Chapter 2745 Fighting to the Death 4

Chapter 2745 Fight to the Death 4

"We need to bring as many people home as possible. After these aircraft have completed their combat missions, they have no combat effectiveness and even lack fuel. If they need to land, we need to clear the deck and greet them in the prescribed navigation mode. You all know that we are the most vulnerable at this time, and whether enemy planes follow the returning group to attack us or we recover the planes, it will lead to our destruction. We still have two aircraft carriers with more than 4,000 people on them. As for the naval officers and soldiers, think about them, we are using small losses to exchange for the survival of more people. If this can be considered a crime, then I am willing to bear it." Old Fletcher lit the pipe and took a deep breath. He said after taking a sip.

"You can't do this. I would not sign a document like this, and I don't think Mr. Rogan would either," Mitchell insisted.

"Okay, then why don't we ask Mr. Logan? Your Excellency has experienced more and more brutal wars, so you will have a better say?" Old Fletcher looked at Logan.

"From the perspective of war victory, there is nothing wrong with making such a choice. However, I personally cannot accept it for pilots to perform missions that are almost certain to lead to death." Logan paused and continued: "If possible, I hope that eventually Pilots who crash land on the sea can be rescued, whether by submarines or destroyers. They are the bravest and the most contributors in the entire fleet, and we must leave them a way to survive, even in theory."

"This is acceptable, I'll make arrangements." Old Fletcher said.

"Do we still need to bring some seaplanes for reconnaissance or other missions?" Mitchell was unwilling to continue to dwell on this sensitive and uncomfortable topic.

"We must bring some. We need seaplanes to carry out reconnaissance and suppression of submarines, and air defense when necessary. But we can't bring too many. We still need to leave enough seaplanes on the battleship. The most we can do is Bring two ships." Old Fletcher said.

"What about the destroyers?" Logan asked.

"We can allocate a total of 10 destroyers to 2 destroyer squadrons. Two of them will follow the Constellation, and the remaining 8 will follow the main force. Let the rescue mission of the pilots be left to the submarine force." Old Fletcher quickly made arrangements , the two destroyers accompanying the Constellation are, at best, escorts; at worst, they are preparing to rescue people after the Constellation sinks. Of course, the premise is that the two destroyers themselves can survive...

"When necessary, the Raider can be abandoned. Mr. Mitchell, please hand over the captain's authority to the deputy, and you and I will come to the Zeppelin." Old Fletcher finally said.

"No, I will not leave my battleship, even if it will be sunk in the end,

Moreover, it was enough to have General Rogge on the Zeppelin. "Mitchell refused.

"No, you must come here. This is my order. In addition, even if you go back, you must live in order to sue me in a military court." Old Fletcher said firmly. It is said that a thousand armies are easy to get but a general is hard to find. Capable commanders must be protected as much as possible. Therefore, even though Mitchell and old Fletcher had a bad fight just now, old Fletcher still wants to protect the future. If the U.S. Navy can have an excellent aircraft carrier commander, he must also keep Mitchell.

After four hours of hard work, the combat report was finally completed, and Sims quickly approved this desperate report. The U.S. Navy does not have enough time. Every second of delay in the Sulawesi Sea means crisis and a consumption of already few inventory resources. Therefore, after some preparations, Sims decided to carry out this operation codenamed Cerberus Three-Headed Dog early tomorrow morning.

The reason why this operation was named "Three-Headed Dog of Hell" was naturally taken from the deeds of the legendary hero Hercules in Greek mythology. One of the things he did was to subjugate the three-headed dog of the underworld, and until he performed this task, no one thought he would succeed. Crown Prince Ruprecht once used this name to name the first large-scale naval battle he personally commanded. But this time, the Americans used the same code name that the Crown Prince used in the Battle of Dogger Sands. In fact, it was also to get some luck. After all, in that battle, the German High Seas Fleet severely damaged the British Grand Fleet. And this time, the Americans also want to severely damage the Japanese fleet!

"If possible, I don't want to experience something like this again in the rest of my military career." Logan wrote in his diary, which shows how dangerous this operation is.

Two seaplane carriers and 10 destroyers will accompany the three aircraft carriers. In order to maintain high speeds, the two selected seaplane carriers have also been transformed into high-speed ship types, and their loads have been "appropriately" reduced. Before setting off, the three remaining aircraft carriers in the U.S. fleet were also making final preparations.

Huge rope ladders hung from the deck of the huge aircraft carrier. A large number of officers and soldiers left the battleship carrying some items. This time, all the battleships were very likely to be sunk. Therefore, in this case , in order to reduce unnecessary casualties, most non-combatants must be relocated. To paraphrase the words of old Fletcher, since this is a battle to the death, it is better to have fewer people involved.

The remaining people were busy inside the battleship. They first checked the fire-extinguishing equipment inside the battleship and added additional fire-extinguishing agent to the fire-extinguishing sprinkler equipment. (It’s nothing magical. It’s just soapy water.) All personnel are reduced, but firefighting and damage control crews are increasing, with extra asbestos-resistant suits and hand-held fire extinguishers.

All things that may ignite the interior of the hull have been removed, including but not limited to all non-combat wooden items, cotton and textiles, and even non-fire retardant paint in some places has been hung up. Aviation fuel reserves and ammunition reserves have also been reduced to a minimum. Considering that there is only one chance for this attack, wouldn't it be useless if you leave too much ammunition and fuel? So most of it was removed. Just big enough for an airplane.

In order to improve the battleship's effectiveness against torpedoes, some originally evacuated heavy fuel tanks were filled with seawater, and foamed cement was placed in some compartments to prevent water from entering. The electrical system was carefully maintained and additional pumps were added. In order to prevent the flames from burning the wires, inert nitrogen gas is injected into the wire line pipes.

"We have done everything and are waiting for the judgment of the God of War!" Old Fletcher wrote before the war.

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