"The Americans seem to be limiting the use of force at their disposal, and on the first day of the war, they flew almost 2,000 sorties, losing about 400 aircraft, and then the number of sorties they made fell to about 1,200 per day. The number of planes damaged in the battle was reduced to about 100. Their tactics are more conservative. A staff officer reported.

"Even so, in a week, their carrier-based aircraft losses will definitely be more than half, when will we do it? If the war continues, the Americans may withdraw, and sometimes the defense is too successful rather than good news. When hunters find their prey too strong, they give up, and we lose this opportunity. Count Luknall asked.

"I'll leave tomorrow, and it's estimated that we will be able to enter the war zone in three days. The fleet is ready to move at any time, but the Air Force needs some time to prepare. I heard that those AR234 bombers are very delicate. "Raeder gave his former friend, his current subordinate, a bottom.

"Can those guys in the Air Force be trusted? Remember the Battle of the Bay of Biscay? The Air Force promised us that they could fix everything, but they lost their word. And now, do we still have to trust them? Count Luknal thought for a moment and said. His complaints about the Air Force are quite large!

"We can only trust them. With the strength of our current fleet, we can't beat our opponents at all. The quality of the American and British pilots is actually good, but at first their carrier-based aircraft were not good, but now it is different. Except that they do not have twin-engine attack planes and guided bombs, they are no different from the Chinese Navy, and they have a numerical advantage that China does not have. The fighter-based mix is not just for covering the Air Force's attack aircraft formations. It's about keeping ourselves safe. ”

"If we can win this battle by a big margin, we still have hope in the future to rely solely on naval strength to resist the American and British fleets." At last. Raeder added. And in the evening of the same day, the main forces of the German High Seas Fleet converged with the detachment that went to the Red Sea to carry out the feint plan. Again pulled up the Austro-Hungarian, Spanish and Turkish fleets and sneaked out of Crete. The entire fleet headed for the Strait of Gibraltar at a high speed of more than 25 knots, and before that, destroyers with a shorter range had been sent to the western Mediterranean in batches. The fleet, led by large high-speed warships, did not even bring supply ships this time!

"If you can't win this time, let's end it completely!" Although on the surface, Germany's situation is not particularly bad, Raeder and others know very well that if their largest strategic mobile force in the German military system is defeated, then Germany can really only wait for death, the only difference is when to die. How much does it cost the other party to die before they die!

At the same time, Kesselring fully fulfilled his promise. The Box Force was deployed in Portugal. And the final preparations were completed before the German Navy sorted. Regarding the commitment of the navy, Kesselring agreed that he did not trust it very much, it was not that he did not trust the character of Raeder and others, but that the opponent on the battlefield was too strong. In terms of the number of aircraft, the US and British fleets have an overwhelming advantage. So, in order to ensure that these terrible magic boxes can fully function, Kesselring added 3 more wings of DO335 fighters! This was the last long-range fighter unit of the Luftwaffe in the Ibilisi theater. Kesselring can be regarded as doing his best to be benevolent and righteous, and playing with the German Navy to smash the pot and sell iron!

"The German fleet seems to have moved. If you guess correctly, there should not be a single main aircraft carrier in the Eastern Mediterranean now. "It is naturally impossible for the Germans to hide from all eyes with such a frantic action. Both inside lines and simple visual reconnaissance can detect changes taking place in Crete, along the Greek coast. And the direction of the sortie of the German fleet can be figured out with your knees!

"Are you coming? How much do we have in stock of carrier-based aircraft now? By the way, let the submarine force strengthen the reconnaissance of the west entrance of Gibraltar, as soon as the whereabouts of the other party are discovered, report immediately! Don't be afraid of losses! Nimitz's brain spun rapidly when he received the news. Although this situation has long been expected by him. But when such a situation arises, which can be called both an opportunity and a trap, Nimitz is in a situation of excitement and fear!

An opportunity that can wash away decades of US Navy with fewer wins and more defeats! Of course, it is also possible to plunge the entire fleet into an endless abyss! Nimitz was very cautious by nature. If you can. He would rather choose to use the strong national strength of the United States to grind his opponent to death through repeated exchanges. But even this time, see the hole cards in his hand. Nimitz still couldn't figure out how elite the German fleet would be to be able to block the full force of the American and British fleets.

"Plus escort aircraft carriers. We have 2500 aircraft, and thank goodness just yesterday our escort carrier delivered a batch of fighters! A moment later, Halsey reported.

"2,500 planes, it seems that the Germans have been fighting in vain these days, and our industry has easily wiped out the results of the other side." Hearing this statistic, Nimitz relaxed. If before the outbreak of the Battle of the Bay of Bengal, the German Navy could maintain more than 2,000 carrier-based aircraft, then after the loss of 6 fleet aircraft carriers in a row, it is not bad to have 1,800 aircraft now! And this is when the planes and pilots of the German Navy can be replenished in place!

"Even if the Germans prepared everything! As long as we avoid the opposing shore-based air forces and engage in battle on the ocean, we still have absolute superiority. Halsey's eyes had a belligerent dark. Even if we had a lose-lose game with our opponent, we won strategically. The Germans are facing 3 naval powers, and our industry is much stronger than our opponents! ”

"Then let's prepare. The fleet withdrew to 400 nautical miles east of the Azores, where it should have been able to avoid the attack of German land-based aviation deployed in the Azores. Nimitz thought about it for a moment and gave an order that would make the American fleet almost doom!

From the point of view of later generations, this order, though, allowed him to avoid the land-based air forces of the Azores. But brought the whole fleet closer to the European continent. It is equivalent to reducing the difficulty of the Luftwaffe's attack. This also surprised Kesselring, why would the other party make such an order?

Think about it carefully, though. Everything can be explained. The intelligence agencies of the Americans, after all, were not gods, and they could not have imagined that the German Navy and Air Force could make an exemplary cooperation between them. It is even more impossible to imagine that the Luftwaffe actually came up with a propeller and jet dual-powered long-range bomber! And this bomber is also mass-produced on a large scale. The most important thing is that the Luftwaffe actually took out the treasure of the town to deal with the American and British fleets! Who could have predicted these things? Unless you're a god, at least a time-traveler!

And Nimitz was also necessary from a tactical point of view in this way, he had to prevent the German fleet from entering the air defense ring of the Azores! Think about it, the air defense ring of the Azores alone has caused the US and British air forces to touch the dust. What now. Suddenly almost 1800 more aircraft of various kinds were added! The number of aircraft of the attacking Anglo-American fleet is not as large as that of the land-based aircraft of the Azores plus the sea-based aircraft of the German fleet! There is a gap in quality! In this case, the U.S. Navy is still a hairy! Go home directly, and if you stay and die, it's just a gift to someone! That is, as soon as the German fleet completes the convergence, the Americans will already be defeated! Now that it has been decided to go to war. So naturally you have to go all out, and how can you succeed if you don't want to take risks?

Nimitz is also a very decisive person, and a person who can handle pressure and responsibility! Now that you have decided to fight the German fleet, it is better to take the initiative! However, the American fleet at this time did not have as high maneuverability as the German fleet, the reason is very simple, in addition to the fuel of the destroyer limiting its maneuverability, the escort aircraft carrier is really unable to keep up with the large fleet is the most critical factor, these things are obviously not designed for the decisive battle of the fleet, the maximum design speed is 20 knots. Actual speed depends.

"Do we still have to bring these cardboard boxes? They are not suitable for war, as long as a 500KG bomb is fired, it is possible to destroy it and sink to the bottom of the sea with hundreds of people on the entire battleship! Fletcher said with some reluctance. The Germans now had bad luck with the main attack power of 800KG bombs and guided weapons. This battleship under our feet will also be sunk with one shot. Nimitz said. We are in a decisive battle, and someone will have to die, no matter who it is. I hope that when death comes, we will still do our duty! ”

At a time when the German Navy was still 250 nautical miles from the Strait of Gibraltar. The American fleet finally left its attack position and began to move towards the Strait of Gibraltar, while the American and British landing forces, which had planned to land in the Azores with the fleet's operations, withdrew into the depths of the ocean under the cover of part of the escort fleet. Nimitz was prepared for the worst, even if the American and British fleets were defeated again, even if he himself disappeared into the seas, at least he had saved everyone as much as he could!

"We are almost acting under the watchful eye of each other! The pressure on the Germans from our Air Force did not seem to be as great as we thought! The other side still maintains enough power in the overseas archipelago! Fletcher sent a telegram to Nimitz with some concern. The fleet is always monitored by the opposing DO217 or JU88T ocean-going reconnaissance aircraft during the voyage. Although the other side does not seem to have the ability to launch a large-scale attack so far, this kind of surveillance alone has already made the US military lose the opportunity!

"Since you have chosen, you have to have the courage to bear all the consequences, haven't we already predicted this situation? As long as we can time the time and make it daylight when we meet, we are the dominant side, and we are at least 70% sure that we can win. Nimitz's call back was brief, but unusually firm!

"Well, I have to say that the other party's choice was a bit unexpected for us." Soon, the intelligence of the German reconnaissance aircraft was sent to Raeder's desk. After wiping a cold sweat, Raeder also had to admit that if he only relied on the navy, he would encounter such a powerful fleet, and his first choice would definitely be to retreat! Three dozen aircraft carriers! Three dozen is 36 ships! (Although there are 10 escort aircraft carriers) the number of carrier-based aircraft should be more than 2,500! There are 500 more aircraft than the current German fleet! (Due to the removal of some twin-engine aircraft, the number of aircraft carried increased slightly.) And the Skua aircraft has a technical advantage over the FW190D aircraft, and if you die, you will definitely suffer a loss!

And the other side has a larger number of decks, if the German fleet releases at most half of the carrier-based aircraft at a time, then with 36 flight decks of different sizes plus catapults, it is possible to release more than 6 percent of the aircraft at a time! There's a lot of difference here! But fortunately, this time the German Navy is an MT and auxiliary role, and the real attack power comes from the magic box of the Air Force!

"Well, everything that needs to be done has been done, adjust the speed of the fleet, we will meet each other in the morning after tomorrow, everything that needs to be done has been done, let the god of war decide the fate of the future." By this time, Raeder had relaxed, as he had said. Now he's done his best. That's enough!

The Navy and Air Force coordinated each other's actions for the last time, and the task of the Navy in any case was to first appear in front of the eyes of the Americans, and then to attract the other side to attack the fleet. The first phase of the German Navy's campaign was defensive, and all of its engine capabilities were used to release fighters to block the enemy's attack. In the second stage, the fighter was released and made a feint, after all, you can't tell from the radar whether the FW190 fighter has a bomb or a fuel tank hanging under the belly.

Even if the Americans deliberately keep their combat distance, the FW190D fighter with the addition of auxiliary fuel tanks and the few twin-engine aircraft can still reach the opponent, of course, not a lot. The task of these planes is to go up and suppress the direct defense forces of the Americans! Paving the way for an assault by the Air Force. Of course, if the Americans continue to launch a second wave of attacks, the air force will have nothing but hope that the remaining fighters of the German Navy can block the attack. That is, take off a few planes from the Canary Islands or nearby bases to support.

When time gradually passed, the two huge fleets were getting closer and closer, and after an exemplary defeat with the Chinese fleet, the German navy did not give up, did not retreat, and faced the challenge from the other side of the Atlantic, the German fleet bravely met it! Of course, without the support of the air force behind him, Raeder's current choice is probably to withdraw to the Mediterranean, as a stealth deterrent, to prevent the US fleet from attacking the Azores!

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