Chapter 1088 Missiles in the Atlantic Ocean 1

"From last night to early this morning, off the coast of Georgetown, 36 Ju188 torpedo bombers and 16 torpedo boats dispatched by the Georgetown Island Joint Command, as well as a submarine group dispatched by the 1st Submarine Command, launched a series of attacks on the US landing formation. The results that can be confirmed so far are that 26 enemy ships were sunk or damaged, of which 16 enemy ships can be confirmed to have been sunk...

In the Georgetown coastline area, the ground forces of the Georgetown Island Joint Command, according to the original plan, voluntarily gave up before the US military launched the landing operation. The U.S. troops retreated to the inland area of ​​Georgetown. Therefore, the landing operation launched by the U.S. military in the early morning of the 24th, Guyana time, was very successful. At present, the urban area of ​​Georgetown has been completely occupied by the U.S. landing troops.

In addition, at about 8 o'clock this morning, aircraft reconnaissance found that at least 150 U.S. landing ships and transport ships gathered in the coastal mudflats of Georgetown, and were carrying out beach unloading operations..."

In the joint intelligence command center of the German General Staff, Admiral Messer, Chief of the Naval Staff, briefly introduced the latest situation of the Georgetown battlefield.

Of course, the situation is under control. The U.S. military can easily land in Georgetown, which is entirely due to the German (European coalition) letting the water go. The purpose of letting the water go is naturally to use the Georgetown battlefield to lure out the main force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

Although the European Community now has a great advantage in aviation technology and has "black technology" weapons such as TV remote-controlled guided missiles, the German General Staff is still very wary of the 9 super battleships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

If they are not destroyed, they will have to live in fear when the German army attacks the Caribbean. As long as the United States dispatches these 9 super battleships to use the night or other weather conditions that are not suitable for aircraft to be dispatched as cover, and leads a large number of cruisers and destroyers to attack the European Community fleet that is launching landing operations, the consequences will be unimaginable... Those 9 super battleships have 81 406mm cannons!

The role of these 9 super battleships in the anti-landing operations of the Caribbean islands must be known by the US Navy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, so the Americans will definitely use them carefully and will never take risks with them easily.

So you have to invest some money to have a chance to hook them out for a decisive battle!

"Have you found any American battleships and aircraft carriers?"

After listening to General Messer's introduction, Hersman immediately asked about the situation of the US battleships and aircraft carriers-given the scale and importance of the Georgetown landing operation, it is impossible for the United States not to dispatch aircraft carriers and battleships.

"Not yet." Admiral Messer's answer disappointed Hersman. He explained, "It is difficult to distinguish between battleships, aircraft carriers and large transport ships during nighttime aircraft reconnaissance. Daytime reconnaissance operations will be driven away by US shore-based aircraft. Since the waters near Georgetown are only 500 kilometers away from Trinidad, the combat radius of the US P47 and P51 fighters can fully cover it.

In addition, some areas in the sea north of Georgetown were covered with clouds during the day, which will affect the aircraft's search operations."

This is completely expected. Georgetown is close to the equator, the climate is hot and rainy, and the fleet can easily find clouds to hide at sea. And the Americans will definitely send a large number of shore-based aircraft from Trinidad to provide direct cover for their fleet. Most likely, a destroyer formation will be sent to deploy anti-submarine and air defense cordons around the main fleet.

Hirschmann smiled nonchalantly and asked, "We can always find them, right?"

"Of course," Navy Commander-in-Chief Raeder took over the question, "The American fleet can't hide for too long. But it's useless for us to find them now, because our fleet has not yet set out."

Now the main force of the 1st Fleet of the European Combined Fleet (home port in Belem, Brazil) has set out to the Pacific. The main forces of the 2nd Fleet (home port Brest) and the 3rd Fleet (home port Gibraltar) have not yet set out, so even if the location of the American aircraft carriers and battleships is found, they can only send Me264, Ju288, Ju188 and Do217 from Belem and Cayenne to carry remote-controlled guided missiles for attack.

However, with the interference of the American P47 and P51 fighters, it is difficult for these heavy and medium bombers to successfully launch missiles.

Moreover, the German General Staff wants to hunt not one or two American super battleships, but at least sink the super battleships with main guns.

To achieve such a result, it is not enough to rely on shore-based medium and heavy bombers equipped with remote-controlled missiles to attack. The main fleet must be deployed.

"Are our four missile ships ready?" Hessmann asked.

Marshal Raeder said: "They are ready. The missile cruisers Wilhelm II and Maria Theresa, as well as the missile battleships Gneisenau and Dunkerque are ready. They can be deployed at any time!

In addition, the missile cruisers Friedrich I, Wilhelm der Große, Schlieffen and Europaberg (the second ship of the Dunkerque class) will complete the sea trials before the end of the year and be officially equipped with the European Joint Fleet."

The modification of the eight "missile ships" was carried out in two steps. The first to enter the factory were the Gneisenau, Dunkerque, Wilhelm II and Maria Theresa. The other four battleships/armored ships entered the factory eight months later, so the completion time was also a few months later. Because of the experience of modifying the first batch of four missile ships, the modification time of the second batch of missile ships was relatively short and could be completed in 1944.

By the way, the newly designed B-type missile cruisers (the modified P-class ships were renamed A-type missile cruisers) No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 were also secretly built on the 30,000-ton slipway of several large German shipyards in October and November 1943, and were planned to be put into service before the end of June 1946.

This class of missile cruisers will be improved on the basis of the A-type missile cruiser. The standard displacement is still as high as 24,000 tons, and the number of missile launch tubes installed is more (depending on the missile model equipped, the number of missile launch tubes will change) than the A-type missile cruiser. It is 1 times more than that of the A-type missile cruiser, reaching 40 tubes (20 twin tubes)! And it will also be equipped with ship-to-ship missiles or cruise missiles that are more advanced than the "Reaper" II missiles.

The V4/V5 series of large cruise missiles (take-off weight exceeds 6.5 tons, when installing large cruise missiles, the twin launch tubes need to be replaced with single tubes) that are under development and are to be installed on the B-type missile cruiser are also planned to be equipped with miniaturized nuclear warheads!

Therefore, the B-type missile cruiser is actually a powerful strategic weapon!

In addition to these 20 twin cruise (anti-ship) missile launch tubes, the B-type missile cruiser will also be equipped with 4 twin ship-to-air missile launchers - at this time, the development of German surface-to-air and ship-to-air missiles is not slow at all. There are currently 6 surface-to-air and ship-to-air missile projects under development, including the "Waterfall" developed by Henschel and the R series "Rhine Daughter" developed by Rheinmetall. Three series of radar-guided surface-to-air/ship-to-air missiles have entered the testing stage. It is expected to be actually equipped to the troops by the end of 1945!

Judging from the development progress of German missile cruisers and missiles (this is top secret and the Americans don't know), it is right for the Americans to be eager to play a decent peace strategy in 1944 or 1945.

However, 4 missile ships are enough for the Americans!

According to the latest organization of the various squadrons of the European Combined Fleet, the missile battleship "Gneisenau" and the missile battleship "Dunkirk" belong to the 2nd and 3rd fleets respectively, and are the preferred task force flagships and battleship squadron flagships.

The two A-type missile cruisers are also incorporated into the 2nd and 3rd fleets respectively, and are both alternate task force flagships and cruiser squadron flagships.

In other words, under the 2nd and 3rd fleets of the European Combined Fleet, at least 2 task forces are fighting around "missile ships".

The 40 "Reaper" 2 type TV remote control anti-ship missiles are the biggest killer of the entire task force.

"Then let's use our trump card!" Hessmann smiled and said, "I think the Americans are likely to take the initiative to seek a decisive battle with them!"

...

"Rudolf!" The voice of Major General Hans-Karl Meyer came from the telephone receiver, "Come to the chief flagship immediately, and you must arrive within 30 minutes."

"Yes, Major General." At lunch on August 24, Major Rudolf von Heinsberg-Hessmann received a call from Major General Meyer, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Fleet, in the Officers' Club in Brest Port.

As a fleet staff, little Hessmann knew very well what "coming to the chief flagship" meant?

The nine squadrons under the current European Combined Fleet are all "headquarters fleets", and there is no flagship at ordinary times-because they will not go to sea to fight in the name of the 1st to 9th fleets.

If the commander of the squadron wants to lead the team in person, then usually, the fleet commander will bring a capable headquarters to the "preferred" or "alternative" task force flagship. Usually the fleet commander would board the flagship of choice, which in the case of the 2nd Fleet was the Gneisenau missile battleship!

As one of the important fleet staff officers, when the commander of the 2nd Fleet set out, Hessman Jr. would naturally follow and board the flagship Gneisenau missile battleship.