Chapter 1105 Missiles in the Atlantic Ocean XVIII

"Oh God, all four Iowa-class ships were destroyed so quickly...is this true?"

"That's the Iowa class. Such a big battleship, in just a few minutes..."

"It's terrible, it's absolutely terrible!"

September 6, 1944, 4:50 pm. On the battlefield of the decisive battle about 500 nautical miles southeast of Bermuda, it was not only Halsey and his American freedom fighters who were frightened by the "Reaper" 2 remotely-controlled missiles, but also the Nazis and fascists in the European Community fleet. The elements were frightened by their own murderous weapons. Even Admiral Hoffman, who personally issued the missile attack order, did not expect the saturation strike of the Reaper 2 missile to be so powerful.

After all, the Reaper 2 and Reaper 1 missiles had not been used in actual combat before, and even the targets were only abandoned merchant ships. There are only a few targets like the "Iowa" class battleships in the world. Of course, they cannot be used as targets for the Reaper-2 missiles.

Therefore, in the imagination of Hoffman and others, the first round of missile saturation strikes launched by the two missile ships could severely damage up to four Iowa-class ships. It would not completely cause them to lose their combat effectiveness. They would also need to use the battleship's cannons. Go and solve them finally.

But now, one Iowa-class ship has been sunk, and the other three have been burned into fireships. If a fire of this level continues, it will definitely explode the ammunition depot. The only way to save yourself is to fill the ammunition depot with water.

But once the ammunition depot is filled with water, the remaining three Iowa-class ships will become target ships.

In other words, with just one missile attack, four battleships, which are the third most powerful in the world (according to the German judgment, the Yamato class is the first, the Hindenburg class is the second, and the Iowa class is the third) are finished. It either sinks or completely loses its combat effectiveness.

"Sir, the enemy destroyer is casting smoke!"

"Sir, the American lightning strike formation has accelerated its charge!"

The sound of the staff report woke General Hoffman out of shock. He turned and looked at the chief of staff, Major General Meyer.

"Admiral, the Americans are running!" Major General Meyer said.

"We can't let them escape!" Hoffman waved his fist, "Let three heavy cruisers including the battleship Provence, Deutschland, Graf Spee, and Admiral Scheer join the second drive cruiser to disperse them. American Lightning Strike Formation.”

He paused, and then issued an order to reorganize the fleet: "Hindenburg, Wilhelm II, Prinz Eugen, Hamburg, Z47, Z48, Z59, and Z60 formed the first missile fleet. To pursue the No. 5 ship (USS Washington) of the enemy battleship formation.

Gneisenau, Bismarck, Blücher, Frankfurt, Z38, Z40, Z41, and Z42 formed the second island bomb squadron to pursue the No. 6 ship (Soviet Union) of the enemy battleship formation.

Veneto, Vittorio, Reich, Admiral Hipper, Hannover, Z43, Z44, Z45, and Z46 formed the first battleship squadron to pursue No. 7 of the enemy battleship formation. Ship (Soviet Ukraine).

Hamburg and Danze formed the first cruiser squadron to track the No. 8 ship (Soviet Belorussia) of the enemy battleship formation.

Vienna, Dege Trouan, and Cologne formed the second cruiser flotilla to track the No. 9 ship (Soviet Russia) of the enemy battleship formation. "

"Admiral, what should I do if there are three Iowa-class ships floating on the water?" Major General Meyer discovered that his superiors had "ignored" the three Iowa-class ships that had not yet sunk - although these three ships were It's half dead. Even if it is dragged back by the Americans, it will take 6-12 months or even longer to repair it.

But I am always unwilling to sink it!

"Let Bv138D be responsible for monitoring, and then notify the 1st submarine group and let them solve it." Admiral Hoffman has no intention of sending the three Iowa-class ships back to the United States for overhaul. He gave the task of finally destroying them to a dozen Type 21 submarines of the 1st Submarine Group.

These submarines had been following the activities of Task Force 21 of the European Community Combined Fleet, and after the merger of Task Force 21 and Task Force 20, they accepted the command of Task Force 20.

However, Hoffman did not let them participate in the fleet decisive battle, and ordered them to ambush near the battlefield and be responsible for picking up leaks. Although the Type 21 U-boat was very fast underwater, it had to catch up with the battleships traveling at a speed of more than 20 knots. It's impossible, so it can only be used against battleships that have been severely damaged and slowed down.

…

"Sir, the Germans have also disbanded their formation."

In the command tower of the heavily damaged battleship "Iowa", the staff reported the situation just discovered by the lookout post.

"Sir, it seems that their target is not us." Major General Callahan held up the telescope and observed for a while, then he breathed a sigh of relief and said to Halsey.

"The Germans don't want to let go of one of our battleships!" Halsey sighed. "I would rather they sink the Iowa."

"Sir, the light cruiser USS Little Rock has arrived." Captain Mike Rae, the captain of the USS Iowa, hurriedly walked into the command tower, gave Halsey a military salute and reported, "Please tell Fleet Command Transfer immediately."

The Iowa battleship could no longer assume the responsibility of being the fleet flagship, and Halsey, as the fleet commander, had to move with his headquarters. After ordering the four Soviet-class battleships and the Washington-class battleships to withdraw immediately, Halsey chose the Cleveland-class light cruiser Little Rock, which was escorting the battleships nearby, as the fleet's new flagship.

Halsey nodded and said to his chief of staff, Rear Admiral Callahan: "Let's go... Let's go to the Little Rock and see if there is anything else we can do."

...

"What is their speed?"

"About 28 knots, which should be the maximum speed of the Soviet class."

"How fast can we maintain?"

"25 knots, we can only go this fast before the missile deck is loaded. But only when the missiles are loaded, we can chase at a maximum speed of 31 knots."

"How long will it take to complete the loading operation?"

"At most 30 minutes, 20 missiles will be ready for launch in 30 minutes."

After listening to the report of the captain of the Gneisenau missile battleship, Admiral Hoffman nodded with satisfaction.

It is not slow to complete a series of tasks such as missile loading, fueling and pre-launch inspection in 30 minutes for the current level of automation.

In other words, if Halsey had not ordered the disbandment of the formation, but chose to fight to the end, with his five battleships, it would still be possible to fight against Reifman's six battleships.

However, Halsey had no idea about the strength of the German missile ships. After suffering two rounds of attacks and heavy losses, it was understandable that he chose to retreat.

"In 30 minutes, we will be left behind by 1.5 nautical miles at most. It will take a little time to catch up." Admiral Hoffman calculated, "In two hours at most, we can kill the Soviet class, and the Wilhelm II should be able to kill the Washington. The three Veneto-class ships of the First Battleship Squadron should also be able to sink a Soviet class, so there will only be two Soviet-class ships left..."

Speaking of the two Soviet-class ships that were not tracked by battleships and missile ships, Admiral Hoffman couldn't help but frown.

Halsey's decisive retreat also created a big problem for Hoffman. According to the original plan, Hoffman's fleet would first severely damage the four Iowa-class ships with missiles, and then use the battleships' guns to cripple the four Soviet-class ships and the Washington. Although the four Soviet-class ships and the Washington were stronger than Hoffman's six battleships on paper, Hoffman knew that the Soviet-class ships had a lot of armor and were actually a battleship with a strong appearance but a weak interior.

As long as they were not afraid of losses, they could completely defeat the four Soviet-class ships and the Washington with the six battleships of the 20th Task Force of the European Community.

Moreover, it would only take 30-40 minutes for the Gneisenau and the Wilhelm II to complete the reloading and launch another 40 Reaper II missiles. By then, the nine American battleships would be completely annihilated.

But Halsey decisively let his battleships disband the formation and run away.

"Admiral, why don't you report this to the Atlantic Front Command?" said Major General Meyer. "Maybe we can use the 3rd Fleet or some other force to intercept them."

Hoffman nodded, "Let the 1st and 2nd Cruiser Squadrons follow closely. Don't lose them. If you lose them, there will be nothing you can do."

...

"Two Soviet-class ships escaped?"

Zossen, Joint Intelligence Center of the General Staff. Hersman, who was in high spirits, frowned slightly when he heard that two Soviet-class ships might have escaped.

According to intelligence, the Americans will soon have two new Iowa-class ships in service. If two more Soviet-class ships escape, their super battleship fleet will reach four.

This is not good news for the Caribbean War that is about to begin!

"Can we catch them?" Hersman asked.

"At least one can be taken down." Raeder took over the topic. "The Soviet Union's speed is 5 knots slower than the Wilhelm II class, 3 knots slower than the Gneisenau, and 6 knots slower than the Veneto class. If they can't stay away from the Wilhelm II, Gneisenau and the three Veneto classes, then the Wilhelm II, Gneisenau and the three Veneto classes can pursue the two Soviet classes after solving their own targets.

According to the current report, the Wilhelm II, Gneisenau and the three Veneto classes are all pursuing westward, that is, in the direction of the Bermuda Islands. The two Soviet classes are fleeing to the northwest and southwest respectively. We can mobilize the 'Zeppelin' aircraft carrier to pursue the Soviet ship fleeing to the northwest and launch an air strike after dawn tomorrow."

"What about the other one?" Hersmann asked, "Is there any way?"

Raeder shook his head and was about to answer no, but Air Force Commander-in-Chief Kesselring suddenly interrupted and said, "There is also a way. We can dispatch the Ju188 from the Georgetown Island base to carry out a night attack."