It was discovered that the main forces of the 2nd and 3rd fleets of the combined European fleet left their home ports of Brest and Gibraltar were 2 American submarines. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 INFO American submarines have always been stationed near these important German-controlled ports in the Atlantic, including Brest, Gibraltar, the Azores, Cape Verde Islands, and the port of Belém.

Although the American submarines were inferior to the German Type 21 submarines in terms of endurance and speed under water. But when they use tactics such as slow underwater (2-3 knots) or stationary lurking, they can still hold out at periscope depth for a long time and are still difficult to detect.

However, it is difficult to obtain accurate and detailed information by such a cautious and cautious method of reconnaissance, and in many cases it is difficult to determine the exact composition of the enemy fleet only by observing the plume of smoke emitting from the water antenna.

"More than 100 ships left the port of Brest and even more from Gibraltar, more than 200." Vice Admiral Callahan said, "Quantitatively, the German Grand Fleet leaving Gibraltar should include transport or landing formations, and the target should be Guyana."

Since the Germans sent at least 6 Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers to the Pacific Ocean, the Grand Fleet from Brest and Gibraltar would not have too many fleet carriers to follow.

In addition, the distance from Brest and Gibraltar to Guyana is more than 3,000 nautical miles, and if you take an anti-submarine route, it is about 5,000 nautical miles, and it will take about 250-300 hours to reach the war zone at a speed of 16-18 knots. ”

"10 days?" Halsey thought for a moment and asked, "Will the landing formation be able to complete the unloading operation in 10 days?" ”

"I can't." Lieutenant General Callahan shook his head, "I'm afraid it won't be completed in 20 days, the dock facilities in Georgetown Port have been completely destroyed, and it is not a natural port in the first place." Now the landing formations can only be unloaded by beachhead operations, which is very inefficient. ”

The unloading operation is divided into two categories: port operation and beachhead operation, the former unloading speed is relatively fast, and if the port facilities are good, all the equipment and personnel of a marine division can be unloaded in a few days. The latter is troublesome, personnel, equipment, materials, etc., have to be sent to the beach by landing ships or barges, and there is no unloading equipment, so they can only rely on the vehicle's own power and manpower to carry out the operation, and the efficiency is not known how many times lower than unloading ships in the port.

Moreover, beachhead operations generally take place in a state of engagement, and the landing formation is unloading ships in braving all kinds of enemy firepower!

Since the beginning of the Georgetown landing operation, it has been constantly attacked by various enemy fires from the air, sea and water, so it has been very difficult.

In addition, when the U.S. Marines who landed on the Georgetown beachhead began to go about 15 kilometers inland along the Demerala River, they began to encounter stubborn resistance from the Germans.

The battle line spread out on both sides of the Demerala River, and the artillery fire on both sides was grounded.

Although the US Marines who landed were supported by naval guns, the fierce battle took place more than 20 kilometers away from the waters where the US heavy cruisers could operate. The accuracy of the ship's guns dropped significantly, making it difficult to hit the German firing points scattered in the dense forest.

The German army, which relied on the dense forest to hold on, showed extremely strong jungle warfare capabilities, and was obviously a specially trained "jungle unit".

Moreover, the German army actually deployed a small number of long-range large-caliber artillery pieces in the inland area of Georgetown, although the number was limited, but it was very accurate, causing certain losses to the attacking US marines. Now that the two sides are at a stalemate in large areas of tropical rainforest, the battle on land in Georgetown may be uncertain if reinforcements are not received in time.

As a result, the convoy carrying reinforcements has now left Port of Spain and will arrive in the waters near Georgetown in a few days.

Obviously, Task Force 31 could not leave the Marines who had already landed and retreat back to the Caribbean Sea as a last resort.

Moreover, the decisive battle with the main forces of the European Combined Fleet in the waters near Guyana would have been part of the plan of the "God of Liberty". At the same time, send troops from the Pacific and Atlantic directions, mobilize the main forces of the European Combined Fleet, and then find an opportunity to take out some of them, so as to gain Atlantic sea power!

Of course, a decisive battle at sea, especially a decisive battle for the surface fleet, can only be fought with absolute certainty -- there can be no surprise with the nine super battleships that the US Navy now has!

Aircraft carriers sank a little bit of nothing, because the American battles in the Atlantic are now fought mainly within the protective circle of shore-based aircraft. If you want to go on the defensive and defend Trinidad, it doesn't matter if you have aircraft carriers or not.

As long as anyone who knows a little bit about aviation knows that it is definitely more cost-effective to fight shore-based than carrier-based, not to mention anything else, a lot can be saved just by training pilots, and the performance of the shore-based model of the same large series of aircraft will definitely exceed that of the carrier-based model. So once the U.S. military shrinks to defend the Caribbean, aircraft carriers will be of little use.

But they can't lose 9 super battleships, at least not too much. Because as long as they were there, the Germans would not dare to land in Trinidad easily - as soon as an Iowa-class or "Soviet" broke through to the vicinity of the German landing grounds, the Germans' landing would immediately turn into a catastrophe with heavy casualties. If a battleship leads a cruiser and a destroyer into the landing field, this power is not comparable to that of a few submarines.

If all 9 super-battleships had arrived there, the world war would have ended......

Therefore, in carrying out the "God of Liberty" operation, Halsey used his battleships very carefully, and always kept them under the protection of a large number of destroyers and shore-based aircraft -- Halsey led the battleships to attack in order to prevent the battleships of the European Community fleet from leading cruisers and destroyers from penetrating the attack on the American landing formation.

And in order to prevent a surprise attack by German high-altitude bombers such as the Ju288 and Me264 with remote-controlled missiles, Halsey also carried 10 escort aircraft carriers equipped with "disposable Spitfires", and 20 "disposable Spitfires" were installed on catapults at any time.

"Where is Task Force 56 now?" Halsey pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked about Task Force 56 in the Pacific.

"In the Pacific Ocean, about 600 nautical miles east of Lima." Vice Admiral Callahan immediately walked to the chart platform, picked up a baton and lit a small wooden boat in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. "They are about 2,500 nautical miles away from the Windward and Leeward Islands, and if most of the voyages are not taken into account, they can reach the Windward and Leeward Islands in 100 hours."

"Send power to Admiral Nimitz," Halsey nodded, "we need eight Essex-class carriers of Task Force 56 now." ”

The transfer of Task Force 56 aircraft carriers to the Atlantic was also part of the "Liberty Project". In the same way, in the "Andean Plan" there was also a plan to transfer battleships from the Atlantic Fleet -- the Panama Canal was in the hands of the Americans, so that they could quickly deploy their capital ships between the two oceanic fleets, and such favorable conditions would of course be fully utilized.

"Admiral," Vice Admiral Callahan did not immediately go to draft a telegram to the United States Pacific and Atlantic Fleet Joint Command, but reminded Nimitz in a low voice, "there must be German submarines lurking in the Bay of Panama, these submarines are difficult to deal with, and I am afraid there is no way to drive them away." ”

In other words, about 2 days later (more than 1,200 nautical miles from the current position of the 56th Task Force to the Gulf of Panama, and it takes almost 2 days for the aircraft carrier to walk 24 knots), the German army will have a high probability of discovering that the US aircraft carrier has been transferred to the Atlantic theater through the canal through the Type 21 submarine lurking in the Gulf of Panama.

"What if you find out?" Halsey laughed and said, "Now the initiative has actually gone to our side!" If the German fleet did not dare to come, then British Guia would be ours...... This means that our line of defense in the Atlantic has advanced another 500 kilometers. If they come, they will have to fight a decisive battle with our superior forces! ”

"Admiral, the German fleet is not only targeting the waters near Guyana." Halsey's chief of staff, Major General Callaghan, was not as optimistic as his superiors, "They can also go to Bermuda or Newfoundland." ”

"Bermuda? Newfoundland? Hahaha......" Halsey laughed even more happily, "That's a real request!" If the Germans do come up with such a trick, then God bless America. ”

Is it a stupid trick? Major General Callahan was somewhat skeptical.

Halsey continued: "Dennis, do you think that the people of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have never feared a German attack on our east coast? He paused, "Actually, they're worried, since the Germans had some nuclear fission bomb, Admiral Leahy, Admiral King, and Admiral Marshall haven't slept peacefully." The defence of Newfoundland and Bermuda is of greatest concern to the Joint Chiefs of Staff...... There are now more than 10,000 fighter jets deployed near Newfoundland, Bermuda, and Norfolk near Bermuda (the home port of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet), as well as all major cities on the East Coast! And all of them are P47, P51, P61, F6F and F4U models with superior performance.

In addition, the Army deployed an army group on the island of Newfoundland and an infantry division in Bermuda. The navy also built 12 armored batteries on the island and placed 36 large-caliber guns. So it was impossible for the Germans to occupy there! ”