Just as the "Frederick-Caesar" group was targeted by the adversary before it set off, the American and British convoy codenamed Z-0720 was watched by German submarines before it left the waters off Flores. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Upon receiving accurate enemy information, William Machar, who was ordered to take the lead, immediately worked out the attack route with his subordinates, and three hours later dispatched two He-60 maritime reconnaissance planes for the first time to confirm the position of the US and British convoys and the strength of the escort force. A little later, Machar received a fairly detailed aerial reconnaissance report, which was slightly different from his hunch, that only one Wyoming-class battleship was among the ships escorting the fleet, and the largest tonnage of the remaining ships was two Northampton-class heavy cruisers designed and built in the mid-to-late 20s, as well as two light cruisers, and more than a dozen destroyers and minesweepers. Such an escort force is more than enough to deal with the attack of enemy submarines, and it is also more than capable of fighting the enemy at the level of cruiser detachments.

The Z-0720 fleet commander is Rear Admiral Harold Stark, a well-known U.S. Navy commander who also serves as commander of the 4th Atlantic Patrol Fleet, with two Wyoming-class battleships, two Northampton-class heavy cruisers, and several light cruisers and destroyers. The Wyoming-class battleships were standard dreadnoughts, equipped with 12 305 mm guns, and six turrets were arranged in pairs of knapsacks - this arrangement had less effect on the hull superstructure. Two battleships of this class were built, the USS Wyoming and the USS Arkansas, both sister ships commissioned in 1912.

According to the terms of the Limerick Naval Treaty, the Wyoming-class and Florida-class of the US Navy and the Helgrand-class and Nassau-class of the German Navy must be retired from active service, but in the situation of camp confrontation, no one has let down their guard and really weakened their own strength, two Wyoming-class and two Florida-class have been converted into training ships after the main guns have been dismantled, and when the international situation is becoming increasingly tense and war is about to break out, the Americans quickly restored these training ships to active service, and by the way, they have undergone minor technical modifications, new sighting and fire control equipment has been installed, making it competent for second-line tasks in the current situation.

With a standard displacement of 26,000 tons, the Wyoming-class was a battleship that could rival the German King-class dreadnoughts according to the original design requirements of the U.S. Navy, but when the smoke of the last major war dissipated, the Americans found themselves in the same awkward position as the British: if it was a single-ship confrontation, the protection of the Wyoming-class was obviously not enough to resist the precise punches of the German capital ships; The fleet was at war, and the Americans had neither aircraft carriers to provide combat reconnaissance and air cover, nor strong and effective shipborne air defense weapons to defend against enemy air attacks. After countless war games and strategic calculations, the US Navy was convinced that it could not fight the German Navy alone, so before the mid-20s, the Americans only dared to make some moves in secret, and even the "Ioda" was blown up and sunk in front of the neighbor's house, and in the end only economic sanctions were adopted, but the major event that shocked the whole United States and caused a sensation in the world strengthened the Americans' determination to participate in the war, and then there was the US-British alliance and the Azores strategy.

The plan of the US-British Joint Operations Command was for the USS Wyoming and USS Arkansas to escort the Z-0720 flotilla of 44 ships back to North America, but just two days before the flotilla set off, the USS Arkansas was cruising in the waters off Flores Island and unfortunately ran into a mine, causing a large amount of water in the bow, and then returned to port with difficulty.

The "Arkansas" was absent from the escort force due to damage, and the US-British aircraft carrier group had just suffered a devastating blow, and Harold Stark and his officers and men sailed away from Flores Island with a heavy and apprehensive heart. Since most of the ships were empty when returning to North America from the war zone, only troop carriers carried the wounded to the rear, so they sailed faster than when they were fully loaded. Stark hoped that the trip would go well, but the commander's instinct told him that the trip would not be smooth sailing, and when the enemy water reconnaissance aircraft appeared over the fleet, this instinct came true, and he sent the water reconnaissance planes on board the ship to conduct alert reconnaissance, and at the same time reported his prediction to the coalition combat command on the island of Texel.

In the afternoon, the originally sunny sea suddenly changed its face, and the sea breeze swept up more than one meter and the waves were surging and surging on the 10,000-ton warship, and the seaplanes sent abroad hurriedly returned without finding a trace of the enemy. Facing the raging sea, Harold Stark's mood also fluctuated.

At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the figure of the enemy fleet finally appeared on the radar screen.

Stark did not hesitate to raise the battle alarm and dispatched the American destroyer "Clark" to reconnoiter the enemy. About half an hour later, the large cruiser sent a telegram that, according to visual observations, the enemy fleet consisted of two battle cruisers and two light cruisers. Then, in order to further detect the enemy's situation, the "Clark", equipped with twin 127-mm naval guns and quadruple 533-mm torpedo tubes, launched a tentative attack, but the difference in strength between the two sides was too great, and after several volleys, the American destroyer was shot and caught fire. The Germans showed no mercy for the brave, and the two light cruisers quickly approached about four thousand meters from the "Clark" and sent it to the bottom with an accurate salvo.

Almost at the same time as the sinking of the "Clark", Admiral Stark also received a secret telegram from the Allied Command on Texel Island: the support fleet was coming, and the Allied fleet would be held back for at least 10 hours anyway.

Holding this telegram, Stark's hands trembled slightly, 10 hours is nothing for a person's long life, but in front of the wolf-like Allied fleet, this fleet may only be enough for them to fill alone, but the situation is not for him to think about it more, the US rear admiral reluctantly let his subordinates issue an order to the entire fleet: "Maintain formation and beware of enemy submarine raids!" ”

In a short time, the rumbling sound of cannon reverberated on the undulating sea, and when the high-explosive shell broke away from the barrel at more than twice the speed of sound, a large puff of smoke and dust from the incomplete combustion of the ****** burst out in an instant, forming an irregular huge smoke screen on the starboard side of the two German war cruisers.

Despite poor visibility from the sea, William-Marchar nevertheless resorted to the infamous "Joachim tactic", which was to launch artillery strikes outside the range of conventional engagements. Over the course of nearly an hour, the two Deflinger-class battlecruisers fired more than 400 shells at the American and British flotillas at an average rate of fire of two rounds in three minutes......

"God save us!"

Looking at the white column of water raised high on the sea 100 meters away, many sailors on the battleship "Wyoming" took the trouble to draw crosses on their chests, such a distance was safe enough for them, but a nearby freighter was different. When the shell explodes, it also means danger, the 12-inch shell, which is obviously a high-explosive shell, the shock wave generated by the explosion and the shrapnel flying in all directions can easily kill and injure the personnel of a freighter without any protection, and in the previous shelling, many freighters have already suffered casualties due to shells falling at close range, although so far not a single ship in the entire fleet has been directly hit by the shell, people have been praying incessantly, Pray that God will not abandon himself on this distant sea.

"I'm really worried about the next shot...... Oh, my God! It still happened! The young sailor covered his face with his hands, and at this moment a new column of water was raised in his sight, although they were slightly less powerful in terms of height and thickness, but they landed impartially on the side of a freighter of less than 10,000 tons, and the gray freighter was instantly suppressed by the white column of water, which could not help but remind people of the scene of someone being attacked by a group of evil men. Experienced sailors will then think of a deeper question - how can the hull of an ordinary freighter withstand the destructive force of a near-miss? I'm afraid that the sea water is pouring into the cabin through the breach in the ship's wall, and if the leak is not plugged in time, the situation will deteriorate rapidly!

After a while, the seemingly formidable "Wyoming" also fired a salvo at its port side with all 12 main guns, and the sound of the 12-inch guns firing in unison was encouraging, but those with a little insight knew that such a blind shot could not be counted on a hit rate.

In two minutes, before a single cigarette was smoked, the enemy's shells came again as scheduled, and their whistling sound was like the bagpipes of death, and in the entire fleet, only the "Wyoming" was not afraid of 12-inch shells from a long distance, but the Germans did not seem to be interested in the American battleship at all, and the shells were far away from the area where it was located, and the rear of the fleet became the focus of the Germans.

Whenever the shells brought by the enemy fell into the water and exploded, Stark always pretended to stand calmly in place, but paid great attention to the first reaction of the officers around him, the voice of "thank God" could always slightly reduce the pressure on his heart, and when someone shouted "My God", it meant that the German shells were close enough to cause a loss to a certain freighter, at this time, his facial muscles would always twitch inadvertently a few times, and his heart seemed to be directly whipped by the enemy.

In the midst of two minutes followed by another, Stark felt that his body and mind were rapidly aging, and he would rather go to the gladiatorial arena like a samurai and let fate determine the ultimate victor than suffer as he did now. At the same time, in his heart, he longed for a heroic mistake by the Germans, because it was entirely possible that a single shot would greatly reduce the ability of the German warships to sail, so that the American and British fleets that were rushing to the aid would have a chance to annihilate their opponents - even if the fleet suffered heavy losses, even if they took the "Wyoming", it would still be a victory of strategic significance.

When the tenth two minutes came, Stark received very bad news from his staff officer, the newly built troop carrier "Leicester", which had just been built and went to the Azores theater for the first time, had been wounded by enemy shells, and the crew was trying to plug the broken bulkhead of the bilge, and if the damage failed, then the more than 600 wounded American soldiers on board would probably face a tragic fate.

On a rainy sea, it is extremely difficult to see the tens with a purely optical device, unless something large and special exists - such as a large amount of smoke produced when an object is not fully burned. The faint but certainly black smoke in the direction of the American and British fleets through the telescope immersed the entire Allied fleet in a kind of wordless relief.

The rumbling of cannon still rang out every two minutes, and the two German battle cruisers had already cut across the course of the American and British fleets by virtue of their great speed advantage.

Seeing that the time had come, Machar decisively ordered: "The fleet turns 10 degrees to the left, the speed is 24 knots, and prepare for a small-scale S-shaped tactical maneuver!" ”

After the order was issued, the advantages of the officers and men of the Allied Navy in terms of high degree of run-in and technical mastery were immediately manifested, and the adjustment of the course and speed of the two warships was completed accurately in just a few minutes. After the adjustment was completed, such a scene appeared on the rough sea: a huge fleet of dozens of ships sailed westward in six columns, and in front of them, four slender warships, although they appeared to be alone, cut at the right wing of the opposing fleet like an incomparably sharp knife......

(End of chapter)