Chapter 1182 Are the Missiles Coming Again?

"What? What? Two aircraft carriers with a displacement of more than 60,000 tons? The Germans actually have such powerful aircraft carriers!"

When Secretary of War Wallace, who was sitting in the Pentagon, learned that the seven aircraft carriers of the European Combined Fleet had left the port of Brest, his first reaction was to be shocked by the two 60,000-ton aircraft carriers.

Although the United States also has similar aircraft carriers under construction, it is still quite embarrassing to let the Germans take the lead in building giant aircraft carriers. Moreover, Germany can build a 60,000-ton aircraft carrier before the United States, which probably means that Europe's shipbuilding capacity is no less than that of the United States.

This is not good news for the United States, which is engaged in an ocean war!

"Mr. Minister," Ernest King, the Chief of Naval Operations who reported to Wallace, seemed even more worried, because he interpreted more worrying content from this intelligence. "The two new German aircraft carriers may be carrying French Br.810 bombers."

Due to the deliberate leak of the German intelligence department, the Americans now know that the twin-engine bombers used in the last air raid on the Bermuda Islands were Br.810 produced in France. They also know that this type of aircraft has a considerable range and bomb load, a very fast speed, and strong self-defense firepower. It is an ideal carrier-based ground attack aircraft!

"French aircraft on German aircraft carriers?" Wallace was stunned, "Don't the Germans have good aircraft?"

"It's not that there are no good aircraft," Admiral King shook his head, "but the Br.810 is very suitable for ground attack missions! And its range is very long, which can put the aircraft carrier formation under the protection of the Me264 bomber taking off from the Azores."

It is impossible for the United States to protect the aircraft carrier formation with a shore-based four-engine bomber, but it is a natural thing for Germany, which can use missiles to kill several Iowa-class battleships.

Therefore, the combat radius of the Me264 bombers taking off from the Azores is the restricted area of ​​the US surface fleet - the US aircraft carrier forces that still maintain a certain combat effectiveness will not go there to die anyway.

Therefore, the German fleet departing from the port of Brest only needs to stay within 2,300 kilometers around the Azores. Basically, there is no need to worry about being attacked by US aircraft carriers. The distance between the Azores and the Bermuda Islands is about 3,300-3,400 kilometers. When the German aircraft carriers are 2,300 kilometers away from the Azores, they are only a little over 1,000 kilometers away from the Bermuda Islands.

This distance is completely within the combat radius of Br.810!

"Since the German fleet is carrying a large number of Br.810s," Admiral King's long face frowned, "then their target is likely to be the Bermuda Islands!"

The Americans themselves are also developing twin-engine carrier-based aircraft, that is, F7F, so they know that twin-engine carrier-based aircraft take up more space. When a carrier is equipped with twin-engine aircraft, the number of carrier-based aircraft is definitely less than when it is equipped with single-engine aircraft.

According to the US Navy's own estimates, a 30,000-ton Essex-class aircraft carrier can carry about 40-45 F7Fs for actual combat. Based on this calculation, a 20,000-ton Chaffee-class aircraft carrier can carry about 30 Br.810s, and a 60,000-ton German super aircraft carrier can carry about 80-90 Br.810s.

There are now 5 aircraft carriers carrying Br.810s leaving Brest, of which 2 are 60,000-ton super aircraft carriers and 3 are 20,000-ton Chaffee-class aircraft carriers, which should be able to carry up to 240 Br.810s.

The other two Zeppelins can carry about 160-180 Fokker 636s. According to the intelligence held by the US Navy, the combat radius of Fokker 636 is also more than 1,000 kilometers (it is impossible to hang bombs at this distance), which means that the two Zeppelins can send at least 80 Fokker 636s to escort 240 Br.810s.

For the Bermuda Islands, which cannot deploy too many aircraft, the attack group of 320 aircraft is still very worrying.

"Bermuda Islands?" Wallace's face, which looks too righteous, slipped a little angry, "The Germans want to use missiles to kill the unarmed American people again?"

His judgment was based on the experience of the last missile attack on New York. That time, the Germans first bombed the Bermuda airport with Br.810, and then the "missile fleet" broke through the blockade between the Bermuda-Nova Scotia Peninsula.

"There should be a large-scale missile attack!" Admiral King said, "but the Germans' purpose this time may not be so simple."

"Not so simple?" Wallace asked, "What do they want to do?"

"Maybe they want to attract our attention to cooperate with the general offensive in other directions!"

Ernest King's judgment was accurate. He did not think that the Germans would occupy the Bermuda Islands - this was an illusion that Hersman tried to create - because the Bermuda Islands were too close to the US mainland, only about 1,000 kilometers away.

It is possible for the Germans to bomb the airport there with carrier-based aircraft, but it is not easy to land. There are as many as 20,000 to 30,000 American defenders on the islands, who have built a large number of fortifications and deployed many shore artillery. If the German army wants to capture it, it will take at least several weeks or even longer to launch an amphibious landing. However, the shore-based aircraft of the US Navy and Army Air Force are not vegetarians. How could the Germans' huge landing fleet stay in the waters near the Bermuda Islands, which are only 1,000 kilometers away from the east coast, for several weeks?

This is not a hit-and-run missile attack, but a landing battle around an archipelago for several weeks!

"General attack?" Wallace asked again, "Are Trinidad and Tobago going to be attacked? What is the situation there now?"

"Very calm," Ernest King said affirmatively, "It is the calm before the war!"

There is more than one deception plan in the "Fort Gauche Plan"! And the feint attack on the Bermuda Islands is not the main deception plan, but a small deception in a big deception. The real big scam was the feint attack on Trinidad and Tobago.

The German army had been attacking and blockading these two islands, which were the gateways to the Caribbean Sea, for a long time. However, as D-Day approached, the intensity of the attack gradually slowed down. Starting from April 1, all air strikes and air interceptions (that is, attacking American transport planes) and aerial mine-laying operations were simply stopped.

This sudden calm was the last calm before the war in the eyes of the US military leaders who had long believed that the German army would attack Trinidad and Tobago!

Just as Wallace wanted to further ask Ernest King about the reason for this judgment, the phone on his desk rang. Wallace picked up the phone receiver and heard the somewhat excited voice of Donovan, the director of the Strategic Intelligence Agency.

"Mr. Minister, our bombing finally worked. Anti-war and anti-dictatorship demonstrations took place in Buenos Aires. Now tens of thousands of people are taking to the streets... Argentina's democratic forces have finally begun to act!"

Wallace was stunned. The bombing actually worked! When the U.S. Army and Navy Air Force organized a series of bombings by thousands of planes, the Argentines did not rise up. Instead, after the U.S. military began to gradually withdraw planes from Chile and stopped the daytime bombing, the democratic forces in Argentina rose up to fight...

Although this "democratic movement" came a little strangely, Wallace still regarded it as another important turning point at the White House Cabinet Military Meeting held that night.

"President, the protests in Buenos Aires are very beneficial to us!" Wallace said, "This shows that Juan Peron's regime is in danger and the New Aspania Federation is about to collapse... Therefore, we should stop withdrawing troops and planes from Chile and resume daytime air strikes as soon as possible."

"But the armies of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are deeply influenced by Germany." U.S. President Truman did not believe that the Argentine people could overthrow the dictator supported by Germany - at most they would cause some trouble and give the United States more bargaining chips at the negotiating table.

But now the German aircraft carriers have been dispatched in large numbers, which means that the moment of the decisive battle is coming! Even if something happens in Argentina now, it will not affect the Germans' attack on Trinidad and Tobago.

"The key is still the war in the Caribbean." Wallace said, "As long as we can hold Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina is likely to change. Once Argentina changes, Germany will lose the ability to fight a protracted war in South America."

Truman did not understand the situation in South America, and he turned his attention to Donovan, director of the Strategic Intelligence Agency.

"Mr. President, the war-weariness in Argentina is indeed a bit high." Donovan said, "The lower-class people who originally supported Perón suffered heavy losses in the bombing. Many people lost their homes and relatives, and they were not arranged to evacuate Buenos Aires. Most of the Argentines who are still in Buenos Aires are rich and middle-class people who live in sparsely populated suburbs and can dig air-raid shelters at home. Most of them are very dissatisfied with what Perón did!"

Perón wanted to equalize the rich and the poor in Argentina, so of course the rich were dissatisfied! Moreover, Perón also planned to equalize the rich and the poor by starting with land, that is, to seize the land of the rich in Argentina. This is a very drastic measure. Even Hitler's Nazi Party did not do this in Germany.

Truman hesitated for a while, but still did not express his position. Instead, he turned the question back to the country: "Gentlemen, in fact, the trouble we are facing now is similar to Juan Perón... Another round of German missile attacks is obviously about to begin. If the scale of the attack is large enough, if the Germans have been able to load atomic bombs on their missiles, the fighting will of the American people will also collapse!"