The seas are rough and rough, and the largest fleet ever made up of the U.S. Navy's 2nd, 3rd and 6th fleets is sailing through the waters of Newfoundland. Light rain has been falling in the waters of the North Atlantic, the sky is thick with clouds, and the vision is hazy.

The entire US task force is divided into three aircraft carrier battle groups, with six aircraft carriers as the core, the USS Enterprise, the USS Lexington, the USS Saratoga, the USS Yorktown, the USS Big Yellow Peak, and the USS Yellow Peak. A convoy consisting of the battleships "North Carolina," "Washington," "South Dakota," "Indiana," "Massachusetts," and "Alabama," and eight heavy cruisers, including the USS Pensacola, the USS Salt Lake City, the USS Northampton, the USS San Francisco, the USS New Orleans, the USS Minneapolis, the USS Vincennes, and the USS Astoria, sailed around the aircraft carrier in a circular air defense formation.

At this time, the atmosphere on each warship was tense, the destroyer fleet was conducting anti-submarine patrols around the fleet, the anti-submarine warfare positions on each ship were also fully manned, and the entire fleet was on alert, ready to fight at any time.

The German submarine forces enjoyed their own fame after the start of the war, and although the Austrians did not achieve the same impressive results as the German submarine forces, their strength should not be underestimated. Germany and Austria are ahead of the world in submarine construction technology, and even the latest "Little Shark-class" submarines built by the United States can barely reach a maximum depth of 150 meters, while the latest submarines of Germany and Austria have been able to dive to a maximum depth of 220 meters below the surface.

The Americans had just received the technology of underwater snorkels from the Dutch, and it was still in the practical stage, but most of the German and Austrian submarines had already been fitted with this new type of equipment. It is clear that German-Austrian submarines are able to sail under the surface with diesel engines and can be active underwater all the time without surfacing to recharge. And the submarines of other countries are not currently able to do this.

In addition to not lagging behind Germany and Austria in terms of surface speed. The United States and Britain are far behind Germany and Austria in important performance indicators of submarines, such as underwater concealment, maximum underwater speed, maximum submarine depth, and reliability of torpedoes. What is slightly gratifying to the Americans is that after getting the aircraft design and engine technology of the British, the Americans have finally gradually caught up with the European level in fighter manufacturing, and after nearly two years of adjustment, the American aircraft industry is now able to produce nearly 50,000 aircraft per year. Such a large amount of large-scale manufacturing capacity was not available to the Axis powers.

While the sonar crews on the destroyers focus on the surface and underwater, the anti-aircraft search radar antennas on destroyers, cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers rotate constantly, turning their attention to enemy planes that may appear overhead. In order to ensure the safety of this huge fleet in the history of the United States, Admiral Ingram ordered the entire fleet to maintain absolute vigilance after the fleet sailed into port; in addition to using destroyers to form an antisubmarine and air defense warning circle more than 10 nautical miles outside the fleet, he even mobilized more than 30 old destroyers to search for enemy submarines and planes with all his strength. At the same time, it dispatched almost all the reconnaissance planes at its disposal to carry out forward reconnaissance of any possible sea area.

In the war room of the flagship battleship USS North Carolina, Admiral Ingram and numerous fleet staff officers sat around a huge chart table showing the route of the entire fleet at this time.

“…… Since leaving the Hampton Anchorage in Virginia, the destroyers and planes on alert for the fleet have been constantly sounding the alarm, and it can be concluded that the Germans have mobilized a large number of submarines to reconnoitre, monitor and track us. Now I can say without hesitation about the position of the Atlantic Fleet at this time. The Germans know even better than we do! Colonel Higgins, a fleet intelligence officer, reminded the generals in the war room.

"It is clear that the enemy knows our whereabouts well, and the chief of staff of the 2nd Fleet, Rear Admiral Hewitt, gestures with his hand on the chart," ...... In order to avoid German submarines that could be tracking us, the entire fleet, after leaving the east coast of the United States, sailed at a high speed of more than twenty knots. But the escort destroyers have been reporting since the early hours of May 1. Enemy submarines were detected to be surveilling, and from the analysis of radio listening signals, the enemy has been constantly sending out reports. Now we have begun to enter dangerous waters, marching to the operational destination......"

"The Admiralty instructed us to do everything in our power to prevent the Germans from landing in Iceland, if the Germans were allowed to go ashore in East Iceland and build an airfield. Then it is only a matter of time before we lose control of it. But General Ingnoll's order is to keep us as safe as possible, and the U.S. Navy is now under-strengthened, and if we suffer any more heavy losses, then we may not even be able to guarantee the security of the Caribbean. Admiral Ingram frowned and said, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and the Commander of the Atlantic Fleet gave two diametrically opposed orders, he understood what General Ingernoll meant, Iceland's actions need to be carried out cautiously, in order to protect the ship first, as for Iceland, there is really no way but to give up first.

But there are nearly 30,000 U.S. Army troops there, and if they give up, it will be difficult for the Admiralty to escape the Army's blame.

Before the war, the US Navy seemed to be very powerful, with 15 battleships and 7 aircraft carriers, but in fact, after the outbreak of the war in Europe, it found that most of its main warships were outdated and could not meet the requirements of modern warfare, and its own strength was far from enough to deal with the opponent before the war.

After the outbreak of the war, the German Navy had 8 aircraft carriers, and also had 10 battleships with a speed of about 30 knots that could accompany the aircraft carrier fleet, while the Austro-Hungarian Navy had a staggering 12 aircraft carriers, more than any naval power in the world.

Although the British had a large number of aircraft carriers, their performance was outdated, especially the number of carrier-based aircraft was insufficient, and only after a large-scale naval battle, the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers lost most of their aircraft carriers, completely losing sea supremacy, forcing the United States to rush to the forefront.

It was not until after entering the war that the US Navy realized that the number of aircraft carriers it was equipped with was far inferior to that of the German-Austrian bloc, and it had to go on the defensive first, doing nothing during the nearly two years of the war in Europe.

The construction period of naval ships is much longer than that of the army and the air force, and until now, only two of the six "Essex-class" aircraft carriers that the US Navy hastily started construction after the outbreak of the war in Europe have just completed construction, are undergoing sea trials, and have not yet officially entered service. The U.S. Navy had to endure the accusations of the population and public opinion and carry out a conservative strategy, but the fall of Iceland was in any case an unbearable thing. If Iceland fell, there was no doubt that the Germans would not only be able to completely cut off the maritime links between North America and Great Britain, but would also further threaten the security of North America.

The problem was that the distance from North America to Iceland was four times longer than that of the Germans from Norway, who had an absolute geographical advantage.

"Damn, it's a suicide attempt!" Vice Admiral Halsay, commander of the Third Fleet, who had been transferred from the Pacific Fleet, complained loudly, "The Germans are trying to lure us there to our deaths, and with all due respect, we may not be able to win this battle at all!" The Germans themselves are not weaker than us, and there are Austrians on the side to help. And what about us? The British couldn't help at all! The commander of the Third Fleet, which is part of the Pacific Fleet, bluntly expressed his opinion.

"We can't just stay on the shores of America and do nothing, can we?!" "When we're ready," Ingram said, "Maybe the Germans have taken over the world!" War, in fact, is a gamble. He said this with an unconcealed worry on his brow.

Indeed, no one can predict the outcome of the war, just like the Russians, they provoked this war in Europe, but if the result of today can be predicted, it is to give Zhuashvili ten dares, and he will definitely not choose to launch an invasion of Eastern Europe.

It was still drizzling outside the porthole, and another gamble began. (To be continued......)