Just as the Axis Fleet left the Falklands and headed for Brazilian waters, the whole country was already in a panic, especially after Admiral King withdrew the South Atlantic Squadron, which was the main force of two American battleships, to China, and the panic reached its peak. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

On the one hand, President Vargas was forced to declare a state of emergency in the country, and on the other hand, he appealed to the Argentine side, hoping that they would not bring in European forces to upset the balance that was not easily formed in Yugoslavia. However, the newly dispatched ambassador to Brazil of the Perón government choked back this opinion in one sentence: "At the Rio de Janeiro meeting last year, the government of the contemptible country proposed that the countries of South America strengthen unity and form a southern bloc to form a single body to jointly oppose the United States, but you did not hesitate to refuse. Are you allowed to bring in North American forces, and not European ones? ”

After the Brazilian authorities hit a wall in Argentina, they could only turn their attention to the United States again, hoping that the United States would send sufficient military reinforcements, but at this time, the "joint elements" operation was being intensively planned, and the United States itself was in a dispute over whether to fight the Azores or the Falklands, so it was naturally impossible to promise the Brazilian government anything, and only vaguely stated that it would "never sit idly by." But the Brazilian side also felt unreliable after hearing too much about the artillery. The desperate Vargas authorities have set their sights on Germany and Italy, hoping that the axis will open up to Brazil.

Since Brazil had gone to war with Germany and Italy, and only maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, the news was conveyed through the Japanese side, but the telegram from Berlin did not give Vargas any temper: Germany agreed to make peace with Brazil, provided that the following aspects were fulfilled:

First, several states in southern Brazil, mainly residents of German and Italian descent, declared autonomy and lifted the ban on the local National Socialist Party.

Second, Brazil announced its withdrawal from the Allied bloc and changed to neutrality, expelling US troops within the territorial scope.

Thirdly, the Brazilian supplies (mainly agricultural and mining products with military use) are exported only to Europe and are not allowed to be exported to other countries without the consent of the Axis, in exchange for which the Axis announced that it would underwrite Brazilian products.

These arguments cornered the Brazilian authorities, and if Vargas announced that he would accept them, his rule in Brazil would be over, so he had no choice but to refuse.

Berlin didn't have much hope for Vargas, and it would be better for a wall-to-wall like him to step down sooner. Hoffman knew that the Brazilian Army was pro-Axis, and the Navy was pro-British and American—and that if these navies were defeated, Brazil would be much less powerful. What's more, if a thunderous military deterrence is not launched, how can South American countries experience the strength of the axis? Didn't Uruguay force the German Navy to sink the Count Spain and detain the crew because of the strength of Britain and the United States?

As soon as the fleet under Machar's command occupied the Falklands, the Uruguayan authorities immediately released all the crew members who had been detained, and not only apologized vigorously, but also gave each crew member a large amount of travel expenses and compensation.

On the one hand, the attitude of the United States was unclear, and on the other hand, the axis was unforgiving, and Vargas, who was forced to be in a hurry, not only ordered to strengthen the guard, but also ordered all ships in Brazilian waters and merchant ships flying the Brazilian flag to quickly enter the port to take refuge. In his opinion, it is impossible for the Axis Fleet to stay in South America for a long time, as long as it avoids the limelight, it will calm down after a while. But he never expected that Machar would come to the door with a swaggering Axis fleet.

In the early morning of 26 September, the second phase of the "Pearl of Peace" project began, when a group of attack planes taking off from an aircraft carrier formation took off from a distance of 400 kilometers and attacked Rio de Janeiro with lightning speed. Perón was fully aware of the next move of the Axis Fleet and spared no effort to cooperate, not only providing a large number of maps of Brazilian ports, target distribution, contact information and other information, but also directly sent observers to the German fleet to watch the battle.

When the South American countries were still intoxicated with the age of naval guns, the world powers had taken the lead in entering the aviation age, and watching the German and Italian carrier-based pilots skillfully piloting the planes to take off on the dark sea, the eyes of the Argentine naval observers were about to burst out -- their pilots were terrified when they took off from the aircraft carriers in broad daylight, and how could they dare to play such a dangerous and crazy action. Moreover, they were envious of the cooperation of the Axis powers: the Germans commanded the fleet, the commander of the mobile fleet was a Japanese officer, and the German staff and Japanese advisers were next to him, and the Italians sent several capital ships to participate in the battle.

Now it seems that the Axis was not a fluke in the first place to paralyze the Panama Canal in the Caribbean campaign.

Although Vargas repeatedly ordered the army to be more vigilant, and the US military stationed in Brazil also entered a state of high alert, there was almost no way to prevent the carrier-based aircraft that attacked at low altitudes at night, and when the only radar station issued an alarm signal, the carrier-based aircraft had already entered the final attack stage, and soon the airport, military camp, oil depot, port and other key places were all hit by bombs, igniting a sky-high fire, and the entire Rio de Janeiro was shrouded in panic.

In the face of the surprise attack of the Axis fleet, the Brazilian Navy panicked, and hurriedly ordered the main naval force and merchant ships stationed in the port to run out desperately, hoping to avoid being killed, but their suffering had just begun, at dawn, the main force of the Brazilian Navy and a large number of merchant ships lined up in a chaotic formation under the leadership of 2 Minas Gerais-class battleships rushed out of the port, but the fleet that was rushing outward soon collided with the Axis fleet that was waiting not far from the port.

"Tirpitts, Veneto, Strasbourg......" Hearing the observer report the name of a ship, Santos, deputy chief of staff of the Brazilian Navy, had a twitch on his face, not to mention the entire Axis fleet, any of these Axis capital ships, even the Strasbourg with the weakest firepower, he couldn't beat or escape. The Brazilian Navy's proud Minas Gerais-class battleships are old warships completed more than 30 years ago, with only 12 305mm guns and a maximum speed of only 21 knots.

Lieutenant General Bei also saw the lineup of the Brazilians, and after a few glances, he laughed: "Send a signal to ask them to surrender immediately and avoid needless sacrifices." ”

"No, we will not surrender!" The stubborn Brazilian Navy chose to open fire, and at a distance of nearly 30,000 meters, the two old battleships fired a salvo with 12-inch naval guns, and then opened fire as they allowed other small fast warships to break through in all directions, and the merchant ships returned to port to land - so as to save more people.

Seeing that the shells fell far into the sea, splashing waves dozens of meters high, Vice Admiral Bei paused for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Since the Brazilians want to die so much, then fulfill them, and the ships will fire!" ”

At 6:37, the Gneisenau, which had been reequipped with 380mm guns, fired the first salvo, followed by Strasbourg, four Veneto-class ships, and Tirpitz in turn. The two Brazilian battleships were immediately enveloped in column after column of water.

"Sir, enemy light warships are trying to escape on both flanks."

"Let the heavy cruisers intercept them......," Vice Admiral Bei smiled slightly, "Tell the mobile fleet that it is rare for the enemy to cooperate with the opportunity to shoot targets with live ammunition, and the carrier-based aircraft should not compete with the surface ships for credit, and we will charter all these enemy ships, and they will only be responsible for dealing with the enemy aircraft, and it would be good if we had the opportunity to help us blow up and sink those fish that slipped through the net......"

"It's kind of interesting, it's kind of funny." After receiving the telegram sent earlier, Ozawa laughed first, and then handed the telegram to Mashal, who also smiled after reading it, "Okay, agree to the request ahead, but it's a pity that a lot of money flew away." ”

It turned out that Machar had already negotiated with the Argentine side, if there was a Brazilian warship surrendered and the Germans did not look down on it, they would be dealt with cheaply on the spot to the Argentine Navy.

The brazilians' courage and fighting spirit lasted less than five minutes, and by the fifth round of naval gun salvos, the two sides advancing at full speed had narrowed the distance between each other to about 23,000 meters, and the Gneisenau and Tirpitz took the lead in forming a straddle fire on the enemy ships, and in the eighth round, the distance between the two sides had reached nearly 20,000 meters.

With a loud "boom", a 3100-ton Bahia (Bahia-class) cruiser of the Brazilian Navy was hit by the 381mm naval guns of the Veneto, the old warship that had been in service for more than 30 years was almost broken in two and sank in less than half a minute, and more than ten seconds later, two Minas Gerais-class ships were also shot, 4 Veneto-class heavy bombs, and high-speed light bombs from Gneisenau and Tirpitz (the guns of the two are now the same), And the strangest of all, the Strasbourg's 330mm shells rained down on the Brazilian warships, and their 12-inch shells didn't even come close to missing the Axis fleet.

An Argentine naval observer who witnessed the entire engagement wrote in his debriefing: "...... It's not a fight at all, it's a one-sided massacre, like a world heavyweight champion against a novice who learns the martial arts on the first day, and nothing but destruction awaits the Brazilians......"

At 6:59, two Minas Gerais class ships with a displacement of 21,000 tons sank one after another, and the total number of officers and soldiers rescued afterwards did not exceed 500, and the most tragic company of the São Paulo was hit by 17 380mm large-caliber shells, which were almost torn apart when they sank...... (To be continued.) )