The Rise of the Third Reich

August 20, morning.

100 nautical miles east of Chile and about 200 nautical miles from Valparaiso Bay.

"10 o'clock, 200 meters away!"

The deck of the Z35 destroyer was extremely busy. The soldiers quickly installed the hedgehog bombs into the launcher located on the bow of the ship, then adjusted the direction, and finally pressed the switch of the launcher to fire 24 hedgehog bombs at short intervals. They were launched one by one, forming an oval barrage with a radius of about 40 meters more than 200 meters away from the front of the destroyer.

At the same time, several other 1938 B-type destroyers cooperating near the Z35 destroyer also fired hedgehog bombs at the same time.

The sound of the splash of ammunition entering the water was particularly clear in the sonar soldier's ears, and what followed was an anxious wait.

Unlike depth bombs that use fixed-depth fuses, hedgehog bombs use trigger fuses that can only detonate when they hit the submarine's shell. However, as long as one detonates, the remaining 23 hedgehog bombs will also explode together under the vibration caused by the explosion, thus surrounding the submarine in a net of fire.

In actual combat, the explosion of a hedgehog bomb is equivalent to the destruction of the boat and the loss of life!

Because no submarine can survive the serial explosion of 24 30-kg hedgehog bombs (16-kg charge).

However, this roar, which can kill a boatload of people, is difficult to hear. In most cases, after the hedgehog hits the water, it is like a stone sinking into the sea and disappears silently. And this time was no exception. 24 Hedgehog bombs entered the water for several minutes, but the sea remained calm.

"One more round!"

At the officer's order, the sailors on the deck began to load the launcher with hedgehog bombs again. A few minutes later, another 24 hedgehog bombs were ejected, and then there was silence again.

Using Hedgehog shells for anti-submarine warfare is so boring. It often goes on for several hours without even hearing a single sound. It is really a big test for the patience and morale of the soldiers on the destroyer.

However, the destroyer Z35 had good luck today. After firing the eighth round of hedgehog bombs, a rumbling explosion suddenly appeared on the sea surface, and a water column mixed with oil exploded, blackening a large area of ​​​​blue. On the sea surface, everyone on the destroyer cheered.

More than ten nautical miles away, on the bridge of the aircraft carrier "Raider", a staff officer breathed a sigh of relief: "Sir, it's sunk!"

Admiral Helmut Haye, commander of the 10th Task Force of the European Combined Fleet (also the commander of the 1st Fleet), nodded slightly.

It's just an American submarine. There's nothing to be afraid of. It's not a submarine that can sail at high speed underwater like the Type 21.

"Did the reconnaissance plane find it?" Helmut Haye asked.

"Not yet." Haye's chief of staff, Lieutenant General Werner Lovish (chief of staff of the 1st Fleet and chief of staff of the 10th Task Force) took the question, "Fw190TE searched all sea areas within a radius of 400 nautical miles, and No American fleet sighted."

The Fw190TE is a two-seat carrier-based reconnaissance bomber that combines the Fw190T (carrier-based combat type) and Fw190E (reconnaissance-bomber type). It also has certain air combat capabilities and night combat capabilities. It is the air patrol of the German aircraft carrier formation.

In 1944, each B41 aircraft carrier generally carried 16 commonly used Fw190TEs. Because this type of aircraft can have a maximum range of 2,400 kilometers with auxiliary fuel tanks and no bombs, which is enough to patrol the 400 nautical miles (740 kilometers) of waters around the aircraft carrier formation. Although it cannot be compared with the Japanese "Caiyun" carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft, it is completely sufficient for the European combined fleet that mainly operates in the relatively narrow Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, there are a large number of reconnaissance Ju288, Me264 and Bv138 seaplanes in the Atlantic Ocean to provide intelligence support to the fleet. There is no need for an ultra-long-range reconnaissance aircraft like the "Caiyun" with a range of 5,000 kilometers.

However, now that the 10th Task Force is in the vast and vast Pacific Ocean, and without the support of shore-based or water-based long-range reconnaissance aircraft, it is really not getting used to it.

"Where are Task Force 11 and Task Force 12? Have they discovered it?" Haye frowned and asked again.

"No," Vice Admiral Lowish replied. "Our submarines deployed in the Gulf of Panama have found nothing. The American aircraft carrier seems to have disappeared into the air."

Haye raised his eyebrows, this is the Pacific Ocean now! The sea area is so open that it is boundless, and without a large number of shore-based and seaplane support, it is almost impossible to rely on 96 Fw190TEs from three task forces to find the deliberately hiding American aircraft carriers.

However, the 32 Fw190TE carrier-based reconnaissance bombers assigned to each task force are enough to prevent US aircraft carriers from sneaking closer.

"Get ready to send out air strike formations," Admiral Helmut Heyer looked at his watch. "Can bomb 3-4 rounds! Full-deck assault, each of the two motherships sends 2 fighter-bomber squadrons (each fighter-bomber squadron is equipped with 16 Fokker 636 or 16 Fw190T), one of which is a Fokker squadron and one is an Fw190 Squadron! Give the 11th and 12th Task Force orders to send the same number of fighter bombers."

The three task forces each dispatched 2 squadrons of Fokker 636s and 2 squadrons of Fw190Ts, for a total of 96 Fokker 636s and 96 Fw190Ts. Since the three task forces are all about 200 nautical miles away from Valparaiso Bay, which is not too far away, they can attack with full ammunition and drop a full 192 250-kilogram bombs on the heads of the Americans in Valparaiso Bay in one go. bombs and 192 500kg bombs (the Fokker 636 can carry 2 500kg bombs when fully loaded). Although it is not enough to cause heavy losses to the 10,000 or 20,000 Americans there, it can still let the Americans know: German aircraft carriers have arrived in the southeastern Pacific in large numbers!

…

"Sir, Valparaiso Bay was attacked by at least 200 German carrier-based aircraft!"

At noon on August 20, Admiral Spruance, who was leading the fleet to wait in the depths of the Pacific 700 nautical miles away from the coast of Chile, received intelligence that Valparaiso Bay had been bombed.

"More than 200 aircraft?" Spruance immediately turned to Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Browning, "How many aircraft carriers did the Little Mermaid report discover before it lost contact?"

"Two large aircraft carriers, Admiral," Lieutenant General Browning said immediately, "The Germans should have adopted the tactics of dispersed formations like us, and may have formed 3-4 double aircraft carrier teams... It seems that the Germans have not Don’t want to take risks.”

In World War II, aircraft carrier formations had two methods: centralized and decentralized. Centralized formations were conducive to organizing large-scale attack aircraft groups. The larger the attack fleet, the more advantageous it is to break through the opponent's defense. But correspondingly, if the aircraft carriers are too concentrated, they can easily be wiped out by the opponent, especially when the aviation combat capabilities of the two sides are relatively close. Therefore, in order to avoid too heavy losses, it is also a great advantage to divide the aircraft carrier into multiple battle groups and spread them out.

In the Battle of Valparaiso Bay that began on August 20, 1944, both warring parties unanimously adopted the tactic of dispersing aircraft carriers. Admiral Helmut Heyer of Germany deployed three dual-carrier task forces, while Spruance of the United States divided his eight aircraft carriers into four aircraft carrier strike groups.

"It's possible that they dispersed their formations to search a larger area." Spruance crossed his arms and frowned, "Now Germany's carrier-based aircraft have better performance than ours, and their pilots are also better than our boys. They are stronger, so they still have a better chance of winning the air battle..."

Spruance's caution was not unreasonable. Since Britain, which had very advanced aviation technology, surrendered to Germany in 1943, the German aviation industry was able to absorb the strengths of the British aviation industry and thus made great progress. The U.S. aviation industry was unable to receive much technical support from the United Kingdom after the British mainland surrendered (some British aviation industry experts still went to the United States), so the aviation industry technology gap that originally existed between the United States and the United States was further widened. .

Among them, the Fokker 636 is equipped with the BMW 803 18-cylinder air-cooled engine developed by absorbing the Sagittarius engine technology of the British Bristol Company. Without using any combustion technology, the power can reach 2480 horsepower. The power of the Fw1W801F 14-cylinder air-cooled engine reaches 2,400 horsepower.

After using powerful engines, the maximum speed of both Fokker 636 and Fw190T reached 750 km/h.

Among them, the Fokker 636, which has excellent mid- and low-altitude performance, can reach the highest speed at an altitude of 5,500 meters, and this aircraft can also climb to an altitude of 9,000 meters in 9 minutes and 30 seconds. Its climbing performance exceeds that of any known fighter. The mid- and low-altitude dogfighting capabilities can completely crush the previous king of mid- and low-altitude Fokker Zero, and defeating the American F6F is no longer a problem.

In addition, the Fokker 636's firepower is also extremely fierce. It is equipped with four 20mm cannons and has 580 rounds of ammunition. It can easily shoot down American SBD carrier-based dive bombers and TBF carrier-based torpedo bombers.

Although the Fw190T has mediocre performance at medium and low altitudes, above 6,000 meters, even the P47D can only compete with it.

"Sir, do we want to launch an air strike? The first attack wave is ready."

Faced with Lieutenant General Browning's question, Spruance hesitated, thought for a while and said: "We can use shuttle bombing method, let the aircraft land at the airport in Valparaiso Bay, and the aircraft carrier will release the first attack wave. Then retreat immediately, so that the aircraft carrier can be preserved no matter what.

Now we must keep the aircraft carrier, because only by keeping the aircraft carrier can we attract the German aircraft carrier! "