Just when Stalin was undecided about a big solution or a small one, Admiral Ingersoll, who was 20,000 kilometers away, was also undecided. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

When the British and American fleets learned in early October that the German and Italian fleets were fighting on the front line of Guyana, they divided their forces for the sake of safety, and the landing force and most of the escort aircraft carriers retreated into Port-au-Prince, while the artillery and carrier formations of the attacking forces stepped up in the direction of Guyana. On 9 October, after the vanguard of the British and American fleets was discovered by German reconnaissance planes, the atmosphere suddenly entered the most tense state; Ingersoll ordered the reconnaissance formation to pay attention to concealment and safety, and on the other hand, urged the aircraft carrier strike force to move forward rapidly and prepare for a good battle with the main force of the German and Italian navies. On 10, 11, and 12 October, the British and US navies not only conducted a traditional visual search of surface ships, but also conducted a detailed search using carrier-based reconnaissance planes and heavy bombers deployed on surrounding bases after the weather improved.

On 13 October, Britain and the United States had turned the sea area upside down, and the artillery formation even appeared less than 100 kilometers off the coastline of French Guiana, and they were also helpless 300 kilometers behind the aircraft carrier group commanded by Admiral Cunningham.

"Sir, the authorities of Dutch Guiana have sent us a telegram that the German fleet had left four days ago, saying that it was going to attack British Guiana and Venezuela......"

"Hell, we came from there, why didn't we see the Germans? And there is no news of enemy troops reported in the two places, could it be that the Germans will not be able to stealth the trick? ”

"They must be hiding somewhere...... Turner thought bitterly, "and be careful that they don't go to Port-au-Prince." ”

"I also admit to fighting Port-au-Prince, at least I know where these sea rats are hiding."

"Or did they rush to Cape Verde or Dakar to recuperate?" Cape Verde is an overseas island located off the coast of Africa, originally belonging to Portugal, and later became an overseas base for the German army together with the Azores, but unlike the Azores, Germany did not drive out the local Portuguese authorities on Cape Verde, and only sent a small number of troops and aircraft to station, as for Dakar in the western corner of Africa, it was originally a territory controlled by France, and Britain and the United States fought here in order to seize the French naval warships, and now it has become an important base for the German army.

It's not that there is no voice in the United States to attack Cape Verde or Dakar -- although the Azores can't take it for a while, but it's okay to attack Cape Verde or Dakar, right? Most of these requests were suppressed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for two reasons:

First, both Portugal and France were in a state of neutrality with the United States, and there was an ambiguous relationship between them, and if they hit these two places, they would completely push them into the arms of Germany. France is fortunate to say that it has fought once before, and Portugal currently has not many troops except for a little naval and air force stationed in Germany, and once it hits Cape Verde, the Germans will soon take advantage of the situation to deploy their army forces over, which is not conducive to the future counterattack on the European continent;

Second, before the threat of the Azores is eliminated, any attack on Cape Verde and Dakar will startle the snake and seriously affect the German army's judgment of the situation in the Azores.

For the above reasons, Britain and the United States ignored Cape Verde and Dakar, and did not even have the opportunity to send planes to bomb them, because these two places are still nearly 3,500 kilometers away from the South American continent, and the Germans cannot interfere in anything in South America, and they maintain a peaceful situation with each other.

Now reminded by Turner, Ingersoll reacted a little and nodded subconsciously.

However, as the afternoon approached the end of the evening, Ingersoll fell into complete madness with the arrival of a shocking telegram: ...... The main force of the German fleet was found 300 nautical miles southeast of Bermuda, with about 7 battleships, 7-8 aircraft carriers (this number is reported because it is difficult for high-altitude reconnaissance pilots to distinguish between aircraft carriers and large tankers), and the rest of the 45-60 light warships, which are currently heading due north and west at a speed of about 20 knots.

"What?" Turner was also stunned, the Germans were going to fight Bermuda? In an instant, the worries began again: now the main force of the fleet was thrown away by the German and Italian fleets, and the distance between them reached more than 2,500 kilometers. In comparison, the search a few days ago was a futile exercise, and when the Germans discovered that their fleet was coming, they were not prepared for battle at all, but smeared the soles of their feet with oil and slipped away. This is good, if the aircraft carrier formation was still in the direction of the Bahamas, it would have been enough to change the course and rush over and intercept for only one day and one night, but now this situation may not be able to catch up with the German and Italian fleets in three days, and three days is enough for a lot of things to happen.

"Let the air forces above Bermuda and Puerto Rico find a way to attack the enemy fleet, and the target is first of all the enemy aircraft carrier formation, and at the same time report on the situation we are facing and the report of the Joint Staff Committee, and wait for the next operational instructions.

"This is unlikely, there are no other naval units on the coast of the United States, and they are completely undefended, and they are only afraid of ......," Turner did not say the second half of the sentence, but only suggested, "should we let the sheltered troops in Port-au-Prince land in Venezuela and French Guiana first?" ”

Ingersoll nodded: "Not a bad idea, report to Admiral Kim immediately." ”

"It's a pity that we have exposed ......" Just when the British and American fleets were stunned by the sudden change of range and goal, Cranke on the Zeppelin also sighed, "If we don't find out, we can sneak over at night and touch it." ”

"It's okay to find out, and it's just the right time period, let's see how the Americans choose." Jizaburo Ozawa didn't care, and even his face was relatively relaxed, and after the explanation of the staff team, several high-level officials understood Ozawa's thoughts:

1. It is now 16:33 p.m., a little more than two hours before nightfall, and according to the efficiency and speed of the sortie of the British and American bombers, it is basically dark when they hang up the bombs and fly over the fleet, so the bombing can only be fruitless, and what is more advantageous is that if the US troops insist on bombing, the airfield must be lit up when they return -- just to facilitate the aircraft carrier aircraft group to break through and find the direction;

2. Assuming that the US forces do not attack, with the advantage of the current distance of about 500 kilometers and the artillery formation being fast battleships with a maximum speed of more than 30 knots, it is completely possible to launch an artillery bombardment at dawn tomorrow.

3. Moreover, the mobile fleet will soon enter the strike circle, and it is expected that it will be able to launch an attack on Bermuda after nightfall -- German naval pilots also have the ability to fight at night, and it is not easy to find a warship that can move at night, and it is not easy to find a Bermuda that cannot move?

Before 5 o'clock, the news of the imminent German attack on Bermuda had spread throughout the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the senior generals of the army and navy looked grim and worried: Bermuda was about 1,000 kilometers away from the continental United States, and the threat was greater than that of the Azores, and judging from the number, position, and even speed of the existing German fleet, it was easy for them to attack and take Bermuda. Once the place was lost, the East Coast would be unthinkable - the Germans could fight wherever they wanted, and if there was another situation similar to the bombing of New York, it would be a loss of face.

"What does the fleet say, when will they be able to return to the rescue?"

"Admiral Ingersoll has sent a report on behalf of the fleet that he has deployed the Army in Port-au-Prince to land in Venezuela and French Guiana, and that he hopes to obtain authorization to attack the Falkland Islands south and quickly complete the joint element operation."

"Nonsense! Doesn't he know that the East Coast is threatened by enemy fleets? Didn't he know which was more important, the Falkland Islands or the mainland? Marshall was a little angry, and even used words like "nonsense", but the other party was a real admiral.

"The fleet says that now that we have built up a homeland defense system and invested tens of billions of dollars in a few months to strengthen our defense capabilities, it is now a rare opportunity to test it in real combat, and if the United States relies on the navy even for the defense of its homeland, it will lose its offensive capability forever......"

"This ......" The army top brass was dumbfounded by the refutation, only Admiral King laughed quietly: the subtext of the second half of the sentence is that the army is a waste, and it can't attack or defend, this is obviously not Admiral Ingersoll's tone, he is a person with a strong principle of "political correctness", so he can be promoted to a general step by step in peacetime, only a thorn like Turner would say this, but he likes it - the Navy is not a follower of the Army!

Marshall is out of line, in front of so many bigwigs inside and outside the military, he can't admit that homeland defense is not good, right? Although tens of billions of dollars have been invested, the east coast is so big, and there are many places that need to be defended, and they can't be taken care of at all, even if there are some planes and anti-aircraft guns, they may not be able to play a big role, and he knows very well in his heart that some facilities and equipment are just decorations, which can only comfort the people, and have no practical effect at all, and they really have to be "tested" by the German attack, but they are afraid that the people's anger will erupt like a tsunami. At that time, it was not a passive, ugly statement, someone had to go out and take responsibility -- it was not good to be below the rank of lieutenant general......

He turned his gaze for help to Admiral King, who deftly avoided the question of whether the fleet should return and only asked, "What if...... The German fleet retracted to the Azores with a false shot, and we still have not pushed the operation 'Joint Elements' anymore? ”

This sentence made everyone at the scene fall into deep thought. (To be continued.) )