Iron Cross

Hearing that the U.S. military might attack the Falkland Islands, Perón was very nervous and took time out to inspect the deployment of defenses in the Falkland Islands. He was very satisfied with the enthusiastic work of the German engineering troops and Argentine workers. The timely arrival of the second batch of German reinforcements gave him a reassurance. Now the German army has concentrated more than 50,000 troops and more than 400 aircraft in the Falkland Islands (the other part of the troops are deployed in Argentina), and the strength has exceeded the entire Argentine army.

Perón was also a bachelor. He knew that his political life was now closely linked to the Germans. After overthrowing the Argentine regime, the United States might not do anything to Argentina, but it would definitely not let him go. Therefore, he almost responded to all requests from Lieutenant General Manteuffel, the commander of the South Atlantic Battle Group, and mobilized a large number of Argentine workers to help with the construction. Various fortifications and simple submarine caves were built rapidly.

Manteuffel knew what Perón was thinking, and tried to comfort him not to worry, saying that the existing forces were enough to defend the Falkland Islands - "Even if the Americans come with 200,000 people, I have the confidence to defend it." In order to enhance the other party's confidence, Manteuffel also revealed to him that the head of state was going to send the third batch of support troops to the Falkland Islands after the New Year, including at least 2 army divisions, 1 air force wing and 1 squadron.

This made Perón very happy. To be honest, he was not willing to give up Germany at all. The first batch of goods had been sent from Argentina to Madagascar two days ago, and now they were loading industrial products, fuel and military equipment produced in Germany back to the country. Germany gave Argentina an exclusive credit line of 1 billion marks for the turnover of goods between each other and to help Argentina stabilize the currency system - South American countries, including Argentina, have a natural impulse to issue currency indiscriminately, and the inflation level has always been high. In the past, the focus of the financial management system was to peg to the US dollar, but now it has gradually shifted to peg to the mark. The 1 billion marks immediately emboldened Perón.

Soon after the new regime came to power, it issued a new currency. On the front was a portrait of Antonio Ribeiro, a gaucho who resisted the British invasion in 1833 in Argentine history, and on the back was a map of the Malvinas Islands (including South Georgia Island and other affiliated islands). This undoubtedly greatly stimulated the national sentiment of the Argentines and subtly established the prestige and legitimacy of the new regime. Without the government's strong call, residents spontaneously lined up to exchange new banknotes, and even kept the new banknotes they got without using them, which invisibly reduced the circulation of currency. Coupled with the recovery of the remaining currency liquidity after nationalization, the Argentine peso actually showed a rare appreciation sign for many years, and commodity prices also began to fall. This undoubtedly made Perón's main supporters - the poor people and the petty bourgeoisie with deep populist sentiments - excited.

This president enjoyed his job and didn't want to give up at all. Due to the good demonstration effect of nationalization policy and confiscating the property of political opponents and privileged people and distributing it to the poor people, other South American countries that came to power through coups tried to emulate it. The international reputation of the new regime was at its peak. A large number of younger brothers rushed to Buenos Aires to learn "successful experience" and tried to hook up with the Germans, even if it was just to get some cheap arms from Germany - at least the Germans were very straightforward when selling weapons, unlike the Americans who always attached a bunch of disgusting conditions. For Perón, who wanted to be the leader of South America and create an "international career", he would insist on it even if there was a glimmer of opportunity, otherwise he would not have bitten the bullet and deployed two divisions to the Bolivian-Argentine border some time ago - if he survived this hurdle, he would have the capital to be the big brother in South America in the future.

"I will inform you of any news in time. We have deployed sea reconnaissance and observation posts on St. Helena. Once the US fleet goes south, we will receive the news immediately and will not be caught off guard."

St. Helena was the last residence of Emperor Napoleon in history. It is located in the center of the South Atlantic Ocean, about 5,000 kilometers away from the Falkland Islands. Its geographical location is very important. When Marshal led the fleet to clean up the Brazilian coast last time, he also uprooted the British forces on the island. However, the island is too small and there is no airport. It is impossible for Germany to station a large number of troops. In the end, only about one platoon of forces was set up on it, with 6 sea reconnaissance aircraft, communication stations and 1 weather station, ready to play the role of an outpost. Now it seems that the unintentional act at the time was very beneficial.

"That's good, that's good, I'll leave everything to you!" He held Manteuffel's hand tightly: "The Argentines will fight with their German allies to the last breath." Manteuffel certainly did not pat his chest. The intelligence he received was that the main force of the US military was now on the northern coast of Brazil, about 4,000 nautical miles away from the Falkland Islands. Even if they rushed over at the fastest speed, it would take at least two weeks to engage in combat. Based on his understanding of the US military's performance in the two island-taking battles of Tarawa and Bermuda, he believed that the US military could not easily rely on carrier-based aircraft to launch a landing campaign - the chances of winning were not great. The most likely possibility was that the US military would establish an air base in southern Brazil to suppress the Falkland Islands' defense system before attacking.

This journey of more than 2,200 kilometers even exceeds the distance between the British mainland and the Azores. The Falkland Islands have also introduced jets. The preliminary battle between the two sides is likely to be delayed for 2-3 weeks. He estimates that the US military will arrive at the earliest He launched a landing campaign around Christmas. As long as he could survive a month, the head of state's third batch of reinforcements would arrive. He thought it was possible. This estimate is completely correct. Now the United States is relying on the strength of the Brazilian government to build airports and affiliated aviation bases in the south, preparing to station B-17s and B-29s. The plan requires that it can accommodate at least 500 aircraft. The pro-American forces in Brazil believe that the base can not only suppress the Falklands, but also deter the main core areas of Argentina and Paraguay, and fully support this. However, the airport is built in an area where pro-German forces gather, and the Americans cannot keep it completely secret.

However, Manteuffel never expected that the Americans did not know about the arrival of German reinforcements so far. The estimate of the strength of the Tsushima defenders was still at more than 10,000 people and more than 100 aircraft. The news did not spread until Perón returned to Buenos Aires for broadcast propaganda. The accompanying reporters spent a lot of time bragging about the impregnable and impregnable defense of the Falklands, exaggerating the intimate atmosphere of the joint drill between the German and Albanian armies, and describing The "densely dense" aircraft and tanks on the island...

After the news reached Washington, the faces of the leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff changed drastically. They looked suspicious and asked the Brazilian army aviation to send planes to investigate first. At the same time, they also strictly ordered the CIA to find out the true situation of the German defense forces in the Falkland Islands. On November 18, three US military B-17 modified long-range reconnaissance aircraft flew into the sky over the Falklands and were detected by the defenders' radar. The Me-262 took off without ceremony and killed them. One of them sent a message before being shot down. Go out: "...the island has strong air defense and a large number of people, ah, jets..." Then, under the spray of R4M rockets, it turned into a ball of fire and splashed into the sea off the Falklands.

What embarrasses the U.S. military is not only the increase in defense power on the Falklands, but Operation "Mousetrap" also encountered unexpected difficulties. The U.S. reconnaissance fleet has entered the 800-kilometer air defense circle of Cape Verde, and the main force of the follow-up bombardment fleet is about 30 kilometers away from Cape Verde. There are still more than 1,200 kilometers, and the main force of the aircraft carrier formation is hidden around 1,500 kilometers away. It was clearly a scene of a large army pressing down on the situation with great momentum, but Turner was extremely anxious in his heart. No matter how provocative he tried, the German troops just refused to come. A large number of SBDs flew out in a swarm to perform reconnaissance missions. Heavy bomber formations also wandered around every day, but nothing was obtained. , there was no news about the German fleet going south, so that it formed a situation where it was difficult to get off.

He believed that the Germans were fully aware of their arrival - the joint attack aircraft deployed on Cape Verde had begun to attack the reconnaissance fleet. Although neither of them achieved results, they had made substantial contact after all.

General Ingersoll rubbed his temples and asked uncertainly: "What should we do now? Are we really going to fight Cape Verde? Or are we going to fight the Falkland Islands? I heard that the German army has increased its troops, but I don't know how much. ”

Turner gritted his teeth and suggested: "Continue to get closer and let the escort fleet come forward to suppress the Cape Verde aviation power. I don't believe that the Germans can remain indifferent after taking over Cape Verde."

"Okay, how many ships?"

"All 14 ships are aboard, and Admiral Cunningham's aircraft carrier formation is also allowed to move forward. I have a hunch that this will be a preview of an attack on the Falkland Islands or the Azores."

"Führer, are you really not going to let General Machar attack? The distance between the two is at least 2,700 kilometers now. I don't have 4 days to make it."

Hoffman shook his head: "Don't be anxious. Let the Americans attack Cape Verde first. I don't know what method they plan to use to attack. I want to see it before making a decision. The main force of the fleet will have a chance to fight."

On the morning of November 19, the Cape Verde defenders continued to engage in battle with the US reconnaissance fleet, with no other results except the sinking of a destroyer. In the evening, more tense news reached Berlin: the US military escort aircraft carrier formation entered Cape Verde 800 Kilometers of air defense circle, but it was getting late. After assessing the situation, the Cape Verde defenders did not launch an attack and decided to launch a counterattack early the next morning.

Hoffman expressed appreciation for the commander's decision. The escort aircraft carrier cannot move very fast. The more than 800 kilometers will be allowed to run. Tomorrow morning, it will be shortened to about 400 kilometers at most. As long as night air defense is done well, American aircraft will not be able to overturn the sky. , Dönitz and Jodl jointly took over the overall command of the Cape Verde campaign. According to their suggestions, the attack aircraft on the Canary Islands prepared to transfer to join the rescue the next day, intending to compete with the escort aircraft carriers first.