Chapter 719 Atlantic Strangulation War (28)

The plan proposed by Ozawa was well thought out. Originally, the tactic that Krank and Machar considered was to advance rapidly overnight and rely on the high speed of the aircraft carrier formation to attack the island of Newfoundland so that they could attack the island at dawn. However, Ozawa thought it was inappropriate. Although the first wave of attacks could gain the upper hand, the fleet would soon face a counterattack from Britain and the United States. Although the attack on Newfoundland and the attack on Pearl Harbor were consistent in general, they were different in details. :

First, the main goal of attacking Pearl Harbor is to attack the U.S. fleet, so we must strive for a preemptive strike and paralyze the U.S. airport and air defense forces at Pearl Harbor first. However, Newfoundland is much larger than Pearl Harbor, and the airport and aircraft are also much larger than Pearl Harbor. A preemptive attack does not guarantee the destruction of the enemy airport. In addition, there is a base on Prince Edward Island nearby. Once the US military counterattacks, it will be very powerful. However, it is much safer to attack in the evening. Even if the US military counterattacks, they will not be able to find the axis at night. fleet. In other words, launching an attack in the evening is more conducive to preserving the fleet than launching an attack in the early morning. It is far easier for the US military to build these transport aircraft and re-produce many supplies than it is for the Axis to rebuild a fleet.

Secondly, the Pearl Harbor operation was a sneak attack in peacetime. The U.S. military was unprepared. Although the attack on Newfoundland was sudden, at least it was during wartime and it was a base port with heavy troops stationed. They placed all their hopes on the other side being unprepared. Above it is ethereal.

Thirdly, Newfoundland is such a large island that it is difficult to completely solve it with aviation power alone. It is necessary to introduce an artillery fleet and even consider landing operations. However, the artillery formation and landing formation will definitely not be able to outrun the aircraft carrier as fast. Can one count on bombardment or landing? There was no landing operation at Pearl Harbor.

Ozawa's suggestion was accepted by Machar and Krank after consideration, and they were determined to launch an attack in accordance with this schedule.

Starting in the early morning, tension permeated the aircraft carrier Zeppelin. Everyone felt like they were waiting for their fate to be pronounced. Machar laughed and pretended to be relaxed to comfort everyone: "Don't be nervous, even if you can't defeat the enemy in Newfoundland, you can still do it." You can't do anything to us. As long as Roosevelt sends supplies to Churchill, Newfoundland will always be a weak point. If it doesn't work this time, there will be a next time..."

Only Krank knew that the officer's fists were clenched when he spoke just now, and his inner anxiety was evident.

An uneasy mood also permeated the Joint Chiefs War Room. Everyone's faces were tense and the air seemed to freeze. Admiral Jin had lost his temper twice in a row because of trivial matters, but no one blamed him. Everyone knew that the pressure on him was too great.

“What should I do if I can’t find the German fleet?”

Ingram did not directly answer Marshall's question, but only said: "The search has basically been completed within 1,200 kilometers of the east coast and 1,000 kilometers around Bermuda. Two aircraft have been arranged to search important suspected areas. There is a high probability that they are enemy fleets." If it is not in this position, there is a small chance that the reconnaissance plane missed the enemy fleet... I personally think that the former possibility is more likely."

"Where does the Navy judge the enemy will be?"

Ingram smiled bitterly: "If we draw a circle based on the last determined position of the enemy fleet at 17:00 yesterday, the enemy fleet can probably travel 400-500 kilometers in one night, which means that the possible distribution range is a circle with a diameter of 800-900 kilometers. This It is equivalent to nearly one-twelfth of the land of the United States. Although the Axis Fleet is huge, it is very difficult to find compared to the vast sea. "

Everyone looked at each other in amazement. At first glance, 800-900 kilometers seemed inconspicuous, but when it was actually drawn into a circle, it was extraordinary.

Hewitt interjected: "It is very likely that the German fleet evaded and maneuvered in other directions after being discovered by our reconnaissance plane yesterday afternoon..."

This was a natural reaction. Admiral Jin nodded and said: "At least the reconnaissance plane has determined that there are no enemy fleets within two distances. Even if we can't find them, they won't be able to attack us in the short term. The best we can do is To be fair, the top priority still needs to continue to send reconnaissance planes.”

Since the first round of reconnaissance occupied the vast majority of reconnaissance aircraft, there were not many aircraft that could immediately carry out the second round of reconnaissance. This time, the focus was on long-range search, which must rely on the returning 4-engine reconnaissance aircraft. Arnold said that at 12 o'clock at noon, The second round of reconnaissance can only be released in about 10 minutes. Considering that there is still an afternoon for searching, everyone expressed cautious optimism.

At 10:17, Cunningham sent a telegram to Washington to report the fleet's position. At this time, it was less than 1,000 kilometers away from Bermuda, and said that the fleet reconnaissance aircraft had also not found it. Everyone felt a little at peace, and when the aircraft carrier formation arrived, they would have more advantages in the next battle.

At 11:24, Turner sent a telegram to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reporting the battle on Sal Island. He said that the German army launched a night attack to counterattack last night, but was repelled by the army. All three infantry regiments of the Army's 5th Division landed on the island and now have control over the entire island. Half of the island is occupied by the enemy, and the enemy is still resisting. As for the fleet, except that the material consumption slightly exceeds the schedule, everything else is normal. The progress of the operation was slightly satisfactory, but the army's losses exceeded imagination. The first regiment lost more than 50%, and the combined loss rate of the second, third regiment and engineer battalion was nearly 30%. Commander McDonald planned to send the supplementary battalion as well. Go up for reinforcements.

Hearing that the war on the island was so stalemate, Marshall and other army bosses were helpless and could only ask Eisenhower: "When will the 3rd Army Division to support Cape Verde arrive?"

"Arrived tomorrow afternoon..." Eisenhower sighed, "Originally, we planned to capture Dakar after Cape Verde, but now it seems to be difficult. The mobilized army troops are not enough. Should we reinforce another division? "

"Then there won't be enough troops in the direction of Brazil." Marshall was also helpless. The good joint element operation finally turned into a tactic of adding fuel to Cape Verde, so he had to say, "Dakar will wait a little longer until the third batch of troops sets off. As long as If you win Cape Verde, it will be easy to win Dakar.”

At 11:53, Taylor, who was commanding at the front line, informed Arnold that the second round of reconnaissance planes had taken off one after another. This time the reconnaissance focused on movements within 1,000 nautical miles northeast of Bermuda. Everyone breathed a long sigh of relief, although they could not find the Germans. People, but at least so far everything is calm and nothing unusual.

At this moment, everyone on the Zeppelin aircraft carrier was even more nervous than the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington. At a high speed of 24 knots, the aircraft carrier formation was only 300 nautical miles away from Newfoundland and could be discovered at any time. The ground crew has completed the preparation work of all aircrafts, and the auxiliary fuel tanks and bombs are all ready, waiting for the order to attack.

Ozawa stood in front of the port window of the command tower, looking motionlessly at the sea, thoughtfully; behind him, a large number of staff officers were looking at their watches and wall clocks. This was already their subconscious conditioned reflex, and no one had ever felt that he was close to the sea. The hour passed so long, and everyone prayed silently in their hearts, hoping that the fleet would have luck. Krank sighed: "If I could speed up time by one hour, I would rather live 10 years shorter..."

"It's almost there, there are still 2 hours left."

"Sir, we have an important enemy report..." At 12:43, a voice suddenly broke the calm, coming from the radar room.

"What's the matter?" Marshal felt his voice trembling slightly, and his whole body couldn't help but feel tense. He instinctively didn't want to hear any enemy reports, but he had to pay attention to them.

"The radar found a ship 50 kilometers away heading in the direction of the fleet... It may encounter our military, and it may be too late to avoid the route. However, the other party is not fast. It is initially judged that it is a cargo ship."

There was a "buzz" sound, and everyone felt dizzy.

Ozawa gritted his teeth and issued the order: "Deploy 3 groups of carrier-based aircraft! It must be sunk as soon as possible! It must not be allowed to send a signal!"

Twelve He-218 dive bombers quickly attacked as quickly as possible. Seeing the attack group quickly take off, everyone's hearts seemed to be in their throats.

This bold freighter is a Chilean ship. Due to Chile's neutral status, the captain intentionally or unintentionally ignored the warning issued by the US military that the German fleet was approaching and would suspend departure from the port. He still wanted to go back early. Now the United States has a huge demand for Chilean supplies. Every time it transports They all made a lot of profits, and due to Chile's status as a neutral country, neither the Axis nor the Alliance would do anything to Chile, so they lived a very comfortable life.

When the Chilean sailors saw a plane passing over the ship and lowering its altitude, they all cheered. It is rare to encounter a plane on the vast sea. Suddenly a sailor exclaimed: "Iron Cross, this is a German plane... "

Everyone was shocked. When did the German plane fly here?

"Is there a German fleet nearby?"

"Probably."

"Do we need to report to the Americans?"

As soon as this question came up, there was an immediate debate. Some people said yes, and some people said not to mind their own business. Until the captain heard the sound and came out, he was also shocked when he saw this scene.

Just as they were hesitating, 12 dive bombers screamed and pounced down. "Rumble", the cargo ship, which was only more than 6,000 tons, received eight 500-kilogram aerial bombs in half a minute and was blown up. It was shattered to pieces, and it couldn't sink any more. The poor captain didn't even have time to send out the "SOS" signal.

"The good news is that the ship was bombed and sunk. It seems that no signal was sent. The bad news is that it was a Chilean ship...Chile is still a neutral country."

"Just sink it. Who knows if the Chileans will reveal the information to the Americans? Sinking is like this..." Machar waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "Just say it was a mistake. Let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs do it afterwards. No matter what, the worst I can do is send them a few planes and tanks to compensate.”

With this near-miss episode, time flies by a lot faster

When the hour hand reached 2 o'clock, all the staff stood up, waiting for the combat order to be issued.

Machar confidently issued the order: "Now, I declare that the crit campaign has officially begun, and the entire army will assault..."

"Long live Germany! Long live the Führer!"