Chapter 1050 Hawaii (End)

The introduction of Lieutenant General Carl Spartz, the third in command of the Army Aviation, commander of the Air Force responsible for the defense of North America and the East Coast, and former chairman of the Newfoundland Joint Shipping Management Committee, exacerbated this panic.

He said that in addition to more than 100 jets, there are currently nearly 600 combat aircraft on Newfoundland, but only 15% of them are skilled crews. If Canadians and British are excluded, this proportion will drop to less than 9%. Everyone's hearts are about to jump out - 20-30% of the skilled crews on the West Coast, Panama, and Pearl Harbor have been beaten like this. A team with only 15% of skilled crews is not just cannon fodder?

The consequences of the occupation of Newfoundland would be extremely terrible. Once Prince Edward Island fell soon after, the Germans could easily set up rockets on the island and hit Boston. If they used new models (Von Karman speculated that the Germans should have 1,000 kilometers) (models with the above range) rockets, then New York and even Washington and Philadelphia would be within the coverage of the German army. What would the United States do at that time? Move the capital to President Truman's home state of Missouri? ——It is located in the heart of the United States, more than 1,500 kilometers away from the east and west coastlines.

Truman asked in a hoarse voice: "Can the Army hold Newfoundland?"

MacArthur believed that the existing defense forces were basically unable to defend against the attack of the German main fleet and ground forces, but he did not want to say such depressing words for the time being. He hesitated and said: "If the navy can help us weaken and contain the strength of the German fleet, I think We can hold it after sending a few more divisions up there.”

"Can the Navy provide the greatest possible help?" Truman turned to Nimitz again.

Nimitz knew that the Mitchell fleet could not defeat the main German fleet, but he still bit the bullet and said: "If it can cooperate with ground forces, army and aviation in defense, the Atlantic Fleet can play its due value and role."

Truman nodded: "Find a way to move the Atlantic Fleet to the north, and then the Army Aviation and Army will deploy a group of troops to strengthen the defense of Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. At the critical moment, you cannot place your hopes on Canada or Churchill. Once they The Germans won't do anything to them if they surrender. We have to guard it ourselves to rest assured, it is America's barrier!"

Everyone nodded silently.

Truman then added: "If the Germans occupy Newfoundland, tell Mr. Dewey that I hope he can agree to the conditions proposed by the Germans!"

Although he participated in the meeting, Army Secretary Smith Tingson, who had been silent all the time, was shocked when he heard this, and subconsciously muttered: "The presidential election will be voted on next month."

"I know!" Truman gritted his teeth and said, "If the worst consequences occur, it is not a question of whether he can become president, but a question of whether this country and this government can continue to survive - the government will no longer exist. If he exists, whose president will he be?”

Everyone with complicated moods immediately broke up the meeting and arranged their arrangements separately.

At night, Horikichi received the battle report from the front, smiled, and disapproved of the performance of the US military.

Chiaki Matsuda asked: "Sir, do you think the U.S. military is at the end of its rope?"

"No, they have tricks and many means, but they are unwilling to use them."

"for example?"

"If Tsunoda wants to attack the West Coast, let him do it. If Tsukahara wants to attack Panama, let him do it... The Americans can just go to Midway or Christmas Island."

"The Second Guards Division is guarding it!"

"But there is no fleet there, there are no reliable coastal defenses, and there are not even many aircraft." Horikichi explained, "Islands without a fleet and only defended by defenders can always be taken down by people with many dead spots. Hawaii's 100,000 U.S. troops and Why are the fleets there just to bask in the sun? Why don’t they take the initiative to cut off our army’s retreat or supply lines?”

"They are probably afraid that the fleet will be annihilated."

"How is that possible? The U.S. fleet knew that our fleet was not there the day it slipped back from Australia to Pearl Harbor. To say the least, if you were worried about our troops hiding, you should have understood that when Tsukahara attacked the Galapagos Islands, right? Why? No attack?" Horikichi said with a smile, "It took nearly 10 days. Even if Christmas Island is not easy to fight, we should recover Midway Island, right? The U.S. military is more familiar with the terrain, defense, and hydrology there than we are."

"But once the support fleet passed by, didn't they lose their sight again?"

"The Americans don't know about supporting the fleet at all. If they knew, it would never be like this!" Horikichi shook his head, "Even if they knew, so why not send the army to knock down Midway, and then the fleet would retreat back to Pearl Harbor, forcing us to Hit Midway again, and then U.S. aviation can weaken us again."

"But the U.S. island defenders are ultimately doomed."

"It's over! As soon as the support fleet leaves, the Americans can launch another Midway landing campaign - as long as our fleet is not there, the Americans can always attack the island and use the island to contain our army. At least Pearl Harbor has With 100,000 soldiers, each attack can be carried out 20 times based on 5,000 men. Even if half of them are left undispatched, they can still be attacked 10 times!”

"The U.S. military may be worried about sacrificing too much."

Horikichi nodded: "This is the same as the oil rotation unit. It's just a matter of repeated consumption. Let's see who can't withstand the last breath. We have to bring the army or oil tankers from the mainland all the way. The Americans don't have such trouble. Their crews The replenishment speed is faster than that of buying or building oil tankers. Can we win the war of attrition by fighting more and slower? "

"Been taught a lesson!"

Horikichi sighed: "I am originally at a disadvantage in terms of strength. I want to win but am afraid of losing. I don't want to kill too many people. How can there be such a beautiful thing in the world? If I don't risk my life now, it will be too late for me to blow up the fuel and even try my best. ”

Matsuda Chiaki smiled. He knew that Horikichi's "hating iron but not steel" tone was purely a joke: with the industrial strength and population of the United States, if it could work as hard as Japan and have the spirit of not being afraid of 10 million deaths, now Are you afraid that you have conquered the earth?

"This is the first time I have heard from you that the United States is at a disadvantage."

"The strength of the United States is fundamentally equal to the sum of Japan and Germany, but the fundamental strength does not represent stage strength, nor does it represent performance. The head of state and I have a strong consensus on one thing: the United States is too powerful, and we must not let it feel comfortable. Stay comfortably at home and build warships and airplanes, but you must drag him out to fight - it is best not to fight in the United States. No matter whether you win or lose, you just won't give him a peaceful life. The head of state will do this. It can be summed up as 'bloodletting'. Japan's strength is not as good as Germany's. I can only sum it up as 'harassment'... The current progress of the war is generally based on this idea. I can't say that it will definitely succeed in the end, but the situation is quite optimistic." Horitiyoshi looked optimistic. Seriously, "The bad thing about the United States is that it shouldn't consider itself the leader of the free world. It has to manage this and defend that, but it cannot show its strength for a while."

“What do you think is the ideal U.S. response?”

"Before the Pearl Harbor incident, since they had grasped the bottom line of the empire through code breaking, why didn't they relax a little? For example, they sold us 3 million tons of oil and scrap steel, and their attitude towards the Southeast Asian colonies was a little more ambiguous, and then they secretly built warships at home. , With such a tone of voice, how dare we take risks to provoke the United States?”

"Wouldn't that be in line with the empire's original ideas?"

Horikichi laughed out loud: "Do you think these red deer below can be suppressed? If the United States compromises, the arrogant army will definitely go north to attack the Soviet Union, and the navy will watch from the side."

"That's okay. At least the Soviet Union is easier to fight than the United States."

"So I say, you can be generals, but being politicians is too centrist and a little naive..." Horikichi reminded the other party, "Can the Soviet Far East be bulldozed? If not, during the stalemate, the U.S. armaments It was almost completed, but suddenly it announced a trade embargo, stopped the export of oil and scrap steel, and asked us to withdraw our troops from the Far East. What should we do now? Will the empire surrender or continue to declare war on the United States, which has completed its armaments? "

"This..." Matsuda Chiaki was speechless, confused for a moment, and finally hesitantly said, "I'm afraid, I'm afraid... I still have to declare war based on Tojo's idea."

"That is to start a war against the United States and the Soviet Union at the same time. Even if the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor continues to succeed, the United States will have many ways to deal with us, such as sending a large number of heavy bombers to the Soviet Union to carry out strategic bombing, covering the entire mainland."

“Didn’t European strategic bombing fail?”

"Because it was Germany who was defending from below, and the Americans who died above were all Americans, so the Americans couldn't help but failed. Think about it on the other hand, it was the empire that was defended below, and the Soviets were the ones who died above - the Americans just sent out planes And oil, can the empire withstand Japan’s strategic depth and industrial system, let alone three years, five years, or two years?”

Matsuda Chiaki and a bunch of staff members said sadly: Fortunately, we didn’t go this way, otherwise it would have been a disaster!

"Report, sir, the battle plan has been revised and is collectively called Operation Czech. Among them: the main force of this support fleet is targeting Pearl Harbor, called Czech No. 1; the main force of Admiral Tsukahara's combined fleet is targeting Panama and Central America, in conjunction with the Second Air Force The goal of the war was to annihilate the remaining forces of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and it was called Jie No. 2; the main force of Vice Admiral Tsunoda's second aviation battle was to break diplomatic relations on the west coast of the United States, lure the U.S. military to attack, and cooperate with the main fleet to annihilate the enemy's Pacific Fleet, and it was called Jie No. 3."

Matsuda Chiaki handed the battle plan to Horikichi: "What should we do next? It feels like the three targets are a bit messy together, but they cannot be separated..."

"Don't be impatient and fight slowly. There is plenty of time this time." Horikichi muttered, "Didn't Tsukahara-kun pretend to attack Panama? Tell him to do it again like this!"

Matsuda Chiaki asked tentatively: "Is it true if it is false?"

Horikichi narrowed his eyes and thought for a while: "We can make another mistake today. Let's see how the US military responds. Whether the third time is a mistake or not, it's up to him to judge. I won't control it remotely. The Tsunoda fleet can go north and see. Is there any chance of visiting the northwest coast? You can try it again. With more than 2,000 kilometers of coastline, I don’t believe that everything is impregnable!”

"This fleet will continue to Midway?"

"The landing force and transport force are on standby at Midway Island as planned. The attack force will change direction slightly and follow Yamamoto-kun's example of taking the North Pacific route. Are you familiar with this route?"

"Familiar, sir, we are all familiar."

"That's good." Horikichi laughed at himself to a group of staff members. "You are all more familiar with me. Well, I am the only newbie. Please take care of me."

Everyone covered their mouths and almost stopped laughing.