Stating that the Pacific Fleet is now sure of defeating the Combined Fleet is actually Nimitz's bragging: counting the four George V class, the Pacific Fleet currently has the same number of battleships as the Combined Fleet battleships, and the average combat effectiveness of the ships is barely comparable. The number of aircraft carriers is the same as that of the Combined Fleet, which is 5, including 3 British Tejas class armored aircraft carriers, 1 American regular aircraft carrier Saratoga, and 1 escort aircraft carrier USS Borg (the lead ship of the Borg-class escort carrier). Originally, the main fleet did not operate without escort aircraft carriers, but the United States lost all available aircraft carriers, and the newly built aircraft carriers could not quench their thirst, so Nimitz had no choice but to pull the Borg out and put it on top -- the crew of the ship was almost entirely the surviving crew of the sunken Lexington and Yorktown, and the level of ship handling was not bad.

It seems that the Pacific Fleet, which has 4 regular aircraft carriers, seems to have an advantage over Japan, but when analyzed carefully, it is not necessarily: the Borg has 10 fewer aircraft than the Longfeng, and the Longfeng can run up to 26 knots, but the Borg can only run 17 knots at the fastest, which greatly drags its feet and is very fatal in formation combat; The United States also has no advantage in the number of carrier-based aircraft, with the total number of carrier-based aircraft of the Japanese fleet being 278 and the total number of carrier-based aircraft of the US fleet being only 243. In terms of the quality of pilots and the performance of fighters, the United States is still slightly inferior to Japan. Of course, the Pacific Fleet is not without advantages at all, at least three armored aircraft carriers have strong defense and good sinking resistance, and they are of great value in battles.

Whether it is in terms of numbers or combat effectiveness, it does not mean that the weaker side will not be able to win the victory when it is relatively close, otherwise Japan would not have lost four aircraft carriers at Midway in one go. But it should be noted that the reasons for Japan's defeat at the Battle of Midway were complex. In addition to the factor of intelligence leakage, the attack on the islands was also the main cause of defeat -- without the numerical superiority and reconnaissance capabilities of the land-based aircraft at Midway, it would have been difficult for the Americans to win more with less in a pure naval fleet duel (as can be seen in the Battle of the Coral Sea). Now it is up to the American fleet to take the initiative to look for opportunities for an offensive. The situation is reversed, they will face the threat of Japanese land-based aircraft, and it is not necessarily a sure winner in a decisive battle with aircraft carriers.

However, Nimitz had a deep understanding of "political correctness", and now the president is annoyed by the war situation in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East, angry at the incompetence of the British, if he shows weakness again. This morale and fighting spirit are completely lost -- and this is not in keeping with the American temperament! Of course, he was also very tactful, saying only that he was sure of dealing with the Japanese Combined Fleet. He did not say that he was sure of dealing with the combined fleet of the three countries -- this was not because he could not defeat a few more German or Italian battleships, but this was a euphemism to show that he did not agree to pull the main force to the Indian Ocean, and the reason was obvious -- there was obviously no Japanese fleet in the Pacific Ocean at present, and it would be a fool not to take advantage of the ready-made ones.

Really. After hearing Nimitz's "confident" answer. Roosevelt's face looked much better, and he asked him kindly, "How is our war in the Pacific progressing at the moment?" ”

"It's not going very well, the Japanese are still stubbornly resisting Lae and Bougainville, and General MacArthur thinks it will take at least ten days to completely take Lae, and Bougainville may take another 3-4 weeks."

Nimitz's answer made Admiral King's brow furrow: it was a very skillful answer, and instead of boasting about it, it was guiding the president -- suggesting that he was doing well in the Pacific operation, and that it would be better if he could do more.

"So it's going to take a month to beat Rabaul?"

Nimitz was silent. He only nodded silently and acknowledged the time.

Really. President Roosevelt quickly took the bait: "Since the Indian Ocean problem cannot be solved for the time being, should we consider sending additional troops to the Asian side in order to take advantage of the opportune opportunity of Japan's military emptiness?" ”

"This ......" people don't know what to say.

Admiral King immediately stood up in support, he was the "No. 1 in Asia" faction, and resolutely opposed wasting too many troops on the European battlefield, although President Roosevelt set the policy of "Europe first", he always believed that it was caused by the old bastard Churchill's deception with rhetoric.

"There is a lack of strong troops in Asia, and we happen to have such a support force now, so we can't let these troops continue to go back to South Africa and do nothing, right? I agree with the President's strategy of sending them to Asia. "Of course, we have another option, and that is to do nothing: let Ike [Eisenhower's] troops hide in the sun in South Africa, return the British ships to them, and the Pacific Fleet retract to Pearl Harbor, wait for our shipyards to build the ships, wait for the Navy to train the troops, and wait for the fleet to have an overwhelming superiority, and then pull it out......"

Everyone, you look at me, I look at you, no one said much, Admiral Kim's words are very poisonous -- these are right from a military point of view, but they are very wrong from a political point of view!

Sure enough, Roosevelt put on an extremely serious expression: "I will never allow such thoughts, nor will I guide the strategy according to this policy -- this is a slippery and clever game, a sign of cowardice, cowardice, and fear!" What will the American people think of us? What do the allies think of us? Although the British have been fighting the Germans, at least they have been fighting, and it is one thing to win or lose, and it is another thing to fight or not. We have finally gotten rid of isolationism, and retracting is another version of isolationism! ”

"The question is, how to solve the situation in the Middle East, India, East Africa?" "Stalin sent a telegram of great concern about the situation in the Middle East, very concerned about their fragile and unreliable supply channels in Persia, and hoping that we would be able to deal with it -- he was at the moment extremely disappointed with the British." ”

Everyone looked at each other: now that the Axis controls the northern Indian Ocean, what else can they do? Is it really as Churchill suggested that the fleet should be drawn back for a decisive battle? It's okay to say if you win, but what if you lose? At that time, not only the Indian Ocean, but also the Pacific Ocean was finished.

Marshall's face was ugly: "I can't let our precious troops go to East Africa, Egypt, and the Middle East to fill the holes for the British, and I would even rather send supplies to support the Chinese battlefield - anyway, the main force of the Japanese Navy is not there." ”

"London hopes that the fleet will first retreat to South Africa and wait for the right time to land in Egypt, and Rear Admiral Hewitt has led the fleet back, but Admiral Eisenhower has a different opinion, he thinks that this is too negative, and it is dangerous to pin his hopes on the decisive battle of the fleet, and he took 10,000 steps back and said that even if he really wants to fight a decisive battle of the fleet, he should first settle the army."

"Will Churchill still wonder if he will pull this group of troops to defend India - I'm fed up! We are the army of the United States, not the mercenaries of the colonies of the British Empire! ”

"Even sticking to Madagascar is better than going to South Africa and doing nothing."

A bunch of people were babbling, and although the words were different, the meaning was the same: resolutely opposed to the troops retreating to South Africa and hiding there with nothing to do - the army had to attack, either with the Germans or with the Japanese, and then resolutely not to India.

At the end of the debate, everyone's attitude gradually became clear, and now there are only two ways in front of them:

First, I agree with the British that the Pacific Fleet should be withdrawn and the Atlantic Fleet and the Axis Navy of the Three Powers would be added to the decisive battle, and after winning the war, the Indian Ocean and the Middle East would be solved at once.

Second, he agreed with the intention of the Pacific Theater of Operations, and strengthened their forces so that they could gain more advantages before the Japanese fleet returned to help, not only to completely occupy the Solomon Islands and the islands of New Guinea, but also to take Gilbert and the Marshall Islands, and to advance the front in the direction of the Philippines.

While not everyone agrees with the second path, almost none agree with the one. Roosevelt sat in his wheelchair and thought silently for a few minutes before he spoke: "Since everyone is basically in agreement, let's consider adding forces to the Pacific theater." Of course, we cannot ignore the affairs of Africa at all, and if the British completely break the jar and make peace with the Germans, the threat to us will be too great -- Churchill will still be firmly on our side anyway, and it will not necessarily be the case if someone else becomes prime minister. ”

This shocked everyone, and it was still very necessary to hold Britain as an ally, and if it really made Germany's strategy of unifying Europe and the United States completely over, not to mention that now that even the Axis countries can cooperate closely, what reason do the Anglo-Saxons of the same culture and species not cooperate seriously? The level of the British is a little stinky, but Germany is sparing no effort to support the Italians, who are even more stinky, and the big hole of Britain has to jump down again with tears.

Marshall, who understood Roosevelt's intentions, immediately put forward a compromise plan along this line of thought: During Operation Torchlight, the United States sent a total of 2 armored divisions (the 1st and 2nd armored divisions) and 4 infantry divisions (the 1st, 3rd, 9th, and 34th infantry divisions) to prepare to transfer the 3rd and 34th infantry divisions to Australia to assist in the Pacific theater, and the rest of the troops considered being led by Eisenhower to Kenya to land, and then break into Ethiopia and Somalia, on the one hand, to meet the lost 2nd armored division and the British 78th Infantry Division, On the other hand, we should strive to establish an East African defense line and deter Egypt, and if the time is right, consider counterattacking Egypt.

Nimitz anxiously asked, "What about the British's request for warships?" ”

Roosevelt thought for a moment and said, "It should be politely refused—the Pacific campaign is currently going on intensely, and there is really no way to get out." As compensation, we sent them the Atlantic Fleet's Arkansas, two New Mexico-class, and four escort carriers to protect the Atlantic and Indian Ocean routes, and then replaced the British warships when the Essex-class and Iowa classes were heavily commissioned. This is the price they have to pay for us to land in Africa and save the situation in the Middle East. ”

After some consideration, they thought that the plan was very sound.

On the evening of December 23, 1942, the slow column received a clear order and divided its troops: Eisenhower led the 1st Armored Division, the 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions along the coastline to land in Kenya under the escort of 2 battleships and 2 fleet aircraft carriers, and tried to find a way to rescue the 2nd Armored Division and the British 78th Infantry Division; At the same time, the remaining 2 infantry divisions turned to the western Australian city of Pos, preparing to join the Pacific theater of operations. (To be continued.) )