Chapter 1070 The Enemy Is in the Pacific
It was 3pm on August 3, 1944, cloudy.
Southeast Pacific, off the coast of Peru.
A He115 twin-pontoon seaplane with a slender fuselage and wide wings flickered in the clouds. This seaplane first flew in 1936 and its modified shore-based torpedo bomber were very prosperous in the early days of the war. The best reconnaissance aircraft and torpedo bombers of the German naval aviation played a great role in the war against Britain.
By 1944, this aircraft had a maximum speed of only 355 kilometers per hour, a ceiling of only 5,200 meters, a serious lack of armor and self-defense firepower, and no airborne radar. It could no longer meet the needs of the German naval aviation. So as early as In 1943, these aircraft completely disappeared from the German naval aviation establishment.
But for Captain Alexis Suarez, a pilot of the naval aviation force of the New Asbania Federation (composed of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and several states in southern Brazil), the performance of the He115 is still very satisfactory. A speed of more than 300 kilometers per hour is enough for coastal reconnaissance missions. The super long range of up to 3,350 kilometers gives the He115 the ability to patrol the waters off Peru. If the U.S. Navy fleet goes south along the west coast of Peru, then the new Asba with the He115 The Nian Navy can detect it in time.
However, Captain Suarez and his comrades from the 10th Reconnaissance Group of the New Asbania Naval Air Force, which is responsible for patrolling the Pacific waters north of Chile, now simply do not believe that they will one day encounter the American fleet heading south.
Because the Americans are very busy now. On the one hand, they have to deal with the bitter battle in the direction of the Hawaiian Islands. According to the war situation announcement published above, the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet taught the United States a severe lesson in the Midway-Aleutian Islands battle in July. People, causing the U.S. Pacific Fleet to lose about half of its troops!
On the other hand, in the Caribbean-Atlantic battlefield, the European Combined Fleet is also about to launch an attack - because the Soviet-German War has come to an end. In July, due to Japan's sneak attack on the Far East of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union and Russia, who were in the midst of a civil war, signed an armistice agreement. They said they wanted to "unite to resist Japan." For Germany, the armistice between the Soviet Union and Russia also meant victory on the Eastern Front.
Now the Germans could finally withdraw their main force from the Soviet-German battlefield and transfer it to the Atlantic battlefield.
And for the newly formed New Asbanian Federation, this means a victory that will soon be won.
A united, strong, and prosperous New Asbanian Federation that can compete with the United States will soon become the leading force in South America!
And the new Asbanian soldiers of my generation are so lucky to be the founders of this federation.
The captain, who was in a happy mood, skillfully controlled the plane while admiring the beautiful scenery outside the window. White clouds floated past like cotton wool, one after another, one after another, making people feel as if they were in heaven, with the Almighty God by their side.
At this moment, Schneider, a German young man sitting behind Suarez and holding a Zeiss telescope to carefully search for targets on the sea, suddenly shouted in Spanish.
"Captain, west! West! At 9 o'clock, two monoplanes! Approaching!"
Suarez took a quick look and saw two black spots in the distance approaching quickly, obviously with bad intentions.
The He115 seaplane piloted by Suarez is still 20 nautical miles away from Peru's territorial waters, so these two planes are unlikely to belong to Peruvians, and as far as Suarez knows, the Peruvians don't have many usable monoplanes at all - -Compared with Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, which have rich natural resources, Peru is basically a pauper. This country's navy and aviation are just for show.
Thinking of this, Captain Suarez quickly shouted: "Everyone is ready, Hans (Schneider), determine the type of aircraft."
"It seems to be F4U, God! It's an American F4U carrier-based fighter! We can't escape, we are finished..."
Two F4U carrier-based fighter jets are definitely unbeatable!
However, Captain Suarez was not too nervous. It was not that he was not afraid of death, but that he had his own ingenious plan to escape.
"Don't worry, they can't catch us." Suarez's brows were knitted as he spoke. F4U fighter jets are not afraid, but where did they come from? Definitely not Peruvian.
"We're going to descend now, Hans, send power to the command center immediately. Carlos, use your machine gun!" After saying that, Captain Suarez immediately turned the control stick, and the plane first turned eastward, and then turned to the east. It swoops toward the sea at a 45-degree angle.
The He115 is a seaplane. It is impossible to escape the pursuit of F4U at medium and high altitudes. The only way out is to lower the altitude and fly close to the sea. If the F4U also drops in height and reaches the point where it is close to the sea, it will have to drive carefully.
Moreover, Suarez also flew the plane eastward, that is, toward the Peruvian coastline. Today, Peru is still a neutral country that is pro-American. Although its politics and military are controlled by the United States, it has become an important transit base for the United States to support Brazil. But we will not casually shoot down a Chilean plane that "accidentally entered". Even if Suarez's He115 makes an emergency landing in Peru, the people on board can be released and returned to the country through diplomatic channels - while Peruvians are pro-American, they also have to leave a way out for themselves. !
"Captain! Over there!"
Just after the He115 seaplane broke through the clouds and descended to the sea level, Hans Schneider, who had just sent a telegram, suddenly shouted again.
Following Schneider's finger, Captain Suarez saw clusters of smoke rising from the sea. The smoke columns were so dense, there were dozens or even hundreds of them. There was no doubt that a large fleet was now heading south along the Peruvian coastline.
Their target must be Chile!
Schneider shouted: "Fleet! It must be the American fleet... It's about 60-70 kilometers away!"
Captain Suarez gritted his teeth: "Damn it, the Americans are going to invade us, from the Pacific Ocean! Send a telegram to the headquarters quickly, our New Azbanian Federation is in big trouble now."
While he was talking, two American F4U carrier-based fighters had already arrived behind him, and the sound of machine guns firing also rang out at the same time.
…
“Admiral, it’s an Asbanian He-115… It looks like we’ve been discovered!”
At the same time, Admiral Spruance, the commander of the US 5th Fleet on the aircraft carrier “Essex”, also received the report. He is now also the commander of the newly formed 56th Task Force, commanding more than 100 ships and even more troop transports and landing ships, heading for the port of Valparaiso, Chile.
“Shoot it down!” Spruance just uttered a few words lightly, and decided the fate of the Chilean He-115 (Captain Suarez and his comrades could not escape the pursuit of the F4U), and then he forgot about it.
He now commands a powerful naval force that is enough to crush the entire New Asbanian Federation! There are three “Alaska” class battlecruisers alone. There are more than 20 cruisers such as the Baltimore, Oakland and Cleveland classes.
As for the Essex class aircraft carriers, which are the main strike force of the fleet, there are as many as 8 - two Essex class aircraft carriers were sunk by the Japanese in the Second Battle of Hawaii, and two were severely damaged. The remaining Essex class aircraft carriers that can still fight are here - and each aircraft carrier has at least 80 commonly used carrier-based aircraft. A total of 640 commonly used carrier-based aircraft are enough even if they go to Midway Island to fight the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet, let alone to deal with a country like New Asbania?
Even Admiral Spruance, who is known for his prudence, felt that Nimitz was making a fuss by sending a large fleet like the 56th Task Force to attack Chile.
In addition, Nimitz also left 7 old battleships (2 Wyoming-class, 2 New York-class, 2 Mexico-class and 1 Florida-class) and 16 escort carriers in the Hawaiian Islands, continuing to bluff in the Hawaiian Islands, creating the illusion that the main force of the US Navy is still in the battlefield of the Hawaiian Islands, to ensure that the actions of the 56th Task Force were completely unexpected by the German army.
From the current situation gathered from all sides, Halsey's bluff has achieved a certain success. The main force of the European Combined Fleet is currently scattered in ports such as Brest, France, Gibraltar, Spain, and Belém, Brazil.
The 56th Task Force of the United States and the landing force composed of the elite 1st Marine Division are now less than 1,000 nautical miles away from the Port of Valparaiso, the largest port in Chile. At an average speed of 16 knots, in a few dozen hours, those Chileans who want to make a fortune by following the German tanks will have to learn the power of American bombs and shells!
Then it was the turn of the Germans' "general agent" in South America, the Argentines, to be in trouble!
Now it doesn't matter if the whereabouts of the 56th Task Force are exposed. In just a few dozen hours, can Germany still let their large fleet fly to the Pacific Ocean? Even if it comes from Belem Port, it is still 7,000 to 8,000 nautical miles, and it will take at least half a month to get there.
So now all the Germans can do is to send a few planes to Santiago (the capital of Chile) to take the important Chileans to Buenos Aires for refuge.
Just when Spruance was full of confidence and wanted to give the Germans a heavy blow on the west coast of South America.
The news that "a large US naval fleet is approaching Chile" has been transmitted all the way to the General Staff of the Wehrmacht in Zossen, Germany, more than 12,000 kilometers away.