In the early morning of 27 April, the two fleets that were frantically advancing in the North Atlantic made very different choices: Nimitz flew all the fighters for air defense cover, and Ozawa flew all the reconnaissance planes for a desperate search. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

At 11 o'clock at noon, an Ar-352 flew over the TF46 fleet, which made the hearts of the American troops rise to their throats, and they lived in trembling all day long, fearing that the German huge aircraft group would cover up in the next minute, but they stayed up until the sun set, and the German attack group did not hit.

Was Ozawa merciful and let Nimitz go? Of course not, it's really because the distance between the two is too big to fight, and the gap is constantly widening.

The slowest in Machar's fleet was the Hyuga, which could only go up to 26 knots; The slowest in the Nimitz fleet were two Iowa-class ships, the fastest at 31 knots. There was a speed difference of 5 knots between the two fleets, which opened nearly 60 nautical miles in one night, and Ozawa advanced at an extremely slow pace at night in order to smoothly receive the returning warships, so the gap between the two sides had widened to more than 1,000 kilometers by the time the reconnaissance planes returned.

This distance is definitely beyond the range of the attack aircraft, but it must be fought and can be hit, and after consulting with Koch, Sedritz and other fierce men came up with a desperate strategy: the carrier-based aircraft will attack without considering the fuel for the return voyage -- prepare to make a forced landing on the sea and wait for the destroyer to rescue them once the fuel runs out. The logic is that as long as the opponent's aircraft carrier is killed, it doesn't matter if the aircraft carrier of the other side loses all the planes. It is believed that if it is a simple artillery battle, Vice Admiral Pei has 4 Veneto-class Gattierpitts in his hands, and he wants to fight 2 Iowa-class ships with the same hand.

This suggestion stunned Ito Junichi and the rest of the observation group, they never expected that the state of the Germans after they had gone crazy would be so terrifying, and this situation would catch up with the combined fleet that shouted "seven lives to serve the country" every day, and it was simply fatal -- it was actually a very dangerous thing to make a forced landing on the sea, and the plane would be overturned and sunk by a slight strong wind and waves, not to mention rescue, and it would be very difficult for the warship to find its way at that time. If you really want to fight like this, then the loss rate is not 20%-25% that can be controlled, at least you must be mentally prepared for more than 50%.

Ozawa rejected the suggestion after much deliberation, Machar disagreed, and Koch and Seydritz did not insist on it after a few remarks. This scene gave Ito a deeper understanding of what Ozawa said two days ago: no soldier is willing to say that he is afraid of death, and no soldier is willing to admit that he is afraid of death in front of his superiors. But the commander must distinguish between necessity and slogan, and cannot let his subordinates die in vain. In the current situation, what if this American fleet escapes? Next time he dares to come out again, we'll continue to beat him!

On the evening of the 27th, Machar ordered a turn back to port, but in fact it was necessary to turn around early tomorrow morning without giving the order -- the fleet pursuing at a higher speed had a huge fuel consumption, and several Veneto-class ships were even more oil tigers, and they had not run much in three or two turns, and they had only refueled up half of their fuel before they had just filled up the day before! The Mediterranean little short leg lives up to its name.

On the way home, Machar made public the telegram of the Führer's wish and reward to the officers of the fleet, and everyone cheered, shouting to go back and ask the chief Machar to entertain him, and he was not drunk.

Machar said to Ozawa embarrassedly: "This marshal's scepter is mainly the credit of General Ozawa, and I actually ...... it."

"Sir, I am honored to be under your command." Ozawa smiled, "You are our commander, a representative of the German Navy. You have been in the field, you have contributed so much to the Navy, and you have the humility to listen to all sides and coordinate the affairs of all fleets, bases, and affairs, and you are fully worthy of this title and honor, and I hope that you will continue to serve under you in the future. ”

Ito Junichi and the others nodded, and Jizaburo Ozawa seemed to be much more politically mature, so his remarks were very appropriate.

Mashal smiled: "Okay, I'll invite you to drink when I go back, and I won't rest until I get drunk." ”

In the early morning of the 28th, the Nimitz fleet, which had rushed wildly, finally took refuge in the air defense protection circle of the Newfoundland Army Aviation, and the frightened officers and men of the fleet finally relaxed after seeing batches of B-17\29 sweeping overhead. Nimitz also ordered to slow down and move slowly - many ships had run out of fuel, and at such a high speed, there would definitely be warships that would run out of fuel and drop anchor.

It was the most embarrassing battle Nimitz had ever fought, even when Tarawa was wiped out by Horikiyoshi. That time, it can be said that although he was defeated, he left with his head held high, but this time he was almost pressed to the ground and beaten, not only did he not fight back, but even the success of the escape was saved by Cunningham's desperate attraction. After learning the hard way, he believed that the biggest mistake was not to anticipate the horrors of the Azorean base.

He thought that this time the Joint Staff Committee and the President would not be able to spare him, and he was ready to go to a military tribunal, but the telegram from the Joint Staff Committee only understated it, asking him to quickly bring the fleet back to the Norfolk anchorage to rest, don't think about other things, next time you fight, there is no victorious general in the world!

This was obviously Admiral Kim's tone, and he was moved after seeing it.

Admiral Kim also said good things to Nimitz in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, mainly for four reasons: First, it was not Nimitz's original intention to carry out the rescue of Iceland or even to take risks to reconnoitre, he was originally going to go to the South Atlantic to encircle and suppress the German detachment, and now that something has gone wrong, Nimitz is certainly responsible, but it is by no means the main responsibility; Second, no one has accurate information on what the situation is in the Azores, if only 30-50 aircraft are dispatched, the Nimitz fleet can fully support it, and the current situation is that the enemy forces have dispatched at least 300 aircraft, so they will have an absolute advantage; Third, the performance of the carrier-based aircraft of the two sides is too different, and the pilot experience is not an opponent; Fourth, although it cannot be said on the table, it is still possible to talk about it within the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- the United States has only lost a few old cruisers, and the rest has actually suffered nothing, and the losses are all British.

This last reason struck a chord with the belief that Nimitz was also a "total retreat" and that there was no need to blame it during the war

Unwilling Nimitz locked himself in his room and worked hard to write, reviewing the miscommand of the battle one by one, and wondering how to get the scene back next time.

The trees were quiet and the wind was not stopping, and a new storm soon blew in Washington.

In the afternoon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff received a report from the Brazilian Army that a large number of ships had been spotted on the west coast of Africa, heading southward, and a preliminary investigation found that there were six aircraft carriers, two battleships, and auxiliary warships, in addition to more than 40 cargo ships. Everyone was shocked when they heard the news, wasn't this the German fleet that had disappeared? What are they doing in West Africa?

Truman, who had just taken over the power, did not dare to slack off and immediately convened an emergency meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss countermeasures.

Truman frowned and asked, "Can you get the Army Air Force in Brazil to carry out bombing missions?" ”

"Theoretically, yes, but in practice it's very difficult."

The Brazilian Army Aviation suffered a lot of losses after the previous Kranke trouble, and the three bases in the eastern Recife region bore the brunt of the attack, with only more than 300 planes left, of which the four B-17\29 that can carry out long-range bombing are just over 100 planes, and now the US military knows that the German State has carrier-based high-altitude interceptor fighters, and if there are no escort fighters to accompany them, these bombers are equivalent to sending meat to the door, and the distance from the map is too far, exceeding the distance that the P-51 can escort.

Of course, the more troublesome problem lies in the anti-ship effect of the heavy bomber's tragic urging, and the hit rate is really the result of one or two out of a hundred, even against a slow freighter, it is a great thing to say that it is two or three out of a hundred, and it is better than nothing.

After listening to Arnold's explanation, Truman did not continue to entangle, but frowned even tighter: "Where do you judge where this fleet is going?" Falkland? ”

"I don't think so. Either to Uruguay or to Argentina, ready to fight Brazil, with a very small chance of replenishing the German army in West Africa. Turner added, "Judging from the number of freighters, it is estimated that it can carry 3-40,000 people and a full set of equipment." ”

After hearing the figure of 3-40,000 troops, Truman was slightly relieved that the US army had 60,000 in Brazil, plus 200,000 Brazilian Defense Forces, 3-40,000 German troops would not pose a mortal threat. But what made him strange was that the bigwigs of the Joint Staff Committee frowned one by one after hearing this figure.

"What? 3-40,000 you still can't beat? Truman said angrily, "Don't you have three divisions and corresponding air forces in Brazil, and four more divisions in other parts of South America that can be reinforced?" Why are you so unconfident? ”

"Your Excellency, there is a big problem with the deployment of troops in Brazil."

It was only after Eisenhower's on-the-ground guidance that Truman figured out that there was no way out from Colombia or Venezuela to the heart of Brazil, which was subject to the Amazon rainforest, and that it was necessary to load the ship through the port and then disembark at another port in Brazil to complete the dispatch. The American people have always had a poor geographical knowledge, and Truman was no exception, and if it weren't for Eisenhower's patient explanation, he thought in his head that a push on the map would allow the army to go from Colombia to Brazil tomorrow.

"Then is it too late for me to send troops over?"

"It's too late and can't be delivered." Admiral Kim pointed out the posture of the six aircraft carriers in the sand table, "The axis has an advantage at sea, and the troops can be sent to the southern Caribbean, but the risk of landing in the east of Brazil, especially on the southern coast, is very great." ”

However, Truman's courage obviously exceeded everyone's expectations, and after thinking for 2 minutes, he said: "Since Brazil can't send it, then send another 100,000 to Venezuela, Colombia, and French Guiana, and send a group army over with armored troops." ”

"This ......," Marshall said embarrassedly, "I just explained that this is difficult to dispatch, and now there are nearly 100,000 troops in this place, and there are ...... more supplies."

"I knew I couldn't send it to Brazil, I was trying to secure the Caribbean barrier north of Brazil." Truman paused and said in an emphatic tone, "In case Brazil turns back or Germany takes control of Brazil, we must have enough troops on the South American front!" Send 100,000 first, and then 300,000 when the naval strength is enough! At least reach the size of 500,000 and enough army aviation. ”