The Rise of the Third Reich

"The opportunity has come! Follow me and fly...remember, don't get close to the coastline!"

When Radsch saw the flickering fire on the land in the distance, he knew that now was the most critical time, so he flew the plane carefully while reminding his men once again to stay away from the coastline through the throat communicator. This is not only to avoid anti-aircraft guns, but also to prevent the plane from crashing on the island of Trinidad after being hit. If the plane crashes on the island, the "oyster mines" on the plane will fall into the hands of the Americans. , by studying "Oyster Thunder", Americans will quickly find a way to crack it, and they will also imitate it.

The plane flew for a few more minutes and got closer to the southern entrance of the Gulf of Paria. The pilot suddenly reported in a high-pitched voice that the radar had detected two fast-moving ships at the entrance of the bay! Almost at the same time, a fan-shaped blue light from the searchlight was emitted from the sea. However, because the distance was too far, the searchlight did not illuminate Radsch's plane.

"That should be the entrance to the strait." Radsch pressed the throat communicator with a gloved finger, "Attention 8th Squadron, you are laying mines 5,000 meters south of the American destroyer (he guessed it was a destroyer). "

"Okay, okay...it's a pity that there are no torpedoes, otherwise we could have killed it."

The somewhat regretful voice of the captain of the 8th Torpedo Bomber Squadron came from the headphones - just two American light ships would never be able to escape the pursuit of more than ten Ju188E-2 torpedo bombers!

However, in order to carry as many mines as possible - so that the mine-laying and blockade of Trinidad can be completed in as few missions as possible - none of the 100 aircraft of the 11th Torpedo Bombing Aviation Regiment carried torpedoes tonight.

"Boom boom boom..."

At this time, the two American destroyers on the sea began to fire desperately with 10 127mm guns, seemingly trying to prevent the low-altitude German aircraft from rushing into the bay. Two low-flying Ju188s were hit by 127mm shrapnel. One of them turned into a ball of fire in the air, and the other had an engine on fire. It could only throw a mine and then attack the nearby Amaku, which belongs to Venezuela. Fly to the Luo Delta area - that area is sparsely populated and full of swamps and tropical rainforests. It is not suitable for large armies to be stationed. However, the jungle warfare troops of the United States and Germany have established strongholds in the rainforest, and each also uses some bayonets, daggers and the like. His gadgets bribed several Indian tribes to serve as helpers. Therefore, the German pilots are still very likely to be rescued after parachuting or making an emergency landing in that area.

The remaining aircraft, except for the 12 Ju188E-2 belonging to the 8th Squadron of the 11th Torpedo Bombing Aviation Regiment, dropped mines and then left, they all passed over the two American destroyers and rushed into the open Gulf of Paria.

"Did you see the fire on the right? Lieutenant Colonel? It seems that the bombers covering us really hit many valuable targets." At this time, Radsch's navigator discovered that there were fire and thick smoke everywhere in Trinidad. , apparently many missiles hit targets that could cause fires. However, he did not know that the German Air Force adopted the tactic of low-cost aircraft to guide missiles in this operation, and thought that the bombs dropped by bombers had achieved good results.

"At least it made a lot of noise and attracted the attention of the Americans." Lieutenant Colonel Radsch said, "Now it's time for us to show our skills!"

He pressed the throat communicator again and began to assign tasks. The northern entrance to the Gulf of Paria is the main channel for American ships to enter and exit, and must be blocked with the largest number of mines, so Radsch sent four squadrons to perform the task. The remaining three squadrons spread out to lay mines in the shallow waters near the coastline in the bay. The reason why all mines are not placed at the two entrances of the bay is to increase the difficulty of mine clearance.

The essence of mine warfare is not to sink many enemy ships, but to block the enemy's waterways and make their ports unusable or difficult to use. Therefore, "anti-sweeping" must be considered when laying mines - 180 "oyster mines" scattered in the bay are definitely a nightmare for the US Navy's minesweeper force. I don't know how many depth bombs will be dropped to clear them out. !

While hundreds of "Oyster Mines" were thrown into the sea, more than a thousand night fighters were engaged in a melee over Trinidad. The biggest difference between fighting at night and fighting during the day is that it is difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy. Although there are radars and searchlights on aircraft at night, the radar cannot distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, and the searchlights do not dare to be turned on easily. Therefore, the battle between the night fighters of both sides is a test of the pilot's nerves. In this kind of battle where there is a possibility of accidental attack at any time, recruits who are skilled but have not participated in any actual combat are sometimes more dangerous than the enemy. Because they are nervous, they often fire blindly before distinguishing the target, and about half of the targets they hit are their own aircraft!

Most of Germany's night fighter pilots are veterans. They have competed with the British and Soviets in the night skies of Europe for nearly five years. They have long developed a calm mentality and will not fire randomly in the night melee.

Because many American night fighter pilots were muddle-headedly shot down by their own people, the exchange ratio in this night air battle must be greatly unfavorable to the Americans. Approximately 4 American planes were shot down before a German plane could be exchanged. However, because the fighting area was over Trinidad controlled by the United States, it was easier for American pilots to be rescued. The loss of American and American pilots was about 2.5:1, which was not too bad for the United States. And because it was a night battle, and it was night fighters versus night fighters (both sides were more flexible and easy to dodge), the intensity could not be compared with the battles during the day, so the total losses were not too high.

But the next morning, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who were meeting inside the Pentagon were still in for a surprise.

What surprised them was not the loss of night fighters, but the new tactic of "aircraft cover missiles" adopted by Germany. Although the missiles that struck Trinidad last night did not cause much damage, this tactic undoubtedly made it more difficult to intercept at night. Because what is attacking is not a clumsy heavy bomber, but a powerful and flexible night fighter and a missile that is difficult to shoot down.

This means that night fighters have lost the ability to protect cities from night bombings - because if they choose to attack missiles, they will become targets for enemy night fighters, which is equivalent to exchanging the pilot's life for missiles!

If they don't attack the missiles, the missiles will fall on American cities or bases, causing damage and causing panic.

In addition, another piece of bad news that shocked members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff also came - U.S. military technicians on the island of Trinidad found a suspected radio remote control on the unexploded German missile they picked up. equipment, and no other guidance devices were found.

This shows that the incoming missile is guided and controlled remotely by an aircraft - this guidance method is relatively reliable if you think about it. If it is used in an attack on a large city on the east coast, it will be troublesome.

When several Yankee generals looked at each other and were a little at a loss, a Pentagon staff officer hurried into the conference room.

"Sir, the Navy's 3rd Fleet Command (currently stationed in Port of Spain, Trinidad) reported that the Germans may have dropped a new type of mine in the Gulf of Paria."

"New mine?" Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest King asked hurriedly, "Did it blow up the minesweeper?"

The staff officer nodded and said: "After the air strike, the Third Fleet Headquarters immediately dispatched 10 minesweepers to use electromagnetic minesweepers and mine-breaking guards to clear the channel. As a result, the mines were not swept, but the minesweepers were sunk by 6 Ship..."

It is actually common for minesweepers to be sunk by mines, but six minesweepers were sunk at once, and not a single mine was swept. There is no doubt that they encountered a new type of mine.

"Damn it, the Gulf of Paria is blocked!" William Leahy, who was sitting at the head of the conference table and presiding over the meeting, immediately understood what was happening.

"William, when will the Gulf of Paria be restored to navigation?" Army Chief of Staff Marshall asked with a frown.

The Gulf of Paria is the main access to Trinidad. If it is blocked, how will the logistics supplies for the nearly thousands of aircraft and hundreds of thousands of American soldiers on the island be solved?

"It's hard to say," William Leahy shook his head. "If we can find their new mine, maybe we can find a way to crack it in a few weeks. Otherwise... we don't know the fuse detonation principle of this mine. We can only use depth charges to blast out a channel. This is not only a waste of ammunition, but also very time-consuming and requires repeated bombings. In the process, the Germans are likely to lay more mines.”

"What about the supplies in Trinidad?" Marshall asked. Of course there are a lot of reserves on Trinidad, but due to the huge garrison on the island, the daily consumption is astronomical. If the island is blocked for a few weeks, it will not be a big problem. If it is blocked for a few months, the above The army may surrender without a fight.

"Let's transport it by air first." William Leahy glanced at Arnold, "Henry, can the Army Air Force complete this mission?"

Henry Arnold was startled. With so many people, so much equipment, and so many planes on Trinidad, the daily consumption was astronomical. Just the kind of canned Spam luncheon meat that American soldiers hate, consumes hundreds of thousands of them a day. How can it be transported by plane?

Moreover, Trinidad is very close to Guyana controlled by the Germans. The German Fokker 636, Fw190 and He219 can visit us at any time. Wouldn't it be fatal if a transport aircraft that can only fly slowly catches them?