The Rise of the Third Reich

Less than 100 meters.

If it is daytime, looking down from this height, the sea level is almost touching the belly of the plane, and everything on the water can be clearly seen. And at night, even if the moonlight and stars twinkle in the sky, the water is still pitch black, like a bottomless abyss, ready to swallow everything falling from the sky!

In fact, without sophisticated radio altimeter and airborne radar, it would be impossible for a huge twin-engine medium bomber like the Ju188 to fly sea-skimming at an altitude of less than 100 meters at night. This is no different from committing suicide. As long as there is a slight mistake, the person and the plane will fall into the sea.

The reason why Colonel Peltz, who personally piloted the plane and led the attack team, kept the flight altitude so low was not to show off his superb driving skills, but to avoid detection by the radar of the American ship as much as possible to ensure the success of the attack. suddenness.

Colonel Peltz gently held the steering wheel with both hands and carefully controlled the smooth flight of the aircraft. His navigator, Sergeant Wolf Schmidt, stared intently at the PPI screen of the airborne radar, trying to discover the position of the US fleet. .

However, because the flight altitude was too low and the airborne radar's vision was not very good, it could not see targets too far away, so Wolf Schmidt had not discovered the location of the US fleet for a while.

Just when Sergeant Schmidt felt anxious, a red flash suddenly appeared in the darkness, and then about ten seconds later, about ten kilometers west of the initial red light, another flash appeared. There was a more fiery red light, as if a volcanic eruption suddenly occurred on the ground.

"Shell!" Colonel Peltz shouted excitedly. "At 12 o'clock, it's the Yankee fleet that's shelling the coast of Georgetown... We found them!"

"Colonel," navigator Wolf Schmidt also shouted at this time, "Radar found target! 2 o'clock direction, distance 40, number 8."

The ship detected by the radar was obviously not the ship that Peltz had seen shelling the coast. The distance of the latter is closer and the orientation is different. In fact, what was detected by the radar was the planned target that Peltz's Ju188 needed to attack-a warning circle composed of destroyers and light cruisers.

However, Peltz ignored Schmidt. Instead, he pressed the throat communicator and issued an order to the entire team: "Attention, everyone, I am Colonel Peltz. I am giving an order now. The target is at 12 o'clock. Firing is underway, about 50 kilometers away. Each squadron prepares to attack, adopt golden comb tactics, and immediately raise the altitude to more than 6,000 meters after the attack, hovering over the enemy fleet! "

His choice is understandable. Airborne search radars in this era are not very reliable and cannot be compared with the naked eye. Therefore, when the target can be found with the naked eye, no one will rely on radar.

At this time, less than 30 nautical miles away, a dozen "Fletcher" class destroyers of the 31.8th Destroyer Group of the US Navy were bombarding downtown Georgetown with their 127mm high-level and flat dual-purpose guns.

According to the intelligence held by the Americans, this shabby city on the Atlantic coast is almost undefended. The bombers that flew from Trinidad did not encounter any counterattack from ground anti-aircraft artillery. They dropped thousands of tons of bombs and incendiary bombs smoothly, turning the shantytowns where Indians and black people lived into a vast area. Sea of ​​fire.

Therefore, Halsey did not arrange for his nine super battleships to bombard Georgetown with 406mm main guns, but only ordered the 31.8th Destroyer Group, which had completed the mine clearance mission, to use 127mm high-level dual-purpose guns to clear obstacles on the beach. things.

However, the 80 127mm guns of 16 "Fletcher" class destroyers fired at the same time, and the scene was still very spectacular. Looking out from the bridge of the destroyer "William D. Porter", there are continuous fireballs rising from the beaches of Georgetown and the nearby urban areas. The effect of the bombardment seems to be very good.

The unlucky captain Walter on this destroyer is in a good mood now - when the bombardment is completed, the main mission of the destroyer "William D. Porter" in this landing operation will be successfully completed.

Considering that this destroyer has always been unlucky, it is really not easy to successfully complete such a dangerous mission without any mistakes.

Just when Captain Walter was about to thank God in his heart, his second officer almost screamed: "Enemy plane! Southwest! The distance is about 18,000, the altitude is less than 100, the number is unknown!"

"What? The altitude is less than 100? Are the Germans crazy or the radar is broken? It's night now!" Captain Walter was startled by the sudden situation. Before he could order verification, the flagship destroyer "Anthony" had already called The lights of "total air defense" and "take an S-shaped evasive route"... It seems that the radar of the destroyer "William D. Porter" did not malfunction this time.

The air defense alarm was sounded immediately, and the 127mm guns on the destroyer USS William D. Porter immediately stopped firing from the shore and pointed their muzzles into the air. All 40mm guns and 20mm guns also fired in the shortest time. Preparations for air-to-air shooting were completed.

And just when everything seemed perfect, a high-power searchlight on the ship was suddenly turned on, and the eye-catching beam of light hit the ship directly in front of the destroyer "William D. Porter". Flagship "Antony".

"Damn it, who's asking for a searchlight? The German plane hasn't even entered the range yet!" As soon as Captain Walter's curse came out, the "rumbling" sound of the cannon sounded again, and at the same time, another searchlight shot out. A dazzling light.

Now the position of the US destroyer formation is completely exposed!

The German Ju188 bombers in the air immediately seized the opportunity, and the 36 aircraft were divided into two large formations of 18 aircraft. One of the formations formed an echelon and faced the indiscriminate anti-aircraft firepower. It launched 36 torpedoes from a distance of 2,000 meters from the right side of the US destroyer formation (each Ju188 can carry 2 torpedoes).

The other formation launched the same number of torpedoes at an angle of 90 degrees. This tactic, known as the "golden comb" by the Germans, can make it difficult for an attacked target to avoid torpedoes even after turning.

…

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

When several huge fireballs shot up on the sea in the distance, Admiral Halsey was standing on the exceptionally tall bridge of the USS Iowa, overlooking the bombardment of downtown Georgetown. While he was in a daze, the staff officer's report sounded.

"Admiral, the 31.8th Destroyer Group reported the discovery of an enemy aircraft flying at ultra-low altitude!"

"What?" Halsey was shocked when he heard this, "Flying at ultra-low altitude at night? Could it be that the explosion just now was caused by a torpedo plane attacking? Was it a golden comb tactic?"

Although Halsey himself had never seen the German "Golden Comb Tactics", he had heard of its reputation - when the "Golden Comb" was raging across the Atlantic, he was commanding an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Fleet to deal with the Japanese. Although the Japanese naval aviation is also powerful, playing with this kind of "black technology" is not their style.

The staff officer reported again: "Admiral, the flagships of the 31.8th Destroyer Group, the USS Anthony and the USS William D. Porter, were hit by two torpedoes each. The two destroyers are about to sink! The USS Bennion and the USS Bill were also hit by two torpedoes each. A torpedo..."

"Damn German!" Halsey cursed fiercely for a while, then immediately reacted and loudly ordered: "Each ship strengthens its air search to prevent enemy planes from using ultra-low altitude to raid!"

As soon as his order was given, dozens or hundreds of searchlights shot out from the sea almost at the same time, and then the 127mm high-level and flat dual-purpose cannon opened fire rumble.

It turned out that the 34 Ju188s that had just fired torpedoes (one was shot down and one was damaged) did not fly away immediately. Instead, they raised their altitude according to the plan and at the same time dispersed into 3-plane formations (10 3-plane formations). , two two-plane formations), circling over the U.S. fleet, pretending to continue launching air strikes.

As a result, the radars of many American destroyers and cruisers on the water discovered that enemy planes were approaching. They blindly turned on searchlights and fired randomly, completely exposing themselves, and most of the American sailors focused their attention on the air.

"Two-boat formation, direction 11 o'clock, move forward at full speed!" Colonel Johnson had already chosen the target at this time. The torpedo boats he commanded did not fly between the warning circle of the US destroyer/light cruiser and the coastline like the aircraft. He got in through the gap and rushed directly towards eight escort destroyers of more than 1,000 tons.

The main function of the escort destroyer is anti-submarine, and its air defense and anti-ship firepower is relatively weak. Generally, it consists of two 127mm high-level and flat dual-purpose guns, one 40mm gun and five 20mm machine guns.

However, for the S100 boat that can launch T1-type 533mm torpedoes at a distance of 6,000 meters, only two 127mm guns on an escort destroyer are threatening. Such firepower is difficult to sink a torpedo speeding at 42 knots. Speedboat. Moreover, the attention of these eight escort destroyers and the other two nearby escort destroyers were attracted by several Ju188s hovering in the sky, and all their 127mm guns were firing in the air.

Once these eight escort destroyers performing anti-submarine warning missions around the Grand Fleet are sunk or severely damaged, there will be a gap in the U.S. Grand Fleet's warning circle, and the six Type 21 submarines underwater will have the opportunity to break through.