Chapter 491: The Crowd Is Excited (Part 2, Additional Chapter on the Leader "The Power of Arthas")

ps: This chapter is updated for the alliance leader "The Power of Alsace". There is still one more update needed. I wish everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

In the afternoon, the homeland defense plan initially drawn up by the Army Staff was handed over to Roosevelt - he was about to be questioned by Congress, and he couldn't do anything without practical information. Last year, Major General Thomas Handy, who succeeded Eisenhower as the Chief of Operations of the Army Staff, urgently formulated a strengthening plan. Although Marshall didn't have time to look at it, but at least Smith-Timson nodded.

Looking at such a thick report, Roosevelt patiently flipped through page after page. His brows furrowed more and more as he read. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "Do we need so many technical weapons and defense forces?"

It clearly states: To defend the territory 500 kilometers deep on the east coast, it is roughly necessary to deploy 50,000 to 60,000 small and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns, more than 20,000 large-caliber anti-aircraft guns, and at least 30,000 aircraft, 15% of which should have night combat capabilities. A three-layer radar network is arranged at a distance of about 120-150 kilometers, and each large city is equipped with 2-3 searchlight groups. Key industrial areas, including Pittsburgh's steel district, Detroit's automobile district, Norfolk's shipyards and other areas need to be strengthened...

Thomas Handy nodded and patiently explained the reason: "Germany covers an area of ​​nearly 500,000 square kilometers. Currently, it has deployed approximately 8,000 aircraft, about 20,000 anti-aircraft guns, and has built a large number of radar stations, searchlights, anti-aircraft artillery and fighter jets. The air defense command center integrates the field dispatch room. The land area that needs to be defended on the east coast is about five times that of Germany. Even by German standards, the air defense interception rate does not exceed 20%. The firepower and surveillance density we have built now are still far away. Far from reaching that level.”

Roosevelt sighed: "Do you know what this means?"

"We have asked major military industrial companies. Based on their maximum output, there is no problem in producing anti-aircraft guns and aircraft. They can basically be produced in 6-12 months. The remaining equipment and air defense centers can be completed within 18 months."

"You know that's not what I'm asking." Roosevelt said bitterly, "The equipment is basically fine. At worst, I will spend 10-20 billion, but what are you going to do with the personnel? According to you, we need 70,000-80,000 anti-aircraft guns. , each anti-aircraft gun equipped with 6 people requires 500,000 troops. The pilots, ground support, command, and maintenance personnel of the 40,000 aircraft add up to 800,000, and there is also the indispensable searchlight unit. , radar stations, and air defense command centers, do you think there are not 2 million personnel in total to complete this grand plan? "

"Preliminary calculations require 3 million people, plus important bases on the west coast and the Caribbean, a total of 5 million is needed." Thomas Handy whispered, "This does not include the large area in the middle - the United States is almost 20 times the size of Germany. Times, proportionally we..."

"Five million people doing nothing but staying at home to defend themselves? How many five million can the United States spare?"

"Now a total of more than 7 million armed forces have been mobilized in the country, but the president..." Thomas Handy explained, "Judging from German experience, these 5 million troops do not necessarily require young men of appropriate age. Women can also take on the responsibility. I have read German newspapers have reported with great fanfare that women hold positions such as flight controllers, radar operators, and telephone communicators, and some have even been photographed with Hitler, so I also want to vigorously introduce women to serve.”

"Okay, even if we can allocate enough personnel, what about the technical arms?" Roosevelt asked distressedly, "40,000 pilots are a headache. There are no less than 400,000 pilots in the United States with pilot licenses, but the elite , there will not be more than 4,000 outstanding pilots who can match the enemy."

"The Army Airlines has formulated a rotation method and is preparing to learn from the German experience. It will transfer the outstanding pilots of the Eighth Air Force back to China to serve as basic instructors, and send the new pilots to the UK for training, and then...and then..."

Thomas Handy couldn't go on while he was talking, because the next half of the sentence was very cruel - natural selection, survival of the fittest! As long as any pilot survives the first 8-10 battles against Germany, they will become veterans and grow up, and then they can return home to train newbies.

Roosevelt waved his hand: "Please step aside first and let me think about it..."

Obviously, he believed that Thomas Handy considered the problem too simplistically. The military factory might be able to produce these things at full capacity, but it would definitely squeeze out the share of support provided to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, and at the same time occupy a large amount of the budget. Although the United States has the world's largest The most powerful industrial strength and economic capabilities, but this capability is not unlimited. Last time, an additional budget of 5 billion was used. This time, an additional budget of more than 10 billion is added for the start-up plan of 36 aircraft carriers. Just listed by the staff department The list cannot be completed without US$15 billion - the total military expenditure of the United States in 1941 was only US$13.8 billion.

"Do you have any questions about the plan?" Smith-Tingson asked. "Time is too short. Maybe it would be better to let them refine and deepen it a little more."

"That's not what I mean. If we operate this way, we will need an additional 25% of military expenditures and 40% of personnel. This is a price we cannot afford."

"This defense system is definitely too detailed, but we have no way." Stinson spread his hands, "We don't know where the enemy is coming from. The East Coast has such a long coastline and there are so many places to defend. We must set up defenses everywhere and at every level. These are all necessary troops. Even if we really do this, we dare not guarantee that we can contain the enemy's attack."

After a moment, he lowered his voice and said again: "The second half of the year will start the election year. Which state do you think voters can accept the fact that the state's defense system is not as strong as other states?"

This sentence hit back all Roosevelt wanted to say. He smiled bitterly but was speechless-this is really a fatal political logic!

The former comforted: "Of course, if we can recapture the Azores, the strategic situation will be greatly improved. Therefore, even if we start now, the actual cost to be paid and implemented will not be as high as described in the report."

The Battle of the Azores has been upgraded to Plan B. Turner believes that there is a chance to launch it in October at the earliest, and it may be postponed to early 1944. Roosevelt can only listen to Stinson's words as the most optimistic forecast.

After a long silence, he said: "We will discuss this matter after General Marshall comes back. The most urgent task is to pursue the enemy, rescue the attacked areas and appease the people."

That evening, Roosevelt gave another speech, strongly condemning the Axis attack group's attack on civilians and expressing his intention to launch a large-scale air strike in retaliation. But at night, the Propaganda Department of the Third Reich headed by Goebbels launched a sharp counterattack through public broadcasts and clear text telegrams:

"... You accuse us of launching attacks on civilians and non-military targets. We do not deny it, but before doing so, British and American planes have already launched large-scale air strikes against Germany for more than 3 years. You have dropped millions of tons of bombs and committed heinous crimes against the German and Western European people. Now we have returned less than one percent of them. There is still a lot of room for improvement. We will drop more and bigger bombs in the future."

"You accuse us of being executioners and massacrers. We cannot bear this title. Instead, it suits you better... In order to reduce the impact on civilians, we not only chose to launch the attack in the early morning of the rest day, but also They deliberately chose public places that were empty at the time. How many civilians were under these targets? We didn't touch ordinary residential areas at all, but you bombed us day and night, regardless of working days or holidays. You deserve to be called executioners and massacrers..."

"The American people have sharp eyes. You must remember that we issued an alert three weeks in advance to tell you that we would attack targets within 300 kilometers of the east coast. It was your government that turned a deaf ear to it. They lied that they had arranged sufficient defense measures and concealed the fact that the defense capability was extremely low. Yes, the so-called impregnable US mainland is a complete scam. In the face of the sharp attack of hundreds of aircraft, the facts they fabricated burst like a soap bubble... …

Everyone knows that the United States has the most powerful power in the world, but I need to remind ordinary people that the numerous aircraft, anti-aircraft guns, radars and other weapons you produce day and night are not used for national defense, and have nothing to do with the United States. It is very doubtful how many of them are used for the American people. You can find out how many people are operating these, and then see if they can meet the relevant requirements...Politicians, wealthy people, and senior military officers have dug enough strong and spacious air-raid shelters for themselves. Do you also have one?

The United States provided a large amount of supplies, weapons, and equipment to Britain and Russia to fight against us, but has never been stingy in investing in national defense. Do they not realize the importance of national security? Of course not! It is because the people in charge The handful of politicians and capitalists who hold the US government have never made decisions based on the interests of the American people. Their purpose in participating in this war is not to improve the international status and political situation of the United States, nor to win the future of the American people. They are fighting for the interests of big capitalists, especially the international Jewish capital group. These Jews plundered the German people crazily and stabbed the German Empire in the back more than 20 years ago, and now they are still trying to enslave the American people.

In the final analysis, the German people are as unfortunate as the American people, because we have all suffered the rule of the international Jewish group. Under the wise leadership of the Führer, the German people have successfully overthrown the rule of this decadent and dying group, while the American people are still deceived and used by it. You may not believe this, or think we are slandering, but the following facts cannot be refuted: "