The Rise of the Third Reich

"Torpedo! Starboard forward!"

"Anti-impact, prepare!"

"boom……"

Two black barracuda-like torpedoes slammed into the burly body of the Akagi aircraft carrier from under the blue waves, but only made a loud noise - if the Japanese ship-borne anti-aircraft gun system is a fatal shortcoming, Then the American torpedoes are a huge joke.

The MK14 torpedo used by their submarines is a big iron rod. If one or two of ten of them explode normally, you are lucky. The MK13 torpedo used by the naval aviation is not much better. Not only is it slow and has a short range, but the delivery conditions are very harsh. What's even more disgusting is that it often fails to explode.

It is precisely because of these torpedoes with terrible performance that the effectiveness of the Americans' diplomatic-breaking operations in the Pacific has been greatly reduced. So far, they have not been enough to cause fatal losses to the Japanese.

In the Battle of Panama on March 17, the Japanese's poor shipborne anti-aircraft gun system ruined the Hiryu and Soryu, while the poor performance of the American torpedoes saved the Akagi, Kaga and Kongo. They were besieged by dozens of American TBF torpedo bombers, and each received 3-6 torpedoes, but two-thirds of them were dumb bombs, and the remaining one-third was not powerful enough to attack these three ships. A battleship with a strong hull delivers a fatal blow.

However, the bad luck of Japan's First Mobile Fleet did not end on March 17. Shortly after the second attack wave sent by Halsey completed its attack and returned, the air defense siren sounded again over the Akagi.

At 6:35, the second attack wave of the U.S. 16th Task Force arrived over the First Mobile Fleet. However, it was already very dark at this time, and the visibility on the sea became very low. Viewed from a high altitude, only the burning Soryu and Feilong became eye-catching targets.

Therefore, the two aircraft carriers that were trying to save themselves once again became live targets. Within a few minutes, they were each hit by 4-5 1,000-pound bombs and negligible torpedoes (torpedoes that were fired in the dark are difficult to hit, and most of them hit Also a dud). This attack handed down the final death sentence to the two aircraft carriers. At 6:45, the ammunition depot of the Soryu aircraft carrier was destroyed by fire. The violent explosion blew the aircraft carrier into two pieces and quickly sank into the sea, including the captain Yanagimoto Yanagi. Including the captain, a total of 117 people (mostly damage control personnel) aboard the ship.

Five minutes later, the commander of the 2nd Air Force, Maj. Gen. Yamaguchi Tawen, with tears in his eyes, made the decision to "dispose of the Hiryu." The destroyer Noaki fired a torpedo and sent the Hiryu aircraft carrier to the bottom of the sea.

"Mr. President, we have confirmed that we have sunk two Japanese medium-sized aircraft carriers. They should be the Hiryu and the Soryu!"

At the same time that two Japanese aircraft carriers were sinking into the sea, U.S. President Roosevelt had received this great news that had never been seen since the beginning of the Pacific War.

"Three escort aircraft carriers for two medium fleet aircraft carriers... We won, right?"

Roosevelt, who called himself the "Navy President," asked Admiral Lacey, the president's chief of staff, who was reporting the good news to him.

"Mr. President, we actually lost more than three Borg-class aircraft carriers," Admiral Lacey replied with a smile. "We also lost two light cruisers. However, in terms of aircraft exchange ratio, we have a huge advantage this time. This advantage has never appeared in previous battles, which shows that the turning point of the Pacific War has arrived!"

In fact, to the United States, aircraft carriers are not worth much at all, let alone escort aircraft carriers built in batches like the Borg class. The real value is the pilots, who are the main strike force on the Pacific battlefield.

In the Pacific War that began on December 7, 1941, the United States has always been at a disadvantage in terms of the exchange ratio of fighter jets and pilots. This is due to the high quality of Japanese pilots and the superior performance of the Zero aircraft.

But both factors have now changed!

First of all, a large number of ace pilots who had participated in air combat in the Pacific War and the European War were assigned to serve as instructors in various training bases, which greatly improved the training level of American pilots.

At the same time, sufficient fuel supply also allows American pilots to get more flying time before going into battle, so that they can practice skilled flying skills.

In contrast, Axis countries such as Germany, Japan, and Italy, which have relatively tight oil supplies, have to reduce the flight time of pilot training in order to expand the size of their regular fleets. This results in the poor technical skills of new rookie pilots joining the army - this problem also exists in Germany, but it is not as serious as Japan.

Except for veterans who joined the army before the Pacific War, American pilots were ahead of German and Japanese pilots in terms of the technical level of novices who joined the aviation force after the outbreak of the Pacific War.

The second reason is, of course, the emergence of three ace models: F4U, F6F and P51. The Zero aircraft that flew across the Pacific battlefield in the early days of the war has now met its end!

"According to current statistics, we have a 1:3 advantage in the fighter exchange ratio." Admiral Lacey paused and added, "This is preliminary statistics. Based on past experience, after verification, Our number of kills will be reduced by about half.”

"1:1.5?" Roosevelt asked.

"It's about this number," Admiral Lacey. "Excluding injuries, it should be 1:1.5. This means a key turning point!"

"We won the air superiority!" Roosevelt laughed, "Even if the exchange ratio is 1:1, we won. Because we have 10 times the enemy's aircraft and pilots... As long as I want it, we have that many! "

Of course, 10 times is for Japan, and 10 times that of Europe is a dream, but when Europe is blocked across the Atlantic Ocean, it is simply a piece of cake to come up with 10 times more aircraft, pilots, and aircraft carriers than Japan. .

"President, you are right," Admiral Lacey said with a smile. "After we implement the 'Pacific First' strategy, the Japanese will never be able to resist it."

Roosevelt smiled and asked: "General, when can we launch a counterattack on the Pacific battlefield? It won't really have to wait until 1944, right?"

In 1944, it was the US military's original plan to gather dozens of aircraft carriers and several Iowa-class battleships to counterattack the Hawaiian Islands. However, when formulating this plan, the Americans did not expect that they would be able to regain air supremacy in the Pacific battlefield so quickly.

"The date of counterattack can be brought forward completely," Admiral Lacey thought for a while and said, "Once the 3rd Fleet enters the Pacific, the number of our large aircraft carriers in the Pacific will increase to 5, and there will also be 7 light fleet aircraft carriers ( Five of them are Independence class, the other two are Raider and Wasp), and the number of new battleships will also increase to three. I think... we can launch an attack in the North Pacific."

"North Pacific?" Roosevelt asked. "Aleutian Islands?"

The Aleutian Islands were occupied by the Japanese army in 1942. However, the value of the islands was not high at the time, so the Japanese army with limited resources did not deploy heavy troops there.

"Is this archipelago important?" Roosevelt thought for a while, but couldn't think of the importance of the Aleutian Islands.

Lacey shrugged and said: "Before today, it was not particularly important... But after today, the Japanese cannot afford to lose the Aleutian Islands. Because the Aleutian Islands can cover our breakup fleet from the north Breaking into the Western Pacific!"

Although it is a bit far to break into the Western Pacific from the Aleutian Islands, for the United States, which has an endless amount of oil, traveling more distances is not a problem.

If three Essex-class aircraft carriers and two Yorktown-class aircraft carriers (Yorktown, Enterprise) break into the Western Pacific together, then there will not only be problems with the Japan-Hawaiian Islands route and Japan-South Pacific route, but also Even the route between Japan and the Nanyang Islands must be interrupted!

The mainland is almost blocked!

"Is our large aircraft carrier going to enter the Western Pacific?" Roosevelt asked with squinted eyes.

"Actually there is no need," Lacey replied. "As long as we have the intention to attack Dutch Harbor, the decisive battle will definitely begin near the Aleutian Islands."

Roosevelt understood William Lacey's idea. Admiral Lacey wanted to take advantage of the United States' air superiority in the Pacific to provoke a series of battles to consume the strength of the Japanese navy. As long as the Pacific War is dragged into the quagmire of a war of attrition, there is no need for an exchange ratio of 1:1.5, but an exchange ratio of 1:1. In fact, an exchange ratio of 2:1 can wipe out the little strength in the hands of the Japanese!

In fact, the strength of the United States is more than that. Even if it wants to exhaust Germany, it is not impossible...if the British mainland does not surrender.

It's a pity that the United States now has no springboard to counterattack Europe. It seems that it can only watch the Germans enjoy themselves in the old continent for decades and a hundred years.

Just as President Roosevelt's eyebrows were slightly raised, Colonel Cotton, President Roosevelt's aide-de-camp, suddenly walked quickly into the Oval Office.

"Mr. President, Admiral," he first gave a military salute to the two men, and then reported quickly and quickly, "The Department of Naval Operations just called. The Panama Canal has been bombed by Japanese aircraft! There are already several locks. Destroyed by torpedo!"

"What?" Roosevelt almost jumped up - really just a little bit closer, he was already about to jump, but couldn't get up.

"What's going on?" William Lacey stood up immediately and looked directly at the sweaty fat Colonel Caton.

"Naval Operations Department reports," Colonel Caton said with a sad face, "30 minutes ago, dozens to more than a hundred Japanese bombers took advantage of the airport in the canal zone to turn on their searchlights to recover aircraft (mainly P51s that attacked from Panama and Ju288s that took off to intercept P47), it sneaked into the Panama Canal area from low altitude, first bombed the airport and anti-aircraft gun positions, and then released torpedoes at several locks. Four locks were damaged to varying degrees! The Panama Canal... is temporarily unavailable! It’s open to navigation!”