Chapter 1095 Missiles in the Atlantic Ocean 8
"Admiral," the US President, who was only a bit familiar with the navy, read the plan sent by Admiral Ernest King, and then frowned, "Both the Navy Department and the Atlantic-Pacific Fleet Joint Command judged that Germany's attack on the Bermuda Islands was a feint?"
"Yes." Ernest King nodded, "The Bermuda Islands are too close to the US mainland, only about 1,000 kilometers. If the shuttle flight tactics are adopted, almost all US military aircraft can take off from the Norfolk base to fight over the Bermuda Islands. And our battleship forces can also enter the vicinity of the islands under the cover of shore-based aircraft. For the German landing fleet, these are insurmountable difficulties."
The heads and staff of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Navy Department and the Atlantic-Pacific Joint Command are not stupid. When they first heard that the German fleet was approaching the Bermuda Islands, they were a little panicked, but then they conducted a series of war games. By September 1, it was basically confirmed that the German army was conducting a feint.
"Then why are we still concentrating so many fleets in the Bermuda Islands?" Roosevelt asked in confusion.
"President, the enemy's feint fleet is also a big piece of meat!" William Leahy took over the question, "According to the repeated reconnaissance of the F-13 reconnaissance aircraft (B-29), it can be determined that there are at least four German fleets approaching the Bermuda Islands, two of which are large in scale and have multiple aircraft carriers and battleships, so it is worth attacking. Even if the Guyana troops pay a certain price, it is worth it."
Roosevelt nodded without comment.
William Leahy, the President's Chief of Staff, added: "Mr. President, according to the situation we have, the combat radius of the Me264 and Ju288 carrying remote-controlled guided missiles cannot cover from the Azores to the Bermuda Islands."
In fact, this is the reason why the US Navy finally chose to attack the German feint fleet near the Bermuda Islands!
Although the US Navy has the "one-time Spitfire", it can also get the cover of the shore-based P47. However, remote-controlled guided missiles are always a lingering nightmare. It is always good to be able to avoid such a cruel weapon.
"But the Germans still have ship-borne remote-controlled guided missiles, right?" Roosevelt frowned.
Although the US Navy is stronger than the European Combined Fleet on paper, the power comparison between the two sides will be reversed immediately if the remote-controlled guided missiles are taken into account.
"Yes," Ernest King replied, "but we have a way to deal with it. We can increase the distance of the battleship formation to more than 30,000 meters, rely on radar for observation and aiming, and let the destroyer release smoke near the battleship formation. In this way, there is no need to worry about the enemy 30,000 meters away seeing the target clearly."
Since the US Navy knew the power of remote-controlled guided missiles, it certainly thought of many ways to deal with them. The first is to conduct radio interference, but this trick is not very effective - because the Jewish beauty Hedy Lamarr who brought the secret of frequency hopping technology to the United States in history is now an honorary Aryan and still lives in Vienna, so the US military still can't figure out how the German missiles overcome radio interference?
There is no way to interfere with the communication of missiles, so the US military can only interfere with the eyes of the German missile remote control personnel. So now every American battleship, battlecruiser and heavy cruiser on the battlefield is accompanied by a destroyer dedicated to smoke.
Roosevelt then exhaled lightly and smiled: "This is really great... It seems that I still have a chance to make the United States the greatest country in the world during the remaining few terms!"
The two US Navy admirals nodded in unison, and they also agreed with Roosevelt's last comment - the ongoing Battle of the Atlantic is indeed related to the United States' position in the post-war world!
If the US Navy can win in the Bermuda Islands, then the United States can gain a foothold in British Guiana and the Valparaiso Bay off the coast of Chile.
Then the United States can use the Bay of Valparaiso as a base to launch an attack on Santiago, the capital of Chile, and launch a strategic bombing of Buenos Aires. At the same time, the US military can also station heavy troops in British Guiana to establish a large frontier base to defend the absolute defense circle of the Caribbean.
As long as the above points are achieved, the United States will take the initiative at the negotiation table and can exchange a peace in which the United States absolutely dominates North America (including the Caribbean region) with a "loan" of 20-30 billion US dollars plus Australia and New Zealand.
Moreover, the US dollar, which has not lost its gold reserves, will definitely be able to compete with the European mark after the war, or at least maintain the situation of the US dollar VS the British pound.
If the United States can develop an atomic bomb in a few years, the competition between the United States and Europe will not end.
And Roosevelt's historical evaluation will naturally be the greatest president in American history!
…
At noon on September 4, the Atlantic Ocean, about 500 nautical miles east of the Bermuda Islands.
Standing in the fleet command center on the second floor of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, Lieutenant General Erich Bei retracted his gaze after seeing four Fokker 636 carrier-based fighter-bombers that were performing a direct cover mission land smoothly. He asked, "Has the American bomber group not been spotted yet?"
"No." Rear Admiral Christiansen, Chief of Staff of the 21st Task Force, shook his head. "The 272nd Destroyer Squadron has opened a cordon 50 nautical miles ahead, and the 491st and 492nd Squadrons have also sent two Bv138 seaplanes to circle over my formation. If the American planes approach at ultra-low altitude, we should also find them. Sir, maybe the Americans' target is still Guyana? The Americans have been fighting fiercely near Georgetown these days."
"No! I'm sure they are targeting us!"
Erich Bei said with certainty: "The waters near Guyana are all covered by our Me264 and Ju288, and Moreover, the Me262 deployed in Cayenne can also escort the Me264 and Ju288 by shuttle flight. If the Americans can choose a location near Guyana and Bermuda Islands as the battlefield for the decisive battle, it must be Bermuda Islands! "
"That's right, if the Americans want to attack the 30th Task Force, we will definitely have a greater chance of winning."
The core of the 30th Task Force is several battleship squadrons, missile ship squadrons, heavy cruiser squadrons, and destroyer squadrons of the 3rd Fleet, plus the 501st and 502nd aircraft carrier squadrons originally belonging to the 5th Fleet (with its home port in Grand Harbor, Cape Verde, responsible for the defense of the South Atlantic), and the landing formation directly under the Atlantic Front Command.
Although there are no aircraft carriers of the 31st Task Force (aircraft carrier formation) nearby to provide cover, the number of battleships and missile ships owned by the 30th Task Force is the same as that of the 20th Task Force, both of which are 6 battleships and 2 missile ships. If they were to face the nine super battleships of the US Navy, they could still be beaten with a barrage of Reaper missiles!
Moreover, the waters near Guyana were still within the combat radius of various German shore-based aircraft, and Germany could also dispatch a large number of shore-based bombers carrying Reaper missiles to attack.
"But why didn't the Americans attack?" Major General Christiansen was puzzled again, "We have clearly entered the combat radius of the shore-based aircraft of the Bermuda Islands."
Erich Bei shook his head slightly, thought for a while, and then said: "Maybe they want to let us get closer before attacking?"
...
"Sir, are you really not going to attack first? If you don't attack now, the Germans will take the first action tomorrow morning."
On the battleship "Iowa", Admiral Halsey of the US Navy has now taken over the supreme command of the Bermuda Islands battlefield. Not only the surface and underwater ships, but also the bases in the Bermuda Islands are under his command, and even the shore-based aircraft deployed by the US Navy and Army in the coastal areas of Virginia and North Carolina are under his unified command.
However, Halsey, who had a large number of troops, watched the German fleet approaching the Bermuda Islands, and never issued an attack order to the US troops on the Bermuda Islands.
Faced with the doubts of the Chief of Staff Major General Callahan, Admiral Halsey just smiled faintly and asked: "Why attack? Dennis, you don't think that the planes on the Bermuda Islands can sink the German aircraft carriers?"
"Of course it's impossible..."
Halsey shrugged, "Isn't that enough? Let the Germans bomb first, and we can use the P47 and P51 and anti-aircraft guns on the Bermuda Islands to weaken their air power. In this way, Norfolk's F7F and Vice Admiral Mitchell's aircraft carrier will have a chance."
In the upcoming Battle of the Bermuda Islands, the Germans' trump card is missiles, and the Americans also have a trump card, which is the F7F fighter-bomber with amazing range, speed and bomb-carrying capacity.
This type of aircraft has been put into service in small batches during the Second Hawaiian War, but the US Navy has gritted its teeth and did not allow them to appear on the battlefield in the Hawaiian Islands. Instead, it has been hidden until now, in order to catch the Germans off guard on the battlefield.
However, because the F7F has not been mass-produced for a long time and is still in the trial stage, various faults have emerged one after another, and pilots have also had a process of familiarization, so not many have been equipped so far. Currently, there are only 14 squadrons of F7Fs belonging to the Navy and the Marine Corps, with 224 aircraft in common use.
All F7F squadrons have now been transferred to the Norfolk base by Halsey, waiting for the German fleet to approach the Bermuda Islands, and then they will use them to launch unexpected long-range attacks.