Chapter 724 Atlantic Strangulation War (33)

The pier was noisy, and the outside of the port was equally chaotic. For night attacks by carrier-based aircraft, a relatively effective method was determined as early as the Socotra period: use large carrier-based attack aircraft to determine the approximate target of the enemy fleet, and then use the guidance aircraft to drop illumination bombs in conjunction with the bearing instructions. , and then the attack aircraft carries out the attack. In addition, an observation aircraft must be set up to observe and evaluate the attack behavior. After many experiments, the German army believes that, provided the target can be accurately found, night attack dive bombing is far more reliable than torpedo attack, and can basically achieve one-third or one-fourth of the attack success rate during the day.

No one dares to underestimate this success rate. Generally, the daytime hit rate for dive bombing the fastest destroyer can exceed 30%. Even based on the lowest standard, the nighttime hit rate exceeds 8%, which means that 6-7 aircraft are dispatched. A dive bomber can guarantee a hit (based on carrying two 250kg bombs). If it is dealing with a slow freighter, the hit rate is much higher. In terms of night attacks, Japan's elite pilots performed better than the Germans because Japan's radar technology was very poor and they relied on naked eyes for a long time. The pilots' vision was specially trained and their observation ability was particularly strong. When combined with radar, they were even more powerful. However, night attack is a highly difficult combat capability after all. That is to say, only Japanese and German elite pilots have this ability. The British army also had this ability during the air raid on Taranto. Unfortunately, they were flying slow Swordfish torpedo attack aircraft, and the difficulty was not at all At one level, even for such pilots, the Royal Navy has very few left after repeated losses. All pilots with this ability in the US military will undertake training tasks later. It is difficult for existing carrier-based aircraft rookies to land safely at night. , there is no night attack at all.

Flares were dropped continuously, and then the bright and white sea surface was reflected. The escorting Canadian and American warships fired desperately at the air, but this was of no use. Instead, the exposed firelight and ballistic trajectory attracted more attacks. fleet. In less than 10 minutes, the German pilots neatly dispatched three escorting destroyers. Even after suffering such heavy losses, these escort warships still desperately covered the retreat and evacuation of the freighter. They were fully aware of the situation after dawn. As long as the Germans launched another large-scale air raid or artillery bombardment, the more than 300 ships parked in the port would be destroyed. All must be destroyed. Unfortunately, they didn't know that in addition to the planes overhead, there were also U-boats underwater that were staring at these ships.

"Sir, we are in good time. The enemy is leaving the port in a chaotic manner!" The observer of the U-2538 submarine raised his periscope and reported happily to the captain, Captain William, while observing, "The sea is full of flies and headless flies. The merchant ships are just scurrying around, but there is no escort system at all.”

William nodded with satisfaction: "The head of state asked General Machar to poke a hornet's nest. It is estimated that now is the most chaotic time. Are the torpedoes ready?"

The torpedo commander nodded and said: "Everything is ready, Mashan can launch."

William leaned over the periscope and carefully observed the chaotic sea surface. He suddenly said: "Guys, I have a bold idea. I don't want to hit the freighter today. It's too unfulfilling. I want to hit some cats... "

"Cat and Mouse" is a metaphor for the relationship between escort warships and submarines in the submarine force. Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then laughed - the captain must have spotted some tempting target when he said this.

What William saw was the Canadian auxiliary cruiser Prince David. This ship was converted from a merchant ship, with a tonnage of 5,700 tons and a speed of only 22 knots. It cleverly avoided the air attack of the fleet and quietly headed northwest with three cargo ships. We retreated to York Harbor. Since the victory wheel behind him could only open at 16 knots at the fastest, in order to prevent the formation from being scattered, he set the overall speed at 15 knots.

"Follow us!" The submarine immediately began to intercept from the flank at a speed of 17 knots. After 15 minutes, it had pursued it parallel to the Prince David by virtue of its speed advantage.

"Periscope height, 17 degrees north-west, an armed cruiser, estimated tonnage 6,000 tons, distance 1.7 kilometers, speed about 15 knots..."

"The launch tube is filled with water, 4 rounds are fired in salvo, the dispersion angle is 25 degrees!

"emission!"

Following the captain's order, four powerful G9 oxygen torpedoes roared out from the four forward launch tubes...

"10...9...8...0" When the first officer counted to "0", two torpedoes directly hit this poor auxiliary cruiser. The G9 is something that can sink even a 10,000-ton treaty ship. Now I ate 2 of them directly, and the hull was blown into three pieces on the spot and started to sink.

"Long live!" All the crew members cheered. The submarine, which often hid here and there and suffered enough from depth bombs, suddenly turned around and killed the escorting warship. The feeling of joy cannot be replaced by hitting a cargo ship.

William showed a satisfied smile, and then issued a new order: "Complete the reloading quickly, there are still three freighters, I will send them one by one to meet God!"

"The evacuated cargo ship was attacked by submarines and aircraft fleets, causing heavy losses. Some ships and sailors watching from behind refused to evacuate, and instead asked to land to escape..." At 11 o'clock in the evening, the Joint Chiefs of Staff received a new telegram, which made Admiral Kim angry. He banged his fist on the table and cursed angrily, "A bunch of bastards! If you run out, there is still a chance of survival. If you hide in the port, sooner or later the whole army will be destroyed!"

"How to reply to them now?" Ingram frowned and said, "There are at least 200 ships that have not left the port."

Admiral King walked up to Marshall and said word for word: "I hope you can give the Canadians an order. Any sailor can only board the ship and evacuate and cannot return to the port again. Otherwise, he will be treated as a collaborator and will be killed without mercy!"

A group of senior army officials, including Marshall, were shocked when they heard this. Eisenhower said tremblingly: "But... but they are not soldiers... they are civilians... they will do this... in the future... in the future..."

"But the nature of today's war and the military supplies on the freighter determine that they must fulfill their national obligations... Is this war just for the soldiers?" Admiral Jin looked ferocious, staring at "Grandma Ike" He yelled, "Normally, you always hope that the country will protect you and rescue you. When the country needs you to make sacrifices, can you easily say no?"

"I..." Eisenhower was speechless, not knowing what to say.

"I can convey your suggestions to the Canadians, but I can't guarantee that they will listen to me." Marshall sighed. "The Canadians were very unhappy about us withdrawing the planes. They originally hoped that we could also launch night operations." Attack... coupled with this incident, I'm afraid it will be uncontrollable in the future. "

"You can't even care about the present, why are you still talking about the future?"

Arnold could only smile bitterly when he heard this. He knew best the level of the Army Aviation. Not to mention night raids, just a simple move like transferring to Corner Brook had caused the loss of more than 20 aircraft again. However, he was in no mood to defend himself and just racked his brains with a group of staff to divert domestic flights to Prince Edward Island for replenishment.

After receiving the telegram from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lord Thomas was also dumbfounded. He never thought that the big shots in Washington would dare to issue such an order, but at the same time he believed that the order was correct. Now the German planes have returned. The submarines on the sea also consumed a large number of torpedoes. Hundreds of ships rushed out and still had a chance of survival. Hiding in the port, the only possibility was that they would all be destroyed or captured. He could only bite the bullet and transfer the order to the Canadians. Division Commander Christie Major General An was also dumbfounded and asked worriedly: "Is this really an order from Washington?"

"Yes." Thomas showed him the original telegram.

"Can I not execute it? If I attack civilians on our side during the war, I am afraid that I will have to go to a military court in the future..." Christian said shudderingly, "Although there are telegrams to explain, what if the big guys in Washington fall out? If you don't accept the blame and even put the blame on us, my life will be ruined. As you know best, there are British and Canadian sailors, but the most common ones are Americans. You and I can handle it.”

"This..." Thomas thought for a long time but couldn't make up his mind. Judging from the actual situation at the dock just now, he knew that these civilians were very fragile. If they really wanted to open fire, they would have to blow up the pot, so even if he agreed to do it at all costs, The order to evacuate but also fire was inappropriate, but he gave a suggestion. It was okay to fire to threaten. Keep the muzzle raised. Don't aim at the crowd. Just scare them.

Just when the British and Canadian authorities forced these poor freighters to leave the port, the speeding German artillery formation was less than 100 kilometers away from the scheduled position.

Sitting in the command tower of the Tirpitz. Watching the huge warship passing through the waves at a high speed of 27 knots, Lieutenant General Bei also tried his best. Fortunately, the weather was not too cold, and there were very few icebergs floating in the sea. It was easy to avoid them with radar and telescope detection. Otherwise, if it hits an iceberg like the Titanic, not even the Tirpitz will be able to survive.

"What's the current situation at the port?"

"The night attack fleet has returned to replenish oil bombs, and U-boats are killing freighters, but they don't have many torpedoes left. There are at least half of the freighters in the port... Chief Machar's attitude is very clear. The Americans will not fight unless they run away. , if they dare to escape, they will be destroyed without mercy..."

"I'm afraid that the enemy will come out in a swarm, the planes are not there, and a few submarines can't stop them. We have to intercept them. Unfortunately, it will take more than an hour for us to arrive. I hope nothing happens during this time."

Lieutenant General Bei nodded, thought for 2 minutes, and issued the order: "Order: Okai and Kitakami immediately lead all S-boats to form a lightning strike detachment, attack at the highest speed, and destroy all enemy ships that dare to escape. I will lead the main fleet Then it will be..."

Five minutes later, the Lightning Strike Detachment rushed to St. John's Port with murderous intent at a super-high speed of 35 knots!