Chapter 1037 The Future of America (End)

Dewey was a little irritated: "General Turner, do you know what you are talking about? The cities you mentioned just now have millions of people and a large number of industrial facilities. Did you evacuate just by saying a word?"

"Then we can only let civilians hide in air-raid shelters. Anyway, the Germans did the same thing when we bombed Germany in the past!" Turner shrugged. "Homeland air defense is not my responsibility. I really can't think of a better way."

Arnold continued: "In order to cope with the Japanese offensive on Hawaii, we have dispatched a lot of aircrews from the west coast to Hawaii. The current defense force is relatively weak, but I will find a way to deploy 200-300 jets in the next two days. In addition, we will send 200-300 jets to Hawaii. Transfer a batch of other aircraft."

"How much can it reach?"

"There are probably 600-700 skilled fighter pilots, no more."

Dewey's heart froze when he heard this: The coastline of the west coast of the United States is more than 2,000 kilometers long, and there are only 600-700 aircraft, which means that there can only be more than 30 aircraft on the 100 kilometers of coastline. He has read the intelligence, and the main force of the combined fleet is at least 400. more than one aircraft.

"This is not possible, General Arnold. We must find a way to strengthen it."

"Strengthen?" Arnold's voice suddenly rose a few decibels. "How to strengthen? Deploy planes from the east coast to reinforce? What if the Germans come to attack the east coast? Or dispatch planes from South America to the west coast? Then next time someone points out Are you scolding me for not covering the Ridgway cluster? Or simply give up on Hawaii and withdraw the planes there? "

"That won't work, then you'll become a traitor." Turner sneered, "Follow my strategy. Big cities should be evacuated as much as possible, and small cities and suburbs should be left alone. Bombs can't hit them even if they fall. How many people? When the Air Force bombed Germany, the Germans didn't take to the streets to protest against the government? If they bombed more times, the people would naturally be more aware of air defense, and the losses wouldn't be huge."

Dewey's face sank: "Germany is Germany, and the United States is the United States! The two countries have different national conditions, how can we generalize? We must find a way, otherwise we will not be able to explain to the people."

Turner got angry and slapped the table and said: "It won't work this way, that won't work either. Why don't you take command? Someone who hasn't even attended military school for a day is always dictating military deployment. What do you know? You are just a human being." Peace Ambassador, why are you making irresponsible remarks on the discussions at the Joint Chiefs of Staff!”

"You!" Dewey glared at each other.

"Turner, why did you talk to Mr. Dewey? Why don't you apologize quickly? Mr. Dewey will be the next president." Li Hai suddenly remembered that Turner, the thorn in the side of the Wallace incident, had no way to deal with Dewey, and quickly stood up to smooth things over. .

"The next term?" Turner sneered, "This shows that he is indeed not the president yet. As for the next term, I quit! He can find whoever he wants to find a solution!"

After that, no matter what others thought, he slammed the door and left, leaving others with shocked faces...

Before everyone could recover, Arnold also put on his military cap and left. Before leaving, he said: "You guys will slowly discuss the best strategy first. I will follow your strategy. I will go to the west coast to deploy fighter jets for air defense first. You don’t have to worry too much about the Japanese bombing. I’ll just take the blame and resign.”

Only Truman sat silently in his seat, neither happy nor angry. He seemed to be telling Dewey: "Do you think it is so easy to be president? You will know when you sit in this position!"

Dewey turned his head helplessly and said to Truman: "Your Excellency, this is how the Joint Chiefs of Staff normally hold discussions? I have really learned a lot."

Truman smiled bitterly: "Everyone is holding back their anger. Soldiers are just like that. Don't take it too seriously."

The new First Deputy Chief of General Staff, Army Lieutenant General Clark, stood up and smoothed things over: "Your Excellency, Mr. President, Mr. Dewey, although it is not favorable for the Japanese army to attack the west coast, I think there are still two positive factors. First, this shows that the current combined fleet The main force has left the central Pacific and is coming to the west coast, which can create opportunities for General Nimitz to lead his fleet to successfully break into Hawaii; secondly, in this case, it is militarily beneficial to negotiate an armistice and peace with Germany first , and also have a decent explanation for the people.”

Clark's words made Dewey's expression soften, and he also had a certain level of steps to climb down.

After more than an hour of deliberations, the Joint Chiefs of Staff finally reached the following opinions:

1. Since the Japanese military notice has been issued, it should be made public openly and the National Guard will be responsible for a certain degree of evacuation in key cities on the west coast;

2. Use these two days to quickly deploy air defense facilities such as radars, anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, fighter jets, etc., to continue to enhance anti-air attack capabilities;

3. The Army, Navy and Air Force will continue to strengthen the search. If the Japanese fleet can be found, destroy it as a priority as possible;

4. Urge the Nimitz fleet to arrive at Pearl Harbor as soon as possible and complete ship repairs and refits, and consider intercepting the returning Japanese fleet if circumstances permit;

5. Contact Germany through third country channels to negotiate an armistice - Dewey is responsible for this.

At the end of the meeting, only Dewey and Truman were left. Dewey said somewhat unhappily: "It seems that President Roosevelt has spoiled these officers. They don't respect you very much."

Truman sneered in his heart, but spread his hands helplessly on his face: "What can I do? I am not a democratically elected president, am I just a transitional role? Now two army and navy figures, General King and General Marshall, have joined forces. They were separated from the command line due to illness, and Nimitz and MacArthur, who succeeded them, are still floating at sea. We can only work together to find a solution..."

Of course, Dewey knew that Truman was not trying to show off his power. He thought Arnold's reaction was acceptable and tolerable - soldiers always have a temper, but he never expected that Turner would jump like this. When he thought of Lee He felt very annoyed by Hai's old, smiling face.

In the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, except for Nimitz and MacArthur, who had not seen anyone, only Clark of the Army and Hewitt of the Navy were relatively mature and prudent. Commander Mitchell of the Atlantic Fleet was also a slippery man. When asked when he would be ready, he always said Without any confidence, I just shirk the difficulty.

After being silent for a long time, Dewey said: "I heard that General Spruance has almost recovered. Is it possible to recruit him back to participate in the relevant work? He..."

Truman nodded: "I have the same intention. Let him come to work at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in two days. Your peace contacts must be faster. The military intelligence system analyzes that the German army will soon attack South Africa. Once this bargaining chip is lost, we will There may be more costs on the table.”

A series of events such as letting Dewey attend the meeting, triggering a conflict between Dewey and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and letting Turner jump up and take the lead were certainly what Truman had expected. Dewey simply thought that the military or Truman was going to give him a blow. Anyway, He doesn't care about this - he originally planned to purge a group of people after taking power, and now that he is showing off his power, he will make it easier for him to do so in the future, without even a trace of hesitation.

But Dewey did not understand Truman's true thoughts. The act of imposing authority was purely a matter of whim, something that mature politicians would disdain. He had a deeper pursuit, and Turner's "performance" intensified the drama of this conflict.

In the evening, the shocking news spread. Turner publicly announced his resignation and held a press conference.

A reporter asked: "General Turner, what do you think of the threat that the Japanese fleet is about to attack the west coast? And what kind of countermeasures have been taken?"

"The Joint Chiefs of Staff have fully discussed and deployed the countermeasures, and they have all been advanced. The specific details are classified as military secrets. I am sorry to disclose them. But I can talk about the connotation of this threat..." Turner spoke eloquently. , “There has been a saying in recent years, especially after Hitler’s radio speech last night, which seems to have strengthened this view-the United States can easily achieve peace with Germany and then turn around to deal with Japan, not to mention the close relationship between Japan and Germany. Cooperation is a close alliance that provides all-round support to each other. It does not mean that the commander currently commanding the German fleet is actually a Japanese naval admiral. You only need to think about one question to understand: Why should Germany give up its relationship with Japan and realize the goal with the United States? understanding?"

The reporters nodded, this was another topic they were interested in.

"Buy! Use the long-term interests of the American people to buy the Germans!" Turner sneered. "I don't know what the peace terms between Germany and Germany will be like, but there are several conditions that are definitely inevitable. First, the United States is not allowed to It interfered with Germany's aggressive actions in Europe and allowed it to dominate, wantonly dismember the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, and invade and occupy the territory of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and France; secondly, the United States was not allowed to interfere with Germany's occupation of large tracts of the Middle East, Africa, and American colonies, and its enslavement The people of the Middle East, Africa, and South America support various dictatorships and puppet regimes. For example, the German American Republic talks nonsense about German-American independence. In fact, it is basically the overseas territory of the Germans, from politics to economy, from the military to the government. All are directly controlled by the German government, and even the leading figures are Germans; thirdly, even after the armistice, Germany will continue to export various aircraft, tanks, artillery, and warships to Japan, allowing Japan to continue fighting with us and borrowing the help of the Japanese What if Mr. Dewey wants peace? He has to bow to the Germans, beg for mercy and agree to the various conditions of surrender proposed by Germany. "

"Do you have any evidence?"

"I didn't! But I'm very worried. It can be seen from his pursuit of peace with Germany, his suppression of the president's demands, and his repeated claims that he has no essential conflict of interest with Germany." Turner sneered, "I hope the press Pay close attention to his peace terms with Germany. And I will call on all the American people to persist again and again. The Chinese people persisted for 7 years and gradually regained lost ground. Two days ago, they took back Wuhan, a large city equivalent to Chicago. Why can't we? persist in?"

"We can too!"

"If Mr. Dewey can bring about a peace that is truly fair and just and does not harm the fundamental and long-term interests of the American people, I will personally come to apologize and let him go. If not..." Turner emphasized, "I hope he will quit as soon as possible. Get out of the White House! Avoid being nailed to the pillar of shame in history!”