Chapter 726 Atlantic Strangulation War (35)
After learning that Lieutenant General Bei had rushed outside the port of St. John's and launched a bombardment, Machar and others were relieved. However, they soon became uneasy because Lieutenant General Bei reported that more than 100 Allied cargo ships had been captured. At the same time, it was also reported that there may not be many Allied troops on the island - the sailors who fished them out of the sea said that there were at least 2 divisions and 2 Canadian divisions.
Although only one of the two divisions is located near St. John's and the other is in York Harbor and Corner Brook, Marshall is still worried: he only has 4 Marine battalions on hand, one of which is armored and one is armored. There are also two grenadier battalions and two fusilier battalions (traditional infantry battalions). Although they are very elite, their total strength is only 2,500 people. It is not easy to deal with an enemy 10 times their size.
"Why does the Führer insist on landing on Newfoundland?" Krank asked doubtfully, "Not only do we have fewer troops than the enemy, but Newfoundland is closer to the United States and Canada than Bermuda. The enemy can quickly obtain reinforcements for a landing campaign. It is difficult to win. Could it be that the head of state has the intention of controlling Newfoundland as a bridgehead to march into North America? "
Machar and Ozawa shook their heads at the same time: Not to mention 4 battalions, it would be difficult for 4 regiments or even 4 divisions to achieve this goal. The biggest problem of Newfoundland is that it is too close to the United States and too far from Germany. It has no long-term prospects. Possibility of occupation.
"However, we cannot destroy this Anglo-Canadian route base without a landing. A landing battle will help buy us time..." Ozawa pondered, "We must find a way to get these 100 cargo ships back together with the supplies. This is very tricky.”
Machar also calmed down from the initial ecstasy: "It is not easy to properly arrange their retreat. If the main force of the fleet escorts the freighter team, the enemy will definitely rush over quickly. The freighter must be arranged first before the main fleet can negotiate. retreat."
"The freighter can go to the Azores nearby, but according to the speed of the Victory Ship, even if the captive crew on board cooperates, it will take 4 days... There will be too many unpredictable factors in 4 days. At the very least, the British and American aircraft carrier formations will take the lead. Come over."
"Arrange the landing to attract the attention of Britain and the United States. We must get back these more than 100 cargo ships." After figuring this out, Machar, who has rich experience in breaking diplomatic relations, immediately ordered, "Convey the order to Lieutenant General Bei and get the order from the main fleet." Deploy some heavy cruisers and destroyers together with the lightning strike detachment to escort the freighter to retreat first, and the rest of the fleet will cover the landing of the Marines. A breakthrough must be made. "
Lieutenant General Bei also had rich experience in breaking up relations. Before Machar gave the order, he had already dispatched the heavy cruiser Hipper and the S-boats of the Lightning Strike Detachment to start performing the role of shepherd dogs. However, this shepherd dog was real. It bites people - unwilling Canadian sailors opened the sea valve in the night, allowing the cargo ship to take in water and sink. The German fleet was on the periphery to collect the Allied sailors and officers and soldiers who had fallen into the water before, so they did not notice this abnormality. When they discovered that the ship was slowly sinking, it was too late. The furious Lieutenant General Bei immediately ordered to open fire.
The Hipper first fired violently at the ship with its 203mm naval guns at a close range of more than 2,000 meters. Then the S-boats swarmed up and fired violently at the Canadian sailors who jumped into the sea or tried to escape in the lifeboats with their 4-unit 20mm machine guns. Beat the opponent until nothing is left. Such a bloody scene really shocked everyone present. They now knew that the Germans were not joking, they were serious about it! Several other ships that tried to follow suit immediately stopped their "unwise" behavior. Even if there were captains who were willing to do so, they were beaten black and blue by the swarming sailors out of survival instinct.
"Once again, surrendering ships must obey orders. Any act of sabotage will be regarded as resistance and will be killed without mercy!"
Time passed by, and the German landing force was getting closer and closer to the port. However, Christian's Canadian Division was under heavy artillery fire. Several 8-inch shore guns that he had high hopes for were fired less than an hour after the German artillery attack was launched. The Veneto class was silenced by the ferocious 381mm Italian drug cannon. After eliminating these threats, other German light warships swarmed up. Now the Canadian troops can only tremble against the dense German naval guns. At first, they tried to Most of the soldiers who had built fortifications on the docks and beaches were wiped out by fierce artillery fire.
In view of the fact that there are still many enemy bases remaining in the direction of York Harbor and Corner Brook, Ozawa's plan for the fleet is to use the dark time before dawn to launch an attack. The attack fleet will take off at 3 o'clock and complete the bombing mission before 5 o'clock. It must be destroyed and suppressed. The U.S. military aviation forces in this direction returned at dawn. If they moved more quickly, they could catch up with the landing campaign that started at 9 o'clock.
Arnold also deployed counterattacks in the early morning. According to the idea: long-range bombers in Maine should take off at 3 o'clock, and use the range advantage to discover the enemy fleet first after dawn, and then use the air power from Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Launch an attack on the enemy fleet. In terms of target selection, he did not choose the German artillery fleet with a clear position. Instead, he asked the troops to attack the German aircraft carrier formation first.
The current scene seemed to have returned to the tense atmosphere of the Caribbean campaign. In view of the lessons learned from the last campaign, he hoped that he could do better. Unfortunately, most of the main forces of the Army Air Force had gathered around Bermuda and the corresponding east coast beforehand, and it was really difficult to mobilize them. He tried his best to only transfer more than 100 aircraft to Prince Edward Island, and at the same time concentrated more than 200 aircraft in Maine - more troops would have to be redeployed after dawn. Canada is also trying to mobilize troops and aircraft, but their response speed is slower than that of the US Army Air Force, and they cannot be relied on in the short term.
Even with such a good wish, Ozawa was unwilling to let Arnold achieve it. Just after 5:05, Arnold, who had been busy all night and had bloodshot eyes, received bad news. The Germans attacked Corner Brook and York Harbor. Although they shot down more than 10 enemy planes, most of the nearly 100 planes gathered there were destroyed. They were no longer able to carry out the early morning assault mission. Moreover, the airport was basically destroyed and could no longer provide support in the short term. Arnold was so angry that he cursed for a long time in the operations room.
What made the Joint Chiefs of Staff even more furious was that Lord Thomas sent a telegram saying that due to the fierce German artillery fire, the Canadians lost more than 1,000 troops and all coastal defense artillery, and were forced to abandon the docks and the first line of defense along the coast and move to the depth, requiring the US military to quickly dispatch the army for support. Marshall smashed the cup on the spot-the Germans had not landed yet, and the Canadians were like this.