With the development of communication technology, important news from the battlefield is no longer as easily blocked as before, especially if one of the parties deliberately does it, and the speed and scope of transmission of war reports may exceed people's imagination. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Less than an hour after the end of the battle, the news that the US and British fleets had lost three capital ships, the USS Lexington, the USS Warweary, and the USS Barham, caused an uproar at the top level of the United States and Britain. Although the destruction of Hart's fleet has not yet reversed the balance of power between the two sides in the Atlantic, such an incredible defeat is undoubtedly very worthy of attention and vigilance, if we cannot find the fundamental problem and find a solution, it is likely that more and heavier losses will await the US and British troops in the future, and the favorable situation in which tens of thousands of soldiers have exchanged their blood and lives will no longer exist......

On this day, Admiral William Veitch Pratt, Chief of Naval Operations, was accompanying President Franklin D. Roosevelt on an inspection of the submarine base in Boston.

After analyzing the common causes, Sherman flickered to reveal the news that the King of Ireland was said to have personally led the fleet on an expedition.

Admiral Pratt, who did not seem to have received such a report before, was surprised and asked, "How reliable is this information?" ”

"In fact, this information has not been confirmed at this time, and there is no other intelligence to corroborate." Major General Sherman replied with a look of embarrassment.

Although this defeat was not directly related to him, Pratt, as the helmsman of the U.S. Navy and the chairman of the Joint Conference responsible for coordinating U.S. and British naval operations, could not escape the blame, so he asked with some annoyance: "So you neither reported it to me, nor did you alert the fleet commander in front in time?" ”

Major General Sherman hurriedly explained: "Yes, sir. In times of war, we receive a huge amount of information every day, and then spend a lot of manpower to sift through and screen it. As a general rule, we will only take action if it has been verified or has a reliability rating of 75% or more, or is of exceptional value. ”

"Does the importance of this piece of information not meet the third condition you just mentioned?" Admiral Pratt asked rhetorically.

Sherman's sideburns were already sweating: "Yes, sir, our staff did overlook this. ”

Without waiting for Pratt to continue to bombard the other party, Roosevelt, who had only been president for more than three months, waved his hand: "A person who can find key information from the intricacies of affairs is excellent, and even if he fails to do so, it does not prove that his ability or vision is wrong. Now our primary concern should be what the enemy will do next, and how we will respond. ”

Hearing this, Pratt's expression became even more severe, he lowered his head and thought for a while, and then reported to Roosevelt with a solemn face: "You know, our plan is to lure the main ships of the Central Powers out of the waters of San Miguel and Santa Maria with Vice Admiral Hart's advance fleet as bait, so that they lose their army aviation umbrella, and then inflict heavy damage on them with naval aviation. With Hart's character, once he finds that the situation is not good, he will definitely not stubbornly hold on, so none of us thought that his advance fleet would be devastating in an encounter with a little difference in strength, and there must be something wrong with this. Now that we are out of decoys, but Standley's capital ship group and Bullock's carrier group are still operating according to their original plan, this is perhaps the worst thing that can happen at the moment, and they must be notified immediately to change their plans. ”

Roosevelt said calmly: "As far as I know, Admiral Standley is a steady, resolute, and flexible man, and he will certainly change his plans in time, unless he does not receive the bad news that Hart's fleet has been severely damaged." ”

It was supposed to be an affirmative sentence, but Pratt looked at Sherman, and both of them looked strange.

Roosevelt noticed their expressions and asked, "Is this possible?" ”

"In order to prevent the enemy from discovering their whereabouts, the Shandley fleet has maintained radio silence since its departure, and has so far not received a telegram from them, and it is impossible to determine whether they have received the message," Pratt said. Although the chances of such a situation are small, it is not absolutely impossible. To be on the safe side, we immediately transmitted the message through the reserve frequency and the British frequency, and it is impossible for all three frequencies to be interfered with at the same time. ”

Roosevelt, of course, was able to figure out the possibility of an extremely pessimistic scenario from the euphemistic and official explanation of the Chief of Naval Operations, and he could not help but put his hand on his forehead: "Oh, God forbid! If we lose in the Atlantic, the German fleet and planes will soon appear in our eastern seas, and they will establish a bridgehead for an overland offensive in Argentina, at which point we will have to accept the harsh conditions of entry from Russia and Japan in the hope that they will be able to confront the Germans on the battlefield. ”

Pratt stood up and said, "Mr. President, we will not let this theoretical possibility easily become a reality, so I will make arrangements." ”

Roosevelt made a gesture of please. When Pratt left the room, he said to Major General Sherman, "I hope our worst intentions will always be just intentions." ”

Sherman pursed his lips, expressing understanding and approval.

Roosevelt was silent for a moment, then said, "Tell me about the great Germanic god of naval warfare!" How much do you know about him? In your eyes, is he as invincible as he is rumored? ”

Sherman took a deep breath and replied in a gentle tone, "We should firmly believe in the philosophy that there is no one in the world who will never fail. No matter how great a commander is, he has weaknesses in his character, and this strongman, who is revered by the German and Irish people, is no exception. Over the years, we have carefully studied a wealth of material relating to him, including the papers he wrote during his service in the German Navy, and the textbooks he supervised the development of the instructors of the Irish Navy, and found that most of his military adventures were based on careful thinking, that is, he took into account the various situations that might arise on the battlefield in advance, and then chose the route with the least cost and the greatest benefit. ”

"So he's a very shrewd commander." Roosevelt pondered.

Sherman nodded, "Yes, Mr. President, he is very shrewd and very cunning, and there is hardly a second commander who is as good at mechanical technology as he is. Just imagine, who knows the ships under his command better than the designer? ”

Roosevelt fell silent again, realizing that he might have made a fatal mistake from the start, which was to ignore the killing god hidden in the enemy camp, but as Pratt said, who would have expected that the monarch of Ireland would brave the bullets on the battlefield to take command himself?

After a long time, Admiral Pratt returned to the room and reported to the President that all the coded cables had been sent out, that neither Standley nor Bullock had heard back, and that the British had not received any telegrams from the ships participating in combat operations recently, and that all the ships seemed to be strictly enforcing battlefield discipline.

After Pratt's telegram had crossed most of the Atlantic, it was decoded and printed out by the ship's automatic decoder, and delivered to Standley and Bullock by the communications officer.

As Roosevelt had guessed, Hearing of the defeat of Hart's fleet, Standley quickly adjusted his battle plan, halted the eastward advance of the Allied main fleet, and at the same time sent a large number of carrier-based aircraft to attack the battle formation near the Allied convoy.

Admiral Claude Bullock's aircraft carrier squadron was originally moving in tandem with Stellley's main fleet, but after an unexpected change in the battle situation, he followed Stendley's instructions sent by the light code signal to lead the carrier formation on his own.

More than 300 nautical miles northeast of São Miguel Island, the Independence-class aircraft carriers "Princeton," the Tejour-class aircraft carriers "Victory" and "Fearful," and the merchant converted auxiliary aircraft carriers "Randolph," "Richard," "Parker," and "Lynch" formed a sizeable aircraft carrier formation -- almost all the naval vessels that the US and British navies could collect at present, but it was not so much a desperate gamble as a hopeless take-off. Under the stimulus of the war, the industrial economy of the United States has been transferred to the wartime track, on the east and west coasts and in the main ports of Canada, large and small shipyards are stepping up the construction of all kinds of military ships, as long as the United States and Britain hold on to another 9-10 months, the first batch of wartime aircraft carriers will be completed one after another, then the advantages of the United States and the British Navy in the Atlantic will certainly be consolidated and expanded, and the new 40,000-ton fleet aircraft carriers have also started, the United States Navy has ordered 12 ships in one go, and the British Commonwealth Army has ordered 4 ships, and when these big guys are completed and put into service, Even if the Allies tried their best, they would probably not be able to compete with their opponents.

After the flagship Yorktown was damaged and repaired in the Second Battle of Texel, Claude Bullock moved to the heavy cruiser Chicago to continue to command the Allied naval vessels. In the previous stage of combat operations, the U.S. and British aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft units were inferior to their opponents, but the losses were much greater, which made Bullock feel a lot of pressure, and it was rumored that the Admiralty intended to replace Bullock with 52-year-old Vice Admiral Kenneth Whiting, who was the first captain of the first aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy and claimed to be more familiar with aircraft carriers than anyone else. To keep his position and try to salvage his reputation in the battle ahead, Bullock is desperate for a meaningful victory. After releasing the first wave of attack planes, he ordered all ships to get ready, and only waited for the battle report to be transmitted from the front, and then decided on the composition of the second wave of attack planes according to the battle situation -- according to his assumptions, the first wave of attack planes might not be able to completely seize air supremacy, and the second wave of planes still needed a considerable number of fighters to escort them, but the result was far from what he expected, the enemy fleet had only a very small number of carrier-based fighters to cover it, and it seemed that the main aircraft carriers of the Allies were not ambushed in that direction.

By this point, it was no longer pointable for the carrier group to remain radio-silent, and Bullock ordered a telegram to Standley and the anxious Naval Operations Department informing them of the first wave of air strikes on the Allied fleet, and informing them that he had ordered a second wave of air strikes.

(End of chapter)