropped to 6, including 2 South Dakota class, 2 Iowa class and 2 George V class, the Three Kingdoms axis has a much larger number of active battleships, with a total of more than 14 ships. Germany and Italy have 4 Veneto class, Tirpitz, Richelieu, and Strasbourg and 2 Scharnhorst-class ships. Japan has 2 Yamato-class ships, Nagato-class ships, and 2 Kongo-class ships. Except for the relatively old Kongo-class ships, the rest of their combat capabilities are pretty good. In the war era, if this lineup is used in a battleship decisive battle, the probability of Axis failure is less than 1%.

However, this period of advantage is short-lived. The Axis will only have one Yamato-class ship (Shinano) in service in the next year. In addition, there will be no other battleships in service, and there will be no battleships in service permanently - Germany and Italy early The strategy of building battleships was stopped. The outline of Japan's new shipbuilding plan was also sent to Berlin by Cole. The construction of new battleships was also stopped. The Axis will not be able to add battleships in the future.

This is not the case for the Alliance. There are still 2 Iowa-class ships, 2 Lion-class ships and 1 Vanguard-class ship that can be put into service in the next year. In 1945, it is expected that there will be 2 more Iowa-class ships, for a total of 7 relatively modern battleships. service. Except for the USS Wisconsin and the USS Missouri (both of the Iowa class), the other five warships were not completed during World War II. In this time and space, due to the heavy losses suffered by Britain and the United States in the early naval battles, resource investment was intensified. It is expected that by the end of 1945 It can basically be completed.

Stimulated by Japanese super battleships, the United States formulated a construction plan to build 8 Montana-class ships and add 2 Iowa-class ships. A total of 8 Montana-class ships and 8 Iowa-class ships formed the U.S. 88th Fleet. In 1943, the construction of 4 Montana-class ships and 1 Iowa-class ship was started. In 1944, the construction of another 4 Montana-class ships and 1 Iowa-class ship was also started. These warships are expected to enter service one after another from September 1946 onwards. , all completed by 1948.

The German intelligence agency only knew that the United States continued to build new battleships, and did not know the specific number and performance levels of the battleships. But Hoffman knew about the Montana class, and he estimated the number to be 4 - he would never have imagined that the crazed American emperor would sigh Will launch 8 ships!

If the United States drags the war to this point, the situation will obviously not be favorable. Even with four Montana-class ships, the British and American battleship forces are stronger than the Axis. But Hoffman’s attitude towards stopping the development of battleships is firm. First, the trend of aircraft carriers becoming the mainstream of the navy will not be shaken. Second, after nuclear bombs are formed and installed in large numbers, engaging in large-scale fleet battles is also courting death.

However, when the new technological revolution and new war situation breaks out, it is not up to the parties involved to choose. Even if the German super bomb can be completed almost at the same time as the United States, in the short term it will mostly contain intimidation elements, without actual combat capabilities, and a combination of foresight, directionality and reality. Very subtle - no one can understand this subtlety except the traveler himself.

Ozawa agreed: "Originally, I thought battleships were obsolete, but due to Commander Horikichi's innovative use of super battleship combat and the outstanding performance of battleships in recent battles, I found that in combat, especially in the Atlantic direction, It still has high value in battle. Unfortunately, neither Germany nor Japan has the ability to maintain a huge battleship construction plan and build a sufficient number of aircraft carriers. They can only choose more important aircraft carriers for construction. Now Britain and the United States have lost several battleships. , although old, is still a very important victory.”

But he soon came to a turning point: "But I think the large-scale naval decisive battle you are looking forward to may not happen. This is due to factors such as the balance of power, changes in combat modes, and other political reasons."

In terms of aviation power, the number of aircraft carriers currently controlled by the Axis also exceeds that of the United Kingdom and the United States, and the quality of its personnel and aircraft performance are also stronger than its opponents. However, the United States' desperate efforts to build the Essex class have made Hoffman and the top naval officials I am very worried. The information collected by the intelligence agency believes that the United States has formulated a plan to start construction of 18-20 Essex class ships every year and build 60-80 escort aircraft carriers at the same time. Japan's new shipbuilding plan also proposes to build 8 ships every year. -10 fleet aircraft carriers. Comparing the two shipbuilding plans, Hoffman believes that the United States is more likely to achieve it because he learned from another channel that the Japanese Army is obsessed with developing mecha forces. He does not think that Japan has the capabilities and resources to support this. Huge shipbuilding plan.

Hoffman believes that after the promotion of the Axis class, the combined efforts of Europe and Japan in shipbuilding can overwhelm Britain and the United States, but the timing is not easy to grasp. It may be early or late. The more critical issue is that the Axis Navy is scattered among Germany, Italy and Japan. Horikichi is now in trouble and his future is very unclear.

If Britain and the United States had strong confidence in their own strength and subsequent development, they would not fight the decisive battle that the Axis expected now - otherwise, this Battle of Cape Verde would not have happened, and the British and American navies could have gone straight to the Azores , then the German main fleet must respond.

Krank interjected from the side: "Although it may not lead to a decisive battle, I believe that a large-scale battle must be carried out as soon as possible. The performance advantage of our military aircraft may not be maintained for too long. The new F6F-5 carrier-based fighter jet has been omitted. Better than the Bf-219C, and our next-generation carrier-based fighter has not yet been determined. Although it still has significant advantages in attack aircraft, the impact of lagging behind in the fighter link is all-round..."

"Then there may be problems with the strategy of attacking Bermuda... If, I mean if..." Machar said, "We successfully attacked Bermuda and occupied it, but Britain and the United States just did not send fleet reinforcements - just like them We won’t send fleet reinforcements to fight against Cape Verde. We will only use land aviation to fight against us. What should we do?”

Ozawa and Krank looked at each other and smiled bitterly at the same time - this is what is likely to happen! The three of them could only think hard about the way out.

At this moment, the confidential staff officer loudly reported, interrupting the solemn atmosphere: "Call from Berlin, top secret, please check it, sir!"

Machar glanced hastily, thoughtfully at first, and then almost jumped up from the ground with excitement, cheering from the bottom of his heart: "It's so wise, so great! Long live the head of state!"