69novels Chapter 1091
Chapter 1091
North America, the border area between the United States and the United States, Green Bay, a city on the west bank of Lake Michigan.
The city was just captured by the German army with heavy troops three days ago, with the purpose of controlling the ships here!
“General, the ships are ready and can set off at any time!”
At the dock, a well-equipped German army was ready to go, and their goal was the last piece of land controlled by the Eagle Sauce – Michigan!
After more than a month of fierce attacks, the Eagle Sauce gradually lost a large number of outlying strongholds, and their control range further shrank, leaving only this part of northern Michigan that has not been captured. Michigan
‘s terrain is very special. It is like a wedge in the middle of the five Great Lakes, with Lake Michigan on the left and Lake Huron and Lake Erie on the right.
The large number of lakes put Michigan in a very safe position. If the German army wants to attack the US army here, it can only attack from the south. Other areas are waterways. In the absence of large troop transport ships, it is almost impossible for the German army to launch a large-scale landing.
And more importantly, the artillery units of the US military will pose a huge threat to the German landing fleet. Although the German navy has seized control of the Atlantic Ocean, the water level of the access channel to the sea in the Great Lakes region is relatively shallow, and it is impossible to directly drive the navy’s main battleships in, so the German army has not completely controlled the control of the sea in the Great Lakes region!
At present, except for the relatively stable situation on the lake controlled by the Maple Leaf Country, the part of the Great Lakes owned by the Eagle Sauce is staged with fierce battles between German and US patrol boats.
The German army lacks main battleships in the Great Lakes region, but because the German army controls the southern region of the Eagle Sauce, a group of smaller warships that went upstream from the Mississippi River still arrived here smoothly.
The tonnage of these warships is generally below 2,000 tons, and most of them are gunboats and destroyers. , and a small number of high-speed torpedo boats, etc.
The situation on the Eagle Sauce side was similar. When the German army attacked northward in two groups, the Eagle Sauce had already realized that they could not keep their Atlantic Fleet.
After the German army captured Gotham City and swept through Eagle Sauce’s coastal cities in the northeast, Eagle Sauce’s Atlantic Fleet completely lost its foothold and had to go out to sea to fight a decisive battle with Lütjens’s troops.
There was no suspense in this battle. The well-prepared German army took advantage of the air advantage and almost wiped out the Eagle Sauce fleet that rushed out. Except for a very few lucky ones who escaped, all other Eagle Sauce warships were sunk or captured.
However, not all of Eagle Sauce’s Atlantic Fleet was destroyed. Most of the battleships that rushed out were main battleships of more than 2,000 tons, and 200 Most of the warships below 10 tons were gathered by them and entered the Great Lakes region from the Erie Canal at the mouth of the Great Lakes, becoming the last navy in the hands of the Eagle Sauce.
No one expected that the final decisive battle between the two navies would be fought in the Great Lakes region, which is not an ocean. Moreover, due to the limitation of the waterway, both sides fought in small warships with small tonnage and weak firepower!
However, although the small warships have small tonnage and weak firepower, their number is abnormally large.
The German side transported a total of three batches of warships from the Mississippi River, including 45 350-ton fast torpedo boats, 23 550-ton gunboats, 12 1,800-ton Z-class destroyers, plus about 120 patrol boats of various types. The total number of German naval warships in the Great Lakes region is close to 200, with a total tonnage of about 70,000 tons.
The US military has more warships.
They have 76 torpedo boats, 49 gunboats, and 27 destroyers.
In addition, the US military also has a large number of patrol ships and speedboats, as well as some minelayers and minesweepers.
The hydrological conditions of the Erie Canal are much better than those of the Mississippi River.
After all, the Mississippi River stretches for thousands of kilometers.
The water level in the northern part near the Great Lakes is not deep, and the navigation conditions are not good.
Large warships cannot be transported in.
Even these 12 Z-class destroyers were transported in during the flood season.
The
Erie Canal is the outlet of the Great Lakes connected to the Atlantic Ocean, which was dug by the Eagle Sauce. The hydrological conditions are much better than the half-baked Mississippi Canal.
The comparison of the naval strength of the two sides is about 3:5. The US military has a relatively obvious advantage, which makes it impossible for the German army to launch a large-scale landing operation.
However, although the US military has an advantage in terms of manpower, they are the defending party, and they have a lot of places to defend. Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Erie are all key defense areas. If these areas are relaxed, they will be attacked by the German army, so the US military has to divide its troops to defend here.
After they divided their troops, the pressure faced by the German army was much less. At this time, as long as the plan is proper, a group of troops can be transported over before the US military reacts, giving the enemy a surprise!
Manstein did not agree with this plan at first, because the risk of this plan is too great. Once the landing fails, not only the landing troops may be driven into the sea, but even the entire fleet may suffer a catastrophe!
After the US military learned the news, it will definitely gather heavy troops to encircle and suppress the German army.
This encirclement includes both land and sea.
In the absence of a complete seizure of sea control, the maritime forces have to protect the landing troops while fighting with the enemy’s troops at sea.
In the case of two-pointedness, they may not be able to hold on and will be defeated!
Once the navy is defeated, the landing troops will be slaughtered, and it is almost impossible to save them!
With such a huge risk of failure, it is normal for Manstein to deny it with his character.
However, the participation of the Air Force made this operational plan feasible and reduced the risk a lot.
If used in conjunction with airborne troops, it seems that it is not impossible to gain a foothold behind the enemy.
Moreover, from a strategic point of view, the US military’s focus of prevention at this time must be on the south. After all, the biggest threat direction of the German army is still in the south. In this case, the US military’s defense in the north is inevitably empty. As long as the German army moves fast enough and takes a foothold before the US military reacts, and stands firm, then their operational plan will be considered a success!
With the support of the Air Force, as long as there is a suitable airport, the Air Force can transport a large amount of food, fresh water, weapons and ammunition and other supplies, and can also directly transport fully armed soldiers to reinforce.
Once this operational plan is successful, the war in North America will end quickly!