After the meeting

President Roosevelt left Vice Admiral Doug Smith, Secretary of the Navy, alone, and after seeing off the others, President Roosevelt walked back with White House Security Adviser Adam Smith and closed the door.

"Hey, man, you don't look very good." Adam Smith deliberately eased the atmosphere, walked over to Lieutenant General Doug and sat down, sighed lightly and persuaded him; "The president is mobilizing the nation's resources to build ships for the Navy, the Naval Academy has expanded its enrollment by 1,700 this year, and we will recruit more experienced sailors to join the Navy, the most difficult days will soon pass, we need to keep fighting, and the United States will never give up."

After he finished speaking, Lieutenant General Doug did not answer, and after a long silence he said faintly; "Naval tradition requires a long period of precipitation, and these newcomers can't even play 1/10 of the performance of the battleship, so I can't take them to death, which is extremely irresponsible."

Speaking of which

He looked at President Roosevelt with sincere eyes and said; "I feel like I have made a big mistake and misled His Excellency the President, and as a military man who values honor, I will bear the consequences for my guilt, but not now.

Mr. President, the Navy needs more time to grow, please don't overly give them tasks that they can't do. ”

"Hmph, so they hid in the Port of Seattle?" President Roosevelt snorted coldly, looking extremely dissatisfied.

After the Battle of Hawaii, the originally confident Great White Fleet of the US Navy was filled with an extreme panic, regarding the Ocean Imperial Navy as a devil, and talking about it was a two-way war......

More than 7,000 people didn't come back alive, Nima is too scary, can you be cruel a little more?

The San Francisco Bay Area is a fairly large harbor that is very conducive to the entry and exit of large ships, but the side facing the Pacific Ocean is too wide to defend.

The Port of Seattle is a different story, a harbor deep in the Strait, surrounded by coastal batteries that can be placed in a very safe position, even if the enemy is strong.

As long as Seattle does not fall for a day, the Great White Fleet hiding inside is very safe.

As for sea supremacy around the west coast of North America, ahem, ahem...... You can do it, but don't drag me to death.

It is a vivid portrayal of the thinking of the officers and men of the current Great White Fleet, and it has no intention of coming out at all, and it will become the fourth fleet to exist after the Manchu Navy, the Ottoman Navy, and the Tsarist Russian Navy, even if it becomes a laughing stock.

Vice Admiral Doug was silent in the face of President Roosevelt's questioning, his heart was scarred by self-blame and remorse, and if he hadn't wanted to fight for a little more life for the Great White Fleet, he would have committed suicide by drinking bullets and dying.

Death is not the most terrible, the most terrible thing is to face infamy and endure humiliation and move forward.

"Doug, can I still trust and rely on you?" President Roosevelt asked softly.

Lieutenant General Doug looked up, his eyes puzzled but firm in reply; "I have dedicated my life to the cause of the Citigroup Navy, I am loyal to this country without regrets, and I am willing to give everything for it."

"That's great, I also love this country deeply, and I don't want to see him ravaged by the clutches of the Great Ocean Empire, and now I want you to be the commander of the Great White Fleet and bring our main fleet back to the West Coast intact, can you do it?"

"Mr. President, ...... you"

"I have already seen that under the strong pressure of the enemy, it is useless for the Great White Fleet to continue to stay on the Pacific coast, but because of staying in the port for a long time, it will lose the determination and courage to fight to the death with the enemy." President Roosevelt smiled and said gently; "The lads are really having a hard time, and they should go back to the West Coast to regroup and train and be reinforced with new ships until they are really strong enough to take on the heavy lift. For the United States, the Atlantic route is the true lifeblood of the United States, and it is our home turf. ”

"Well, Mr. President, it's not a good idea, the long voyage from Seattle to Buenos Aires is fraught with uncertainty and great danger, enemy ships are densely populated on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean, and any slight negligence could lead to catastrophic results, and I am not entirely sure."

"I want to know, how sure are you?"

"If God is on our side...... Less than 30% sure. ”

"Why?"

"Mr. President, this is actually a proposition of seeing the light and dying, the Great White Fleet does not have the ability to confront the enemy's powerful fleet head-on, if we leak a little bit of whereabouts or are met by passing merchant ships, what awaits us is the ubiquitous encirclement and interception of the enemy fleet, and even rush to Cape Horn one step in advance, completely blocking the channel for the return of the Great White Fleet." Lieutenant General Daun pondered with a solemn expression, feeling that he was overwhelmed by this mountain-like heavy task, and said after repeated consideration;

"Once we leave the port of Seattle, there is no way back, and we don't dare to resupply in big ports like San Francisco or Newport, so we can only secretly resupply in some small ports, which requires great luck and strict shore defense to prevent the rest from leaking.

If you are lucky, the Great White Fleet will leave the west coast and enter the vast Pacific Ocean as soon as possible, which can ensure the safety of the fleet for the time being.

I expect;

Once the fleet is spotted leaving, the enemy can easily guess our whereabouts, and will lay a blockade in Newport, Salem, Portland, San Francisco and other Pacific coastal areas, and rely on the Hawaiian Islands to spread a wide net to search for the traces of the Great White Fleet.

If all goes well, the fleet goes deep into the depths of the Pacific Ocean to avoid these searches.

The commander of the enemy fleet was not stupid, and after a long search to no avail, he probably realized that the Great White Fleet had escaped into the depths of the Pacific Ocean, so he led the fleet to take advantage of the speed advantage to reach Cape Horn first, occupy Tierra del Fuego as a base, and impose a tight seal on the entire strait.

Whether or not we can successfully break through the strait is our next difficulty.

Even if they manage to break through the strait, it will be difficult to avoid passing merchant ships and fishing boats along the Argentine coast, and they will be pursued by enemy ship formations.

There were many dangers along the way, and there was too much luck to come, and I didn't think I could succeed. ”

Vice Admiral Daun shook his head as he spoke, disagreeing with this kind of military adventure, in his opinion, as long as Seattle can hold on, the Great White Fleet hiding in the strait is safe and sound, and can train daily and slowly hone combat skills.

After all, the strait connecting the Puget Sound is deep and wide enough, and there are many islands in the strait, and the shipping channels are complicated, which can provide the officers and men of the fleet with enough room for artillery training and ship operation training, and there is no need to take risks.

Seattle is the seat of King County, Washington, located between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 174 kilometers from the U.S.-Canada border, with the Olympic Mountains on the west and Lake Washington on the east.

Seattle's nearby rivers, forests, lakes and fields are abundant, and there are plenty of great places to sail, ski, bike, camp and hike in and around Seattle year-round, and it's known as the "Emerald City."

The Great White Fleet stays here, and there is no need to worry about all kinds of supplies.

This is the closest city in North America to the Far East, with a population of about 260,000, it is the capital of Washington State, the city is prosperous in commerce and trade, and the officers and soldiers can also go ashore to wander around and relax in their leisure time, and will not go crazy.

President Roosevelt was silent, but looked at Adam Smith with his eyes, and the latter immediately knew that it was his turn to appear, so he took out a look of "I think of you" and persuaded him;

"General Doug, the Indians have a saying; Arrows shot cannot be recovered.

As far as the country we love so much, we will grit our teeth and fight to the end against this war imposed by the imperialists on the United States, and the navy will eventually have to fight to safeguard the integrity and unity of Citigroup and its national interests, which is an inescapable fate.

The great demon king Li Fushou is insatiable, showing the sinister intention of naked dismemberment and splitting the Citigroup country, this may be God's test for us, and it is the greatest tribulation in the process of moving forward in the United States, and we must face the difficulties without fear and fight to the end.

The president and I were mentally prepared enough to use two or even three battleships to fight each other's ships, and we could continue to build the warships if we lost them, and Citigroup could afford to lose them.

We are the most powerful industrial nation in the world, with unparalleled industrial power, and building 13 battleships at the same time is the best tough answer to the enemy.

We have formed a strong formation of the three remaining battleships and 21 cruisers of the Atlantic Fleet and arrived in Buenos Aires ahead of schedule to meet the Great White Fleet.

Once the two sides converge, they will be able to fight even against a strong enemy.

What is needed now is the fearless sacrifice of the officers and men of the Navy, and the President has placed great hopes on this only by being trained in blood and fire. ”

At this point in Adam Smith, President Roosevelt grabbed Lieutenant General Doug's arm tightly, stared into his eyes with sharp eyes, and said; "Doug, I don't want you to sit in your study like a coward and pick up a revolver and shoot yourself in the head.

Even if you die, please die a glorious death in the vast ocean.

America doesn't need cowards, it just needs a monument made of blood and loyalty, which will be admired forever by future generations.

There are many heroes in the land of North America, let us fight like Washington, fight like Lincoln, and leave behind a glorious and moving legend. America has never been afraid of sacrifice, and we will continue to spread the glory of democracy and freedom.

If I unfortunately lose the presidential election at the end of the year, I will immediately sell all my possessions, form a national volunteer division, and lead them to fight on the front line of the evil army, shedding the last drop of blood for the United States.

Doug, my fellow, I want to ask you to bring the Great White Fleet home.

The Great White Fleet is like our cherished child, he is really not used to the waves of the Pacific Ocean, take him home...... All right? ”

Once again, President Roosevelt's provocative words worked, and Lieutenant General Doug nodded in response; "Rest assured, Mr. President, I will do everything in my power to achieve this goal."

"Very well, man, I'll be waiting for you in New York Harbor without any problems."