The sound of hurried footsteps reached the spacious and luxurious commander's conference room of the battleship Iowa, where Halsey, who was watching the latest battle report from the Pacific Fleet Command (the battle report of the Pacific Theater), looked up and saw that the chief of staff, Rear Admiral Browning, had walked in. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

"Commander, the bulletin from the Caribbean Theater Command," said Major General Browning anxiously and quickly, "the Army Aviation of the Caribbean Theater encountered the new fighters of the Germans in the skies over Guyana and suffered heavy losses. 10 B-17 bombers were shot down in a matter of minutes! ”

"Oh." Halsey wasn't surprised, but said, "The escort fighters are too negligent, aren't they?" ”

It is only a few hundred kilometers from Trinidad and Tobago to Balamalibo, the capital of the Republic of Guyana, and any type of P51 and P47 can escort the B-17 throughout the journey. Moreover, bomber groups usually adopt the tactics of high-altitude raids (in fact, Guyana has no valuable targets, and the bombing of the Americans is only for the onlookers of South American greats), and the German FW-190 in Guyana is not ideal because of its insufficient number and no advantage over the P51 and P47.

Major General Browning shook his head and said: "You can't blame the escort planes, but the Germans used a new high-speed high-altitude fighter without a propeller!" It can also fly up to 700 kilometers above 11,000 meters...... Or 800 kilometers per hour! ”

"What? No propellers? Can you fly 700-800 km above 11000 meters? Halsey was a little frightened right now, too. What kind of jet is this? The Germans already had jet fighters that could be used in real combat! ”

This is no joke!

The Germans possessed the JU288, a high-altitude bomber capable of carrying remote-controlled gliding bombs, which posed a great threat to American surface ships, and it was not until the F4U began to enter ships that the situation was completely changed.

The high-altitude performance of the F4U is good, although it is not as good as the FW-190T, but its firepower is very powerful, with 4 20mm cannons (the F4U in this time and space is customized for the JU288 to some extent, so most models have 4 20mm cannons), once you catch the JU288, you can easily shoot it down!

But if the Germans had a jet fighter that could fly 700-800 kilometers at an altitude of 11,000 meters, then a turbocharged fighter like the F4U or even the P47 would probably not be able to deal with them.

In this way, the JU288 can happily use the remote-controlled gliding bomb again!

"Now the Caribbean theater is a little panicked!" "Admiral Eisenhower believed that the appearance of this new aircraft and the arrival of Field Marshal Kesselring would most likely mean a major German offensive in the Caribbean," Browning said. ”

It seems possible! The ju288 can be used in conjunction with the upper jet aircraft not only to seize sea supremacy, but also to suppress the US military airfield in Trinidad and Tobago.

And once Trinidad and Tobago falls, then there will be a huge crisis in the Caribbean theater of operations!

"Admiral Eisenhower wants us to stay in the Caribbean?" Halsey asked, frowning.

"Yes, he wants us to stay for a while," said Browning, "and he sent a telegram asking for our opinion." ”

"There's nothing to say," Halsey slapped the table, "if the Germans really want to launch an offensive in the Caribbean, of course our 3rd Fleet will have to stay here!" The Caribbean Sea is much more important than the Pacific Ocean...... Venezuela alone has tens of millions of tons of oil, which cannot fall into the hands of the Germans in any case! ”

"Then I'll send your proposal to the Department of Naval Operations?"

"Okay." When Halsey saw that Major General Browning was about to turn away, he hurriedly stopped him and said, "Let me explain in the telegram that we can stand by in the waters near Panama." If the Germans had no intention of invading the Caribbean for the time being, we could immediately enter the Pacific Ocean through the Panama Canal. ”

"Understood, Mr. Admiral."

……

"Mr. President, the Department of Naval Operations thinks the 3rd Fleet can be temporarily kept in the Caribbean."

Halsey and Eisenhower's proposal was quickly adopted by the U.S. Naval Operations Department. Admiral Kim was just as scared. And he also knew a lot about jet aircraft, knowing that the Germans were using a completely new aircraft in Guyana.

So on March 10, at an emergency meeting at the White House, he proposed to Roosevelt the use of the mighty 3rd Fleet in the Caribbean theater.

"How many planes do we have in the Caribbean theater?" Roosevelt did not make a decision right away, but asked about the deployment of troops.

"There are more than 3,000 aircraft." Admiral Arnold replied, "If you count the aircraft of the Southeast Pacific Theater and the 3rd Fleet, the total number is more than 4000!" ”

"What about the Germans?" Roosevelt asked again.

"It is estimated that it has 800 aircraft," the chief of the presidential staff, Admiral Raisi, reported, "and in addition, the European Combined Fleet has at least eight large aircraft carriers that can carry more than 500 carrier-based aircraft." ”

"We have a 3x advantage?" Roosevelt was a little relieved.

"But the enemy has jet fighters!" The commander of the Army Air Corps, Admiral Arnold, spoke in a voice that sounded unpretentious. "We have almost no fighters that we can fight, so we have to have a numerical superiority several times."

Roosevelt interjected: "Our jet program should also be accelerated, and we will strive to come up with an aircraft that can fight the German jets in 1943!" ”

This task is not easy to accomplish, because the United States is too far behind in the development of jet aircraft, and the level of engines is only equivalent to the level of Britain and Germany in the thirties, and parts are often dropped at high speeds.

And the British did not move their jet development program to Canada - because the Gloucester Company, which was involved in the development of the British "Meteor" fighter, was also involved in the development of the British "Meteor". The factories and laboratories of British aviation equipment manufacturers such as Havilland, Rolls-Royce, and Westland are all in the UK, and there are no conditions for research and development in Canada.

If the "Meteor" project is going to leave the British mainland, it will have to go to the United States. However, the British government was reluctant to hand over such a valuable project until the last moment, and as a result, the "Meteor" project fell almost completely into the hands of the Germans. And all the Americans were able to get was a bunch of drawings and samples that were transferred to Canada in advance. It is a dream to rely on these things to develop a jet comparable to the ME262 in 43 years, and the ME262 itself has a lot of room for improvement.

In contrast, it is more reliable to steadily improve the high-altitude performance of P47, P51, P38 and F4U. After all, the engines and aerodynamic shapes of these aircraft still have a lot of potential to be tapped.

Just as Admiral Arnold was about to make some more reliable suggestions, Colonel Catton, the adjutant of the President of the United States, hurried into the Oval Office with another piece of bad news that made my heart tremble.

The main forces of the European Combined Fleet have collectively left the port of Gibraltar!

"All gone?" President Roosevelt asked.

"Yes, Mr. President," replied Colonel Carton, "agents of the Strategic Intelligence Service, disguised as sailors on a Brazilian merchant ship, discovered as they passed through the Strait of Gibraltar that there were almost no ships in the military port. ”

The Strait of Gibraltar was too narrow and a shipping choke point to prevent the passage of neutral ships, so it was not a suitable home port for the fleet. It was only before the surrender of the British mainland that the French military port near the Atlantic Ocean was not very safe, so the home port of the European Combined Fleet was placed in Gibraltar.

After the surrender of the British mainland, Brest in France and Portsmouth in England became the first and second home ports of the European Combined Fleet, and now the main forces of the European Combined Fleet are moving away from Gibraltar. However, in order to confuse the Americans, this sensitive time was deliberately chosen.

"It seems that the target of the Germans is most likely the Caribbean!" The president's chief of staff, Admiral Raisi, said, "We cannot afford to take it lightly...... In the Caribbean, we can't afford to lose! ”

Roosevelt looked at Ernest. Admiral King, "Ernest, do we have a way to reinforce the Caribbean?" ”

Now the strength of the US military in the Caribbean is "very insufficient"! With only the 3rd Fleet, the 9th Fleet, more than 4,000 aircraft, less than 500,000 ground forces and more than 3,000 tanks/tank destroyers, there is no insurance at all!

"The main forces of the Pacific Fleet can be mobilized south for reinforcements," said Ernest. "It's only 3,000 nautical miles from San Diego to the Panama Canal, and it can be reached in seven days at 18 knots," Kim said. ”

"How many forces does the Pacific Fleet have now that can be mobilized?" Roosevelt asked again.

"There is one battleship, 2 large aircraft carriers, 1 Independence-class aircraft carrier, at least 4 heavy cruisers and more than 10 light cruisers."

"Okay!" Roosevelt did the math that Halsey's 3rd Fleet had 3 large aircraft carriers and 2 light aircraft carriers; Gormley's 9th Fleet was relatively weak, with only three Borg-class escort carriers; In addition, the Atlantic Fleet's 2nd Fleet, which is now based at Mayport Naval Base in Florida, also has two Independence-class carriers and three Borg-class carriers. If you add the aircraft carriers sent by the Pacific Fleet from San Diego, the number of US aircraft carriers near the Caribbean Sea will reach 16.

"Let the Pacific Fleet send a task force with 3 aircraft carriers as the core!" Roosevelt said, "In the Caribbean, we cannot afford to risk any failure." (To be continued.) )