The Rise of the Third Reich

"Sir, the air raid alert has been lifted and the American plane has left."

"Report damage."

"Seidlitz was hit by another torpedo and two 500-pound bombs, lost power, and tilted 15 degrees to the left.

The Sekt was hit again by three bombs, two of which were 500-pound bombs and one was a 1,000-pound bomb...

The Prussia was hit by three bombs, one of which was a 1,000-pound bomb that penetrated the armored flight deck amidships.

The Bohemia was hit by two bombs, both 500-pound bombs, and there were no serious injuries.

Richthofen (Kesselring-class aircraft carrier) was hit by a 1,000-pound bomb, the hangar was destroyed, and the entire ship was on fire.

The battleship Hindenburg was hit by two bombs. A 500-pound bomb hit the seaplane deck, and a 1,000-pound bomb hit the bow deck and exploded in the petty officer's cabin. Both bombs caused a fire, but the current fire intensity Get control.

The battleship Provence was hit by two 500-pound bombs, which destroyed the main gun turret amidships and caused a fire..."

After listening to the losses reported by the staff, General Hoffman did not even frown.

Although the two aircraft carriers Seidlitz and Sekt are probably going to sink. Prussia and Richthofen were at least severely damaged and had to be docked for overhaul. The battleship Provence was also severely damaged. If it were to be docked, it might not be repairable before the end of the war... It would be better to dismantle it.

However, this level of loss is nothing to the European Community Navy. There are plenty of Kesselring-class aircraft carriers! The decisive battle between the surface fleets relies on missiles. As long as the Gneisenau and Wilhelm II are fine.

"Can the Provence still maintain its speed?" Hoffman asked.

"There are no problems yet."

Hoffman nodded and began to issue orders: "Task Force 21 retreats, and the 401st and 402nd Aircraft Carrier Groups follow Task Force 21 in retreat.

In addition, permission was given to abandon the Seidlitz and Sekt.

Task Force 20 was reorganized and formed a battleship flotilla with Hindenburg as the flagship, followed in order by Hindenburg, Bismarck, Veneto, Vittorio, Imperial, and Provence;

A missile flotilla was formed with Gneisenau as the flagship, followed by Gneisenau, Wilhelm II, Deutschland, Graf Spee, and Admiral Scheer;

The cruiser fleet was formed with Prinz Eugen as the flagship, followed in sequence by Prinz Eugen, Admiral Hipper, Blücher, Hamburg (M41 class), Frankfurt (M41 class), Hannover (M41 Class), Danze (M41 class) and Cologne (M41 class), Diguet Trouan, Z59, Z60;

With Vienna (SP41 class) as the flagship, the first patrol team is formed, consisting of Vienna, Z38, Z40, Z41, Z42, Z43, Z44, Z45, Z46, Z47, and Z48. .

With the Glorious (Jean Garissonier-class light cruiser) as the flagship, the second cruise force was formed, consisting of the Glorious, the Mogador, the Volta, the Kleber, the Utopia, and the Terrifying. , the Formidable, the Audacious, the Lomaline, the Victory, the Eagle. "

Hoffman formed five battle groups in one breath, then he paused and said: "The battleship battleship and the missile ship battle group formed a column, with the battleship in front and the missile ship in the back. They were on the far right side of the large formation, and then moved towards On the left are the columns composed of the cruiser team, the first drive cruiser team and the first drive cruiser team. The distance between each column is maintained at about 5,000 meters.

Four columns faced the American fleet at a speed of 21 knots (this was the maximum speed of the Provence)! "

…

"Four columns, 40-50 ships, speed 20 knots...what's the distance?"

Because there were F-13 ultra-long-range reconnaissance aircraft in the sky, Halsey knew the general situation of the German fleet shortly after the formation was completed.

"About 85,000 meters, the two sides are sailing head-on, and they can exchange fire in 30 minutes." Major General Callahan said to Halsey, "The opponent's speed is slower, maybe because the Provence or the Hindenburg was injured and slowed down. If they By maintaining a speed of 20 knots, we have a chance to seize the lead of the T formation. "

Of course, the position at the head of the T-shaped formation must be snatched. Halsey currently has 4 Iowa-class, 4 Soviet-class, and 1 North Carolina-class, all of which are 3-mounted 406mm main guns. firepower, a total of 81 406mm cannons, and radar fire control to help with aiming. If you get the T-shaped array head, these 81 cannons can focus on shooting one target. A maximum of 3 rounds is a cross-fire, 5 rounds will almost hit the target, and 10 rounds may be enough to sink a Hindenburg-class.

"You can grab the head of the T-shaped formation," Halsey said, "but the combat distance between the battleship formations should be kept at about 30,000 meters."

For defense against visual remote control guided missiles, 30 kilometers should be far enough! If it is further away, it will be difficult for the radar to detect the opponent - due to the influence of the curvature of the earth, it is difficult for shipborne radar to see more than 40 kilometers.

"Also, pay attention to the Germans' lightning strike formation," Halsey thought for a moment, then added, "Arrange two...no, arrange three of our own lightning strike formations next to the battleship formation. In short, we cannot let the enemy get close to the battleship. . We will conduct bombardment at a distance of more than 30,000!”

"Yes, sir."

Shortly after the main force of the US 30th Task Force completed the bombardment formation, the radar on the Hindenburg battleship had already discovered the lead of the US fleet 40 kilometers away. At the same time, the Bv138D seaplane in the air also sent the same report to the fleet flagship Gneisenau.

"Sir, 40,000 meters!"

Major General Meyer turned his head and looked at Admiral Hoffman, "The Reaper II missile will be launched soon."

"Refuel the missile!" Hoffman said.

The fleet's gunnery staff immediately picked up the phone and conveyed the commander's order. On the missile decks on the left and right sides of the two missile ships Gneisenau and Wilhelm II, groups of missile soldiers who had long put on gas masks and chemical defense uniforms (missile fuel is highly toxic) and were waiting for orders immediately opened the rear cover of the missile launch tube, and two halves of their bodies got in. The two valves for refueling were opened manually, and the fuel with hydrogen peroxide as the main component was quickly added to the missile fuel tank. After the instrument on the valve indicated that the fuel filling was complete, the missile soldiers manually tightened the valve again.

Some missile soldiers climbed up the ladder welded to the missile launch tube to the launch port of the missile launch tube, manually removed the launch port cover, and then turned on the camera and radio transceiver switches on the missile head.

After completing a series of pre-launch preparations, the missile soldiers evacuated the missile deck and returned to the missile depot below the missile deck. There were 20 spare missiles (Gneisenau and Wilhelm II both had 20 spare missiles) waiting for them to test and assemble.

At the same time, in the missile launch command center of the two missile ships, 20 CRT monitors (that is, black and white TVs) were all turned on, and the images displayed were all a dark white sky, which was exactly the scene captured by the cameras on the 20 "Reaper" II missiles.

In front of each monitor, there was a missile operator sitting, who would transmit the remote control signal to the radio receiving device on the "Reaper" II missile through several buttons and a handle, as well as a set of radio signal transmitters with several specific frequencies (which can implement frequency hopping). Then these signals will be converted into mechanical instructions to control the elevators on the missile wings and the rudders on the tail. In this way, the missile can change its course in the air, thus achieving precise strikes.

This set of remote control and signal transmission technology, which is definitely considered low-level in later generations, is definitely a black technology that can change the course of the war in 1944!

If Germany had not mastered this black technology, then the winner of the Bermuda Islands Battle would undoubtedly be Admiral Halsey of the United States.

At 4:30 pm on September 6, 1944, Halsey did not know that the Germans' black technology had become so crazy. So Halsey, who was sitting in the command tower of the battleship "Iowa", was very sure that he would soon become an American hero and a defender of the free world.

Now the distance between the German 4-column ship column and the battleship "Iowa" is less than 40,000 meters. Not only can the radar detect the position of the other side, but the seaplanes of both sides have also been ejected into the sky and began to approach to observe the queues and positions of enemy ships.

The results of the seaplane's close observation gave Admiral Halsey some confidence - two large German surface ships, either missile ships or heavy torpedo ships, were placed behind the six German battleships. It was obvious that the Germans wanted to use these battleships to cover them approaching the American battleship formation.

But how could Halsey let the Germans succeed?

"Sir, 38,000 meters!" When the navigation staff once again reported the distance between the two sides, Admiral Halsey immediately issued a series of orders.

"Turn right 30 degrees! Increase speed to 28 knots!"

"Guns, open fire immediately after closing to 33,000 meters, fire in unison, don't worry about hitting, aim at the Hindenburg-class ship at the fastest speed and fire 5 rounds. The Iowa will be responsible for unified observation and aiming."

"Order the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd torpedo squadrons to take turns to attack the German fleet while the battleship squadron is firing, and fire torpedoes at the German fleet to prevent them from approaching the battleship. Order the escort squadron to follow the battleship squadron and be ready to release smoke at any time."

"Yes, sir!"