Newfoundland time, April 28, 1945, 11 p.m. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Commander of the 15th Task Force of the Combined European Fleet, Erich Murphy. Wearing a raincoat, Admiral Pei stood on the missile deck of the flagship battleship Bismarck and watched as several sailors removed an antenna that had been damaged by a strong wind and was repaired.

At this time, his ears were already filled with the howling of the sea breeze, the raindrops hit the thick steel plates, crackling, and the hull of nearly 50,000 tons was constantly shaking in the waves, and if it were not for the well-trained old navy, there would be no way to stand firm on the Bismarck. As for the "landlubbers" on the multi-thousand-ton landing ships that were incorporated into the 15th Task Force (everyone was a landlubber compared to the old navy) is now dizzy, Admiral Pei can't imagine what they are now.

But for the old navy who has been fighting in the North Atlantic for a long time, this level of violent rain is commonplace.

"That's it, sir!" A captain with several sailors repairing the missile's fire control radar shouted at this time and said to General Pei, "The radar has been repaired, as long as the storm passes, our missiles will be of great use." ”

Admiral Pei nodded, turned to Vice Admiral Lindemann, the captain of the Bismarck and commander of the 111th Battleship Group, and said: "Ernst, the 'battery' plan will soon be executed, and the Bismarck and Tirpitz must not make mistakes. ”

"Understood, General." Rear Admiral Lindemann, who has a pair of big ears and is nicknamed the "elephant of the sea", replied with an indelible look of worry on his face.

General Pei understands very well what the "elephants" are worried about? Although the 111th Battleship Group (the groups below the Combined European Fleet are all combined and can fight alone), although it has 2 Bismarck-class battleships, 2 "Deutschland"-class heavy cruisers, 4 "Munich"-class air defense cruisers and 8 1936 D-type destroyers, and 1 minesweeper group to cover it, it is not enough to break into Concepsin Bay.

Therefore, after Major General Lindemann received the order to break into Concepson Bay, he told General Pei several times that he could not complete the task. And Erich. Bey's view of the "Battery" project was the same as Lindemann's - it was simply an impossible task! So he reported Lindemann and his opinion to the 1st Fleet and the Atlantic Front.

However, the commander of the 1st Fleet, Rolf. Field Marshal Kars and Field Marshal Ruttjens of the Atlantic Front Command ignored them and strictly ordered that the "battery" plan must be carried out.

Admiral Pei, who didn't know what to say to Lindemann, sighed, turned and walked to the command's cabin in the stern, and after entering the cabin and handing the raincoat to the adjutant, he hurried back to the commander's hall.

"Sir, I just received an order from the command of the 1st Fleet." Chief of Staff of the 11th Task Force, Wolfgang. Colonel Roman handed a copy of the telegram to Admiral Bey, "The command orders that we must be on standby 3 a.m. on the 29th, 20 nautical miles west of the entrance to Concepson Bay." In addition, all personnel on board must wear white protective suits, goggles, masks and gloves by 3:30 a.m. ”

"What?" Erich. Bei was stunned and stunned - what kind of order is this? If you are 20 nautical miles away from the entrance to Concepson Bay, you will be under the muzzle of the US shore guns, and if the weather turns clear, you will be attacked by US bombers...... How can the fleet be on standby in such a situation? What's the difference between that and waiting to be beaten?

Also, why wear that weird white hazmat suit, and also wear sunglasses, masks, and gloves? What the hell is going on? Why are the Americans going to use chemical weapons?

Doubts are doubts, and orders still have to be executed. Erich. Bey immediately ordered Colonel Roman to convey the order of the 1st Fleet to the various groups below and to the landing fleet under the command of the 11th Task Force - it was not only the sailors who needed to wear strange white clothes, and sunglasses and gloves, but also the officers and men of the Army who were so seasick that they could not even find the north in the landing ship had to be dressed like this, which was not really necessary at all, because these guys were all dizzy, and could only lie in the cabin to rest, and could not go to the deck at all.

At the same time, Second Lieutenant Brandt, who was holding on to the airport in Port Graces, received a similar order. He and his men had to put on protective clothing and gloves at 3:30 a.m. on the 29th, and they were also ready to put on goggles and gas masks at all times.

All buckets and jugs carried by soldiers must also be filled with drinking water by 3:30 a.m. From 3:30 a.m., all drinking water must be taken from buckets and jugs.

In addition, all officers and men must enter the trench or bunker by 3:30 a.m. and all enter the bunker after receiving the order.

"Lieutenant Colonel, did all the men go into the trenches and bunkers?"

In an underground command post at the airport, Second Lieutenant Brandt asked Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger, who was in charge of commanding all German officers and soldiers at Grace Airport.

"Yes, second lieutenant." Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger didn't really know what was going to happen, "all the people went into the trenches and bunkers. ”

"But what about the war," asked Brandt, "and how can they fight when all the people are in hiding?" ”

Schwarzenegger didn't know how to fight, and it was the first time he had encountered such an unsolicited order.

"Find a way to overcome!" Schwarzenegger frowned and said, "The orders from above must be followed...... There is no room for bargaining. After 3:30 a.m., I will personally inspect and confinement anyone who does not obey the order. ”

Personally inspecting and confinement was also an order from above, and as a glorious National Socialist fighter and Nazi, he naturally had to obey the orders of his superiors unconditionally.

"But......" Brandt was a socialist with the ability to think independently, and he did not want to be killed by the strange orders of the superiors.

"Nothing!" Schwarzenegger's voice was louder, "An order is an order!" ”

In the face of the thunderous Nazi giants, Brandt did not dare to say anything more, so he could only attend the meeting with a stomach full of questions, and then he got out of the bunker and walked along the deeply dug communication trench, braving the rain that was beginning to thin, to the position where his paratrooper platoon was.

At the same time that the rain became thin, the shells of the Americans became denser, and the 105mm and 155mm grenades fell like raindrops. Powerful U.S. artillery repeatedly plowed the German paratroopers' painstakingly constructed defensive lines, and clusters of orange fire exploded one after another above the positions, lifting mines, barbed wire, sand, weapon fragments, and occasionally stumps and severed arms into the sky. The 240mm cannons on Belle Island also joined the bombardment, and their power was so great that every roar blew a gap in the German battle line, completely destroying all personnel within the range of power.

The shelling was launched after the US military had been preparing for most of the night. The Americans braved the pouring rain and dragged more than 400 M1 105mm howitzers and M1 155mm howitzers by truck to the artillery positions on the front line, plus self-propelled guns belonging to the 16th Panzer Division and the 21st Panzer Division (54 M7 "Priest" or M12 self-propelled guns each) and 240mm cannons on Belle Island, forming a strike fire of more than 500 barreled guns, which repeatedly struck at the German forward positions at the airport and Port Graces. Fragments of shells screamed and scattered, turning the German front into a terrifying hell of fire.

Walton. Lieutenant General Walker and Major General Ross stood on a high hill less than five kilometers from the Port Grace airport, braving the falling rain and looking through binoculars at the tumbling fire in front of them. Not far in front of them was the lake covered with ice floes that shielded the north side of the airfield, and the smoke of gunpowder was blown through the lake by the sea breeze from the German front, and reached the hillock where the two American generals watched the battle, and the strong smell of gunpowder made the two of them feel very good.

The Germans, of course, could withstand this level of shelling, but losses were inevitable, and when they were sufficiently weakened by the slap, it was the turn of the armored clusters to strike!

Major General Ross lowered his binoculars and shouted at Walton. Walker shouted, "Lieutenant General, they won't be able to support for long, and by tomorrow at the latest, we will be able to take the Port Graces airport." In addition, the forces attacking Grace Harbor are also deployed and ready to attack. ”

Walton. Walker nodded, "Major General, it's enough to have me here, you go and command the troops to attack Grays Harbor...... Be sure to take it as soon as possible! ”

Despite the fact that the Germans occupied a large area of territory on the western shore of Concepson Bay, the real working ports were Cabernier and Graceport. The other fishing ports and beachheads were of little use, and at most a few infantry and a small number of tanks and armored vehicles were not enough to face the 300,000 well-armed American GIs on the island of Newfoundland.

So taking Port Grace is basically half of the victory, and if Port Carbonier is taken again, then the US army will probably win the battle of Newfoundland!

"Vice Admiral, welcome aboard the destroyer Athabasca!" Colonel Cook, Chief of Staff of the Newfoundland Island Squadron of the Canadian Fleet of the Royal Navy, gave a military salute to Fraser, who boarded the destroyer Athabasca, "The Newfoundland Fleet is now ready to meet the German invasion fleet!" ”

The Athabasca was a Tribal-class destroyer with a full load displacement of more than 2,400 tons, which was incorporated into the Canadian fleet before the fall of the British mainland in 1943. It is currently the largest of all British ships stationed on Newfoundland, and is therefore the flagship of the fleet.

For Fraser, who had commanded battleships, this small destroyer was really not worth mentioning. But at this moment, he still showed full confidence, nodded to his chief of staff, and said: "Let me tell you that our submarines have discovered a huge German invasion fleet 50 nautical miles west of Newfoundland, and their target is Concepson Bay!" Now raise the Z flag...... The British Empire needs everyone to stay at their posts! ”

Chapter 1257 Atomic Bomb XIV

Although there is only a small "Clan" class destroyer as the flagship, Vice Admiral Fraser, as the commander of the fleet, has the confidence of victory at this moment!

This confidence in victory is not blind optimism without cause, but is completely well-founded. Because the Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy now has a large fleet that can be used offshore.

In addition to the destroyer Athabasca as the flagship, the Newfoundland fleet had another 20 escort destroyers, as well as a large number of torpedo boats and U-class submarines. In the past two or three days, Fraser has taken advantage of the bad weather and night as a cover to mobilize most of the ship's hull to Concepson Bay.

Moreover, there is also the powerful Churchill Naval Fortress on the east coast of Concepson Bay, with 8 406mm cannons ready to support the battle at sea. In addition, the entrance to the bay is blocked by tens of thousands of mines. After the approach of the German Grand Fleet, Fraser even ordered the PT torpedo boats to block the waterways that had been reserved for the exit of British and American ships. Now 5 nautical miles inward from the entrance to Concepson Bay, there is a dense mine blockade.

In order to prevent the mines from being cleared by the German minesweepers, in the mine blockade zone, Fraser also deployed a large number of PT torpedo boats, as long as the German hull entered the mine belt, it would be hit head-on by the MK15 torpedoes launched by these PT boats!

The task of the 20 escort destroyers was to protect the PT torpedo boats from German torpedo boats that ventured into the bay with 127mm and 76mm guns - the wooden-hulled PT boats were inferior to the steel-hulled S-100 boats in terms of tonnage, firepower and speed, so the encounter between the two would certainly be bad for the PT boats. Now there are no big problems with escort destroyer protection.

As for the large surface ships of the Germans, without breaking the mine array and the Churchill naval fortress on the eastern shore of Concepson Bay, would they dare to storm Concepson Bay?

Fraser thought about it, but he really didn't think the Germans had any way to win the battle for Newfoundland.

At this moment, the light rain that was already falling sparsely finally stopped, and a ray of morning light shone straight out of the fish-belly-white sky from the east. Fraser looked in the direction where the golden light flashed and exhaled softly: "Good weather is finally here...... The decisive battle is probably coming soon, right? ”

……

"Marshal, the weather in the North Atlantic has improved."

"Got better? That's great. "The commander of the Atlantic Front of the European Community, Admiral Ruttyans, heard the report of the improvement of the weather and sighed softly." Did the AWACS aircraft depart? ”

"It was already on board, 6 Me264Hs and 6 Bv138Es took off 30 minutes ago."

It turned out that the stormy weather not only appeared on the island of Newfoundland, but swept across the western part of the North Atlantic, causing a large area of the sea to be shrouded in wind and rain, and the early warning planes of the European Community Navy and the Luftwaffe were unable to take off, and even the reconnaissance capability of the Type 21 U-boat was severely reduced.

So for nearly 30 hours, the EC Atlantic Front Command had lost its surveillance of the North Atlantic, and it was unable to send carrier-based aircraft and shore-based Me264s to support German paratroopers on the island of Newfoundland.

Now that the storm has finally ended as predicted, the Atlantic Front Command can once again put the vast majority of the Atlantic Ocean under its nose.

"Have Task Force 20, Task Force 21, Task Force 10, and Task Force 15 reported losses?"

"Just reported," said the chief of staff of the Atlantic Front, Karl Brown. Air Admiral Coral replied, "Yes...... 12 destroyers and landing ships were damaged in the wind and rain, all were slightly damaged, and no losses were reported on large surface ships. ”

"Where is Task Force 15 now?" Lütjans asked again.

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Atlantic Front and Chief of Staff of the Combined European Fleet, Herman. Feng. Admiral Fisher said, "Sir, Task Force 15 has arrived at point T and is ready to launch an attack on Concepson Bay. ”

Admiral Lutjens nodded slightly, and then glanced at Air Marshal Kesselring, who was sitting in the corner of the operational command center - he was the representative of the base camp and also held the right to use the atomic bomb!

"Albert," Lütjans's tone suddenly became solemn, "are the 801, 802, and 803 bomber groups ready?" ”

The 801, 802 and 803 bomber groups were used to drop atomic bombs, and there were three bomber groups. Now they have been deployed to the Azores, and the three terrifying atomic bombs have been put in place and assembled (the plutonium-239 charge has not yet been installed in the atomic bomb, and has not yet been delivered to the Angra Sanstinto airfield). All it takes is Marshal Kesselring's order to carry out the atomic bomb drop operation.

"One of these bomber groups can be sent in 2 hours." Kesselring paused, "What's the goal?" ”

"It's the entrance to Concepson Bay," said Lütjans, "and according to intelligence and reports from the 1st Air Assault Army, the Americans (and the British) dropped a large number of mines there, probably more than 10,000!"

In addition, there are a large number of PT torpedo boats and U-class submarines operating in Concepson Bay, and there is simply no way to completely remove them in the short term, only to drop atomic bombs! Blow up a landing passage with an atomic bomb! ”

Lütjans meant to use atomic bombs against mines, light submarines and torpedo boats...... Compared with the American atomic bomb that killed tens of thousands of Japanese devils in another time and space, the "Heisenberg Device" No. 3, which is now to be dropped on Concepson Bay, is probably the scum of the atomic bomb world, an atomic bomb used to "blow up fish."

However, this was also the only tactic that could quickly clear Concepson Bay and create conditions for the landing ships and the 111th battleship group to break through. And this tactic of "exploding fish" with an atomic bomb was actually proposed by Hirschman, who of course knew about the Crossroads operation in another time and space, and also knew the enormous power of the atomic bomb exploding in the water.

At that time, the Americans placed a 21,000-ton atomic bomb 55 meters underwater, and after the successful nuclear explosion, about 2 million tons of seawater and sea sand were sprayed into the sky, and a wall of water 1,800 meters high, 610 meters wide, and 91 meters thick was quickly formed. When the wall of water washed up to the beach 5.6 kilometers away, it was still 4.6 meters high and repeatedly hit the beach as many as 9 times.

There is no doubt that any mine, torpedo, boat, submarine, or other ship that is not strong enough to be destroyed within the range of the underwater explosion of the atomic bomb. If an atomic bomb hits the entrance to Concepson Bay, let alone a mine, I'm afraid that even the fish and shrimp will be dead.

In addition, if the 1,800-meter-high wall of water appeared on the sea, it would definitely scare the American and British troops on the island, and they might just surrender with their guns, and if they didn't surrender, then throw two more atomic bombs......

Marshal Kesselring nodded: "Okay...... The target is Concepson Bay. He paused, "Because the plane that dropped the atomic bomb will drop the bomb from an altitude of 10,000 meters, the weather must be absolutely good." In addition, the atomic bomb is a 'semi-remote-controlled' bomb that can be adjusted to avoid accidental damage. In this process, absolute air supremacy was required, and the American interceptors could not be allowed to get close to the Me264, which was responsible for dropping the atomic bomb.

Finally, our troops on the west shore of Concepson Bay must go into bunkers before the atomic bomb is dropped, and at the same time do a good job of protection. ”

Unlike the Americans, who used the atomic bomb as a strategic weapon from the very beginning, the Wehrmacht regarded the atomic bomb as a tactical weapon (if it was a strategic weapon, it would have to be in Hitler's hands), so it formulated regulations for the use of ground forces, navy, and aviation to cooperate with the atomic bomb operation. Of course, there are preparations for anti-radiation and accidental bombing -- although the atomic bomb was so big that it would never happen, no one could guarantee that it would never happen, so Brandt and his comrades-in-arms dug the pit for several days and put on all kinds of "anti-atomic bomb" protective equipment.

"No problem...... We have nearly 2,000 aircraft near Newfoundland. As soon as Lu Teyans's words came out, he was interrupted by the sound of the staff officer's report.

"Report that the submarine U-3055 has spotted a large American fleet in the Atlantic Ocean about 700 nautical miles southeast of Newfoundland!"

700 nautical miles southeast of Newfoundland, the American Grand Fleet!? What's going on?

Kesselring and Lütjens glanced at each other, and Kesselring asked, "Their target is the Azores?" ”

"It should ...... Isn't it," Ruetjens nodded, "the Americans should be ...... Want to mobilize our main fleet. ”

"They can't be allowed to bomb the Azores!" Kesselring said, "Even with the launch of the 'Heisenberg 3', there are still 2 Heisenberg devices and the corresponding charges stored at the Herosmo Sangra base!" ”

Plutonium-239, which can be filled with two 20,000-ton atomic bombs, cannot be damaged in the slightest, although they cannot be detonated by bombing - 40 kilograms of high-abundance plutonium-239 are contained in 40 sturdy lead containers, and placed in different underground warehouses, there is no possibility of a chain reaction. However, there is still the possibility of nuclear leakage and heavy casualties.

In addition, 40 kilograms of plutonium-239 is a priceless metal, and if it were damaged in the enemy's bombardment, it would be a heavy loss!

"No, there will be no problem!" Lütjans immediately promised, "I'll immediately mobilize the 10th Task Force to pursue it!" Task Force 10 has eight Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers and 640 standing Fokker 636 fighters. ”

He thought about it again, twisted his eyebrows and said, "Albert, the 801st Brigade still has to attack immediately!" Because the situation of our troops on the west bank of Concepson Bay is very critical, and it will not be able to hold out for long. ”