At 3:45 a.m., the embarrassed Nimitz finally led the fleet to escape from the submarine ambush circle at maximum speed, and carefully counted the losses, and the whole army wanted to cry without tears:

6 Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers were sunk, 4 were sunk;

4 Cleveland-class light cruisers were sunk 3;

8 Oakland-class air defense cruisers were sunk 4;

The battleship USS Missouri was sunk;

The battleship Wisconsin was mid-mine on the port side, with more than 4,000 tons of water and a roll of 8 degrees, barely regaining its balance after water injection, and its speed dropped to only 26 knots;

The USS Bennington was bizarrely smashed onto the deck by the wanton flying components of a nearby light cruiser after the explosion, and 4 aircraft and 2 anti-aircraft guns were damaged;

Although the USS Hancock was not hit by a mine, it collided with a destroyer in a panic and rushed to avoid it, which sank and damaged the side of the USS Hancock;

Two Fletcher-class destroyers collided in a panic while fleeing, and both were forced to abandon their ships. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Only the Franklin, where Nimitz was located, was blessed with great fate, not only survived the ghost gate, but also survived unscathed.

But when he received the information about the battle damage, he was stunned and didn't know what to say: the reason why these aircraft carriers were able to survive was entirely because of the close protection of battleships and cruisers, otherwise how could they have suffered so heavy casualties? He felt deeply guilty for his comrades who had sacrificed their lives.

While the Americans were storming, there were also losses on the German side, many of which were not even expected:

One XXI submarine was unfortunately sunk by its own torpedo after launching an attack on the surface, and all the officers and men of the ship were killed;

One submarine was injured by a hedgehog shell indiscriminately dropped by a U.S. destroyer and was forced to float and escape urgently;

The losses of the other two submarines were even more bizarre, one of them collided with the American cruiser ship because it did not float in time, and the cruiser was subsequently blown up, and the submarine was also sunk.

The last U3301 died the most unjustly, obviously it had dived more than 20 meters, but because the air defense cruiser next to it was hit by three consecutive torpedoes and exploded into several sections, one of the wreckage fell into the water and smashed on the submarine shell, the outer protective shell was damaged on the spot, and the pressure-resistant shell was also damaged, and it was forced to float, but unfortunately appeared under the muzzle of another destroyer and was sunk by more than 20 rounds of 127mm naval guns......

Of the 31 submarines actually put into operation, 22 (the other 9 were distributed on the two wings, but they were too far away to catch up), and all of them basically fired torpedoes, a few fired one round, most of them fought two rounds, and a very few fought three rounds, and only two submarines ran out of torpedoes.

Nearly 340 torpedoes were fired by the German submarine forces throughout the night, with a hit rate of between 13 and 14 percent - a significant increase from the 5-6 percent in the North Atlantic. Of course, the specific situation is not clear to the German side, and even the commander of the U-boat who was at the scene was confused, and everyone knew that many US warships were sunk, but no one had comprehensive data on who was sunk and what the specific model was sunk.

Even the battle reports sent back by the captains contradicted each other, so Cranke had to let the reconnaissance planes in the direction of Rio search carefully at dawn.

"Sir, what should I do?" On the bridge of the USS Franklin, Smith looked at Nimitz with a sad face and asked, "The fleet has suffered heavy losses, although the three main aircraft carriers are still there, but the other warships have suffered too many losses, and they will continue to carry out the scheduled battle plan?" ”

Nimitz sighed, was speechless for a long time, and after a few minutes of silence, asked, "Has the rescue of the drowning people come up?" ”

"It's hard...... The enemy submarines basically fired heavy and super-heavy torpedoes, which were extremely powerful, and many warships were directly sunk and sank extremely quickly, so ......"

"So" Smith couldn't go on with the rest of the words, and Nimitz understood what he meant, a euphemism for "there aren't many survivors."

He closed his eyes painfully: "Tell Hewitt about the losses and let him quickly turn around with the transport fleet and not be attacked by submarines again." ”

"Shall we turn back too?"

"Release the reconnaissance plane after dawn and take a look at the situation first......

At dawn, the half-asleep Barton was suddenly woken up by Roosevelt Jr., who told him in a mournful tone: "Sir, something has happened! Something is wrong! ”

"What's going on? The German fleet called? Patton was taken aback, now Hewitt only had 1 battleship at hand, but he could not defeat the main force of the German fleet.

"It's not!" Roosevelt Jr. shook his head, "General Nimitz's main fleet was ambushed by German submarines and suffered extremely heavy losses!" ”

"Ambush?" Patton was taken aback, "How is he?" ”

"He's fine, but the fleet is not in good shape." Roosevelt Jr. reported the approximate losses, and Patton no longer understood the Navy, and understood that this kind of battle damage was completely devastated to the bones, and after a moment of silence asked, "What about the Navy now?" ”

"General Nimitz has given the order for the transport fleet to turn, and Admiral Hewitt has completed the fleet turn and is urgently returning home."

"Go back? No! Barton yelled, "How's that going to work?" Slipping back in the dust without firing a shot? What about Brazil? ”

"The Navy is worried that we will encounter submarines." Roosevelt Jr. was also in a heavy mood, "Although there is no result in returning home now, at least the fleet and troops are saved, otherwise the Germans will wash the fleet again with submarines, and the consequences will be unimaginable......"

Patton was speechless for a long time, but he couldn't say anything, he was not afraid of the Germans on land, but he was about to blind the submarine in the sea. When he thought of the past when the warship in the Horn of Africa was sunk, stranded and forced to dock, he couldn't help but feel sad, could it be that my luck was destined to be so bad?

"Sir, the reconnaissance plane sent back the reconnaissance situation." Hintz hurriedly glanced at it a few times and said with great joy, "Yesterday the battle was very successful, and the enemy suffered heavy casualties......

The telegram made it clear: "The enemy's main fleet currently has 2 escort carriers, 3 fleet carriers, 1 battleship, 5-6 cruisers, 1 large aircraft carrier suspected of being damaged"

Comparing the reconnaissance situation of the previous two days, Cranker easily concluded that after last night's battle, Nimitz had lost at least 4 escort carriers, 1 battleship, and 6-7 cruisers. The only thing that made him feel sorry was that he failed to sink those 3 capital aircraft carriers.

"Sir, the enemy transport fleet is heading northeast! When the reconnaissance plane discovered it, the center of the enemy fleet was about 600 kilometers east-northeast of Rio, and the speed was 17 knots! ”

"Where is the main force of Nimitz?"

"950 kilometers south-southeast of Rio, at a current speed of 18 knots!"

At present, the main force of the Kranker fleet is about 600 kilometers south-southeast of São Paulo, about 900 kilometers from Nimitz, and about 1,000 kilometers from Hewitt, both of which are remote.

"Nimitz wants to slip away?" A smile appeared at the corner of Crank's mouth, "It's not such a cheap thing!" ”

"Sir, enemy reconnaissance aircraft spotted! It's a carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft! ”

Hintz hurriedly ordered: "Beat him down!" ”

"It's been beaten, but the telegram has been sent out."

"Damn, we're exposed too."

"It doesn't matter." Crank smiled slightly, "I'm going to fight Nimitz!" ”

At 9 a.m. on July 28, a grim-faced Nimitz finally relied on this brave reconnaissance plane to find the German fleet that he had been searching for.

Smith reminded, "Sir, we have just suffered a heavy blow, and our strength is not superior!" ”

"If you don't have an advantage, you can only fight." After thinking for a moment, Nimitz issued an order, "The fleet course turns 225 degrees, and the attack group is ready!" ”

"The plane is clearly ready, but the original tactics cannot be used."

"How many pilots have been rescued?"

"There were probably less than 40 of them, and there were about 31 fighter pilots." The aviation staff officer said worriedly, "Several situations are not very good, and the mental tension after falling into the water is ...... others."

Nimitz's face was full of grief, there were at least 140 pilots on the four escort carriers, and most of them were still skilled pilots, he closed his eyes in pain, and explained word by word: "In extraordinary times, they can only grit their teeth and persevere." All destroyers were informed that all pilots who were able to continue the operation would be concentrated on the three main aircraft carriers by transport boats. ”

"Yes!"

"Telegraph Hewitt that in half an hour, 48 fighters will be dispatched to me to land on 3 main aircraft carriers, and there is no need to hang up auxiliary fuel tanks!"

"Sir, what do you want?"

"All but 48 fighters of the existing combat aircraft were put on the offensive! Let the 48 new fighters cooperate in the air defense mission of the fleet, and use all the reserve aircraft of each ship! ”

Smith quickly understood Nimitz's intentions, and now the main fleet still has all the combat aircraft of 3 fleet aircraft carriers + 2 escort aircraft carriers, a total of 326 aircraft, and after leaving 48 aircraft, there are 278 aircraft that can be put into attack, and after deducting the 18 reconnaissance planes released in the early morning, there are 260 attack aircraft that can fight immediately. However, 48 fighters were clearly on the small side to cover the fleet, so an additional 48 fighters were mobilized from Hewitt. In addition to the 260 planes that were put into the attack, 96 air defense fighters could be left, and if we take into account the reserve planes and the returning reconnaissance planes, more than 140 planes would be left.

"The pilots on the transportable fleet are very mediocre in their skills." Before departure, the U.S. fleet adjusted its ranks, and all the high-ranking ones served in the main fleet, and many pilots on the transport fleet only had Lv.3.

Nimitz sighed: "I know, so I asked them to fly the plane over, and then let the pilots who were rescued after falling into the water here get the plane and continue to fight!" ”

This is a strategy of substitution without changing aircraft -- it is obviously inspired by cross-platform tactics, although the US military does not have so many excellent pilots, but the distance between the transport fleet and the main fleet is only more than 300 kilometers, and the temporary dispatch of pilots is still competent.

Nimitz explained the rationale for this: "I have to fight the Germans, and if we avoid the war, the Germans will find a way to hunt down the convoy today, and at their speed, do you think they can run away?" ”

Smithton broke out in a cold sweat: if the transport fleet was wiped out, how would Nimitz see anyone back home? That will not be a matter between Nimitz and Patton, it will escalate to a sensitive issue of the army and navy.

At 9:16, Nimitz issued a mobilization order: "At this critical juncture, the United States needs everyone to fulfill their duties!" We will either triumphantly or gloriously sink! ”

ps: There is another update in the evening, and I see that there is a new alliance leader, and I will continue to add more tomorrow......