Chapter 1094 Missiles in the Atlantic Ocean VII
"What? Approaching the Bermuda Islands?"
Arleigh Burke was surprised by this order. In the original plan, the 31st Task Force's target was the Azores Islands, and it was not to be dispatched now, but to wait until the sea and air battle near Guyana started, and then attack from between the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico.
"What's going on?" Arleigh Burke took the telegram copy and read it.
It turned out that the A-13 ultra-long-range reconnaissance aircraft deployed in the Bermuda Islands discovered the German fleet moving towards the Bermuda Islands during several aerial reconnaissance operations on August 31!
This scared Nimitz, Halsey, Ernest King, William Leahy, Roosevelt and others.
The Bermuda Islands are only more than 1,000 kilometers away from the US mainland. If they are occupied by Germany and the Me264 is deployed, then the atomic bomb will fall on the heads of the American people!
So Roosevelt immediately issued an order to the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The absolute safety of the Bermuda Islands must be ensured!
The U.S. military, which received the order, immediately dispatched troops to the Bermuda Islands at full speed, and the U.S. 30th Task Force, which was originally planned to wait for an opportunity to attack the Azores Islands, also received an order to approach the Bermuda Islands.
"Admiral, the telegram from the Essex," Admiral Halsey, who was sitting on the battleship "Iowa", received a reply from the 30th Task Force at noon on September 1, Eastern Time, U.S. "The 30th Task Force will arrive in the waters 250 nautical miles south of the Bermuda Islands in 56 hours."
The current position of the 30th Task Force is 1,100 nautical miles away from the Bermuda Islands, and 850 nautical miles away from the position 250 nautical miles south of the Bermuda Islands. However, the U.S. 30th Task Force dare not take a straight line. The Atlantic is not the Pacific Ocean, and there are hundreds of Type 21 U-boats underwater!
Therefore, the 30th Task Force must take the anti-submarine route, and the straight-line distance of 850 nautical miles becomes an anti-submarine route of 1,360 nautical miles. Even at a speed of 24 knots, it would take 56 hours.
"How far are we from Bermuda?" Halsey asked his chief of staff Callahan.
"About 1,350 nautical miles," Callahan understood his old boss's thoughts, "and about 2,150 nautical miles if we take the anti-submarine route, which can be reached in 90 hours. Do you want to go?"
"Of course!" Halsey nodded heavily, "We must concentrate the main force of the Atlantic Fleet, only in this way can we ensure victory... Since the German fleet is approaching the Bermuda Islands, then we will fight them there!"
"Or it's a trap," Callahan said, "The purpose is just to lure us away from Guyana."
"It doesn't matter." Halsey said, "There are more than 30,000 Marines and paratroopers in Georgetown now, and there are nearly 3,000 shore-based aircraft on Trinidad. Even if we leave, the Germans will not win for a while.
And as long as we can annihilate the German fleet near the Bermuda Islands, a decent peace will come."
Halsey only said half of the last sentence, and the other half was that even if the 30,000 American troops who had landed and airborne in Georgetown were annihilated, it would be bearable for the United States!
As long as the Atlantic Fleet can deal a heavy blow to the European Combined Fleet! The United States has the hope of taking a big lead in the "competition" of naval power on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. What is related to the future and destiny of the United States now is not the gains and losses of tens of thousands of ground troops, but the comparison of the naval power of both sides.
In this life-and-death competition, although the United States is temporarily ahead, it is ahead of its opponents in several important data such as the total tonnage of aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and navy.
However, the European Community countries are not inferior to the United States in shipbuilding capabilities. Before the World War, the share of the United Kingdom alone in the international shipbuilding market exceeded that of the United States! The current lead of the United States is just that the "Two Oceans Navy Act" enacted in 1940 allowed the United States to take a step ahead in the shipbuilding competition.
But now, the land war in Europe has basically ended, and the Germans can finally use the powerful shipbuilding industry of the European Community countries to build warships with all their strength.
The United States wanted to maintain its "naval superiority", and in addition to going all out to build ships, it also did not miss any opportunity to severely damage the European Combined Fleet - if the United States could completely establish its naval superiority through a decisive sea and air battle, then the war would most likely end decently.
So even if the ground forces that had landed in Guyana became prisoners of the Germans, it didn't matter.
"Move all the F7Fs to the Norfolk base (the home port of the Atlantic Fleet, 1,160 kilometers away from the Bermuda Islands)." Halsey thought for a while and felt that he should add a little more chips to the Battle of the Bermuda Islands. "Now we should go all out and bring out all the trump cards!"
...
"Marshal of the Empire, this is the 21st Task Force, which is now about 800 nautical miles away from the Bermuda Islands. A large American reconnaissance plane flew around them for an hour last night and should have discovered them.
This is the 491st and 492nd Battalions assigned to the 21st Task Force. These are two anti-submarine battalions, currently responsible for reconnaissance and alert missions. The 491th Battalion is deployed 200 nautical miles south of the 21st Task Force, and the 492nd Battalion is deployed 200 nautical miles north of the 21st Task Force.
This is the 1st Submarine Group, which is currently located about 200 nautical miles east of the 21st Task Force and is heading towards the Bermuda Islands at full speed. According to the plan, the 16 Type 21 U-boats of the 1st Submarine Group will be deployed in the waters around the Bermuda Islands, mainly responsible for war zone patrols.
This is the 20th Task Force, located 200 nautical miles west of the 21st Task Force.
This is the 31st Task Force, including the Strasser, Austria, Chaffee and Bavvie aircraft carriers. Two of the Chaffee-class aircraft carriers (Chaffee and Bavvie) are equipped with a total of 48 twin-engine Br.810 carrier-based torpedo bombers. This aircraft was improved by the French Breguet Company based on the Br.690 series of attack aircraft. It is the first known twin-engine aircraft that has been successfully deployed on a ship. Its bomb load and range are both higher than those of ordinary single-engine carrier-based aircraft, and the Br.810 carrier-based torpedo bomber also has radar and radio altimeter, which can carry out torpedo attacks at night.
Currently, the 20th Task Force, the 21st Task Force, the 491st Brigade, the 492nd Brigade and the 1st Submarine Group are approaching the Bermuda Islands at a speed of 14 knots. The 31st Task Force is heading to the standby sea area at a speed of about 20 knots.
It is expected that the 21st Task Force will be attacked by US bombers taking off from the Bermuda Islands in 20-24 hours. "
In Zossen, Germany, at the Joint Intelligence Center of the General Staff, Admiral Messel, Chief of Staff of the German Navy, held a baton in his hand, pointed at a huge nautical chart, and told Imperial Marshal Hessman the deployment of the European Combined Fleet on the battlefield of the Bermuda Islands in a simple and clear manner.
Listening to Admiral Messel's report, Hessman was quite proud. The current European Community Navy has really grown!
Although the European Combined Fleet only used a small part of its force for the decisive battle in the Bermuda Islands, its strength should not be underestimated. There are 8 battleships and missile ships with combat power above battleships, a total of 15 aircraft carriers and auxiliary aircraft carriers, 6 heavy cruisers, 18 light cruisers, more than 100 destroyers, 16 high-performance Type 21 submarines, and nearly 400 combat aircraft of various types (including seaplanes).
"Have the specific combat plans been drawn up? "Hersman asked.
The plan to lure the main force of the US fleet by feinting at the Bermuda Islands already existed in the "Atlantic Storm" plan. However, this plan was formulated in a rather general way, just a rough plan, without a specific plan.
"It has been prepared, and the plan is code-named Storm 1." Admiral Messer replied, "The Atlantic Front Command plans to use the 21st Task Force as bait, and after engaging in battle with the US shore-based and carrier-based aviation forces, and severely damaging the US aircraft carrier forces or carrier-based aircraft forces, pretend to be severely damaged and retreat, and retreat eastward at a low speed of about 10 knots to attract the US battleship forces to pursue.
At the same time, the 20th Task Force moved westward at full speed, engaged in a decisive battle with the US battleship forces, and defeated and severely damaged the US battleship forces with anti-ship missiles. Then the 21st Task Force and the 1st Submarine Group will pursue. The mission of the 31st Task Force is to cover the battleships of the 20th Task Force in pursuit or retreat, so as to prevent them from being attacked by US aircraft carriers or shore-based aircraft. "
...
"Mr. President, the 'Poseidon Plan' has been drawn up. "
At the same time, Admiral Ernest King, the Chief of Naval Operations of the United States, also brought the decisive battle plan that had just been formulated, and met with Franklin Roosevelt, whose presidential term would end in a few months, together with Admiral Leahy, the Chief of Staff of the President.
The name of the battle plan was "Poseidon 1 Plan", and like the German "Storm 1 Plan", both used the Bermuda Islands to fight.
In the view of the German General Staff, the Bermuda Islands operation was a good opportunity to severely damage the US Pacific Fleet.
Similarly, in the view of the US Navy Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this was also an opportunity to severely damage the European Combined Fleet - those German military strategists were obviously not experts in naval warfare. When they were commanding the decisive battle at sea, they completely forgot the most basic military principle of concentrating forces, and repeatedly dispersed their already weak maritime forces.
This gave the US Navy, which had the advantage of the Panama Canal, the opportunity to concentrate all its main forces to annihilate part of the European Combined Fleet!