Chinese New Year's Eve is here, I wish you all a happy New Year!

*******

"Gentlemen, this is a photograph taken from the same angle four days ago, when there were no cruisers in Port Jacksonville, only three old destroyers, 11 torpedo boats, seven minesweepers, and a few small patrol boats. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info Look at today's aerial photos, this, this, this, and this, 4 modified Atlanta-class light cruisers; And here, the heavily torpedo-armed Gridley-class destroyers, 9 in total; Looking at these again, the emergency torpedo boats built during the war, the slightly larger ones were the Cowell class, equipped with 8 torpedo tubes, a total of 10 units, and the smaller ones were called the Ben Special Class, equipped with 6 torpedo tubes, a total of 14 units. A night torpedo attack with these ships would pose a considerable threat to our detachment and landing ships. ”

At a manor house in the port of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, officers sat around an oval wooden table and watched intently at the slides that were shown, as a tall and capable German naval lieutenant introduced. Newly acquired reconnaissance intelligence.

After the major officer finished speaking, the staff officer of the rear admiral who sat next to the commander of the 1st detachment of the Allied Navy and the German naval field marshal Eberhardt-Schimmert analyzed: "Judging from the changes in the deployment of the US Navy in the port of Jacksonville alone, it seems that it is preparing for a large-scale torpedo raid, but everyone knows that the main US fleet continued to move south after the Battle of Emerald Island, and it is very likely that it has reached the waters near Jacksonville. ”

In response to the former's remarks, a slightly bloated Luftwaffe general sharpened his fists and said: "Well, let's do it simply, we can also deal with the living forces of the US Atlantic Fleet at once, so as not to reserve a large number of ships and planes for each landing operation to guard against the US Navy." I'm here to tell you the bottom line: judging from the live-fire exercise, in the hands of pilots of the same quality, the accuracy rate of the Ju-33's attack on ships is at least 16% higher than that of the Ju-17, and in addition, the Irish Air Force's 'Vulcan' wing is fully in place, and they use radio bombs to attack sea targets, and the accuracy rate is at least 20% higher than that of the Ju-33! ”

Unlike the deep gaze of Marshal Schchermit, the eyes of the Major General Staff Officer shone like sapphire, showing full energy and extraordinary wisdom. In the face of his overconfident air force colleagues, he calmly reminded: "The US Navy at this time is very different from the beginning of the war, they have become very cautious and cunning, the Battle of the Emerald Isle fully proves this, they will never easily send their fleet to our bombers, it is estimated that they will choose to attack in the rain or at night, so that not only the new Junkers bombers will not be effective, the Irish' Vulcan didn't have much to do, and attacking with torpedoes with sound torpedoes was our only killer weapon, but the enemy suffered a big loss in the Battle of the Emerald Isles, and he would definitely be prepared for this. ”

The Navy Lieutenant General, who had shown the slides and briefed the situation, interjected at the right time: "Speaking of weather, according to the weather reports received this morning, the eastern part of North America and the Caribbean will be dominated by sunny skies for the coming week, and Americans who want to wait for a heavy rain will probably be disappointed." ”

This time, it was the turn of the bloated but not obese Air Force general to remind his colleagues: "The weather report can only speculate on the general weather conditions, and it is summer, and a rainstorm that lasts for several hours can come at any time, during which the plane cannot fly, and the radar does not work, so you must not take it lightly." ”

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, since there are various indications that we will be subjected to a tactical counterattack by the enemy's navy and air force in the near future, and the intensity of the counterattack may be very large, then in addition to heightening our vigilance, we should also make appropriate adjustments to the ongoing landing operations.

The speaker was Eberhardt-Schimmert, who was commander of the German Navy's aircraft carrier group at the start of the war, who was promoted to the rank of German Field Marshal along with Beinke for his exploits in the Battle of the Azores, and is now commander of the Allied Detachment 1 and commander of the Southern Theater of North America.

The German naval marshals, whether it was Prince Heinrich of royal birth and great prestige, Tirpitz who was far-sighted and highly deserved, or the bold and aggressive and decisive Schell, the fierce and fearless and highly skilled conductor, and even the steady and resourceful Beinke, were all talented and capable figures, and before the Battle of the Azores, Schimmerit left the impression of being deep and quiet, cautious and low-key, and there was nothing too brilliant in military affairs. Therefore, people often compare him with the former commander of the German High Seas Fleet, von Ingnoll, but in the first battle of the Azores, the real jade shines brightly, and people suddenly realize that Schimmert's caution is fundamentally different from Ingnoll's conservatism.

After some discussion, the generals of the army and air force all agreed with Schchermitt's proposal.

Schimmer nodded with satisfaction: "Then, the adjustment of the actions of the naval landing and transport ships is the sole responsibility of General Bachman, and in the coming week, the number of ships to and from the Bahamas and Florida will be reduced by 5% per day, and the number of ships between Cuba and Florida will be reduced by 3% per day; On the Army side, General O'Brie is responsible for coordinating and drawing up a list of minimum military quarters for combat units as soon as possible; As for the Air Force, General Mohr has only increased the intensity of the existing reconnaissance, alert, and attacks, and at the same time has made preparations for opening up air transport channels. ”

The generals who were named were all followed.

Turnaround, Schchermit instructed his staff officer: "Send a report to Lieutenant Admiral Lütjens at once, and order him to lead the battle fleet to hold the northern part of the landing channel, and not to abandon the defense and attack rashly, no matter how provocative and luring the enemy's navy and air force may be." ”

The staff officer of the major general answered the order.

At the time of the theater operations meeting, Gunther Ruetyans, who had not been able to escape because of his combat mission, was leading the main force of the Allied First Task Force to patrol the waters north of Grand Bahama Island, providing a solid maritime barrier for Allied ships traveling between the Bahamas and Florida.

For the more than 40,000 officers and men of the Allied Navy in the fleet of the Lütjans, the previous "Emerald Night Battle" and the "Emerald Morning Battle" were not pleasant experiences, and a small number of them suffered a blow to their fighting spirit and even became depressed, but witnessing the strong combat effectiveness of the US fleet, the whole fleet no longer had excessive self-confidence and blind optimism, and from this point of view, enduring some hardships on the battlefield would be conducive to future combat operations.

After retreating more than 600 kilometers from the waters south of North Carolina, where the Emerald Isle is located, back to the waters of the Bahamas, the Lütjans fleet received timely and effective rest and replenishment, and the number of aircraft carriers under its direct command increased to nine, including the Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers "Swabi" and "Zaringen" that had returned to combat after emergency repairs, and only the heavily damaged German aircraft carrier "Oscar I" and the Irish aircraft carrier "Cork" were withdrawn to the port of Nassau for further repairs. In terms of battleships, Lütjans not only had the Germania-class battleships "Germania" and "Friedrich-Wilhelm II", which were the most powerful battleships of the great powers, but also the "Prussia", "Hanover", and "Silesia" three German-class battleships, and these five giant ships constituted the most formidable battleship squadron at the moment. In the Jade Morning Battle, if they fought hard at any cost, the seven American battleships present might not be able to retreat.

After receiving Marshal Chester's operational order, Lütjens quickly changed his original deployment and let the "Swabia," "Zaringen," and "Mecklenburg" and other large and medium-sized aircraft carriers form a separate formation and place them in concealed and standby in the waters southeast of Grand Bahama Island, leaving only the three light aircraft carriers "Sophie," "Stein," and "Lightning" to undertake the task of fleet vigilance and air defense.

In the afternoon of the next day, a heavy rain that had not been predicted in advance by the military meteorological agency came to the southeastern waters of the United States, and the rain clouds moved from north to south, quickly sweeping South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Such a common summer rainstorm was several levels worse than a typhoon, and modern large and medium-sized ships were able to survive safely, and destroyers, minesweepers, and transport ships with smaller tonnage were able to grit their teeth and hold on, but in the open beach area, the loading and unloading of personnel and materials had to be temporarily suspended, and the Allies could only use the large and small ports of Miami, Homestead, and other ports that had occupied and partially repaired the dock facilities to continue to transport supplies.

It was not until dusk came and the rain subsided a little, and a German destroyer on alert discovered the enemy fleet rapidly moving south more than 200 kilometers north of Grand Bahama Island -- the US main fleet really used the cover of rain clouds to kill the defense area of the Benlütjens fleet!

After receiving the warning from the outpost ships, Lütjans made a deployment for battle in a hurry, with the new heavy cruiser "Griffin" equipped with high-power radar as the vanguard, and led the battle-tested Irish heavy cruiser "Dagda" and other cruisers to form a fast battle team to lead the advance formation to meet the main fleet of the United States, and the five battleships plus the third ship of the Count Tirpitz class battlecruiser "Admiral Scheer" that was commissioned at the end of 1934 formed a column. Under the orderly cover of many cruisers and destroyers, they met the enemy in the deep waters southwest of Grand Bahama Island, which was only more than 80 kilometers off the coast of Florida, and the Allied torpedo boats ambushed in the shallow waters south of Grand Bahama Island could make a trip in only two hours.

(End of chapter)