Iron Cross

Faced with the enemy's wanton killing, Eisenhower felt as if his heart was bleeding. Suddenly he thought of something and immediately notified nervously: "Tell the airdrop group heading to Somalia now to find a suitable airport inland to land after the mission is completed, and never return to Mombasa..."

When all the planes completed the attack mission, the entire city of Mombasa turned into a sea of ​​fire, with billowing smoke everywhere. The Axis Combined Fleet lost only 11 aircraft, of which 7 were shot down in air combat and 4 were shot down by anti-aircraft fire in ground and sea attacks.

"Well done! Well done!" All the officers were dancing with joy, and the pilots who returned to the aircraft carrier were also exaggerating the remarkable results achieved after using the new aircraft in combat, and asked the ground crew to replenish oil and ammunition as soon as possible to prepare for a second round of attack on Mombasa-since all ship targets had been sunk, the attack aircraft had to change bombs this time.

Richthofen was very satisfied with the results of the first wave of battles: Shokaku launched a total of 81 aircraft, except for 16 Bf-219s that served as fleet cover aircraft and were not put into external combat, 65 aircraft were put into combat, and a total of 60 aircraft returned to the mother ship, and only 5 aircraft were lost in the battle. The losses of the Japanese Air Force were similar to those of the German Army, with only 6 aircraft lost. They shot down nearly 50 enemy aircraft, and the pilots of these 11 aircraft may not all have died. The fleet will send seaplanes for search and rescue in a while, and try to save the pilots. Although several aircraft on Shokaku had problems during landing, no major accidents occurred. The pilots were rescued safely, and the damaged aircraft were pushed into the sea by the quick-eyed ground crew to avoid damage to the subsequent landing. From this point of view, the immature German Sea Eagle can already take on the heavy responsibility.

Richthofen was particularly satisfied with the unexpected gain of sinking the Furious aircraft carrier. According to the comprehensive analysis of various intelligence and combined with today's results, there are only four Illustrious-class aircraft carriers left in the British regular fleet, three of which are fighting in the Pacific battlefield (unknown specific names), and the UK has at most one Illustrious-class fleet aircraft carrier left in the mainland. When inferring the military strength, he never thought that Britain did have an aircraft carrier (Indomitable) that did not appear in the Far East battlefield, but it was not stationed in the mainland as he estimated. The ship was hit by several bombs in August and has been repaired at the Norfolk Shipyard in the United States. It is scheduled to be fully repaired by the end of February. In addition to the testing and return time after the repair, it means that the British will have no regular aircraft carriers in the North Sea for at least 2 months. The British Navy also knows its own weakness, so on the one hand, it hurriedly recalled two Illustrious-class aircraft carriers from the Far East, and on the other hand, it ordered several escort aircraft carriers to play the role of fleet aircraft carriers to intimidate the German Navy.

"Prepare to launch a second wave of attacks, with the main targets being material warehouses and various port facilities. We must prevent the Americans from getting materials and using ports, and completely paralyze the entire city of Mombasa..." He decisively issued the order, and at the same time he sent a secret telegram to the Navy Commander Raeder, telling him that the British had at most one aircraft carrier in the North Sea, and it was a golden opportunity to launch the "Tsunami Plan" as soon as possible. Judging from the performance of the Navy this time, it is not difficult to complete the running-in with the Zeppelin as soon as possible and exert combat effectiveness. The Germans with Zeiss are far more advanced than the Japanese in the fields of optics and observation. If a Navy pilot can successfully land on the Shokaku with guidance and his own experience, then landing on the Zeppelin will be easier and more relaxed. Now it is time for him to worry about which personnel to board the ship first.

Tsukahara Jishizo smiled as he directed and reminded him: "If we find that the enemy target has a fleet beyond our knowledge, and the first wave of response is particularly smooth, we should pay attention to increasing the search around to see if there are any fish that slip through the net, and be careful to launch a counterattack by the defenders..."

After being reminded, Richthofen remembered: Whether it was the pilots fighting with the enemy aircraft or the pilots going to air strike the airport or aircraft carrier, no one reported seeing the enemy's bombers or attack aircraft. Obviously, something went wrong.

Kusaka Ryunosuke also expressed doubts about this. Although everyone did not believe that there were still aircraft carriers lurking around the United Kingdom and the United States, they all believed that they must conduct a careful search in all directions of Mombasa, not letting go of any suspicious places, and at the same time, the number of fleet cover fighters should be increased again to prevent those missed bombers or attack aircraft from attacking the fleet.

Just as the ships were launching their aircraft one after another to prepare for the second wave of attacks, the second order from the commander-in-chief, Hori Teikichi, came down: "Each bombardment fleet should advance at full speed and launch bombardment on Mombasa. The rest of the fleet should escort the mobile fleet 50 nautical miles forward according to the plan."

"Ahead of schedule?" Richthofen was puzzled: Didn't they say to act in the afternoon and use the night to launch bombardment on the port? This order was issued just after 9 o'clock, but since there was a clear order, the ships that had been itching for a long time immediately obeyed the order and rushed towards Mombasa at a speed of 25 knots under the leadership of the flagship Musashi.

Since no enemy fleet was found in the surrounding 300 kilometers of reconnaissance, the main target of the second wave of attack prepared by the mobile fleet was still the port. In order to strengthen the fleet's defense, up to 54 fighters were left behind to cover it - anyway, the fighters and airports in the direction of Mombasa were basically cleared, and the Axis Combined Fleet had absolute air superiority.

In the underground headquarters in the Mombasa port, after the Japanese and German planes retreated, Eisenhower instructed the troops to rush out for rescue while gritting his teeth and listening to the emergency reports from all parties. After more than 2 hours, more and more people Information poured in:

"A total of 52 land-based and carrier-based fighter jets (also deployed on land airports) were lost, 47 of which were shot down in air battles, 5 were destroyed on the ground or during takeoff, and about 33 pilots successfully parachuted. Currently, search and rescue operations are underway 17 people succeeded, the rest were missing, and two Japanese and German pilots were captured. Our airport was completely destroyed, and there was a big explosion in the oil depot and ammunition depot, causing great losses. Only the No. 3 oil depot buried deep underground was safe. There were more than 400 casualties among military, ground support and other personnel..."

"All warships, transport ships or merchant ships anchored in the port were sunk, and the aircraft carrier Fury blocked the waterway. More than 2,000 naval officers and sailors have been successfully rescued so far. It is estimated that no less than 2,000 people were missing or killed in the air raid..."

"The wharf and offshore fortifications were heavily attacked by the enemy. About 24 medium and large-caliber anti-aircraft guns were destroyed. There were about 12 remaining anti-aircraft firepower, and half of the 40mm and 20mm small-caliber anti-aircraft gun groups remained. The overall casualties exceeded 700 people. Material warehouses at the wharf There are 49 warehouses in total, of which 17 are intact and buried under rubble, and 14 can still be saved. The remaining warehouses are completely destroyed or are still on fire. Among them, the No. 2 ammunition depot and the two gasoline and diesel depots No. 5 and 6 were destroyed. The No. 1 heavy oil depot is on fire and cannot be rescued at the moment..."

"Basically all ground troops took shelter in air defense fortifications. The tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and anti-aircraft guns exposed on the ground were attacked by the enemy. The losses were minor and the total casualties did not exceed 100."

"Radar stations and communication hubs have been damaged and are currently being repaired. Water supply and power supply facilities are basically intact, but hospitals are short of manpower, medicines and plasma are in short supply, and assistance is urgently needed."

Eisenhower had just ordered them to save the wounded at all costs. The shrill sirens sounded again, and the second wave of air strikes came again. This time the focus was on the coastal fortifications, forts, warehouses and buildings. Under the pressure of 500 or even 800 kg aviation Under the attack of bombs, all the defense fortifications were wiped out, leaving Mombasa completely undefended.

At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the air raid aircraft had just retreated. The observation post on the top of the mountain was horrified to find a swarm of black warships on the black surface, rushing toward the port at a high speed. The underground headquarters that received the warning was in chaos: Are the Germans going to force a landing?

Before they could figure out what was going on, the huge Axis Combined Fleet artillery formation had arrived at the designated position. At a distance of 25,000 meters, the artillery attack was launched first with the 460mm caliber main gun of the Musashi as the commander-in-chief of the artillery fleet. It was Admiral Iagenso, commander of the Italian Navy - when the three-nation joint fleet was formed, in order to balance the relations between the three countries, it was unanimously decided that Horikichi would serve as the commander-in-chief, Richthofen would serve as the commander-in-chief of the naval aviation, and Iran would be the commander-in-chief of the naval aviation. Yakinso served as the commander-in-chief of the artillery fleet. Although this kind of staffing and commanding ability may not be the strongest, at least the balance among the three countries is well controlled.

On the Veneto battleship, Ia Kinso is methodically assigning bombardment targets to each ship. Because the Japanese battleship's artillery shells cannot be replenished, they can only fire 7-8 symbolic salvos. The main force of the bombardment is performed by the Italians. , the Italian Navy, which had failed in many naval battles such as Taranto and Cape Matapan, finally waited for a moment of pride. A total of 27 381mm main guns of the three Littorio-class battleships opened fire fiercely. The German Mediterranean Fleet The battlecruiser Strasbourg commanded by Commander Admiral Krank (who was promoted to the rank of admiral a few months earlier than history due to his meritorious service in the Black Sea Campaign and the North African Landing Campaign) later joined the chorus of artillery fire. Then the 203mm naval guns of each heavy cruiser opened fire in sequence.

Since the forts at the Mombasa port were not strong and most of them were destroyed in the second round of air strikes, the artillery fleet approached and attacked confidently and boldly. It started from 25,000 meters and continued to hit 5,000 meters away from the port. Under the guidance of seaplanes, the artillery shells fell. The point is very accurate - 20 kilometers along the coast of the port was reduced to ruins. Various buildings, artillery positions and locations with military value were baptized by medium and large-caliber artillery shells. Even the oil depots and telephone lines buried deep underground It was also lifted out and destroyed by super-heavy caliber artillery shells. By this time, Eisenhower finally understood what was going on when the Guadalcanal defenders encountered intensive bombardment by naval guns and suffered more than half of their casualties.