Iron Cross

"F... Falkland Islands..." Looking in the direction that Hoffman pointed, Keitel was speechless and found that he could not keep up with the head of state's thoughts.

"The Falkland Islands are what the British call them, and the Malvinas are what the Argentines call them - the latter claim sovereignty over the islands."

"I know this place. We had a naval battle with the British near this place in the last war. Unfortunately, we lost." Admiral Otto Schneewind, the new chief of naval staff, immediately stood up and added.

"Whether it's Argentina or the British, head of state, why are we going to attack the Falkland Islands, which are tens of thousands of nautical miles away from the mainland? Oh, no, the Malvinas Islands?" Yoder didn't understand.

"You can call him whatever you like." Hoffman was made to laugh and cry, "Can't you really tell?"

Keitel was helpless: "To be honest, head of state, I still understand the strategic value of controlling this island: after the Panama Canal is paralyzed, if the United States wants to transport supplies to the Pacific, it can only bypass Cape Horn in South America. Once it is effective, Controlling the Falkland Islands, this route is completely covered by our military's attack aircraft. Coupled with submarines and some warships, the Americans will no longer be able to smoothly transport supplies from here. In this case, their route to support the Pacific Ocean will be really cut off. ”

“Americans could also take the Indian Ocean route around South Africa.”

Yodel also laughed: "It would be ridiculous to actually take that route. It takes 20,000 nautical miles to travel from the mainland of the United States to the east coast of Australia. And then we still control Madagascar, and the Japanese are preparing to attack India when they get back. How many people are there along the way? There are not enough ships for us to blow up..."

Hoffman looked at the map carefully again: "Actually, there is another road."

“There is really something else…” Keitel also saw it, “take the Northwest Passage from Canada, go around the Arctic Ocean, pass through the Bering Strait, go south through Attu Island and then enter the Pacific Ocean.

But after saying that, he and Yoder looked at each other in confusion. They had never heard that they could still walk here.

Schniewind frowned and said: "Führer, I have been in the navy for so many years, but I have never heard that the Arctic Ocean channel can bear the shipping function. Maybe one or two ships can occasionally pass through it by luck, but large-scale shipping is absolutely impossible. Those glaciers The ice floes are enough to kill these ships. There is no need to break the relationship when the time comes. The Arctic Ocean is the best killer. "

Hoffman thought for a while and accepted this explanation - he came from a later generation. At that time, the polar climate was warming, the glaciers were melting, and the Arctic Ocean was far less scary. He had never heard of commercial routes. It is probably not possible now.

"That would be even better. If we control the Malvinas Islands, the Americans will be in big trouble. We will be trapped on the North American continent - either cut off the supply line in the Pacific, or maintain a 20,000-mile supply line that is full of dangers." He Smiling, "Do you think Roosevelt will go crazy with anger?"

"But we are also in big trouble." Keitel muttered and advised, "That's what my concern is. It's not that this island is worthless. On the contrary, this island is very useful. If we really succeed in occupying it and If it cannot be lost in the short term, all American power will remain in the Atlantic Ocean and cannot be shared by the Japanese. That would put us under too much pressure and is not cost-effective from an overall perspective - there is no need to recruit firepower for Japan. "

"If the combined fleet remains, we can go and fight. At worst, we will have another naval battle with the Americans." Yoder was not optimistic about this.

"With this kind of energy, it is better to think about how to improve the Sea Lion plan and land directly in the UK..." The newly appointed Schneewind also agreed, "I think it is easier to attack Iceland or the Faroe Islands."

"You guys... you still need to take a longer view, and the pattern should be bigger." Hoffman sighed and tapped the map, "Our intelligence personnel in Argentina sent back news that the middle and lower-level military officers in Argentina are planning a coup. To overthrow the civilian government, one of the important figures was Juan Peron, who was very attracted to us and had secret contacts with our military attachés stationed in Argentina, hoping to get our support.”

Keitel was confused, but listened patiently and respectfully, as was his specialty.

Yodel suddenly showed a thoughtful expression: "Let me think about it... think about it... I seem to have heard of this name, oh... I remembered it, this guy is an Argentine military observer stationed in Italy, yes, that's right He, he has been in the Italian army for a long time, we seem to have been in contact, yes... I attended a drinking party with this guy! ... He admires you!"

Hoffman laughed: "He doesn't worship me, he worships Mussolini, right?"

"This... has a good impression of us anyway."

Hoffman smiled slightly: Yodel seems to be an honest person, and he can't tell a lie. But he didn't mind. Mussolini was the source of fascism. There were a lot of admirers all over the world at the beginning, but just having theories is not enough. Being able to fight and fight hard is the last word. Germany is ten times stronger than Italy in this regard. more than.

"That's him! Peron entered the military school at the age of 16. After graduation, he had a smooth career and stayed in Italy for a long time. What's even more rare is that he was not a simple-minded officer who only knew military affairs. He was among the people, especially the middle and lower classes. He is very charming among people and has a large number of supporters in the army. He is an important role like Nasser in Egypt and must not be underestimated." Now that he had said it, Hoffman decided to make up for these generals. Politics class. Perón's value and prestige were unknown to others, but he understood them best.

"There are more than 10 countries in South America, most of which are followers of the United States. There are three regional powers: Brazil, Argentina and Chile, known as the ABC of South America. After independence at the beginning of the last century, the three countries have been fighting openly and secretly for many years. At the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, a fierce naval arms race broke out among the three countries. The equipment has been upgraded from light cruisers to super-dreadnoughts. The attack broke. Thirty years have passed since the First World War. Brazil, the largest country in terms of land area and population, has the upper hand. However, Chile and Argentina have never been convinced. Their naval strength exceeds that of Brazil, but their army strength is insufficient. .

Although the three ABC countries are on guard against each other, as Brazil's status rises, the pressure from Brazil increases. After the war started a few years ago, the Americans strongly supported Brazil, and the other two countries began to unite for warmth. This can be seen from this war. When Brazil came out, Brazil sold itself to the United States and declared war on us, while Chile and Argentina maintained a generally neutral attitude. Chile was pro-American neutral, similar to Portugal; Argentina was pro-German neutral, similar to Spain.

Both sides are actively seeking reliable supporters. Last year, Argentina asked us for arms assistance. However, given that the heads of the civilian government are still half-hearted about joining the axis,... I rejected this request. "

The last sentence that Hoffman said was truly true: it was Hitler who refused the request. He believed that Argentina was too far away to be of much help to Germany.

"You want to support Argentina now?" Keitel raised his head in confusion, "Or, in other words, support this Peron?"

"If we want to defeat U.S. hegemony, we have to work hard in South America. Direct attack is of course not possible. It is too far away. We must prepare a suitable springboard and introduce regional support. I originally wanted to use French Guiana or Dutch Guiana. , but it is too close to the United States, too close to Brazil, and too weak to support it at all, so it is necessary to choose a place that is far away and has an important location. The Malvinas Islands are a very suitable choice. Argentina, which is not far away, is more suitable." Hoffman paused, "My overall strategy is to suppress Brazil, support Argentina, neutralize or win over Chile, and cause chaos in South America..."

"Chaos..." Everyone was thinking about these words. The leader's ability to cause destruction was really top-notch. He bombed Panama before and then bombed New York. He set off fires in the east and west. Things became more and more troublesome. Big, now I have found a place to mess around.

Everyone was lost in thought. The head of state's tactics looked very unreliable, but if we consider the head of state's consistent war thinking - total war, this battle is somewhat interesting.

In addition to being a serious political blow to the prestige of the United States - the last Caribbean war had already destroyed the prestige of the United States. Economically, the chaos in South America is of great benefit to Germany. The region is now a material supply base for Britain and the United States - including saltpeter and copper mines from Chile, livestock and agricultural products from Argentina, and rubber and iron ore from Brazil, all of which are continuously imported to Britain and the United States. , Germany originally had relatively close contacts with Argentina, but after the war began, contact was severed, and there was almost no trade. If the fuss goes well, this supply to South American countries will be cut off, and it will also attract Britain and the United States to spend all their efforts to station troops. When Earl Spey went to South America to break up the competition, he attracted an entire British G fleet. Now if they were to launch a large-scale attack, it would not be enough if Britain and the United States did not bring the main force of their navy to bear.

"What to do about the problem in Chile? They have the Popular Front there, which is completely a mouthpiece for Moscow." Keitel was slightly worried.

Different from history, the United Kingdom and the United States did not win in Operation Torch, but were defeated miserably in the Indian Ocean Campaign. Therefore, although the Popular Front in the Chilean government was powerful, it was still unable to push through the declaration of war against the Axis and continue to maintain in favor of American neutrality.

"Chile... there is a ready-made example in Argentina, which can have a Spanish Franco-style revolution! Didn't Portugal also lean towards Britain and the United States in the past? Isn't it so peaceful now?" Hoffman smiled, "I will let South America People see what Germany’s true strength is.”

Everyone shook their heads, generally not optimistic about extending their power so far - even with the variable of Argentina. If we really occupy Cape Horn and cut off the U.S.'s two-ocean access, I'm afraid the Americans will come over immediately.