April 29, 1945, 4:15 p.m. ET. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The Essex, the flagship of the U.S. Task Force 56, was already enveloped in the thick smell of gunsmoke, and the sailors were nervously making final preparations for a naval and air battle. On the deck of the aircraft carrier, the F6F and F4U fighters were lined up, refueled and ammunition, ready to take off to meet the invading German fighters. In the waters near the USS Essex, hundreds of US Navy ships have formed air defense formations. The aircraft carrier is in the center, the cruisers and destroyers are surrounded by layers of escorts, and there are hundreds of direct cover planes hovering in the air, as if they are facing a great enemy.

Because an hour and a half ago, a seaplane suspected to be a Bv138E, under the cover of a squadron of Fokker 636, approached the Bay of Fundy for reconnaissance. Without the failure of some equipment, with the reconnaissance capabilities of the Bv138E, it would have been impossible not to detect the American Grand Fleet in the harbor.

In addition, carrier-based fighters sent by Task Force 56 to fight on Newfoundland sent back some strange reports - what a huge column of water, what hemispherical clouds, what a tsunami...... It appears that the Germans used tsunami bombs on Newfoundland, and perhaps the mines used to block the bay were all cleared by this tsunami bomb.

If the Germans open Concepson Bay, the fighting on Newfoundland will become very fierce, and the American forces will have to reinforce Newfoundland in a big way, and there may be fierce sea and air battles. And Task Force 56 will be the key to victory or defeat in the Battle of Newfoundland!

Admiral Mitchell, who had not yet fully figured out the situation, felt that his fleet might be attacked by air raids, so he ordered the fleet to form an air defense formation, and also requested support from the Northeast North American Air Defense Command, preparing to fight the invading German fighters over the Bay of Fundy.

"Admiral, an urgent telegram from the Naval Operations Department orders us to disperse the formation immediately and evacuate the Bay of Fundy at full speed to the east."

"What?" Hear Arley. Burke's report, Admiral Mitchell was stunned, "Naval Operations? Aleigh, you're not mistaken, are you? ”

The U.S. Naval Operations Department is the equivalent of the German Naval Command (the German Naval Command is actually equivalent to a staff headquarters), and its subordinates are the Grand Fleet Command such as the Pacific and Atlantic Fleet Joint Command, and the Naval Air Command and Marine Corps Command. As a rule, one should not go beyond the headquarters of the Grand Fleet and give orders to the task forces below -- the superior of the task force is the detachment, and the superior of the detachment is the commander of the Grand Fleet. At this time, the order was given by the commander of naval operations, Ernest Ward. Isn't Kim afraid of the command below?

"It was an order given directly by the Department of Naval Operations," said Arleigh. Burke frowned, "I've asked the radio station to ask why." ”

Admiral Mitchell nodded and said, "Okay, then wait for the explanation from the Naval Operations Department first......

"Admiral, Admiral!" Before Mitchell could finish speaking, the fleet's communications officer trotted all the way to the fleet command center on the USS Essex, still holding a copy of the telegram that had just been translated.

This communications staff officer did not wait for Ali either. Burke asked, and then he made a quick report: "The telegram from the Naval Operations Department says that the Germans have used a powerful atomic bomb in Concepson Bay on the island of Newfoundland!"

The explosive yield of this atomic bomb is estimated to be equivalent to 200,000 tons of explosives, and the power can cover 100 square kilometers of sea area! That's why the Naval Operations Department will give the order directly......"

"What? The power can destroy the fleet within 100 square kilometers around the atomic bomb site...... "Ali. Burke took the telegram copy and looked at it, "God, is this true?" Is this true? ”

"100 square kilometers? Didn't you say 10 square kilometers? Mitchell was also shocked, destroying the surface fleet within 100 square kilometers was no joke.

The 56th Task Force is not so large in its air defense formation, and it only takes one atomic bomb to reimburse it all! It is no wonder that the Naval Operations Department skipped the Pacific-Atlantic Fleet Joint Command and the 5th Fleet Command and directly gave the 56th Task Force an order to evacuate and retreat.

But if you can run this time, will you be able to fight in the future? A large fleet such as the 56th Task Force is in a normal operational state if it spreads 1,200 square kilometers, but it is too scattered to spread 1,200 square kilometers, and it is difficult to echo the end of the fleet, and it is difficult for the fleet to command, and it will not be able to defend itself in the event of an air attack. Moreover, it is also inconvenient to send air raid groups, it is difficult to form large groups, and it is easy to fight into a tactic of adding fuel.

Just when everyone in the fleet command center on the aircraft carrier Essex was stunned, the fleet electronics officer suddenly shouted: "Enemy plane! Radar station on Nova Scotia spotted enemy aircraft! Quantity more than 500, due south direction, 350 km from us, height 7000 meters or more......"

Is this the atomic bomb coming?

The command center of the USS Essex was suddenly enveloped in an atmosphere of terror, and everyone knew that it was impossible for them to defeat an atomic bomb that could blow everything out of 100 square kilometers!

And...... It is likely that the Germans will have dropped more than one atomic bomb.

"Admiral, we can send a carrier aircraft group to block enemy aircraft and evacuate the fleet at the same time." Fleet Chief of Staff Arlie. Burke reacted quickly and came up with a workable response.

"Okay, okay, so be it." Admiral Mitchell furrowed his brows, "Also, call Vice Admiral Harmon (Commander of the North American Northeast Air Command) and ask him to send shore-based aircraft to cover us as soon as possible!" ”

Now is not the time to think about how to fight a future war, and if we can't escape the catastrophe in front of us, everyone will be turned into nuclear waste!

It's right here at Mitchell and Arley. While Burke was busy directing the fleet to disperse and flee, the bomber group commanded by Hersman Jr. had already flown off to the vicinity of Nova Scotia. The Bv138E seaplane he was flying in was flying directly from the vicinity of Newfoundland, and it took nearly three hours and nearly 1,000 kilometers to fly - this was because the speed of the Bv138E AWACS was too slow, and if he flew back to find a seaplane carrier to refuel and then set off, he probably would not be able to catch up with the air battle on the island of Fundy. Moreover, the range of the Bv138E is extremely large, more than 5,000 kilometers, and it can fly in the air for 16 hours without interruption, so there is no need to fly back to refuel.

And on the way to the new battlefield in a Bv138E to direct the battle, Hesman Jr. has been using the radio on the plane and Air Force Chief of Staff Gunther . Admiral Colten contacted. The latter, who is now also on board a Me264H AWACS aircraft, is on its way from the Azores to the Gulf of Fundy.

Gunther. Admiral Corten personally controlled the 802nd Bomber Group and the 803rd Bomber Group, two bomber groups carrying atomic bombs, and his mission was to use two atomic bombs to destroy one of the main fleets of the U.S. Navy -- the 802nd and 803rd Fleets -- when they set off from the Azores, the European Allied Atlantic Front Command only knew about a U.S. fleet hiding in the Gulf of Fundy.

But since it is more than 3,000 kilometers from the Azores to the Gulf of Fundy, even if the Me264 flies relatively fast, it will take almost 7 hours to arrive. Admiral Corten was given the order to lead the attack.

Of course, the atomic bomb contained in the bomber can be returned with the plane. If, within 5 hours, German naval aviation still did not find out what was going on in the Bay of Fundy, the bombing plan would have been canceled.

However, nearly two hours ago, when the 802nd and 803rd Groups were about to arrive at the "return point", the Bv138E water early warning aircraft that ventured into the sky over Nova Scotia to reconnoiter finally made a key discovery.

Then Gunther. Admiral Corten and Hirschman Jr., who had just seen the scene of the atomic bombing, finalized the air raid plan through the radio.

The plan was largely developed by Hersman Jr., who had a lot of experience in air command and who had also participated in the first combat application of the atomic bomb in human history, and knew how terrifying the scene of an atomic bomb exploding in water was.

Seriously, the explosion of Heisenberg Device 3 in Concepson Bay was already far beyond the expectations of the U Engineering Committee and the Luftwaffe. According to the data calculated by scientists, the power of the atomic bomb explosion in water should be about the same as that of an air explosion (in history, American scientists also miscalculated, and as a result, in the Crossroads Street operation, the officers and soldiers in charge of shooting the video almost killed the tsunami), but I didn't expect it to be so scary!

So if you don't see it with your own eyes, you can't make the right plan at all.

"Lieutenant Colonel, Admiral Corten called to ask, are Thunder 4 and Thunder 6 really going to be 6,000 meters apart?"

"Call back to the admiral, and from the analysis of the explosion in Concepson Bay, the power generated by an underwater explosion of an atomic bomb can cover up to 6,000 meters away," Hersman Jr. said. However, in order to ensure sufficient lethality, it is more reasonable for two atomic bombs to be dropped at 6000. In this case, the power of the two atomic bombs will overlap, but they will still be able to cover an area of 150-200 square kilometers. ”

Less than three minutes later, the communications officer on the little Hersmann's landline said, "Lieutenant Colonel, Admiral Korten asked, if the U.S. fleet in the Bay of Fundy takes a scattered breakout, what strategy should we take?" ”

Now, several hours have passed since the nuclear explosion in Concepson Bay, and most of the U.S. fleets in the Bay of Fundy have been warned that they have probably begun to flee.

Hersman Jr. had already had a countermeasure, saying: "If that were the case, we would have dropped two atomic bombs at the entrance to the Bay of Fundy at high tide and used the high tide to add strength to the atomic bombs to achieve the maximum destructive effect." At the same time, there will be bomb-mounted Fokker and Br.810 bombers who will go on attack after the atomic bomb explosion to extend the results. ”

Chapter 1267 Atomic Bomb Twenty-Four

"2 enemy aircraft, 120 kilometers away, 11000 meters altitude!"

With the shouts of the electronic officer of the USS Essex, everyone in the command center on the aircraft carrier island raised their hearts to their throats.

"Admiral, you must have come to drop the atomic bomb!"

Ali. Burke's words made Mitchell shake slightly, and his face was difficult to look at. 2 enemy aircraft at an altitude of 11000 meters...... They certainly didn't come to drop conventional bombs, and they probably didn't put missiles. Conventional bombs dropped from a height of 11,000 meters could not hit moving targets on the sea surface at all. And with the "Reaper" missile, it is unlikely that there will be only 2 aircraft. Even if two "Reaper" missiles hit 100 percent, they would paralyze two aircraft carriers.

Moreover, American aircraft carriers, battleships, and heavy cruisers are now equipped with many smoke launchers, which can envelop themselves in smoke at any time. It is difficult to say whether the two missiles dropped from an altitude of 11,000 meters can hit or not.

So most of these 2 German planes that broke through from an altitude of 11,000 meters came with atomic bombs!

"How far are we from the Bay of Fundy exit now?" Mitchell turned back and asked the fleet's seafaring staff.

"There are still 20 nautical miles, and it will take at least 40 minutes to rush out."

"It's too late," said Arlie. Burke reminded that "and the fleet is not scattered enough." ”

The Bay of Fundy is not very large, at its widest is more than 70 kilometers, which is not enough to completely disperse the huge Task Force 56. And Admiral Mitchell, while ordering the fleet to disperse, also ordered the fleet to break through to the west. Therefore, now the entire fleet of 100 or so large and small ships are crowded near the exit of the Bay of Fundy, setting up a long snake formation of more than 30 kilometers, and if an atomic bomb blows up at least 10 kilometers of warships, one-third of the fleet will be gone!

And the remaining two-thirds don't want to fight again...... Because the officers and men of the Navy above must have been blinded!

"They must be stopped!" Admiral Mitchell roared and ordered, "Let the Army's P-47 and P-61 stop them!" Do whatever it takes...... Even if it hits, I'm going to knock down the German bombers too! ”

Because the two enemy planes climbed to an extremely high altitude of 11,000 meters, and from the radar, they flew quite fast. So Admiral Mitchell did not let the Navy's F4U and F6F deal with it, but let the high-altitude models of the P-47 and P-61 that took off from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Cape Bresson Island deal with it...... However, the number of P-47s and P-61s flying from these areas was limited, and some were sent to support the operation over Newfoundland, and now only more than 70 were assembled to support Task Force 56.

A joint fighter command commanding operations at Halifax Air Force Base on the Nova Scotia Peninsula received orders from Mitchell (the planes sent by the U.S. Army Air Corps to cover Task Force 56 were now under Admiral Mitchell's control) and immediately deployed 12 P-47s and 12 P-61s to intercept two high, fast "Me264 bombers."

"Lieutenant Colonel, more than 20 American fighters flew directly in front of the 1st Guerrilla Regiment."

The actions of more than 20 American fighters did not hide from the little Hersman who was flying on the Bv138E AWACS plane. His mission is still the same as over Newfoundland, which is to direct fighter jets to clear the way for the Me264K bombers that dropped atomic bombs.

However, now he does not have more than 100 Me262T carrier-based jet fighters in his hands - Me262Ts are good at everything, but they are "short legs", and they can barely fly 2,000 kilometers after hanging up the auxiliary fuel tank, and it is impossible to reach the Bay of Fundy from near Newfoundland.

Therefore, Hesman Jr. actually did not have the trump card of crushing more than 70 P-47 and P-61 fighters in his hands, and he only had 16 He219G high-altitude fighters that originally belonged to the escort squadron of the 802 bomber group (although the German 1st Air Force stationed in the Azores could not send He219 escorts, but there were still He219Gs in the 2 atomic bomber groups), and the 16 He219Gs belonging to the 803rd Group were divided into two, which were responsible for covering the main force of the two atomic bomber groups.

Relying on these 16 He219Gs, it will definitely not be able to beat more than 70 P-47 and P-61. But Hirschmann Jr. still had a way, he was, after all, the ace air combat commander of the Luftwaffe and naval aviation.

And his method was to divide the 16 He219Gs into 8 twin-plane formations, named the 1st-8th guerrilla groups, and then use them to fool the American P-47 and P-61. The He219G can act as a knife guard for the atomic bomber Me264K, and naturally there are two hits.

The aircraft is equipped with the best 24-cylinder liquid-cooled engine in Germany and the world, the Jumo 222G engine from Jumo. The engine has a whopping 2,800 hp and is fitted with a turbocharger and a GM1 combustion booster (laughing gas combustion). The maximum level flight speed at an altitude of 12,000 meters can reach 760 km/h (after using GM1). Moreover, the aircraft is large, with a wingspan of 28 meters (the wingspan of the He219A series is only 18 meters), and the firepower is powerful enough to have 4 20mm cannons and 4 30mm cannons.

However, Hersman Jr. did not intend to use its powerful firepower to shoot down the P-47 and P-61, but used its huge system to pretend to be an atomic bomb dropper to attract the attention of American fighters. After successfully luring the enemy, the He219G will take advantage of its speed advantage at extremely high altitude to take the enemy aircraft in circles.

"Guerrilla No. 1, I'm Kitty Hawk No. 1, there are more than 20 roadblocks to your north, please detour west to the exit of the Bay of Fundy and keep your distance from enemy aircraft. Complete. ”

Hersman Jr. immediately used the radio to direct two He219Gs to turn westward, and they were immediately detected by American radar on the ground, and then immediately reported to more than 20 P-47s and P-61s in the air ready to intercept. Of course, these more than 20 P-47s and P-61s did not dare to slack off. Most likely, they are now facing not 2 German planes, but 2 damn atomic bombs!

When intercepting enemy planes, it is not a big deal at all, but when the interception object becomes an atomic bomb, it is absolutely impossible to miss it.

"The 2nd guerrilla group, which broke through from the east side of the Bay of Fundy, was at an altitude of 11500 and maintained a speed of 670 km / h."

After seeing more than 20 U.S. fighters chasing the 1st Guerrilla Group, Hersman Jr. immediately sent the 2nd Guerrilla Group, also composed of two He219G high-altitude fighters, to break in from another direction.

After the two He219Gs belonging to the 2nd Guerrilla Group broke in, they were immediately discovered by the radar of the Americans. Needless to say, more than 20 P-47s and P-61s rushed up to intercept them.

Of course, it can't be stopped, although the high-altitude performance of the P-47 and P-61 is also good, it is still inferior to the He219G, so it is still led by the nose by these 2 He219Gs. Then Hirschman Jr. sent the 3rd, 4th, and 5th guerrilla detachments. The Americans no longer have three P-48s and P-61s of more than 20 planes to send, and there are only eight P-47s or P-61s to intercept these three two-plane formations.

At the same time, the commander of the U.S. Army Air Corps, who was commanding on the ground, probably realized that the Germans were going around in circles with their P-47s and P-61s with high-altitude fighters, so they transferred 32 more fighters from the more than 40 fighters of the 1st and 2nd partisans pursuing the German army.

And this action naturally did not hide from the German army, which had several AWACS aircraft in the airspace near the Nova Scotia Peninsula. Little Hersman immediately made a judgment that the number of high-altitude interceptors of the US military was insufficient!

"Get moving, execute the break-in plan!"

This is the opportunity that Hirschman Jr. was waiting for!

At the sound of the order, the large German aircraft group hovering at an altitude of 7,000 meters over the waters south of the Nova Scotia Peninsula immediately split into three. One of the fleets of about 26 planes climbed to an altitude of 11,000 meters at breakneck speed and then swooped down towards the entrance to the Bay of Fundy. The remaining 400 or so fighters descended to an altitude of 6,000 meters, divided into two large groups, and also pounced on the entrance to the Bay of Fundy.

Of course, the actions of the large German aircraft group cannot be concealed from the radars of the US military -- not only do the Americans have ground radar stations on the Nova Scotia Peninsula, but the fleet in the Bay of Fundy is also equipped with a large number of anti-aircraft search radars, and there are F-13 early warning planes circling in the air. Although due to the technical level, it was impossible to distinguish the type of enemy aircraft by radar signals (the same is true for German radars), the dispatch of German aircraft could not hide from them.

"It's really here now!" Admiral Mitchell, who received the report, immediately felt that his hairs stood on end -- of course, he also knew that the two enemy planes that had penetrated the defense just now were all decoys, and now they were the enemy planes that were actually carrying atomic bombs.

But...... Where is the plane carrying the atomic bomb?

Is it from the more than 20 aircraft that penetrated at 11,000 meters, or from the middle of 2 large groups of aircraft that penetrated from 7,000 meters?

"Most of the Me264s that carried the atomic bomb penetrated from extremely high altitudes." Chief of Staff of Task Force 56 Arlie. Burke thought for a moment and said to Admiral Mitchell, "It's better to let all the F4U go to an altitude of 11,000 to block the Germans' planes from approaching the fleet." ”

Since the Luftwaffe and naval aviation have long been equipped with Ju288s that can drop remotely guided bombs, the US Navy has also made great efforts to improve the high-altitude performance of the F4U. Although the high-altitude version of the F4U cannot be compared with the Me264T, it is not as good as the He219. But it is possible to use the numerical advantage to strike at the opponent, after all, there are only more than 20 aircraft in the current fleet above 11,000 meters.

"You don't need to make all sorties," Mitchell said after thinking for a while, "120 F4Us are enough, after all, there are more than 30 P-47s and P-61s available." The remaining F4U and F6F went together to deal with the 2 fleets that penetrated from the medium and high altitudes. ”

"Yes, Mr. Admiral."