Chapter 1164: Project Fort Gauchi - The Key Is the Caribbean Sea
"5,000? So many?" Kennedy was shocked by William Leahy's report. Although he had no military experience, he had learned a lot of military knowledge for the election these days, so he certainly knew what so many fighter planes meant.
"In fact," Leahy frowned, looking very worried, "the Germans can deploy more fighter planes in the Guiana-Caribbean battlefield than this number. Because they also have many aircraft carriers, which can carry about 2,000 carrier-based aircraft."
"That's 7,000..." Kennedy's eyes swept over several generals in uniform in the conference room, "How many planes have we deployed on Trinidad?"
"There are about 4,000 Army, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft on Trinidad." General Arnold, commander of the Army Air Force, replied, "In Venezuela , Leeward Islands, Windward Islands, Puerto Rico, and Panama Islands. In addition, we have about 1,500 fighters in the northern Brazilian battlefield, 1,300 aircraft in the Panama Canal Zone, and no less than 1,200 aircraft on other islands of the Caribbean Pirates. "
Admiral Arnold reported a series of numbers, and Kennedy did a little mental calculation, "About 14,000? It doesn't seem to be enough."
14,000 is of course twice as much as 7,000, but Kennedy also knows that his troops are scattered, and the performance of the fighters and the quality of the pilots are not as good as the opponent.
"We also plan to increase the troops on the Caribbean front." Ernest King assured Kennedy, "and we also have a large number of aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft, which can be reinforced at any time."
In the last Battle of Bermuda Islands, the US battleship force almost suffered a catastrophic disaster. However, the aircraft carriers did not suffer too much loss (a lot of carrier-based aircraft were lost), and in October, November and December, many fleet aircraft carriers and escort aircraft carriers were put into service one after another. The current lineup of US aircraft carriers is unprecedentedly strong.
The loss of carrier-based pilots has also been compensated in the past three months, and has recovered to more than 4,000 (referring to the captain). Although the large number of newcomers added to the naval aviation team are not satisfactory in terms of technical level and combat experience, the number is still sufficient.
The naval aviation team also adjusted the composition of the carrier-based aircraft force based on the experience of the Bermuda Islands Campaign. The carrier-based aircraft of the SBD and TBF series were eliminated in large numbers, and only the TBM/TBF-3W carrier-based radar warning aircraft equipped with AN/APS-20 radar was retained as the eyes and ears of the fleet. And the fighters/fighter-bombers such as F4U and F6F were replaced on board. At the same time, the carrier-based work of F7F is also being promoted with all efforts. If everything goes well, the carrier-based F7F will appear in the second half of 45.
The development process of the two-seat (fighter-bomber) version of the land-based F7F "Tigercat" fighter was faster, and it made its first flight in early December and was successful. It should be able to be put into trial production in the first quarter of 1945, when the US aircraft carrier force will have a truly powerful attack force.
In addition, the US Army Air Force also has a very strange heavy fighter that is about to be put into service. The development code of this aircraft is XP-82. It was developed by North American Aviation on the basis of P-51. This aircraft has a very big brain hole. North American Aviation proposed to connect the fuselages of two P-51s through a rectangular middle wing section and a horizontal tail, and retain the outer wing section of the P-51 to form a double-fuselage monster.
Because it is "assembled" from two P-51s, this aircraft has a greater extreme range, speed and heavy firepower than the P-51. In the original plan of the US Army Air Force, the P-82 will undertake long-range escort missions to cover the B-29 to bomb Japanese targets in Southeast Asia.
Although the current situation is completely different from what they expected, the US Army Air Force was pleasantly surprised to find that the P-82 was exactly the "heavy long-range fighter-bomber" they continued to develop. Its range, speed, firepower and bomb load all exceeded the P-61 originally developed as a night fighter. It can fully undertake the task of attacking German long-range bombers and surface fleets during the day. Therefore, this brain-opening aircraft received a huge number of orders in the last two months of 1944, and was also included in the list of top production priorities.
After introducing the development plan of the new fighter, Admiral Arnold assured Kennedy: "As long as the carrier-based models of the F7F Tigercat fighter and the P-82 Twin Mustang fighter are in service in large numbers, the security of the East Coast of the United States and the Caribbean will be adequately guaranteed. We will be able to intercept German long-range bombers and surface fleets to ensure that missiles do not fall on the American people in large numbers."
"But the development process of aircraft is very long, right?" Kennedy asked with a frown, "What should we do before these two new aircraft are developed and equipped in large numbers?"
"We should do our best to defend the Caribbean," William Leahy took over the topic, "while continuing to use heavy bombing and ground attacks to force the disintegration of the New Asbanian Federation... This is the best option considered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
The President's Chief of Staff was a little helpless when answering Kennedy's question, because the door to the "humiliating peace" was temporarily closed due to Roosevelt's death and the November election.
Therefore, as the president's military staff, the Joint Chiefs of Staff can only make plans to fight on. However, judging from the current situation, the situation seems to be better than imagined.
The Germans also showed some signs of weakness. Perhaps the more than five years of war had also made these "blond supermen" feel strenuous, right?
"The key is to defend the Caribbean, right?" Kennedy didn't have much hope of dismantling the new Asbanian federation - where the Germans were mobilizing the Russian Air Expeditionary Force! It is said that hundreds more Fw190 fighter jets will be added, and the loss rate of the next thousand-plane bombing may exceed 20%.
Several generals in military uniforms exchanged glances with each other and nodded in unison.
"Yes! The key is the Caribbean Sea!"
"We will definitely defend there!"
…
When Kennedy returned to Washington, D.C., Reichsmarschall Hessmann, the Chief of General Staff of the German Empire, had just arrived in the ice-covered Petrograd with his personal secretary Natalie and chief aide Colonel Heinz Brandt.
He visited Petrograd "secretly" this time, so Queen Olga did not hold a grand welcome ceremony for him, so he was able to observe the true face of the Russian Empire under the Queen's rule.
The capital of the Russian Empire seems to have recovered some of its strength compared to 1943, but it still shows signs of depression everywhere.
Supplies in the city remain very tight, with few shops open. In the low temperature of minus 20 degrees, Hersman saw many elderly men and women wearing fur hats or turbans lining up in front of the few open shops on Nevsky Prospekt. Long queue - that's supposed to be the food supply selling brown bread, margarine and milk.
In addition to people queuing up to buy food, there are also many men and women walking to work wearing thick cotton coats and braving the Russian wind and snow on Nevsky Prospekt.
Prince Yusupov, who was greeted at the airport, told Hersman: There are very few buses in Petrograd (there are few in the whole of Russia), and the fares are too expensive compared to wages. Most people are willing to walk a little longer to go to work.
However, Hersman felt that even if the Russians were willing to spend money to ride in a car, there might not be enough cars for them in Petrograd, because there are really few vehicles on the road, and most of them are produced in Germany and France. There is not a single Russian car - the Russian automobile industry almost does not exist now. The Soviet Union's years of accumulation and development were destroyed in the war. The Volga Automobile City, which was built at a huge cost, turned into ruins, and most of the engineers and workers went there. to Siberia and Central Asia. But even if they don't leave, the factory won't be demolished and nothing will be produced now. Because most of the factories that support automobile factories have been destroyed.
The Soviet industrial system was not inherited by the Russian Empire, but collapsed because of the war!
Factories established under the planned economic system relying on state instructions are also very dependent on this large and comprehensive industrial system - factory managers have no idea how to find markets, materials, and technology.
Therefore, except for some arsenals, shipyards, oil fields and mines that were actually taken over by the German military industry department, and the vodka distillery that must not be stopped in Russia, there are almost no industrial enterprises in normal operation in the Soviet Union. .
However, the Russian Empress and her government, who cherish their current status, do not dare to use "shock therapy" to push a large number of unsustainable state-owned enterprises to the market at once.
The Russian Empire now follows the Soviet management system, relying on the government's limited financial resources to barely maintain the operations of those enterprises. In order to allow most adult Russian urban residents to have a place to receive a meager salary-but the salary they receive is not the ruble that will soon depreciate, but the more reassuring European mark.
And for ordinary Russians, there are opportunities to make more money. There are now two ways to "get rich" in front of Russians. One is to work in Western Europe - this requires some skills or the ability to speak some German and French; the other is to join the Russian Expeditionary Force and serve as cannon fodder for the Germans to attack the United States.