Chapter 508 New Battlefield (Part 2)

Seeing his men lacking confidence, Hoffman tried his best to cheer them up: "Don't be intimidated by the influence of the United States in South America. The influence of the United States there is more economic, political, and cultural, but the military influence is the worst. The further south you go, the less military presence there is. The British defense force on the Falkland Islands is pitiful - only a fraction of Madagascar. It is not much farther from Spain to the Falkland Islands than from the United States to there. Although Brazil is known as the strongest country in South America, its military strength is not sufficient. It has only 100,000 regular army and 300,000 reserve army. Even if the Americans provide a lot of arms, it will only have a slight advantage at best."

"If this military strength is placed in Europe, Romania or The Hungarians can easily deal with them. It is certainly not realistic for us to fully occupy South America, but it is easy to defeat the Brazilian Army - 5 divisions are enough to flatten them. But I will not send so many troops, send 1 or 2 Marine brigades to the Falkland Islands and Argentina, and then send aircraft and instructors. Once Argentina is armed, it will be enough to overwhelm the pitiful military strength of the Brazilians. "

Everyone has no objection to this: even though Brazil has a larger population than Argentina, the Brazilian ethnicity is very complex, with a large number of Japanese and Germans, which is far less pure than Argentina - 93% are white, and very pro-European, especially Italy and Spain, which have close ties with Argentina, so Brazil's population advantage is easily offset. On the contrary, once multi-ethnic Brazil suffers a heavy blow, it is likely to fall apart.

"The Falkland Islands are currently occupied by the United Kingdom. We will seize them and return them to Argentina, but they will become our military base in wartime. The place has little strategic significance in peacetime, but the Argentines attach great importance to it. Recognizing their sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is the cornerstone of consolidating relations between the two countries. The Argentines will follow us wholeheartedly. If there is such a base, plus the assistance of the Argentines, it will be enough to turn South America upside down." Hoffman smiled, "The level of our instructors is definitely not the same as that of the United States. The Argentines armed by us can easily deal with the Brazilians, unless the Americans send a large number of troops to Brazil." At present, the Argentine Navy has 2 dreadnoughts, 3 heavy cruisers and 2 armored cruisers, while the Brazilian Navy only has 2 older dreadnoughts and 2 light cruisers, and its main focus is on escort. Not to mention that it is not enough to fight the German Navy, it is not even qualified to fight Argentina alone. Originally, this was the plan when Marshall led his fleet to South America to disrupt trade, but it was interrupted by Spruance's fleet in the end - the latter also paid a heavy price.

This time Hoffman is determined to send a powerful force. If the German and Italian fleets are deployed together, not to mention Brazil, the entire South American navy will not be enough to fight.

"Then...what about the US Navy?"

"Let them come out and fight them. Let's compete with each other. We can't give the Americans the opportunity to sit at home and accumulate warships at ease." Hoffman laughed. "Now we have some advantages in sea power, and we must bleed them frequently...unless Roosevelt is willing to be a turtle. Don't always think that we will suffer if we resist the United States alone and prevent the US Navy from diverting to the Pacific. Germany will be the locomotive and leader of the European Union in the future. If it doesn't even have the courage and determination to resist the United States independently, what will other countries think? Once the US Navy cannot be mobilized between the two oceans, the Japanese will only become more crazy to launch an attack in India, which will benefit us in the final analysis."

This reason is really strong. Several people looked at each other and finally didn't say anything. Air Force Chief of Staff Jeschonnek and Army Chief of Staff Zeitzler had been unable to interrupt, and now they are completely silent. Although Schneewind wanted to say something, Keitel stopped him with his eyes, indicating that he should listen to the Führer first.

Jodl asked, "What if the Americans don't come out to fight?"

"That would be great. The little prestige that the United States has accumulated from the Monroe Doctrine will be completely swept away. Doesn't Roosevelt want to be re-elected? Doesn't want to finish this term well?" Hoffman laughed, "The United States has its own national conditions, which cannot be easily reversed by Roosevelt alone..."

"As for time and troops, gentlemen, I know what you are worried about. It won't be hasty." Hoffman said confidently, "I plan to give you two months to prepare. We will set off from Italy on July 15. This time we will not go through Gibraltar and the Azores, but through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. We will pretend to attack South Africa or assist in the attack on India. In fact, it will be a feint and bypass southern South Africa and go straight to the Falkland Islands. Even if the Americans responded at the fastest speed, it would take a month to reach the war zone. By then, we would have occupied the island and consolidated our defenses. Even if things didn't go well, at most we would lose a Marine brigade and some equipment, and the navy would not be in trouble. But once it succeeds, the rewards will be very considerable. "

"Führer, you just said that you want to support this Juan Peron, and said that he will launch a coup soon. Is it too late to set off in July?"

"Coup?" Hoffman smiled slightly, "That's the Argentines' own business. We just watch and don't have to participate. If this person can't even carry out a coup, what's the point of supporting him?"

Everyone nodded, and their uneasy mood calmed down a lot - the logic of the whole thing was very clear. First, there was a change of power and policy within Argentina, and then the German force was deployed, and the coordination was seamless. It seems that although the Führer's plan is wild, it is not lacking in caution.

Hoffman listed the benefits in great detail: "As long as we occupy the island, it will become our outpost in the South Atlantic like the Azores - the joint attack aircraft and special mines will once again remind the Americans of the painful memory of the air raid. The Falkland Islands are more advantageous than the Azores in that they are very close to the Argentine mainland. It is much more convenient to transport construction materials to the island than to transport materials from Spain to the Azores. The Argentine land-based airport can smoothly cover the island. We will have a completely reliable rear, and the national passion of the Argentines is an important factor that cannot be ignored in accelerating the construction of the island."

Hoffman still remembers the Falklands Campaign between Britain and Argentina: this island is the lifeblood of Argentine nationalists. Whoever can help Argentina get it will be the eternal friend of the Argentines. As long as Germany can do it, the Argentines will risk their lives to help.

"What if the Americans come but don't fight, but only deploy in Brazil and confront us? Wouldn't all the troops be tied up?"

"That's great! The fleet can rely on Argentina for supplies nearby, and the Falkland Islands can have leisurely construction time. The Americans don't have to think about the route south of Brazil. Chile and Argentina's supplies can be continuously shipped to Madagascar and transported back to Europe with the island as a transit point - the Indian Ocean route is much safer than the Atlantic route, and..." Hoffman added, "General Hori Teikichi and I have an appointment. When the Indian strategy comes to an end, the combined fleet will go west again. At that time, it will be the time for the general attack on the British Empire. Without the help of the United States, can Churchill's Royal Navy with only a few ships defend the British Isles? If the US power is tied up by us in the South Atlantic, he will not be able to control the North Atlantic."

Hoffman also has his own explanation for the situation that everyone is worried about fighting a war of attrition with the Americans and then being crushed by the United States.

"The US industry is very strong, perhaps more developed than the three Axis powers combined, but developed industry does not necessarily mean victory. Otherwise, during the American Revolutionary War, Britain had the most developed industry, the most powerful navy, and the most complete army. Why did the American natives succeed in their rebellion? Another example is during the Napoleonic era, when Napoleon had all of Europe's advantages and industry, so why did he fail in Moscow? The US did not enter this war for the sake of the people, but for the interests of capitalists and politicians. They are all waiting for a return. There is only effort but no gain, only sacrifice but no victory. How long can they hold on? We cannot let the US take its time to gain an advantage, and we must continue to consume its strength. Even if we cannot strike the US mainland and core for the time being, we can strike its periphery and weaken its wings. "

Keitel added: "I think the biggest possibility for the Americans is to provide military supplies to Brazil and let the Brazilians and Argentines fight."

"The battle between these two world enemies will not be decided so quickly..." Hoffman said meaningfully, "Even if Argentina fails to resist and eventually fails, what does it have to do with us? It is normal for the United States to win, and it will lose face if it loses, and we will not lose anything! This is like fighting in the enemy's home, everyone fights and smashes things, as long as we get away unscathed, who will suffer the most in the end?"

Everyone laughed and applauded the Führer's vivid metaphor, which was more convincing than using political significance, military significance and other arguments. The meeting finally unified its thoughts and stipulated that Jodl and Schneewind would jointly formulate a combat plan, which was called - Springboard.

The Supreme Command generally believed that even if there were some losses in the plan, it would not be too big. The more risky Kungunir Plan and Panama Plan had been implemented, and the loss of some Marine brigades and equipment was completely within the acceptable range.

Schneewind immediately calculated the military strength: if July 15 was taken as the launch date of the campaign, the Italian Navy's Harrier should have been in service and completed sea trials, the Zeppelin aircraft carrier would be able to be repaired and put into use, the battleships slightly damaged in the Caribbean campaign would be basically repaired, and the Joffre supplementary aircraft carrier would be almost put into use. Even if the Empire battleship could not be put into service by then, the German-Italian joint fleet could still assemble a powerful force including 3 aircraft carriers, 7 battleships (battlecruisers) - 3 Italian ships (3 Veneto-class ships), and 4 German ships (Tirpitz, Richelieu, Strasbourg and Gneisenau).