"Due to the particularity of the position, the key to seizing Azores is air supremacy and the air power that overwhelms the enemy!"

At the combat decision-making meeting held by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Britain on the Battle of Azores, General Kim's former assistant chief of staff, commander of the amphibious combat force in the South Pacific, and Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner's first speech was very direct.

This was the rescue force specially transferred back by General Kim, not only because he knew Turner himself, but also Turner had rare amphibious landing command experience in Guado Island, which was commanded by him, and the Azores were a standard amphibious landing battle. Although the United States attacked Bougainville Island, Monta Island and Laicheng line under the command of Halsey, in the view of General Kim, with the main force of the Japanese joint fleet coming out, Halsey's Pacific fleet was not severely challenged. These victories were not sufficient, and it seemed that Turner was more reliable.

In fact, Turner's superior was Lieutenant General Fletcher in the Battle of Guadalam, but poor Fletcher first lost the Lexington in the Battle of Coral Sea, York City in the Battle of Midway, and Enterprise in the early stage of the Battle of Guadalam. In the eyes of General Jin, he was a "ominous person". In addition, he did not like Fletcher very much, so the hero of the Battle of Midway was hung high and became the commander-in-chief of the Navy on the land. He could not command any fleet, and this battle was also not his share.

Although Halsey was defeated in the South Solomon Sea, Nimitz was the one who protected him, and the other was that General Jin chose Sprounz and Halsey had a special relationship with him (the latter was the former's brother-in-law and friend). He was unwilling to push another shot when the other party was in trouble. In the end, Halsey got the opportunity to take advantage of the joint fleet to recover the lost ground, which was a chance to lose money, and settled firmly in his crumbling position.

In fact, Fletcher's loss is nothing, but since the disgust has been formed, neither habit nor to maintain the face of General Jin, he cannot be easily changed. So he finally chose Turner to take the lead, and he was the chief of staff of the United States and Britain and presided over the formulation of combat plans. This position could have been solely assumed by Spruins, but considering that the huge aircraft carrier fleet needed someone to command, when Fletcher did not want to use it and Halsey did not dare to use it, Spruins was temporarily transferred from the position of Chief of Staff of the Pacific Fleet by Admiral King from the position of Chief of Staff of the Pacific Fleet, and appointed him as the commander of the aircraft carrier formation of the Great Fleet, commanding all aircraft carriers, and the commander-in-chief of the Great Fleet was appointed Admiral Ingersoll, the commander-in-chief of the United States Atlantic Fleet.

In this battle, the Royal Navy was scheduled to dispatch four battleships (2 George V, 2 Elizabeths), three aircraft carriers (2 Glory Class, 1 Indomitable), accounting for half of the total force. However, neither the commander-in-chief nor the commander-in-chief of the aircraft carrier fleet even did not even catch the chief of staff, so that the new commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy's local fleet would be appointed as the title of Deputy Commander-in-Chief. Although the British had experienced the tough style of General Jin many times, the British could not sit still in the face of this arrangement.

There are rumors in the Admiralty Department that the British Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Committee of British and American Chiefs of Staff stationed in Washington, and the Marshal of the Army, John Greyll, visited the Admiral a few days ago, and asked General Kim why he made such a arrangement. The two started arguing in person in the office.

Unexpectedly, General Jin, who was denied Roosevelt, had a temper more than Marshal Dill, and slapped the table on the spot: "Why? With two points: First, the Royal Navy sank three battleships supported by me, General Tovey resigned, thinking of you who have been defeated repeatedly since the Battle of the Indian Ocean since North Africa and India, I have deep doubts about your command ability; Second, the purpose of this battle is to help you open up the British transportation line. If you feel that you are capable of doing this, believe it or not, I will draw all the main forces of the fleet into the Pacific Ocean and let the Royal Navy fight the Germans by themselves?"

The first one is fine, but the second one hits the British weak point. If Deere was a politician, he might be able to give an answer such as "The United States doesn't care about us, we'll just surrender." However, he was a standard military man, and he couldn't say such words. Finally, he rolled his eyes and could only angrily ask Roosevelt to complain.

Roosevelt finally criticized General Jin for a few words, but did not make any comments on the appointment adjustment. He only comforted the British as the deputy chief of staff of the fleet, assisting Turner in coordinating communication between British and American warships. Now the British finally understood that this was probably what President Roosevelt himself meant.

Although General Jin was evil in the British, the US Navy was applauded. Everyone thought he was right. The Americans with a well-business minded business were settled in this way: they admitted that several British ships constituted the main force, but one of the two Elizabeth-class battleships was funded by the United States. The two George V-class battleships were exchanged by the U.S. Navy for three sunken battleships. The carrier-based aircraft on the three aircraft carriers were all American pilots without aircraft. What's the use of aircraft carriers? In summary, the United States provided all of this force, so it was natural for the United States to be the head coach.

If the Battle of Pearl Harbor gave the US Navy a shock, then the occupation of the Azores gave them panic. They never found themselves so close to failure. After Azores lost, Germany was equivalent to shaking the throat of the British transportation line. Although the materials were cut off, it seemed that they were dying.

The current volume of merchant ships in the United States has been steadily increasing, but the speed of improvement cannot keep up with the level of German submarine sinking. In February, Britain and the United States lost a total of 1.15 million tons of merchant ships on the Atlantic Ocean. During the same period, US shipyards produced 1.1 million tons. Fortunately, Canada, Britain itself produced hundreds of thousands of tons, so the total tonnage owned by the Allied forces barely increased. But it takes several months to build a steamship, and it only takes a few minutes to sink a steamship. Once the German Azore is given the fulcrum, the more terrifying scene is still waiting behind.

In addition, with the British Mediterranean routes and colonial routes, the more and more materials needed need to rely on the United States for supply. The monthly transportation of fuel alone exceeds 1 million tons, and the United States' materials and ships are not endless, so it is overwhelming to seize the Azores as soon as possible!

Thanks to the intelligence sent by the "Crow" and the information obtained by Britain and the United States from other channels, they fully realized that since the German army has deployed a large number of troops on the island and built fortifications, if they want to occupy it, they must launch an amphibious landing war. Only with the right to control the sea can they be called a landing attack. The prerequisite for obtaining sea power is not only to defeat the main German fleet, but also to obtain air supremacy in the corresponding sea areas.

Although the strength of the German main fleet is quite good, and recently added a Richelieu, the overall strength is still considered ordinary in front of the main force of the British and American Allies in the Atlantic fleet. Therefore, seizing air supremacy is the key to solving all problems.

"Azore is only 1,600 kilometers from Portugal and Spain's westernmost end. According to the information we have, the main German aircraft, whether it is b-219,-190, he-218, ju-98, ju-188, joint attack aircraft, etc., have the ability to directly switch (partially need to be equipped with a secondary fuel tank) when the weather is good, and the base we can use is more than 2,000 kilometers (Hugton, England). Therefore, there must be two ways to solve this difficulty... or concentrate as many aircraft as possible at sea, or we find a close-range base." Turner pointed to the map, "The problem is that the land closest to Port Heroes is the Madeira Islands, which is also controlled by the Germans, and it is not large in scale, so it is difficult to deploy enough aircraft on it."

"In response to this situation, I designed the idea of ​​seizing air supremacy: the first step is to send heavy bombers from Britain to bomb the Azores, destroy and obstruct the German construction operations, and kill the enemy's live forces; the second step is to assemble the most likely aircraft carriers, whether they are escorting aircraft carriers or regular aircraft carriers, deploy the most aircraft and participate in the air supremacy competition." Turner shook the telegraph in his hand, "Information shows that the German army deployed at least 200 aircraft on the island, and there are 100 aircraft on the aircraft carriers, so our number must be far more than him."

"But even so, this distance is too far for heavy bombers. There are no heavy bombers deployed on Houton Island. If you take off from the local southern airport, the straight-line flight of round trip will exceed 4,500 kilometers... The 4-round Lancaster heavy bomber can only fly 4,000 kilometers. If you want to reach more than 5,000 kilometers by adding the auxiliary fuel tank, the single bomb load will be reduced."

“How many are there?”

"The load of 3 tons at 4,000 kilometers. If it is 5,000 kilometers, the load of 1.5-2 tons can only be 1.5-2 tons."

"Prepare a 2-ton bomb at 5,000 kilometers." Before the British could express their objections, Turner added, "If you feel that you can't fly back like this, just don't go back to the UK. Just go directly to Portugal to make an emergency landing that will definitely be enough."

Everyone was in an uproar! An emergency landing in Portugal means that the plane was explained after completing a mission. Portugal will definitely detain the plane. The pilot may not be in danger, but it is almost equivalent to hard losses for the Allies.

Only General Jin nodded with relief: This courage and style are the general I like. What is the loss of a few aircraft? Since the strategic bombing, in which month hasn't it been lost to hundreds of heavy bombers?

"Don't care about the planes, the United States will provide more and better planes in the future." Turner added, "This is just a sub-section. If you can't bear this loss, don't listen to my plans later."

Everyone was defeated by this tone, and they calmed down and heard Turner's bold words, but after hearing the follow-up plan, General Jin was stunned. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!