Chapter 440 Statement (Additional Update for the Leader "Miracle - Magic Swordsman")

Ps: Congratulations to the reader "Miracle - Magic Swordsman" for becoming the leader of this book. I will add more chapters here. Thank you for your support.

On the evening of April 10, Hoffman returned to Berlin. During his stay in Spain, he inspected the completely destroyed Gibraltar Fortress and held talks with Franco. The latter was "inspired" by the victory of the Axis and was determined to "contribute" more strength. He claimed that he had secretly mobilized the army, but hoped to get more help due to the lack of national strength and military strength.

Hoffman saw through his true intention at a glance, but he didn't want to expose Franco's tricks. The current state of the Spanish was the best for the Axis camp - like France, they were standard "non-belligerent countries". He didn't expect the Spanish National Army to be of much use. Germany only needed to use Spain's airports, ports, resources and railways. He didn't want to bear the heavy burden of defending the Iberian Peninsula, so he comforted Franco a few more words: on the one hand, he clearly recognized Spain's full sovereignty over Gibraltar, but Germany had to use it; on the other hand, he said that the Spaniards would enjoy the same treatment as Italy.

On this basis, the two sides reached a package deal: Spain produced "Wheels of Will" according to the drawings provided by Germany, sent 1 million workers to Germany, and opened relevant military bases for Germany to use; Germany gave Spain an additional 300,000 G34 machine guns and 300 artillery pieces.

Shortly after he arrived in Berlin, Darges reported that Redl wanted to see him and handed him two documents.

"What is this?"

Raeder replied: "This is the statement left by the Japanese Navy Commander-in-Chief Hori Teikichi after the supply was completed in Angra do Heroes. He plans to have Azores send it out in plain text at noon tomorrow, but I disagree with this."

"Let me take a look first!"

The telegram was written in English and was translated into German by Hoffman, but no one knew that the Führer could understand it completely without translation.

"A letter to the people of the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada of the British Empire"

...In retaliation for the unprovoked air strikes by the British and American Allied Forces on the Axis countries, our naval fleet is now coming to fight back. The immediate targets are mainly the coastal areas and related islands of the United States and Canada in the Atlantic region. Since military operations cannot accurately distinguish between military and non-military targets, in order to avoid harming innocent people, the commanders of the Axis countries have decided to give advance notice: Please ask the people of the two countries to take immediate action after receiving this public notice. Those who can evacuate should try to evacuate to inland areas. Those who cannot evacuate should find the nearest air-raid shelters and artillery shelters for themselves, and prepare enough clean water and food for this purpose...

In this attack, the range of naval guns is 30 kilometers along the coast, and the target of carrier-based aircraft is 300 kilometers along the coast. People living within the above range are requested to evacuate immediately after receiving this notice. Please ask relevant newspapers, radio stations, local governments, non-governmental organizations and volunteer organizations to inform the public of the truth as soon as possible, and do not conceal or mislead.

The commanders of the Axis countries deeply regret the loss of life and property that may be caused by the attack. Please ask the people of the two countries to claim compensation from their own governments afterwards. They disregarded the fundamental interests of the people and plunged the two countries into an unnecessary war in order to satisfy the unspeakable secrets and desires of black-hearted arms dealers, monopoly oligarchs, opportunistic politicians, and ambitious officers. All losses should be borne by them.

In addition, the entire Atlantic Ocean is designated as a war zone from now on. Please ask the merchant ships of the allied countries to evade immediately to avoid being sunk by our army...

As for the military targets of the two countries, please do not worry. The US and Canadian governments have used countless taxes to build a solid defense line, which can fully play a role in protection. The military forces of the Axis countries came here on behalf of an independent third party to conduct special audits and acceptance... In the previous battles, we have assisted in the acceptance of many warships including South Dakota, Washington, Maryland, Colorado, Massachusetts, Texas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, etc., and found that the manufacturing quality was very poor and they were all sunk by our army. , please feel free to ask the parliament if there is any trickery involved...

Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet: Admiral Hori Teikichi

Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Navy: Admiral Iaginso

Commander of the German Navy's Northern Fleet: Admiral Marshal

"Interesting, interesting... Admiral Hori Teikichi is really a very interesting commander."

"But General Marshal objected, which would expose our military's combat intentions and lose the suddenness of the attack, while putting the fleet under serious threat from the enemy and further angering the Americans..."

"How did the Americans deal with us before we angered them?" Raeder was speechless.

"Do you think that after making this statement, Hori Teikichi will go to fight or not?"

"It's really unclear. The fleet has been in radio silence since leaving the port, only receiving telegrams but not replying to external telegrams."

"Agreed, send it..."

"Führer, why?"

"Do you think the fleet has not been exposed? When passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, any link in Spain, Italy, and Portugal could leak the news. I don't believe that the Americans are unaware of this. The question now is, even if they are aware of it, can they catch us and deal with us?"

"This..."

"This general understands politics and psychology much better than our generals." Hoffman suddenly asked an irrelevant topic, "When is the US election?"

"Probably in the fall of 1944, Roosevelt should be running for office, and his opponent might be Dewey." Redl didn't know anything about this, and neither did Dargers, but Cole, who had worked in the diplomatic system for a long time, quickly answered out.

Redel was confused. He had no idea what the head of state meant by asking this.

"If Horitsukichi was Dewey's chief campaign adviser, maybe Dewey would still have a chance to win."

At this point, the poor naval commander couldn't continue. Because the German military officer corps has a tradition of not getting involved in politics, and it doesn't understand democratic elections at all, so he couldn't understand what Horikichi did.

"Relax, my dear Admiral. The Japanese navy only has such a small fortune and cannot afford to lose more than us. He will not do anything wrong - an idiot cannot be the commander-in-chief of the combined fleet!"

"Sir, are you sure you really want to do this?" In the Nagato command tower, Combined Fleet Chief of Staff Kusuka Renichi also asked Horikichi in confusion.

"Do you know what the Sword of Damocles is?"

"I know...oh, I kind of understand."

"With our small force, if we want to attack the east coast of the United States or Canada, the chance of causing substantial threats or damage is almost zero. But do you know what the attitude of the base camp was after the Americans dropped bombs in Tokyo last year?"

"In order to retaliate, the base camp launched the Battle of Midway." Kusaka Renyi answered honestly.

"Although the Americans finally boasted that these bombers took off from Shangri-La, I know without guessing that these planes actually took off from an aircraft carrier. The bombs in Tokyo actually had little destructive power, but the impact they caused was unparalleled. I still remember that time That kind of atmosphere?"

Caolu Ren nodded, instinctively feeling the clamor and hysteria.

“What do you think the American people would do if we bombed important American cities?”

"Of course he angrily screamed for revenge!"

"Of course this is good, but if you think back to what happened to Lieutenant General Uemura during the Japanese War, you might not think so."

Horikichi was talking about a past event: During the Russo-Japanese War, on the eve of Japan's imminent victory, the Russian Vladivostok Squadron sank the Japanese "Hitachi Maru" and "Sado Maru" (a Guards regiment) near the Tsushima Strait. Army officers and soldiers were buried at the bottom of the sea, and 18 siege heavy artillery pieces were lost). When the Second Fleet, responsible for guarding the strait, arrived at the scene, the Russian ship had long disappeared. Not only that, the Vladivostok squadron continued to sweep northward along the west coast of Honshu Island, sinking 3 ships, intercepting 4 ships, and capturing 2 cargo ships before returning safely. The whole country in Japan was in an uproar, and the home of Lieutenant General Uemura Hikonoshima, commander of the Second Fleet, was destroyed by angry people.

"I get it! You're putting pressure on Roosevelt, Admiral King, Nimitz, etc."

"To put enough pressure on the Americans and get them to invest resources in homeland defense, how many aircraft, coastal defense artillery, anti-aircraft guns and troops do you think the United States needs to make up for this gap - these wasted resources will be greater than what we attack. The damage caused is hundreds of times greater," Horikichi said, "You have never been to a democratic country, so you don't know what their mentality is. Not only have I been there, I have experienced it myself..."

"Berlin has called back. The German head of state fully agrees with your suggestion and guarantees that the German navy will obey the command. Wish us all the best!"

"You see, the German head of state is still very reasonable..." Horikichi nodded with satisfaction, "Get ready to attack westward!"

Early the next morning, Washington time, Roosevelt had just started working when he heard an angry report from his chief of staff: "The President... something has happened."

"What's going on?"

"Our newspapers and radio stations received telegrams from the Japanese in plain code."

"What is it?"

"It's all here!" the chief of staff put the "Notice" on Roosevelt's desk and whispered. "Now all the phone calls are being buzzed. People are frantically asking newspapers and radio stations whether it is true. Members of the House and Senate Ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff to explain this matter and refute the rumors!”

"Asshole! Asshole! Asshole!" After reading the telegram, Roosevelt tore it into pieces. He was a democratically elected leader, and of course he knew how powerful Horikichi was: he had just said not to publish it to avoid disturbing the public, but the Japanese He struck a surprise - what mattered was not the news, but that the news came from the enemy's mouth. What's even more terrible is that the "Notice" also blatantly mocked the recent defeat of the United States. This will of course anger the people, but once the people calm down and think about it, many things will become troublesome. Why is it necessary to control public opinion and prevent people from listening to enemy stations during wartime? , that’s the truth!

At this time, he envied the Japanese people, how submissive and docile they were!