Iron Cross

After cutting off the submarine's tracking contact, Machar was quite helpless, but he neither dared to act rashly nor allowed the breaking fleet to retreat casually. Fortunately, Hintz said that the fleet's fuel could support at least another half month, and Machar was slightly relaxed. Take a breath.

The judgment of the next move of the US military has become the focus of debate among the German fleet. There are two core questions: First, are the British and American aircraft carrier formations and battleship formations together or separated? Second, should Britain and the United States go south to attack the Falklands or use this as bait to lure the Germans south.

On November 8th, 9th, and 10th, for three consecutive days, the German army did not get any valuable clues and spent three days in an atmosphere of anxiety. The pilots took advantage of this opportunity to conduct repeated exercises on the new carrier-based aircraft. The fleet's senior officers and staff conducted rounds of deductions and simulations, but they still couldn't get the key point. Only one opinion was unified, which was that the "Atlantic Supervision" must increase its investigation of the waters south of the Azores.

Machar did not hesitate to reduce the intensity of surveillance on the British-Canada route, focusing more attention on the Mid-Atlantic, and expanded the surveillance circle to 3,000 kilometers - almost the limit of Atlantic surveillance. On the 11th, even worse news came. Two German submarines discovered a huge American transport fleet in the waters of northern Brazil, including more than 120 cruise ships, cargo ships and oil tankers of various types, and at least 20 escort aircraft carriers and More destroyers and cruisers accompanied them, and the mighty team lined up for nearly a hundred kilometers. Due to the tight defense of the US military, the two submarines were unable to find an opportunity to attack and only sent the intelligence back.

After the news was reported to the Azores, the tension in the fleet was on the verge of breaking out. If the US military really ignored the Anglo-Canadian route and insisted on dealing with the Falklands, the German army would have no way to do it. Some staff speculated that the missing US main fleet had gone south to attack the Falklands. Brazil What was discovered in the northern waters should be US ground troops. It is recommended to pursue them south immediately, even if they cannot catch the main force of the US military, they may eat their troop transport troops. Machar expressed doubts about this, but did not dare to deny it categorically. He was very depressed. The main general Krank suggested to continue to hold on to the Azores, and Ozawa suggested to pursue. After some hesitation, Machar decided to stand still for the time being, but immediately Report the situation.

After the news reached Berlin, Hoffman was also very nervous, but he knew that the more critical the situation, the less likely he was to lose control of his position. Faced with incomplete and insufficient information, he was not sure which countermeasure was more logical, so he The intelligence and fleet speculation collected so far have been sent to two departments, one is the Naval Staff Department, and the other is the Red Army Staff Department, to listen to their suggestions.

Paulus sent back his feedback early the next morning. Although most of the opinions only elaborated and analyzed various possibilities, a few sentences made it very clear: "Whether the U.S. military is feigning an attack or really attacking, there is one thing. What cannot be ignored is that the British-Canada route has always been cut off. Unless the United States is determined to abandon the British, they will definitely return to the Atlantic Ocean. What if they lose the Falklands? We are closer to victory.”

This sentence made Hoffman feel confident.

The feedback from the Naval Staff was very interesting. It gave Hoffman two options: one is to stand still and break the relationship with peace of mind, thinking that even if the Falkland Islands are lost, it will not harm the overall situation; the other is to attack decisively and attack the enemy's flank, at least not to let the enemy lose. The enemy attacked Falklands so easily. What he said was impeccable, but he did not express his preferred opinion clearly. He insisted that the frontline commander make the decision on camera, which made Hoffman yell "Slippery!"

In the end, only Hoffman, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Navy, ordered the fleet to continue to stand by in the waters near the Azores, waiting for the order to attack, and the fleet and submarines were completely blocked in the sea area, and no suspicious ships were allowed to enter the North Sea. .

To be honest, the current situation is very uncomfortable for Americans. Turner didn't really want to attack the Falklands. He wanted to lure the Germans out to fight once, but now the German planes haven't found him at all - he used to look forward to going to sea. In order not to be discovered by German reconnaissance planes, now I hope that the Atlantic inspectors will be smart enough to see themselves, so that they can have a chance to let the German fleet escape from the protection of the Azores air defense circle. .

On the night of November 13, a submarine finally caught the U.S. military. By the early morning of the next day, the "Atlantic Inspection" that took off from Cape Verde finally found the U.S. military's leading force—four light cruisers and six destroyers. The rapid reconnaissance force is almost the equipment of the US military's standard reconnaissance fleet.

"What, the vanguard of the US fleet appeared 1,800 kilometers west of Cape Verde?" The first reaction of those who received the intelligence was surprise, and the second reaction was that trouble was coming.

Compared with the Azores, although Cape Verde is also controlled by the German army, due to its less important status, it is not the focus of German construction at this time, and only a certain amount of armed reinforcement has been carried out: there are only 2 regiments of marines on the island. , there are three twin-mounted 356mm naval guns (removed from Ise) as the core of the shore defenses, and there are about 60 more aircraft. Its strength is several times stronger than when the Portuguese were stationed, but it is better than Kia Sol is nothing, at best a little better than Bermuda.

On November 15, the U.S. fleet moved more than 500 kilometers closer to Cape Verde. The situation began to become clear. Berlin judged the enemy's situation as follows: the U.S. military divided its forces into two groups, attacking the Falklands all the way south and attacking Cape Verde all the way. The main force of the Axis Fleet is in the North Atlantic, so the US military should attack Cape Verde with the main fleet and cover the escort fleet to attack the Falklands.

"The enemy is going to attack Cape Verde?" Hoffman summoned Jodl and Dönitz. "Do you think it is possible to defend the island?"

The two of them shook their heads in unison, "Führer, this is impossible. It would be good if Cape Verde could hold on for three days. Judging from the size of the fleet in the Caribbean Sea, we estimate that the US military will have at least 6-7 divisions, plus With the firepower and air cover provided by other main fleets and escort aircraft carriers, we only need 1-2 divisions to attack.”

The German high-level officials have not yet realized the tyrant style of the US military. They only judge the number of people based on Germany's own transportation scale. If this scale were replaced by the Japanese transport force, it would be able to transport at least 10 first-class divisions. I can only carry 4 divisions on my body. However, the judgments of the two men were basically close to Turner's plan - even if he had to launch offensive operations in Cape Verde and Dakar, he would only prepare to mobilize one division, and the remaining three divisions would still be deployed in Brazil as planned. The Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed that if necessary, 1-2 more divisions could be added to the third batch of troops.

"Then the enemy will take advantage of the situation and attack Dakar?"

"The possibility cannot be ruled out." Yoder explained, "The enemy has established a foothold in Brazil and built an aviation base. The last time the fleet harassed and destroyed it was just to let the Americans spend more effort to repair it. Once the enemy takes over Going down to Cape Verde and Dakar, we have a foothold in West Africa. The difference between the two places is about 3,500 kilometers. Considering the air power of Britain and the United States, their bomber fleet can completely and effectively cover the entire sea area. Our fleet wants to quietly The chance of traveling silently is almost zero."

"Don't they know we were actually shipped from Madagascar?"

"They may not necessarily know, but by doing this now, at least a blockade has been established between the North and South Atlantic. If the US military captures Dakar, will they take the opportunity to launch a counterattack in West Africa and threaten German West Africa?" Dönitz asked worriedly.

Speaking of these words, Hoffman became a little uneasy, because that would probably mean the second Operation Torch, which was a situation he wanted to avoid.

However, Jodl is obviously much more optimistic than Dönitz: "I am not worried about the Americans landing in West Africa. The situation is much better now than when the Afrika Korps went to North Africa. We completely control the entire Mediterranean and our supply lines are much shorter than those of the Americans. What's the big deal if we let General Guderian go to Africa to fight a land war? The US aircraft carrier will not be able to land, and its army will not be our opponent for another 100 years to destroy an American on land than in the air or sea. It is easier to eliminate them. If the Americans suffer hundreds of thousands of casualties in Africa, I don’t think they will have the courage to continue fighting. Moreover, there are ready-made counterattack bases in South Africa. Why don’t the Americans launch a counterattack from South Africa?”

Hoffman nodded. As Jodl said, it is also an idea to put the Americans up to fight. Only in this way can the Americans be bled quickly. As long as the British and American strategic air strikes are not allowed to succeed, the European materials and industrial production under German unification are fully capable. Supporting the long war with the United States, now that the oil issue has been basically resolved, even the last weakness has disappeared.

"But wait and see the actions of the US military. They are only sending out reconnaissance troops now. It will take at least 2-3 days for the main force and landing troops to show up. We still have time to judge what their real movements are. My suggestion is: If the enemy Don’t worry if you really attack the Falklands. Our army now has 1 armored division, 1 infantry division, 2 marine brigades and 2 Argentine brigades on the island and in Argentina, as well as more than 400 aircraft and a group of S-boats. , submarines, and part of the defense fortifications have also been built. Britain and the United States cannot defeat us without dispatching their main fleets and paying more than 100,000 casualties. What's more, it doesn't matter even if they lose the Falklands, the U.S. military will consume at least 3 It will take months to return to the North Atlantic," Dönitz concluded, "Both the Americans and we can afford to wait three months, but the British may not be able to endure three months without US aid. "

On November 16, Hoffmann, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, issued an order requiring the fleet that had completed all preparations for attack to continue to wait for orders in the Azores air defense circle. He had made up his mind that the defenders of the Falklands could sacrifice themselves as a last resort... …