Chapter 1072 The Turning Point Has Arrived Again
In the distant Valparaiso Bay, there was a faint sound of artillery fire. After being transmitted for dozens of nautical miles, it was almost as weak as thunder. These were the ships of the 56.1 Battlecruiser Squadron, the 56.2 Heavy Cruiser Squadron and the 56.8 Destroyer Squadron shelling the artillery of the New Azbanian Navy in the Valparaiso Bay. Valparaiso was originally the headquarters and home port of the Chilean Navy. Now the Chilean Navy Fleet has been reorganized into the New Azbanian Navy Pacific Fleet, and Valparaiso is naturally the headquarters and home port of the Pacific Fleet.
However, the New Azbanian Navy Pacific Fleet in the port of Valparaiso had long disappeared before the arrival of the US Navy, and not even a single merchant ship or fishing boat was left, leaving only an empty harbor for the US fleet to bombard.
The artillery forts of the New Azbanian Navy in the Bay of Valparaiso are also very old antiques. Although they have installed several 170mm K18 cannons purchased from Europe, how can such a level of artillery deal with the American "Alaska" class battlecruisers (lead cruisers)? The latter's 305mm (12-inch) main guns can easily destroy the outdated coastal artillery forts.
After the New Azbanian Navy's artillery forts were destroyed, it was the turn of the landing formation of the 56th Task Force to take the stage.
Although it cannot be compared with the fleet that counterattacked the Hawaiian Islands before, the landing formation of the 56th Task Force is still very large, with hundreds of landing ships, as well as a large number of minesweepers, escort destroyers, near-shore fire support ships (converted from landing ships) and various work ships (mostly converted from flat-deck destroyers). On the dark sea, it is like a floating city, slowly approaching the Valparaiso Bay illuminated by bursts of artillery fire. At 3 a.m. on August 10, 1944, the landing formation commanded by Vice Admiral Turner arrived at the offensive launch line on time. The entire fleet began to circle and rearrange the formation. The well-trained American sailors who had experienced the baptism of war in the Hawaiian Islands, under the command of officers, skillfully carried out preparations for landing operations one by one.
Small minesweepers led the way, and near-shore fire support ships and light escort destroyers covered large and small landing ships heading to shallow water. Occasionally, water columns would rise on the sea surface and loud noises would be heard. These were the mines laid by the New Azbanian Navy exploding! Some were detonated by American minesweepers, and some just happened to hit landing ships or small ships near the beach, causing casualties.
However, compared with the huge scale of the US landing fleet, this loss is really insignificant!
If this is all the losses that the New Azbanian Navy can cause to the US landing formation, then there is no doubt that the landing operation was successful.
But the US fleet on the sea still dared not be careless, because the US Navy knew that the Germans had deployed submarines in the port of Valparaiso, and they were new submarines that were difficult to deal with!
In the past two months of June and July, the number of US merchant ships and warships sunk by submarines in the Atlantic and Caribbean Seas suddenly began to rise sharply! The number of German submarines sunk was greatly reduced, which shows that the Germans have invested in a powerful new type of submarine.
Many escort destroyers carefully guarded around the landing ships, and from time to time fired a bunch of hedgehog bombs into the sea, hitting the calm sea water as if it was boiling.
Vice Admiral Turner and Major General Alexander Archer Vandegrift, commander of the 1st Marine Division, were on the battlecruiser "Hawaii" together, holding binoculars to watch the landing.
Both of them were in their throats. They had fought in the bloody battle of Ni'ihau Island, as if everything was as calm as it is now when the landing on Ni'ihau Island began.
But later... it became a sea of blood and corpses.
At this time, many officers and soldiers of the 1st Marine Division of the United States were already fully equipped and boarded landing ships and landing craft, holding their breath and waiting for the moment when the ships rushed onto the beach. Countless deadly ammunition came from hidden places on the beach!
But when the bottom of the landing craft really hit the beach, and the moment the front hatch was lowered, the beach of Valparaiso was still quiet. The shells and bullets that were imagined to be denser than raindrops did not appear. There was not even a little bit of firepower!
"No... no one defending?" Major General Vandergrift seemed to be stunned by this scene, and he was stunned for a long time before uttering a word.
When Vice Admiral Turner saw the red flares symbolizing the successful landing rising all over the beach, he also sighed: "It seems that there is really no one defending! It seems that we overestimated the Chileans. They simply lack the courage to fight... Valparaiso will soon be ours, and then Santiago!"
...
"The battle report from the Chilean front has arrived. The US military used the dim sky to cover the landing and successfully landed on the unguarded Valparaiso beach in the early morning of the 10th. The port of Valparaiso was also occupied by the US military on the morning of the 10th..." Major General Stauffenberg, who had just been promoted to the Chief Operations Officer of the General Staff, was frowning and telling the battle report to Hersman who was looking at the map in the operations room.
Abandoning Valparaiso was a decision made by the General Staff a few days ago - there is no way to hold it there! Moreover, in the opinion of several marshals and generals who call the shots in the General Staff, it is not a bad thing to put more U.S. troops ashore... Only by letting them ashore, the 10th, 11th and 12th Task Forces starting from Belem (all Belonging to the 1st Fleet) can get the chance for a decisive battle.
However, Rear Admiral Stauffenberg is still a little worried, not that he is worried that the three task forces of the European Combined Fleet will not win - this is a matter for the navy, and he, an army major general, does not have to worry about it.
But whether the throne under Juan Perón will think that the fall of Valparaiso and Santiago has been shaken is a question that the Operations Bureau of the General Staff needs to seriously study.
Because once the United States establishes a foothold in Valparaiso, it will soon deploy B-17s and P51s there. Buenos Aires will be bombed by then... It is very likely that Juan. Peron is out of power!
"Buenos Aires will definitely be hit by bombs!" Hersman suddenly said, "Develop an air defense war plan and mobilize enough 127mm anti-aircraft guns and Fw1219 to Buenos Aires. ...Being bombed is not the problem, the question is how many American planes can be shot down?”
Now Germany's 127mm anti-aircraft guns have radio proximity fuzes and radar fire control systems, and the three series of Fw190 B/C/D are high-altitude types with strong interception capabilities. The He219 is a very good night fighter with fierce firepower. Although the most powerful Me2 anti-aircraft guns and Fw1219 were not dispatched, it was enough to withstand the American bombers.
Major General Stauffenberg asked: "Reichsmarschall, do you want to use Buenos Aires to consume American bombers?"
"That's not the whole purpose!" Hessmann said lightly. "When formulating the air defense war plan, we also made a plan to send several mountain divisions to the Andes... In addition, let the SS people go to Nova Scotia. Spaniard is recruiting volunteers." He looked at Stauffenberg, "Klaus, do you understand what I mean?"
Stauffenberg had served as Herschmann's adjutant, how could he not understand?
"Marshal Imperial, do you want to take the opportunity to allow our troops to enter Argentina and then stay there?"
Hessman laughed: "This is the second purpose!"
"Then the third purpose," Stauffenberg asked, "should be to use the U.S. military stationed in Chile as hostages to force the U.S. Pacific Fleet to engage in a decisive battle with our 10th, 11th, and 12th Task Forces in the waters near Chile, right?"
Hersman nodded and said: "It is better to fight in the Pacific than in the Caribbean. The combat bureau will immediately formulate a plan for the troops to move into Puerto Montt (a port in southern Chile). The paratroopers will be transferred there first, as soon as possible. The better. In addition, deploy at least a few more squadrons of Fw190A/D/F/G to Puerto Montt Airport.”
"As you command, Imperial Marshal!"
…
"Mr. President, we have taken Valparaiso!"
United States, White House. On the afternoon of August 10, Admiral Ernest King brought the long-lost good news to Roosevelt.
"Thank God!"
President Roosevelt in the Cabinet Conference Room breathed a sigh of relief, "We finally caught the Germans off guard!"
"Mr. President," Admiral William Leahy also looked very excited, "I think the turning point of this world war has finally arrived, because we have just captured an important stronghold that the Germans must recapture! And it is impossible for the Germans to overcome it. The Andes counterattack, and they can only bypass the South American continent by sea, which is very beneficial to us. "
Not to mention the Andes in 1944, even a few decades later it was a natural chasm that was not easy to navigate. As long as a small number of troops guard a few important passes, the German heavy troops will not be able to reach Chile on the Pacific coast. The United States can take the opportunity to transport one or several heavy armored divisions to Chile, so that the Germans can only counterattack by sea - if they don't want their little partner Argentina to be bombed every day!
"If the German fleet really sails into the Pacific," Roosevelt's brows that had just opened slightly furrowed again, "are we sure of defeating them?"
"No!" Admiral Ernest King replied, "Europe's aviation technology is ahead of ours, and it also has powerful remote-controlled missiles."
"Then...what's the point of us diverting them to the southeastern Pacific?" Roosevelt asked.
Ernest King smiled coldly: "This way we can launch an attack on Guyana from the Caribbean!"