Iron Cross

As soon as this news came out, the accusations against Nimitz immediately disappeared, but a more pressing challenge lay ahead:

Does India want to be saved? How to save? What if India is lost if we don’t save it? It is estimated that the British Empire cannot survive. Can the United States survive on its own? If we have to rely on our own efforts to fight the war, then the 130 billion defense budget is not too much, but too little.

Of course, it is also possible that Germany and Italy went to attack South Africa - although there is no definite evidence, Director Donovan believes that Japan and Germany have a clear division of combat areas. India should be the dividing line between Japan and Germany. The reason why the direction of India appears The German army is nothing more than a reward for the combined fleet's support for Europe. But this is just speculation and there is no clear evidence. The whereabouts and follow-up actions of these warships will determine the final outcome.

After a quarrel, everyone first set a small goal of 100 billion, and also suggested adding an additional 4.7 billion to this year's military budget to make up for the president's funding requirements for building warships. Lawmakers believe that since the money has been spent in this fiscal year, there is no need to postpone it to the next year.

Roosevelt understood the truth: raising this year's base number and lowering next year's number will not reduce the total amount of money, but it will just make the budget increase look less ugly. As soon as the budget communication meeting ended, the gloomy president immediately announced the convening of the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, he first lightly criticized General Jin and Arnold for being too angry and disrespectful today.

The two of them immediately accepted it with sincerity. The president had to listen to what he said in reverse - he only criticized it as being out of character, implying that what they said was correct, but they should choose a better way of expression. The two of them were struggling in the military circles. After so many years of fighting, I can certainly understand the implication.

"What do you think of the enemy's reinforcement fleet?"

Admiral Jin said: "It is very troublesome now. The Italians are dispatched, and the German fleet has not moved yet. Further monitoring and accurate intelligence are needed to draw a conclusion."

"What if we go to India?"

"Then there is basically no power to fight back." Marshall sighed, "Mountbatten no longer bothered to transit through London, and directly typed the request for help telegram on my desk. The situation in India is terrible, and it is falling faster than China!"

After Madras was occupied by the Japanese army, Yamashita launched all three infantry divisions in one attack and quickly advanced into the hinterland of South India, further occupying Bangalore in Karnataka, and annihilating or making a forced landing of the 11th Army. The other four brigades also allowed the Germans to attack north of Madras and defeated three brigades. From an organizational point of view, except for the three brigades in the southernmost part of the 11th Army, all the rest have been wiped out. The British and Indian troops deployed from the 14th Group Army, which were rushing south to support from the north, stopped advancing southward and temporarily stayed in the north to stabilize the defense line, but they were also in panic all day long.

“In addition to military defeats, the Japanese army also supported the puppet regime of the Indian National Government, using slogans of Indian independence and national independence to deceive people and attract a large number of people. Many captured Indian officers and soldiers turned into Indian puppet troops and became accomplices of the Japanese army. "Marshall sighed, "The National Army may not be very powerful, but it is more destructive. In a sense, it is more destructive than the Russian People's Liberation Army. The key is that the British are still stubborn."

"Prime Minister Churchill still refuses to grant independence to India?"

Secretary of State Hull shook his head: "He dare not mention this. The domestic political situation in the UK is currently in turmoil. Opposition members are pursuing and trying to force Winston to step down. What's more terrible is that the news of the transfer of shipyard workers has been known to ordinary people. Coupled with the German army's blockade and the breakdown of diplomatic relations in the previous period, his popularity and support rate have plummeted, which is terrible. "

"The people don't agree with the transfer?" Roosevelt raised his eyebrows. "Don't they understand the important value of doing this?"

"The people mainly objected to two things: first, why only shipyard workers should be restricted, and all British people who want to move should be immigrated to the American continent; second, they are said to be shipyard workers, but many leading figures who are clearly not shipyard workers also pretend to be The opportunity slipped into the retreating ranks, and they thought there was fraud."

Everyone smiled bitterly: The British guys have a pretty good idea. Are they all going to come to the United States? Then the American people should be in trouble! Not even going to Canada. That is a place that the United States will control in the future. If so many British people come, how can we easily start? As for the families who sneaked into the family who were not shipyard workers, it must be true, and the United States can only pretend to be deaf and dumb. The Germans did not follow this trick. They sent messages unscrupulously through radio broadcasts and leaflets, and used various media methods to attack the image of Churchill's cabinet, but they succeeded every time.

Regarding Indian independence, every British politician should be able to see that this is an irreversible trend. The reason why they are stubborn and refuse to let it go is because no one wants to be known as the "gravedigger of the empire."

Roosevelt waved his hand dejectedly: "We don't worry about India's affairs. This cannot be rescued by one or two troops. There must be a package of systematic solutions. The point I need to emphasize now is: Canada, Australia The four autonomous territories of New Zealand and South Africa had a decisive influence on the war and could not be out of control, so..."

Everyone couldn't help but roll their eyes: the British Empire had almost lost all its colonies in Africa and the Middle East, and India was about to lose its security. The only thing it relied on was these four autonomous territories. Now the president is going to take over them all in one fell swoop - the United States. He is the gravedigger of the British Empire!

“How will South Africa be defended if an enemy attacks us?”

"There is no problem with the Army. We have sent two armies to South Africa. Together with the original strength and South Africa's own armed forces, we can roughly form an army of 500,000 people." Marshall's initial statement made Roosevelt feel relieved, but then he said "But" made him nervous again - "But the navy is not strong enough. If the enemy continues to blockade, South Africa will not get enough supplies and will eventually collapse, and the navy cannot be mobilized at will."

Roosevelt nodded: The main force of the British and American aircraft carrier formations is still in the North Atlantic. It has just broken the German Navy's blockade of the British Isles. It is indeed impossible to transfer to South Africa in a short time. Even if the ships can withstand it, the personnel need to rest.

At present, there is really nothing to brag about in China, so we have to talk about lifting the blockade of the British Isles to rally people's hearts. The reason why Roosevelt was unwilling to accuse Nimitz was because the Pacific Fleet had occupied Tarawa and captured the Gilbert Islands. Whether they would be lost or not was a matter of the future. At least for now, they had a modest victory. He can explain it - the relevant propaganda and agitation plan has just been approved. Nimitz and the 3rd Marine Division who fought a bloody battle were the heroes he planned to arrange. How could he destroy this model with his own hands?

"The fleet cannot always follow the Germans, we must seize the strategic initiative." Roosevelt turned around and asked Admiral King, "Has General Turner's B+ plan been revised? Can it be implemented?"

When asked about Plan B+, Admiral Jin looked a little weird, and finally spoke reluctantly: "The plan is in great trouble now. We discussed it again within the Navy and decided to modify Plan B+ to Plan C before executing it. ”

"What's the problem? Not enough planes and carriers?" Roosevelt said. "I'm not asking for this month or next month. I want to be ready before the new fiscal year. And then, as you all know, Christmas On the eve of the holiday, I will announce my participation in the next presidential election. The government must show something positive to the voters. The capture of the Gilbert Islands is a good victory, but it is not significant enough..."

Admiral Jin lowered his head involuntarily, and his voice became much lower. After a long time, he explained helplessly: "I fully understand your wishes, but the problems we are encountering now are exactly the troubles caused by the Battle of Gilbert. I hope Can be resolved before..."

Roosevelt was a little disappointed. He had hoped for a big victory to kick off his campaign, but General King said so, and he was not willing to embarrass the latter, so he said magnanimously: "That's okay. It can be postponed for a few months." Okay, the campaign didn't end until October 1944. It's okay if the good news comes late, but I really want to know what the trouble is."

Admiral King then recounted the battle report Nimitz sent to the Navy:

In this attack on Tarawa, the main force of the Pacific Fleet was dispatched. The defenders resisted desperately without receiving any reinforcements. They fought a bloody battle and blocked us for a whole week. As of the day when the battle report was sent, there were still some enemy forces that had not been eliminated. The fierceness of the battle and the bloody process are rare in my life. The total losses of the 3rd Marine Division exceeded one-third. Considering that the civilian personnel, logistics units and other parts of the division did not participate in the landing at all, the actual casualty rate of the landing personnel was close to 50%, which is equivalent to the casualties of the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal that day. It is impossible to recover unless you rest...

Tarawa Island is not large in area, but the fortifications on it are extremely clever and strong, and can withstand the power of most artillery and aerial bombs of medium caliber and below. In this offensive campaign, more than 20,000 tons of various types of explosives were used in total, which has actually achieved The effect did not exceed 5%. A large number of underground fortifications were destroyed by firing at close range... For example, after the North Carolina ran aground, it used naval guns to fire armor-piercing projectiles at close range. The Japanese army and our troops fought for each fortification and trench one by one. When the battle was stalemate, our army advanced less than 200 yards every day.

In addition to normal guarding, the Japanese army also used simple hand-held rockets called "Iron Fist", which are low-cost, easy to use, and powerful. They have a miraculous effect on anti-tanks. This time, nearly 100 vehicles including tanks, armored vehicles, etc. were lost. 200 vehicles, more than 80% were destroyed by this weapon.

Admiral Jin reluctantly added: "The Iron Fist was provided by Germany, and the suicide rockets are obviously German products. The Azores Island that is about to be attacked has more Germans, more advanced equipment, and more favorable defense conditions. It is even worse. What’s more, it will be easier for the Germans to reinforce the Azores than if the defenders of Tarawa are left alone.”