"Your Excellency Commander, this is an emergency from Capital Ships formation Telegram!" A staff officer rushed into Admiral Nimitz's office in a panic. He even forgot to knock on the door and just opened the door and rushed in.
"What happened?" Admiral Nimitz asked.
"Your Excellency Commander, General Kimmel they failed. The fleet was first ambushed by Germany people's high-speed Torpedo boats and submarines, and then the fleet that dispersed to perform tasks was attacked by Germany The Encirclement Offensive of the team's Capital Ships fleet suffered heavy losses, seven Battleships were sunk, and the remaining eight Battleships were also damaged," the staff officer reported.
"What? Such a big loss?" Admiral Nimitz exclaimed.
Lieutenant General Halsey on the side also looked in disbelief. No matter what, they had believed that the Capital Ships formation of American Navy was very powerful. But now, the result of the naval battle has given them a loud slap in the face.
"Germany people's losses?" Lieutenant General Halsey asked quickly.
"According to the Telegram sent back by the Capital Ships formation, they only sank one Capital Ships with Germany people. In addition, they also damaged three Capital Ships with Germany people." the officer reported.
"Damn, how could this happen?" Lieutenant General Halsey was very annoyed. The Capital Ships formation not only failed to complete the mission, but also suffered heavy losses. This will undoubtedly put American fleet in an even more unfavorable situation in the next battle!
"Your Excellency Commander, General Kimmel has ordered the Capital Ships formation to start retreating. However, he hopes that we can send fighter jets to escort them after dawn. The Germany people will definitely not let them go, and will take off a large number of aircraft Encirclement Offensive them." The officer continued.
Admiral Nimitz nodded, although the tragic defeat of the Capital Ships formation was undoubtedly bad news for the entire American fleet. However, now that things have happened, we must accept the result. What they need to consider now is how to minimize the losses of the Capital Ships formation. The remaining Capital Ships must be withdrawn safely. Otherwise, once these Capital Ships are also lost, then the loss of American Navy this time will be too great. This will put them at a complete disadvantage in the next confrontation with German Navy. It will even have the most fundamental impact on this naval battle.
"Your Excellency Commander, I will prepare immediately. After dawn, we will take off a group of fighter planes to escort the Capital Ships formation!" Lieutenant General Halsey said. Obviously, now we have reached an emergency, and American fleet must go all out.
"Yes. General Halsey, we must do our best to ensure the safety of the remaining warships in the Capital Ships formation. In addition, Aircraft Carrier Formation's air defense must also be done well." Admiral Nimitz warned.
"Yes, Your Excellency Commander." Lieutenant General Halsey replied, and then he left the office and went to get ready.
The staff officer put down Telegram and left, leaving Admiral Nimitz alone in the office.
"It seems that we still underestimated the Germany people! They were actually able to defeat our Capital Ships formation, and also made our Capital Ships formation pay a heavy price. In this battle, it will be increasingly difficult to defeat the Germany people!" Admiral Nimitz said secretly.
Previously, they had strong confidence in the Capital Ships formation of American Navy, believing that the Capital Ships formation was strong enough to compete with the Capital Ships formation of German Navy, and could even defeat the Capital Ships formation of German Navy with its advanced performance. But now, the result is completely different from what they imagined.
What's even more terrible is that the Capital Ships formation of American Navy has already begun to evacuate. However, at the current speed, it is certainly impossible for them to escape the shore-based aircraft of German Navy and the strike radius of Carrier-based aircraft after dawn. This also means that after dawn, German Navy will dispatch a large number of aircraft Encirclement Offensive American Navy's Capital Ships formation. By then, will those Capital Ships be able to survive the overwhelming blow? That's obviously very difficult. Even if American Navy dispatches Carrier-based aircraft to carry out rescue, it is still difficult to say how many people can be rescued in the end. In addition, if American Navy's Carrier-based aircraft loses too much, this will directly have a very negative impact on American Navy's subsequent operations.
It can be said that American Navy is in a very unfavorable situation in this naval battle now.
On the island of the aircraft carrier 'Essex', Lieutenant General Halsey issued an order to prepare for combat. Each of 1st Carrier Fleet's four aircraft carriers carries 36 F4U fighter plane. These fighter jets are already ready to take off. However, in order to leave enough air defense capabilities for the fleet, Lieutenant General Halsey will only require half of the fighter jets to be dispatched. That is, each aircraft carrier 'Essex-class' takes off 18 fighter jets, and the four aircraft carriers take off a total of 72 fighter jets.
As for the F4F fighter plane carried on other aircraft carriers, they do not need to be dispatched for the time being. If the F4U fighter plane group cannot resist the attack of the Germany people, F4F fighter plane will only become the target of the Germany people's torture.
German Navy The airports located in Azores are now brightly lit. Ground crews are refueling these aircraft and adding ammunition. Once daybreak, these aircraft will set off to attack the American Navy Capital Ships formation.
The airports on Flores Island and Corvo Island were severely damaged by the previous shelling of the Capital Ships formation of American Navy. The runway in particular was riddled with holes.
When German Navy's Capital Ships team stopped shelling, the airport's ground crew immediately began to repair the shells. They drove various machines to pour soil and gravel into the crater and then compacted it. Try your best to repair these runways before dawn. Although many fighter planes at the airport were destroyed, those hiding in underground hangars and caves were still safe and sound. As long as the runway is repaired, they can take off smoothly.
The three Grand Fleet of German Navy distributed in the sea area around Azores are also preparing to attack. Carrier-based aircraft With the help of ground staff, prepare for takeoff. At the same time, these three Grand Fleet are also sailing westward. They not only want to kill the Capital Ships formation of American Navy, but also want to kill the Aircraft Carrier Formation of American Navy in one fell swoop. In particular, several aircraft carrier battle groups of Atlantic Fleet have already searched a lot westward.
Time passed little by little, and when the sun appeared on the horizon, the plane German Navy began to take off from the airport.