In long-distance running, the pressure of the leader far outweighs the pressure of the chaser. To put it in a cliché, it is not difficult to get the first place, but it is difficult to keep the first place. To use an inaccurate analogy, it is easy to fight the country, but it is difficult to defend the country.

In fact, the big battle is like a long-distance race with no end in sight, and the race doesn't end until there is only one rider left on the track. And in this arena, it is the "physical strength" of a country that fights. If ranked according to national strength, the Tang Empire is deservedly first, followed by the United States, Germany, Britain, Persia, Russia, France, Italy, Spain and other countries. The Tang Empire is the frontrunner in this long-distance race, and the United States is not far behind, and the gap is extremely weak. This frontrunner is not easy to be, and if you don't pay attention, you will be caught up by latecomers.

Nie Renfeng's analogy is more appropriate, the Tang Empire, as the leader, feels more pressure than the United States, which is closely catching up behind. At the very least, the United States had a clear goal, and that was to surpass the Don Empire. But the Tang Empire didn't know when the United States would catch up, so it could only move forward desperately, desperately trying to distance itself.

"The situation is extremely delicate." Nie Renfeng gave a letter of information to Tan Renhao.

"I just received the information, this time it was the help of the Germans.".computer station.. cn

"Confirmed?" Tan Renhao knew that what the principal was going to talk about was about the six American aircraft carriers.

"Yes, it has been confirmed that this time there are six ships in service, not four. In addition, by the end of the year, the US Navy will have at least four Essex-class aircraft carriers in service. Nie Renfeng motioned to Tan Renhao to read the contents of the document by himself.

"A new shipbuilding program for the United States has also come out, and judging by the intelligence provided by the Germans, the President of the United States approved this plan at the beginning of this year." It is very likely that more than 40 Essex-class aircraft carriers will be built, and the United States is also preparing to send a large number of escort aircraft carriers into the Pacific Ocean. It's just that this matter has not been settled now. At least most of the admirals of the US Navy believe that escort aircraft carriers are of little use in the Pacific theater. ”

"40? Where did the Americans get so much steel, and did they have such a strong ability to build ships? ”

"It's a five-year plan, and we don't have any need to doubt the shipbuilding capacity of the United States, and their steel production. At least they won't have problems with raw materials. Nie Renfeng crossed his hands, "In addition, the United States has also modeled on the 'Li Jing' class to create a special air defense destroyer, and their name is the 'Alaska' class large cruiser." The number of Iowa-class battleships to be built will also increase by at least two batches. Other light cruisers, destroyers, etc., are being built on a large scale. According to our most conservative estimates, the U.S. Navy will acquire at least one destroyer, or even two, per week. Of course, the development and construction of aircraft has also kept pace. ”

Tan Renhao quickly looked at this extremely rich piece of information, most of which was the U.S. Navy's equipment development plan. He could not but admire the methods of the German spies.

"There is no need to doubt the military production capacity of the United States." Nie Renfengdi's expression was also very serious, "Judging from the situation we have now, in the short term. It will be difficult for us to distance ourselves from the United States. ”

"The question is, where did the United States get so many resources?" Tan Renhao raised his head, "Judging from the ground intelligence we obtained before the war, if the United States only relies on local resources. It is simply impossible to sustain such a huge war production. ”

"That's the crux of the matter, the Chief of Staff must have told you about the British fleet going south, right?"

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, and then nodded.

"The purpose of the British fleet's southward campaign was to seize Cape Town and drive us out of the Atlantic.

Strategically, if we lose Cape Town and the ability to operate in the Atlantic, what will happen to the attitude of the countries in the Atlantic, especially on the South Atlantic coast? ”

"You mean ......"

"The purpose of the United States is to control the resources of South America." Nie Renfeng hit the nail on the head to point out the essence of the problem, "Now that Brazil, Argentina and other major South American countries are still neutral, and have not cut off trade with the warring parties, we can still get some more important materials from Brazil, such as rubber." Similarly, the United States can import copper, iron, tin and other ores from Brazil, which are key raw materials to sustain its civil war production. But the problem is that as long as our fleet is still active in the South Atlantic, Brazil and other countries will not fundamentally waver in their attitude, and they will continue to sell resources to us. If we leave the South Atlantic, even if Brazil and other countries remain neutral, they will not be able to send supplies to the Indian Ocean at all, and the United States will not even need to use a single soldier to monopolize the resources of South America. ”

Tan Renhao sighed and said, "The resources on the west coast of Africa are similar to this, right? ”

"Yes, it's just that from what we have learned, if the British fleet can take Cape Town, then the resources of the west coast of Africa will be owned by the British, and the purpose of the United States is to control the rich mineral resources of South America." Nie Renfeng laughed, "Now you should know why we want to invade the Australian continent, right?" ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, the ultimate purpose of conquering the Australian continent is also for resources. Although the Tang Empire was twice the size of the United States, nearly half of the land was in the Far North, where the resources were not well understood and lacked infrastructure to exploit. Relatively speaking, if compared with its own resources, then the gap between the Tang Empire and the United States is not large, especially in several important strategic resources, the Tang Empire has almost no advantages, and is even inferior to the United States. For example, the Tang Empire was very dependent on the Persian Empire, while the United States had a large number of oil fields in the lower Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Therefore, in order to ensure that the expanding war machine could obtain sufficient production resources, the Tang Empire had to conquer Australia, which was extremely rich in resources, and use the resources of the Australian continent to support the war.

"But the problem now is that maybe the attack on Australia will have to be delayed again."

"Why?" Tan Renhao glanced at the principal in surprise, "Isn't the army still unable to draw enough troops next year?" ”

Nie Renfeng hesitated for a while and said, "It's not the Army's problem. It's something else. It is quite possible that the United States will send troops to Europe by the end of this year. ”

"What?" Tan Renhao was even more surprised now, "Could it be that the United States is preparing to fight a two-front war?" Isn't it a burden for them to send troops to Europe when they are still in a strategic defensive posture in the Pacific theater? Other than that. Now that two-thirds of Germany's forces are concentrated on the Eastern Front, the situation on the battlefield in Western Europe will not change for the time being. Is it necessary for the United States to send troops to Europe? ”

"It's absolutely necessary, and it's very likely." Nie Renfeng let go of his hands, "Let's put it this way, our series of actions in the Solomon Islands, Port Moresby have actually indicated that we will attack the Australian mainland in the near future." The basis for advancing into the Australian continent is the army, not the navy, and without the help of the army, it is difficult for the marines to win on the continental battlefield. ”

Tan Renhao also slowly calmed down and thought about it at the same time.

"The United States is very aware of this, and the best way to hold us back is to drag our army on the continental battlefield, and if we want to drag our army on the continental battlefield, then Russia must have a better performance on the eastern front, and this basis is that Russia draws troops from the western front. The only way, then, is for Germany to intensify its investment in the theater of Western Europe. ”

"That's why the United States sent troops to Europe?" Tan Renhao sighed secretly, the wars on the various battlefields seemed to be irrelevant. But they are interrelated.

"In fact, the European theater has become a key point. USA, UK, France. Italy, Spain, and Russia all realized that they had more options if they defeated Germany first, but the problem was that it was not that simple to defeat Germany. Nie Renfeng smiled bitterly and shook his head, "First of all, we have to isolate Germany, so France has begun to send troops to the North African battlefield to support the Italian and Spanish expeditionary forces, if they can reach the Suez Canal, then our ability to send supplies to Germany will be reduced by at least seventy percent." Second, Russia must hold on, and the best way to do that is to step up its offensive on the Western Front in Europe and force Germany to shift its focus. Now France is unable to draw more troops, while Britain has always focused on strategic bombing and naval warfare. The only way is for the United States to send troops to the European continent, and the American army will be responsible for offensive operations on the Western Front in Europe. The fleets of the four European countries will jointly march to the Eastern Mediterranean, defeat the Persian navy and, if possible, even march to the Aegean, Black Sea. Of course, the capture of the Suez Canal was the most critical step. As long as these steps are completed, Germany will be quickly defeated, and after the defeat of Germany, the Persian Empire will bear the brunt of the blow, and perhaps, in the end, we will be the only country that will continue to fight. ”

"And what's our response?"

"This is still being discussed, the prime minister has called me several times, and from the current situation, there are only two ways we can take." Nie Renfeng stood up and walked to the window, "First, the army will continue to strengthen its offensive forces on the mainland battlefield, and strive to defeat Russia before the United States sends troops to the Western European theater, at least to capture Moscow. Germany will assist us as much as possible, and the Persian Empire will also take on the responsibility of attacking the northern Black Sea region. If we can defeat Russia by the end of the year, then there is little point for the United States to send troops to Western Europe. Second, the navy sent troops to the South Atlantic and the Eastern Mediterranean to hold Cape Town, forcing the British Navy to divide forces in the South Atlantic, and in the Eastern Mediterranean, it helped the Persian Empire to block the attacks of European navies and protect the sea routes to Germany. There may be some other adjustments, such as expanding the size of the North African Expeditionary Force, providing more aid to Germany, strengthening the combat effectiveness of the European Expeditionary Force, and so on. Broadly speaking, however, if the U.S. plan to send troops to Europe is confirmed, and victory on the mainland is not possible for a while, then we must first concentrate on defeating Russia and strengthening our defenses in the South Atlantic and the Eastern Mediterranean. ”

"The newly formed Task Force 5 will be sent to the South Atlantic?" Tan Renhao also walked over.

Nie Renfeng nodded slightly. "The formation of the Fifth Task Force was completed in July, and the backbone of the Task Force was transferred from the Fourth Task Force. The current situation is very delicate, after the Battle of the Solomon Islands, the United States is also making adjustments, their army has changed substantially in this year, if the United States Army appears in the European theater, I am afraid that our pressure on this side of the Pacific will be greater. ”

"Maybe the army will be able to defeat Russia by the end of the year."

"It's hard to say, at least Yan Dingyu hasn't given a positive answer yet." Nie Renfeng turned around, "Pinning your hopes on others doesn't do much. Even if the Army is able to defeat Russia by the end of the year, we will judge the future of the war by the worst possible scenario. In other words, the situation in the Pacific theater will not change much, and at least until 26 years, we will have to bear 90% of the maritime pressure of the Allied bloc, which is mainly concentrated in the Pacific. Although we surpassed the United States in strength, with the addition of the British and French navies, we did not have any advantage in overall strength, and even had a considerable gap with our opponents. ”

"In this case, it depends on how long Germany can withstand it."

"Yes, Germany is our number one ally, its strength is only below us, and now it has become the object of siege, if Germany is defeated, we will not be too far from defeat." Nie Renfeng walked back, and then sat down, "Now we are still continuing to discuss the next battle plan with Germany, from the perspective of the situation, Germany's strategic choice is definitely different from ours, at least Germany will not care about the battle on the Australian side, and the battle in the Pacific theater will not have much impact on them." ”

Tan Renhao sat down. "Headmaster, you're saying that Germany will have its own plan?"

Nie Renfeng laughed. "Absolutely, and most likely it's completely different from our plan. On the 17th, we will convene a military congress in Tehran, attended by two admirals of the Navy, mainly to discuss the next phase of combat operations.

I can't go, there are still a lot of domestic things to deal with, this time it will be Gan Yongxing who will go over, you go and contact Gan Yongxing to see if there is anything that can help him. ”

"I'll go too?" Tan Renhao was secretly shocked, this is a chore.

Nie Renfeng smiled and nodded, he didn't give Tan Renhao a chance to choose.