"Admiral, this is a reconnaissance photo that the seaplane just sent. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

On the morning of September 6, 1944, a seaplane "Catarina" took off from Bermuda and sent some photographs taken by the F-13 ultra-long-range reconnaissance plane at close range to the "Iowa-class battleship" that was heading southeast at a high speed of 25 knots.

It is said that it is "close range", but the actual F-13 ultra-long-range reconnaissance aircraft still takes these photos at an altitude of more than 8,000 meters, and it also maintains a high flight speed. Therefore, the quality of the photos is not very high.

Even so, these photographs were still very precious and timely for Admiral Halsey, who was leading the fleet for a decisive battle against the Germans. So he immediately took the picture from Rear Admiral Callaghan, put it on his desk, put on reading glasses and studied it carefully.

Looking at the five smoke-emitting aircraft carriers escorted by light cruisers and destroyers, his eyebrows gradually moved closer: "None of them sank...... The Germans' aircraft carriers are really strong! ”

Callahan had already seen the photo, so he also nodded: "Yes, German things have always been sturdy and durable, and they are not the same thing as Japanese products." But...... They still can't get out of the palm of our hand. ”

As he spoke, Callahan handed another handwritten report to Halsey. Halsey took the report and looked at it, and his frown was immediately unraveled.

"Thank God!" Halsey looked surprised, "They really broke the rudder of the Zeppelin!" ”

"Yes!" Callahan said, "The German fleet has been off course since yesterday evening, and has been heading southeast, and in a straight line. If they had followed this direction, they would have reached the coast of French North Africa. ”

"Catch them now!" Halsey laughed, "If they take this route, it will be difficult for them to get support from shore-based aircraft from the Azores during the day tomorrow." ”

"They can't run," Callahan said, "and now they're only 170 nautical miles away from us, and they'll be catching up in 10 hours!" ”

"What about the Germans' reinforcement fleet? Where have they gone? Halsey asked again.

"They were about 150 nautical miles from the German aircraft carrier fleet and had a speed of 25 knots." Callaghan said that "taking into account the speed and direction of the German aircraft carrier fleet itself, it was possible to converge in 6 hours." ”

"Are there any pictures of the German reinforcement fleet?"

"Nope." Callahan said, "The F-13 was expelled by the Fokker 636 as soon as it approached, but the radar detection was the same as before. ”

"Can you launch an air strike?" Halsey pondered and asked, "How many planes does Task Force 30 have left?" ”

In the early morning of 5 and 6 September, the U.S. Task Force 30 launched several successive air raids on the German Task Force 21, which caused some trauma to the Zeppelin, Prussia, Bohemia, Seydeliz, and Seckert, and also deprived the carrier Bohemia of the ability to take off and land aircraft. But the air raid group itself also suffered a lot of losses, being shot down by the anti-aircraft guns of the 636 and Fw190 and surface ships, which served as direct cover, more than 200 fighters!

"Task Force 30 also has about 400 carrier-based aircraft." "But most of them are F4U and F6F, SBD and TBF have suffered extremely heavy losses in previous rounds of airstrikes!" ”

The SBD and TBF, slow "air tanks", were used to bully the Japanese Navy, which lacked both anti-aircraft firepower and fighter firepower. However, in the face of strong firepower fighters such as the Fokker 636 and Fw190, and the surface fleet of the European Community, whose anti-aircraft firepower is no less than that of the US Navy fleet, it is inevitable that it will suffer heavy losses.

Most of the slow-moving SBDs and TBFs didn't even have a chance to drop bombs, and they were shot down by the Fokker 636, which can be called the king of medium and low altitude performance!

Although the F4U and F6F fly relatively fast and are easy to evade the pursuit of the Fokker 636, it is a difficult technical job to drive a single-seat fighter-bomber to dive bomb (the general dive bomber is a two-seater), and it is not a trump card that cannot be played at all. Almost all of the US Navy's trump cards died in the Pacific Ocean, and the fighter pilots transferred from the Army were okay in air combat, but they were much worse off in naval attacks -- because the US Army had not fought against the German forces in North Africa or Europe, the fighter pilots of the US Army Air Force were very inexperienced in ground attack, let alone sea attack.

Therefore, in the air attack on the 21st Task Force of the European Community, although the F4U and F6F were able to successfully drop bombs, the hit rate was about the same as that of the shore-based F7F, and they were all about 10%. However, the F4U and F6F are both single-engine aircraft, and the bomb load cannot be compared with the double-engine F7F, so the dropped bombs are all 500-pound bombs, which cannot constitute a fatal blow to the Zeppelin-class and Prussia-class with armored flight decks, and even the Sedritz-class, which has thrown away most of the flammable and explosive materials, can barely withstand it.

"Task Force 30 carrier-based aircraft must be sent to bomb the German fleet." Halsey thought for a while, and had already made a decision, "The time can't be too early, so I chose to ...... in 8 hours Eight hours later it reached the skies over the German fleet. ”

"Eight hours later?" Callaghan's eyes lit up, "Bomb the battleships of the Germans? ”

Halsey nodded, the German fleet that was fleeing in eight hours and the German fleet that had come to reinforce must have converged, and the battleships of the US Task Force 31 were not far away.

At this time, the American air raid group could easily find the converging German fleet through the smoke columns of several wounded German aircraft carriers. However, there is no need to bomb the aircraft carrier again, as long as the American battleships can catch up with them, no matter how strong the aircraft carrier is sinked with a 406mm cannon.

"Except for the necessary direct cover aircraft, send out all the carrier-based aircraft. Also let the Norfolk base send F7Fs, if they have time...... All the fighters concentrated on bombing the Hindenburg-class battleships and the Wilhelm II-class missile cruisers! ”

Halsey waved his fist and said, "Just blow them up and both German fleets will be finished, and then we will win the war!" ”

While Halsey and Callahan were discussing the annihilation of the two German task forces, Bernard, a second lieutenant in the French naval aviation who was in the Nazi camp but had a heart for democracy and freedom, was piloting his Hawkeye 10 seaplane and quietly following behind the Grand Fleet led by Halsey.

The Hawkeye 10 found the U.S. Navy's Task Force 30 by tracking the returning U.S. carrier-based aircraft, and then followed the U.S. Task Force 30 about 100-150 nautical miles behind the U.S. Task Force 30 since yesterday evening, during which time it also landed on the surface of the sea to receive refueling from submarines. In the early morning of Sept. 6, Hawkeye 10's S-band radar also detected the convergence of the two U.S. fleets. After that, the Hawkeye 10 still followed behind the converging U.S. Grand Fleet.

At 2 p.m. on 6 September, an order was also given to "approach to within 80 nautical miles for reconnaissance".

Although Ensign Bernard was reluctant to do so in his heart, an order is an order! As a fascist soldier, he did not have the courage to openly disobey.

But as he cautiously approached less than 100 nautical miles from the U.S. Grand Fleet in his Bv138D seaplane, his navigator, Sergeant Muller, suddenly shouted.

"Oh God, enemy planes! Radar detects enemy aircraft! They...... Flying at us! ”

Damn it! Bernard cursed in his heart the traitorous Prime Minister Darlan, who sent him out to die. Just as he was about to maneuver the plane to lower altitude, Sergeant Muller shouted again.

"Oh my God, there are so many of them! There are 30, no, 50, no...... More than that, what the, can the Yankees use to use that many planes against one of us? ”

"What? Is there more than 50? Ensign Bernard was stunned, and soon understood what was going on. They're not here to deal with us, they're going to bomb Task Forces 20 and 21! Send a telegram to the Yankees above to tell them that the Yankees are coming to bomb again! ”

The news that the US Grand Fleet had once again sent air attack planes soon reached the missile battleship "Gneisenau" through the radio waves.

"Admiral," Rear Admiral Mayer, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Fleet of the Combined Community Fleet and Chief of Staff of the 20th Task Force, walked into the office of the Commander, Admiral Lefman, "15 minutes ago, the Hawkeye 10 reported that the U.S. Grand Fleet was sending carrier-based aircraft, which are estimated to arrive in 1 to 1 and a half hours!" ”

Admiral Leifman looked up at the clock on the bulkhead, "One and a half hours later, it's 4 p.m....... It's really good for the Yankees to pick the time! ”

"Admiral, this time the Americans may choose our battleships and missile ships as the main targets."

"How many Fokker 636s and Fw190s can fly now?"

"There are 145 Fokker 636 and 190 Fw112." Major General Mayer replied.

Task Force 21 originally had about 248 carrier-based aircraft (excluding 2 submarine hunting groups), of which 128 were commonly used Fokker 636s. And the 20 task force has 2 aircraft carriers (it is the 4th fleet of the 2 Kesselring-class) and has 80 carrier-based aircraft in common use, of which 64 are Fokker 636 and 16 are Fw190 (both Fw190TE reconnaissance bombers). In total, there are 192 commonly used Fokker 636s and 144 commonly used Fw190s. But after several rounds of fierce naval and air battles, only 257 fighters were left to fly - a figure that included all reserve aircraft.

"All take off!" Admiral Leifman said, "All the planes are fully fueled and ready to meet the enemy planes!" ”