"He was very sorry for the Head of State, General Mashar sent a telegram, we lost the battle of Bermuda..."

"Lost?" Hoffman was nervous, "How many warships have been lost? Where is the fleet at present?"

"The warships were not lost, and some battleships ate bombs, but they were not seriously injured. The aircraft carrier formation was basically safe, and the aircraft was not too much. The only one with heavy losses was the Marine Corps that accompanied the fleet attack." Marshal Denitz, the first deputy commander of the Navy, did not dare to neglect after receiving the telegram from Mashar. He immediately met Hoffman and reported the combat situation in detail.

During the day, after the second wave of the 82nd Airborne Division was blocked by carrier-based aircraft, the US Army Aircraft quickly adjusted its combat focus and placed its attack power on the German fleet. On Bermuda Island, the 82nd Airborne Division had landed on the island, launched an encirclement and suppression of the German army. Lieutenant Colonel Baker barely supported until evening, when all the Marines boarded the responding destroyers to retreat, there were only 297 people left, including the wounded, almost a fraction of the total number of people at the time of the battle, and the loss rate was close to 80%. The Baker battle group was not only forced to give up the bodies of his companions, but even most of the captured British and American soldiers in Bermuda could not take away, but forcibly escorted more than 50 captured pilots.

The 82nd Airborne Division was not much better. They suffered even more casualties in the two days and one night of battle. Under the triple firepower of German troops on the ground, air, and ships, the first batch of more than 3,000 people who landed on the island only survived more than 600, and the second batch of more than 3,000 people who landed on the island only survived more than 1,600. In addition, the casualties of pilots (captured), almost 4,500 people were trapped in, which was four times the loss of the German army. Especially after nightfall, when the 82nd Airborne Division attacked the remnants of the German army on the island, he did not expect the German ship to arrive. The loss was huge under the coverage of the artillery fire, and was forced to give up the attack and retreat to the south.

If Mashar could place three more land battle battalions at this time, Li Qiwei and the 82nd Airborne Division would not be able to escape the destruction of the entire army. Unfortunately, the fleet had only three land battle battalions in total, and Lieutenant Colonel Baker could not let the sailors go ashore to participate in the war. Once the US planes attacked in a large scale, it would not be a throwing Marines, but a throwing warship. So, the two sides broke off in the early morning, and the Germans disappeared in the night. Mashar reported the entire battle situation to Berlin after the fleet was transferred.

Listening to the full physical report, Hoffman's face was unstable and he thought. After a long time, he asked Denitz: "What do you think about this battle?"

"It is undoubtedly relatively successful in strategy. General Mashar successfully mobilized the main force of the enemy fleet, delayed the pace of the enemy's attack on the island of Cavaliers, and bought time for our reinforcements to arrive at the island of Cavaliers, but he made great mistakes in tactical matters. Of course, we cannot put the blame on him alone."

Mashar's mistake is obvious. Even if Dunitz is willing to defend it, he has to admit frankly that his mistake is:

First of all, it should not be hasty to let three land battalions station on Bermuda. Attacking and capturing the Bermuda defenders was a situation where the German army won the victory. Mashar's confidence was expanding. The strategy of trying to attract US troops to attack and create opportunities for the fleet to annihilate the enemy was very risky. Judging from the results, not only did it fail to achieve the expected effect, but instead caused the Marines to be unable to leave and want to fight unfavorable, and the adventure with a fever suffered serious losses;

Secondly, after being attacked by the US paratroopers, Mashar unilaterally believed in the combat effectiveness of his troops and refused to dispatch fleets or planes to cover the Marines. He did not organize a retreat in time that night. Instead, he allowed them to complete the task of extermination of the US military. As a result, the Marines' offense was contained due to the opponent's air superiority and could not be launched smoothly. Fortunately, the Marines' combat effectiveness was amazing, and they could barely maintain the situation of both sides' losses through night attacks. If the combat effectiveness was a little worse, the entire army would basically be destroyed;

Finally, when facing the test of a hero cutting off his arm, Mashar did not decisively abandon the Marines and flee, but forced to dispatch carrier-based aircraft and fleets to cover and withdraw, trying to continue to raise bets for the bets he had already suppressed. He did not realize that others, including Denitz, who was far away in Berlin, could see clearly. Fortunately, the US fleet failed to arrive at the scene, and the heavy bombers used by the US Army Airlines were poor in attacking seas. In addition, the German carrier-based aircraft happened to catch up with the luck of attacking paratroopers and transport aircraft. As long as there were changes in these two aspects, Mashar would have to lose at least several warships and lose more troops.

During this period, he also rejected Ozawa's correct suggestion twice. Mashar's attitude was very honest and did not hide it and refused to say it.

Hoffman sighed. Of course he knew the problems of the senior commander of the German navy: Compared with his Japanese colleagues, senior naval officers, including Mashar, had low self-esteem at the beginning. They did not dare to touch the main force of the British and American fleets, unless they were burning their boats, such as the time they rushed into Azores from the North Sea; later they were arrogant, and they won several times and took advantage of the situation and began to get angry. They thought that the British and American navy was just like this, and then they suffered a blow. For example, the defeat of the Bermuda Battle, and quickly slipped down to inferiority Mashar suggested pulling the fleet back to Italy to rest and avoiding confrontation with Britain and the United States.

After all, this is the result of faults in the naval development stage after World War I. No matter the combat concept, technical equipment and command system can keep up with the times, the only one who can make a move is probably the submarine force, and then the style of wanting to win and afraid of losing is dominant. Hoffman can provide them with better equipment and more warships, and can also provide them with the opportunity to learn the joint fleet at close range, but obviously cannot improve the command capabilities of senior generals overnight.

Maschel and Crank are already considered a rare and excellent general in the navy. Hoffman dares to bet that if Kumetz is the one who leads the army, the situation will be even worse. After all, although a not-weak navy has been established, he is still fighting with a break-and-match mentality. This mentality is very good in the early stages of the direction of Massachusetts, Brazil and Guyana. When he really needs a bayonet to see the red and true seal when he gets to Bermuda, he can't stand it.

"You can't rest. Once the fleet is resting, Britain and the United States will go straight to the Horse Island. How can you fight with the troops there?" Hoffman pondered for a moment, "Let him go to Azore to re-call three land battle battalions, and then go south again. They can't fight with the Americans, but they must entangle the opponent's main fleet and cannot let them easily fight the Horse Island. Now is the critical moment when South American countries change drastically and move closer to the axis. In any case, we must defend the Horse Island and keep our reputation there. Every more point we hold the enemy in South America, Azore will be safe and the Western Front will be consolidated."

Dunitz nodded, he still understood this principle.

"The US 82nd Airborne Division is fighting against the Marines?"

"Yes, the commander is Matthew Liqiwei, and according to the telegram, he is also commanding on the front line." Denitz added, "The Marines bravely attacked with a disadvantage in their military strength, and gave the enemy a major injury and destroyed at least 4,000 enemy troops. Marshall believes that the Marines are good and cannot erase their credit. The heavy losses are his personal command responsibility."

Hoffman thought to himself: Of course, the 82 Airborne Division and Li Qiwei are not ordinary people. It seems that Roosevelt was anxious this time and used all his skills.

"The entire Baker battle group was brought back to the country, and all participants in the battle gave Bermuda battle armbands. The surviving Marine Corps officers and soldiers were promoted to the first level regardless of their military ranks, and awarded medals of honor based on their performance, taking them as the backbone, and then dispatching personnel from the army to form a new land brigade, which is called the Bermuda Brigade to commemorate this battle." Hoffman said, "This time it happened more than 1,000 kilometers away from the United States. Like the last Battle of Panama, it greatly shocked the United States. No matter what the result is, at least we showed the power of the empire to the Americans, which is a huge success. Judging from the overall situation, we not only did not lose, but also achieved great success. After the Marine Corps fought bloody battles, they could not return to China with the hat of failure."

Dunitz nodded in understanding and immediately pleaded for Mashal. Hoffman thought for a while and replied: "I hope he can learn from it and consider the problem more cautiously and comprehensively. I will not focus on specific problems. You and I are not saints, and we have made mistakes. Just take it as a warning."

"As for the next stage, let the Bojun fleet be dispatched to cut off the British and Canadian routes, and let those escort aircraft carriers taste the power of Bojun aircraft carriers. If the main force of the enemy comes, you can fight them again. I hope I won't disappoint this time."

The fleet that Hoffmann mentioned refers to the main force consisting of the Dunkirk aircraft carrier that was transformed and served half a month ago and the Richelieu battleship that was repaired two days ago. In particular, the Dunkirk, which was equipped with a beveled deck, further embodies Hoffmann's high expectations.

Unlike ordinary aircraft carriers, the Dunkirk after the renovation is completely a product that transcends the times, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as a shocking and shocking. It was initially converted into an aviation warship, but during the specific construction process, it was found that the muzzle storm had too much impact on the take-off and landing of the aircraft. Finally, all the naval guns were removed and completely turned into a direct-through aircraft carrier. However, unlike ordinary aircraft carriers, the flight deck was direct, but the hangar was not, because if the hull structure was completely transformed, it would be better to rebuilt it. Therefore, the naval gun was simply removed and leveled, and the original location of the main gun ammunition and turret was stored became an armored fuel and ammunition depot.

The rear half was transformed into a hangar, but the hangar was small and had only a single floor, which could only accommodate 24 aircraft (partially folded) and 6 spares, and there was only a small side lift, with another 24 aircraft tied to the rear of the deck and the starboard protruding deck.

From the appearance, the Dunkirk is a standard rear World War II aircraft carrier with direct main deck, oblique angle on the port side, and starboard protrusions are balanced and compensated and used for some aircraft to tie. However, its internal structure is still very different from that of modern aircraft carriers. The most prominent one is its excellent armor and defense capabilities. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!