Chapter 745 Atlantic Strangulation War (54)

"We must let Cunningham's troops rush over to intercept. Even if they cannot intercept, they must join forces with Ingersoll's fleet... As for the attack aircraft, there is no need to attack the enemy aircraft carrier formation. I suggest that you split your troops into two groups. One group will first attack the enemy transport fleet to attract land-based aircraft reinforcements on Newfoundland Island, and then the other group will attack the airport - without the airport, the Germans will not be able to be rampant." The more complicated the situation, the clearer Admiral Jin's mind was. He said one by one with a stern face, and everyone felt that it made sense.

"Let Matthew and the Canadians send more troops to rescue the pilots who parachuted in Newfoundland. The planes don't matter, but we must save as many pilots as possible! After this battle, many novices will grow into veterans. We can't afford to lose too many pilots."

Arnold nodded hurriedly. The losses suffered by the Army Aviation in this battle were even greater than those in the Caribbean. The Caribbean and Bermuda battles finally trained a group of experienced pilots, and most of them were lost in this cruel battle. However, the statistical results showed that this group of experienced pilots performed the best in terms of survival rate and power, and even 3-4 aces emerged (shot down 5 enemy planes). He agreed with Admiral King's strategy.

In the afternoon, the attack aircraft groups of the Army and Navy on Prince Edward Island set off one after another. The Navy was responsible for dealing with the retreating German fleet, and the Army was responsible for dealing with the German airport on Newfoundland. The result was contrary to expectations. The first wave of German fleets discovered in the morning disappeared. The Navy could only attack the German ships outside the port, but ran into the German fighter cluster that was ready for battle. The German army had a total of 76 fighters at this time, leaving 16 to cover the airport and the direction of the Marine Corps, and 60 to intercept the US Navy Air Force.

The performance of the Navy Air Force was not much better than that of the Army Air Force. In a fierce offensive and defensive battle, the US military sank the light cruiser Leipzig, the battleship Empire, the heavy cruiser Seydlitz, and 2 freighters. However, the price it paid was extremely high. Under the strong interception of the German fleet's anti-aircraft firepower and fighters, a total of 84 aircraft of various types were lost, and the German army lost 13 fighters. Hartmann was even more familiar with the Do-412 on his opponent, and won 5 victories in one breath, tying Marseille's record of shooting down 17 aircraft in one day.

Originally, the German army had a chance to expand the victory. In the final stage of the offensive and defensive battle, the airport suddenly called for reinforcements, saying that a large number of enemy planes were coming. So the German army immediately sent 16 fighters to reinforce, but even so, only 32 planes were gathered, and they seemed outnumbered in the face of nearly 200 US Army Air Force attack aircraft. The US military successfully raided the airport and destroyed 17 He-218s and 8 Ju-98s on the ground. At the same time, it also caused nearly 100 casualties to the Marines defending the airport. 32 fighters desperately intercepted and shot down 41 US aircraft, and lost 10 of their own. After nightfall, because the airport and part of the runway were destroyed, the remaining German aircraft could only hastily rely on half of the runway, steel plates and mud to land, resulting in the loss of another 7 aircraft.

Faced with such a situation, even Hartmann, who had always been full of confidence, became worried: there were fewer and fewer planes, and the pilots who had been fighting continuously were generally very tired. In the evening, he felt his eyelids drooping constantly. If he had not forced himself to hold on, he might have seen the plane destroyed and the people killed if he had just closed his eyes.

"Sir, this cannot go on any longer. The entire army must retreat tonight, otherwise no one left will be able to leave tomorrow." Colonel Goth, the commander of the Marine Corps, had a bloody face. He contacted Lieutenant General Bei who was in charge of the port through a battlefield telephone. The artillery formation commanded by Lieutenant General Bei had been split in half. The Italian battleships and some cruiser units had covered the retreat of the first batch of troops last night. The German battleships and cruiser units would all retreat tonight. Originally, Ozawa arranged four destroyers to undertake the third batch of retreat missions, but Goth believed that the battlefield situation was changing rapidly and there was basically no chance for the third batch to retreat, so he believed that the entire army must retreat tonight.

"What should we do with so much equipment?" Lieutenant General Bei asked hesitantly, "If we blow them up, the noise will be too loud, and the enemy will find out soon. Then no one can escape..."

"As for the equipment..." Gott gritted his teeth, "There are only four Tigers left, and three Himmler Organs. They can all be loaded and shipped today. Type 4 or other heavy equipment are not cutting-edge technology. It is recommended not to blow them up. Destroy the engine and gearbox and leave them in place. As for the planes... Please pilots, take off at dawn and cover the fleet for a while."

"How can they land? The planes can't fly to the Azores. The fleet currently has no aircraft carriers!"

"Don't land. If the fuel runs out, just parachute. Let the destroyer rescue them..."

"This is the only way."

Late at night, Ridgway, MacDonald and others gave instructions: "Today, the Army Aviation destroyed the enemy's airport, and tomorrow morning they will launch another attack on the enemy. I plan to concentrate superior forces, especially armored forces, to launch a strong attack. Tomorrow, we will not entangle with the German army in front of us, but directly attack the port to cut off their retreat! Tonight, we will detour to the two wings..."

Everyone agreed. After Ridgway and the 101st Airborne Division arrived, the morale of the Allied forces was greatly boosted. Not only did they recover the positions lost in the previous few days, but they also rescued a group of pilots who parachuted after being shot down. Everyone was full of confidence and believed that the entire Newfoundland Island could be recovered soon.

In the early morning, the senior officers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had been intensively deploying all night, yawned and continued to deduce the war situation in the war room. Continuous staying up late and planning made these elderly generals have red eyes, haggard faces, and shaky bodies. I can only grit my teeth and persist.

The battle plan on December 4th was very clear: first, the assembled Cunningham fleet rushed eastward, preparing to intercept the German aircraft carrier formation; second, the army, navy and navy dispatched troops in the early morning to bombard the German fleet and positions; third, The 101st Airborne Division and the Canadian Forces are responsible for outflanking and cutting off the German Marines' retreat; fourth, Cape Verde continues to exert pressure and must be captured as soon as possible.

Just after 7:30, an emergency telegram came from the front line.

"What? The Germans escaped?" Marshall shouted angrily, "When did they escape?"

"It must have been last night that the 101st Airborne Division launched an attack early in the morning. It encountered no resistance. It rushed all the way to control the port only to find that the enemy troops had slipped away. In the end, they only rescued a group of Canadian prisoners held near the dock."

"Didn't the Canadians say that the German army numbered at least 5,000? How could they escape so fast? This is unscientific!"

Eisenhower smiled bitterly after reading the telegram: "There is no such thing as 5,000. Matthew made it very clear in the telegram. The German army invested a total of 3,000 troops, and about 800 people were killed in the battle - some of the corpses did not have time to be completely restrained, and there may be others. There were 400-500 wounded and more than 500 people who retreated the night before yesterday. There were probably more than 1,000 Marines standing in St. John's yesterday. They abandoned all their heavy equipment and supplies, but they fled everything, and no one was found on the position. There are only a few German Panzer 4 tanks, tank destroyers and artillery pieces. There are a lot of ammunition, aircraft wreckage and spare parts left on the enemy-controlled airport, but there are no complete aircraft..."

"Have you captured any prisoners?"

"There seem to be a few...oh, three. They are German pilots who got lost after parachuting."

"Damn it, let the plane chase them, they won't be able to get far!"

This order does not need to be issued deliberately. After discovering the air attack in the early morning, the US military attack formation quickly adjusted its route. After some searches, the German fleet was found. However, finding it does not mean that it can be easily dealt with. There are still more than 40 German fighter jets on it. During the cover mission, after a fierce battle, the German formation lost the light cruiser Muccio Atendolo (Italy), the light cruiser Emden and the Z49 (Hedgehog-class) destroyer. The battleship Reich ate 2 bombs and One main gun was lost, but it could still maintain a speed of more than 20 knots. Another freighter was lost. The Tiger and Himmler organ that Gott had worked so hard to take away were all sunk, but they were sunk here rather than on the island. It was much better to be captured by the US military. The US military lost more than 50 aircraft for this purpose-the pilots could only be captured even if they successfully parachuted.

Of course, the fate of the German fleet was not much better. They were either shot down on the spot, or crashed due to exhaustion of fuel after the US aircraft retreated. Fortunately, the pilots were able to parachute to save them. After the air raid, Lieutenant General Bei finally grew up. He took a breath and led the fleet to retreat at top speed. Now there are only 11 aircraft left in the entire fleet. In a few hours, they will all run out of fuel and crash into the sea. Hartmann shot down three more in the early morning, and after running out of fuel, he parked the plane firmly on the water and made an emergency landing - he didn't want to soak in the cold North Atlantic. After he boarded the rescue boat, several The waves hit, and the Do-412, which had made many achievements, finally sank into the sea and disappeared. After the Newfoundland Strangulation War, the German army lost all Ta-152 and Do-412. Lieutenant General Bei estimated that Minister Speer's face would be very exciting at that time.

Everyone in the Joint Chiefs of Staff had very ugly expressions: The mission of recovering Newfoundland was barely completed, but could this be the explanation for such heavy losses on the island? Can we boast another victory over the German army? Everyone is not so thick-skinned yet.

Ingram asked reluctantly: "Can we continue to send out aircraft to attack the German fleet?"

Arnold shook his head: "The attack fleet has returned in the early morning. The Newfoundland Airport is currently unavailable. We can attack again in the afternoon, but the distance is too far. The pressure and physical strength of the pilots have reached the limit, and the horizontal bombing effect of the four-engine bombers is not very good." good."

Marshall waved his hand: "Forget it, save your energy. These pilots finally have practical experience and cannot be wasted easily. Send a telegram to Matthew and the Canadians to immediately restore order in Newfoundland and repair the airport. Statistics loss, the next battle depends on the navy.”