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On the Anglo-Canadian route in late October, an American merchant fleet was heading for Great Britain under the protection of escort troops, and no one could remember how many times this was the first time this year that a transport force had traveled from the North American continent to Great Britain, only that their number was NG-215. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 INFO Since the German control of the Azores, the original North Atlantic route has become unreliable, so the number of the HX fleet in the early Atlantic battles has gradually given way to the new number NG, which means from Newfoundland to Great Britain.

The specific voyage of the NG route starts from Newfoundland, Canada, first heads north to the vicinity of Greenland, then sails eastward until it is about the same pace as Iceland and then turns south to the mainland of Great Britain. This would be more than 1,000 kilometres longer than the original route from Newfoundland to the UK, but it would be the safest way to avoid the 1,000-nautical-mile radiation circle of the Azores.

Now the Azores is the plague zone that everyone in the British and American seafarers are afraid of, at first the seafarers in order to save a little time, only to avoid the Azores about 800-1000 kilometers, they thought that the enemy was not easy to find the fleet and intercept, but did not expect that the coverage of the joint attack aircraft and Ju-188 bombers deployed on it was extraordinarily large, and with the assistance of the FW-200C, the Atlantic condor, repeatedly hit merchant ships, and finally was forced to have no choice, and the fleet route became farther and farther, The detour is getting bigger and bigger.

However, taking this road can only avoid the planes on the Azores at most, but cannot avoid the endless German submarines, almost all cargo ships departing from the United States or Canada have encountered submarines, whether it is the S-type anti-submarine route, or the escort system, can only partially solve the problem of excessive losses, but cannot fundamentally solve the losses, because the anti-submarine capabilities of Britain and the United States are rising, and the strength and performance of German submarines are also rising.

British and American naval experts estimate that Germany has at least 1,000 submarines, and at least 80% of them are deployed in the North Atlantic after the Mediterranean Sea has completely become an axis inland sea. This estimate is obviously slightly higher, the total number of German submarines has not exceeded 700 so far, but the proportion of 70% is appropriately estimated, except for the Sea Wolves deployed in the Atlantic, the rest are active in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic, where the results are much less.

The second estimate of the British and American submarines of Germany is that the enemy has put in a new type of submarine, and the number accounts for at least 15%, this new model refers to the XXI type submarine, which is a real submarine born for breaking diplomatic relations, not a submersible warship, its maximum underwater submersible speed can reach more than 17 knots, the speed is not only far greater than the floating time, but also faster than the ordinary merchant ships, the British and American transport forces continue to take the S-type anti-submarine route not only can not be avoided, but will allow the submarine to seize the opportunity to shorten the distance and snipe.

Moreover, the XXI type submarine also has a perfect snorkel and mute measures, and the general escort warship cannot catch him at all, and the destroyer can generally only rely on sonar positioning to drop hedgehog bombs for anti-submarine, but the underwater high speed of the XXI type makes this method repeatedly run away - if the destroyer is not fast, the speed at which it drops hedgehog bombs cannot keep up with the rhythm of submarine maneuvering; If the speed is high, the sonar will not be usable due to the noise interference of the hull itself. During the day, aircraft can also be used for anti-submarine, which can be used to dive more than 100 meters deep in the XXI class, which is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

In order to overcome the influence of such submarines, British and American experts finally came to the conclusion that they should not take the evasive route, and that the freighters with the Victory ship as the main carrier should all rush straight at the highest speed in the dangerous area to kill them, and even if they are suspected of encountering submarines, they should not waste time in carrying out anti-submarine operations, and just rush through the Azores black hole blockade line for a day and a night, and the fleet will be safe. This suggestion seemed absurd, but it turned out to be beneficial, and the losses of the Anglo-American fleet began to decline, because it was not the time when the XXI was in charge, and in the face of high-speed impact freighters, other submarines could not get the ideal torpedo launch position.

However, this advantage was not obtained for a long time, with the rapid launch of the German XXI class, the loss rate of the Anglo-Canadian route still began to rise steadily, most of the time the figure stabilized at 25%, and in extreme cases it soared to 30% (after combining a round-trip route, the ship loss rate was 40-50%), such a heavy loss would have been stopped long ago, but Roosevelt, who knew the importance of Great Britain's position, after painful thinking, believed that no matter how heavy the loss, this transportation route must be maintained, Unless the Axis sends a surface fleet to completely cut off the route, it must continue, and the tonnage war must be won, after all, the loss of German submarines is also consumed in the continuous anti-submarine process, and building a submarine and training enough sailors is definitely more troublesome than building a cargo ship.

This is the tacit tonnage war between the two sides: is it the American tyrant who has more transport tonnage or the German overlord who has more anti-submarine tonnage? This hard-hitting style of play is what makes Dönitz and Hoffman feel the most helpless.

In order to win the Atlantic transportation war and avoid repeating the mistake of strategic bombing failing because of heavy losses, Roosevelt issued a series of edicts at the suggestion of the thinkers:

1. Seafarers who successfully complete a transatlantic transport will be given a cash prize, with a minimum of $500, which will be distributed cumulatively according to grade, experience, and times, and $500 in 1943 is not a small amount (1 ounce of gold is only $35, and $500 is equal to 405 grams of gold), and many people are willing to fight for this high reward;

2. The cargo ship prepares enough lifeboats and supplies, once the ship is attacked, it will immediately escape to save its life, generally speaking, the German submarine is more knightly, will not attack the lifeboat, after dawn the escort ship will rescue the lifeboat, in order to speed up the escape, the United States urgently developed a 100-ton class, diesel engine as the power of the supporting speedboat, which is deeply loved by seafarers - nicknamed the refuge;

3. If a cargo ship is attacked in the middle of the journey, the escaped seafarers will be rewarded after arriving in the United Kingdom (or Greenland), and they will not have to take a dangerous freighter on the return trip, and the US strategic transport team will send them back by plane;

4. If you are unfortunately captured, please maintain cooperation with the German side and take care of your health, the United States will exchange other civilians with Germany;

5. If you unfortunately die in battle, in addition to the reward, you will also be given an additional bereavement pension, which will be implemented with reference to the soldiers.

These comical-sounding policies were targeted, the morale of the seafarers was kept high, a steady stream of middle-aged uncles willing to join the ocean transport to earn the $500, and the prisoner exchange promised by the US government was being carried out - as the Statute of Allegiance continued, Germans were sent to concentration camps for the exchange of seafarers (none of which involved active duty), and Portugal was happy to act as brokers. Naturally, Hoffmann could only allow this exchange between the common people, because after the promulgation of the Jewish statehood plan, the exchange business of the Jewish residents plummeted, and since he was the head of Germany, and since the repeated broadcasts of the Voice of Europe to agitate against the American and Italians against the US government had indeed achieved results, he could not help but bring back these German families and make proper arrangements.

So the Atlantic tonnage battle continued to be maintained in an atmosphere that both sides felt unstoppable, but since Hoffman was going to make a forced landing in Britain, he couldn't help but let the rope around the fat man's neck tighten a little, coupled with the need to cooperate with Machar's operation, the aircraft carrier breaking fleet was formed and fought for the first time, and its first opponent was NG-215.

"Damn it......" The poignant radio sounded, and the escort carrier Casablanca immediately made a mess, and the captain and commander of the escort formation, Colonel Richmond, smashed his fist on the railing and scolded fiercely, "It's this nasty Atlantic inspector again!" ”

Atlantic Inspector is the British and American Navy officers and seamen to give the nickname Ju-290C, usually after this thing appears, German submarines or attack aircraft groups will follow, so there is a more emotional nickname - "Plague God", the power of the Atlantic Inspector is so significant, that the first target of the escort aircraft carrier aircraft is the first target of attack, the seafarers often joke with each other or swear by curses: "If I tell a lie, let me bump into the Atlantic Inspector as soon as I go out!" ”

"Tonight is destined to be another difficult night." Although the formation has two of the newest Casablanca escort carriers and two Borg-class carriers, Richmond is well aware that once it is night, their carrier-based aircraft will not be of much use, and the large size of the escort carrier or freighter will become the first significant target.

"The target is determined, a large fleet, with 23 Shengli freighters, 4 escort aircraft carriers, 6 destroyers, the center is located in the AS91 sea area, the route is 84 degrees, and the speed is 14 knots......" In the face of the carrier-based aircraft that pounced, this Atlantic inspector turned around and climbed away in a dashing manner, sending out the information he had collected while retreating -- he was very skilled in this cat-and-mouse game.

"Sir, the enemy fleet has been spotted, and it seems to be very fat...... "On the Dunkirk, the confidential staff officer handed the telegram to the commander of the formation, Rear Admiral Hintz.

"How far away from us?"

"About 600 kilometers."

Hintz nodded, looked at the time exactly 2 o'clock in the afternoon, according to the speed of the opponent's volley, the distance between the two sides at 4 o'clock will be about 450 kilometers, which is a very ideal strike distance, after the fight, you can also take advantage of the night to slip away, and the remaining small fish and shrimp are still left for the submarine force.

"The reconnaissance plane was immediately prepared, and after 15 minutes, it was released, paying attention to the sea area around the target for 300 kilometers; The attack aircraft have completed their sortie rearmament to prevent the Americans from fishing, and the fleet is now moving at full speed. "Although the target is tempting, Hintz is calmer, what if the main British and American fleets are followed by him? His own fleet is used to break diplomatic relations, not to fight the enemy.

At 2:15, four AR-352s (Caiyungai) took off into the air and quickly pounced on the target...... (To be continued.) )