In the distant Valparaiso Bay, there was a faint sound of artillery, and after a transmission of dozens of nautical miles, it was already faint and almost thunder. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 This is the 56.1st Battlecruise, 56.2nd Heavy Patrol and 56.8th Destroyer Squadron shelling the batteries of the new Asbanian Navy in the Gulf of Valparaíso, which was originally home to the Chilean Navy's headquarters and fleet. Now the Chilean Navy fleet has been reorganized into the Pacific Fleet of the New Asbanian Navy, and Valparaiso is the logical location of the Pacific Fleet headquarters and home port.

However, the Pacific Fleet of the New Asbanian Navy in Valparaiso Harbor had long since disappeared before the arrival of the US Navy, and there was not even a single merchant ship or fishing boat left inside, leaving only an empty harbor for the US fleet to shell.

And the batteries of the New Asbanian Navy in Valparaiso Bay are also very old antiques, although a few 170mm caliber K18 cannons purchased from Europe are placed, but how can this level of artillery deal with the American "Alaska"-class battle cruisers (lead cruisers)? The latter's 305mm (12 in) guns were completely effortless in destroying the old coastal batteries.

After the destruction of the batteries of the New Asbanian Navy, it was the turn of the landing formation of the 56th task force.

Although not comparable to the previous fleet that counterattacked the Hawaiian Islands, the landing formation of Task Force 56 was still very large, with hundreds of landing ships, as well as a large number of minesweepers, escort destroyers, inshore fire support ships (converted from landing ships), and various work boats (mostly converted from flat-deck destroyers). Like a floating city on the dark sea, it slowly approaches the bay of Valparaiso, illuminated by bursts of artillery fire. At 3 a.m. on August 10, 1944, the landing formation, commanded by Vice Admiral Turner, arrived on time at the offensive launch line. The entire fleet began to circle and rearrange the formation. Under the command of officers, the well-trained American sailors, who had experienced the baptism of war in the Hawaiian Islands, skillfully carried out one after another preparations for landing operations.

Small minesweepers opened the way, and inshore fire support ships and light escort destroyers covered large and small landing ships heading into shallow water. Occasionally, a column of water rises on the surface of the sea, and a loud noise is heard. This is a mine laid by the New Asbanian Navy exploding! Some were detonated by American minesweepers, while others happened to run into landing ships or small ships close to the beach, causing casualties.

However, compared to the sheer size of the American landing fleet, this loss is really insignificant!

If this is all that the new Asbanian Navy was able to inflict on the American landing formation, then there is no doubt that the landing operation was a success.

But the American fleet on the sea still did not dare to be careless, because the US Navy knew that the Germans had deployed submarines in the port of Valparaiso, and it was a new submarine that was very difficult to deal with!

In the past six or seven months, the number of US merchant warships sunk by submarines in the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea suddenly began to rise sharply! The number of German submarines sunk was greatly reduced, indicating that the Germans had invested in a new type of submarine with great power.

Many escort destroyers cautiously escorted around the landing ships, and from time to time fired a bunch of hedgehog bullets into the sea, hitting the calm sea as if it were boiling.

Vice Admiral Turner and commander of the 1st Marine Division, Alexander Brown. Archer. Rear Admiral Vandergrift sat together on the battlecruiser "Hawaii", holding a telescope to watch the landing.

Both of their hearts were in their throats, they had fought the bloody battle on Niihau, as if everything was as calm as it was now at the beginning of the landing on Niihan.

But then it ...... It was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

At this time, many officers and men of the 1st Marine Division of the United States Marine Division were already fully equipped to ride on the landing ship and landing craft, holding their breath and concentrating, waiting for the moment when the ship washed up on the beach, and countless deadly ammunition came from the hidden places on the beach!

However, when the bottom of the landing craft really hit the sand, and the moment the front hatch was lowered, the beach in Valparaiso was still quiet, and the shells and bullets that were denser than the rain did not appear. Not even sporadic firepower!

"No...... No one to defend? Major General Vandergravet seemed stunned by this scene, and was stunned for a long time before he spit out a sentence.

Vice Admiral Turner, who saw red flares rising all over the beach to symbolize the success of the landing, also exhaled: "It seems that there is really no one to defend it!" It seems that we are overestimating the Chileans, they simply lack the courage to fight...... Valparaiso will soon be ours, and then Santiago! ”

……

"The battle report on the Chilean front has already arrived, and the US troops took advantage of the dark sky cover to carry out a landing and beaching in the early morning of the 10th, and successfully landed on the undefended Valparaiso beach. The port of Valparaiso was also occupied by the US forces on the morning of the 10th......" Major General Stauffenberg, who had just been promoted to chief operations officer of the General Staff, was frowning and talking to Hersmann, who was looking at the map in the war room.

The abandonment of Valparaiso was a decision made by the General Staff a few days ago - it could not be held there anyway! Moreover, in the eyes of several marshals and generals in the General Staff Headquarters, it is not a bad thing to let more US troops ashore...... Only if they were brought ashore could the 10th, 11th, and 12th Task Forces, all of which belonged to the 1st Fleet, from Belém, be given a chance at a decisive battle.

However, Rear Admiral Stauffenberg was still a little worried, not that the three task forces of the European Combined Fleet would not win the battle -- this was a naval matter, and he did not have to worry about it as a rear admiral.

But Juan. Whether the throne under Peron's ass will be shaken by the fall of Valparaiso and Santiago is a question that the Operations Directorate of the Grand General Staff needs to study carefully.

Since once the United States has established itself in Valparaiso, it will soon deploy B-17s and P51s there, and Buenos Aires will be bombed by then...... It is quite possible to put Juan. Peron blew up!

"Buenos Aires is going to be bombed!" Hersman suddenly opened his mouth at this time, "Let's make an air defense battle plan, mobilize enough 127mm anti-aircraft guns and Fw190 and He219 to go to Buenos Aires...... It's not a problem to be bombed, the question is how many American planes can be shot? ”

At present, Germany's 127mm anti-aircraft guns are equipped with radio proximity fuses and radar fire control systems, while the three series of B/C/D of the Fw190 are all high-altitude types with strong interception capabilities. The HE219 is a very good night fighter, and it also has ferocious firepower. Although the most powerful Me264 was not dispatched, the 127mm anti-aircraft gun, Fw190 and He219 were enough for American bombers.

Major General Stauffenberg asked: "Marshal of the Reich, you want to use the bombers of the Buenos Aires to consume the Americans?" ”

"That's not the whole purpose!" Hersman said lightly, "When formulating the plan for air defense warfare, there was also a plan to send several mountain divisions to the Andes at the same time...... Also, let the SS men go to New Asbania to recruit volunteers. He looked at Stauffenberg, "Klaus, do you understand what I mean?" ”

Stauffenberg was an adjutant for Hersmann, where would he not understand?

"Imperial Marshal, do you want to take the opportunity to send our troops into Argentina and then stay?"

Hersman laughed, "That's the second purpose!" ”

"And the third purpose," Stauffenberg asked, "is to use the American forces stationed in Chile as hostages to force the U.S. Pacific Fleet to fight our 10th, 11th, and 12th task forces in the waters near Chile?" ”

Hersman nodded and said, "It's better to have a decisive battle in the Pacific than a decisive battle in the Caribbean." The Bureau of Operations will immediately draw up a plan for the troops to move into Puerto Montt (a port in southern Chile), and the paratroopers will be transferred there as soon as possible. In addition, at least a few more squadrons of Fw190A/D/F/G will be deployed to Puerto Montt airport. ”

"Yes, Imperial Marshal!"

……

"Mr. President, we've taken Valparaíso!"

United States, White House. On the afternoon of August 10th, Ernest. Admiral King brought Roosevelt good news for a long time.

"Thank God!"

President Roosevelt, who was in the cabinet room, let out a sigh of relief, "We have finally taken the Germans by surprise!" ”

"Mr. President," William. Admiral Leahy also looked very excited, "I think this turning point in the world war has finally arrived, because we have just captured an important stronghold that the Germans must recapture!" And the Germans could not cross the Andes to launch a counterattack, they could only bypass the South American continent from the sea, which was very beneficial to us. ”

Not to mention the Andes in 1944, even decades later, it was also an impassable moat. With a small number of troops holding a few important passes, the Germans' heavy forces could not reach Chile on the Pacific coast. The United States, on the other hand, could take the opportunity to send one or more heavy divisions to Chile, so that the Germans would have to fight back by sea - if they didn't want their little friend Argentina to be bombed every day!

"If the German fleet does sail into the Pacific," Roosevelt's brow furrowed slightly, "are we sure of defeating them?" ”

"Nope!" Ernest. Admiral Kim replied, "Europe is ahead of us in aviation technology and has powerful remote-controlled missiles. ”

"That'...... What's the point of us directing them to the Southeast Pacific? Roosevelt asked.

Ernest. Jin smiled coldly: "Then we can attack Guyana from the Caribbean!" ”