If at this time the strategic bomber forces of the United States and Britain were stumbling in Europe and the Luftwaffe. The U.S. and British armies are preparing to fight the Germans after the New Year. Then for the American and British Navy, this period is simply the happiest moment! The entire Atlantic Ocean is under the control of the US and British navies, and under the cover of escort aircraft carriers, the transport efficiency of the North Atlantic route has reached an unprecedented height. During this period, the German aviation cruiser intended to come out and stab, but after sinking several transport ships, they were taught by the American Essex-class aircraft carriers to behave in minutes. The Allied Navy retreated to the harbor after throwing away the two air cruisers, and continued to watch the American and British fleets show off their might in the Atlantic!

Submarine warfare is no longer working, plus aviation cruisers are also being crushed. Before the strength of the High Seas Fleet was restored, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the German Navy, Field Marshal Raeder, had no choice but to continue to pretend to be cowardly, and in line with the principle that if you did not reach the shore, I would watch, and if you dared to come up, the land-based aviation would resist the principle of passive defense. Don't say that the U.S. and British navies did intend to sweep the coasts of France and Spain at the beginning.

Nimitz and Cunningham took 12 Essex-class aircraft carriers, 6 British aircraft carriers and 8 independent light aircraft carriers, loaded with more than 2,500 aircraft of various types, and fought out of the British Isles in a fierce manner. At the beginning, it was really violent, and the gods blocked and killed the gods and Buddhas! The ability to make nearly 3,000 sorties a day blew up the underprepared French coast. It's really beautiful. But the good times were short-lived, and when the Luftwaffe divided some of its forces and cooperated with the land-based aviation units that the Navy had drawn from other places, the good days of the Americans came to an end.

The flexibility of the U.S. and British fleets really doesn't need to be said, and running 400 kilometers in one night is easy and pleasant. The erratic whereabouts and super explosive power made the Germans a little scrambling to deal with it. However, when the strength is replenished, it will be different, and the long-range reconnaissance aircraft converted from the HE177 bomber will conduct reconnaissance along the coast all the time. When the US planes fly together, they will be caught by the other side's radar. Then for an hour or so. The Germans could concentrate at least 700 aircraft for interception.

For naval aviation, as long as it is not a particularly disparity in the exchange ratio, it is a loss for the navy! It's big on someone's turf. The other party was shot down, and as long as the pilot was not dead or disabled, he would be a good man when he went back to rest for a few days. The Navy pilot was shot down, and there was definitely no going back, dead or alive. How easy it is to train land-based pilots. Sea-based pilots, not to mention anything else, just one take-off and landing is a master.

After the US Naval Aviation fought several "victories" of 1 for 1.5, both Nimitz and Cunningham said they could not hold on! The number of pilots lost is much smaller than the amount of replenishment. The battle plan, which was originally intended to fight from France to Portugal and then from Portugal back to France, was finally carried out, and the Allied fleet, which had lost more than 700 planes and more than 600 pilots, rolled back to England.

And after the American and British fleets went back. Rather than being praised at the top for their success, Nimitz and Cunningham were criticized for using valuable strategic forces on tactics. And in the face of accusations from the top, Nimitz and others really have nothing to say. In terms of the amount of bombs dropped and the damage caused, the amount of bombs dropped by the navy for several days is not as high as the amount of bombs dropped by the Air Force for one day with a 1,000-plane bombing. Although bombers are expensive and have great losses, aircraft carriers are even more expensive, not to mention hundreds of juniors, as well as heavy fuel oil, aviation gasoline and war-damaged aircraft. In a word, the cost performance is too low. Roosevelt told Nimitz to hurry back and reflect and come up with a plan with strategic vision!

Nimitz, who was criticized, also complained. It's not that Nimitz doesn't have a strategic vision, it's not that he can't see where the navy can get the most out of it. But as the commander in charge of the first army, he can't just dare to fight like Halsey. The decision he made had to be sound, and the result of Halsey's recklessness could be that one of the detachments had been severely damaged. This loss team is still bearable for the US Navy, but if Nimitz's mind goes wrong, then the entire fleet will be in danger. War is all about oddity. An upright tactic is what military strategists like to choose the most, unless they are absolutely inferior or when they have to do it as a last resort. Nimitz generally has to be on the safe side. This time, though, Nimitz was under a bit of pressure.

Thereupon. Under pressure from all sides, Nimitz finally decided to come up with a dusty plan, which if it had been made from the time it was formulated, before the end of the Iranian civil war! It's just that after the start of the war, the situation on the battlefield was so disadvantageous that the US military had to abandon this somewhat demanding plan. But now, it seems, the conditions are ripe?

"Our next phase of the battle will revolve around here! If this plan succeeds, we can cut off the Germans' access to the Atlantic, and even use this as a point of support to build a completely new front! "Nimitz dotted the Azores on a huge sand table!

After some hesitation, Nimitz finally decided to team up for the German-occupied Atlantic islands! From a strategic point of view, this is definitely a good move! The location of the Azores is too critical! It directly controlled the access of the German Navy to and from the Atlantic. Moreover, after occupying this place, the Germans thought that it would be difficult to recapture it because of the distance, and the American army, as the attacking side, could also use it as a springboard to attack the Madeli and Canary Islands.

Then continue to jump forward, it is possible to log in in northwestern Africa, and once a stable stronghold is established near the Strait of Gibraltar, a gap will be opened in the inner lake of the German Empire, and it is perfectly possible to open a new station line even further! Germany's already limited forces would be further dispersed. And more importantly, Spain and Portugal are already wall-stickers, and when Germany is at a disadvantage, it is not impossible to turn the two countries against each other through military and political means!

If these two countries had surrendered, Germany and Austria-Hungary would have been embattled! The U.S. and British air forces could threaten Libya's oil fields, and when China occupied the two river basins and destroyed Turkey, Germany would have no oil fields except Romania, and the mainland would have to face attacks from Britain, Russia, North Africa, and the Middle East at the same time. In this case, it is useless for God to come! And the beginning of all this is the Azores!

Of course. The stakes of this engagement are also very high, and one of the most important issues is. Will the German Navy suddenly come out? Although Nimitz and Cunningham had 26 aircraft carriers, and the Allies now only had 18, the Allies had an absolute advantage in numbers, but Nimitz knew what those 8 light aircraft carriers were. Even the cloud dragon in history is not as good! Complete emergency goods! Germany also has some emergency aircraft carriers, but that is at least the standard of the Yunlong class, not to mention that although the German Navy was defeated this time, the 6 Caesar-class aircraft carriers are still intact, and the strength of the American and British fleets singled out the German fleet plus the land-based aviation of the Azores? Nimitz felt a little stressed.

Really, Nimitz didn't know how to suffer with sea-based aviation, hard steel, and land-based aviation? Nimitz knew it, he knew it very well. On the one hand, this was done because the fleet was at least safe, and on the other hand, it was to test how much strength the Luftwaffe could muster. As a result of the experiment, the Allied aircraft group on the European continent is still very strong, but its control over the outlying islands has decreased a lot.

If it weren't for the tightness of the pressure, Nimitz might have delayed for a while, and even cleaned up the area around the Azores. But in the current situation, he can only get on the horse immediately! "The Azores are located at a distance of 1,600 kilometers from the European continent, and the number of German long-range strategic bombers continues to decrease, so it should not have much impact on our landing operations, right?" Nimitz muttered to himself with some concern.

If Nimitz's choice to occupy the Azores was a bit of a persecution. Then the top level of the United States and Britain is obviously a little too optimistic, or a little too impatient, the United States may not be obvious, but Britain has now begun to think about how to end the war as soon as possible. Because it was already difficult to support it for 2 years with the national strength of the United Kingdom. According to the words of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if it were to fight for another two years, Britain would not be of much significance even as a winner. The United Kingdom, which has exhausted all its resources, will automatically become a second-rate country!

Churchill almost snapped his thigh when he saw Nimitz's plan! This plan is too good. It was simply tailor-made for Britain, on the one hand, it almost completely blocked the path of the German Navy into the Atlantic. At the same time, a new front has been added, from which the attack is much stronger than the United States and Britain to Russia on the Eastern Front! So he immediately agreed. He even spoke specifically to Roosevelt in the hope that he would support the plan.

And Roosevelt also agreed with this plan, in addition to the fact that the interests in it are indeed very large, after the war, if the United States can control several islands at the western mouth of the Mediterranean, it will be equivalent to locking the western gate of the Mediterranean, and the strategic interests in this are very important! So after some hesitation, Roosevelt also expressed his support.

Since there is determination above and ideas below, do you need to say more? them straight! The Americans immediately divided the two infantry divisions that were originally intended to be transferred to the Eastern Front to form a landing force, and the British were not ambiguous, taking out an infantry division and a mechanized brigade, a total of 3 divisions and 1 brigade, with a strength of about 55,000 people. For this battle, the elite of the US and British fleets came together, not only the main fleet composed of 26 aircraft carriers, but also 12 jeep aircraft carriers formed a direct ground support formation, and each of these aircraft carriers carried an average of 35 aircraft. There are more than 400 planes! Together with the fleet that delivered supplies to these troops, the size of the entire fleet reached about 700 ships! (including landing ships and fire support ships) and just organizing such a huge fleet, the United States and Britain need to prepare for at least a month!

So now the question arises, what do the Germans think about this time? In fact, as early as when the United States and Britain launched an offensive against the west coast of France and Spain, Raeder was already worried that the American and British fleets would launch an active attack, but he couldn't figure out the other side's attack position. Raeder's new battle plan is also based on attack, and if you attack, you must first have a suitable starting position and support point.

The Americans can see the importance of the Azores, and so can the Germans! However, the Germans did not do it for defense, but for the action of the fleet. Even in the face of the increasing pressure on the US-British strategic bomber forces, the German Navy and Air Force transferred some of their aircraft to the Azores and Canary Islands. Among them there was even the first jet fighter unit of the German Navy!

Some people may ask, where are the jets transferred for what? Isn't that simple? Training! The Luftwaffe had Eastern Europe as a training ground for non-strikes. Although the German Navy also has a training ground in the Mediterranean, it is crowded with people. As the deadliest secret weapon of German air power, the jet fighter naturally has to be kept secret, which is the most secret? Nature is a place with few people. The Canary Islands and the Azores meet this requirement.

As for whether the British and American fleets would attack the Azores, at the beginning the Germans did not think that the United States and Britain had the ability, but in fact, when the Nimitz swept the Atlantic coast, they did not go to the Azores in the end! Because of this, jets were eventually deployed here, and because they were directly facing the sea, the combat environment completely coincided with the future. Definitely a great place!

And according to Raeder's opinion, since the training is good, then it is directly deployed! The U.S. and British fleets moved quickly and could concentrate superior forces for a surprise attack in a short period of time. Since it is impossible for Germany to deploy aviation forces in the Atlantic that can match the number of carrier-based aircraft of the United States and Britain, the only way to do this is to improve the quality, and the next stage of the battle will be carried out in the Atlantic, and good steel will naturally be used on the blade, so by mistake, more than half of the first jet aircraft allocated by the German Navy were deployed in the Azores!

And the German defense force on the island of the Azores is also a lot, in addition to not many tanks, its firepower and staffing are much stronger than the general German troops of the same size, and have a certain amount of shore guns, although they are all 12-inch and 11-inch naval guns removed from the old ships of the 1st World War, but it is still possible to hit the ships below the cruiser, the key is that the bunkers where these guns are placed are built very strongly, so that they have won the reputation of reinforced concrete battleships! On the main island of the Azores, there were about 25,000 Allied troops and auxiliary units, including 17,000 Germans.

Six large airfields were built on the island to accommodate all Allied aircraft, including the HE177 Griffin strategic bomber and the Me262 jet, but with the decline of the Luftwaffe and Navy, the Azores base group, which had previously housed two strategic bomber wings, now has only 20 ocean-going patrol aircraft. However, the total number of aircraft has not decreased but increased. The total number of fighters reached about 800 units!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, and the monthly pass support of the boring dead ghost ~~~, as well as the book friend Blue Dragon Lord, Outstanding Speaking, a small soldier who loves to use Thomson, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, and Orphen for the monthly ticket support ~~~. (To be continued.) )