Chapter 1529: The Dawn of Victory?
readx;?“ The Huaxia fleet once again defeated the Germans, and in this engagement, the Germans lost at least 4 percent of their aircraft carrier strength, and the losses of carrier-based aircraft were no less than the losses of the fleet. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info But I have always wondered why Huaxia only launched one round of attacks that day, and if they fought again, the High Seas Fleet would become a historical term. In the British and American Navy Joint Command in London, Halsey asked with some puzzlement.
"This is a secret that cannot be said, from now on, Huaxia may only be our companion rather than a comrade-in-arms." Fletcher immediately went to the hall, he needed to have a meeting with British Admiral Pound immediately, and he didn't have time to enlighten Halsey! The Germans collapsed a little quickly, beyond the expectations of the United States and Britain, they originally thought that even if the Chinese navy was strong, the Germans would still be able to slip away, but this time, it seems that this is not the case.
"But it doesn't matter, as long as the Germans remain in the Persian Gulf, then sooner or later they will be finished! Even if the Chinese Navy does nothing, as long as it can seal the Gulf of Aden, then in the end it can completely destroy the German fleet by relying on the air force and army, I would like to know what Count Spee thinks when he faces an empty port! Halsey was unimpressed and continued.
"But there is a premise for this, that is, Huaxia is willing! And now the problem is that Huaxia is unwilling! Fletcher pushed open the door and dropped the sentence with some irritation. As the door closed, a room of officers staring at each other was left behind.
"What do you think of the current situation? What is the probability that the German fleet will go back? In the office of the First Sea Lord, Fletche cut to the chase as soon as he opened the door.
"As long as the German top brass is not brainless, then the German fleet can go back, the Middle East is already a pool of backwater, and no amount of power is injected. They only have to give up what they will eventually lose, and in exchange for a powerful fleet. Pound looked at the other party and said.
"But they've lost the ability to fight, haven't they? Even the Caesar-class aircraft carrier, which they were most proud of, was sunk by two, and the other ships were all damaged. Even if they go back safely, they will need at least half a year or more to regain their combat effectiveness! Fletcher continued.
"So what do you want to say? Do you want to continue with your ex's plans? Take the opportunity to occupy a series of islands such as the Azores, and then completely seal off the German fleet in the Mediterranean? Pound asked.
"Isn't this a good plan? In half a year, can't we help a few isolated islands? If we achieve this plan. Then the German Navy will completely lose its strategic value, and even if they have more warships, they will not be able to effectively threaten the Atlantic! As for those submarines, we can pinch them to death with jeep carriers! There was hope in Fletcher's words.
"Your plan fits the situation very well. However, it is not favored by the top. Your plan is solid, steady, and has a very high success rate, but it takes quite a long time. Now the superiors have a new plan. They want another large-scale offensive on the Eastern Front, an offensive that has been prepared for half a year! If the plan succeeds, the whole of Ukraine will be liberated from the hands of the Germans, then Poland, and even Germany itself! We will end the war much earlier. Pound handed a document to the other party.
"IMHO, does this plan have anything to do with our Navy? We have already delivered the necessary supplies and personnel to Russia in accordance with the above requirements, and we now have the strength to occupy the Azores while keeping the North Atlantic route open. This plan does not conflict with our plan! Fletcher said with some confusion.
"No, there's a conflict, you know, we need to send too much supplies and equipment to Russia. Even with the strong national strength of the United States and Britain, it is somewhat stretched. So, the above means that I hope that the navy can join the offensive on the eastern front that is about to begin, they need naval planes and pilots and transport supply units to strengthen the power of the eastern front, and more importantly, they need a large number of ground forces, even if we have an absolutely superior navy, but we can't find enough land forces, then island warfare will also be an empty word, do you understand what I mean? Pound also said with a little disappointment.
"We only need a small number of troops, maybe only a few divisions! Is this all better? The Eastern Front is so vast that 100,000 troops are only a fraction of it. But with half the force, we can completely lock the German fleet's access to the Atlantic! Is there a more cost-effective plan in the world? Fletcher's words were already filled with confusion and anger.
"How many boats do you need? How many logisticians? How much supplies? With the same number of troops, the cost of fighting at sea is much higher than on land! To be honest, your plan has been discussed at the top of our two countries. The strategy of occupying places like the Azores is indeed tempting, but we must abandon it again now! The Russians need food, and there are only two ways to meet the food needs of the Russians! One is to rely on the transportation of China, which is not safe, and the other way is to occupy Ukraine, and then use Ukraine's food and population resources! There is no comparison between the benefits of your program and this one! Pound patiently explained.
The United States and Britain want to get rid of Germany once and for all. The United States and Britain want to integrate European forces against China, and to achieve this goal, then to support Russia is to give the inevitable choice, Russia and China border, and there is a historical grudge. Russia has no other way but to rely on Britain and the United States. Moreover, in the war, Russia's role is also obvious, not to mention, the tens of millions of people and millions of troops that can explode are a powerful help for the United States and Britain to realize their plans! But there is a prerequisite for giving full play to the human resources of the Russians, and that is to feed the Russians! And this problem is a very serious problem for the United States, Britain and Russia!
Now Russia is very small, arable land is also very small, and after the war, human resources have become tight, and the relationship between China and the United States, Britain and Russia has cracked, in this case, the only choice between the United States, Britain and Russia is to recapture Ukraine, and then use Ukrainian food and manpower to make up for Russia's war losses, which is the most important task at this stage! All other plans have to stand aside!
If the United States, Britain and Russia cannot take Ukraine this year, then once China does not make a effort, it will be even more difficult to deal with Germany! Therefore, the top leaders of the United States and Britain did not hesitate to abandon the Frye plan to fully support the Eastern Front operation! In the eyes of Roosevelt and Churchill, the defeat of the German team in the Middle East was an opportunity! A great opportunity to shake the foundations of Germany once and for all, and to bring the war to an early end! The United States and Britain will not give up! So Fletcher was decisively tragic! The interests of the military give way to the interests of the whole! The Azores program was shelved indefinitely. Even the pilots of the Navy were going to fight on the Eastern Front!
"Truth be told, I think it's a waste to let elite Navy pilots go into battle as if they were ordinary aircraft pilots." Fletcher said as he tried to restrain himself.
"But now in the eyes of the top management, all resources are only right to invest in Eastern Europe, and all other extraneous plans are wasted! Even the scale of strategic bombing will be appropriately reduced. Because many pilots and ground crews had to rush to Russia, what was even more unbearable was that after China reduced Russia's aviation fuel supply on the pretext of launching the Two Rivers Offensive, most of the fuel from the aircraft fleets of the United States, Britain, and Russia had to be transported from the United States! The standard of aviation gasoline produced by the Russians is too low, it is simply unbearable for our aircraft! Pound smiled bitterly. He then made a gesture to indicate that the decision could not be changed. Fletcher, you can take advantage of this time to take a good rest. For a long time, there will be no big operations in the Navy!
"It will turn out that it would be a mistake to give up this precious opportunity! We're going to pay a bigger price! Before leaving, Fletcher angrily threw down such a sentence! There are many people who hold the same view as Fletcher, and the day before Fletcher and Pound had a secret conversation, Cunningham, the commander of the British Royal Navy fleet, had used the opportunity to meet Churchill to propose this plan to him, but it was flatly rejected.
"The opinion of the marshal is quite reasonable, and from a naval point of view, the plan to control the Azores and completely block the German Navy and turn it into an existential fleet is good. It is indeed a steady and steady progress. But as the leader of a country, I can't accept it, because it's too time-consuming! Huaxia seems to have reached a tacit understanding with the Germans, and although we still have an advantage in strength over Germany, our advantage has been weakened after being consumed by long distances. Therefore, we must make the Russians stronger, and at the same time seize the weakest moment of the German team to completely lock in the victory! Churchill also mentioned this in his memoirs, and gave a full explanation.
But in this memoir, he has one more question that he does not mention. That is, Britain is almost unable to hold on, and the American people are not willing to fight anymore! The only thing that can be exciting is victory, a victory that will shake the whole world! If the British lost more than half of the savings of a world empire in the First World War, then the Second World War has been fought until now. The British are already poor as pants! The only thing the British could expect was to rely on the power of the US-Russian alliance to maintain their colonial system after the war.
And although the situation of the Americans is much better, but the lack of work is enough to make the capitalists behind the US government and the American people feel dissatisfied, and a lot of sacrifice and consumption cannot be exchanged for sufficient benefits, so what is the point of war? Does the life and death of the rest of Europe have anything to do with the great cause of Russia's revival and the Americans? The fundamental reason for the United States and Britain to decide to launch this campaign was, on the one hand, to end the war quickly, and on the other hand, to make Russia strong as soon as possible. Russia, which has the food and population resources of Ukraine, can fully assume greater responsibility! So this plan must be executed! Do whatever it takes!
Discussing how to fight the war is a matter for the generals, and in addition to formulating major policies, Roosevelt and Churchill have recently discussed the most important issue of the relationship between the Entente and China in the future! After the British refused to allow China to use the base in India, relations between the two sides deteriorated sharply, and Roosevelt did not come out and make peace this time, with the result that the relationship between the two sides began to grow colder and colder, even on the surface.
If before, the two sides only had some differences in cooperation and strategic goals, when the Chinese Navy showed mercy to the Germans in the Battle of the Gulf of Aden, the United States and Britain were keenly aware that it was possible for China to negotiate with Germany alone! After all, in Roosevelt's view, China had already got everything they wanted, monopolizing the entire Middle East and dismembering the Ottoman Empire. With a little more effort, it is not impossible for Germany and Austria-Hungary to abandon the Italian puppet government, and then Tycho who returns home can drive a nail in Europe for China! Now that the goals have been achieved, what are we going to do with the war?
At the thought of this, Roosevelt felt a cold sweat break out on his back! This is terrible, if this is the result, the situation in Europe will at most return to the situation before the war, the Americans spent hundreds of billions of dollars, and millions of people were killed and wounded! Just get such a result?! That's a big loss, isn't it? China got the Middle East, and the United States failed to integrate Europe! In this future situation, Huaxia has an obvious advantage!
What's more, in the face of this situation, Roosevelt has no good way to break the game! China is not weaker than the United States, if people really do this, what can the United States do? The current situation is that only the contradictions between the United States and Britain and Germany and Austria are irreconcilable, and as the strategic goals are realized step by step, there will be fewer and fewer conflicts between China and Germany, and this will become the basis for a compromise between the two sides!
"In the end, some problems still have to be solved by strength and artillery!" Xu Jie's hand directly hit Roosevelt's soft underbelly! And in the face of the overall defeat, Roosevelt could only make a desperate bet and use relatively rapid or drastic means to gain an advantage! In 1920+23, the US-British-Russian coalition must take away the whole of Ukraine and Belarus, at least so that Russia's strength can be restored, Britain and the United States defeat Germany, and the goal of integrating Europe can be achieved, otherwise, what awaits the United States and Britain is only a long war of attrition and the possibility of defeat!
"I hope that our army and air force can realize this plan, even if Huaxia is not in a thousand ways, but after all, he has greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the Germans." Roosevelt comforted himself in this way, and judging from the comparison of intelligence, the paper power of the United States, Britain and Russia is indeed stronger than the power of Germany in Eastern Europe, after all, the three countries have been accumulating strength throughout the winter and spring, and Germany has been at war with China! But the implementation, is that really the case?
Thanks to the book friend 1st Guards Tank Brigade for the reward~~~, as well as the book friend crazy A decay, soaring in the universe of the constellation, looking at the character of the book, and the monthly pass support of the dragon Aoqi ~~~.
The author's new book "The Road to the Rise of Germany" is in the new book period, although it is not very fat yet, but I bother you to order a collection and reward a few recommended votes--! Thank you~~~. (To be continued.) )