Chapter 1012 Axis Attack (1,5700 Votes Plus Additional Content)

ps: The titles of the previous chapters should actually be changed to this to be more appropriate. Let’s make do with it. Don’t hesitate to order because of the title, because most of the time the title does not reflect the content... In addition, some readers reported that they could not see what this chapter said. , that’s because the system is turned off by default after updating the Qidian APP, and you can turn it on in the settings.

"I killed him! I killed him!" After hearing the news of Roosevelt's death, Patton cried bitterly in the headquarters.

In his opinion, if he had not insisted on dispatching troops to land in the first place, and Roosevelt was still safely basking in the sun in Venezuela with the First Red Division, what would have happened? Not only did he take Roosevelt Jr. to take risks, but he also placed his troops in an unreliable place like Port Seguro, and eventually the entire army was destroyed. What is even more unforgivable is that he failed to fight and live and die with Roosevelt, but instead retreated to a safer place in El Salvador - he was deeply ashamed of it.

If Roosevelt hadn't been in front, his army group might have been surrounded by the Germans.

Several division commanders of the Fifth Army looked at each other. They also knew the news that Roosevelt's group was almost completely destroyed. The situation became very unfavorable. The German troops in El Salvador were clinging to their troops. The main force of the German army in the south was advancing again. If they did not retreat in time, the Fifth Army would be It's all stuck here.

There was originally a task of coordinating the retreat of Roosevelt's group, but it naturally disappeared with the collapse of this group. However, Patton has not yet issued a retreat order, saying that it still depends on whether there is a turnaround. They came to the headquarters together to inquire.

"Withdraw..." Patton sighed and waved helplessly, "You go, give me 2 regiments and I will cover you!"

"Sir!" Everyone exclaimed. Under the current circumstances, cutting off the rear cover is basically equivalent to death. The army just lost a brigadier general, but it cannot throw in the group army commander and lieutenant general.

"Sir, we understand your feelings, but the situation has changed now, and we can't delay it any longer... You don't want to cut off the rear. Cutting off the rear means giving up two enemy regiments for nothing. We retreat as a group. There is still time, and the enemy's main force is still far away from us. More than 300 kilometers!”

On September 1, Patton had no choice but to issue an order to retreat across the entire front. The main force of the Fifth Army, more than 80,000 men, slowly retreated northward alternately.

Rommel wanted to pursue them, but he had no armored divisions at hand, only one infantry division and two marine brigades, with less than 30,000 men. He also had to manage city defenses and guard the ports, so he could only mobilize a maximum of 20,000 men for the attack. But he was still reluctant to give up this good opportunity, and asked Gauss to sit in El Salvador to coordinate. While urging the Shaoken cluster to speed up the northward movement, he personally organized 20,000 people to pursue it.

Originally, he wanted to intercept head-on, but Gauss had something to persuade him: just chase and slow down the retreat speed of the Fifth Army, they can't escape! When he said this, Gauss's fist hit the port of Aracallu on the east coast of Brazil. Rommel immediately understood: he could repeat the trick of landing at Kamamu, deploy 1-2 divisions to intercept head-on at Arakalu, and then continue to pursue him, so that the Fifth Army would be a turtle in the urn and unable to escape! Now the naval superiority is completely on his side. In order to coordinate the deployment of troops and materials for the South American campaign, the head of state first postponed the launch of the South African campaign for half a month, and then postponed it for another half month. If he does not make good use of this window period of absolute advantage, he will What a pity

The German Air Force and Navy tried their best to delay Patton's retreat. Using El Salvador as a base, they conducted thousands of air raids every day. The U.S. Army and Navy in Recife tried their best to intercept, but with little success. They only brought in more than 300 aircraft.

After hearing that the Roosevelt Cluster was annihilated (in fact, many people hid in the hills and mountainous areas and returned to their own defense area, but in the end the number was less than 1,000. Compared to the more than 20,000 Roosevelt Cluster, only 5% were lucky), With the definite news that Brigadier General Roosevelt Jr. had been killed in action, Marshall, who was extremely anxious and anxious, suddenly fell ill - this time it was a real illness.

As the war situation took a turn for the worse, some people were now attacking him for being "arbitrary", "employing people inappropriately", and "having a mess of command". The trigger was his "reusing Patton" and angrily denounced Clark in meetings.

As Clark's confidant, it didn't matter if he scolded him a few times. Even Clark himself didn't care about Boss Marshall's criticism. Because Marshall did not treat him badly in other ways when he scolded him bloody. Not only did he give Clark the title of Acting Commander of the South American Theater, he also planned to let him return to China as deputy chief of staff to partner with the incoming MacArthur. , in fact, it is the rhythm of reuse. Being scolded for a few words is completely because the leader hates that iron cannot be transformed into steel.

But Capitol Hill and others didn't think so. Clark initially opposed Patton's landing troops and his misappropriation of equipment and supplies from other troops in El Salvador. After losing El Salvador, Clark did not advocate continuing to hold on. Instead, he said he would retreat and retreat all the way. Go to Recife. As a result, Marshall didn't listen to a word and adopted all of Patton's opinions.

From the perspective of hindsight, Clark's strategy is correct, and the loss is small-at most, it will lose the small Roosevelt cluster.

As a result, Patton advocated counterattack and Marshall also supported counterattack. The counterattack on El Salvador had no effect. Instead, more than 10,000 troops and more than 800 aircraft were lost. What's even more troublesome is that Roosevelt's cluster still cannot escape. When Patton organizes a retreat again, it will no longer be as easy as when Clark advocated a retreat.

Only 4 days left!

The German troops that landed in El Salvador were no more than a Marine brigade 4 days ago. If Patton retreated in time, he could ensure that most of the troops retreated steadily. However, after 4 days, except for the collapse of the Roosevelt cluster, the number of German troops that landed in El Salvador dropped from 1 Marine brigade to 1 Marine brigade. It became one division, one heavy armored battalion, two marine brigades, and one more air force wing. The pressure on the Fifth Army increased sharply, and it would not be so easy to retreat.

Hearing that the war situation in the South American theater was so corrupt, Truman was on the verge of collapse.

In order to cope with this sudden war, the third presidential election debate that was supposed to be held later in the day was postponed. Dewey graciously accepted the postponement decision and hoped that Truman could devote himself to leading the troops to fight this battle. Although there were rumors that Truman might withdraw from the election, after all, the news was leaked from a small circle, and Dewey did not dare to confirm it, let alone publicize it publicly - it would be too shameful to deny it.

What made Truman even more devastated was that on the afternoon of September 1, a reconnaissance plane discovered that the main force of the Combined Fleet, which had disappeared for several days, appeared more than 2,600 kilometers southwest of Hawaii. It seemed that there was an attempt to attack Christmas Island, 2,000 kilometers south of Hawaii (note: the aforementioned The main island of Kiribati. There are two Christmas Islands in the Pacific. One is very small, 500 kilometers south of Jakarta; the other is larger, with a land area of ​​more than 300 square kilometers, including more than 600 square kilometers of lagoons, in Hawaii. 2,000 kilometers south. Unless there is any accident, this article refers to the area south of Hawaii).

In the evening, the main Japanese fleet had approached Christmas Island, which was only more than 600 kilometers away, and reconnaissance planes also detected a large number of transport formations behind the fleet.

"The Japanese are going to land on Christmas Island!"

"Can we hold it?" Truman asked worriedly.

Li Hai hesitated and slowly shook his head: "Our army has a marine division stationed on Christmas Island, and the navy has nearly 200 aircraft, but there are no systematic fortifications and coastal defense systems. I don't think it can stop the Japanese combined fleet. Fire suppression! Once the naval guns clear the beach, the Japanese landing will be a matter of course."

Even a president like Truman, who did not understand military affairs, could understand after looking at the map: Midway Island, which is more than 2,400 kilometers in the northwest, has been lost. Once Christmas Island, which is more than 2,000 kilometers in the south, is lost again, Hawaii will be clamped in two directions. If If Japan tries harder, it could even blockade the entire Hawaii.

"It's not just as simple as Hawaii being blocked. If the Japanese divide their forces to occupy Samoa, the Marshall Islands, Christmas Island, and Samoa they control will form a large triangle, which can directly cut off the shipping supply line from the Central Pacific to Australia and New Zealand. That way To maintain the transportation line to Australia and New Zealand, we can no longer follow the previous route. After starting from the west coast, we must first go south until we reach the level with Chile and then go west, which is a big circle.”

"What can you do about the current situation?"

"We can only delay time and consume the enemy. General Turner believes that it is necessary to fight a fierce defensive battle on Christmas Island. The Army and Hainan Airlines will send more aircraft into the battle-this time they can use fighter jets." Li Hai hesitated. , “Now the navy does not have a fleet and can only rely on aviation to weaken the enemy’s advantage, which will make the battle process very difficult.

The method proposed by Turner this time was to use long-range P-51s with auxiliary fuel tanks for escort. After the air attack, the heavy bombers returned to Pearl Harbor, and the P-51s landed on Christmas Island to supplement the attack - differentiated shuttle bombing.

"Let's fight according to this plan...invite General Arnold, I want to talk to him."

"President..." Seeing Truman, Arnold's eyes became red before he could even speak, and his voice became choked with sobs.

"I know that the Army Aviation has made great sacrifices recently..." Truman comforted the other party, "but now the country has reached a critical moment, the situation in South America has deteriorated sharply, and the Japanese army is pressing forward step by step in the direction of Hawaii, forcing us to grit our teeth and persevere, and we must boost our morale. , inspiring patriotic enthusiasm and dedication. In view of the courage and contribution of the Army Aviation in this war, I discussed with other generals in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and initially approved the establishment of an independent air force in the future. Of course, I have no say. The new president and Congress have no say. Approval counts, I can only make a suggestion.”

"President...you?" Arnold only knew from other people that Truman was withdrawing from the election, but he was a little surprised to hear the news in person.

"This may be the last few battles I lead you to fight. For the sake of the country and the people, can we hold on a little longer?" Truman closed his eyes in pain, "The next time there is such a tragic moment, maybe it will be Homeland defense war."