The first bad news came from the Eastern Front, after the end of the muddy period in early winter, the German army relaunched an offensive in the middle of the battlefield, the front advanced smoothly, but there was a big problem in the direction of Central Asia, Schellner sent a telegram to report that his group army was besieged by the Soviet army, although the early use of a short assault to fight a few small victories, but the Red Army surrounded the strength of the troops secretly frightened, he expected the enemy's strength to be between 50-600,000, and the will to fight is not weak, the tactical level is also stronger than the scum soldiers encountered some time ago, He is determined to stay in the oasis of Central Asia, but hopes that capacity will be guaranteed later. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The second piece of bad news was sent by Kohl from Tokyo, and he reported that there were different opinions within Japan on the next stage of the war, and that Horikiyoshi's proposal for the Second Expedition to Europe and the United States was not supported by the majority of the people, and what made Kohl even more uneasy was that the appointment was suddenly issued the day before yesterday, and Horiyoshi had also concurrently held the post of military counselor, and theoretically the authority of this position was still higher than that of the chief of the military command department or the minister of the navy, which seemed to be more powerful, but for the upper echelons of the inside, this was almost a precursor to the removal of him as commander of the Combined Fleet. There has never been a military senator who has also held the post of commander of the Combined Fleet. In addition, some people secretly approached Kohl, hoping to inquire about Horikichi and the upper echelons of the fleet and Germany, and vaguely hinted that Germany confessed that Horiyoshi had accepted "German political contributions" in exchange for the approval of the decision to combine the fleet to go west again. Of course, this was vetoed by Cole without hesitation, but this undercurrent made him very worried.

In order to deal with the German forces in Central Asia, Zhukov mobilized more than 1 million relatively combat-effective troops, of which 500,000 were used to besiege and attack Schellner's group army, and the other 500,000 were dispersed and hidden, ready to carry out the goal of encirclement and reinforcement.

To say that these two news are completely defenseless, it is not in line with reality, Hoffman is mentally prepared for both, and after a moment of silence, he said to Keitel: "In view of the special situation in Central Asia, I do not think that it is possible to send reinforcements for the time being, but it is necessary to give adequate material support, and I hope that Schellner will carry forward the spirit of the stubborn fighting spirit of the defenders of Cape Verde, firmly hold his own line, and use all means to fight the enemy; As for the Japanese side, Kohl's handling is right, and we must not admit any political donations, which will not only hurt Horikichi, but will no longer have anyone who sincerely cooperates with us in the future. Without the Combined Fleet, we could still win this war. ”

Keitel said in a low voice: "Is it necessary to withdraw the 4 Marine brigades in India, now Newfoundland is also asking for more troops, Cape Verde is also asking for more troops, experienced troops ......"

"Not for the time being, continue to observe the direction of the wind, and the material trade with Japan will continue, but credit will not work, and they must be allowed to ship the second batch of 200 tons of gold as soon as possible - it has been delayed for a long time." Hoffman said, "The technical output is temporarily empty and unreasonable, do not have actual actions, I want to make it clear to the Japanese that they have a request for us far more than we have for them!" ”

Keitel took his orders and went away, and at the same time, the decision to send one battalion from the Azores to reinforce Newfoundland was carried out.

"Sir, the Army reconnaissance aircraft has discovered the position of the German aircraft carrier fleet, about 300 kilometers directly south of Newfoundland, nearly 800 kilometers away from us, and the enemy has 4-5 aircraft carriers...... "I think this information should be credible, the enemy attacked Prince Edward Island last night, and now it is time to return to Newfoundland......"

"It's a pity that it's a little farther away......," Cunningham carefully looked at the chart, "If I'm not mistaken, the enemy should move northeast, re-support its landing force to open up the situation, let the fleet adjust its course, change it to a 315-degree direction, let's close the distance first, and hope that the ground aviation can continue to keep tracking." ”

"When are you going to attack?"

Cunningham looked at the time: "I'm thinking about pulling the distance to 600 kilometers before attacking, and it will take about 1 p.m. to release the attack group...... It is estimated that it will be able to recover just right at sunset. ”

"Time is already tight, the fleet must move at full speed, and besides, aren't you going to deal with the German battleship forces?"

"We're going to attack, but it's not us." Cunningham smiled slyly, "Let the Army Air Force send planes to attack this fleet first, attract some German air defense fighters, and take advantage of the enemy's aircraft carrier escort force to weaken itself, and then we will send out to destroy the enemy fleet in one fell swoop......"

"Sir, the reconnaissance aircraft reported that no enemy fleet was found within 800 kilometers." The confidential staff officer reported to Ozawa, "In addition, reinforcement planes from the Azores have departed, the first batch includes 24 Bf-219 fighters, 16 joint attack aircraft and 24 Ju-188 bombers, they will arrive around 12 o'clock, and the second batch of about 70 aircraft, including Bf-219 fighters, Ju-188 bombers, Ju-290 transport planes, etc., will arrive on December 2." Around 10 o'clock, the cross-platform carrier is expected to deliver another 16 Bf-219 fighters and 12 of the latest Do-412 test aircraft. ”

Machar and others quickly exchanged views and agreed, so that the fleet's carrier-based aircraft were basically replenished, and the land-based aircraft could also be covered by 130 aircraft, basically reaching the maximum extent of the use of troops, and as for the Do-412, it was a complete surprise. Due to the rapid upgrade of the F6F-5 and the successive attacks of the P51B \ P47, the Bf-219C is increasingly unable to cope with it, and the fleet believes that it should quickly provide new carrier-based aircraft, whether it is the purple electric modification or the gale modification, which is tested in actual combat first, so the first batch of trial production Do-412 was put into operation with the personal approval of Hoffman.

Compared with the original design indicators, due to the delay in the service of the 2400 hp BMW801F or BMW 901 (imitation R2800) engine, the DFK design bureau was finally forced to install the 801E engine, with a power of only 2000 hp, and the overall performance was slightly reduced from the initial preset indicators: the empty aircraft weighs 3016 kg, the maximum speed of the carrier-based version is 654 km / h, the maximum range is 1600 km, and it is equipped with 4 20mm MG213 aircraft guns (120 rounds of ammunition), The maximum climb speed is 1280 m/min, and the range is roughly more than 2400 kilometers after the addition of auxiliary fuel tanks, and the high-altitude performance above 6000 meters will deteriorate, but below 6000 meters, especially below 4500 meters, the maneuverability completely crushes the Bf-219 or Fw-190, and at the same time, the gap with P51\P47 is leveled again in level flight and dive speed.

Due to its fast climb speed, it is especially suitable for air defense interceptors, and relatively speaking, the Bf-319 (Gale Moddy) has more comprehensive performance, very similar to the enlarged version of the Me-109, which is more suitable for escort missions.

"Take off the air defense fighters, cover the fleet and the artillery fleet, and then dispatch the attack aircraft to carry out the ground attack, and the reconnaissance aircraft continue to expand the reconnaissance range......" Ozawa gave the order in an orderly manner and looked at the time, "It's 8 o'clock in the morning, I estimate that there will be a US attack group in 2-3 hours, and the attack planes are just going to cover the advance of the ground forces, and most of the pilots who parachuted on Newfoundland were rescued by the Canadians, and if the marines advance quickly, see where they flee......"

Time passed minute by minute, and the situation was as Ozawa expected, at about 10 o'clock, the Canadian attack group launched an attack on the aircraft carrier formation, but their number was too small, there were only more than 60 aircraft in total, and the covering aircraft were not the latest model P51 or P47, nor the Navy's F4U, but the outdated P40......

"Are they sending them to death?" Lieutenant Erich Hartmann, the leader of the fighter squadron in charge of the German army, subconsciously muttered when he saw the incoming enemy plane.

Hartman had been playing in the Air Force, but due to his maverick style and his modest performance, his performance in the first 18 months of his Air Force was considered very poor. However, he was lucky, and after several rounds he was appointed as Krupinsky's wingman, who had shot down more than 70 planes and was one of the aces of the Air Force. Under the co-optation of Richthofen, Krupinsky jumped from the Air Force to the HNA and brought Hartmann to the HNA by the way.

Hartmann has a good understanding, he quickly mastered the skills of warship take-off and landing, and also performed well on the island of Socotra, after joining the navy, his favorite grappling and close-range attacks have also been of great use, and his record has been long, from wingman to long plane, in the course of the battle with the Spruance fleet, he shot down 4 planes in one go, promoted to squad leader to lead the formation of 4 planes, and his combat exploits continued to grow, not only won the Iron Cross of the second class, but also promoted to lieutenant as squadron leader. In the first two days of engagement, he shot down five more planes in a row, and all fighters, with a total of more than 90 enemy planes shot down.

Since the Navy was promoted faster than the Army and the Air Force, Krupinsky had hinted to him two days ago that he was ready to recommend him for captain and deputy captain to help him manage all the fighters on the entire aircraft carrier if he performed well in the operation and was personally rewarding. Hartman didn't know exactly how many of them were coming, but he thought the more the merrier, and now he was thrilled to see the Canadian squirming in the P40.

Isn't this a gift to us?

"Brothers, rush over and open fire on the P40...... The attack aircraft was handed over to the 2 squadron in the back! ”

So the officers and men on the bridge watched in amazement as the formation of 16 aircraft began a lightning assault...... (To be continued.) )