The Rise of the Third Reich

"Invasion of Guyana?" Roosevelt frowned deeply, "Are you sure now?"

Because Guyana is Germany's advanced stronghold in South America, the US military has been planning to seize it since Germany stationed there in 1942. Dozens of plans have been made, but nothing has been done yet.

As for the reason for not taking action, of course it is because the navy is not sure of victory. Due to the heavy losses in the First Battle of the Hawaiian Islands, the United States once had only seven old battleships available in the Atlantic. On the German side, there are a bunch of "Bismarck" class, "Richelieu" class and "Veneto" class, and there are also Ju288 bombers with remote-controlled glide missiles!

If the United States chose to have a decisive battle in the waters near Guyana in 1942 or 1943, there would be no other possibility except to destroy its only fleet.

Therefore, the various offensive plans of the Americans against Guyana can only remain on paper - although the US military is very aware of the threat of Guyana, the German forward base, it cannot defeat it!

In 1944, when a large number of cutting-edge warships and aircraft carriers were put into service, Japan's germ warfare attracted the main force of the U.S. Navy to the Pacific. However, even without Japan's germ warfare, the U.S. Navy would not be sure of fighting a decisive naval battle near Guyana.

Because the German side not only has the same number of capital ships, but also has two sets of remote-controlled missile systems, ship-based and airborne. Compared with the U.S. Navy, which only has traditional artillery shells and bombs available, it still has an advantage.

In addition, the 1e264 jet fighter has made the U.S. Army aviation ace P47 and P51 the target of being beaten at medium and high altitudes.

And as long as you have some brains, you can immediately think of the tactic of Me264 working with Ju288 to break through the air defense of the US fleet, and then throwing remote-controlled missiles at medium and high altitudes to blow up the ship!

Therefore, although the US Navy has been planning to attack Guyana, it has refrained from taking action until now.

"No! There's a good chance we won't be able to defeat Guyana."

Ernest King's answer made Roosevelt stunned again and again, "No? Then what is the point of our attack on Guyana?"

"The enemy's fleet can be mobilized." Ernest King said: "Now we should give full play to our advantages in numbers and terrain and launch attacks in areas where the enemy's forces are relatively weak. In fact, the areas that can be attacked are not just Guyana and Chile. , Iceland, the Azores, Cape Verde, and even Greenland can all become targets of our counterattack.

However, the purpose of our counterattack is not to engage in a decisive battle, but to mobilize the main force of the enemy's fleet. "

"Mobilizing the enemy?" Roosevelt frowned and asked, "What is the purpose?"

“The purpose is to keep the main force of the European Combined Fleet constantly on the move, unable to effectively rest and recuperate, and unable to accumulate strength to launch a large-scale attack.” Ernest King continued, “This is equivalent to putting the entire Atlantic Ocean on the Atlantic Ocean. The initiative is firmly in our hands.”

In war, one must exploit strengths and avoid weaknesses. The U.S. Navy's current strengths lie in quantity and terrain, while its weakness lies in the fact that the quality of its naval aviation is not as good as its opponents.

Therefore, in a decisive battle at sea, the U.S. Navy, which has the superiority in quantity, may still lose to the European Combined Fleet, which has the superiority in quality.

Therefore, the U.S. Navy's strategy is to use its advantages in numbers and terrain to launch repeated attacks to mobilize the European Combined Fleet while avoiding a decisive battle, so as to achieve the effect of exhausting the European Combined Fleet, which is smaller in number and has unfavorable terrain.

At the same time, the US military can also use its bases in Chile (the occupation of central and northern Chile also took advantage of the terrain) to carry out strategic bombing of Argentina and force internal changes.

As long as the European navies are unable to seek war and trouble occurs in Argentina, the United States will naturally be able to win the peace it wants at a "negligible" price.

While the operational meeting in the White House Cabinet Room was in progress, Colonel Cotton, the presidential aide, suddenly opened the door and walked in, handed a piece of report paper to President Roosevelt, and then turned and left.

Roosevelt glanced at the report paper and suddenly laughed: "Brazilian information, the German Grand Fleet stationed in Belém (actually the 1st Fleet of the European Community Combined Fleet) weighed anchor and left the port three days ago." He looked at Ernest King and said, "Admiral, it seems that the navy's strategy has achieved certain results."

The U.S. Chief of Naval Operations nodded and said: "Mr. President, our strategy will continue to be effective until we win a beneficial and honorable peace for the United States."

…

United States Joint Pacific-Atlantic Fleet Command, Panama.

"According to the information we have received so far, the German (European) fleet departing from Belen has a total of 60-70 warships, including 9-10 large fleet aircraft carriers, 4-5 heavy cruisers, and more than 10 anti-aircraft cruisers , and at least 40 destroyers." At 3 o'clock in the afternoon on August 10, Vice Admiral McMorris Charles Horatio, Chief of Staff of the Two Oceans Fleet, also reported to the two commanders in charge with the information transferred from the Naval Operations Department. Admiral Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the Ocean Fleet, reported.

Since the U.S. Navy has adopted a "two-ocean route" to fight European navies, there is also the issue of coordination between the two oceans. It turns out that the approach of two ocean fleets each managing their own affairs is obviously not feasible.

So at the end of July, based on the recommendations of the Department of Naval Operations, Roosevelt agreed to merge the commands of the Pacific Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet, and Nimitz served as commander of the Atlantic Fleet.

In fact, the two ocean fleets were merged into one fleet!

"9-10 large fleet aircraft carriers..."

Nimitz frowned when he heard the strength of his opponent. He knew that the Europeans' large aircraft carriers were the "Zeppelin" class and the "Prussia" class. The standard displacement of these two levels of aircraft carriers is about 30,000 tons. They can carry 60-90 carrier-based aircraft and have a speed of about 33-34 knots. They have strong armor and strong anti-aircraft firepower. Their combat power is roughly equivalent to that of the American "Ethiopia". "X" level.

If 10 ships are dispatched at a time, they can at least be equipped with about 700 commonly used carrier-based aircraft. Moreover, the Fokker 636 (Sea Fury) and Fw190T currently owned by the Germans are stronger in performance than the American F6F and F4U - because Germany does not lack non-ferrous metals and has also obtained British aviation technology, so its aero engines are more powerful than those of the United States. They are far ahead, and the carrier-based aircraft they have built are naturally more advanced than those of the Americans.

Therefore, the 56th Task Force with 8 "Essex" class aircraft carriers must not be able to defeat the Germans with 9-10 large fleet aircraft carriers.

"More than 6,000 nautical miles," Nimitz said thoughtfully, "If we don't take the anti-submarine route, we can get there in 300 hours. Now 72 hours have passed, and there are still more than 200 hours left... So the 56th Task Force You can stay near Valparaiso for up to 10 days.”

"Ten days should be enough." Vice Admiral Horatio said. "Ten days are enough for the Marine Corps to complete the unloading operation. They should also be able to occupy a favorable position near Valparaiso Bay. With luck, they can enter Santiago." It’s not impossible.”

The current 1st Marine Division of the U.S. Marine Corps has a large establishment, with 5 Marine regiments including the 1st, 5th, 4th, 7th, and 11th. The division headquarters also directly administers an amphibious assault battalion and two light armored reconnaissance units. battalion, 2 combat engineer battalions, 1 tank battalion, 1 tank destroyer battalion, 1 reconnaissance battalion, 1 supply battalion and 5 artillery battalions (1 105mm howitzer battalion, 1 155mm howitzer battalion, 1 self-propelled artillery battalion battalion, 1 anti-tank gun battalion, 1 anti-aircraft artillery battalion), with a total of 5 regiments and 14 battalions, with a strength of more than 20,000, and 152 tanks/tank destroyers (76 each of the M4 series and M10 series). The strength is almost as strong as a German Panzergrenadier Division!

In addition to the strengthened 1st Marine Division, more than 150 fighter aircraft belonging to three aviation groups (one each for the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps) arrived in Valparaiso with the 56th Task Force. , as well as a coastal artillery regiment (equipped with M115 203mm howitzer), an anti-aircraft artillery regiment and an Army Corps of Engineers.

In addition, a large amount of supplies, oil, ammunition and vehicles, as well as various construction equipment, were also transported to Valparaiso Bay.

As long as all these troops and supplies are unloaded, the Americans will have a firm foothold in Valparaiso Bay. Task Force 56 can naturally evacuate to the open sea before the arrival of the German fleet (European Combined Fleet).

"Unless Germany has a large number of landing ships that can keep up with the aircraft carrier formation, their large fleet will have no way to deal with our Marines." Nimitz raised his eyebrows, "It's not a big deal even if they block the port. The Marines The supplies will last at least a few months.”

At this point, he suddenly changed the topic: "By the way, has Admiral Halsey's plane arrived?"

"We're almost there," Vice Admiral Horatio raised his wrist to check the time, "Should we go to the airport to meet him?"

"Let's go." Nimitz stood up from his chair, picked up the military cap he put on his desk and put it on his head, "Tonight I will have a serious discussion with this bull about attacking Guyana. What's going on?"

It turned out that while Spruance was assigned to lead the team to attack Chile, Nimitz, who was also the commander of the Two Ocean Fleet, was also actively preparing for the Battle of Guyana. There is no doubt that Halsey is the most ideal candidate to lead the fleet to attack Guyana. Therefore, Nimitz transferred this US Navy general from Hawaii to Panama and appointed him as the commander of the Caribbean Command. Responsible for commanding the 3rd Fleet to attack from the Caribbean Sea.