Chapter 1096 Missiles in the Atlantic Ocean 9

September 5, 1944, 2:30 in the morning.

In the hangar of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, several aircrew soldiers slowly pushed a Fw190T fighter-bomber with folded wings onto the elevator. With the help of the hydraulic oil pump, the fighter was slowly lifted onto the deck. The whistling sea breeze hit people in the face, which immediately refreshed people.

The voyage for many consecutive days has finally come to an end. Now the 21st Task Force of the European Community with the Zeppelin aircraft carrier as the flagship has arrived at the sea area less than 300 nautical miles from the Bermuda Islands - arriving at this location in the early morning of September 5 is required in the air raid plan formulated by Hessman Jr.

The purpose is to allow the air raid group to fly over the Bermuda Islands and launch an air raid when the sky just brightens on the 5th. The advantage of doing this is that there is a high probability that American aircraft will not launch a strike first, and there is also a certain probability that the airport in the Bermuda Islands can be destroyed in the first wave of air raids.

The aircraft types deployed in the first wave of attacks in the early morning of the 5th were also decided by Major Hessman Jr. All the aircraft deployed were Fw190 series fighters, including 88 Fw190T fighter-bombers, 36 Fw190TE reconnaissance bombers and 16 Fokker 636 fighter-bombers, a total of 140 fighter-bombers.

All the aircraft were equipped with two 250 kg high-explosive bombs to destroy the runway of the US military airport on the Bermuda Islands.

While sending out all the Fw190 series carrier-based aircraft, Hessman Jr. kept most of the Fokker 636 to cover the aircraft carrier - today's attack on the Bermuda Islands was ultimately a feint, so there was no need to invest all his efforts.

"Colonel, don't get entangled with the American fighter planes on the Bermuda Islands. Just drop the bombs and leave."

In the No. 1 hangar of the aircraft carrier, little Hersman found his old boss, the current commander of the Zeppelin flight team and the commander-in-chief of the 2nd Fleet aircraft carrier flight team, Colonel Heinz Barr, and repeatedly reminded him: "That is the American territory. If you are shot down, you can't come back."

"Got it..." Heinz Barr patted little Hersman on the shoulder, "I know best how capable those Americans are. With me here, the air strike group will not suffer too much loss, and our Fw190 is not so easy to be shot down!"

After the Fw190T carrier-based fighter was replaced with a 2,400-horsepower BMW801F engine, all flight performance has been improved, and there is also more empty weight to be allocated. Therefore, the latest model of the Fw190T-9 fighter-bomber is more solid than the previous model, and it is indeed difficult to be shot down.

Little Hersman nodded and continued, "The submarines responsible for navigation are already in place. There are two of them. They will float on the sea 35-45 nautical miles west of the Bermuda Islands and send radio signals in turn."

It is still dark now, and the plane has to fly over the Atlantic Ocean. It is not easy to find the location of the Bermuda Islands. It is still easy to get lost if you rely solely on instrument navigation, so two Type 21 U-boats are arranged to use radio to navigate the attack aircraft group near the Bermuda Islands.

"That's great." Colonel Bar smiled, "This way we can break through from ultra-low altitude after approaching the Bermuda Islands."

"Colonel, it's your turn to go." Colonel Bar's bombardier/telegraphist had already sat in the cabin at this time and shouted at him.

It turned out that all the planes in the hangar had been lifted onto the flight deck one by one, leaving only the Fw190TE reconnaissance bomber driven by Colonel Heinz Barr that had not been pushed onto the elevator.

"Okay, it's my turn to go. Wish me good luck!" Colonel Heinz Barr finished his conversation with Hessmann Jr. and strode towards his plane.

Hessmann Jr. stood at attention, raised his right arm high and saluted to Colonel Barr's back, then watched Colonel Barr's plane being pushed onto the elevator by the aircrew.

"Have you spotted the American fleet?"

When one Fw190T-9 and Fw-190TE fighter plane after another was neatly arranged on the flight deck of the Zeppelin, Lieutenant General Erich Bei asked the same question again in the command center on the second floor of the bridge.

"Not yet." Chief of Staff Major General Christiansen replied, "Neither the Bv138 nor the submarine found any trace of the American fleet, and the Ju188 sent from Georgetown Island did not find it either. It seems that the American fleet is well hidden!"

"They will definitely appear!" Erich Bei was a little disappointed, but Christiansen's report was also expected. This place is close to the US mainland. As long as the US Navy fleet is a little closer to the US east coast, it can get the cover of shore-based aircraft. Seaplanes like Bv138 are not easy to get close.

"Sir, the first attack wave is ready!" The fleet's aviation staff officer, Little Hersman, has returned to the command center at this time, "Request approval to attack!"

Erich Bei waved his hand, "Attack! Air force... Attack!"

On the sea, five aircraft carriers were running against the wind at a speed of 30 knots. The fierce deck wind made the personnel on the deck shaky. The front deck flight officer held the red indicator light and waved it down suddenly. An Fw190TE reconnaissance bomber rushed out of the deck first.

Almost at the same time, four aircraft carriers, including the "Prussia", "Bohemia", "Sedlitz" and "Seckt", also released the first aircraft.

...

"Admiral, telegram from Bermuda, about 150 German carrier-based aircraft are bombing there!"

At about 6:10 in the morning of September 5, Admiral Halsey, who had just finished washing and came to the command tower, received exciting news!

"What's the situation? Have the shore-based aircraft in Bermuda taken off?" Halsey asked immediately.

"They took off, but the number may not be large." Rear Admiral Callahan replied, "Because the German attack aircraft group broke through from ultra-low altitude, the warning time was insufficient."

"Damn German carrier-based pilots..." Halsey shook his head. He knew that there were many aces among the German carrier-based pilots now-they had not experienced such a big consumption as the Second Battle of Hawaii!

"But it doesn't matter!" Halsey smiled quickly, "They dispersed their forces, which was a huge mistake. Most of their naval forces cannot be used in the Bermuda Islands now."

"Yes," Rear Admiral Callahan replied with a smile, "The F-13 reconnaissance plane that took off from Trinidad discovered a large German fleet approaching Guyana two hours ago.

In addition, our troops in Valparaiso Bay were attacked by more than 200 German carrier-based aircraft yesterday afternoon."

The 30th Task Force of the European Combined Fleet was discovered by the F-13 (B-29), and the 10th, 11th and 12th Task Forces of the European Combined Fleet were still bombing Valparaiso Bay yesterday afternoon.

"Haha," Halsey laughed and lit a cigar, "The Germans divided their fleet into three, while we concentrated the main force of the fleet, and there are a large number of shore-based aircraft available. It seems that the battle of Bermuda Islands is the real turning point of this war.

Dennis, give an order to the Norfolk base to send out all the F7Fs now. Then give an order to Vice Admiral Mitchell to have his aircraft carrier send out the first attack wave in 2 hours.

In addition, we are also heading to Bermuda Islands at full speed! Maybe we will have a chance to fight the Germans with the main guns of the battleships!"

"Yes, Admiral!" Major General Dennis Callahan replied loudly.

And just when Halsey issued a series of orders to launch a fatal attack on the German aircraft carrier formation, the Americans actually did not know the specific location of the German aircraft carrier formation. Although the F-13 ultra-long-range reconnaissance aircraft had discovered them before, after the night of September 4, the 21st Task Force of the European Combined Fleet was never discovered again.

However, this did not affect the American air raid, because as early as two hours before Halsey issued the order, the Bermuda Islands had sent hundreds of "Catalina" seaplanes and B-17 and B-24 reconnaissance models to form a dense search network and spread out to the Atlantic Ocean east of the Bermuda Islands.

At 6:30, the sound of air defense alarm sounded in the command center of the "Zeppelin" aircraft carrier, followed by the staff's urgent and quick report.

"Sir, radar found enemy aircraft, number 1, azimuth 265, altitude 3000, distance 110."

"It's an American reconnaissance plane!" Aviation staff officer Hessman Jr. immediately made a judgment, "There are now 4 Fokker 636s in the air, let the radar guide them to shoot down the plane."

"Shoot it down!" Lieutenant General Erich Bei gave the order to attack without saying a word. After Hessman Jr. conveyed the order to the flight control console over the phone, he asked again, "When can the first attack wave return?"

"About an hour," Hessman Jr. replied, "All aircraft can be retrieved after 90 minutes."

"Lieutenant General, do we need to evacuate?" Chief of Staff Christiansen interrupted.

"No need!" Erich Bei thought for a while, "Each squadron should set up an air defense formation and prepare for an air defense battle." He paused and asked again, "Has the enemy fleet not been discovered yet?"

"Not yet." Aviation Staff Officer Hessman Jr. said, "At present, we have strengthened the intensity of reconnaissance in the west and south."

Erich Bei nodded and did not continue to ask. He knew that the so-called enhanced reconnaissance intensity was not that strong, because the Fw190TE on the aircraft carrier had been used to attack the Bermuda Islands, and the aircraft used for search now were only 10 Bv138s sent by the seaplane carrier, and these aircraft also had the mission of providing air warning for the fleet.