Chapter 799 The Terrible Kesselring
"Your Excellency, Commander, according to the telegram from Gibraltar, the headquarters ordered us to dispatch the aircraft carrier Seidlitz, the guided missile cruiser Emperor Friedrich III, and the reconnaissance cruiser Warsaw to follow Japan's First Mobile Fleet."
After hearing the report from Colonel Meyer, Chief of Staff of the Eastern Squadron of the European Combined Fleet, Fleet Commander Colonel Simons, who was reading the report on the "Sailboat Explosives" submitted by Little Hersman, frowned.
"Follow Japan's First Mobile Fleet to attack? Where are the Japanese going?" Simons asked.
"They didn't say," Colonel Mayer replied. "My guess is to attack the Panama Canal."
"Attack the Panama Canal?" Lieutenant General Simons shook his head, "It will take at least 4,000 nautical miles, right?"
Japan's plan to attack the Panama Canal was no secret to people at Colonel Mayer's level.
"It's almost the same," Mayer said. "If carrier-based aircraft are used to attack, the fleet must sail at least 4,000 nautical miles... This is still a straight line. If it wants to take an anti-submarine route, it must be at least 6,000 nautical miles."
“Let’s calculate it as 5,000 nautical miles,” Simons said thoughtfully. “It’s 10,000 nautical miles to come and go, and it will take more than 550 hours to sail at 18 knots, which is 23 days. Counting the time for the attack, it will take at least 24 days. After returning, we still need to repair supplies. We will not be able to launch another attack until early April. When we arrive in the North Pacific, it will be almost mid to late. We don’t know how many tons of supplies will be safely transported to Vladivostok!
Moreover, the Japanese are not willing to help us deal with the US-Soviet fleet in the North Pacific. I really don’t know when we can cut off Stalin’s lifeline? "
Lieutenant General Simons had some objections to the Japanese Navy's unwillingness to cut off the Soviet Union's lifeline in the North Pacific. In particular, American aircraft carriers that break diplomatic ties sometimes also serve as escort aircraft carriers, causing great trouble for Germany's aircraft carriers that break diplomatic ties.
The Japanese side turned a blind eye to this for some unknown reason. Germany's request to send Japanese aircraft carriers to attack the American fleet escorting the Soviet fleet (mostly American ships in fact) was completely ignored. As a result, the Eastern Fleet had a very difficult time fighting in the North Pacific, and the upper-level commanders of the fleet also complained about Japan's actions.
Therefore, after receiving the request for joint operations from the Japanese Combined Fleet, Lieutenant General Simons refused to help. Unexpectedly, the European Combined Fleet Command gave him the order to "follow the Japanese fleet" from Gibraltar. This was obviously not what Marshal Lütjens meant, but an instruction from a higher level.
Lieutenant General Siemens sighed and said to his Chief of Staff Mayer: "Go tell the Japanese that we can dispatch, but the V3 missiles used by the Emperor Friedrich III have not yet arrived. On the Seidlitz There are not enough Fw-190Ts, only 26 can fly.”
…
"26 Fw-190Ts? Yaoxi, that's enough." Ozawa Jisaburo looked up at the clock hanging on the bulkhead. It was now 7:35 a.m. on March 4, 1943.
"Furumura-kun, can the supplies be completed before noon today?" Ozawa Jisaburo asked the chief of staff next to him, Colonel Furumura Keizo.
The scale of the First Mobile Fleet is very large. In addition to the 4 air battle groups (1st to 4th air battle, each air battle group has 2 aircraft carriers of the same level. The 1st air battle is Akagi and Kaga; the 2nd air battle is Soryu. , Hiryu; Shokaku and Zuikaku in the 3rd battle; Zuiho and Shoho in the 4th battle), as well as the 3rd battleship of the combined fleet (Kongo, Haruna and other two fast battleships), the 5th battleship (Myoko, 2 heavy cruisers including Haguro), 10th Sentai (3 light cruisers including Kuma, Tama, and Kitakami), 4th Destroyer Squadron (3 destroyers including Nowaki, Yamagumo, and Mitsushio), 10th Destroyer Squadron (Aki) 3 destroyers including Kumo, Fengun, and Asagumo), 17th Destroyer Squadron (5 destroyers including Urakaze, Isokaze, Tanikaze, Hamakaze, and Yukikaze), 61st Destroyer Squadron (Akitsuki, Ryozuki, Hatsuki, Toki, etc. Yu and other 4 destroyers).
In addition, four fast oil replenishment ships, Nippon Maru, Genyo Maru, Toei Maru, Kunyo Maru, and four Kawasaki 10,000-ton oil tankers with a maximum speed of 19.79 knots are accompanying the ship.
If you add the Germans' 1 aircraft carrier, 1 guided missile cruiser and 1 reconnaissance cruiser, the entire First Mobile Fleet will include 40 ships of various types. As long as so many ships are deployed, their daily fuel consumption will be at least 3,000 tons (if the entire combined fleet is deployed, 10,000 tons a day will not be enough), and this does not include the consumption of carrier-based aircraft!
This operation is estimated to last 30-45 days. Considering the consumption of the aircraft, it needs to carry 140,000-150,000 tons of various fuels. So it takes a lot of time to load so much oil onto the ship.
"Your Excellency, Commander, it can be completed before 12 o'clock." Furumura Keizang replied.
"Very good. At 12 o'clock, all ships will start firing. At 12:30, the First Mobile Fleet will attack." Ozawa Jisaburo nodded and gave the order to attack. "The target sea area is... near Clipperton Atoll."
Clipperton Atoll is a French territory located in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 2,900 kilometers away from Panama and covering an area of only 5 square kilometers. It is now staffed by a small number of U.S. Marines and serves as an outpost for seaplanes. Part of the U.S. defense system for the Panama Canal.
The importance of the Panama Canal to the United States is self-evident. Even before the World War, there were heavy troops guarding it, not to mention that the war has been going on for so long.
According to the intelligence held by the Japanese Combined Fleet, the current US defense on the west bank of the Panama Canal (the east bank cannot be penetrated at all because the United States has deployed heavy troops in Trinidad and Tobago and Puerto Rico) mainly relies on bases in the Panama Canal area and the Galapagos Islands (belonging to Ecuador).
The United States has built airports in the Panama Canal area and the Galapagos Islands, and deployed a large number of shore-based aircraft and seaplanes (mainly PBY-5 Catalina seaplanes). Assisted by seaplanes deployed in Clipperton Atoll, a large reconnaissance network has been formed, which can cover 2,000-3,000 kilometers of waters on the west bank of the Panama Canal.
In addition, the Americans also stationed a 9th Fleet and a Southeast Pacific Command in Panama City, with Vice Admiral Robert Lee Ghormley serving as the commander of both the 9th Fleet and the Southeast Pacific Command.
All the US garrisons in the Panama Canal Zone, the Galapagos Islands, Clipperton Atoll and other places, as well as all the ships under the 9th Fleet, are under the unified command of Vice Admiral Ghormley.
"Vice Admiral, telegram from San Diego." At noon on March 4, Major General Ralph Heinkel, Chief of Staff of the Southeast Pacific Command and Chief of Staff of the 9th Fleet, walked into the office of Vice Admiral Ghormley in the Southeast Pacific Command in the Panama Canal Zone, and looked very nervous.
"Are you going to mobilize planes to California?" Vice Admiral Ghormley had heard about the balloon bombing of California a long time ago - not just one bombing, but hundreds of balloons carrying bombs and incendiary bombs came every few days, making the entire West Coast panic.
Therefore, starting from the end of February, the U.S. Army and Navy have drawn a large number of aircraft and anti-aircraft guns from the East Coast to the West Coast for deployment. There are also rumors that aircraft will be drawn from the jurisdiction of the Southeast Pacific Command and the Caribbean Command (the commander is Eisenhower who returned from the UK, and the headquarters is located in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago).
"No, no." Major General Heinkel frowned, "We are ordered to strengthen our vigilance."
"Strengthen vigilance?" Lieutenant General Ghormley asked, "Are the Japanese going to attack the canal?"
From the day the Hawaiian Islands fell, the Americans were worried that the Panama Canal would be attacked by the Japanese Navy. The main purpose of establishing the Southeast Pacific Command and deploying the 9th Fleet was to protect the canal from being attacked by the Japanese.
"It's not Japan," Major General Heinkel replied, "It's Germany! The Germans established the South American Front Command, and the commander was the former Chief of the General Staff, Air Marshal Kesselring!"
"What? Marshal Kesselring is coming to South America?"
Hearing "Marshal Kesselring is coming," Lieutenant General Ghormley's expression also became nervous.
That was Field Marshal Kesselring, who built the most powerful air force in the world and led the German Wehrmacht to beat the Soviet Union and subdue Britain! Now, apart from Field Marshal Hessmann, he is probably the best at fighting.
Now he is actually serving as the commander-in-chief of the German South American Front. This news is really terrible.
President Roosevelt and his military staff were all scared when they heard the news!
Compared with Kesselring, the Japanese balloon bombs are not a threat at all. So no one immediately mentioned the matter of withdrawing planes from the Caribbean Theater and the neighboring Southeast Pacific Theater to California.
The Caribbean Theater and the Southeast Pacific Theater, which originally seemed very powerful, now seem a little weak.
"Commander, should we ask for help?" Major General Heinkel suggested, "We have too few ground forces, not enough anti-aircraft guns, and no proximity-fuzed shells. In addition, there are too few aircraft... Including bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, and fighters, the total number is less than 600. Moreover, more than half of the fighters are old P40s and F4Fs. In addition, the P38 engine is prone to accidents at high altitudes. The only ones that can really fight are three squadrons of P51, P47, and F4U (land-based models), which are obviously insufficient."