Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Listening to the continuous explosions all around, the escort formation commander Colonel Harris almost fainted.

The German army assembled more than 30 U-shaped submarines in this area, fired more than 200 torpedoes at the US military transport fleet, and then escaped before the US destroyers arrived.

The US destroyers that were frantically searching for traces of German submarines suddenly saw a black spot appearing on the sea in the distance. The black spot was getting bigger and bigger, and it was like a hill rushing straight towards them.

After seeing clearly what it was, the US destroyers had no intention of searching for the submarine. They wished they could immediately grease their soles and escape. Because here comes a big guy that little destroyers like them can't afford to offend.

"German battleships appear at nine o'clock! The leader is the battleship Bimax, as well as the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and the battlecruiser Gneisenau!!"

"Oh God!" Looking at the Bimax battleship approaching at high speed, Colonel Harris felt that today was his disaster day. Otherwise, how could it be a submarine and a battleship? By the way, when did the German fleet enter the Pacific? ? The intelligence agency didn’t get any information at all? What a pig-like teammate.

Of course, Colonel Harris knew that his own fleet was no match for the German army at all. They were just escort formations, not the main fleet. How could they possibly defeat the German army's most cutting-edge battleships and battle cruisers? Logically speaking, they should turn around and escape immediately; but if they escape, what will happen to those slow freighters?

After hesitating for a few seconds, Colonel Harris gave the order. "Let the freighters A1 to A10 break away from the formation and advance at full speed!" The ten freighters A1 to A10 are high-speed freighters, carrying soldiers from three divisions. This high-speed cargo ship has a top speed of over 25 knots, so it might be possible to escape this disaster.

Then he asked the remaining freighters to escape for their lives, and then gave the order. "Take off the carrier-based aircraft!"

The two escort aircraft carriers carried a total of 40 F2A Buffalo fighter jets, but before these carrier-based aircraft had time to approach the German fleet, more than a dozen German fighter jets swooped down from high altitudes, and shot down half of the F2A Buffaloes in one dive attack. After three rounds of attacks, the F2A buffalo could no longer be seen in the sky.

"!!" Now Colonel Harris knew that even the German aircraft carriers were dispatched, and couldn't help but smile bitterly. "It seems that today is really unlucky. Send a telegram to the country." They must be reminded that the next transportation must either change the route or increase the escort force; the most important thing is that the Germans have probably cracked the American communication code.

After the telegram was sent, the German shells began to fall on the surrounding sea, accompanied by bursts of earth-shaking huge explosions, and large white water columns rising into the sky.

"Straddle-shooting" Harris couldn't help but be surprised. The German's aim was probably too high.

Cross-fire is a proper term in naval gun shooting technology. When the main gun is firing, the firing command post at the top of the bridge continuously corrects the aiming direction of the main gun by observing the scattered area of ​​the bullet impact point. When the scattering area can cover all or most of the target ship, the enemy ship is enveloped within the range of our own fire, forming a straddle. The significance of pursuing straddle shooting is to maintain straddle shooting at the target to achieve the greatest hit probability.

Generally speaking, as long as the artillery cross-fire is formed, the distance to hit the target will be relatively close. If you are lucky, the next shell will be able to hit the target.

Harris naturally did not know that the German fleet had been equipped with advanced fire control radar, but he knew that he could not sit still and wait for death. "Target Bimax, hit it or sink it!" Following Harris's order, the remaining US warships launched a desperate charge against the Bimax battleship.

At this time, dozens of A-1 attack aircraft flew from the sky, cooperating with the surface fleet to launch a fierce attack on the US warships, and some submarines that turned back also took the opportunity to make up for it.

One after another, American destroyers were sunk by gunfire from German battleships, bombs from attack aircraft, and torpedoes from submarines.

In less than half an hour, the entire US military escort formation was wiped out. Most of them sank to the bottom of the sea. Some were upside down in the sea, and some had their sterns hanging high. It was only a matter of time before they sank.

The bridge of Harris's flagship was hit by a 380mm caliber flying from the front. The huge kinetic energy caused the shell to tear through the entire bridge and exploded. After receiving several secondary battery shells, the entire ship was left with only the ship. The body stayed on the water.

After wiping out these escort formations, the German warships continued to pursue those transport convoys that had not had time to run far.

It's just that the transport fleet at this time has been broken into pieces, each fleeing in different directions. Even if the German army dispatched all carrier-based aircraft, they could not completely wipe out these transport ships.

Pacific Fleet Command.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet at this time was Husband Edward Kimmel. The naval commander had a rigid and upright personality and was regarded as a military model by the officers who had contact with him. During his tenure as commander of the Pacific Fleet, he promoted many young officers, and later almost all of them became independent captains.

However, Commander Kimmel was a very tragic figure in his original time and space. In 1941, he became the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. During this period, he repeatedly complained about the lack of defense at Pearl Harbor due to the fact that the warships of the Pacific Fleet were repeatedly seconded by the Atlantic Fleet and other tasks. He even complained to Roosevelt. The president made the report in person, but it was not taken seriously. On December 7 of the same year, Pearl Harbor was unprepared when it was attacked by the Japanese army. Almost the entire Pacific Fleet was wiped out. He was accused of dereliction of duty and was dismissed 10 days later. He retired with the rank of major general in March of the following year.

In eight public and private investigations into the Pearl Harbor incident, Commander Kimmel repeatedly pleaded innocent, and then accused Roosevelt and Marshall of turning him into a scapegoat out of some necessity.

Dismissed, demoted, convicted. As a professional soldier, this blow was fatal and the pain stayed with him for the rest of his life.

On the other hand, the arrogant MacArthur was not much better in the Philippines. He abandoned tens of thousands of American soldiers and fled. These people did not survive much, and the death toll was several times more than that of Pearl Harbor. Was named a five-star general.

"What?! German battleship?!" Commander Kimmel was shocked when he received Harris' telegram. "What does the intelligence service do? It doesn't even know the German fleet has entered the Pacific?! Where are they now?"

A staff officer marked a point on the Pacific Ocean on the map. It is more than 3,000 kilometers away from the mainland of the United States and more than 2,000 kilometers away from the Hawaii Naval Base. It is impossible to catch up with reinforcements even if they want to.

"Is there any of our fleet nearby?"

"There is a fleet more than 1,000 kilometers away from here. This is the closest."

1,000 kilometers, even if the reinforcement fleet is racing at a high speed of 30 knots, it will take 18 hours to arrive, and the day lilies will be cold by then.