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The atmosphere of the joint chiefs of staff meeting was shrouded in a wave of pessimism, and the Hawaiian defenders sent a telegram to Washington informing them of the news of the occupation of French Polynesia by the main forces of the Combined Fleet, which was now connected in a large triangle, cutting off the Central Pacific shipping routes as a whole -- including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands, and the blockade was even worse than during the Musashi break. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

In addition, about 2,200 kilometers east of Hawaii, a Japanese fleet with two battleships (Musashi and Kongo), four aircraft carriers, and several cruisers and destroyers was carrying out a break-up operation, and the Hawaii route was cut off.

On the surface, although there are 4 aircraft carriers, only 2 are regular fleet aircraft carriers (Yunlong, Amagi), and one of the other 2 is the escort aircraft carrier Condor, and the other is the naval aircraft carrier Nisshin, but on the surface it seems that there is no problem at all, and it is majestic.

"Lieutenant General Halsey wants to attack, and Admiral Ingram disagrees?" Looking at the few words at the end of the telegram, Truman's brows furrowed, "What do you guys think about this?" ”

Lehi sighed: "It is a terrible thing that Hawaii is blocked, which means that it will not be able to send supplies to Hawaii except by air, the distance between Hawaii and the mainland is nearly 5,000 kilometers, and heavy transport planes can barely arrive, but the weight of the transported materials is only 4-5 tons, and after deducting the return fuel, it can only be net transportation of 1-2 tons." ”

As soon as the words fell, Arnold immediately jumped up: "The army aviation is not capable of carrying out ultra-long-distance large-scale transportation missions for Hawaii, which is twice as far as the original Icelandic campaign support and 60% farther than the British strategic airlift, and the aircraft has to fly in the air for nearly 12 hours, which is a great test for the pilot, and the technical difficulty and risk are greatly increased." It may be feasible for individual elite crews to carry out emergency transportation tasks in small formations, but large-scale replenishment is never feasible. At present, the supply task of Patton's headquarters in the South American battlefield has constrained the energy of the army and air transport troops, and there is no manpower to carry out other transportation tasks at all. ”

"General Halsey believes that the cut off of the shipping route means that Hawaii is blocked, and we must take the initiative to break this blockade, not to mention that in terms of the comparison of troops, our army is not particularly at a loss." "The Pacific Fleet has two South Dakota-class battleships in Hawaii, which are weaker in combat than the opponent's Yamato-class but stronger than the Kongo-class, and are barely equal; Our army has 14 escort aircraft carriers, and at the same time can also receive some ground aviation support, and the air force will not fall behind in the face of opponents. More importantly, at present, the main force of the Combined Fleet is attacking French Polynesia, and it is in a state of division of forces, which is a very good time. ”

Truman nodded: "In that case, why did Admiral Ingram object?" ”

"The admiral has two concerns, first, the 14 fleet aircraft carriers are slow and weak, and they may not be able to defeat the opponent. Either option is passive; Second, Admiral Nimitz's TF48 fleet has two fleet carriers, and he hopes to wait for these warships to return to the fleet before looking for fighters. Turner added, "The TF48 has just arrived in Melbourne, and the Franklin has been put into emergency repairs, and it is expected to complete the repair work on September 14 and depart for the South Pacific route back home." ”

Truman calculated that according to this arrangement, the TF48 would not arrive in California for at least seven weeks, and then the Wasp would have to be repaired for at least half a month, and it might not be able to be used again in November. If you insist on waiting until TF48 returns, you won't have to think about breaking the blockade until December. And even if the two fleets converge as scheduled in December, the Pacific Fleet, which has 2 large and 14 small, will be able to deal with the main force of the combined fleet?

"If it takes December for Hawaii to launch a counteroffensive, will the island's remaining supplies last until then?"

"Basically." Turner asked for a table, "The Joint Chiefs of Staff and Hawaii have verified how long the existing stockpiles can last without a ton of material aid, and the conclusion is generally optimistic, but ......"

Truman took it and looked at it carefully, and the above items were listed very completely:

Food and other necessities: more than two years;

All types of ammunition, spare parts and other military supplies: more than one year;

Oil storage capacity: At present, there are 534,000 tons, which can support more than half a year, but it is very uninsured;

……

"What does this mean?"

"Hawaii had a total of about 4.5 million barrels (7 barrels of about 1 ton) of fuel storage capacity before the war, which remained more than 80% in peacetime, but most of the storage sites were exposed to the ground, although it was lucky not to be destroyed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but it also sounded the alarm bell for us. In recent years, a number of underground oil storage facilities have been built, but the number of them is small, and the storage capacity is only tens of thousands of tons, which are used to store the most dangerous aviation fuel and other gasoline. Turner's face was full of sorrow, "I am most afraid of this scene: the Japanese blockade the Hawaii route and then send planes to bomb and destroy the fuel, then this battle will really be lost, and we can't stop the enemy bombing, just a 500-pound bomb landing on the key position is enough to set off a skyrocketing fire in the oil storage area......"

During the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, there were many people in the Combined Fleet who believed that the oil storage tanks placed by the US troops on the ground were just camouflage. Because fuel is almost second only to warships in the Japanese Navy, it is very valuable, and the oil storage tanks are all built underground, which can withstand the direct bombardment of 500 kilograms. The management of the oil depot (often called by the sailors) was unusually strict every time it was refueled, never adding a drop of oil, which was saved by the 6 million tons of heavy oil that the Japanese Navy had in reserve at war. Even though Japan's fuel supply situation has improved dramatically, the economy and attention to fuel are still deeply rooted in the bone marrow.

Therefore, the oil storage tank that the Americans put on the ground during the Battle of Pearl Harbor did not seem to be true to the Japanese, which is why the pilots of the mobile fleet decided to let go of the fuel.

Later, everyone in the Combined Fleet knew that the oil storage tank that the Americans had placed on it was real, because they had seen it in Panama, and the fuel oil of the American army was also placed on the ground in a big way, and then it was bombed by planes and burned indiscriminately, and everyone, including Isoroku Yamamoto, deeply regretted that if the fuel oil was blown up at Pearl Harbor in the first place, how could there be so many things later?

Horiyoshi waved his hand indifferently about this: "Gentlemen, forget about the past, don't regret it, if it doesn't blow up, it won't blow it up, why not blow it up again this time!" ”

In the same way, it was a bold figure like Hori Yoshiki who proposed the "furious and extravagant" tactics of replacing the crew with oil tankers, and no one else dared to think of such a thing in any way.

After listening to Turner's explanation, everyone in the Joint Staff Council was dumbfounded: Hawaii was blockaded and could barely get a drop of oil to support it for a few days, and if the inventory was lost again, there would be only one end - defeat without a fight! What kind of planes, warships, and tanks don't need oil? Judging from the current situation, the fuel situation after the blockade of Hawaii is even more dangerous than that of the Combined Fleet -- although the latter has lost a supply tanker, it is also terrible, at least the warships themselves can still hold fuel for a while, and once Hawaii's fuel base is wiped out, the entire Pacific Fleet and the Pacific Theater will collapse.

"Admiral Ingram has made a number of emergency arrangements. On the one hand, Hawaii was declared a state of emergency, fuel consumption was reduced, and all civilian gasoline was controlled and could not be used; On the one hand, the fuel reserves were dispersed, but this effort had little effect. "He also suggested a moratorium on long-range air strikes by the Army." ”

When Arnold heard that the Hawaiian Army was going to be suspended, Arnold was not only relieved, but his face was very solemn, which meant that something more terrible would happen.

By now that the discussion has been made, the situation of the war and the future direction are obvious: the blockade of Hawaii is either broken or waiting for death; Halsey took a ticket to escort the aircraft carrier out and went out to fight with the Tsunoda fleet to find death, at best, even if he was trying to survive.

Fighting, there is no certainty of victory; If you don't fight, you don't have the capital to insist! The entire American strategy is in a dilemma.

"Do you want to make peace with Japan and Germany?" An untimely voice rang in Truman's head, and he tried in every possible way to suppress it, but found that he could not repel it no matter what.

He was silent for five minutes, and after half a day, he opened his mouth with difficulty: "Today's meeting was very deep, and everyone was not blindly optimistic, but said the most terrible prospects. According to my understanding, the worst direction of the next step in the war situation will be this: in the Pacific direction, our army is unable to break the Japanese blockade, and finally forced to surrender under the enemy's strangle; In the South American direction, Patton's and Clark's divisions were forced to surrender because they could not hold on, and our army would lose the entire South American ...... The two evil axes of Japan and Germany will approach the mainland from the west and south, and in the near future they will need to fight a brutal battle to defend the homeland. ”

The crowd sighed for a long time, and although the scene depicted by Truman was terrible, no one dared to guarantee that it would not happen. The Joint Chiefs of Staff has suffered many times from pre-war estimates that were overly optimistic, and in fact the war has been worsening and rotten battles.

"Telephone General Nimitz and inform him of the embarrassment and threat of Hawaii, Halsey's request for war, and the reasons for General Ingram's opposition, and ask him to state his follow-up consideration of the war in Hawaii; Give General MacArthur his opinion on the South American battlefield, whether to abandon Patton's headquarters and let Clark retreat immediately, or stick to the original plan and let Patton go to Recife to join up and fight the defense of Recife......" Truman paused, "The United States is facing the most dangerous moment, and I hope that they will think from a holistic and long-term perspective, without worrying about any means available to us -- we do not have the capital to make a hypocritical choice, and in front of the country and the people, there is no one who cannot be sacrificed, Including me, Truman, and all the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. ”

"Our strategy needs to focus only on one aspect: the survival of America and the fundamental interests of its people!"