What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 252 Atlantic Task Force

In fact, although the Second Fleet's whereabouts were confirmed, it was not subjected to much harassment.

The Beef Country, still licking its wounds, had no warships to offer, only an old Espora-class frigate, the Paco, which was in relatively good condition and was barely able to set sail to see what was going on.

The Air Force's A4 and Super Étendard, which have a longer range, have been forced to cease operations due to long-term spare parts shortages and neglect of maintenance. Only one or two of these aircraft, used by elite pilots, can be deployed for reconnaissance.

The Second Fleet was sailing at a distance of 500 to 700 kilometers from the coast, which is quite a distance.

As evening approached, Tang Wen, who was capable of resolving the fuel issue, decided to divide his forces to increase speed:

The Bismarck, Scharnhorst, Gleisenau, and Karl formed a separate squadron and headed north at full speed.

With the Bismarck's legendary captain providing an additional 10% speed bonus, plus the intermittent 25% speed boost during Christmas, the average speed can be guaranteed at 37 knots per hour. The Scharnhorst and Gleisenau can reach 35.4 knots, not to mention the Karl.

The four warships maintained a high speed of 35 knots, while the remaining Tirpitz, leading two heavy cruisers, followed at a slightly slower pace of 28 knots.

……

At 9 a.m. on the 27th, Ben Shepard and his companion Wald Fred finally flew over the corner on the map in their B52H.

Eight old turbofan engines roared, propelling this behemoth at an altitude of 10,000 meters and a speed of nearly 1000 kilometers per hour.

Fortunately, GPS now exists to fix this problem; otherwise, this extremely troublesome trip would have wasted at least 30% of the journey by taking a detour.

Although the B-52 has an enormous range, in order to prepare for such a long intercontinental flight, they took off from the 96th Bomb Squadron base in Louisiana and then revised the flight plan and inspected the aircraft in Florida before finally taking off at 2 a.m. They have now flown 6800 kilometers.

Based on the planned Second Fleet's sailing speed, it would take at least another 3,000 kilometers to see them.

Being so far from home, even the carefully selected elite crew felt immense pressure.

"Ben, the latest satellite photos show that the target is much further ahead than originally planned, and has already crossed Argentina."

The navigator brought over a marked map. Ben glanced at it, then turned back to carefully examine the marked locations.

"Damn, are you sure? That means they traveled 2500 kilometers in one night! Do you know how insane that is?"

According to the crew's prediction, the Second Fleet should still be off the coast of Argentina at this time, but they have already sailed past it.

This means that their speed last night was not the economical 15 knots or 20 knots, but exceeded 30 knots, or even 35 knots!
No warship could maintain such extreme speeds for an entire night; even if it could, it would run out of fuel.

Moreover, if they really were those old-fashioned WWII bastards, wouldn't their boilers break down if they were rushing like this?
Pilots are very knowledgeable and were well aware of how difficult this was for warships.

“Wald, I feel we shouldn’t get too close; it’s best not to provoke them.”

To maintain as much reconnaissance time as possible, the B-52 was not carrying any weapons. It only temporarily placed a 900mm aperture ultra-high-definition aerial camera in the bomb bay. It was said to be a high-quality camera salvaged from a U-2, with a single negative costing several thousand dollars, which was exorbitantly expensive.

Wald nodded in agreement: "I don't believe this is just a World War II fleet. I hope a SAM-2 doesn't fly up here."

Ben: "Get ready, I think we'll see them in less than two hours."

……

With the help of modern technology, it is not difficult to track the Second Fleet's movements.

27日下午16点，拍摄了一大堆照片的B52H降落在圭那亚机场，结束了这场13小时、跨度1.38万公里的超远距离航行。

After landing, the negatives were scanned and sent back to the think tank, while the original films were being packaged and sent back by another transport plane.

Although it was an electronically scanned film fax, the image clarity was still much better than satellite photography, and almost every detail of the warship could be seen.

The location of the gun turrets and conning tower, the number of secondary guns, and even the sailors walking and working on the deck were all observed. No missile launchers or modern radar devices were spotted.

Modern electronic systems are typically very large, which is why bridges have become increasingly large, sometimes even as wide as the hull. In contrast, during the era of artillery naval warfare, the superstructure was kept as small as possible to avoid being hit.

So, are they really just a few strange gunboats? Has the high seas fleet returned from the seabed?
"No, that's impossible."

The team analyzing the satellite images gave their conclusions:
"This is an ultra-modern warship disguised as a World War II warship, even more advanced than nuclear-powered ones."

Everyone was astonished, because the speaker was Matt Malhering, the designer of the Ford-class nuclear aircraft carrier.

Matt: "From the first sighting in the Drake Passage to the separation of the Second Fleet, their longest distance reached 4500 kilometers, with an average speed of over 30 knots and a long-distance run of over 80 hours, which is theoretically only possible with nuclear power."

"But this places very high demands on traditional systems, and the fuel consumption will be extremely high."

The other person added what he hadn't said.

"Wait, did you notice? These battleships are also traveling at speeds of 32 or 33 knots or higher."

The atmosphere was quiet for several seconds as everyone simultaneously thought of a certain possibility.

Matt looked at the intelligence officer listening in: "If that's a nuclear-powered fleet, we have to consider the contamination after the silence."

I suggest equipping the B-52s with dust collectors and radiation detectors to check their radiation levels.

Intelligence officer: "We'll prepare immediately."

The technical analysis is now complete; the next step is to analyze the objectives of the Second Fleet.

Earlier recordings of phone calls from the Falkland Islands were also retrieved for analysis, and one of the sentences mentioned was "disrupting Atlantic shipping routes".

Of course, there are always shipping routes across the Atlantic, but the war ended half a century ago, so it all makes no sense.

The analysis team for the Second Fleet was led by two big names: Kazimilz and Rams, two old guys who had survived the cold confrontations of the past half-century and were still alive.

Kazimirz circled the location directly on the map: "Based on the current range and movements of the Second Fleet, I speculate that they are running out of fuel and are most likely heading to two destinations: Gibraltar or Panama. The Panama Canal is closer, but the Strait of Gibraltar is more in line with the so-called Atlantic shipping route."

"But it's different if it's nuclear-powered."

Rams added, then hesitantly but firmly drew a straight line connecting the Argentine coast to Florida.

"The most thorough way to disrupt the Atlantic shipping routes is, of course, to blockade the east coast and prevent ships from leaving."

The intelligence officer frowned: "That's impossible. Even fifty years ago, the Imperial Navy was invincible, let alone on its homeland."

Rams: "We can't presume to know what a weirdo is thinking. In fact, I can't think of anyone who could secretly build such a fleet. They would be more afraid of him than to have such energy to produce a few small mushrooms."

"What if they're really coming for us?"

"We cannot get close to the mainland, no matter how great the threat, I think the navy is prepared."

"Yes, the fleet has already set sail."

The last sound came from behind everyone; a naval intelligence officer pushed open the door:
"The Navy cannot tolerate any form of threat to Panama or its homeland and has dispatched the Atlantic Task Force, consisting of three battleships, one aircraft carrier, six cruisers and frigates, southward."

"Apart from the USS Missouri, the USS New Jersey, USS Wisconsin, and USS Iowa have undergone emergency repairs over the past two days and departed this morning."

(End of this chapter)