The Rise of the Third Reich

"Sir, the plan for the air strike on the US military base in Bermuda has been drawn up."

On the island of the aircraft carrier "Zeppelin", Major Hersman Jr., aviation staff officer of the 21st Task Force, handed over the newly drafted air attack plan to the fleet chief of staff, Rear Admiral Christiansen.

Rear Admiral Christiansen is a torpedo boat commander. Although he also has a carrier-based aircraft pilot certificate and has served as the captain of an escort aircraft carrier, he is not proficient in air stations. The young Hersman was recognized as an expert in aircraft carrier aviation warfare, so he was naturally entrusted with important tasks by Rear Admiral Christiansen.

"Oh, you suggest using aircraft carriers intensively?" Rear Admiral Christiansen took the plan and read it carefully. "Isn't it a good idea for the Japanese to disperse the use of aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway?"

Although the European Community now has more aircraft carriers, it does not have much experience in using aircraft carrier formations to fight aviation warfare. Therefore, tracking the US-Japanese aircraft carrier battle in the Pacific has become the main way for the German Navy to understand aviation warfare tactics. Otherwise, little Hersman would not have become a recognized expert in aircraft carrier air combat.

"Sir, in terms of the effect of air strikes, a large concentrated aircraft group is definitely better than a small group of aircraft arriving at the battlefield one after another." Little Hersman said, "According to intelligence, the US military has only 200 aircraft deployed in the Bermuda Islands. Among them, there are up to 100 fighter planes. If we can concentrate 5 aircraft carriers, we can dispatch up to 180 fighter bombers at a time, which is enough to suppress enemy fighters. "

According to the "Atlantic Storm" plan formulated by the Atlantic Front and the European Community Joint Fleet Command, the 20th and 21st Task Forces leaving the port of Brest will join the 401st and 402nd Aircraft Carrier Groups near the Azores Islands, and return The 16 Type 21 U-boats from the 491st and 492nd Submarine Hunting Groups (these two groups have been operating in the North Atlantic), as well as the 1st Submarine Group (the home port is also in the Azores), gathered together and then reorganized.

Among them, the 401st and 402nd aircraft carrier groups will join the 20th Task Force, and 80 carrier-based aircraft on the two "Kesselring" class light aircraft carriers will provide air cover for the 20th Task Force.

The 491st and 492nd Submarine Hunting Groups and the 1st Submarine Group will all join the 21st Task Force. However, these two submarine hunting groups and one submarine group will not form a large formation with other ship groups of the 21st Task Force, but will set up a search curtain for the main force of the 21st Task Force.

By the way, the submarine hunting group under the European Combined Fleet has extremely strong reconnaissance capabilities. As the core, the Rhine-class escort aircraft carrier (C aircraft) is generally equipped with 16 Fokker Zero D fighter-bombers and 9 Fokker K-100C reconnaissance bomber.

The 491st Group and the 492nd Group are strengthened submarine hunting groups. In addition to one C aircraft carrier and six 1936D destroyers, there is also a D aircraft carrier, which is a seaplane with a standard displacement of 12,000 tons. The mothership can carry five Bv138 large seaplanes.

As for the main force of the 21st Task Force, there are four aircraft carrier groups, namely the 221st Aircraft Carrier Group with the "Zeppelin" as the core, the 222nd Aircraft Carrier Group with the "Prussia" as the core, and the "Wave" The 223rd Aircraft Carrier Group with the USS Himea as its core, and the 224th Aircraft Carrier Group with two "Seidlitz" class aircraft carriers - unlike the US Navy's aircraft carrier group which only has aircraft carriers, the European Community Joint The fleet's main combat groups, such as the aircraft carrier group, battleship group, and missile ship group, are all composed of a variety of ships.

Taking an aircraft carrier group as an example, an aircraft carrier group usually includes 1-3 aircraft carriers, 1-2 cruisers (usually anti-aircraft cruisers), 6-10 destroyers and 10 supply ships. Such a mixed brigade can not only be organized into a task force, but also has the ability to operate independently, making it very flexible.

"But concentrated aircraft carriers are also very easy to be discovered and attacked by the enemy." Rear Admiral Christiansen frowned. He has little experience in aircraft carrier aviation warfare and now serves as the staff officer of a task force with aircraft carriers as the main force. Chang Zhen is a little unable to do what he wants.

"Sir, I think there is a high probability that we will be discovered and struck first by the Americans," Hersman Jr. shrugged. "There are American B-29 reconnaissance models in the Atlantic. According to intelligence, there is one like this on the Bermuda Islands. aircraft. In addition, the Americans have also deployed long-range reconnaissance aircraft modified from B-17s and B-24s on the Bermuda Islands. It is estimated that there will be many submarines operating in the Atlantic waters east of Bermuda. It is unlikely that we will remain silent. It’s so close, after all, our Fokker 636 and Fw190T don’t have much range.”

The ultra-long-range reconnaissance aircraft modified from the B-29 is code-named F-13A in the US military. This aircraft has a greater range than the bombing B-29. The maximum reconnaissance radius is close to 3,500 kilometers. It can fly from Bermuda to Covered all the way to the Azores!

Reconnaissance aircraft modified from B-17s and B-24s also have great range and can search waters more than 1,000 kilometers away from Bermuda. This distance has exceeded the combat radius of the Fokker 636 and Fw190T. Unlike the Japanese Navy's excessively long-range combat aircraft, the German naval aviation pays more attention to the performance of carrier-based aircraft in combat rather than the range.

This is because the German naval aviation is actually not a subsidiary of the navy, but a branch of the air force. Therefore, what they focus on is not the safety of the aircraft carrier, but the safety of the carrier-based aircraft pilots. The "large fleet tactics" proposed by Hersman Jr. are actually based on the perspective of pilot safety.

In Hersman's view, the three large armored aircraft carriers are not so easy to sink. If 70-80 Fokker 636s can be used as direct cover aircraft, the US military will not be able to replace one of them with 150 SBDs and TBFs. "Led Zeppelin". And such an exchange ratio is not uneconomical for the German naval aviation - for the European Community, aircraft carriers are not treasures that cannot be lost. The number of "Zeppelin" class may not be large enough, but the mass-produced type The cheap "Kesselring" grade pipes are enough! The flight deck of the 15,000-ton ship is still made of wood. It is powered by a MAN diesel engine (the output of the diesel engine is much greater than that of the steam turbine). The maximum power is 66,000 tons and the speed is only 26 knots. This kind of ship pair concentrates the shipbuilding capabilities of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Denmark, Russia and other countries (before World War II, the leader of the world's shipbuilding industry was the United Kingdom, and marine diesel engines have always been the German MAN Company, the Swiss Sulzer Company, and the Danish B\u0026amp;amp; W company's world), and can also use the European Community of Dutch and Swedish shipyards, isn't it possible to build as many as they want?

He said: "In the Battle of Midway, the Japanese army's dispersed aircraft carriers and small aircraft groups attacked. Although it was helpful to preserve the aircraft carrier, it put the carrier-based aircraft pilots in extreme danger. As far as I know, the aircraft carriers from Taiho, Akagi, and Kasa Almost 90% of the pilots of the 'Meteor' carrier-based torpedo bombers that took off from the three aircraft carriers to participate in the air attack were lost. Such a loss rate is unbearable for our German naval aviation!"

Hersman Jr.’s last words were actually spoken on behalf of several aircraft carrier flight captains.

These flight captains are not obedient figures, especially Colonel Heinz Bahr, the flight captain of the flagship "Zeppelin", who is also the flight commander of the 2nd Fleet. According to the relevant regulations of the German Navy and German Naval Aviation, the fleet flight commander has the right to refuse to carry out the air strike mission assigned by the fleet commander on the grounds that it is "too risky" or "unable to be carried out"!

Rear Admiral Christiansen thought for a while, and finally signed the plan drawn up by Hessmann Jr. The plan was made in two copies, one to the Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Bei, for approval, and the other to the Navy. Colonel Inz Barr.

Only if both of them agreed was the plan to attack Bermuda approved.

…

Caribbean, HMS Essex.

Commodore Arleigh Burke glanced at the flag fluttering on the top of the island. An hour ago, he and Vice Admiral Mitchell boarded the Essex with the entire command team of the 30th Task Force. A flag was raised.

This means that the Essex-class aircraft carrier will play a vital role in this naval battle that is related to the future and destiny of the United States of America!

Although in theory, battleships are the key to the defense of the Caribbean. However, the role of aircraft carriers in Atlantic operations cannot be ignored. For the current United States, battleships are actually defensive weapons-it is best for them to stay in the Caribbean and not go anywhere.

Aircraft carriers are weapons that can be used for offense. It is difficult to win a war by defense alone. A U.S. counterattack is necessary.

Is it really beneficial to just launch a counterattack in the Atlantic?

Brigadier General Arleigh Burke's views on this are different from those of the big shots above.

In his opinion, attacking Chile in the Pacific was the right thing to do. Because the Southeast Pacific is too far from Europe, it is the home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet! Even if the Germans sent aircraft carriers all the way to the Southeast Pacific, how long could they stay in the Southeast Pacific?

As long as the Pacific Fleet consumes them, Chile will be able to take them sooner or later!

If Chile is captured, Argentina will be bombed all day long. Isn’t it only a matter of time before a revolution or coup breaks out?

With full of doubts, Arleigh Burke went up to the command center on the second floor of the island. At this time, the fleet's communications staff handed him a telegram he had just received: "Chief of Staff, order from the 3rd Fleet Headquarters, Let's head toward Bermuda."