"Sir, we have just received a report from Naval Reconnaissance No. 10 that an enemy cruiser fleet has been spotted northwest of Grand Bahama Island, and no traces of battleships or aircraft carriers have been observed for the time being. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info"

On the bridge of the USS Ohio, the flagship of the US Atlantic Fleet, a US Navy staff officer in a crisp white uniform stood in a handsome posture and spoke in a deep tone to report the latest information about the enemy fleet to Harold Stark, the current commander of the US Atlantic Fleet. It is true that Stark had just led the U.S. Atlantic Fleet to victory in the "Emerald Night Battle" and the "Emerald Morning War", and thus quickly became a well-known hero, but the glory of victory did not overwhelm him, the American admiral who had experienced the Battle of the Azores knew how tough his opponent was, and knew that a little pain would not only not make a beast fearful, but would provoke its furious beast. The U.S. Atlantic Fleet, which appears to be fighting a tailwind battle right now, is actually on an adventure with an uncertain future.

After listening to the report, Stark didn't say a word, just nodded slightly. In such bad weather as we are looking at, it is not easy for the pilots of the maritime reconnaissance planes to persist in flying, and they are also able to detect information about the enemy's fleet, not to mention whether this information can help their own fleet, and this extraordinary courage alone is worthy of a Navy Cross.

Commodore Chester William Nimitz, the fleet's chief of staff standing beside Stark, said: "Despite the terrible weather, I feel that my opponent is fully prepared for battle. ”

Stark pulled out a piece of chocolate wrapped in tin foil from his pocket and broke off a finger-sized piece and stuffed it into his mouth, as if to refuel his intense brain activity. At last, he took out his handkerchief, wiped his lips cursorely, and then replied to Nimitz: "I hope they will have the heart to have a decent duel with us, so that we have a thirty percent chance of victory." If they're going to win by stratagem, we probably only have a 100 chance of winning...... And seventy percent of the chances of getting out of the way. ”

Nimitz replied without humility or arrogance: "But we are fighting for that one percent chance of victory, and retreating will not change the current bad situation, once MacArthur's army cannot hold the Florida peninsula, then we can only hope that Marshall's armored corps will fight a decisive victory in the interior, but to achieve such a deep reversal, it will require sufficient mental tenacity of the army and the people, which happens to be lacking in us at present." ”

"It is inconvenient for us to comment on the affairs of the army, and we are not qualified to say anything, after all, in the Azores, it was our defeat that implicated the army and the air force, so that they abandoned a large number of experienced officers and soldiers and a large number of heavy equipment there." Speaking of this, Stark looked a little frustrated.

Nimitz was upset: "With all due respect, General, if the army leadership had the courage to do whatever it takes, we would have launched the Battle of San Miguel as scheduled, so that the Azores would not have happened later." ”

As a responsible general, Stark confessed: "The army had the concerns of the army, and both we and the British navy felt that we were more than ninety percent sure of winning the naval battle, so that the army could take the last two islands with as little loss as possible." At the time, except for a few born pessimists, no one questioned this, including me. Objectively speaking, it was the enemy's outstanding performance and our hesitation that combined to create the final result, and the Army does not need to bear too much responsibility for this. ”

Nimitz fell silent, his eyes confused.

At this moment, the "St. Louis," a vigilance ship on the far left flank of the US fleet and equipped with a new type of sea-detection radar, suddenly issued a battle alert -- a large enemy fleet had been spotted more than 40 nautical miles in the left front of the fleet, but only a few minutes later, this battle alert, which had made all the officers and men nervous, was lifted, because the radar operators of the "St. Louis" had mistaken the echo signal of the waves for a huge Allied fleet, and in fact there was nothing but rolling waves.

In the following time, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet continued to move south, and new information followed, first another sea reconnaissance plane caught the traces of the main fleet of the Central Powers under extremely difficult circumstances, but the pilots lost contact before they could transmit all the information back; Immediately afterward, two destroyers on the right flank of the fleet spotted enemy ships moving nearby, and soon detected a strong radio signal.

By 6 p.m., the US Atlantic Fleet had sailed to a position more than 50 nautical miles northwest of Grand Bahama Island, and the outline of the northern islands and reefs of Grand Bahama Island began to appear on the radar screen of the "St. Louis."

At 6:11 a.m., the "St. Louis" sounded the battle alert for the second time, and this time the radar operator's judgment was accurate, and a Confederate battle fleet composed of more than 60 large and small ships, roughly divided into front and rear teams, formed an arrow battle formation and killed the left flank of the American fleet at a speed of 20 knots.

At first glance, the U.S. fleet occupies most of the T-shaped crosshairs, which is conducive to exerting fleet firepower, but the two sides are outside the normal combat range at this time, and the Allied fleet only needs to make a slight adjustment to concentrate artillery fire on the advance formation or left flank alert formation of the U.S. fleet, and then preempt the distance before the U.S. main warships can exert their might.

At that time, the US fleet will be passive in pursuit or not.

At 6:14 a.m., the "Ohio," the flagship of the US fleet, issued a combat order to the entire fleet, and on the premise of maintaining radar contact, the left flank alert detachment moved closer to the battleship main squadron, and the right flank alert detachment joined forces with the lightning strike detachment rushing from the port of Jacksonville to simultaneously reduce the distance between it and the battleship main squadron.

Six minutes later, the fire control command room of the "Ohio" got the first firing parameters: the enemy fleet was 40,000 yards away, the azimuth was 033, and the speed was 21 knots!

In the suffocating atmosphere, time passed quietly, and the distance between the two sides gradually narrowed from 36,000 meters to 30,000 meters, and it was getting closer and closer to the exchange of fire between the main fleets of the two sides in the first naval battle of São Miguel Island.

"Report to the sir, the enemy fleet is changing course counterclockwise, and the current distance from us is ...... Thirty-two thousand seven hundred yards! ”

In the heavily armored battle bridge of the Ohio, the staff officer reported the latest enemy situation to the fleet commander with a nervous expression, and the officers present, regardless of rank, seemed to be paying close attention to these sensitive data.

Stark's jaw was slightly raised, and he commanded in a powerful tone: "Order, all ships must abide by their respective battle positions, obey the orders of the flagship, calm down, must calm down!" ”

The herald did not dare to delay in the slightest and quickly conveyed the order to the radio room by telephone.

As expected, after completing the first round of tactical maneuvers, the Allied fleet took the initiative to assume an offensive posture, and the array of the front team accelerated impressively, and the front line pointed directly at the advance formation of the American fleet, and fired the first shot of this naval battle at 6:29.

The cruiser squadron under Gunther-Lütjans has 5 heavy cruisers and 3 light cruisers, and is good at medium-range saturation shelling like a storm, and the torpedo volley at critical moments is also quite sharp, and in addition to the Italian heavy cruiser "Grisia", the remaining 4 heavy cruisers are equipped with German-style fire control radars. Stark's cruiser suffered a lot of losses in the Emerald Morning Battle, and although the advance formation responsible for alert and reconnaissance at this time had 9 light and heavy cruisers and 7 destroyers, only 2 New Orleans-class heavy cruisers in wartime service were equipped with fire control radars, and the other 14 ships could only fight at night through a combination of detection radar and visual observation.

At the beginning of the battle, the vanguard of the two sides was 24,000 yards apart, or about 22,000 meters, which was the combat range of the battleship's main guns during the last major war, and the development and innovation of technology made the effective range of the ship's guns have been greatly improved. Under the guidance of the fire control radar, the Allied cruiser formation soon made the opponent feel the tremendous pressure at the tactical and psychological level, and the United States organized heavy cruisers to participate in this long-range artillery battle, and on the other hand, organized six of the seven destroyers into a team to launch a tentative attack on the enemy under the cover of the rain curtain.

Spotting enemy destroyers approaching in a single formation at high speed, the Allied advance ships, led by the Griffin and Dagda, quickly adjusted their muzzle directions. When the American destroyer team approached a distance of 18,000 meters, the nine 240-mm guns of the "Griffin" instantly let out a deafening roar, and three rounds of accurate rapid fire caused close damage to the leading American destroyer "Ronald". Under the leadership of the "Griffin," the Irish heavy cruiser "Dagda," the German heavy cruiser "Augsburg," the "Pu'er Falci," and even the Italian Navy's "Grisia" poured artillery fire on the American destroyer. How could those American-made destroyers with a displacement of between 1,400 and 1,800 tons be able to withstand such heavy artillery fire, and within a short time, three of them were slowed down due to battle damage.

Listening to the rumbling sound of artillery coming through the rain curtain, Stark, who seemed to be calm, was nervously watching the exchange of fire between the two advance teams all the time, and when he heard that his outpost was in a disadvantageous position, he couldn't help frowning: should he send combat strength to reinforcements, or let the advance formation fight and retreat, and lead the enemy to his guns?

Every New Year, it is inevitable to run around in the sound of firecrackers and New Year's greetings, and in three days, all kinds of means of transportation have accumulated a distance of eight or nine hundred kilometers, and it is estimated that there are many friends in a similar situation. Therefore, say hard work, cherish the words, and continue to move forward with the blessings of your loved ones!

(End of chapter)