Chapter 493 Mutual Learning (Part 1)
ps: I wish all readers a happy Mid-Autumn Festival and a happy family reunion!
On the morning of May 2, the door of the famous Oval Office was tightly closed. There were only two people inside. One was US President Franklin Roosevelt, and the other was a middle-aged man who was not yet fifty years old, but his hairline was already very high. His eyes projected a terrifying light. He was none other than Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI.
The time for the second congressional questioning on the afternoon of May 3 was getting closer and closer, but Roosevelt still did not wait for the much-needed good news. Yesterday, the entire Northeast Coastal Army Aviation Force searched for a whole day and found no trace of the enemy. Although everyone knew that the attack group came on an aircraft carrier, this huge fleet disappeared completely as if it had evaporated from the face of the earth.
According to the judgment of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, if this fleet was determined to escape, it should have run 1,200 kilometers at this moment. Although no one expressed their intention to give up, it was almost certain that there would be no results. The crow did send an urgent intelligence report saying that the Axis fleet had docked at Angra do Heroes again, but when the British sent out heavy bombers to bomb, the entire fleet had disappeared without a trace.
Arnold instructed the Eighth Air Force to launch a large-scale retaliatory air strike today. Various preparations were made yesterday, and more than 1,000 bombers and corresponding escort forces were mobilized to deal a devastating blow to Berlin, but Roosevelt himself was not optimistic about the effectiveness of the air strike - the thousand-plane bombing had been carried out many times, and it was very powerful at the beginning, but the effect became worse and worse, and the losses became greater and greater.
After the British sea transport line was blocked on a large scale, it was quite difficult to transport materials and fuel. If it was not for revenge for the bombing of New York, Churchill would not have been willing to spend very precious aviation fuel. The thousand-plane bombing plus the escort fighters would consume at least 10,000 tons of high-grade fuel for one attack. It would be more meaningful to bomb the Azores. At present, the main aircraft for bombing the Azores has been changed from Lancaster to B-17F. American technicians installed additional fuel tanks called "Azores fuel tanks" in the wings. The overall carryable fuel capacity has increased from 9463 liters to 13671 liters. The theoretical maximum range has exceeded 7000 kilometers, which can support the aircraft to safely perform round-trip bombing missions-provided that it does not get injured.
Good news did not come, but there were many troubles:
Yesterday evening, Dewey held a press conference at New York City Hall, detailing the attack on New York City and the initial rescue results. The entire bombing destroyed New York's most famous landmark buildings vividly. Although the loss of personnel was not large, there were less than 200 people in total, and less than 100 casualties except for members of the National Guard. But because the Axis deliberately bombed the wealthy area of Long Island, most of the deaths were members of the upper class. Although the core members of the first-class consortium family were not harmed, Roosevelt had received several calls expressing dissatisfaction with the government's failure to implement effective defense.
With the destruction of landmark buildings including the Brooklyn Bridge, there will be major problems in the operation of New York City. Now the city is completely closed. Roosevelt dare not imagine what problems he will encounter on the first working day on May 3.
If the casualties of these professional managers' families and the daily chaos in New York are minor troubles, then Dewey's public remarks are the real big trouble. This biggest opponent in next year's presidential election mercilessly refuted Roosevelt's national defense policy point by point at the press conference. In front of reporters and the audience, he criticized New York's extremely poor defense system, saying that what he saw was "very few aircraft, inefficient air defense firepower and command system, poorly trained personnel and officers who were at a loss." He said that he would urge the military to continue to strengthen air defense and military construction. In order to enhance the effect of the explanation, he also deliberately pulled Marshall. The poor Army Chief of Staff did not dare to escape. He was speechless when asked by the media on the spot and could only bow and apologize repeatedly.
At the critical moment, the Germans also came to make trouble. Less than 3 hours after the national speech, the German side issued a tit-for-tat speech. Goebbels personally took part in the speech. Roosevelt knew the whole process clearly, but he had no ability and means to interfere with the public's access to information - the United States is not Germany. The more news that the public does not want to know, the more daring reporters dare to reveal it. Not to mention that the Germans also used high-power radio stations to openly send clear-coded telegrams to the American media, which made it very difficult to block it.
After the Germans finished their speech, Marshall called him long distance and said that he would return to Washington tomorrow to discuss countermeasures together. At the same time, he also worriedly told the president that the roads were crowded with private cars fleeing to the interior, and they were all filled with frightened middle-class people. The supplies in various stores in the city were sold out, and people hoarding goods could be seen everywhere. The price of gas masks had increased five times compared to last week, but they were still unavailable.
Faced with a situation that was about to start, coupled with the possible huge fluctuations in the capital market, Roosevelt was even more worried. After the Pearl Harbor incident, the first reaction of the people was anger, but after this incident, the first reaction was panic. Roosevelt was considering whether to strengthen the control of public opinion, but this was a very dangerous double-edged sword. He was really unsure, so he had to invite Hoover to discuss it together.
"I'm afraid the society will be in chaos for a while. After all, the continuous news shocks during this period have confused the minds of the people across the country..." Hoover sighed and complained, "Now there are strange words everywhere, such as 'German ministers, marshals and industrialists have children who have been sacrificed one after another, and the most famous here are only the five Sullivan brothers'..."
The five Sullivan brothers are descendants of Irish immigrants and are typical civilian children. They all served on the USS Juneau. They were all killed in the South Pacific Campaign last year. After being reported by the media, they caused an uproar. The U.S. military specifically emphasized that in the future, they will not allow the same brothers. A family member serves in the same combat unit.
Those who have truly had contact with high-level people, have been abroad, and have an understanding of the political ecology and upper class society of the United States and Germany will not be confused by the comparisons listed by Goebbels, because there are profoundly different national conditions:
Germany is a traditional Junker society with a strong tradition of militarism. Soldiers enjoy high political and social status. Even after the defeat in World War I, this tradition has not faded: if a man cannot prove himself on the battlefield, not only will he feel unable to hold his head high, , and will be looked down upon by friends, partners, subordinates and even wives. Most of the children of the upper class will choose to serve and go to the front line. Officers, especially senior officers with "Feng" are military aristocrats passed down from generations, like Marshal Manstein was born into a military aristocratic family. Not only was his father a Prussian general, his uncle was a general, and his grandfather was also a Prussian general (who led an army in the Franco-Prussian War). He graduated from the Junior Military Academy and served in the army before he reached adulthood. If his son wants to stand out in the future, he must have this experience - a noble son who can't fight and has no medals can't even find a good wife who is well matched.
The United States is a commercial civil society. Businessmen, engineers, lawyers, and doctors are the people who enjoy the highest political and social status in the society. The most important ability for a man is to prove himself in the mall. Only when he cannot make money will he be ridiculed. Officer In the eyes of many people, it represents the image of "simple-minded, well-developed limbs, simple and crude", which is probably not the choice of successful people. Therefore, not only the children of the first-class families choose to go into business, but even the children of senior generals are rarely willing to continue to pursue this career. The road to joining the army. Comparing the leaders of the United States, we can see that after World War I, Coolidge, Hoover and Roosevelt, who successively became presidents of the United States, were either lawyers or engineers, while Hindenburg and the Führer, who became leaders of Germany, were both soldiers. One was a marshal, and the other was a marshal. Just a corporal.
It's a pity that only the top elites understand and understand this truth. The people will never understand it, and even if it does, they can't accept it in their hearts - the children of big shots in Germany are proud of fighting, and the children of big shots in the United States are proud of making money? What kind of truth is this?
“Will regulating public opinion cause a backlash?”
Hoover was silent for a long time and only managed to say one sentence: "It depends on how determined the government is."
"for example?"
“We must establish a comprehensive and detailed news censorship system that cannot rely solely on the consciousness of the media or reporters; we must reduce the use of radios and characterize listening to enemy stations as a serious treason; we must encourage the public to expose and monitor the behavior of unstable elements in the community; we must Conduct isolation, review and surveillance on groups with dissident political views; conduct secret sorting and screening of German, Italian, Irish and other immigrants, and transfer them from core positions..."
Edgar Hoover listed many of them, which made Roosevelt frightened. They sounded like a precursor to the transition to a police state.
"I can understand the other ones, but the last one..." Roosevelt hesitated, "Haven't we already sorted out and identified the enemy aliens?"
"They are not enemy aliens, they are citizens of the United States, or second- and third-generation European immigrants." Hoover explained, "Let me use an analogy. I have a typical case. A family of German immigrants were involved in the crime last time. After the war, he immigrated to the United States and became an American citizen. The head of the household had a record of serving in the Kaiser's army and is now retired. His son was born just after the war. He was raised and educated entirely in the United States. He did not speak much German and could not speak German. There was no record of their dealings with any Nazi group, but our detectives found that the head of the household often wore old military uniforms with medals and listened to German radio stations at night, and would salute with excitement when hearing news of Germany's victory... In terms of their identities, , His life has been completely Americanized, but his thoughts are still very dangerous, and his crimes are not high enough to be treason. "
"It is necessary to learn from the German authorities' approach to social control - all in order to win." Edgar Hoover finally concluded.