The Rise of the Third Reich

Rumble...

When the loud noise came, an orange-red fireball about several hundred meters high suddenly rose from the dark sea. The French naval officers and soldiers cheered, which made all the Americans riding in the lifeboats or wearing life jackets soaking in the sea feel numb.

Because the one blooming with this orange-red fire ball is the USS Tuscaloosa heavy cruiser of the US Navy! This heavy cruiser with a standard displacement of 10,110 tons and a crew of 708 officers and men had been hit by the Provence's 340mm-caliber main gun before, causing a fire. The fire turned it into a target for artillery shells in the darkness. After the American destroyers turned around to salvage the fallen officers and soldiers, the four battleships of the "Jean-Sure Formation" aimed all their main guns at it. Tuscaloosa, just a few salvoes turned it into a dynamite keg.

Admiral Halsey, who had been transferred from the sinking light cruiser USS Little Rock to a lifeboat, was just looking at the Tuscaloosa like a huge fireworks, his heart full of regret - he should The remaining American ships on the sea were ordered to disband and escape individually, so that at least some of the ships could escape.

But now he has no way to correct his mistake because there is no communication radio on the lifeboat. Now he can only wait quietly for the verdict of fate...most likely death or being captured by the Germans!

"Sir, another heavy cruiser has been hit!" a U.S. Navy lieutenant who was huddled with Halsey on a lifeboat suddenly shouted. It turned out that a huge fire appeared on the dark sea in the distance. Based on the analysis of the position where the fire rose, it was most likely an American heavy cruiser that was hit, either the New Orleans or the Houston.

Now, two of the three American heavy cruisers responsible for blocking the pursuit at the rear have been destroyed, and the remaining one will definitely be destroyed soon. After that, the four German battleships will use large-caliber main guns to bombard the destroyer that salvaged the fallen American naval officers and soldiers. At the same time, those German submarines underwater will definitely not let go of the destroyers who are rescuing people...

"How far are we from Bermuda now?" Admiral Halsey suddenly asked in a trembling tone.

"Probably...about a few hundred nautical miles, right?"

Halsey smiled wryly and shook his head, saying, "It seems we will never be able to return to the United States...at least not until the war is over."

As he spoke, the American admiral reached out and touched something in his waist. An American sailor next to him quickly pressed his arm: "Admiral, don't commit suicide, you may go to hell!"

"What are you talking about?" Halsey shook the man off hard. "I'm looking for cigarettes. Before the Germans beat me to death or take me away, I want to smoke an authentic Cuban cigar again."

"Admiral," another sailor asked, "are you saying we will be captured by the Germans?"

"Probably..." Halsey lit his cigar. In fact, he was fully expecting to be captured now - because he knew that the twenty or so destroyers had no chance to capture people. If they insisted on doing this, not only would they not be able to save many officers and soldiers who fell into the water, but they would also most likely get themselves involved.

On September 6, 1944, at 11:50 p.m., the lifeboat in which the U.S. Navy Admiral William Frederick Halsey Jr., commander of the 3rd Fleet, known as "The Bull", was hit by a French ship Discovered by the large destroyer Mogador.

At this time, the battle at sea is over! In addition to the three Iowa-class ships that have sunk into the sea, the Americans have lost three heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and 25 destroyers! In the end, less than 10 destroyers gave up the rescue mission and fled the battlefield under the cover of night.

The French and German ships that ended the battle did not evacuate, but began to salvage the American naval officers and soldiers who fell into the water. A conservative estimate is that there are at least 10,000 Americans in the sea waiting to be rescued by the fascists and Nazis!

Although Hessmann had no interest in American prisoners, Hitler gave the German Ministry of Defense an order to capture American prisoners of war as much as possible... because most of them are misguided Aryans who can be educated to become American Nazis. of!

A dazzling searchlight beam swept over Halsey, and then a voice shouted in English: "We are a French Navy destroyer, ordered to salvage and rescue American naval officers and soldiers who fell into the water. Please cooperate and surrender to us... "

Just surrender, I think my life can be saved. After all, this is not the Pacific Ocean. Both warring parties still abide by the rules of "knight war", and captured officers and soldiers will be treated more humanely.

Halsey, who knew the "chivalry" of the European army, did not choose pointless resistance, nor did he commit suicide. Instead, he became a prisoner obediently - in fact, he had a **** on him. The poison distributed to the Pacific Fleet after the discovery of the "Mass Grave on Nihau Island"... If we were fighting the Japanese now, Halsey would definitely rather die than be captured.

…

Guyana, Georgetown Battlefield, September 6, 10:30 pm.

It was a hazy night, filled with smoke, and the dark and low sky above the Demerara River was brightly illuminated by bursts of artillery fire and explosions. The orange and dark red rays of light were like lightning in the dark night, tearing apart the ink-like night. The roar of artillery shells reached the Georgetown Island Airport, which is more than 60 kilometers away from the coastline. This is a grassland airport hidden in the tropical rainforest (it is a repaired airport covered with turf and camouflage nets. It looks very green from the air. Difficult to detect), it not only has a carefully camouflaged runway, but also a camouflaged and sturdy reinforced concrete machine bunker, ammunition depot and oil depot.

Since the U.S. military landed in Georgetown, U.S. bombers taking off from Trinidad have repeatedly carried out air strikes on the Georgetown Island base, but they have never been able to destroy this important airport on the front line.

And tonight, as tens of thousands of Nazi fighters and freedom fighters on the battlefields of Georgetown continue to fight life-and-death battles on the battlefields on both sides of the Demerara River. The "Grassland Airport" on Georgetown Island, which always lay dormant and silent during the day, is now bustling with people. Eight searchlights located near the woods and covered with green camouflage nets have emitted milky white beams of light. The entire tarmac was illuminated to every detail.

The soldiers used a trolley to push the 450mm aerial torpedo that had just been taken out of the ammunition depot, trotted all the way to the belly of the Ju188E-2 medium bomber, then raised it and fixed it on the pylon, and finally pulled it off. The safety latch was fitted with a fuze.

A Ju188E-2 medium bomber can carry two 450mm F5 aviation torpedoes. The 30 Ju188E-2 medium bombers currently lined up on the tarmac can carry a total of 60 F5 aviation torpedoes. Although this 450mm caliber torpedo is not powerful enough, the warhead charge is only 200 kilograms. But the "Soviet" class, which is used to deal with insufficient underwater mine protection armor, is more than enough.

Since tonight is a "one-way bombing" mission, the bomber will make an emergency landing at sea, so the crew members boarded the plane carrying inflatable rubber boats. Colonel Peltz, who was in charge of commanding the air strike, and several of his crew members also stuffed a black rubber boat (not inflated) that could hold 5 people into the large cabin of the Ju188.

After setting up the rubber boat, Colonel Peltz and his crew members all put on orange inflatable lifeguards and carried parachutes on their backs. Finally they got into position and waited attentively for the order to take off.

At 10:35, the voice of Air Force General Joseph Kamhuber, commander of the Georgetown Joint Command, came from the earpiece on Colonel Peltz’s head: “Dietrich, we just received the message from the light cruiser Vienna. Telegram, the target position is 27.14 degrees north latitude and 56.11 degrees west longitude."

The light cruiser Vienna is an SP-class reconnaissance cruiser. It has a very good radar and two Ar.196 seaplanes. Its speed and firepower are not weak. Therefore, it can follow a Soviet-class battleship all the way and act as the eyes and ears of the bomber group.

"Roger, General." Colonel Peltz repeated, "The target location is 27.14 degrees north latitude and 56.11 degrees west longitude."

The navigator beside him, Sergeant Wolf Schmidt, quickly recorded the coordinates on his chart, and then handed the chart to Colonel Peltz for confirmation.

Joseph Kamhuber added: "The target position is 2,300 kilometers away. In four and a half hours, the light cruiser Vienna will turn on the radio to guide the bomber group."

"Got it, Admiral," Colonel Peltz replied. "We will definitely find this Soviet-class ship."

At this time, three green flares were raised in front of the airport runway, which meant that the bomber could take off.

The engine began to roar, and the propeller turned into a halo under the light. Colonel Peltz's plane, as the commander-in-chief of the air attack, would be the first to take off as planned. Since this operation almost took off at maximum weight, Colonel Peltz's Ju188 taxied on the "grass" runway for nearly 1,000 meters before leaving the ground and flying into the sky.

Then, the Georgetown Island Airport released Ju188 bombers at a rate of one per minute, and all 30 Ju188E-2 bombers took off after 30 minutes. With the help of airborne radar, 30 aircraft formed a fleet and roared toward the northeast sea under the leadership of Colonel Peltz's plane.