The Rise of the Third Reich

The decision made in the Oval Office of the White House soon turned into a huge fleet that quickly moved south along the Mexican coastline - Task Force 16 commanded by Vice Admiral Raymond Spruance!

2 Yorktown-class aircraft carriers (USS Enterprise, USS Yorktown), 1 Independence-class aircraft carrier (USS Independence), 2 Northampton-class heavy cruisers (USS Northampton, USS Chicago), 2 heavy cruisers USS Penkra (USS Penkra) Sacra, Salt Lake City), 2 Brooklyn-class light cruisers (Brooklyn, Phoenix), 2 Cleveland-class light cruisers (Cleveland, Columbia), and another one including 19 destroyers Destroyer Squadron 16.4.

There are a full 30 warships of various types, which is equivalent to 75% of Japan's First Mobile Fleet rushing to the waters near Clipperton Atoll in terms of number of ships. And this is not all the strength of the U.S. Navy in the waters near Panama, including the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

If you count the 9th Fleet stationed in Panama City, the 11th Task Force composed of the main force of the 2nd Fleet, which is coming from Mayport Naval Base on the Atlantic coast, and the 3rd Fleet led by Admiral Halsey.

The number of U.S. warships near the Panama Canal must have exceeded all the warships owned by the Japanese Combined Fleet, and the total number of aircraft carriers of various types is as high as 16!

As the world's number one industrial power, the U.S. shipbuilding industry is finally beginning to show its power.

After a series of naval battle failures in 1941 and 42, the size of the U.S. Navy fleet, instead of shrinking, has rapidly expanded! Aircraft carriers, light cruisers and destroyers all launched from the slipway like dumplings, becoming the new main force of the US two-ocean fleet!

However, what most satisfies Vice Admiral Spruance, the commander of Task Force 16, is not the dumpling-like new warships, but cutting-edge carrier-based fighter jets such as the F4U and F6F.

Although they may not necessarily be able to fight against the legendary German jets, the Japanese Zero fighters are certainly no match - and the many aerial battles that have taken place in the Pacific Theater since the winter of 1942 can definitely prove this. Whether it is the Japanese Zero or the German Fw-190 carrier-based version, F4U and F6F can compete equally.

Therefore, Spruance is very sure that as long as the United States can implement the "Pacific First" strategy and gather 30-50 aircraft carriers of various types (including escort aircraft carriers) and more than 2,000 F4U and F6F fighter jets, then the counterattack will be The goal of the Hawaiian Islands can be achieved within 1943!

But just when the United States was about to launch a major counterattack in the Pacific, the Germans on the other side of the Atlantic jumped out first. This is really abominable.

"Is there any news from the Caribbean?" Spruance turned around and asked Captain George Murray, the captain of the 16.5th Aircraft Carrier Group, who was looking down at the battle report. He was also the commander of the 16th Task Force. chief of staff.

"There was another fight over Guyana. This time 4 B-17s were lost...but the German jets are not invincible!" Colonel Murray replied while handing the battle report to Spook. Runes.

He was talking about a test operation, which confirmed the power of German jets with the loss of 4 B-17s, and also tested the superior airspace of this aircraft - this time the B-17 fleet broke into Guyana from 5000-6000 meters. In the sky above, four German jets launched dive attacks at them from high altitudes, and shot down four of them with one-shot tactics.

But then the four German jets were chased by the P51. If it weren't for the Fokker Zero hovering in the airspace below 5,000 meters, which also gave the P51 a headache, two of the four German jets would have definitely been attacked. The P51 was destroyed (this was because the jet engine was a bit slow to accelerate at this time).

Obviously, the advantageous airspace of German jets is at high altitudes and very high altitudes. The applicable tactic is to leave in one strike. They have no advantage in airspace below 7,000 meters, and even need Fokker Zero to provide cover.

…

"Has the American fleet arrived at the Panama Canal?"

While Spruance's attention was attracted by Me262, Ozawa Jisaburo was worried about the missing U.S. Third Fleet.

Before entering the Caribbean, the U.S. Third Fleet had been tracked by German seaplanes and submarines. However, once it entered the Caribbean, the German seaplanes did not dare to enter, and the submarines sent to track it were sent out a few days ago. Lost contact (killed by US destroyer).

Then Halsey's Third Fleet seemed to evaporate. Even the Japanese and Germans didn't know where this big fish went?

However, Ozawa, who was rushing to the waters near Clipperton Island, was not worried at first about not being able to find the American fleet. Because Ozawa believed that they were going to the Panama Canal, and the German intelligence agency had already set up many spies in the canal zone - for such a large fleet to pass through, those German spies would have been able to find it if they were not blind.

Therefore, what Ozawa is really worried about is that his first mobile fleet cannot arrive near the Panama Canal in time and misses the best opportunity to launch an air attack.

But it is already March 16, and Ozawa's fleet has passed through the waters near Clipperton Atoll last night, but the disappeared US fleet still has not appeared - if the distance and time are taken into account, they should have arrived by now.

"We haven't arrived yet," Furumura Keizang shook his head, "I guess the time should be here..."

While he was speaking, Captain Hersmann, the liaison officer of the German Navy, quickly walked into the bridge command center of the Akagi aircraft carrier, holding the telegram he had just received in his hand.

"Mr. Commander, Mr. Chief of Staff," he reported in English, "an American fleet, including two Independence-class aircraft carriers and three Borg-class escort carriers, has probably left the Mayport Navy in Jacksonville. base."

"What? Five more aircraft carriers?" Ozawa Jisaburo heard the news, and his scalp couldn't help but feel a little numb.

The American fleet that left the Norfolk base and entered the Caribbean before was likely to have 5 aircraft carriers. The Americans also had a fleet in the Panama Canal and 3 escort aircraft carriers. Plus the fleet departing from Jacksonville...that's 13 An aircraft carrier!

And these 13 aircraft carriers are certainly not all the American aircraft carriers... There are really many American aircraft carriers!

"Your Excellency, Commander," seeing Jisaburo Ozawa's "grandma's face" wrinkled, little Hersman should definitely say some comforting words, "According to intelligence, the American Independence-class light aircraft carrier and Borg-class escort aircraft carrier are There are not many aircraft carriers, only 30 for the former and 28 for the latter. Although the Americans are likely to have 10-15 aircraft carriers concentrated near the Panama Canal, most of them are light aircraft carriers and escort aircraft carriers, with 100 aircraft. There are only three Essex-class aircraft carriers on board.”

100 carriers!

Hearing the number of Essex-class ships, Ozawa Jisaburo couldn't help but want to sigh. The three Essex-class ships have 300 aircraft on board, and the remaining 10 light aircraft carriers (escort aircraft carriers) have at least 290 aircraft. That is 590 aircraft on board. How can there be 530 aircraft in common use?

And how big is the First Mobile Fleet? There are only 496 aircraft in common use among the nine aircraft carriers, which is 34 fewer than the Americans.

Moreover, the Americans have deployed at least 600 commonly used aircraft in the Panama Canal Zone. If the "sailboat attacks on the United States" these days did not force the United States to dispatch Panama aircraft, then the number of aircraft between Japan and the United States in the Battle of Panama would be The ratio will be at least 1:2!

What worries Ozawa even more is not the comparison of the number of aircraft in the upcoming Panama Battle - although the First Mobile Fleet has only half the number of aircraft of the enemy, it has top-notch ace pilots. These elite pilots accumulated since before the war broke out are enough to make up for about 1 times the numerical disadvantage.

But the huge gap in the number of commonly used aircraft between Japan and the United States is what worries Ozawa Jisaburo most. Due to tight oil supplies, the scale of Japanese pilot training has never been able to increase.

Therefore, the total number of commonly used aircraft owned by the Japanese Army and Navy Air Force is less than 7,000, while the total number of commonly used aircraft owned by the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries is said to be more than 28,000, and it is still growing!

Ozawa Jisaburo knew that at this stage of the war with the United States, Japan's first-mover advantage had basically been exhausted. The United States has completely entered a wartime state. If Japan cannot achieve another great victory in the Battle of Panama, the war between Japan and the United States will soon enter a stage of competition in national strength.

"Your Majesty Commander, the radar has detected an enemy plane!"

Just when Ozawa Jisaburo was worried about the prospect of war, the radar officer on the Akagi aircraft carrier suddenly loudly reported: "Bearing 74, quantity 1, distance 120, altitude 2000..."

"Your Excellency, Commander, it must be an American seaplane!" Furumura Keizo immediately said to Ozawa, "Let the helicopter eject it."

"Send 4 Zeros." Ozawa ordered in a low voice.

He didn't show any panic. Considering the position of the First Mobile Fleet, it was normal for him to be discovered.

"Commander, we are still 1,300 kilometers away from the Galapagos Islands and 2,200 kilometers away from the Panama Canal." Gucun Qizang added, "We can attack the Galapagos Islands first, and then bomb the Panama Canal. "

Ozawa Jisaburo shook his head and said: "There is no need to attack the Galapagos Islands. As long as we keep a distance of more than 1,200 kilometers from the Galapagos Islands, the aircraft there will not pose a threat to us. We... continue to Panama Canal forward!”