American Celestial Master

Chapter 117, Bait

The PQ-17 escort fleet was an escort fleet that departed from the United Kingdom to the Soviet Union during World War II. It was fully loaded with various important materials most urgently needed by the Soviet Union, crossed the Arctic route, and headed for the Soviet port of Murmansk.The British played a trick when they sent this fleet, and wanted to use this fleet as a bait to trick the battleship Tirpitz, the sister ship of the battleship Bismarck, into killing it.So on the one hand, the fleet is equipped with only 6 destroyers, 2 air defense ships, 2 submarines, 4 frigates, 4 submarine hunters and 3 minesweepers for direct escort, as well as 2 British cruisers, 2 With an emergency support fleet of 3 American cruisers and 3 destroyers, in the face of the completely weak escort force of the battleships, while secretly using the battleship "Duke of York", the American battleship "Washington" and the British aircraft carrier "Victory" as the core, Together with the strike fleet composed of [-] cruisers and a small group of destroyers, they quietly followed behind, ready to rush up and beat her up when the Tirpitz came out.

And the Germans were really fooled, Tirpitz really came out, and was discovered by the Allied submarine as soon as he came out, and then the escort fleet knew it, and then quickly sent a report to the strike fleet: "Brother, opponent Come out, hurry up and fuck her!"

Unexpectedly, the situation at sea changed. The strike fleet was blocked by an ice floe and could not get through for the time being.I had to break the radio silence and call back to tell the fleet: "We can't come, you can ask for more blessings." So the escort fleet can only inform all ships: "Disband the formation, and everyone will flee for their lives."

However, what is interesting is that the Germans intercepted the communication between the escort formation and the strike fleet and knew the existence of the strike fleet. At the same time, they could not decipher these messages, so the Germans were also scared to death. Elpiz immediately hid back again.It's just that the British don't know it.

As a result, the disbanded fleet was attacked by German submarines and aircraft, and suffered heavy losses. 24 transport ships were sunk, and only 13 transport ships reached the target in the end.The order to disband the formation issued by British Rear Admiral Hamilton was regarded as a catastrophic miscalculation.

Therefore, it is not easy for General Thompson to issue similar orders, and now the fleet he escorts is even larger, and only they have the ability to detect extraordinary targets at sea. According to the charts they obtained before, once the escort fleet If it is disbanded, the loss suffered by the fleet will be much greater than that of the previous PQ-17 escort fleet.More importantly, after such a loss, I am afraid that the shipping between Europe and the United States will really be cut off.

Such political consequences are unbearable for both the United States and Europe.So after making the decision to turn the fleet to the Northeast for shelter, General Thompson immediately reported the situation to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and then the president immediately called an emergency meeting and issued the following order to General Thompson:
"The escort fleet must do everything possible to protect the fleet at all costs, and we will provide you with all assistance within our capabilities."

By the time the escort fleet received the order, more than an hour had passed.The huge fleet has just completed its turn and is speeding towards the northeast.It's just that the maximum speed of a fleet is determined by the slowest ship in the fleet. Compared with the speed of the "Flying Dutchman" as high as [-] knots, the maximum speed of some of the slowest cargo ships in the fleet is only [-] knots. festival or so.In peacetime, this speed is relatively economical, and it is also the common speed of most cargo ships, but in this era, this speed is obviously fatal.

"Where's the 'Flying Dutchman'?" General Thompson asked.

"The target continued to head north and did not turn, but the range of the storm around the target is still expanding. According to the speed of the expansion of the storm range, if the target does not turn, some of the slowest cargo ships in our fleet will still be caught in the storm ’” replied one of the officers.

"The slowest ships? At least half of our fleet are the slowest ships." General Thompson shook his head and said, "We are ordered to protect the fleet at all costs. What this means is that when necessary, We can all be that price, you understand?"

Everyone is in awe.General Thompson continued: "At this time, we need to send a group of warships to actively attack the target, and then lead the target to another direction. The warship that can perform this kind of mission must first be fast, with a speed of about [-] knots. So, in this way, in our escort fleet, which ships meet this requirement?"

"General, several of our Burke-class destroyers, as well as the British 45-class destroyer, can reach such a speed. As for other warships, they are not so fast. European warships are all built as frigates. Even the 26-ton Württemberg class only has a speed of about 29 knots, but the Italian ship can theoretically run [-] knots, but in fact..."

"In fact, apart from our Burke class, even the British 45 class may not be able to run at a speed of [-] knots. But we can't do all the dangerous things, right?" Another officer said.

"Why don't we call them over to draw lots, and whoever gets the lottery wins. In short, we can't lose money." Another person said.

So General Thompson called representatives of several other European countries, and after a quarrel, they finally sent a fleet to lure the enemy.

This fleet includes two Burke-class destroyers, a British 45-class destroyer, and a French Kazuki-class frigate, and the Dutch patrol ship, but the Italians and Germans were lucky when they drew lots. their business.

The four warships turned around and faced the "Flying Dutchman".

When the distance between the two sides was about [-] nautical miles, the wind and waves were already quite strong, and this place was already on the edge of the storm caused by the "Flying Dutchman".The U.S. destroyer fired an anti-ship Tomahawk with a nuclear warhead at the target.

After the nuclear tomahawk with an equivalent of [-] tons smashed into the target area, it detonated normally.US military reconnaissance satellites observed the explosion.But because of the occlusion of the water vapor from the explosion, the satellite did not see the result of the attack.However, from some indications, the results of this attack are not ideal.Because the storm surrounding the "Flying Dutchman" has not weakened, but has intensified further.

However, this attack still played a role in luring the enemy, and the storm began to turn, pressing towards the four warships.

At this time, of course the four warships turned around and ran away.Then the gap in everyone's speed was immediately apparent.

The patrol ship "Holland" has good sea performance and first-class comfort. The living conditions of this 4000-ton patrol ship can almost be compared with some luxury yachts, but its speed is not even comparable to those luxury yachts. superior.The top speed of this boat is only 20 knots.

Like the "Netherlands", the French frigate "Flower Moon" also couldn't run fast. "Huayue" is a so-called colonial frigate, and its main focus is a cheap one.This is the earliest warship built by the French Navy in accordance with merchant ship standards, and its armed level is also a mess.It is said that because it looked too much like a merchant ship from a certain angle, it was chased by Somali pirates who didn't have long eyes.The pirates chased her all the way to the front, only to realize that it was actually a warship with a 100mm naval gun.

So the two warships were quickly overtaken by the storm.Fortunately, everyone has already planned to abandon the ship.The helicopters flying over from the Mistral and Boxer picked up the sailors on the two ships one after another, and the two ships officially entered the unmanned state, and then they were swallowed by the storm.

(End of this chapter)