Chapter 150, America will never surrender (Part 2)
On February 27, 1949, after being hit by more than a hundred Soviet nuclear bombs and the entire country being devastated, the United States of America, which had been beaten into a dying state, finally summoned its last bit of strength. , launched a tragic death struggle.
——Thirty-two B-36 "Peacemaker" ultra-long-range bombers, carrying eighteen atomic bombs and a large number of poison gas bombs and bacterial bombs, flew from HSD in the capital to the accompaniment of a military band and the president's personal send-off. He took off from the civilian airport and embarked on his last desperate journey to Europe.
Different from the previous transoceanic sneak attacks that were limited to fuel consumption and range and only circled around the western edge of the European continent, their nuclear explosion target this time was the Soviet mainland tens of thousands of kilometers away - so even if they could successfully complete the mission, The pilots who went on the expedition were destined not to come back.
However, it has to be said that any once great country, if it really comes to a critical moment of life and death, can always gather a group of warriors who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country or even be buried. Especially in the United States, which is famous for its cowboy and Puritan culture, there has never been a shortage of men willing to shed blood. After General Arnold ordered the recruitment of volunteers, more than a thousand American pilots immediately signed up voluntarily. After some screening, the crew members for this expedition to the Soviet Union were selected, and then, in an atmosphere of sadness, they embarked on a journey from which they would never return.
At the same time, another eleven B-36 "Peacemaker" ultra-long-range bombers were also ready at a secret air force base in Oregon on the west coast of the United States, equipped with three atomic bombs, poison gas bombs, bacterial bombs, and conventional bombs. High-explosive aerial bombs were prepared to launch a one-way air expedition across the vast Pacific Ocean on the premise that they would never return, to launch a sneak attack on Vladivostok, the largest city in the Soviet Far East.
Since there are still many patriotic pilots who volunteer to participate in suicidal one-way expeditions, there are no more B-36 "Peacemaker" ultra-long-range bombers that can perform the mission (there are still fifteen B-36 "Peacemaker" "The Founder" converted it into a gunship, but it was too late to convert it back and could not carry out bombing missions). So in addition to this batch of B-36 "Peacemaker" ultra-long-range bombers, General Arnold also pulled out a batch of remaining B-29 "Super Flying Fortress", hung bombs and followed the B-36 nuclear strike combat long-range bomber The group embarked on an expedition to the Soviet Union together - anyway, the maximum altitude of the B-29 "Super Sky Fortress" was not high enough. Even if it was changed to a gunship, it would not be able to hit the Soviet supersonic jet map at an altitude of 19,000 meters. -100 "Flying Bear". Rather than letting these aerial behemoths, which were built with countless resources, be destroyed one after another in nuclear explosions day after day, or slowly rust in the ground hangar, it is better to take advantage of the opportunity to finally Use your remaining heat...
In this way, the last warriors of the U.S. Strategic Air Force spread their wings and took off with the belief that they would die. They rushed from the Atlantic and Pacific directions to the Soviet Union on the other side of the earth to fight the last battle of their lives - this has already been This is no longer fighting, this is a kind of terminal madness!
In fact, in addition to the U.S. Army, which is unable to cross the sea and is powerless, this is true for the U.S. Air Force, and even more so for the U.S. Navy - just as the warriors of the U.S. Strategic Air Force are tragically embarking on a journey that will never return, The U.S. Navy also made its final buildup in Cuba...
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February 27, early morning, Caribbean Sea, Cuba, Guantánamo Naval Base
Guantanamo is a seaport city located in the southeast of Cuba, a Central American island country. Its main income is the sugar industry, and it is as ordinary as other Central American cities. What really makes it famous around the world is the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, located 20 kilometers south of the city.
Guantánamo Bay is one of the largest and best-protected bays in the world. It is horseshoe-shaped and located on the southeast coast of Cuba. It is divided into two parts: an inner harbor and an outer harbor. The bay is about 19 kilometers long and 9 kilometers wide. The entrance is only 3 kilometers wide. Giant ships can enter and exit freely. It is a world-famous natural harbor. Facing the Windward Channel to the east and blocking the passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, its strategic location is very important. Since 1903, part of Guantánamo Bay has been occupied by the United States as a naval base. It is the earliest military base established by the United States overseas and is also the main training base for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. After the war on terrorism broke out in another dimension, the Guantanamo Naval Base became a concentration camp for the US military to detain terrorists and suspected terrorists from all over the Middle East. It was widely criticized for prisoner abuse scandals and human rights abuses. Although a certain black president made closing Guantanamo one of his campaign promises during his first campaign. But he kept dragging on until he was about to step down, and there was no sign of any real move to close Guantánamo...
All in all, at the end of February 1949 in this plane, Admiral Halsey commanded the remaining ocean-going ships of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and conducted the last large-scale assembly at Guantanamo Naval Port - the reason why he did not choose to do so on the east coast of the United States. The reason why the fleet was assembled at the port was because the ports on the east coast of the United States unfortunately became the key target of Soviet atomic bombs. Both military and civilian ports have been bombarded. Admiral Halsey was now driven out by mushroom clouds on the coast of his home country and had no place to stay. He had a few brushes with death, and finally had to choose to assemble in Guantanamo, Cuba.
Along with the reveille on the warship, a red glow gradually appeared in the gray eastern sky. The red clouds slowly added color, gradually dyeing the sky into light blue. A fiery red light group slowly, step by step, revealed the blue between the water and the sky. Gradually, this light group finally broke through the shackles of the clouds, stretched its body, radiated warmth and light wantonly, and spread On the surface of the sea, colorful lights are reflected.
Under the radiance of the rising sun, large and small steel sea beasts suddenly appeared, with stars and stripes flying in the wind. Among them are the majestic bridges and cannons of battleships, the flat decks and island-shaped bridges of aircraft carriers, and countless small boats and merchant ships mixed in, making them look scattered.
Standing on the island-shaped bridge of the new flagship "Valley Forge" aircraft carrier, looking at the slightly sparse ship shadows on the sea, "The Bull" Halsey frowned.
A week has passed since Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Ernest King issued the general assembly order of the Atlantic Fleet, but the number of ships arriving at Guantánamo is far less than expected - so far, including Hal Including the "Valley Forge" aircraft carrier at the foot of the West Coast, the U.S. Navy has only assembled a total of one Montana-class battleship "Vermont" at Guantanamo Bay. "Special", a Brooklyn-class light cruiser "Phoenix", two Essex-class regular aircraft carriers "Valley Forge" and "Bunker Mountain", a light aircraft carrier "Independence", fourteen ships Destroyers of various types, plus five ocean-going supply ships, twelve outdated coastal defense ships, and eight fast oil tankers... Such a shabby lineup for the decisive battle is really making people cry.
——It’s not that the U.S. Navy has been reduced to so few ships by the atomic bomb. In fact, although the U.S. ports on the east coast were bombed into radioactive ruins, the Pacific Fleet was trapped on the west coast because of the destruction of the Panama Canal. Can't get over. However, because Halsey had evacuated a considerable number of ships to remote small ports in advance, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet under his command still retained about 60% of its military ships.
However, although there were still ships, there were not enough manpower. In addition to evacuating the ships, Navy Commander Ernest King also did not forget to evacuate personnel. Before the Soviets nuclear bombed the Norfolk naval port, he organized most of the navy. The personnel retreated to the countryside. As a result, many people disappeared after the evacuation. It may be that they were deserters, or it may simply be that frequent nuclear explosions destroyed the domestic communication network and they did not receive the next step of instructions. In addition, at this moment when the country is disintegrating, society is collapsing, and the military is out of control, many U.S. naval officers and soldiers have stopped obeying orders and openly disobeyed orders, and the Pentagon can do nothing about it - not to mention, even under normal circumstances, this kind of A mere death order is bound to cause an uproar.
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"...This is such an order... Admiral Jin, you are simply looking for a final graveyard for the Atlantic Fleet!!!"
Recalling the instructions of Commander Ernest King, Admiral Halsey looked melancholy at the sunny tropical sea and said this with a sad face.
——According to the Pentagon's plan, the Atlantic Fleet's European expedition is basically the last battle of the U.S. Navy. Due to the tight preparation time and the lack of enemy intelligence, the pre-made plans were very rough. To put it simply, it is to ask Admiral Halsey to gather all naval ships capable of long-distance voyages at the Guantánamo base in Cuba, cross the Atlantic Ocean in the shortest possible time, and then let Halsey make his own judgment, or pass through the Strait of Gibraltar and enter the Mediterranean, waiting for an opportunity to follow. Soviet Red Flag Black Sea-Mediterranean Fleet Engagement; or North to Dover Seer Strait, into the North Sea and even the Baltic Sea, and have a final decisive battle with the Baltic Fleet of the Soviet Red Navy... Next, no matter the outcome of the final decisive battle, the remaining ships do not have to return home - they will be bombed to death when they come back, and they can be transferred Entering South Africa, surrendering to it, and handing over the ships was somewhat of a hindrance to the Soviets.
Regarding the above-mentioned crazy combat plan, Halsey's first feeling is that he is seeking death, and the second is that he is seeking death - but under the current situation, it seems that there is no way to get a better result. Come on, to be honest, no one is thinking about how to eliminate the RB yellow-skinned dwarfs and the Soviet Bolsheviks anymore. Everyone knows that they are the ones being eliminated, and the limit is the limit if they can drag the Soviets to shed a little more blood.
Of course, there is another opportunistic way, which is to ignore the Pentagon's combat orders and flee directly to South Africa as soon as they set sail - I believe that as long as such a modern fleet is sent for free, the South African Federation will definitely be happy to accommodate and properly place them. The remnants of the U.S. Navy... But the problem is, Admiral Halsey is not this kind of person. His stubbornness, backbone, and patriotism do not allow him to make such a cowardly choice.
Admiral Halsey knew very well that for the United States, this war was already over. The United States had completely failed and was on the verge of subjugation. There could be no second outcome. Does the puppet navy of a country that has perished still want to keep its capital ships? It is definitely not possible, so before the country is completely subjugated, a vigorous and magnificent funeral must be arranged for these steel battleships that embody the dreams of generations of U.S. Navy servicemen.
But the problem is, under the pressure of the crisis of national subjugation, today's HSD is like an ant nest approaching flood. It has already become a sieve, and no one pays attention to any confidentiality measures. At the same time that General Halsey received the order, all The ships that were able to contact Halsey also learned the inside story of the attack through various channels, and further spread the rumors, saying that it was five The Corner Tower asked them to carry out a complete suicide attack, rush directly into the Soviet port to smash the open flames, and if they couldn't smash the open flames, they would be stranded on the beach. When the sea forts and the Bolshevik red heads fought hard... the result was that the pot exploded in an instant - ha Although Ersi himself has decided to die for his country, a considerable number of naval officers and soldiers who lack moral integrity have not yet realized that they must die!
As a result, the remaining officers and soldiers of the Atlantic Fleet have launched passive resistance to the recent rally order that will send them to the point of no return: either pretending that the shipboard radio is damaged and not receiving the signal; or lying that the engine on their ship is damaged and the fuel supply is missing. The light leaked and they could not move; some simply found a way to directly collude with the top government officials, and took over the private work of transferring property to the government and conglomerate bosses, while taking the Pentagon's orders as air...
Even those who obeyed the orders and sailed the battleship to Guantanamo still had many problems. The most terrible thing is that the number of sailors is still insufficient. A considerable number of ships only have half or even one-third of the manpower. It is barely possible to sail the ship, but it is impossible to fire cannons, observe, and launch torpedoes while ensuring navigation. Not here. Not to mention that there is a serious shortage of pilots on every aircraft carrier.
For this reason, Admiral Halsey, who is unable to make a living without rice, can only tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall, and abandon some old ships, especially the coastal defense ships that are not needed for the time being (designed for coastal defense warfare and not suitable for ocean-going Navigation), pulled sailors from above to replenish the capital ships, and forcibly recruited some veterans and pilots with experience in shipboard service at the Guantánamo base, barely replenishing the personnel for destroyers, cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers. But despite this, the fleet under General Halsey, which is about to embark on a desperate voyage, is still full of problems - first of all, the transferred personnel must have a familiarization and adjustment process with the new ship positions, and secondly, these The quality of the rookie sailors themselves is very, very worrying.
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You must know that the naval athletes who control the ship to cut through the waves are not low-tech army cannon fodder, and can easily and quickly expand the number of additions. In the era of sailing and wooden ship naval warfare, the number of merchant sailors in a country determined the country's naval heritage and expansion limit; in the era of oil and steel, the quality requirements for naval officers and soldiers in war have been further improved. It takes at least one or two years of training to train an excellent sailor from knowing nothing to being skilled in operations. A naval captain who is proficient in navigation and tactics cannot be cultivated within five or six years. If you want to get a truly outstanding first-class naval general, you need to have at least ten years - or why is there a saying called a "hundred-year navy"?
That's it, without taking into account the construction period of the shipyard, diesel engine factory and gun factory, as well as the training time of shipbuilding engineers and metallurgical technicians!
Even if a country has a strong foundation and strong industrial strength, it can explode warships into the sea like dumplings, but if it did not have enough talent reserves to produce so many qualified sailors, captains and admirals, then no matter how many there are, Warships can only rot in the port, or become the enemy's easy kills - any surface power that can dominate the oceans in the past and present cannot be cultivated overnight.
There is no doubt that before participating in this tragic world war, as a branch of the Anglo-Saxon nation, the overlord of the Seven Seas, and a descendant of Mahan, the author of "Sea Power", the U.S. Navy still had sufficient talent reserves, starting from the low-end. From sailors to high-end admirals, everything is available.
But the problem is that since the Pearl Harbor incident broke out and the Pacific War began more than seven years ago, in front of the RB Navy Combined Fleet that has activated the Super Golden Elephant Leg plug-in, the U.S. Navy has been polished and rebuilt many times-the aircraft carrier fleet is disabled. , the carrier aviation force is disabled, the land-based aviation force is disabled, the battle fleet is disabled, the cruise fleet is disabled, the destroyer fleet is disabled, the submarine fleet is disabled, the Marine Corps is disabled, and the entire federal navy is basically disabled.
Although relying on the full operation of so many domestic shipyards, the replenishment of various types of warships can barely keep up, but the training of sailors, captains and professional generals cannot be kept up with. As a result, the U.S. Navy is filled with more and more rookies, and the quality of its officers and soldiers has shown an avalanche decline. The incidence of various accidents has risen like a rocket. Incidents of accidental attacks, collisions, groundings, and self-destructions on the battlefield There are so many that it’s mind-numbing.
Even if they were lucky enough to save some experienced and highly qualified sailing veterans, or train a group of low-level naval commanders who had learned complete tutorials during the war, they were also prioritized for those who needed to confront the RB naval combined fleet head-on. of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. As for the Atlantic Fleet under Halsey, due to the relatively few combat missions, it was a situation where sailors with various problems and rookie sailors gathered together from the beginning.
Although Admiral Halsey stepped up training and education for them after being activated again, the situation was still not ideal. Especially after gathering at the Guantánamo base, many sailors were already on the verge of mental breakdown due to the highly stressful operations in recent days. And after the news of this desperate expedition spread, it pushed the nerves of these half-hearted sailors to the edge. It was extremely tight, almost to the point of exploding. During the days when the fleet was docked and prepared at the Guantanamo base, there were constant errors of all kinds, big and small, and it looked neurotic from top to bottom. On average, an air raid alarm was mistakenly raised once a day, or a destroyer on patrol signaled that a Soviet submarine had been spotted outside the harbor and fired several shots at it without waiting for instructions. However, it was later discovered that all were false alarms. It made the fleet nervous at first, but it happened too many times and eventually they all became numb.
——Fundamentally speaking, after fighting for so many years, the entire United States is basically disabled, and now it has entered a state of near-death madness.
However, General Halsey had to lead such a nervous and half-baked fleet on the last voyage of his career.
Despite this, the indomitable "Bad Bull" Halsey was still determined to do his best and bring his military record to a successful conclusion. ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※