The United States Army Air Force's move of a large number of P-51 fighters to combat in the Caribbean could not be concealed from the German General Staff, as can be concluded from the situation statistics of the Air Force's 1st Air Force, which was sent to the Tsosen General Staff on 1 February. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Colored curves and vertical lines on this chart show the losses of each type of fighter and the results that can be confirmed, the sorties of aircraft, the increase or decrease in the number of enemy aircraft encountered, and the number of pilots lost. Through this image, Hersmann and other top personnel of the German army were able to understand at a glance the changes in the air forces of the American army in the Caribbean theater.

"It is clear that we have succeeded in mobilizing the air forces of the Americans." Air Marshal Kesselring said at a meeting of the General Staff on 1 February, "Judging from the statistical charts submitted by the 1st Air Force, between January 21 and January 31, the losses of Fokker 636s used to attack the American transport fleet skyrocketed, and the number of P-51 fighters shot down by our side also skyrocketed, while the number of C-47s and other transport planes shot down decreased significantly." From this we can conclude that the Americans are transferring a large number of P-51 fighters to the Caribbean. ”

"What about the situation in the direction of Newfoundland? Are there any new changes? Hersman asked.

After replacing it with the Grimaper 1B-2 cruise missile, which had a much longer range (700 km), the Luftwaffe resumed missile attacks on Boston, Philadelphia, New York and other places in late January. And this also means that the competition between the Me264 and the American interceptor is starting again - because of the presence of the Bv-138E long-range water radar early warning aircraft, interception has become very difficult, and the Americans will also need to invest a lot of troops.

"There are some changes," Raeder said, "that the Americans are afraid to send destroyers to patrol the Newfoundland-Bermuda islands anymore." However, their P-61 and P-47 were able to get close to the Me264 many times, forcing our Me264 to fire missiles indiscriminately and flee for their lives. ”

The Me264 is a high-altitude, high-speed life-saving bomber, once the missile is thrown, it can easily fly to a top speed of 650-690 km/h, and can easily escape the pursuit of the P-61 and P-47.

"They also have radar AWACS." Hersman immediately understood what was going on, the first radar early warning aircraft in history was made by the Americans. He thought for a moment and asked, "Adolf. Hitler and Bernhard. Feng. When will the Büloh be ready for service? ”

Adolph. Hitler and Bernhard. Feng. The Billo was the first and second of four large aircraft carriers built on the hull of the H41 type battleship. This class of aircraft carriers will be named after the chancellor who has made outstanding contributions to the history of Germany. The lead ship was called "Adolf. Hitler", so this class of aircraft carriers is also Adolf. Hitler-class, while the other three were named Bernhard. Feng. The Billlow, the Marquis of Hornlohe-Chillingsfist and the Leo. Feng. USS Caprivi.

With a standard displacement of 65,000 tons, this class of aircraft carriers surpasses the Japanese Yamato-class battleships and the American Montana-class battleships under construction, and is undoubtedly the largest combat ship in the world. And the full row of aircraft carriers of this class is as high as 74,500 tons, which is simply a floating city floating on the sea.

And in order to drive such a behemoth, German naval architects installed 18 Wagner-type high-pressure heavy oil boilers and 6 Blom for this class of aircraft carriers. The FUCHS steam turbine has a maximum power output of 240,000 hp and is designed for a maximum speed of 29 knots.

Also, in the design Adolf. At the time of the Hitler-class aircraft carriers, according to Hersmann's request, the designers also reserved space for the aircraft carrier to be transformed into nuclear power -- as long as the marine nuclear power reactor was successfully developed, Adolf Brown. The Hitler-class aircraft carrier can be transformed into a first-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Of course, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers were too far away for the world in 1945. So Adolf. The real highlight of the Hitler-class aircraft carrier is also in its special deck layout. The aircraft carrier has a beveled deck layout.

Such a layout does not make much sense for the most common single-engine piston carrier-based aircraft, because the maximum function of the beveled deck is to allow a fighter that fails to land (without hooking the arresting line) to return to flight. If you do not have an angled deck, the landing area of the aircraft carrier deck will be placed in front of the landing area. In this way, there is no possibility of a go-around, and the only way to do this is to rely on the blocking net to block the aircraft that did not hook the arresting cable.

However, for fighters with low landing speed and relatively light weight, interception with a blocking net is not a problem. However, it is not very reliable for such large and fast aircraft as the Me262T carrier-based jet fighter and the Me410T twin-engine carrier-based fighter-bomber to block with a net, so it is very dangerous to land on an aircraft carrier without an inclined deck, so it is necessary to have an inclined deck that can be re-flown around.

Because Adolf. The Hitler-class carriers carried the large Me262T and Me410T, and had to prepare an overhaul site for the first fleet jet. Therefore, although this class of aircraft carriers has a standard displacement of 65,000 tons, the number of carrier-based aircraft that can be carried is not much, with a maximum of 80 carrier-based aircraft (usually 72) and a maximum of 18 reserve aircraft.

That is, 2 Adolf. Hitler-class aircraft carriers can carry up to 160 Me262T carrier-based fighters!

"Marshal of the Reich, two Adolf. The Hitler class has now completed sea trials. "The training of carrier-based aircraft pilots has been going on since January of this year, and this work is a bit difficult." ”

A bit of difficulty means that a lot of ace pilots who can fly jet carrier-based aircraft have been killed! Compared with flying a piston aircraft like the Fokker 636 to land on an aircraft carrier, flying a jet carrier-based aircraft is not half a bit more difficult.

"Can there be 130 pilots who can fly the Me262T by April 1st?" Hersmann, of course, knew that carrier-jet aircraft were difficult to fly, but they were a necessity to ensure the smooth implementation of the Gochburg program. And the number of inputs should not be too small, at least 130 aircraft are needed.

"It's a little difficult." Commander of the Naval Aviation, Hubert. Air General Weiss replied.

"Then overcome the difficulties!" Hersman emphatically said, "At least 130 pilots who can take off and land on aircraft carriers need to be trained, because we need them to clear the skies of Newfoundland." ”

Because Newfoundland is far from the German-controlled Azores and Greenland, the former is more than 2,000 kilometers away, and the latter is more than 1,600 kilometers. The combat radius of the Me264 and Ju288 is still available, but the fighter is basically out of reach. Therefore, it can only rely on carrier-based fighters to gain air superiority, and the Me262T is a trump card against American interceptors (P47, P61 and P38) -- the Me262T does not have to fly over Newfoundland to fight, and can use the Me264 to lure out the American interceptors to fight.

Now most of the P-51s on Newfoundland Island may have been transferred, and if the P-47 fleet there can be hit hard, and there are a few hundred carrier-based Fokker 636s, Newfoundland's air superiority will basically be won.

"Okay, okay." Hubert. "There will definitely be more than 130 pilots to fight." ”

"The Me410T must also be ready," Hersman said, adding that "there must be more than 130 Me410Ts on the carrier." ”

"No problem at all." This time Hubert. Admiral Weiss replied very simply.

The Me410T is nothing more than a bit bigger, but in fact, the total combat weight is about the same as that of the Me262T. There is no difficulty in ejecting into the air with a hydraulic catapult, and the speed of landing is not very fast, which is much easier to operate than the Me262T.

And these 130 Me410Ts, like the Me262T, are also quite key trump cards in the Godge Fort plan - these aircraft are "carrier killers" that can carry remotely controlled guided bombs/missiles of the Hs293 series.

After the carrier-based aircraft of the European Combined Fleet seized air supremacy over Newfoundland and began to land, it is likely that the United States will send aircraft carriers to counterattack. At that time, the Me410T will be needed, so in the Gochburg plan, a plan for the midway replacement of aircraft carriers was prepared, that is, after seizing the air supremacy of Newfoundland, two more Adolf. All carrier-based aircraft on Hitler-class aircraft carriers were replaced with Me410T for anti-ship operations.

"What about the mine blockade?"

Hersman also asked about the preparations for mine warfare, and the same method used to deal with Trinidad, which was to lay a mine-laying blockade before landing on Newfoundland, cutting off sea communication between Newfoundland and the North American mainland, so as to prevent the reinforcement of American troops.

Commander of the Submarine Command, George . Feng. Fort Fred immediately took over the question: "The submarine command will concentrate more than 200 large ocean-going submarines, including more than 150 Type 21 U-boats, to ensure that the island of Newfoundland can be effectively blocked." ”

Hersman nodded: "Good! He stood up, propped his hands on the table, and looked at the German generals with a solemn mouth: "The first stage of the Gochburg plan has now been successfully completed, and the attention of the Americans has been successfully diverted to the island of Trinidad. Right now...... I announce the start of the second phase of the Gauchburg Plan! We are about to land on the North American continent and gain a stronghold to contain the United States forever! ”