The rookie on the US escort aircraft carrier did not have the night attack capability of the Japanese and German pilots, so they could only honestly take off in the early morning for air strikes, and the commander of the formation, Major General Bode, had a total of 392 combat aircraft, and he cautiously left 96 fighters to cover his own fleet, and sent two waves of attack groups and nearly 300 planes to attack Cape Verde. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Earlier, 36 FW-190A8 fighters from the Canary Islands were transferred to the Canary Islands, and after refueling and replenishing at the Cape Verde base in the early morning, they re-launched to assume air defense missions.

On the morning of November 21, the first air battle of Cape Verde broke out, with a total of 52 German aircraft (20 BF-219 fighters, 20 HE-218, 12 joint attack aircraft) attacking the US fleet, and a total of 48 fighters defending Cape Verde - all FW-190s. After the transfer, there were only more than 60 aircraft left in the Canary Islands, which was of course a very risky act, but the Germans had no choice.

However, the results of the battle made Turner in the rear very anxious, 5 of the 14 escort aircraft carriers were sunk, in addition to the US air defense group also lost more than 40 additional planes, and only 28 of the 52 German planes that attacked finally flew back to Cape Verde, but they could no longer find a place where they could land safely -- Cape Verde Airport was the key target of US planes, and although 48 FW-190s tried their best to resist, the gap in number was obviously too large in front of nearly 300 US planes. With the assistance of ground anti-aircraft artillery fire, they did their best to shoot down a total of nearly 90 US planes, but in the end they were all shot down or the pilots parachuted out and crashed.

In the first round of the confrontation between the two sides, the U.S. military won the victory, and the U.S. military destroyed the air force and airport facilities owned by Cape Verde at the cost of more than 130 aircraft and five escort aircraft carriers. But Turner wasn't happy with the result. According to his original assumption, 45-50 escort aircraft carriers and about 1,300 aircraft should be enough to suppress the German air force in the Azores, but now it seems that he is overly optimistic - Cape Verde only has 100 aircraft and no jets have caused such losses, and the Azores have at least 600 or more aircraft, which means that the 45-50 figure is still too conservative, and it is safer to raise it to at least 60-65 ships.

"Führer, the US military has officially begun to attack Cape Verde, and in the face of the overwhelming air power of the enemy, our aviation has been completely lost, and enemy aircraft are now frantically launching air strikes." In the afternoon, Yodel reported with some concern, "Our army is very passive in this way, and we must support it as soon as possible." ”

"Is the intensity of the air attack high enough for Bermuda?"

"That's not yet, there are about 200 enemy planes to carry out air suppression, and the problem is that we don't have any counterattack force."

"Hold on, the enemy's landing hasn't started yet, and we can't mess with ourselves." Hoffmann thought for a moment, "Send a message of condolence to the Supreme Commander of Cape Verde in my name: Germany needs him to fight to the last bullet, but we will do everything we can to rescue him." ”

"Let Mashal strike?"

"It's not time yet, wait another day." Hoffman thought for a moment, "Inform Machar that from now on the fleet is ready to move 600 kilometers to the west, and the fleet needs to move in place by 10 o'clock tomorrow morning." ”

"To the west?" Dönitz was a little surprised, "You are?" I thought you would order it to come to Cape Verde's rescue. ”

"It's not time yet." Hoffman shook his head, "Don't you know how Horikichi went to the rescue of Tarawa?" I want to see if the Americans are genuinely trying to hit Cape Verde or if they are trying to lure us in. ”

As soon as he mentioned the example of the Battle of Tarawa, Yodel immediately remembered the three-week attack on Australia and New Zealand, and when he contacted the Führer's order just now, he immediately reacted: "Führer, are you going to send a fleet to attack the east coast of the United States?" ”

"The East Coast defense is strong, but we can go and fight Bermuda again." Hoffman smiled, "This time go up to 3 more battalions to see if the Americans have the ability to drop another 82 Airborne Division down." Oh, forgot, they also have a 101 Airborne Division, which makes Machar ready to put 4 battalions. ”

Although he expressed surprise at the Führer's report on the US Airborne Forces, Jodel thought that this strategy was good, at least better than going directly to the rescue of Cape Verde -- if Cape Verde was lost, it would threaten German West Africa at most, and if Bermuda was lost, it would be the East Coast that would be directly threatened, and the American people would still be able to sleep?

Hoffman didn't know that his strategy had hit Turner's death hole - it wasn't that there was no staff officer who suggested giving up the attack on Cape Verde and attacking the Falkland Islands directly, but Turner always said in a complaining tone: "But, Mashal is still there, and if you don't kill him, you won't be able to live in peace......"

Admiral Ingersoll understood what Turner meant, as long as the main German fleet stayed near the Azores for a day, the main forces of the Anglo-American Atlantic Fleet could not safely and boldly go to the South Atlantic to trouble the Argentines, it didn't matter if the Anglo-Canadian route could not be opened, Bermuda could never be lost, and now the island was in full swing for restoration construction, and the defense capability was worse than at the beginning.

Hoffman's strategy was held back after a night of contemplation in the war room, he was originally an expert in the study of campaign tactics, and Horikiyoshi's Australia-New Zealand attack tactics gave him a lot of inspiration, in front of two henchmen, he joked rather vulgarly: "The United States has two **** in the Atlantic, one is the Anglo-Canadian route, and the other is Bermuda, as long as they are pinched, they can stop the United States' misdeeds, I heard that Roosevelt is preparing for re-election through public opinion, I wonder if he can withstand the anger of the people after the bombing of the East Coast......"

The two immediately burst out laughing.

At the same time, the bigwigs of the Washington Joint Chiefs of Staff were also frowning, because the exact information from the Argentine side came, and the news was very depressing: more than half a month ago, the German army completed the reinforcement of the Falkland Islands through the Madagascar route, and now the island is not more than 10,000 people and more than 100 planes as originally expected, but at least four times its strength. The third wave of the U.S. military is preparing to seize the Falklands, with three divisions and more than 600 aircraft, which was originally expected to be five times the enemy's strength.

"Why haven't we heard from the second batch of reinforcements? Such a large fleet could not be quietly hidden. ”

"The main force of this group of troops did not go through Suez, but most likely mobilized the original German forces in Africa - after the end of the African campaign, the German army deployed more than 100,000 troops in East Africa and Madagascar, and it was not difficult to transfer two divisions to transfer support. As for the route, the latitude difference between the southernmost tip of South Africa and the Falkland Islands is more than 2,000 kilometers, and it is relatively easy to avoid reconnaissance in the direction of South Africa. Eisenhower frowned and analyzed, "If I am not mistaken, the main force of the German transport force should be the Wheel of Will, a kind of European standard freighter similar to our Victory, which carries the so-called '315' standard - 15,000 tons of deadweight, 15,000 nautical miles of maximum range, and 15 knots of maximum speed." ”

Admiral King nodded noncommittally, the biggest difference between Eisenhower and ordinary army generals is that he is very sensitive to logistics, whether it is air, sea or rail transportation, he is very proficient, Admiral King has always thought that Marshall has misplaced him - this guy does not know how to fight at all, and it is quite suitable to be the deputy chief of staff in charge of logistics.

"Gentlemen." Marshall tapped on the table, "What now?" The president is also very concerned about joint element operations. ”

"There is no other way but to increase the number of troops again, I think the army must be prepared to use at least 6 divisions, and I think the escort aircraft carriers will use at least 50 ships."

"What if the enemy increases his troops?" Arnold mentioned it, and everyone nodded, if there were more troops, it would be impossible to fight alive or dead.

"Then it will be a long time, you must first cut off the German supply line with the fleet, and then push it over step by step, the problem is ......" Admiral Kim smiled bitterly, "there is an Argentine supporting the Germans in the back, and they will not starve to death on Falkland Island......"

Everyone looked at each other: Falkland covers an area of more than 12,000 square kilometers, with a permanent population of less than 10,000, and most of them are British residents, Great Britain is 12 times the size of the Falkland Islands, but it has a population of more than 40 million.

"There's another way...... Admiral King said slowly, "the Army pushes over from the ground and settles the Argentine mainland first." ”

Marshall could only smile bitterly: it is perfectly possible to deter Argentina, but to attack Argentina must be authorized by Congress, and attacking a neutral country for no reason will only ignite the anger of Argentines. Although Argentina is not big, it is also one of the great powers in South America, with almost 10 divisions, about 150,000 national defense troops, and a navy that is not weak, plus the Germans bothered to support, and in Argentina they are desperately arming national defense with German weapons and instructors, how many troops will be needed to conquer Argentina? 200,000? 300,000? Even if the army is willing to devote so many troops, what about time?

"This is impossible, the army is willing to add four more divisions to attack Falkland and take out the German reinforcements before the next reinforcement arrives, the key is how many troops the navy can provide?"

"Next month, 2 Essex-class ships will be commissioned, which can join the South Atlantic direction, and another 5-6 escort aircraft carriers are expected to be completed, which is probably this strength."

"Aren't there still 14 escort aircraft carriers available in the Cape Verde direction?"

"It's not so much, I fought with the Germans today, there are 9 ships left, and tomorrow I will fight for another day, if the Germans still refuse to take the bait, the day after tomorrow, the main fleet will cover the landing force to land." (To be continued.) )