Iron Cross

"This is really a strange war. Who is China's enemy and who is China's friend?"

"China? Mr. President, why don't you ask, who are Chiang's enemies and friends, who are Mao's enemies and friends, and maybe add one more, who are Wang's enemies and friends?" Hull spread his hands and said, "The Chinese themselves We are all confused, how can we see clearly?"

"Combined with the intelligence that Japan has obtained a large amount of army equipment from Germany and its shrinkage from China, we speculate that the combined fleet will use troops against India immediately after returning to the mainland. If it is soon, it should be between September and October. There is not much time left for us." Admiral Jin did not want to discuss China's confusing account anymore, and instead said, "The submarine sent from South Africa observed one of the transport fleets and tried to attack, but the Japanese defense was very tight. Not only did they fail to succeed, they were also shot down by aircraft. "It's sinking."

"Can they be stopped or severely injured?" Marshall asked.

"The possibility is very small, unless the main force of the Japanese fleet does not go with the transport fleet." Admiral Jin explained, "I am opposed to the Pacific Fleet fighting the combined fleet now. If we win, we can maintain the balance. What if we lose? The entire Far East It’s over.”

Everyone sighed. Once the Combined Fleet returned to the Far East, it put too much pressure on the Pacific Fleet.

"Does the British Empire have the determination and courage to defend India?" Smith-Tingson asked.

"We have determination and courage, but we don't have the strength." Marshall mocked, "We successfully transferred an army to South Africa, but the British failed to add a single soldier to India. There were only defeated soldiers and indigenous people who had retreated from the Middle East. The army, yes, there are some British troops in Burma."

Roosevelt asked: "They don't dream that these troops can defeat the Japanese, do they?"

"You are right! Firstly, they do not believe that the Japanese will attack; secondly, they think that the Japanese army is not a concern. They have fought against Japan several times in the direction of Burma and think that the enemy is nothing more than this."

"Asshole!" Roosevelt yelled angrily, "What do you mean by this? Who was so defeated in Southeast Asia and Singapore that he was forced to surrender to the Japanese? Who was surrounded in Burma and begged the Chinese to send troops in tears? Who supported them and fled into India?

Everyone shook their heads, and now they began to sympathize with China: From Chiang's standpoint, if it was an ally like Britain, they would not bother to arm themselves to defend India.

St. Tingson was a little surprised: "Can't they spare their troops? There are at least 3 million troops in the British Isles, many of whom have fought and have combat experience! Germany's main force is now on the Eastern Front, and the British are unwilling to counterattack Europe. Forget about the mainland, why are you not even enthusiastic about defending India? This is the most dazzling jewel in the crown of the British Empire!”

"But they don't have a ship." Marshall shrugged. "All reinforcements must go around the Cape of Good Hope to go to India. They have always hoped that we can send troops to support India..."

Admiral King and Smith actually said in unison: "This must be crazy!"

"This won't work. We must let them send troops there, even if they use our ships." Roosevelt thought for a while and said, "Let the British give us officers and soldiers with combat experience, and I will arm them and send them to India and South Africa. Entering the war, the British Empire cannot just sit back and watch the action without doing anything - this is a world war!"

"This is good, I think it's absolutely fine." Admiral Jin said immediately, "Recently, we have transported a lot of skilled workers who left England via returning freighters, with a total of nearly 10,000 households. If we work harder, we can complete it by autumn this year. For all transport tasks, transporting unarmed soldiers is more convenient than transporting civilians - they are easier to command!"

Marshall nodded: "Absolutely. Defending India and South Africa has gone beyond the tasks of the United States. We can no longer use huge casualties to poke the people in our spine. The British must pay sacrifices. This is the price they want to maintain their status as a great power. ”

Smith then asked: "One thing I'm curious about is why you are so unanimously certain that Japan will attack India? Shouldn't it be attacking Australia?"

"It is also possible to attack Australia." Admiral Jin smiled. "Australia has relatively abundant troops. The Marine Corps has been increasing its troops. The Army also sent two divisions last time. Now the strength of the Australian and New Zealand frontline troops is not weak. The army is also very strong - this can be seen from the battles in North Africa and Kenya. I hope Japan can attack Australia, then they will definitely have a lot of trouble. If the Japanese still have some sense, they will not come. Of course, it is not ruled out that they will counterattack those islands. General MacArthur has strengthened the defenses, and General Nimitz’s fleet has also made relevant preparations. The only thing that worries me is that the fleet is a bit weak.”

"Since it is clear that Japan will not participate in the attack on South Africa, I think we can transfer an Independence-class light aircraft carrier to the Pacific Fleet, and send a group of destroyers and light cruisers to the Far East via Cape Horn, with a stop in Argentina."

"Argentina?" General Jin was confused. Why did the president ask to go to Argentina?

Hull explained: "There was a coup there recently. The ruler who came to power shouted populist slogans loudly. It is said that he even flirted with the Germans and sent a fleet to intimidate them and let them wake up to who is the boss."

"It's enough to send a small fleet. Anyway, we have to pass through Argentina from Cape Horn, so it won't delay things." Admiral Jin was very optimistic about this and agreed wholeheartedly.

But Admiral Jin soon lost his optimism - the adjutant handed him the latest telegram, and his face changed drastically after reading it.

"What happened?"

"Three hours ago, a German aircraft carrier formation suddenly appeared and attacked the fleet on the British-Canada route. 2 escort aircraft carriers, 4 destroyers, and 3 auxiliary cruisers were sunk. 21 Liberty ships were sunk or captured. Only Two ships narrowly escaped..." Admiral Jin looked solemn, "According to intelligence, the enemy may have at least 2 aircraft carriers and 4 battleships. I guess one of the two aircraft carriers is the Zeppelin and the other is the Skyhawk. ”

"Deadly!"

"Oh my God!" Everyone gasped.

"The crow sent no intelligence?" Roosevelt frowned, "We didn't receive any warning in the direction of Italy?"

Donovan shook his head: "The German fleet should have left the Strait of Gibraltar and headed northwest. It may have been replenished in Portugal or Spain on the way."

The atmosphere of the meeting suddenly became tense: Is the main force of the German navy heading north in a large scale to break diplomatic relations or is it a precursor to a large-scale landing in Britain?

"Is the navy's current strength enough to defeat them?"

"If it were just the main force of the German navy, we would have a great chance of defeating them." Admiral Jin said, "Our battleship force had no losses in the last battle and could dispatch 6 ships; in terms of aircraft carriers, we now have a total of two fleet aircraft carriers: Bang USS Keshan (Essex class), USS Unicorn (UK), and two light aircraft carriers (both independent class): USS Cowpens (UK) and USS Monterey. "What we lack is combat experience."

Roosevelt nodded. This strength has surpassed the main force of the German navy. The most important thing is that without the combined fleet, this battle can be fought.

"Can we add more warships in the future?"

"The Capote (Independence-class) has just been commissioned, and I am preparing to arrange to be transferred to the Far East to join the Pacific Fleet. The Langley (Independence-class) will be commissioned next week and is scheduled to be provided to the Royal Navy; by October, the Wasp (Essex-class) ) and Bataan (Independence-class) can be put into service; in November, the San Jacinto (Independence-class) can be put into service; next spring, there will also be the USS Bennington (Essex-class), the USS Missouri (Ia) Hua-class) is in service..." Admiral Jin now has a clear grasp of the progress of the warships. If anything happens, he calls the major shipyards to promote the progress. Sometimes he can do so three times a week, and the people below him are almost driven to collapse by him. .

"The British are also stepping up shipbuilding. They have stopped a large number of warships and concentrated on the construction of capital ships. It is expected that next spring, the two fleet aircraft carriers of the Vengeance class will be commissioned, the Lion class battleship will be commissioned in the summer, and the Reckless class will be commissioned in the autumn. The fleet aircraft carrier can be put into service, but there are no more.”

"Let the Capote go to the Far East." Roosevelt said, "Can the Navy fight a war with the Germans? I don't think we can easily let them destroy our transportation lines. If they can be eliminated, it will help improve our current situation. Passive situation in the Atlantic Ocean."

"It's okay to fight a war, but in order to protect South Africa's transportation lines, most of the navy's main force was concentrated near South America, and there were only newly commissioned troops in the mainland." Admiral Jin said with a wry smile, "Transfer back, replenish and then attack. At least Another half month has passed."

"The Navy speeds up its return to the North Atlantic. Do not stop the route to South Africa. Move another army there. We must seize the favorable opportunity when the axis power is relatively empty." Roosevelt made a decisive decision, "I have a hunch that South Africa will become An important base for our counterattack.”

"What about transporting British troops to India?"

"Let's communicate with Prime Minister Churchill first. For example, let's announce it to the outside world in a different way, and use armed forces to defend Canada? It would be outrageous to send our soldiers to defend Canada, right?"

Everyone was amused by the president's humorous words, and the solemn atmosphere finally relaxed a little - the United States' capital is still strong enough, and when the twenty or thirty Essexes are completed, it will be time to find the axis to calculate the general ledger.

"As for China..." Roosevelt said to Hull in a stern tone, "increase the pressure on Chiang and tell him that if he is unwilling to help his allies protect India, we can only regretfully leave all kinds of materials to those who are willing to protect India. People. He must clearly realize that once Japan takes control of India, China will lose all channels for receiving foreign aid. Even if we are willing to support him in fighting the Communist Party, he must not expect a single bullet from the United States."

Hull quickly asked: "Do you support him in fighting the Communist Party?"

Roosevelt nodded subconsciously, but what was even more surprising was what he said next...