Chapter 1521: aircraft carrier location
When the shore-based aircraft of the German Navy attacked the U.S. Navy's capital ship formation, the aircraft carrier formations of the three major fleets never gave up their search for the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier formation.
The reason why the task of attacking the U.S. Navy's capital ship formation is handed over to shore-based aircraft on the Azores is to allow them to have sufficient strength when attacking the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier formation.
It's just that if you want to attack the US Navy's auxiliary formation, you must find it. Only when the location of the US aircraft carrier is determined can an attack be launched. Otherwise, no matter how huge the fleet of carrier-based aircraft is, no matter how powerful it is, it will be futile.
The flagship of the home fleet, the "Poseidon" aircraft carrier, was on the way, and Marshal Lütjens woke up after sleeping for less than four hours.
"How's the situation?" After entering the war room, Marshal Lütjens asked.
"Your Excellency Marshal, our shore-based aircraft are currently attacking the American capital ship formation. The American warships have strong anti-aircraft firepower, and our shore-based aircraft have lost a lot. However, as the American warships we killed There are more and more, and their anti-aircraft firepower will soon weaken. At that time, our shore-based aircraft will launch a siege to the American capital ship, and they will definitely be able to sink them." Lieutenant General Carl Weitzel reported road.
Marshal Lütjens nodded. It is understandable that the warships of the U.S. Navy strengthened their anti-aircraft firepower when the German aircraft carriers had already shown extremely powerful strength in naval battles. However, in the face of the overwhelming attack of the aircraft, it is undoubtedly very difficult to resist the anti-aircraft firepower of the battleship alone.
"How many fighters are the shore-based aircraft on the Azores planning to dispatch to launch an attack?" Marshal Lütjens asked.historical
"So far, they have dispatched three batches of aircraft, and the total number has reached 600. This is already half of the fighter jets, dive bombers, and torpedo attack aircraft on the archipelago." Lieutenant General Carl Weitzel replied.
Marshal Lütjens thought for a while, and then said: "Order the base on the Azores Islands to dispatch all fighter planes to attack the American capital ship formation. If there are not enough fighter planes on the western and central islands, we will mobilize them from the eastern islands. We The attention of the carrier-based aircraft will be on the American aircraft carrier. Therefore, the carrier-based aircraft will not be dispatched to attack the American capital ship formation. At least, until the American aircraft carrier formation is severely damaged or defeated, it will not The use of carrier-based aircraft to attack the American capital ship formation. Therefore, the heavy responsibility of sinking the American capital ships fell on the head of the shore-based aircraft. Let them not worry about losses, all losses will be obtained from the country Make up for it. As long as the American capital ships are killed, then the various bases in the Azores can be regarded as truly safe."
The capital ships of the U.S. Navy undoubtedly pose a great threat to the bases on the Azores. Just like their hit-and-run tactics of approaching through the night, there is simply no way to deal with them relying solely on the bases on the archipelago. If all the capital ships of the US fleet can be killed, the bases on the Azores will be free from this threat.
"Yes, Your Excellency Commander." Lieutenant General Carl Witzel nodded. He immediately arranged for a seaplane to notify the Azores. When the US Navy's aircraft carrier formation was not found, the German Navy's aircraft carrier formation was still in radio silence. They must try their best to ensure that their position is not discovered by the Americans, and then they can launch an attack first, and strive to severely damage the US Navy at the lowest cost.
On the Atlantic Ocean, a light cruiser of the German Navy is cruising in this sea area. This sea area is a full 500 kilometers away from the Azores. The mission of this light cruiser is to search for the location of the US Navy's aircraft carrier.
There are still many German ships that perform the same mission as this light cruiser. It's just that it is undoubtedly very difficult to find the location of the US Navy's aircraft carrier in the vast sea.
You know, in addition to these warships, the German fleet also launched a lot of seaplanes, and even carrier-based aircraft to serve as reconnaissance aircraft. But so far, still haven't found it.
On the top of the mast of the light cruiser, an air search radar is rotating.
Suddenly, some light spots appeared on the radar screen.
"Sir, the radar has detected it." The radar soldier reported.
"Is that an American fighter?" asked the radar officer.
"Sir, these planes might be American carrier-based planes. The base in the Azores Islands was not informed before, and the Americans dispatched a group of carrier-based planes to provide air defense protection for the main fleet of the Americans. As a result, they were captured by the Azores. Have the warplanes flying over the archipelago been defeated?"
"Maybe it is really an American carrier-based aircraft. Pay attention to tracking these American carrier-based aircraft with radar and see where they land. In that case, you can find the location of the American aircraft carrier." The radar officer said.
The carrier-based aircraft group of the US military is the defeated F4U fighter that was killed by the FW-190 fighter of the German Navy. Of the 72 F4U fighters originally dispatched, the loss was as high as more than 50. The remaining 18 F4U fighters also saw something bad and withdrew early. Otherwise, the only way to wait for their final result is to be shot down.
It's just that these US F4U fighter jets don't know that they have been discovered and tracked by the German radar.
The air battles they experienced before had a great impact on them. After switching to the F4U fighter, they once thought that the performance of the F4U fighter was already very powerful, and it could definitely be called the most powerful fighter in the world. However, compared with the FW-190 fighter of the German Navy, there is still a big gap in the performance of the F4U fighter. Coupled with the gap in the quality of the pilots, they suffered a disastrous defeat in this air battle. Of course, if these aircraft can survive this battle. As they fought against the pilots of the German Navy, they will become the baby bumps of the carrier-based pilots of the US Navy. Their experience may be able to greatly promote the improvement of the quality of other carrier-based pilots of the US Navy.
"Sir, the American plane has begun to descend and has disappeared from the radar screen." The radar soldier reported.
"It seems that the position of the American aircraft carrier is about 150 kilometers northwest of us!" said the radar officer.