"Sir, look over there, it's an Iowa-class. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info”

Hearing the adjutant's voice, Admiral Halsey, who was aboard a JRM Mars long-range sea transport airship, yawned, turned his tired, slightly tanned face and looked out into the sea below.

Below is the Bay of Panama, where the almost 24-hour flight (he flew from Niihau to Panama Bay, but the JRM Mars long-range sea transport airship doesn't have that long range and has to refuel in San Diego along the way) has finally come to an end.

It's dusk, and in the sunset bay, a fleet of more than 20 ships is lining up into the west entrance of the Panama Canal. Among them, the most eye-catching is undoubtedly an "Iowa"-class battleship with a standard displacement of 44,560 tons.

The huge hull of the ship, like a floating city, is slowly illuminating in the golden sunlight, slowly sailing into a wide river next to Panama City.

"It's the Wisconsin," Admiral Halsey said to himself, "the most powerful battleship in the world, and we have four of them now, and if the Germans find out that they all pass through the Panama Canal into the Caribbean, they will be nervous for a while." ”

According to the plan, four Iowa-class battleships that participated in the Second Battle of the Hawaiian Islands and one North Carolina-class battleship (USS Washington), which also came down from the Hawaiian Islands battlefield, will complete simple maintenance in the port of San Diego and sail through the Panama Canal into the Caribbean Sea.

At the same time, four Soviet-class battleships anchored in New York Harbor will also be replaced with the Stars and Stripes to join the U.S. Navy - under the name of "Lend-Lease." In exchange, the Soviet Pacific Fleet could use U.S. bases in the Pacific Ocean while being resupplied and repaired, and at least 100 U.S. submarines would fly the red flag and participate in the Soviet Red Navy's broken engagements.

In this way, 4 Soviet-class, 4 Iowa-class and 1 North Carolina-class battleships will constitute the Iron Fist of the US Navy's attack in the Atlantic!

"Admiral, will the Germans find out that our 'Iowa' class has entered the Caribbean?" Halsey's lieutenant seemed a little confused by the chief's words.

"Yes!" "They have intelligence networks along the Panama Canal, and they ...... Now there must be quite a few new submarines of the Germans in the Bay of Panama. It's a pity that our reconnaissance planes and destroyers can't catch them! ”

"A new submarine for the Germans?" The adjutant asked, "Is it the kind of U-boat that is said to be able to dive underwater for long periods of time and has very low noise?" ”

"Yes." Halsey shook his head, "Another masterpiece from the Germans!" If we could have had such submarines, the war in the Pacific would have ended long ago. ”

"Still, our submarines and shipwrecking ships with the Soviets sank many Japanese transports," the adjutant reassured Halsey, "and the number of sunks in July exceeded 300,000 tons, which the Japanese could not afford." ”

Not only did more than 100 submarines of the Pacific Fleet join the battle, but also two Kronstadt-class battlecruisers escaped the pursuit of the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Halsey didn't pick up, just sighed softly.

He knew very well that no matter how many Japanese transports were sunk and how many oil wells in Southeast Asia were blown up, it would not be of much significance to the United States. Because this is only a bargaining chip at the negotiating table -- the reason why the US Navy and Army Air Forces are still frantically attacking Japan is simply because Japan refuses to withdraw from the Hawaiian and Aleutian Islands.

While Halsey was talking to his lieutenant, his giant seaplane (with a maximum take-off weight of 74.8 tons) had landed in the Gulf of Panama, and after gliding through the water for a while, it came to a safe stop next to a heavily guarded seaplane dock.

……

"Carl, what do you see?"

"Sir, I found a 'Iowa'-class ship, which has entered the river!"

"I'll see."

I don't know if Admiral Halsey really has the intuition of a so-called famous general, or if the blind cat touched the dead mouse. Just as his plane landed in the Bay of Panama, U-2511, a U-boat numbered U-2511, was maneuvering underwater not far from the west entrance of the Panama Canal, and it also raised its periscope to look around, and also spotted the USS Wisconsin entering the canal.

The "Seawolf" lurking under the surface is the newest and most powerful Type 21 submarine of the German Navy. If it comes to the surface for people to see, any navy soldier who knows anything about submarines will be able to see it by its appearance alone.

It has a sleek, sleek body that appears extraordinarily compact, extraordinarily slender, like a sharp ship that can split the waves. The curved conning tower looks very modern. The sleek and cramped submarine deck also had no common deck guns and anti-aircraft machine guns, and it looked neat and elegant...... If you were to look at the experts who built or used submarines, the mere absence of such a deck gun and anti-aircraft machine gun would give a sense of how extraordinary this beautiful submarine was.

Deck guns and anti-aircraft machine guns are not superfluous, but essential for ordinary submarines!

Because now all submarines in the world, except for the Type 21 U-boat, can only continue to sail dozens of nautical miles underwater at a low speed of a few knots. As a result, when they sail at sea, they spend most of their time floating on the water, and only dive when entering battle or evading attacks. Therefore, the use of self-defended deck guns and anti-aircraft machine guns is indispensable weapons when sailing on the water.

However, the Type 21 U-boat does not have deck guns and anti-aircraft machine guns, which shows that it is a submarine that all submariners dream of, and can really potential underwater patrols and operations!

The submarine's underwater speed and range are unprecedented, with a maximum underwater speed of 17.2 knots, which is already exceeding the cruising speed of most hulls. Its large-capacity battery allows it to dive up to 360 seas at a speed of 4 knots, or 10 hours at 12-14 knots.

This means that the Type 21 U-boat can patrol underwater at a high speed for an entire day, and then surface to recharge at night. So deck guns and anti-aircraft machine guns became weapons that could be canceled.

And the attack power of this type of U-boat that can sail underwater anti-aircraft is also quite amazing!

"Sure enough, it's an Iowa-class!" The captain of the U-2511 boat, Albert. Major Schney's eyes were glued to the periscope, and he soon spotted the battleship "Wisconsin" entering the canal.

"It's a pity it's too far for our torpedoes to hit it." Next to the first mate Carl. Schellenberg said.

"This is already the fourth, and there is another large aircraft carrier passing through the ......," Major Schnee exchanged the periscope to the first mate, and then took the notebook that recorded the briefing and flipped through it. It records the discovery of two Type 21 U-boats, U-2501 and U-2506, which were also patrolling the area of Panama Bay, on August 8 and 9.

In fact, the purpose of the three Type 21 U-boats placed in Panama Bay was not to sneak attack passing American warships, but to patrol and monitor.

The importance of the Panama Canal is not only known to Americans, so one of the main tasks of the 10th Submarine Group, deployed in the Pacific Ocean by the German Naval Submarine Command, is to monitor the canal.

At the same time, German intelligence has a dense network of agents in Panama, which can also closely monitor every large American surface ship passing through the canal.

……

August 12, 1944.

In the newly opened Joint Operations Command Center in the large general staff headquarters of Cuosen, staff officers in front of the wall are constantly marking the tactical map with eye-catching red and blue arrows, dots, lines, and stickers of ships or planes of various sizes. Whoever sees this oversized tactical map covered with lines and stickers will probably feel like they can't find the north.

However, as long as you study it carefully, you will find that the situation of the Atlantic theater shown on this large tactical map is very clear and intuitive.

When a staff officer in a blue naval uniform glued a sticker symbolizing the Iowa-class battleship to the sea east of the Panama Canal on the map, the commander-in-chief of the German Navy, Field Marshal Raeder, turned his head and said to the field marshal of the Hessmann Empire, who was present, "The fourth ship...... And the four Soviet-class ships that were originally moored in New York Harbor also disappeared last night. ”

"4 Soviet-class, 4 Iowa-class......" Hersman frowned, "The Americans seem to be preparing for a large-scale military operation!" ”

"It's Guyana!" Air Force Commander-in-Chief Raeder said that "the Americans have wanted to attack there for a long time." ”

"It could also be the Azores and Cape Verde." Commander of the Naval Aviation, Richthofen, who is also in the General Staff today, said, "If the autumnal equinox passes, Iceland and Greenland may also be targets for the Americans!" ”

"Imperial Marshal, did you leave the 10th, 11th, and 12th Task Forces in the Atlantic?" Marshal Raeder made a suggestion at this point.

"What is Marshal Lütjans's opinion?" Hersman asked.

He believed that because of the Panama Canal, the Americans could pool their two-ocean fleet...... The two-ocean fleet actually turned into a single fleet. "So the battleships and aircraft carriers that enter the Caribbean, and the fleet that remains off the coast of Chile, can be used in a single battlefield if necessary." Unless we can destroy the Panama Canal! ”