The Rise of the Third Reich

"Oh God, all four Iowa-class ships were destroyed so quickly...is this true?"

"That's the Iowa class. Such a big battleship, in just a few minutes..."

"It's terrible, it's absolutely terrible!"

September 6, 1944, 4:50 pm. On the battlefield of the fleet battle about 500 nautical miles southeast of Bermuda, it was not only Halsey and his American freedom fighters who were frightened by the "Reaper" 2 remotely controlled missiles, but also the Nazis and fascists in the European Community fleet. The elements were frightened by their own murderous weapons. Even Admiral Hoffman, who personally issued the missile attack order, did not expect the saturation strike of the Reaper 2 missile to be so powerful.

After all, the Reaper 2 and Reaper 1 missiles had not been used in actual combat before, and even the targets were only abandoned merchant ships. There are only a few targets like the "Iowa" class battleships in the world. Of course, they cannot be used as targets for the Reaper-2 missiles.

Therefore, in the imagination of Hoffman and others, the first round of missile saturation strikes launched by the two missile ships could severely damage up to four Iowa-class ships. It would not completely cause them to lose their combat effectiveness. They would also need to use the battleship's cannons. Go and solve them finally.

But now, one Iowa-class ship has been sunk, and the other three have been burned into fireships. If a fire of this level continues, it will definitely explode the ammunition depot. The only way to save yourself is to fill the ammunition depot with water.

But once the ammunition depot is filled with water, the remaining three Iowa-class ships will become target ships.

In other words, with just one missile attack, four battleships, which are the third most powerful in the world (according to the German judgment, the Yamato class is the first, the Hindenburg class is the second, and the Iowa class is the third) are finished. It either sinks or completely loses its combat effectiveness.

"Sir, the enemy destroyer is casting smoke!"

"Sir, the American lightning strike formation has accelerated its charge!"

The sound of the staff report woke General Hoffman out of shock. He turned and looked at the chief of staff, Major General Meyer.

"Admiral, the Americans are running!" Major General Meyer said.

"We can't let them escape!" Hoffman waved his fist, "Let three heavy cruisers including the battleship Provence, Deutschland, Graf Spee, and Admiral Scheer join the second drive cruiser to disperse them. American Lightning Strike Formation.”

He paused, and then issued an order to reorganize the fleet: "Hindenburg, Wilhelm II, Prinz Eugen, Hamburg, Z47, Z48, Z59, and Z60 formed the first missile fleet. To pursue the No. 5 ship (USS Washington) of the enemy battleship formation.

Gneisenau, Bismarck, Blücher, Frankfurt, Z38, Z40, Z41, and Z42 formed the second island bomb squadron to pursue the No. 6 ship (Soviet Union) of the enemy battleship formation.

Veneto, Vittorio, Reich, Admiral Hipper, Hannover, Z43, Z44, Z45, and Z46 formed the first battleship squadron to pursue No. 7 of the enemy battleship formation. Ship (Soviet Ukraine).

Hamburg and Danze formed the first cruiser squadron to track the No. 8 ship (Soviet Belorussia) of the enemy battleship formation.

Vienna, Digei Trouan, and Cologne formed the second cruiser squadron to track the No. 9 ship (Soviet Russia) of the enemy battleship formation. "

"Admiral, what should I do if there are three Iowa-class ships floating on the water?" Major General Meyer discovered that his superiors had "ignored" the three Iowa-class ships that had not yet sunk - although these three ships were It's half dead. Even if it is dragged back by the Americans, it will take 6-12 months or even longer to repair it.

But I am always unwilling to sink it!

"Let Bv138D be responsible for monitoring, and then notify the 1st submarine group and let them solve it." Admiral Hoffman has no intention of sending the three Iowa-class ships back to the United States for overhaul. He gave the task of finally destroying them to a dozen Type 21 submarines of the 1st Submarine Group.

These submarines had been following the activities of Task Force 21 of the European Community Combined Fleet, and after the merger of Task Force 21 and Task Force 20, they accepted the command of Task Force 20.

However, Hoffman did not let them participate in the fleet decisive battle, and ordered them to ambush near the battlefield and be responsible for picking up leaks. Although the Type 21 U-boat was very fast underwater, it had to catch up with the battleships traveling at more than 20 knots. It's impossible, so it can only be used against battleships that have been severely damaged and slowed down.

…

"Sir, the Germans have also disbanded their formation."

In the command tower of the heavily damaged battleship "Iowa", the staff reported the situation just discovered by the lookout post.

"Sir, it seems that their target is not us." Major General Callahan held up the telescope and observed for a while, then he breathed a sigh of relief and said to Halsey.

"The Germans don't want to let go of one of our battleships!" Halsey sighed. "I would rather they sink the Iowa."

"Sir, the light cruiser USS Little Rock has arrived." Captain Mike Rae, the captain of the USS Iowa, hurriedly walked into the command tower, gave Halsey a military salute and reported, "Please tell Fleet Command Transfer immediately."

The battleship Iowa can no longer assume the responsibility of the fleet flagship. As the fleet commander, Halsey must transfer with his own headquarters. After ordering the four Soviet-class and USS Washington battleships to retreat immediately, Halsey chose the Cleveland-class light cruiser USS Little Rock, which was escorting the battleships nearby, as the new flagship of the fleet.

Halsey nodded and said to his chief of staff, Major General Callahan: "Let's go...go to the Little Rock to see what else can be done."

…

"What's their speed?"

"About 28 knots, which should be the maximum speed of the Soviet class."

"How much can we keep?"

"At 25 knots, we can only drive so fast before the missile deck completes the loading operation. But as soon as the missiles are loaded, we can pursue it at the top speed of 31 knots."

"How much time will it take to complete the filling operation?"

"It takes up to 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, 20 missiles will be ready for launch."

After listening to the report from the captain of the guided missile battleship Gneisenau, Admiral Hoffman nodded with satisfaction.

It takes 30 minutes to complete a series of tasks such as missile loading, fueling and pre-launch inspection, which is not too slow for the current level of automation.

In other words, if Halsey had not ordered the formation to be disbanded, but had chosen to fight to the bitter end, the five battleships in his hands would still have been a lose-lose fight against Leifman's six battleships.

However, Halsey did not know the reality of the German missile ships at all. After encountering two rounds of attacks and suffering heavy losses, it was understandable that he chose to retreat.

"It will be thrown down at most 1.5 nautical miles in 30 minutes. It only takes a little time to recover." Admiral Hoffman did some mental calculations. "In up to 2 hours, we can kill the Soviet-class ship, the Wilhelm II. It should also be able to kill the Washington. The three Veneto-class ships of the First Battleship Squadron should also be able to sink one Soviet-class ship, so there will only be two Soviet-class ships left..."

Speaking of the two Soviet-class ships that were not tracked by battleships and missile ships, Admiral Hoffman couldn't help but frown.

Halsey's decisive retreat also created a big problem for Hoffman. According to the original plan, Hoffman's fleet would first use missiles to severely damage four Iowa-class ships, and then use battleship guns to cripple four Soviet-class ships and the USS Washington - although the four Soviet-class ships and the USS Washington were in On paper, its strength exceeds that of Hoffman's six battleships, but Hoffman knows that the Soviet-class armor is very watery. In fact, it is a first-class battleship that is externally strong but moderately capable.

As long as you are not afraid of losses, you can use the six battleships of the European Community's 20th Task Force to defeat the four Soviet-class ships and the Washington.

Moreover, it only takes 30-40 minutes for the Gneisenau and Wilhelm II to complete reloading and launch 40 Reaper 2 missiles again. By then, all nine American battleships will be wiped out.

But Halsey decisively ordered his battleships to disband and flee.

"Admiral, why not report this situation to the Atlantic Front Command." Rear Admiral Meyer said, "Perhaps the 3rd Fleet or other forces can be used to intercept it."

Hoffman nodded, "Let the first and second cruiser teams follow closely. Don't lose them. If you lose them, there's really nothing you can do."

…

"Two Soviet-class ships ran away?"

Tsosen, General Staff Joint Intelligence Center. Hessmann, who was in high spirits, immediately frowned slightly when he heard that two Soviet-class ships might have slipped through the net.

According to intelligence, the Americans will soon have two new Iowa-class ships in service. If two more Soviet-class ships are put into service, their super battleship fleet will reach four.

This is not good news for the Battle of the Caribbean that is about to begin soon!

"Can we catch them?" Hersman asked.

"At least one can be captured." Redl took over the topic. "The Soviet Union's speed is 5 knots slower than the Wilhelm II class, 3 knots slower than the Gneisenau, and 6 knots slower than the Veneto class. If they If the Wilhelm II, the Gneisenau and the three Veneto-class ships cannot be far away, then the Wilhelm II, the Gneisenau and the three Veneto-class ships can solve their own goals and then Go after 2 Soviet-class ships.

According to current reports, Wilhelm II, Gneisenau and the three Veneto-class ships are all pursuing westward, that is, toward the Bermuda Islands. The two Soviet-class ships fled to the northwest and southwest respectively. We can mobilize the aircraft carrier Zeppelin to pursue the Soviet Union fleeing to the northwest, and launch an air attack after dawn tomorrow. "

"Is there another one?" Hessman asked, "Is there any way?"

Redl shook his head and was about to answer no, but Air Force Commander Kesselin suddenly interjected: "There is also a way to dispatch the Ju188 from the Georgetown Island base for night attacks."