Iron Cross

Everyone's expressions suddenly darkened. The United Fleet's current posture was to put the Pacific Fleet on the fire, and the firepower was getting stronger and stronger, and it was almost scorched. Anyone with a quick thought will know that today is Melbourne, and in two days it will be Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, and maybe Wellington. No big city in Australia and New Zealand will be able to escape this attack.

The Pacific Fleet is now in a dilemma when it comes to choosing its next move:

Going to meet them is obviously not a good military choice. The morale of the Combined Fleet was high, and the Pacific Fleet had just fought a bloody battle at Tarawa, losing not only the USS North Carolina, but also consuming a large amount of ammunition and fuel. The officers and soldiers were exhausted, and they were going to fight in such an attitude. It's never a good time to fight.

Choosing to avoid war is obviously not a good political choice. Almost all important cities in Australia and New Zealand are located along the coast. If the Japanese army is allowed to continue bombarding and harassing them like this, it will have a huge impact on the morale of the people and troops. It will shake the prestige of the United States in the hearts of the people of Australia and New Zealand, and it will be almost politically impossible. It's tantamount to committing suicide.

But the senior officers present, even Halsey, who has always been the most combative, have never mentioned going south to fight. He will not fight such a battle with a probability of winning less than 15%: he is a bit reckless, but he is not If you are not stupid, a fool cannot become a vice admiral.

Now the situation is so obvious: the Japanese army has 6 aircraft carriers, 7-8 battleships including super battleships, and nearly 10 heavy cruisers. At any level, it is 2-3 times the strength of the Pacific Fleet. It's okay to think about defeating the strong with the weak, but it's just a dream to rely on it every time.

After a moment, Nimitz spoke with difficulty: "We only have this little strength in our hands now. We urgently need supplements and adjustments after the Battle of Tarawa. We are temporarily unable to confront the Japanese main fleet head-on. The Indiana was injured again. My My opinion is to take it back for some rest.”

"Go back to Australia?"

"That's hitting the Japanese guns. Let's go back to Pearl Harbor!" Nimitz explained patiently. "There is also an Independence-class aircraft carrier and several escort carriers that are passing through Cape Horn to join forces with them. After that, the fleet strength will be significantly enhanced.”

"But the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Australia have asked us to go back immediately for rescue. What should we do?"

Nimitz gritted his teeth and made up his mind and said: "Washington does not necessarily know our actual situation. I will reject them. I will bear any pressure. Even if I am dismissed, I will admit it. I can't just watch the fleet die."

"Sir!" Everyone exclaimed. It takes a lot of courage to disobey orders. General Nimitz seemed to be putting pressure on his own future.

"Don't worry about me, the people in Washington are not as stupid as we think." Nimitz tried his best to comfort everyone, "If we lose, they will know the serious consequences - the entire Far East will fall on the axis. Hands, they are more afraid of failure than we are.”

"What about Tarawa?" Holland became nervous: once the fleet left, Tarawa's position became extremely embarrassing. If troops were to be stationed, they would soon fall once the Japanese army came to attack, which would be equivalent to a wasted sacrifice; if they were not stationed, The army fought a hard-fought battle in vain. In the end, it was unable to capture Tarawa and it was difficult to explain all aspects.

"If I leave a regiment of troops, do you have the confidence to stand on it as tenaciously as the Japanese army and wait for the fleet to return?"

Devon, who had suffered heavy casualties in his troops, was obviously not confident enough to take on this job. He only turned his attention to Holland for help, but Johnson, the commander of the 4th Marine Division, looked thoughtful.

Halsey looked at the chart and said: "The Japanese fleet is now near Melbourne. They have at least 4,000-5,000 nautical miles to reach Tarawa. We are about 2,500 nautical miles from Pearl Harbor. The fleet will go back and forth plus emergency repairs. "It is estimated that it will take 3 weeks. If the Japanese fleet comes to invade, I estimate that the Marine Corps may need independent support for 3-5 days."

Johnson gritted his teeth and said: "Okay! I will accept this mission. I will personally lead a regiment to stay on the island, but I have two conditions."

"you say."

"The airport on the island has resumed operation. I need to get some air support, whether it is land aviation or sea aviation, we need to send enough force; secondly, most of the Japanese military fortifications have been destroyed, and we cannot repair them all in a short time, but the stranded The North Carolina is a rare support point, and I hope the Navy can keep some personnel to coordinate the defense," Johnson explained. "I hope we can have a chance to turn Tarawa into a second Midway."

Nimitz turned his consulting gaze to Halsey, who nodded: "I think it's very reasonable. I will concentrate all the artillery shells that can be used on other warships on the North Carolina."

Nimitz held Johnson's hand tightly: "It's all done!"

"The Japanese can hold on for a few days, and the Marines can hold on for a few days. Now it's time for them to bleed into rivers." Johnson said with a ferocious face, "But before that, I will kill those woodchucks first." Clean it up.”

That night, in the dark corners deep underground in Tarawa, several creatures with long beards, ragged clothes, and bones that could barely be identified as human were whispering.

"Sir, sir, the U.S. military seems to be withdrawing."

"Withdraw troops?" Shibazaki, who was still dying just now, suddenly had a strange light in his eyes and said eagerly, "How do you know?"

"There are a lot fewer people on the island, and there seem to be fewer warships..."

"Sir, the commander is here to rescue us. The US military is withdrawing in a hurry. Let everyone preserve their strength and hold on until the combined fleet arrives." Shibazaki asked, "How many more do we have?"

"There may be more than 200, and everyone is scattered and missing. Today, a few soldiers were so hungry that they went to steal supplies from the US military and failed to come back later..."

Shibazaki looked sad: "Tell everyone, hold on, dawn is right in front of you!"

"The fleet is currently returning to Pearl Harbor. After resting and replenishing, it will return to Australia to execute relevant orders. It is expected that the round trip will take a month..." After receiving the reply telegram, Marshall and Roosevelt were deeply surprised. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had not yet decided on this In response to the telegram, at a discussion on military spending for the next fiscal year that day, someone suddenly commented on Nimitz's obviously divisive move.

"He's disobedient!" someone muttered dissatisfiedly.

Admiral Jin was furious and shouted: "Who the hell is talking nonsense in private? Come to the stage and say it!"

Li Hai's brows jumped and he cast a meaningful look at Admiral Jin, but didn't say anything.

Congressman Davis did not use such sensitive words as "disobedience", but thought that Nimitz was "cowardly". He made a eloquent speech, and in the end he had only one meaning - the Pacific Fleet should bravely pounce on it like a fighter. fighting!

But Admiral King once again defended Nimitz: "I think it is wrong to put all the remaining bets up. This situation can easily get out of control. Even if the bet wins, it is easy to say, but what happens if the bet loses? We can still send a second Are you going to send a fleet to Australia and New Zealand? Or do you plan to not even send Australia and New Zealand to India?”

Others were speechless.

Admiral Jin was not easy to mess with. Some people pointed the finger at Army Aviation Commander-in-Chief Arnold, accusing the Army Air Force of unfavorable operations: the 8th Air Force failed in Europe, the 7th Air Force performed poorly in the Far East, and other air forces were in the Caribbean Acted like a piece of shit in the Panama campaign!

Unexpectedly, Arnold, who had always been gentle and gentle, was like a furious lion today, pounding the table angrily and roaring: "When you said you wanted to put Europe first before Asia, you thought the Japanese army was not a concern, so you sent the best planes and the best pilots. Transfer to Europe and now complain about our inability to do so?

Enemy pilots have been fighting in the army for decades. They regard being a soldier as a lifelong career and taking joining the army as a supreme honor. They are generally respected and admired by people in the country and are the most enthusiastic partners of girls. Our pilots used to either fly pesticide aircraft, fly demonstration aircraft, or fly domestic civil aviation. Serving as a soldier was said to be a waste of resources and a stupid soldier. National defense funding has been cut again and again, let alone finding a good girl. , you all want to withhold and default on the compensation for retired veterans of the last war!

Pilots are already the best-performing branch here. Do you want to take a look at the other branches? Let alone war, many people will tremble when they hear the sound of gunshots. During war, you need soldiers, but during peacetime, you don't care, pay no attention, and don't provide resources. Now, in turn, you require them to be on the same level as the enemy's hard-tempered elites. What is this? What kind of bastard logic? "

He was so angry that even Marshall couldn't control him. Stimson gave Roosevelt a wry smile: Arnold sounded like he was complaining about members of Congress, but he seemed to be targeting the president himself for his policy of putting Europe first and Asia second.

But politicians are politicians. Roosevelt did not directly respond to Arnold's complaints. Instead, he took advantage of the situation and pointed out that on the basis of this year's actual military expenditure of more than 80 billion, it should be increased by at least half to 130 billion in fiscal year 1944 (all U.S. military expenditures in 1941 The national income is only 124.5 billion). If the normal income is insufficient, it will require the issuance of an additional 50 billion treasury bonds.

If Hoffman heard this figure, he would be shocked. In fact, the highest military expenditure in the history of the United States was only 87.4 billion U.S. dollars in 1944. The figure of 130 billion means that the U.S. imperialism has also begun to launch a military campaign.

The congressmen were also stunned. If such a big deal continues, let alone whether the finances can bear it, the level of inflation is completely unacceptable. At least from the current point of view, there is no possibility that this war will end in the short term. The level of 130 billion will be in the future. It will only increase and not decrease.

Everyone in the meeting was talking about it, and suddenly a second bombshell was thrown into the venue: agents stationed in Egypt discovered a large number of warships and transport ships passing through Suez. In addition to supplies, there were also troops on the transport ships.

"Are we going to attack India or South Africa?" The atmosphere in the meeting suddenly became tense.