Washington used a strategy that could only be understood and unspeakable, and successively dispatched passenger ships, hospital ships, or other civilian cargo ships to rescue tens of thousands of people from the Japanese army through the "ransom" policy, while basically offsetting the costs of unsalable goods and other surplus materials.

Of course, Horiyoshi could see the intentions of the United States, but the unsalable materials of the United States were useful materials for Japan, so he did not show anger or categorically refuse, but asked people to lower the converted price according to the unsalable situation, which seemed to tell the Americans: Come on, I have covered as many unsalable materials as you have.

Although civilians continued to be sent to the West Coast, Hawaii's morale had fallen to a very low state, especially after Tsukahara "returned" the powerful people who had been mixed with the wounded soldiers for the first time, which aroused the disgust of all the officers and soldiers. Seeing that civilians are fleeing day by day, and the encirclement in Hawaii shows no signs of wavering, and it is even more distant to end the siege, some people have begun to use various connections to beg Washington, can the army be ransomed and bought away?

On the latter point, unlike the vast majority of Japanese generals, Horiyoshi could readily agree: his purpose was to occupy the island, so what did he want the United States to take prisoners for? Raising them also costs troops and provisions!

However, Dewey was able to give an order to ransom civilians but did not dare to give an order to ransom officers and soldiers, which is a matter of completely two natures and meanings, and if even the officers and soldiers in the encirclement can be ransomed, then what kind of war is there to fight, and peace is settled as soon as possible.

Dulles had a completely different attitude from him, believing that if the officers and soldiers could be peacefully ransomed, even if they paid a high price and all the equipment, they would not hesitate to put people first at all times! If ordinary soldiers can be bought off this time, the bad reputation of Washington's original focus on rescue officers will also be alleviated. He even hinted at the Red Cross, which was helping the people, to reach out to Japan, and tentatively asked, "If the officers and soldiers of the army are discharged on the spot and become civilians, can they be redeemed?" The problem was "positively" responded by Japan.

The argument between the two men provoked a fierce backlash within the Army, with Clark believing feasible and MacArthur vehemently opposed.

Marshall's statement is most interesting: "If the president is determined to save the lives of officers and soldiers, the Army is willing to pay a heavy reputational price and swear to be disgraced"

This sounds very awkward, but the actual meaning is very clear: if the president forcibly orders the ransom of the army, although the army is not "happy", it will accept it head-on; If the Army were to make the request itself, it would never be feasible.

Dewey's intention was also very clear: that is, to let the Joint Chiefs of Staff make its own request, and he, as president, "reluctantly" approved and agreed out of humanitarianism.

As for what price to set, how to redeem it, and how to pay for it, that is a technical issue, not a matter of principle.

This is a true portrayal of the reluctance of both sides to take responsibility, but one by one it is very high-sounding, and the Navy is watching from the sidelines, they neither agree with the ransom, nor can they openly say that the Army will shed the last drop of blood to defend Hawaii, after all, it is because of the total destruction of the Pacific Fleet that has led to the current predicament.

Of course, everyone agrees that a situation in which all men die in battle, or most surrender, and go to a prisoner of war camp is less desirable than a ransom. Although the ransom actually ceded Hawaii, it did not mean that Hawaii would be regained sooner or later.

Truman, who was recuperating in Washington, said with a sneer when the generals of the Army who came to visit him vaguely mentioned the situation: "Didn't Mr. Dewey spare no effort to pursue peace and save and protect the lives of American troops?" Why, can't stand it now for him to pay some personal reputation price? You know, according to the U.S. Constitution, he is the commander-in-chief of the three armed forces, how can there be a commander waiting for the following to intercede? If the commander takes the initiative to make decisions based on requests rather than ex officio, what is he commanding? In this respect, Mr. Dulles is much more far-sighted and committed than he is, he is really doing things, he is figuring out his way for the country, regardless of his reputation, and now I am a fan of Mr. Secretary of State. ”

Thinking of a series of actions such as Dulles's "alliance with Russia", "leading red", "redeeming", and "negotiating peace", the cadres and others all thought deeply and nodded their heads again and again, and the former president's opinion was still very clear.

When the group left, his wife asked him, "Harry, do you really think so?" ”

Truman sneered: "A bunch of brazen people! The United States can only win the war! It was so wise that I withdrew early"

"What about you?"

"I'll be able to recover from my illness for a few more days, I'm still young, and I will only be 64 years old in four years, many politicians only become presidents at this age, and 46-year-old politicians want to be re-elected president, but they are still too young."

As for who the 46-year-old is talking about, you can know without asking.

Now Mitchell is really annoyed, on the one hand, by Washington's urging; On the one hand, he didn't want to fight, which even Chief of Staff Hewitt could see, and the chief of staff didn't even think about a decisive battle with the Axis in the Caribbean now.

Of course, he will not say that the other party is "greedy for life and afraid of death" such a shallow accusation, which general did not grow up in the rain of bullets? Wasn't the first counterattack against Japan just Mark Mitchell taking Doolittle and the Hornet to an air raid on Tokyo? What's more, he has also seen Patton and Halsey, who are "courageous", and the end is not very ideal, so he has an instinctive sensitivity to decision-making, this is not an ordinary decision, this is a decision related to the life and death of the Atlantic Fleet, and the life and death of tens of thousands of naval officers and soldiers.

"It's not okay not to fight now, Washington is pressing forward step by step, the tone of the army is getting worse day by day, and Chief Nimitz is also under too much pressure here." Hewitt advised, "In any case, it is not advisable for the fleet to remain on the Florida front, and it would be considered too timid. ”

Mitchell listened to the advice, and he pointed to the chart and said, "I'm going to Puerto Rico." ”

"Not Jamaica?"

Mitchell shook his head: "Jamaica is too close to the German fleet, we can detect the opponent, and the opponent can also find us." ”

"Due to the current maritime characteristics, the Axis fleet can only retreat along the northern part of South America, from Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada, and this is our opportunity," he explained. ”

Hewitt quickly understood what he was thinking: he didn't want to fight a head-on volley, that would be too risky, he just wanted to fight a tail-chase war. If the tail chase, it is easy to understand that the main force of the Atlantic Fleet will go to Puerto Rico, and if the German fleet is going to return to the mainland, the tail chase from Puerto Rico will be faster; If the Axis fleet was going to Brazil and Argentina, it would be more convenient to do so from Puerto Rico than from Jamaica. No matter how bad it was, the navy could cover the convoy of supplies to support the defenders of Recife.

He nodded, expressing his approval of this adjustment in principle, which was actually an endorsement of the tail chase tactic.

At 2 a.m. on 8 March, the main force of the vast Atlantic Fleet turned around and began to sail towards Puerto Rico.

While the Atlantic Fleet was adjusting its course, Skorzny, who was already close to the Memphis line, was also making revisions to the next plan of action.

Since successfully passing through the first checkpoint, the Emperor has passed through the checkpoint smoothly for the next two consecutive days, and the waves are not alarmed. He observed very carefully, and found that the inspectors were not careful about the inspection of the goods, and more familiar, familiar faces like Old Jack were unimpeded passes in their eyes, and even the inspectors at the third checkpoint did not even get on the boat, Old Jack showed his face, and after informing the goods, he waved the Emperor away.

This made him realize that the current management of inland waterway shipping in the United States is very lax and bureaucratic, even more than the lax management of border navigation, which touched a sensitive nerve in his sense: if the inland river is so lax, why not go all the way down the river? The Tennessee River runs straight to the vicinity of Oak Ridge on the map, so why not continue down the river and rush ashore at Harry Kenmills? Although it is only more than 300 kilometers away from the destination after going ashore, these more than 300 kilometers are all busy roads, and the risk of exposure is very great, so it is better to go around in a big circle and take the waterway.

After many inquiries to Old Jack, he finally understood the reason: the Tennessee River is in the section of about 70 kilometers from Harriken Mills to Decaturville, which is not very suitable for navigation due to the shallows and insufficient water depth, and a 500-ton ship like the Emperor cannot pass, so basically the ships go ashore on the Harriken Mills line.

But the 500-ton class does not mean that the 200-ton class and the 100-ton class cannot pass, as long as you pass through this narrow and dangerous section of more than 70 kilometers, especially after passing Savannah, the road behind is easy to walk.

So Skolkzny had the bold idea that if the Emperor could reach Harrikenmills unimpeded, he was going to hire there or simply buy a small boat and take the water to Oak Ridge

ps: It's very difficult to reasonably destroy it, my brain hurts, I want to be comforted

:,,gegegengxin!!