"That broken fleet has appeared east of Hawaii again, fortunately the reconnaissance plane found it early, otherwise the transport cluster would be in big trouble......" Major Robert had just taken the telegram and was about to hand it over to Admiral Ingram, who was sitting in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when he suddenly noticed that everyone around him looked panicked and looked like a catastrophe was coming.

"Jack, what's going on?" He asked his good friend in surprise

"You don't know yet?"

"Don't know what?"

"This morning the Recife Army discovered an enemy fleet east-north-north of St. Louis, and it was extremely large."

"Where did the Japanese run...... No......" Robert turned white in horror, "this is a German!" Are they going to beat Ciphi? ”

"That's right, it's the Germans, but whether to beat Ciphi or not is still between two words, and the chief has been urgently summoned to a meeting!"

"Oh my God...... Our fleet went to Newfoundland...... This...... This...... It's completely the opposite! ”

On November 4, the day before the 1944 U.S. presidential election, the German-Italian Axis fleet appeared 1,700 kilometers north of Brazil and advanced south at a speed of 16 knots, all the main forces at all their disposal, and it looked even larger than before—mainly a few new Rheinland-class escort carriers.

If it was to the south of Brazil, the Axis Fleet would have turned around the coast of Africa at this time, but now the Axis Fleet has made no secret that its destination is the north of Brazil, just go straight ahead, even if you guess what can you do? With more than 2,500 kilometers of coastline in the north of Brazil, can you guess where your opponent is going?

"Now it seems that we were wrong at the beginning, and the German attack was not aimed at Newfoundland, but still Brazil." MacArthur said earnestly to Ingram, "Can you bring the Atlantic Fleet back?" ”

"It's okay to transfer it back, but it will take time." Ingram smiled bitterly, "Now the fleet is in the Northeast Sea, and it will take at least 10 days to go to the Brazilian Sea, and you must resupply fuel once on the way, and it will take one day to do less, so it will be 11 days." ”

"11 days is not a big problem, Recife can defend it!"

Clarke, however, shook his head worriedly: "I'm worried that the Germans won't beat Ciphi......"

MacArthur was obviously a little distracted by this reminder, and suddenly remembered that the rest of the northern part of Brazil was not worth mentioning, except for Recife, which had a relatively large number of troops.

Spruance sighed: "In view of the lessons of the Pacific Fleet this time, I am afraid that the Atlantic Fleet will not be able to confront the enemy head-on, and can only play the role of an existing fleet and fully contain the opponent." ”

The strength of the Atlantic Fleet is basically the same as that of the Pacific Fleet, if it has to be said that it is stronger, it is one more combat cruiser, and the strength of the carrier-based aircraft pilots is even a little worse than that of Halsey. Of course, the strength of the German-Italian Axis fleet could not catch up with that of the Combined Fleet, but it was still not something that the Atlantic Fleet could compete with.

This time, Li Hai didn't dare to take the initiative anymore, and last time he said that he would destroy the Pacific Fleet, and if he also destroyed the Atlantic Fleet this time, then the United States could really only lie on the ground and beg for mercy. This time, according to his original intention, he didn't want the fleet to venture to the Caribbean, but if he didn't go, he couldn't do it - it would almost be equivalent to watching the South American Army die and the barrier of South America was broken, and the next German target was obviously Central America, the Caribbean and even Florida, and no matter how much he wanted to preserve his strength, it would be difficult to continue.

He whispered: "It's a pity that there are still 3 Essex-class ships that have just been delivered, and they will not be able to form combat effectiveness until the end of next month, otherwise there is still a little room for maneuver." ”

Turner smiled bitterly: If it weren't for the destruction of the Pacific Fleet, these warships would not have been so easy to muster enough troops.

This time, the Bismarck Haihai abandoned the warship and escaped decisively, and no one accused Simmons of being wrong, but thought that the courage and wisdom he showed at the critical moment were very rare, Truman awarded him the Congressional Medal, and the Naval Operations Department promoted him to a higher rank and appointed him as the captain of the newly commissioned Shangri-La, and then pulled out more than 2,000 people (including more than 100 pilots) from other surviving officers and soldiers to concentrate on this warship, and the Pacific Fleet 2 fleet aircraft carriers +There were no more than 3,000 officers and men of the 12 escort aircraft carriers who escaped, and they all gathered together after deducting the wounded and sick.

This kind of feat of losing the battle and fleeing for his life can now be promoted with medals, but if you really think about it, the whole fiasco is only one bright spot on the Bismarck Sea - now the Americans do not know that the warship was captured by the Japanese, and only think that the opponent has sunk it. Then, at the behest of Lehi, the Admiralty stipulated that the Shangri-La was the flagship of the Pacific Fleet and was temporarily placed under the command of the Atlantic Fleet, as if to show that the Pacific Fleet still existed.

In Turner's eyes, this was courageous, but it was self-defeating. However, he can also understand - because the war report released by Japan does not say about the annihilation of the Pacific Fleet, but only the destruction of the Hawaiian fleet, and the enemy does not say anything, does the Admiralty itself jump out and admit that the Pacific Fleet has been completely destroyed? What a bad impact! Even if President Truman had completely lost it, he would not mind the result being any longer.

Therefore, yesterday's official communiqué on the campaign exploits of the Admiralty was written in a very tortuous and tactful manner: In order to avenge the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, our TF50 fleet fought back together with land-based air forces, but unfortunately encountered a flanking attack by an enemy with several times superiority, inflicting heavy blows and casualties on the enemy (sinking and damaging 11 aircraft carriers of various types, 1 battleship, 8-10 light and heavy cruisers, more than 10 destroyers, and shooting down nearly 500 enemy planes). 2 battleships and 6 light cruisers, 14 destroyers and some improvised aircraft carriers, the commander of the aircraft carrier formation, Vice Admiral McCain, was unfortunately killed, and 400 aircraft were lost......

The communiqué also posthumously promoted Vice Admiral McCain to Admiral and expressed solemn condolences for the fallen soldiers.

On the surface, it seems that the war loss is half a catty, and even the Japanese loss is a little more, but which of the real high-level does not know the actual situation? Japan's losses included the results of the "water injection" of the army in the direction of Pearl Harbor, while the losses of the Pacific Fleet were vague.

Even so, the death of the vice admiral and the loss of a large number of warships and aircraft shocked the public opinion circles, and at least one thing could not be washed away: after each of them suffered such losses, the Japanese fleet still controlled the sea supremacy, and Hawaii had become an isolated island!

Although the reporters restrained themselves from asking many sharp and embarrassing questions from the military, Li Hai, who came forward to host the press conference, could only admit that he had been defeated, and the current situation was at a disadvantage. This kind of statement was unthinkable in the past, but now he can only say it head-on, saying that as the president's chief of staff, he has an unshirkable responsibility for the deterioration of the war situation, and has formally submitted his resignation to the president.

As for President Truman, according to the White House Chief of Staff, "the continuous overwork has greatly damaged the president's physical health, and the news of the death of General McCain has devastated his spirit and is currently hospitalized......"

This is not the most exciting, the most exciting thing is that he later said in an interview with reporters, "The president considers that his body and energy are not up to the job, and initially intends to announce his resignation after the election, and hopes to break the convention, let the newly elected president take the oath of office and take over the power as soon as possible, and seek a proper political way out for the American people......"

Political observers can understand the meaning behind this sentence, although it was released by the chief of staff, but without Truman's instructions, how dare he speak up on such a major issue? Truman apparently could not wait for the official handover ceremony in January 1945, and planned to hand over power in advance if the president did not do it in the next two months.

Now that the top brass acknowledges that the situation has deteriorated and is unsustainable, the media is no longer stubborn, but is trying to inspire and unite the people.

Similarly, Dewey no longer advocated the high-pitched rhetoric of "peace with Germany and struggle with Japan to the end" in public, but only said that he would come forward to fight for favorable and appropriate peace conditions and end the war as soon as possible. As for what are the favorable and appropriate conditions, he did not give a direct answer, but quoted the vague contents of the "Voice of Europe" that are often said, such as "no land cession, no reparations, and fairness and fairness." He did not dare to criticize either the German and Italian fascists or Japanese militarism, but only dared to say: "If they dare to invade the United States, the United States will certainly make them pay an unbearable high price!" ”

This statement left everyone speechless: Isn't the repeated attacks on the east and west coasts and the siege of Pearl Harbor by the Axis an invasion of the United States?

He was full of cranky thoughts, and seeing that his mind was wandering, MacArthur asked him: "General Turner, where do you think Germany will attack Brazil?" Will it tire Ciphi? ”

"It's not good, if you want me to stop ......fighting," Turner nodded a little towards the sea off Brazil, "The defense of Matthew's cluster is estimated to be relatively perfect, and the Germans should have noticed this, so I think Germany may land elsewhere in northern Brazil, slowly deploy forces, and then send a fleet to cut off Matthew's supply channels." Without enough supplies, Matthew couldn't hold on for long. At that time, whether Germany is flanking from the north and south, or attacking Guyana from the north, it will not be something we can resist. ”

MacArthur nodded solemnly: "What do you propose to do if such a terrible result occurs?" ”

"The best advice is to make peace with Germany and withdraw with dignity;

The sub-optimal strategy is to let Matthew hold on, wait for the Atlantic Fleet to recover and compete with the German and Italian fleets, and win the naval battle to naturally relieve the siege of Brazil;

The second strategy is to use the land aviation in the Caribbean to contend with the German army, delay and weaken the opponent;

The worst way is to forcibly pull out the weak Atlantic Fleet to fight, and once this fleet is lost, the east coast will almost be undefended......"

Turner's words are hard to hear, but neither MacArthur nor Clarke, nor Ingram, think it's wrong......

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