The Rise of the Third Reich

The Reaper 1C cruise missile is an improved version of the Reaper 1B. Unlike "improvement" in the traditional sense, many of the properties of the Reaper 1C have not improved compared to the Reaper 1B, but have declined to a considerable extent.

First, the speed of the Death 1C dropped from the 900-950 km/h of the Death 1B to 550-600 km/h. Secondly, the range of the Death 1C has been reduced from the 500 kilometers of the Death 1B to 300 kilometers. Third, the shell of the Death 1C is not as strong as the Death 1B, and it adopts a lot of "cut corners" design.

Through these three improvements that are actually retrogressive, the cost of the Reaper 1C has dropped significantly compared to the Reaper 1B. Although it is more expensive than the V1 series of cheap missiles, it still has the possibility of large-scale equipment for strategic bombing.

In addition to these three setbacks, the Death 1C has indeed made progress, that is, the accuracy of its guidance system has been greatly improved. However, this improvement is not based on technological progress, but on the adoption of a relatively mature radio guidance method. However, the radio planning system of the Reaper 1C is also innovative to a certain extent. It no longer requires the operator to perform one-to-one manual remote control. Instead, it guides multiple missiles through a radio guidance signal, achieving "unmanned" and "1 "To many" radio remote control.

In other words, the Reaper 1C cruise missile must be led by an aircraft following the radio guide in order to successfully reach the target. This is a missile that requires a leading aircraft.

The aircraft that serves as the lead aircraft is of course not the less sturdy bombers such as the Me264 and Ju288, but the Me410B-6 night fighter bomber. Due to the limited power of the radio guide and receiver (mounted on the missile), a Me410B-6 usually only guides 10 Reaper 1C missiles.

Tonight, in order to guide 480 Reaper 1C cruise missiles, Air Force Major General Werner Molders arranged for 48 Me410B-6 night fighter bombers to serve as guide aircraft. In front of the missile, it flew towards Trinidad at a high speed of 550 kilometers per hour.

However, these 48 Me410s are not all night fighters dispatched tonight. Major General Molders is a senior air force commander who was an ace fighter pilot. He is the best air combat expert in the world. He naturally knows how to use tonight's battle to eliminate American air power.

He knew very well that the difference on the radar screen between large and medium-sized bombers and heavy fighters like the Me410 and He219 was so small that it could be ignored, while the Reaper series missiles and light fighters like the Zero were also indistinguishable on the radar screen.

So when 480 Me410s, He219s and 480 Reaper 1Cs flew overwhelmingly towards Trinidad, the island's radar would only detect a massive bombing attack by thousands of aircraft.

In this way, the Americans will definitely dispatch all night fighters into the sky, and more than 400 Me410s and He219s are waiting for them in the night sky!

However, the goal of Major General Molders is not only to use a large night air battle to severely attack the US air power, but also to use a "thousand-aircraft air strike" to attract the attention of the US military in order to cover 80 aircrafts that penetrated into Trini from ultra-low altitudes. 80 Ju188s and 20 escorting Me410s near the island completed the combat mission of airdropping "expensive mines".

Major General Molders also visited the front line in person this evening. The Me264H radar early warning aircraft he was riding was currently flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters, about 50 kilometers behind a large fleet of more than 400 Me410s and He219s.

In the spacious pressurized cabin of the Me264, the middle of the radar screen was densely packed with light spots. The light spots were all overlapped, and they were so numerous that they could not even be counted. An Air Force second lieutenant and an Air Force sergeant sat side by side in front of the screen, staring intently at the densely packed light spots flashing above. Major General Molders was sitting behind them, holding a communication device in his hand, his eyes fixed on the screen, his brows slightly furrowed.

Suddenly, the second lieutenant of the Air Force shouted: "Enemy plane! Enemy planes have been found. The distance is 95, the bearing is 1.5, the altitude is 6000, and the number is more than 100... and they are still increasing!"

"Here it comes!" Mordes muttered in a low voice, then turned on the radio in front of him and began to call: "I am Electronic Eye No. 11, calling Thor 1, calling Thor 1."

Thor 1 is the code name of the 11th torpedo bombing aviation regiment of Hainan Airlines that performs mine-dropping missions. 100 fighters of this aviation group participated in tonight's operation, and they also carried 400 "Oyster Mines". They are now following more than 80 kilometers behind a large fleet of more than 400 Me410s and He219s, flying at a sea-skimming altitude to avoid detection by US radar. Compared with the more than 400 missiles flying at a speed of 550 kilometers per hour in the sky (480 were launched and less than 430 are still flying normally), the 400 "Oyster Mines" they carry are the real treasures. . If all the "oyster mines" were dropped near Port of Spain, Trinidad's most important port would be paralyzed. As for when it will recover, it depends on whether the Americans can be lucky enough to pick up a few "oyster mines", take them back, dismantle them, study them, and then figure out how to deal with them.

Because the "Oyster Mine" is a joint-fuse mine and also has a hydraulic fuse, it is difficult to clear. Even the Germans themselves had no good solution. They could only release floating sound simulators and depth bombs at the same time (huge water pressure would be generated when the depth bombs exploded), which was very inefficient. It would take months to clear hundreds of "oyster mines", but it only takes one night to plant them.

If the Americans are unlucky and cannot pick up the accidentally dropped "Oyster Mines" at once, they will have no choice but to use countless depth bombs to carry out "sea bombing" in order to use the power of the explosion to destroy the "Oyster Mines" ...This is equivalent to plowing a large area of ​​​​the sea with depth charges!

"Electronic Eye 11, this is Thor 1." Lieutenant Colonel Gunter Radsch, who was piloting a Ju188, pressed the throat communicator and responded, "Please give instructions."

"Flies are found in front of the swarm, and there are hundreds of them. The seagulls can throw stones, and the electronic eyes will follow the seagulls."

"Understood, Electronic Eyes." Lieutenant Colonel Radsch breathed a sigh of relief and immediately gave the order to his subordinates, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Radsch. There will be a fight up there soon. Our opportunity has come. Everyone, follow me and continue to maintain sea skimming altitude.”

Maintaining sea-skimming altitude flight at night is a unique skill of the German Ju188E-2 torpedo bombers and some Me410 fighter-bombers. This not only allows them to avoid radar, but also makes it difficult for American fighter jets to attack - a dive attack is impossible and will most likely fall into the sea, and it is also difficult to maintain the same altitude as these Ju188E-2s and Me410s, because the United States The human radio altimeter is not as good as the German one.

However, there are dangers in flying too low, that is, it is easy to be hit by anti-aircraft guns and ground firepower from surface ships, and it is also easy to hit air defense balloons or the steel cables under the balloons.

Therefore, Lieutenant Colonel Radsch and his fleet must fly carefully around the coast of Trinidad, find Port of Spain, and then drop "oyster mines" that sting everyone (including the Germans themselves).

"Lieutenant Colonel, look at the sky, there seems to be a fight already!"

As the plane moved forward in the darkness, Lieutenant Colonel Radsch's navigator suddenly shouted. Radsch raised his head and saw only faint red lights appearing in the sky directly in front of him that quickly slid across the night sky. Radsch, who had been a night fighter pilot himself, knew that those flying across the night sky were tracer bullets.

"Yes, the fight started!"

"Lieutenant Colonel, who will win?" the navigator asked.

"Of course they are our people!" Radsch said very confidently, "Our He219 and Me410 are the best night combat aircraft. And the Americans will never think that our fighters are escorting missiles."

Having said this, he withdrew his gaze and stared at the darkness ahead again. His navigator stopped talking and paid no attention to the fierce battle in the sky, but watched the various instruments in the cabin to find the right direction.

"There seems to be something," Radsch's voice sounded again after a while, "the outline of the island is clearly visible on the horizon."

"That's Trinidad!" the pilot said excitedly. "Now turn west and fly along the edge of the island. When you reach the end, turn north. You will soon enter the Gulf of Paria, and then fly along the You can drop mines by flying along the coastline for 15-20 minutes. There are American anti-aircraft guns at the entrance to the Gulf of Paria, and they also have their anti-aircraft guns on the beaches on the west coast of Trinidad, so you must be careful. "

The Gulf of Paria, located between Trinidad and Venezuela, is not only the gateway to and from Trinidad, but also an important anchorage for the U.S. Navy in the southeastern Caribbean. Therefore, it is very tightly defended, with two entrances to the north and south of the bay. A large number of anti-aircraft guns and searchlights are deployed near the sea and beaches, and sometimes Fletcher-class destroyers patrol.

But tonight, it seems that those anti-aircraft guns have no spare capacity to take care of Radsch's fleet. Just as they approach the south coast of Trinidad, the anti-aircraft guns on the island have already fired brilliantly.

More than 400 Reaper 1C missiles have rushed over Trinidad under the guidance of Me410 fighter-bombers!