The missile battleship Gneisenau had long been in the highest state of combat readiness, and when the little Hersman boarded the world's most powerful battleship with his luggage, the missile decks on both sides of the battleship were being loaded. Everywhere www.biquge.info there were sailors in neat white overalls and officers in white uniforms at work. The Reaper 2 TV-guided remote-controlled missiles, with their wings and tail folded (which automatically pop out when the missile is ejected), are lifted by a mechanical crane arm and carefully pushed into the flattened launch tube. Little Hersman saw the back cover of a missile launch tube opened, and two sailors in white overalls half-burrowed into it, as if connecting some kind of pipe line.

Unlike the Reaper 1 missile, which is mounted on the aircraft, the Reaper 2 uses a rocket engine, and the main component of the fuel is very dangerous hydrogen peroxide, so it cannot be stored in the missile body for a long time, but is placed in a special storage tank under the missile deck, and the storage tank is connected to the missile body with a pipe made of special materials. The missile can only be refueled one hour before launch, and then the missile operator on the ship manually separates the missile from the pipeline. There must be no mistakes in the whole process, otherwise there may be a major accident!

Just then, a Bavarian accent sounded from the ship's radio speakers: "Note that in 30 minutes the fleet staff will meet in the fleet operations room." ”

Little Hersman raised his wrist to look at the time, then quickened his pace to the deck of the Fleet Headquarters, which was below the stern deck. Because the missile battleship Gneisenau was scheduled to serve as the flagship of the fleet before it underwent the overhaul, the headquarters deck was expanded during the overhaul and many rooms were added that could be used as a residence for the fleet's staff (even people like Hirschman Jr.). Hersman Jr. found the room with the "Second Air Staff Officer" sign on the door, pushed the door and walked in. Found the room with a single bed, desk, wardrobe and fold-out washbasin and very clean. This reminded him of his days on the battleship "Yamato" and the aircraft carrier "Taiho", especially the latter, which was a large armored aircraft carrier comparable to a B41 ship, and finally sank near Midway......

After settling his luggage, Hersman Jr. made his way to the headquarters war room at the bottom of the bridge—a very spacious non-interior command center surrounded by thick steel armor.

According to the current thinking of the German Navy, the flagship of the commander of the fleet (task force) should not take part in the decisive battle of the battleship formation, so as not to let the enemy knock out the "brain" of the entire fleet with one shell. Therefore, missile battleships with smaller tonnage and weaker main gun firepower will replace the huge H39-class battleships and become the preferred flagship of the 2nd and 3rd fleets.

In order to make command more convenient and to make room for missile command posts, the four missile battleships have all dismantled one main gun turret in the overhaul to make room and weight for the expansion of the bridge, and the addition of a missile command post and a fleet command center -- consisting of a communications center, a headquarters war room, and a command tower.

When Little Hersman walked into the headquarters war room, the fleet staff officers in white officer uniforms and black ties were almost there. The first aviation staff officer of the fleet, Karl. Lieutenant Commander Schumann, seeing Hesmann Jr. coming in, walked over and handed him a copy of the telegram, saying, "Rudolph, the command of the Atlantic Front has given the order, we are going to attack...... It is to attack with the main force of the fleet! ”

At present, there are 47 capital ships (fleet aircraft carriers, battleships, missile battleships, missile cruisers, and heavy cruisers) in service in the United European Fleet, including 15 fleet aircraft carriers (8 Zeppelin-class, 3 Prussian-class, 2 Xiafei-class, and 2 Sedeliz-class), 12 battleships (2 Hindenburg-class, 2 Bismarck-class, 3 Richelieu-class, 3 Veneto-class, 2 Provence-class), 2 missile battleships (Gneisenau and Dunkirk), 2 missile cruisers (Wilhelm II and Maria. Theresa), 16 heavy cruisers (3 Admiral Hipper, 3 Deutsche class, 2 Saffren, 2 Foch, 2 Duques, 1 Algerian, 3 St. Louis class), all of which belonged to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd fleets of the Combined European Fleet.

Among them, the 1st Fleet has 6 Zeppelin-class (all B41) carriers, 2 Saffron-class heavy cruisers and 2 Foch-class heavy cruisers, without battleships and missile ships, a total of 10 capital ships.

The 2nd Fleet has 1 Zeppelin-class (Type B39) aircraft carrier, 2 Prussian-class aircraft carriers, 2 Sedeliz-class aircraft carriers, 1 Hindenburg-class battleship, 1 Bismarck-class battleship, 3 Veneto-class battleships, 1 Provence-class battleship, Gneisenau missile battleship, Wilhelm II missile cruiser, 3 Admiral-class heavy cruisers and 3 Deutschland-class heavy cruisers, a total of 19 capital ships.

And the 3rd Fleet used the remaining 18 main ships.

Now that the main forces of the 1st Fleet have gone to the Pacific Ocean, only 37 capital ships of the 2nd and 3rd Fleets remain in the Atlantic direction.

"Rear Admiral Mayer means to form two task forces, the 20th and 21st, of which the core of the 20th Task Force is the capital ships, and the core of the 21st Task Force is the aircraft carrier......"

Lieutenant Colonel Schumann, who arrived one step earlier than Hersmann Jr., briefly stated the idea of Major General Mayer. Because there are also 3 large fleet carriers and 2 light fleet carriers in the 2nd Fleet, Rear Admiral Mayer wants to use them for an air battle. 1 Zeppelin-class (Zeppelin), 2 Prussian-class (Prussia, Bohemia) and 2 Seselliz-class (Seydeliz, Seckert) will be the main force of Task Force 21.

"There are only 248 usual carrier-based aircraft on the five aircraft carriers Zeppelin, Prussia, Bohemia, Sedeliz and Seckert," said Hersman Jr., shaking his head, "and some of them are left as direct cover, and there are only 180 or 200 aircraft that can be dispatched at a time." It is difficult to pose a threat to the American fleet, which has shore-based aircraft cover, but also has strong anti-aircraft firepower. ”

Little Hesman paused, and then said: "In the Pacific theater, the Japanese army suffered great losses because of this, and almost all the aviation elites were buried. In the recently concluded Battle of Midway, the air flotilla of Japan's three aircraft carriers, Taiho, Akagi, and Kaga, suffered a devastating blow because of their blind sorties. ”

Schumann nodded approvingly, although he was not an ace pilot and had not flown a carrier-based aircraft for a few days, but he had been in the position of flight commander and aviation staff officer for a long time. I still have a very good understanding of the strength of the US military aviation in the Atlantic theater.

However, he still shook his head with a smile and said, "Major, our strike methods are much sharper than those of the Japanese, and we will not suffer heavy losses like them." And in the Atlantic, now we are desperate to fight a decisive battle of the fleet, so it is necessary to pay some price. ”

He paused and added: "If Admiral Hoffman (Kurt. Hoffmann) took the advice of Rear Admiral Mayer, and then you would be sent to the USS Zeppelin as an erich anderson. Lieutenant General Bey's aviation staff officer. ”

"Alone as an aviation staff officer for the task force?" Major Hersman Jr. was overjoyed, and immediately threw out the fact that Task Force 21 would probably encounter a bitter battle.

Because although he is an expert in aviation warfare -- the expert is not old, and Hirschman Jr. is an ace pilot + aircraft carrier flight captain + observer in the Pacific theater, and he is familiar with the use of carrier-based aviation -- his seniority is still a little worse in the navy, and he is a little reluctant to serve as the second staff officer, not to mention the aviation staff officer of the aircraft carrier force, which has a very heavy responsibility.

While the two were talking, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door of the war room. Admiral Hoffmann and the deputy commander of the fleet (the Germans rarely created deputy positions, but the combined European fleet was an exception) Erich. Vice Admiral Bey and Rear Admiral Mayer, Chief of Staff of the Fleet, walked in briskly.

The staff officers in the war room all stood up and saluted them.

Admiral Hoffmann was the captain of the battleship Scharnhorst, which sank in the Areísmo Herosmo in the Azores at the beginning of the World War (which, by the way, was salvaged after the German occupation of the Azores in 1943 and towed to Saint-Zenard, France, where it was repaired and refitted by the largest shipyard in Penhult, France, with the goal of converting it into a missile carrier). After returning home, Hoffman enrolled in the Naval Aviation School and also received a carrier-based aircraft pilot certificate. But instead of becoming the captain of an aircraft carrier, he got a "Wilhelm II"-class missile cruiser. Now he is recognized as an "expert in missile warfare" in the German Navy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I now announce the order issued jointly by the United Fleet Command in Europe and the Command of the Atlantic Front." The Chief of Staff, Major General Mayer, took out a mimeographed document in red and began to read it.

"Combat Order No. 165.

1. The 2nd Fleet made a main attack to the Atlantic Ocean near Guyana.

2. At all times, day or night, the 2nd Fleet must be ready to engage in a decisive battle at once.

3. The 2nd Fleet may encounter the superior US naval fleet, may encounter bombing by a large number of US shore-based and carrier-based aircraft, may encounter US submarines, and may encounter various other forms of attack. But the fleet will not retreat, and must fight to the end with friendly forces.

4. Authorize the 2nd Fleet to use shipborne anti-ship missiles......

Signed: Gunther. Feng. Lütjans, Field Marshal of the Imperial German Navy, Commander of the Combined European Fleet, Commander of the Atlantic Front. ”