Chapter 1129 The Death of Roosevelt XIV
The Tomahawk Plan was formulated on the basis of the missile attack plans of the Air Force and the Navy. Because there was a foundation, it was formulated quickly. On the morning of September 23, when Hersman arrived at the General Staff Headquarters for work, the plan was already on his desk.
In addition to a series of technical issues such as navigation, correction, missile transportation and storage, the content of the Tomahawk Plan is not complicated. There are mainly two parts. One is to continue to use the Me264F long-range missile bomber to carry out the task of air-launched Reaper 2B cruise missiles to attack Boston; the other is to destroy the US airports on the Bermuda Islands, thereby tearing open the Bermuda Islands-Nova Scotia Peninsula blockade, allowing the missile carriers of the European Joint Fleet to take turns to enter the 500 kilometers of the US mainland to launch relatively cheap V1B cruise missiles.
Compared with using the Me264F long-range missile bomber to launch the Reaper 1B, using the missile type of the "Kesselring" class aircraft carrier to launch the V1B is a cheap and efficient method.
Because the price of V1B is only one-tenth of that of Reaper 2B - the engine and fuel used by V1B are very cheap, but the reliability is relatively poor. Moreover, the missile-type bomb load of the "Kesselring" class aircraft carrier is not comparable to that of the Me264F. The hangar space of the "Kesselring" class aircraft carrier is very large and can accommodate 48 Fokker 636 or Fw190T. If it is used to accommodate V1B cruise missiles, it can swallow a full 192 missiles!
If this "Kesselring" class missile aircraft carrier does not adopt the deck mooring method to accommodate fighters on the flight deck, it can also store 58 V1B cruise missiles in the storage box fixed on the flight deck, so that the bomb load of the "Kesselring" class missile aircraft carrier reaches 250 missiles.
In addition, because the "Kesselring" class aircraft carrier has a mechanical crane, it can replenish missiles and aircraft at sea. Therefore, after the "Kesselring" class missile aircraft carrier has fired all its missiles, it does not have to return to the home port for replenishment, and can directly obtain new V1B cruise missiles from the ammunition supply ship on the sea.
In the Tomahawk Plan, each "missile carrier brigade" should be accompanied by a "West Forest" class fast integrated supply ship, which can replenish 250 V1B cruise missiles to the "Kesselring" class missile carrier.
In other words, a "missile carrier brigade" with a "Kesselring" class missile carrier can launch 500 V1B cruise missiles in a combat mission, with a firepower equivalent to 500 Me264F bombers!
…
"General, the air strike plan has been formulated."
On the morning of October 10, Bermuda time, Major Rudolf von Heinsberg-Hersmann, the aviation staff officer of the 23rd Task Force of the European Community Joint Fleet, handed the newly formulated air strike plan to Rear Admiral Hans Karl-Meyer, the commander of the 23rd Task Force.
The 23rd Task Force is the task force used to implement the "Tomahawk Plan". The fleet is composed of the 201st Carrier Group (with the Joffre and Bender aircraft carriers), the 202nd Carrier Group (with four Kesselring-class aircraft carriers, including the Kesselring, Milch, Udet, and Jeschonnek), the 203rd Missile Carrier Group (with two missile carriers, including the Max and Anthony Fokker), the 231st Cruiser Group, the 241st Destroyer Group, the 281st Fast Supply Ship Group, the 291st Reconnaissance Group (with one seaplane carrier) and the 27th Submarine Detachment.
Now Hersman Jr. is formulating a plan for an air strike on the Bermuda Islands. Like the air strike plan in the last Battle of the Bermuda Islands, Hersman Jr. decided to adopt the tactics of night takeoff + ultra-low altitude penetration + early morning air strike. However, it was not the Fokker 636 and Fw190 that were deployed, but the French Br.810 torpedo bombers deployed on the Chaffee and the Bourg-Ville.
This twin-engine aircraft that was deployed on aircraft carriers began to be developed before the outbreak of the World War, and was originally intended to put the Br.690 series of attack aircraft on aircraft carriers. However, because the development cycle was suspended due to the "French-German Brotherly War", when the project was restarted in the second half of 1942, aviation technology had made considerable progress.
Therefore, the Br.810 project was almost pushed back to the beginning, and was jointly taken over by Fokker and the French Breguet Company. The Br.810/Fokker 810 that was finally accepted by the French/German Air Force and the Naval Aviation became the "enlarged" Br.690, equipped with a 2,000-horsepower Land God-Rhone 18M2 18-cylinder air-cooled engine (the German version of the Fokker 810 was equipped with two 2,400-horsepower BMW801F engines). The empty weight of the aircraft is 6.1 tons, and the total weight with full fuel and ammunition is as high as 9.6 tons.
Such a giant twin-engine carrier-based aircraft naturally has a huge bomb load. It can carry 8 100 kg bombs inside the fuselage, and 2-4 250 kg bombs can be mounted on the belly and wings at the same time.
In addition, the Br.810 is also equipped with high-performance airborne radar and radio altimeter, which can fly low over the sea for a long time at night or in poor visibility. It is a powerful weapon for attacking enemy island airports in the early morning.
The German version of the Fokker 810 is equipped with remote control guidance equipment, which can launch the powerful Hs293A2 air-to-ship missiles!
"Rudolf, are you going to take the Bv138 seaplane to command this air raid?" After reading Hessman's plan, Major General Meyer discovered a new tactic he had never seen before - the air force commander took the Bv138 to the vicinity of the combat airspace for command.
"Yes, sir." Hessman replied, "The 291st Reconnaissance Group has just added two Bv138E long-range seaplane early warning aircraft. This type of aircraft not only has a high-power S-band radar, but also has high-power communication equipment, which can conduct long-range air command."
Aerial command aircraft actually appeared a long time ago. In the Scapa Flow bombing in September 1939, the German naval aviation dispatched an aerial command aircraft. But it was soon discovered that the command aircraft that relied on visual command at the scene of the battle had poor survivability and was very easy to be shot down. So after the Scapa Flow bombing, the dedicated command aircraft disappeared from the battlefield.
However, the German Air Force and Naval Aviation did not give up their efforts to find a dedicated command aircraft. With the continuous advancement of radar and communication technology, in the second half of 1944, the "dedicated command aircraft" that had disappeared from the battlefield for 5 years appeared again. It was the long-range seaborne early warning aircraft called Bv138E.
Although the air combat command capability of this aircraft cannot be compared with the early warning aircraft of later generations, in the attack operations against the North American continent that have already begun, the appearance of Bv138E and another long-range early warning aircraft developed on the basis of Me264 can still give the European Community coalition forces an asymmetric advantage.
Their appearance, in theory, allows the European Community bombers to carry out low-risk air strikes on major cities and military bases in the United States without escort. Because the detection range of high-power S-band radars is far greater than that of radars on night fighters, as long as there is an early warning aircraft following, the European Community coalition bombers can dodge before the American night fighters find them (the radar on the night fighters cannot see too far, usually within 10 kilometers)-the Me264 has a very fast speed, as long as it can detect the American night fighters in advance, it can completely dodge with its own high speed. In this way, the Me264 carrying atomic bombs or conventional bombs can go deep into the US airspace without considering the range of the escort aircraft...
In the plan of the air attack on the Bermuda Islands formulated by Hessman Jr., the role of the Bv138E seaplane early warning aircraft is to observe the situation over the Bermuda Islands from a distance. If the American aircraft take off in large numbers to fight, the Br.810 that goes to attack will immediately drop bombs and retreat. If there are not many American fighters over the Bermuda Islands, it means that the Americans have not discovered it. 60 Br.810s can penetrate the Bermuda Islands from ultra-low altitude and bomb the airport just after dawn.
As long as the US military airport in the Bermuda Islands is destroyed, the 23rd Task Force can safely pass the Bermuda Islands-Nova Scotia Islands blockade and release V1B cruise missiles at the missile launch position 500 kilometers away from the US mainland.
…
“Admiral, Bermuda reports that about 60 twin-engine medium bombers have just raided Kindley Airport…”
“What? 60 twin-engine medium bombers?” At midnight on October 11, Eastern Time, Admiral Ernest King, who was on duty at the Naval Operations Department, suddenly received a surprising message.
The staff officer replied: “Yes, according to the report, the Bermuda Islands were attacked by 60 twin-engine medium bombers. The logo on the aircraft is red, white and blue concentric circles. It should be a French aircraft. From the appearance, it seems to be a Breguet Br.690, but it is much larger.”
“Brèguet Br.690 is actually on an aircraft carrier?” Admiral Ernest King was not too surprised, because the United States also had plans to put F7F on an aircraft carrier. He thought about it and asked again, “How is Kindley Airport? We shot down several Br.690s. ? "
"Admiral, the damage to Jindley Airport is heavy, and it may take several days to restore normal aircraft takeoff and landing. During this period, our P47, P51 and P61 deployed there will not be able to take off and land with full fuel and ammunition.
In addition, because the enemy aircraft broke through from an ultra-low altitude, and at the same time a Br.690 approached from a high altitude, it attracted the attention of the four P61s responsible for direct cover. Therefore, when the enemy aircraft broke into the airspace above the airport, they were not blocked by our aircraft. Therefore, only two Br.690s were shot down by anti-aircraft guns. "