Iron Cross

Beginning in the early morning of December 28, the reactionary attack by the First Guerrilla Detachment of the Japanese Combined Fleet against the British and American Navy's Southeast Column in the Indian Ocean was definitely the most ferocious in World War II. It did not even need to be preceded by the word "one". .

At about 7 o'clock in the morning, the Southeast Column had just ended the chaotic anti-submarine operations in the early morning and was preparing to take off carrier-based aircraft to search the sea. However, just after taking off a few TBMs, a Japanese attack group with more than 100 aircraft suddenly killed them from the north. arrive. Within three minutes, all the American planes that were forced to take off were shot down. The escort aircraft carrier Suwannee sank on the spot. He and a group of destroyers fought back, but only shot down 4 enemy aircraft, but they themselves sank one after another. Then the Japanese attack aircraft group with remaining ammunition began to attack the transport ship.

At about 8 o'clock in the morning, the first wave of Japanese attacks left. The remaining transport fleets spontaneously rescued the drowned people while spreading out in all directions, trying to win a chance for themselves by running for their lives, but this struggle was destined to be in vain. Yes, because their speed is too slow. At 11 o'clock, the second attack wave of the Japanese army arrived again for a surprise attack. Although the weak transport ships used ship-borne anti-aircraft guns to fight back, they had little effect. The transport ships sank one after another, and the sea was full of people struggling after falling into the water. of British and American officers and soldiers.

From early morning to 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese fleet attacked a total of three times. This was not the most terrifying scene. At 4:15 o'clock in the afternoon, everyone witnessed the most desperate scene: the menacing Kongo-class battle team with four Mogami-class heavy-lift ships The cruiser arrived at a high speed of 29 knots and began to clear the sea with 35-caliber naval guns, massacring the fleeing transport ships unscrupulously. Although the Japanese army was very interested in the transport ships, they were very dissatisfied with the Americans who refused to stop and surrender. Happy, and without hesitation, used large-caliber naval guns to send them to the bottom of the sea.

The killing continued until the sun went down. Two U.S. infantry divisions and naval personnel totaled more than 40,000 people. In the end, only one transport ship was able to escape after dark. The total number of people was less than 1,200, and the survival rate was low. to 3%. In addition, there were only two ships that were completely captured. One was a fast oil tanker. The Japanese needed oil tankers. No matter how the oil tankers ran away, the Japanese army would not sink them. Instead, they would first send planes to follow them, and finally let the heavy cruisers Pounce on it and seize it; the other is a fast transport ship, and it is a rare Victory Ship (an upgraded version of the Freeship, with a speed of more than 15 knots, and a greater tonnage and carrying capacity than the Freeship. It was launched not long ago ) Although the ship ran very fast at the beginning, when faced with the Japanese warships that came to intercept, it obediently raised the white flag and anchored. It did not try to destroy or open the sea valve and sink into the sea like other ships. Faced with this A well-informed opponent, the Japanese warship was really reluctant to sink it.

After boarding the ship for inspection, we found that there were more than 40 Sherman tanks and a whole battalion of 155mm cannons (commonly known as M1 Long Tom) and related accessories. The Japanese officers and soldiers were overjoyed with such a harvest, and they also had a good attitude towards the Americans who surrendered. He paid a lot of money and gave them a rare courtesy. As for the other ships, Takagi Takeo, who directed the artillery battle, sank them with a "very heavy" heart - he did not have a psychological barrier to massacring Americans, he was annoyed that the Americans refused to surrender until death, so he sank them. The transports grieved him like sinking his own trophies. For those American officers and soldiers who would rather sink their ships than fall into the hands of the Japanese navy, he unceremoniously commanded the warships to ram and sink countless lifeboats and rafts - as for rescuing people, he had no interest or patience at all.

"Sir, what a great victory!" Mitsuo Fuchida, who was commanding the aircraft group to attack, said to Ryunosuke Kusaka with a smile after getting off the plane, "And I also discovered a very interesting situation."

"Tell me about it."

"Today's plane is much more powerful than before, and the speed seems to be faster." Mizuo Fuchida laughed at himself, "Is it because people feel so refreshed during happy events that their judgment becomes confused?"

"This is normal, because you used American gasoline." Minoru Genda quickly revealed the answer, "Logistics said that American gasoline has a higher grade than ours and has better performance than us. Have you ever used No. 100 gasoline (octane number 100)? ?”

"I used some before the war, but they were rare. After the US embargo, I couldn't see them anymore. Is there still such a thing in the country now?"

"One more thing, it's probably just a few hundred tons... It's used for testing new aircraft, not for combat troops." Genda said in a helpless tone, "But the problem is that the Americans just take out No. 100 gasoline. ——What you used today is only a mixture of American gasoline and domestic gasoline, which is not considered pure American gasoline. Wouldn’t you be happy to use the latter?”

"Ouch..." Mizuo Fuchida said with a heartbroken face: In order to save high-grade gasoline, Japanese aircraft used low-grade 79-grade gasoline when flying around.

"The gap between us and the United States is really too big. How will we fight this battle next?"

"Don't think too much." Kusaka Ryunosuke comforted him, "Chief Takagi seized another oil tanker today, and it is estimated that there will be American gasoline on it. Chief Tsukahara said that as long as he is in charge of the mobile fleet for a day, the high-grade gasoline will be Open for your use—nothing is more important than fighting.”

"This feels so good!" Mitsuo Fuchida looked eager to try, "Now I really want to go back to Socotra Island to experience the performance of the new aircraft provided by the Germans. If it is paired with American gasoline, it would be perfect. "

At this moment, Tsukahara 243 walked out of the command tower with a gloomy face, as if he was not happy about today's victory.

"Sir?!"

"I just received the telegram. Lai City has been lost. More than 10,000 officers and soldiers are in pieces. The defense situation of Bougainville Island is also in danger. I'm afraid we won't be able to go back." Tsukahara took a few deep breaths and said, "To Lieutenant General Takagi. Send a telegram and ask him to leave 1 heavy cruiser and 2 destroyers to slowly escort the prisoners, and the rest will return at full speed. I have to fight the American column heading north - not even a single American soldier can even think of running from the Indian Ocean to support the Pacific Ocean!"

The mobile fleet headed by Tsukahara 243 and Kusaka Ryunosuke initially did not think that the supplies provided by Germany were useful: neither bombs nor torpedoes from Germany could be used in common with Japan. It might be possible to modify them, but in such a war, It is unrealistic to carry out large-scale transformation at such a fierce moment. As for gasoline, American gasoline is better than German gasoline, and with a lot of seizures, it seems that it is not necessary.

But then they became excited: the Germans did not simply send torpedoes and bombs, but replaced them with supporting aircraft. According to the report of the three-man team sent to Germany, the combat capabilities of the new German carrier-based aircraft were stronger than the current equipment of the mobile fleet. In order to continue to fulfill the blockade obligations and successfully receive German equipment, Horikichi immediately ordered the Marine Corps to land and occupy Socotra Island, and also used the captured American supplies to repair the airport on the island as soon as possible - blowing them up was still a mobile fleet carrier Thanks to the machine.

Germany's initial support list includes a total of 60 aircraft: 30 Bf-21218 and 10 Ju-98. The Ju-98 is the latest product of the Junkers Company. It can be regarded as the German upgraded version of the Tianshan carrier-based aircraft. Both Bf-219 and He-218 can be used on the Eastern Front, so the order volume is large and there is no need to worry about sales. However, the Ju-98 can only be used in the navy, and the market is relatively small. It also has to impact the Ju-87C order, so Junkers The Sri Lankan company was very reluctant to open an additional production line and just wanted to deal with it casually with the Ju-87C. However, after the Navy obtained the Italian Aquila aircraft carrier, HNA forced Junkers through Speer to put it into production. As for the production, it had already been produced. HNA has vowed to put the Ju-87C on the list of aid supplies to Japan and will never let Junkers’ investment go to waste.

After Hoffman learned about this, he reprimanded Boss Junkers in the name of Air Force Commander. On the one hand, he threatened to cancel the company's bid for four-engine heavy bombers, and on the other hand, he added 300 people to HNA. , so HNA’s official establishment was expanded to three wings of 800 people. Richthofen was excited and ran to place an order for 200 Ju-98s.

Among the new aircraft, the production of Bf-219 is the fastest, and it has gradually replaced the Bf-109 on the Eastern Front. The 200 Bf-109s that the Italians will receive are actually replaced from the Eastern Front. In the words of the pilot, after using the Bf-219, it feels like we suddenly have twice as many aircraft, because the Bf-109 can only fly for more than 2 hours, excluding more than an hour during takeoff, landing, and return, what can it really do? The time spent in combat generally does not exceed 45 minutes, but the Bf-219 can easily reach 4 hours. After deducting the intermediate time, the time of staying in the air and engaging in firefights is as long as one and a half hours, virtually doubling the combat time. It is especially useful when chasing Russian bombers: in the past, Russian aircraft always bullied the Bf-109 because of its short legs, and often dropped bombs and ran away. If they were not caught immediately, the Bf-109 behind them would not have enough fuel to chase them. Now that they encounter the Bf-219, if the Red Army uses this tactic again, it will be a complete dead end.

The He-218 has also received praise from frontline troops. Although its bomb load and resistance to attack are not as good as those of the Stuka, its speed is too fast. When it throws away the bomb and runs away, ordinary Red Army fighters cannot catch it at all. The evaluations of the air forces on the Eastern Front are very fair - fighting with this kind of aircraft is called a blitzkrieg! As a result, a large number of Stukas were squeezed out of the ranks of dive bombers and began to switch careers as ground attack aircraft.

The Italian leader was also very interested in the He-218 and hoped to obtain authorization to produce it in Italy. He wanted to use it to attack the island of Malta - Speer agreed without saying a word.