"General Levis, in the key battle this afternoon, my fleet met a German fleet that had been planned for a long time. They appeared very suddenly, beyond our imagination, although they were discovered almost at the same time in the end.

opponent, but the final result of the battle was shameful. My fleet was completely defeated, and I will bear all the responsibility for this defeat. The losses of the Germans were not large, and they still had enough troops to launch an attack if possible.

,I hope

Can you join me in taking on the final responsibility to cover the ts18 transport fleet as it escapes from the battlefield? I have already given them the order to disband the fleet, but the fleet is too large and the speed is very slow, so I hope you can provide help.

"When Levis saw Fletcher's telegram, all his dissatisfaction and anger were replaced by deep fear. He did not expect that he had been on the verge of life and death. The Germans used the same method to viciously plot against the United States.

person once.

"Why are their combat effectiveness so strong?" As an aircraft carrier commander, he knew the naval aviation very well. From the records behind Fletcher's telegram, he got information about the situation of the German fleet, the strength of the opponent's fleet and the strength of the fleet from Fletcher.

Everything is almost the same, they are all three aviation battleships, 2 large and 1 small. The number of aircraft carriers is also about the same. Even the combat environment between the two sides is almost usable.

To be fair, the time difference between the two sides when they discovered each other was only 20 minutes to half an hour. The time to launch the attack would not be much different. According to the internal drama of the US military, the result of such a battle should be a lose-lose situation. But the reality is cruel,

Fletcher's handling was exemplary, but the final result was that he suffered heavy losses while the other party suffered very little! How terrible!

Only now has Levis truly admired Fletcher, not just because of his intuition and talent. Although the latter's ability is considered outstanding in the U.S. Navy, he is better than Halsey and Si

Pruance is only high but not low. But the real fight

What moved him was Fletcher's indomitable spirit in the face of adversity and his will to fight to the end! Fletcher frankly admitted that the number of aircraft he could use now did not exceed 60! Self-protection was a problem. But he still wanted to

How to save the transport fleet first!

"It is the honor of my life to have a boss like you." Levis agreed to Fletcher's plan. He began to integrate the remaining resources, but after integration, he found that his aircraft could not even build two light aircraft carriers.

If you can't get it all together, the remaining two are simply rifles without bullets. It's useless to keep them. The remaining two are simply rifles without bullets.

The days are undoubtedly dancing on the edge of a knife. Let those warships without aircraft go back! In the end, Levis brought a light aircraft carrier filled with F4F fighters to join Fletcher, and then the remaining three light aircraft carriers

The aircraft carrier quickly leaves the battlefield with a small number of aircraft. If it can't defeat you, why not run away?

The huge ts18 transport fleet had fallen apart at night. The three escort carriers that provided cover for the fleet also began to move separately. Two of the escort carriers sailed towards the predetermined sea area. When they got there, they would hand over their F4F fighter jets.

Give it to Fletcher, and then let the latter barely cobble together a complete carrier-based air wing. After a night of tossing, by noon the next day, the hangar of Fletcher's flagship Essex

and

The deck was finally filled with aircraft again. Of course, the combat effectiveness of this improvised aviation wing could only be described as a mere commodity. The F4F fighter jets replaced the new F6F, and the pilots mainly focused on detecting and bullying submarines. The level of air combat was far behind.

Far inferior to the regular fleet. What? You still want to attack the German fleet? With the fw190 fighter jets accounting for nearly 70% of the total aircraft capacity, the Germans can completely neutralize the remaining US fleet's attack with one hand.

The American fleet that has been cobbled together does not dare to face the German fleet again. Not to mention attacking the opponent, it does not even dare to enter the opponent's attack radius! The Americans have learned a lesson from the reaction speed and attack power of the German air force. 300,000

The call came in less than an hour! There was no time to prepare! So Fletcher’s approach was to send planes to provide cover over the larger fleet while ensuring his own safety. They honestly hid under

Periphery.

The Germans were very efficient. After contacting Colonel Krank, the German fleet was divided into two to pursue the fleeing American transport fleet. Although the disbandment of the ts18 transport fleet made it impossible for the Germans to finish it all. But at the same time, it also

The escort force is weakened.

Many merchant ships are unescorted. Let alone aircraft carriers, it is a luxury to use the guns of aviation cruisers to deal with them. To put it bluntly, the deck guns of submarines can make some of these merchant ships surrender! The Krank fleet dispersed.

Hunting on the vast ocean

Killing the fleeing Allied transport ships, there was nothing that could threaten them within the combat radius of Redel's carrier-based aircraft. At this time, the positions of host and guest were reversed. According to the intelligence provided by seaplanes and reconnaissance aircraft, the Germans unscrupulously

guided by radio

The sea wolves under the waves tried to attack the lone transport fleet. Just the day after the Battle of the South Atlantic, the Krank fleet and submarine force easily sank 18 transport ships with a total cost of 220,000.

Tonnage! And the results of the Redel fleet were even more terrifying!

If Krank's fleet is compared to a cheetah attacking a lone antelope, then Redel's fleet is a pride of lions! They don't bother to track the leftovers, but directly choose those prey of a certain size. They target them first.

is a small fleet with more than ten transport ships! This fleet mainly transports food and supplies.

The small flotilla was attacked by as many as 50 aircraft. This time, the fw190f bombers performed the combat mission. In low-intensity battles, they did not need escorts. If they encountered F4F or Hellcat, they could drop the bombs.

Throw it and instantly transform into an air superiority fighter, teaching your opponent to be a new person in minutes!

A large number of aircraft roared towards the unsuspecting transport fleet. What the Germans did not expect was that there was actually a merchant aircraft carrier equipped with catapults and Spitfire aircraft. At the last moment, this merchant aircraft carrier

Successfully threw three Spitfire 5 fighter jets into the sky, but just after landing

When I went there, I was targeted by four FW190 fighter jets that had just dropped their bombs. The overly old Spitfire 5 fighter jets were easily killed at an absolute disadvantage in terms of performance and altitude. They stayed in the air for less than 5 minutes in total!

A typical fight against a scumbag! A scumbag who can only fight for 5 minutes!

The result of the subsequent transport fleet was naturally very simple. The entire attack lasted less than 30 minutes, and 16 transport ships were completely destroyed by this group of ferocious vultures. The sparse anti-aircraft guns were unable to stop the German attack.

, 500 per shot

kg of high-explosive bombs can easily sink a transport ship with a tonnage of nearly 10,000. The materials and designs of civilian ships are completely incomparable with military warships, and in order to carry more things, they have very little reserve buoyancy. Once damaged, they cannot even be saved.

No chance!

However, during the second attack, Redel ran into some troubles. The second transport fleet they attacked had 20 merchant ships of various types, with an estimated total tonnage of about 250,000 tons. With such a large piece of fat, Redel naturally

Will not give up, and neither will Fletcher! When the first wave of attack planes arrived, they encountered about 40 aircraft of various types.

The types are very mixed, including F4F, F6F and even SBD bombers! There is no way, Fletcher has too few cards at this time. He must leave some fighters for himself, so he can only use SBD to attack those carrying bombs.

JU90 bombers, but sadly, this time they encountered all fw190 fighters!

"Fuck them!" The German pilots who originally wanted to eat meat were naturally extremely angry when they suddenly discovered these spoilers. Half of the more than 60 fw190 aircraft in this wave decisively threw away their loads and entered the air battle. Although the Americans

There is a numerical advantage, but this battle still shows one side

The battle situation was overturned! Because the American fleet had too much sand, 30 fw190s easily suppressed the opponent's 40 aircraft. While the two sides were fighting in the air, the attack fleet also launched an attack. The remaining 30

Several aircraft evacuated after running out of ammunition after destroying ten transport ships.

Fletcher's efforts were somewhat effective. At the cost of losing 30 aircraft, they destroyed 7 of the opponent's FW190 fighter jets. Two of them were killed with bombs before they could be thrown away. In this way, in the end there was

Half of the transport ships escaped from the tiger's mouth. The attack by the Fletcher fleet also made Redl a little worried. After just defeating a US army,

After the National Squadron, they were actually able to prepare a group-sized aircraft fleet. This was beyond Redel's expectations and made him tend to be cautious in subsequent actions. But even so, on the first day after the naval battle,

, the German Navy sank various transport ships of more than 500,000 tons! The Allied Powers' routes in the South Atlantic were instantly on the verge of collapse!

Although Fletcher's actions made the Germans a little more restrained, both militarily and psychologically, it was only restrained. If before that, a complete aviation wing pieced together by Fletcher could still scare people.

As for the other party, after saving half of the transport fleet, Fletcher's remaining strength can only barely resist when the other party launches an attack. As long as they encounter it, and Redel is determined enough, if God doesn't help,

, Fletcher’s remaining fleet was also pushed to death by a wave!

In the evening of the same day, Fletcher once again sent several telegrams to the Allied Naval Headquarters. In these telegrams, he introduced in detail the operational characteristics of the German Navy's aircraft carrier fleet, and put forward some of his own opinions in the telegrams. Of course, these were

It is proposed from a technical level

, as the defeated general, he did not make too many excuses for his failure. He did not make any plans for the next strategy and tactics, because to be honest, when the war reached this level, he did not know what to do next.

Because he couldn't figure out the Germans' next step.

The current Germans can be said to have a lot of good cards in their hands, and they are at the stage where they can win whatever they can. Even if the Germans have no plan to support the South Atlantic, simply relying on the power at hand, at least within a week to half a month, the Allied Powers will be able to defeat the Allied forces in the South Atlantic.

The fleet can be described as dying in the face of light! Because before this, the Allied Powers could not deploy a fleet with enough deterrence to attack the opponent. The Germans could completely use their tactics.

Fletcher once considered their next plan and set-up from the perspective of the opponent, without the opponent's intervention of extra strength. (Well, he didn't quite believe in this set-up.) The most optimistic estimate is to use a three-person set-up.

Only a fleet of aircraft carriers can defeat the opponent. In order to ensure the intensity of the search, the Allied Powers must form at least two fleet groups to expand the search range. This requires 6 regular fleet aircraft carriers. This is almost as large as the current Allied Powers navy.

It is unacceptable. After one ship was sunk in the battle and six more were sent out, what would be left of the main force of the Allied fleet in Europe? If the Germans fought their way out of the Mediterranean, the remaining Allied fleet would have only two options, or return to the United States.

Either have a fight with the opponent, and if it is a deadlock, the chance of winning is really not good. If it relies on the European coast, the Germans have an advantage, because the Allied Air Force in France has been greatly weakened, while the German Air Force is still on the offensive.

rainbow!

Fletcher felt that he was caught in a dilemma. The current Allied navies were at an absolute disadvantage both in Europe and the South Atlantic, and these two places could not be discarded! He had deduced the dual situation countless times in his mind.

situation, but no matter what, he couldn't find a place to break the situation. It wasn't that he

The ability is not good, but the dual-engine naval power is already close. When a battle collapses a corner of the overall situation, it will be difficult for the weaker party to squeeze out a mobile force to fill the gap! "Forget it, let's leave it to you.

Let the superiors handle it. It’s hard to say what the outcome will be if I go back this time." Fletcher said with some self-deprecation.

Although Fletcher thought it was bad enough, the actual situation was even worse! Because from an overall perspective, the war situation in the South Atlantic has been completely corrupted! If harsh medicine is not taken quickly, the situation will be unimaginable. With the German Navy

Action, due to losses, avoidance or delay of the transport fleet will reduce the overall transport volume by about 30%! In addition to the North Atlantic transport line from the east coast of the United States directly to Europe and the transport line passing through the Panama Canal are relatively safe, the South

There is no stability in the maritime transportation of the line! At this time, the materials transported to Europe are simply not enough for the front line to consume! Even the British began to frustrate the Americans to reduce the supplies transported to France to increase the British reserves, while the Americans

They didn't agree to it openly, but privately they asked some ships transporting supplies to France to take the southern route. In fact, the southern route was impassable, and they conveniently postponed the departure of these fleets. This is a very dangerous signal!

France may really be unstoppable!
Chapter completed!