Iron Cross

"How many escort carriers will we have by the end of next month?"

"Excluding the Borg in the Far East, there are a total of 7 ships, but the president has promised to support the British 5 ships first."

"How many escort carriers does your country currently have?" Turner turned to Admiral Noble and asked.

"There are only 3-4 ships." Noble explained, "One is injured and is being repaired. I don't know if it can be completed next month. After repairs, there will be 4 ships, otherwise it will be 3 ships."

Turner looked like he had seen a ghost and asked in surprise: "Why are there so few? I remember that there are almost 20 escort aircraft carriers handed over to your country, right?"

"To be exact, there are 19 ships in total." Noble explained helplessly, "8 ships were sunk in the North Sea Battle, and 6 ships were sunk in the Torch, North Africa, and Indian Ocean battles, plus sporadic losses caused by U-boat hits during the escort. There are a few ships, but this is the only one left.”

Several big guys in the Joint Chiefs of Staff frowned: Noble's understatement said that the small 200,000-ton warship was just gone.

"Concentrate all the escort aircraft carriers we have, regardless of whether they are 10 or 11, drive them to a suitable distance from the Azores, and then release all the aircraft on them, leaving few or no escort aircraft, so that we can Gather 200-220 aircraft for the second wave of attacks (the first wave is a heavy bomber formation from the UK). As for these aircraft carriers converted from merchant ships, they are the bait we give to the enemy. Let them bomb them if they like, as much as possible. Luring the enemy aircraft over, every time they use their strength to deal with the escort aircraft carrier, the defense force on the island will be reduced. At this time..." Turner gestured with his hand, "Those ships on our aircraft carrier fleet Carrier aircraft, real elite troops will set off to attack the island, clear the obstacles, and create opportunities for battleship bombardment. As long as they can unleash a firepower density similar to that of the Japanese on Guadalcanal, the Germans will be finished..."

"To this end, in addition to deploying all escort aircraft carriers, I am also preparing to assemble all aircraft carriers and battleships in the Atlantic Fleet." Turner read the list, "They include the USS Lexington (Essex class), USS Independence and USS Princeton (Independence class) three aircraft carriers, four battleships, USS Iowa, USS Pennsylvania, USS Nevada, USS Tennessee, plus 4-6 heavy cruisers in relatively good condition, equipped with 203mm caliber naval guns, to jointly undertake the bombardment mission."

In Turner's plan, the entire Azores offensive campaign was divided into four waves of fleets, namely:

Decoy fleet: composed of 10-15 escort aircraft carriers and some destroyers;

Bombardment Fleet: The core consists of 8 battleships and 8 heavy cruisers;

Aircraft carrier fleet: composed of 6 aircraft carriers and some escort warships;

Landing fleet: Prepare 2-3 marine divisions, of which 1 division must be guaranteed for the first wave of landing.

Then the air attack wave is also divided into three times, the first is a heavy bomber formation; the second is a carrier-based attack aircraft formation escorting the aircraft carrier; and the third is a fleet aircraft carrier's carrier-based attack aircraft formation.

"But the three warships Lexington, Iowa, and Princeton have not even completed sea trials."

"Hurry up and it must be completed before the end of March." Turner said, "This is a war period, and there are a lot of casualties every day. The enemy will not give us the opportunity to take it easy and step by step. If it were me personally, I can wait until All the warships on the slipway will be completed before settling the accounts with the Germans, but Britain will be finished by then, and no matter how many aircraft and warships there are, it will not work. "

All the British generals, including Marshal Dill, rolled their eyes and felt that Turner's words were really harsh. "Britain will be finished first." He said it as if the Americans were the saviors, but after thinking about it carefully, they felt that the Americans were not. Bragging - without the strong backing of Lend-Lease, Britain was literally going to be screwed.

Turner estimated the total number of aircraft for the two German aircraft carriers at 100-120. Coupled with the rapid arrival of land-based aviation, he believed that the Germans could gather about 300 aircraft in the theater. Considering that land-based airports are much more resistant to bombing than aircraft carriers , and also considering that Germany will receive about 100 reinforcements from Spain in an emergency, so he plans to gather 500-600 aircraft to press them together - in his opinion, the number of escort aircraft carriers is still a bit small, and it would be better if there were 20 aircraft. Good - in this way, the decoy formation can form a fleet of about 400 aircraft, and the aircraft carrier formation can form a fleet of about 300 aircraft, which can steadily suppress the German aircraft on the island.

Although Turner has been fighting in the Pacific Theater, this set of tactics is very different from those in the Pacific. The battle for the Pacific Islands also relied on aviation power, but because every Japanese aircraft and artillery shell had to be transported from the mainland 6,000 kilometers away, and the US military could get supplements from nearby Australia, the US military had enough time to slowly wear out. But the Japanese army couldn't afford it. But the situation in Azores is just the opposite. The island is only 1,600 kilometers away from Spain and Portugal, but more than 4,000 kilometers away from the east coast of the United States. Therefore, if you want to attack, you must take it directly with a thunderous blow and slowly drag it down. Time must have been consumed by the German army's continuous transfer of troops from the mainland.

However, the Americans were obviously too nervous and exaggerated. After receiving two batches of supplies, the total number of German aircraft carrier-based aircraft only reached 80, and the total number of land-based forces was only more than 120, including more than a dozen water reconnaissance aircraft. , the number of aircraft was only 200 at full count. It was not that the German army did not want to gather more troops, but because the airport and hangars on the island were under construction and could not accommodate more aircraft at a time.

Everyone was silently thinking that after this battle, no matter whether the Azores could be defeated or not, at least the 10 escort aircraft carriers and a large number of carrier-based aircraft pilots in the decoy fleet would be finished, and the losses of the fleet's aircraft carrier pilots would not be light either. . Several generals secretly calculated that at least half of the pilots would be killed or injured in this attack - not ordinary pilots, but carrier-based aircraft pilots with the highest training difficulty and training costs. They would not be able to recover without 6-9 months of rest and recuperation. But they also believed that Turner's idea was correct. Without this force, and if they were afraid of losses, they might as well not fight the Battle of the Azores.

Seeing that no one spoke for a long time after Turner's introduction, Marshall had no choice but to break the deadlock and asked: "What do you think of General Turner's plan? We can discuss it."

"This..." General Ingersoll did not expect such a "grand" plan in advance. He did not want to easily refute Turner's ideas for a moment, so he asked tactfully, "Are there any other plans? I mean sacrifice. Fewer plans.”

"This is Plan A, which considers the worst-case scenario, and Plan B." Turner explained, "It is to dispatch a superior aircraft carrier formation to eliminate the German main fleet in advance, at least to kill those two aircraft carriers, so that when launching an offensive campaign, there will be fewer A lot of losses.”

Marshall turned to Spruance: "Is Plan B feasible?"

The latter thought for a while: "The aircraft carriers that can be used immediately include three British armored aircraft carriers and the Independence, and the battleships include two George V class, two Queen Elizabeth class, plus one Pennsylvania. In terms of strength, it is That's enough, but it's not easy to catch the Germans..."

Marshall nodded, turned his inquiring gaze to General Kim, and asked him what he thought - only if General Kim nodded and made up his mind could this plan be implemented.

Admiral Jin did not express his position directly, but asked Turner: "How long do you expect it will take to complete all preparations?"

"Today is March 1st. If you hurry up, one month is enough time to prepare. The fleet, army, supplies, and transport ships will be assembled on March 31st, and the departure will be on April 1st. Depending on the weather and tide conditions, it will be on April 7th or 8th. Launch the attack on 12, successfully land within one day, control the situation within three days, and strive to end the campaign within ten days. "Turner's grand plan caught up with the good time, and the landing force was almost ready-it was originally planned to carry out the Kenya landing battle and was prepared for the operation. force.

"So we have one month available?" Admiral Jin pondered for a moment and then said, "Plan A can continue to be demonstrated and refined, but the relevant preparations must be planned first. As for Plan B, it will be implemented immediately tomorrow."

Upon hearing Admiral King's decision, Ingersoll breathed a sigh of relief, and Turner nodded in agreement. The British side believed that this was a positive and prudent plan, so they unanimously passed it - as long as Roosevelt nodded, Spruance would start tomorrow. Able to lead a team on an expedition.

"In addition..." Turner interjected, "In order to prevent the Axis navy in the Mediterranean from rushing out during this period, the British need to be asked to mine the Strait of Gibraltar."

"This?" Noble hesitated, "Spain and Portugal are still neutral countries. Will it be possible to lay mines directly?..."

While everyone was still discussing, an emergency report suddenly came: An hour ago, at 8 pm local time, the German army suddenly began to attack the Fortress of Gibraltar. At least 200 artillery pieces with a caliber of 150mm or above opened fire. The airport was plunged into a sea of ​​​​fire, and most of the aircraft were hiding. Unscathed in the bunker, the British fortress artillery fired back fiercely. So far, the casualties are not significant, and the remaining results are unknown...

"Gentlemen, the Germans have already taken action. Do you still hesitate to lay mines?" General Jin glanced at the British delegation with dissatisfaction.

Noble promised repeatedly: "I will immediately notify the defenders to lay mines and prepare to seal the strait."

Just as the meeting was about to be dismissed, another message suddenly came in: "The HX-148 fleet departing from Canada reported that they were attacked by German aircraft 400 nautical miles northeast of Newfoundland, losing 4 merchant ships, 2 escorting destroyers and One auxiliary cruiser and escort aircraft carrier were severely damaged and lost their ability to take off and land aircraft... Due to safety concerns, the fleet was prepared to disband and each ship sail alone, still heading to Britain. "

"German aircraft carrier formation! This must be a German aircraft carrier formation!"

Noble cried sadly: Even if the injured escort carrier can be repaired, there will only be three usable escort carriers in a short time.

Spruance stood up with excitement: "I will lead the fleet to set off tomorrow to encircle and suppress these bastards..."