"God, the four Iowa-class ships are finished, so soon...... Is this true? ”

"That's the Iowa-class, such a big battleship, it can be ...... in a few minutes"

"It's horrible, it's horrible!"

September 6, 1944, 4:50 p.m. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoOn the battlefield of the decisive battle of the fleet, about 500 nautical miles southeast of Bermuda, it was not only Halsey and his American freedom fighters who were frightened by the Reaper-2 television remote-controlled missile, but also the Nazis and fascists in the European Community fleet with their own murderous weapons. Even Admiral Hoffman, who personally gave the order for a missile attack, did not expect that the saturation strike of the Reaper-2 missile would have such power.

After all, before this, the Reaper 2 and Reaper 1 missiles had not been used in actual combat, and even if they were targets, they were just abandoned merchant ships. There are only a few targets like the "Iowa"-class battleships in the world, and of course it is impossible to use them to play with the Reaper-2 missile.

Therefore, in the imagination of Hoffman and others, the first round of missile saturation strikes launched by 2 missile ships will cause heavy damage to up to 4 Iowa-class ships, and it will not make them completely ineffective, and they still need to use the guns of battleships to finally solve them.

But now, one Iowa-class has been sunk, and the other three have been burned to the ground—a fire of this magnitude that will surely blow up the ammunition depot, and the only way to save yourself is to fill the ammunition depot with water.

But once the ammunition depot is filled with water, the remaining three Iowa-class ships will become target ships.

In other words, with just one missile attack, 4 battleships that were the third most powerful in the world (according to the judgment of the Germans, the first in the Yamato class, the second in the Hindenburg class, and the third in the Iowa class) were finished. Either the battle sank, or the combat effectiveness was completely lost.

"Sir, the enemy destroyer is casting smoke!"

"Sir, the U.S. lightning strike formation has accelerated its charge!"

The sound of the staff officer's report woke Admiral Hoffman from his shock, and he turned his head to look at the chief of staff, Major General Mayer.

"Admiral, the Americans are going to run!" Rear Admiral Mayer said.

"Can't let them run!" Hoffman waved his fist, "Let the three heavy cruisers, the battleship Provence, the Deutschland, the Count of Spee, and the Admiral Scheer, join the second-drive patrol team to disperse the lightning strike formation of the Americans." ”

He paused, and then gave the order for the reorganization of the fleet: "Hindenburg, Wilhelm II, Prince Eugen, Hamburg, Z47, Z48, Z59, Z60 form the 1st Missile Squadron to pursue the 5th ship (Washington) of the enemy battleship formation."

The Gneisenau, Bismarck, Blucher, Frankfurt, Z38, Z40, Z41, and Z42 formed the 2nd Island Bomb Squadron to pursue the 6th ship (Soviet) of the enemy battleship formation.

The Veneto, Vittorio, Imperial, Admiral Hipper, Hanover, Z43, Z44, Z45, and Z46 formed the 1st Battleship Squadron to pursue the 7th ship of the enemy battleship formation (Soviet Ukraine).

The Hamburg and the Danzig formed the 1st Cruiser Squadron to track the 8th ship (Soviet Belorussia) of the enemy battleship formation.

Vienna, Digai. The Truan and Cologne formed the 2nd Cruiser Squadron to track the 9th ship (Soviet Russia) of the enemy battleship formation. ”

"Admiral, what about the 3 Iowa-class ships floating on the water?" Rear Admiral Mayer found that his superiors had "neglected" the three Iowa-class ships that had not yet sunk - although all three ships were half-dead, and even if they were towed back by the Americans, it would take 6-12 months or more to repair.

But it's always unwilling not to sink!

"Let Bv138D take care of the surveillance, and then notify the 1st submarine group and let them solve it." Admiral Hoffman did not intend to send the three Iowa-class ships back to the United States for overhaul. He gave the task of finally destroying them to a dozen Type 1 submarines of the 21st submarine group.

These submarines had previously followed the operations of the Joint Community Fleet Task Force 21 and were under the command of Task Force 20 after the convergence of Task Force 21 and Task Force 20.

However, Hoffman did not let them participate in the decisive battle of the fleet, and ordered them to ambush near the battlefield and be responsible for picking up leaks - although the speed of the Type 21 U boat under water was very fast, it was impossible to catch up with the capital ship traveling at a speed of more than 20 knots, so it could only be used to deal with the battleship that was slowing down with heavy damage.

……

"Sir, the Germans have also disbanded the formation."

In the command tower of the battered battleship "Iowa", the staff officer reported what the lookout post had just discovered.

"Sir, they don't seem to be targeting us." Major General Callahan held up the binoculars and observed for a moment before he breathed a sigh of relief and said to Halsey.

"The Germans don't want to spare one of our battleships!" Halsey sighed, "I'd rather they sink the Iowa." ”

"Sir, the light cruiser USS Little Rock has come up." Captain Micharay, the captain of the Iowah, hurried into the conning tower, gave a military salute to Halsey, and reported, "Please transfer you and the fleet command immediately." ”

The battleship Iowa was no longer able to assume the responsibilities of the flagship of the fleet, and Halsey, as the commander of the fleet, had to transfer with his own headquarters. After ordering the immediate retreat of the four Soviet-class and USS Washington, Halsey chose the Cleveland-class light cruiser USS Little Rock, which was escorting the battleships nearby, as the fleet's new flagship.

Halsey nodded and said to his chief of staff, Major General Callaghan, "Let's go...... Head up to the Little Rock and see what else can be done. ”

……

"How fast are they?"

"About 28 knots, it should be the maximum speed of the Soviet class."

"How much can we keep?"

"25 knots, before the missile deck finishes the reloading operation, it can only be driven so fast. However, only after the missiles are loaded, we will be able to pursue them at a top speed of 31 knots. ”

"How much longer will it take to complete the filling job?"

"Up to 30 minutes, after 30 minutes 20 missiles can be ready for launch."

After listening to the report of the captain of the missile battleship Gneisenau, Admiral Hoffman nodded with satisfaction.

30 minutes to complete a series of tasks such as missile loading, refueling and pre-launch detection is really not slow for the current level of automation.

In other words, if Halsey did not order the disbandment of the formation, but chose to fight to the end, it would still be possible to fight and lose with the 5 battleships in his hands and Leifman's 6 battleships.

However, Halsey did not know the reality of the German missile ship at all, and after suffering two strikes and heavy losses, it was understandable that he chose to retreat.

"You can be thrown off a maximum of 1.5 nautical miles in 30 minutes, and you can recover it with a little time." Admiral Hoffman mentally calculated, "In two hours at most, we will be able to take out the Soviet-class, and the Wilhelm II should also be able to take out the Washington." The three Veneto-class ships of the First Battleship Squadron should also be able to sink one Soviet-class, so that only 2 Soviet-class ships remain......"

Speaking of the 2 Soviet-class ships that were not tracked by battleships and missile ships, Admiral Hoffman couldn't help but frown.

Halsey's decisive retreat also created a small problem for Hoffman. According to the original plan, Hoffman's fleet would first severely damage the four Iowa-class ships with missiles, and then use the battleship's guns to cripple the four Soviet-class and the USS Washington - although the four Soviet-class and the USS Washington were stronger than Hoffman's six battleships on paper, Hoffman knew that the Soviet-class armor was very watery, and it was actually a battleship that was a first-class battleship.

As long as you are not afraid of losses, you can completely defeat 4 Soviet-class and USS Washington with 6 battleships of the 20th task force of the European Community.

Moreover, it only takes 30-40 minutes for the Gneisenau and Wilhelm II to complete the reloading, and launch 40 Reaper 2 missiles again, and then only 9 American battleships will be wiped out.

However, Halsey decisively let his battleship disband and slip away.

"Admiral, it's better to report this situation to the Atlantic Front Command." Rear Admiral Mayer said, "Maybe the 3rd Fleet or some other force can be used to intercept it." ”

Hoffman nodded, "Let the first and second cruiser teams follow, don't lose them, if you lose them, you really can't help it." ”

……

"Ran 2 Soviet-class?"

Tsosen, Joint Intelligence Center of the General Staff. Hersman, who was on the rise, immediately frowned slightly when he heard that 2 Soviet-class ships might have slipped through the net.

According to intelligence, the Americans will soon have 2 new Iowa class in service, and if 2 more Soviet-class ships run, then their super-battleship fleet will reach 4 more.

This is not good news for the battle of the Caribbean, which will begin soon!

"Can you catch them?" Hersman asked.

"At least you can take one." Raeder picked up the topic, "The Soviet Union was 5 knots slower than the Wilhelm II, 3 knots slower than the Gneisenau, and 6 knots slower than the Veneto. If they can't get away from the Wilhelm II, Gneisenau, and the three Veneto-class, then the Wilhelm II, the Gneisenau, and the three Veneto-class can go after the two Soviet-class ships after solving their own objectives.

According to current reports, the Wilhelm II, the Gneisenau and the three Veneto-class ships are all pursuing to the west, that is, in the direction of Bermuda. The two Soviet-class ships fled to the northwest and southwest, respectively. We can mobilize the aircraft carrier 'Zeppelin' to pursue the Soviet Union that has fled to the northwest, and launch an air strike after dawn tomorrow. ”

"What about the other one?" Hersman asked, "Is there a way?" ”

Raeder shook his head, and just wanted to answer no, but Air Force Commander-in-Chief Kesselring suddenly interjected: "There is also a way, you can dispatch Ju188 at the base on Georgetown Island to carry out a night attack." ”