On the white sand and soft beach, three long wooden trestle bridges have been built at this moment, and they stretch from the sand to the sea more than 100 meters away, and their thick skeleton makes people feel solid and solid. At the end of these trestles, dozens of kayaks and inflatable valves connected in series form a pontoon bridge more than 200 meters long, which is closely integrated with the former. In this way, transports with deeper drafts can unload their cargo directly in the sea, which undoubtedly greatly increases the speed of work compared to the simple transfer of landing craft.

"Hurry up, guys, there's only one hundred tons of supplies left!"

A tall and strong man pushing a flatbed cart full of goods is moving steadily on the undulating pontoon bridge; Around him, a procession of hundreds of people also pushed and dragged dozens of these vehicles, constantly moving back and forth between the rocking pontoon bridge and the land. Due to the limited width and carrying capacity of the trestle, it was obvious that the trucks could not drive side by side on it, and in this case, the Germans had to resort to the most primitive method, that is, to use manpower to carry out the first transfer of supplies. As for traction by horses, the animal had almost completely withdrawn from active service as the German Army moved into full mechanization; Even in the reserve forces, it is difficult to see them with the reins on and their heads dragged.

∞ although the work of this manual transport was very heavy, and both the seamen on the transport ship and the soldiers pushing the carts were sweating and panting, each of them did not slack off, and only took a short rest when they were really tired. There is no other reason than the staggering demand of the front-line troops. After nearly two days of landing. Four divisions, including the 3rd Airborne Division, have already set foot on Cuban soil; A modern army of more than 50,000 people consumes food, medicine, fuel, ammunition, spare parts and other supplies every day. That's a very impressive number. On the beach at the moment. Most of the trucks and motorcycles from the various units are waiting to be fed with empty boxes, waiting for them to unload their much-needed supplies from their ships and load them into their own trucks to pack and take away. In the face of the empty vehicles, the German unloading soldiers, who knew that the front-line soldiers were fighting hard, could only grit their teeth and persevere: they could all risk their lives to fight to the death with the Americans, how could they not overcome the fatigue on these Xu **?

While the unloading soldiers were sweating profusely, the German sappers were no less busy: two new trestle bridges, halfway through their diving work, were expected to become new merchant ship unloading points in a day's time. Compared to the three makeshift trestles next to it. The two sea lanes under construction will be wider, and their capacity to handle and unload cargo will be further enhanced. In order to prevent this logistical landing ground from being destroyed by the enemy, the German army also made meticulous preparations as when landing on the island of Haiti. Looking at the 88-mm anti-aircraft guns that were pointing to the sky in the hidden positions, and the naval warships cruising in the distance, the soldiers in the work were all relieved; With the protection of these powers, the beach where you are located is completely safe!

When the news of the German landing in Baracoa reached Washington, D.C., it caused a great shock in the US military leadership. If their previous landing on the island of Haiti was to step most of their bodies into the fence outside the house, then the current landing of the other party in Cuba has completely kicked open the outer wall and rushed directly to the door of the house with a sharp sword in hand! It was because of Cuba's vital importance to the national security and the two-ocean strategy of the United States that the United States seized the land from the Spaniards 40 years ago. And leaning on it as the southern gate of absolute forbiddenness. If Cuba loses, the entire southern part of the United States will be exposed to enemy attacks. The opponent can launch an attack at will along a coastline of up to 6,000 kilometers; It is also very likely that Mexico in the south will declare war on the United States driven by revenge, and accept German troops from the east to open up a second battlefield against the southwest of the United States. By then, the situation facing the United States will inevitably be even more dangerous than the war with Britain more than a century ago!

Roosevelt, who felt the seriousness of the situation, hurriedly convened an emergency operations meeting to seek a good way to drive the German army out of Cuba, but Johnson, who succeeded him as commander of the Atlantic Fleet, was the first to pour cold water on him, who was already angry and panicked. Johnson pointed out that the new TBF torpedo aircraft has just begun to be installed in the troops, and the pilots must spend a certain amount of time test flight adaptation; The radio jamming device for German guided bombs is still being tested, and its final effectiveness cannot be guaranteed. If the fleet is forced to attack, they will not achieve any meaningful results with no offensive and defensive means, and in the end they can only become the prey of the other party, burying the main warships that have accumulated with great difficulty. In the face of Roosevelt's unkind eyes, Johnson did not flinch in the slightest, but directly had an open showdown with the extremely powerful president. At present, the Atlantic Fleet has only 3 Essex-class and 2 Wasp-class aircraft carriers that can be dispatched, while the opponent's aircraft carriers are at least twice this number. The three newly commissioned Essex class ships must have time to run in the crew, and the Iowa ship, which was sunk in the Caribbean due to unfavorable management, has already demonstrated the final fate of catching ducks on the shelves in the naval field.

"Only if land-based aviation has achieved air superiority in the Caribbean will the Navy be able to dispatch its main warships to participate in the sweeping operation against the German landing grounds." Johnson expressed his attitude in an unprecedentedly tough tone. Before reaching basic qualifications in both offensive and defensive areas, the US Atlantic Fleet has completely abandoned the idea of a head-to-head confrontation with the opposing navy; Even if it is limited to the landing site, it must be carried out with air superiority, otherwise no large ship will take this unpredictable and huge risk. Seeing that the fleet commander's attitude was so resolute, Roosevelt could only look at the army generals on the other side. Having served as assistant secretary of the Navy, he knew very well the situation of his fleet: a few quick night raids on German landing sites with cruisers and below were already the only contribution that the current languishing Atlantic Fleet could make to the war in Cuba.

"Land-based aviation will go all out to meet the Luftwaffe, and the armies deployed in Cuba will also drive the landing Germans out of the sea at any cost." At this point, Marshall, chief of the Army General Staff, could only take on this heavy burden. Since the German attack in the Caribbean Sea last October, his army has indeed been unable to escape the blame, and in the face of German parachute landing and land pushing, American GIs who feel good about themselves have been repeatedly beaten to the ground. The German army's actions in Cuba brought even more shame on the US Army: An armored division of 10,000 people could not destroy the temporary defense line hastily formed by more than 2,000 paratroopers, while a reinforced coastal garrison was completely defeated after holding out for only one day, directly leading to the rotten situation in Cuba. Although Marshall knew that the combat effectiveness of the American troops was not enough to compete with the German army, he could only rely on the superiority of numbers and supplies in the home field to wear down the opponent. In addition, the land-based aviation of the southern front, which has been reinforced, is also an important trump card in his hands.

In the early hours of January 18, while the sky was still covered in a dark blue, the powerful roar of countless propellers spinning at high speed was heard over Miami in southern Florida and Santiago Air Force Base in Cuba. B-17 bombers, loaded with 7.9 tons of bombs, flew through the sky to meet the first rays of the morning sun, gathered a tight formation at high altitude, and then headed straight for the German-occupied Balakoa landing site. In order to completely cut off the follow-up of the German landing force, the Americans had abandoned the safe method of night bombing, choosing to deliver a decisive blow to the other side during the day with good visibility. A large number of P-40 and P-47 fighters also hung bombs on their way, so that the entire fleet was like locusts transiting. While the Germans were bolstering their air forces by ship, the U.S. Air Force, which was operating on its own soil, was steadily increasing the number of its aircraft; Compared with Germany, which attaches great importance to the development of the Air Force, they are not far behind in terms of technology and quantity!

Since Santiago was less than 140 kilometers from Baracoa, the US land-based fighters from here had almost just flown together, and the German air defense cruisers patrolling the open sea spotted this massive group of aircraft through the Guò radar. After the radio warning, the fighters on standby at the land airfield quickly attacked and bravely faced this imminent and powerful enemy. Although the Germans landed in Balacoa for only three days, it was more than enough to establish a field airfield for fighter take-off and landing; After all, aircraft in the propeller era were far less delicate than jets, and they could take off and land on a flat piece of dirt, let alone a fighter jet with a light body and minimal runway length.

With these fighter units stationed on the front line at the first time, the German army was able to make timely countermeasures against the American fighters that took off from Cuba; Although the number is small, it can also reduce the threat of the latter to the landing site by a considerable distance. Without the arrival of this force, the Germans would have had to rely on fighter planes on aircraft carriers to intercept them on the way, and this form of attrition was clearly something that the German high command did not want to see.

Just over twenty minutes later, an unprecedentedly fierce aerial battle began over the small fishing village of Balacoa. The first targets of the American fighters were the trestles and transport ships on the beachhead, followed by the evil German warships, and in the sights of the American pilots, these targets that made them want to get rid of them were all zài! (To be continued......)