Chapter 633: 20,000 Km Expedition (Continued)

None of the Joint Chiefs of Staff denied the important strategic value of the Azores and the Falkland Islands, and all believed that they should strive for victory with all their strength. However, the two sides had completely different logical starting points and reached very different conclusions. The only consensus was that we could no longer divide our forces to fight—the United States had suffered enough from dividing its forces. Even for a seemingly insignificant island like Falkland, which is isolated offshore, everyone takes it very seriously.

After hearing the arguments between the two groups, Roosevelt could not make up his mind, because what both groups said was very reasonable. This time the two completely different opinions were not differences between the army and navy's own positions and service attributes - they were supported by the army generals. Those who gave priority to the Falklands, such as General Arnold; there were also admirals and generals who supported the priority of the Azores, such as Admiral Li Hai.

This is the difference between two strategic concepts: In the next stage, should Europe come first or Asia come first? However, no one said this publicly, and everyone tacitly avoided mentioning the topic - no one wanted to embarrass the president until the president himself expressed his opinion.

As we talked, the focus of the debate shifted to the losses in the Battle of the Azores: Will "Operation Overlord" be as heavy a loss as Turner portrayed, or will the losses be within a tolerable range? If it's the former, then the navy, which suffered staggering losses after the Battle of the Azores, will lose its offensive spirit and may not have the chance to attack the Falklands again; if it's the latter, everyone doesn't mind letting the Germans scamper in the Falklands first. For a few days, the Atlantic Fleet could not spare any warships to support the Pacific Ocean anyway, allowing the Germans to first taste the taste of long-distance supplies - they believed that all German arms and equipment must be transported from the mainland 20,000 kilometers away.

The debate was so intense that everyone even had lunch at the venue. After hurriedly swallowing a few mouthfuls of sandwiches and bitter coffee, these generals and dignitaries resumed debates on various topics, ranging from Politics, economy, society, culture, history, military, geography, climate have been debated to morale, structure, equipment, technology, combat effectiveness, etc...

The Falkland faction's advocate was Turner, who not only quoted a large number of facts and battle history, but also a person who fiercely opposed the current campaign of the Azores presided over the revision of the campaign plan - it sounded like a satire; The advocate of the Azores was Clark. Although Eisenhower elaborated on the entire set of ideas, and Clark received all the information from the venue, his eloquence made the slightly dull Eisenhower unable to match him, and he could not even keep up with it.

Clark quoted eloquently from classics and classics, constantly replacing the very simple and plain words in Eisenhower's words into a high-level academic system - his ability to vividly apply the military theories of Mahan, Clausewitz, Douhet, and Napoleon is second to none. If Marshall hadn't known that Ike had never communicated with Clark, he would have suspected that Ike had lamely plagiarized the latter's idea.

However, General Kim scorned Clark's performance. In his private words: "General Clark is good at everything. His eloquence, demeanor, temperament, leadership, diplomacy, and planning skills are all outstanding. There is only one flaw - I don’t know how to fight!” This comment that was first raised and then suppressed once made a dozen navy generals burst into laughter.

From Stimson's point of view, the only good news was that Patton was not allowed to attend the meeting, otherwise he would probably get angry and beat someone up based on his bad temper. Recently, many people have complained to the Army Department, saying that Patton repeatedly made bad remarks during training, which tarnished his image as a commander. His catchphrase was "Asshole, see clearly. It should be like this. According to the method you just did, you would have been under the Tiger tank as early as possible." Died a hundred times!"

But the veterans who came back from Africa with Patton, especially the middle and low-level officers, supported Patton extremely. The latter was simply a god in their minds. They believed that what Patton said was absolutely right - the real battlefield was a hundred times worse than the training scenes! They still insist that if the Australian and New Zealand troops had not withdrawn first, the African war situation would not have collapsed at all, and they could have persisted for a long time. If there were enough supplies, "the custody could last until the end of the world!"

When you hear this, you will know that it is bragging, but arguing with them is destined to be fruitless. As long as there is an argument, they will scratch their necks and say in a strong tone: "What do you know? Did you fight the Germans or did we fight them?" After the war? You were still hiding in the country and walking in line when we were fighting the Germans..."

There are only a few thousand U.S. Army soldiers who have fought with the German Army and returned alive (the U.S. Army believes that the people in Panama who fought them were German Marines, and the exchange of fire between the two sides was not very fierce). Most of the uninjured soldiers stayed in South Africa. Only the wounded and officers were evacuated back home - the War Office believed they had the combat experience the home troops desperately needed. Facts have also proved that the feeling of fighting against the German army is different. Although these defeated soldiers are not qualified to say how to defeat the Germans, they are at least very familiar with the German combat methods, armor tactics and equipment characteristics.

The Sherman tank became the target of criticism again. The War Department improved the M6 ​​heavy tank based on the opinions of these soldiers. It removed the ridiculous 37mm secondary turret and replaced the main gun with a tank gun improved from a 90mm anti-aircraft gun. , starting in August, the initial production model of M26 has rolled off the production line at a rate of dozens per month. The factory is accelerating production while continuing to improve. Marshall issued a death order. On Christmas Eve, the new armored divisions must have at least one M6 heavy tank battalion in each division.

In addition to the M6 ​​heavy tank, the U.S. military also has multiple heavy tank research projects such as the T1, T26, T28, and T30. Together with the Meteor jet, it is a project that Marshall personally took charge of. The latter is progressing very quickly and is being researched in the United Kingdom and the United States. With the efforts of personnel and a lot of money paving the way, many inherent weaknesses have been overcome, and mass production is expected to be achieved in early 1944. Due to the appearance of the German night combat equipment, the envy of this black technology has also prompted the United States to speed up research, but the gap between the two sides is still very large.

Regarding the direction of the next phase of the campaign, people from all walks of life were arguing from morning to afternoon, and from afternoon to evening, and from evening to night. The relevant opinions were finally elaborated, and Roosevelt stopped what he was doing. Clark, who was speaking, turned his attention to Hull and motioned for the Secretary of State, who had not expressed his attitude very much, to speak. Although the latter usually had no say in military affairs, Roosevelt believed that it was always good to listen to different opinions.

"I have heard everyone's arguments. Personally, it is difficult for me to make this determination. Both the European and Pacific battlefields are areas that we cannot give up. I very much hope that we can win on both fronts at the same time." Hull cleared his throat and said with difficulty, "But everyone's opinion is very clear. This time we can only attack one battlefield first. I don't understand military affairs, so I can't judge which direction is more advantageous and which battlefield is easier to win, but I know Which place has more interests for us - I personally think it is Europe! Europe has been the center of the world in modern times. We can assume an extreme scenario. If the war fails, the United States is forced to stick to its homeland, while the United States unifies and rules Europe. Germany, on the other hand, Japan, which encompasses the entire Asia and Pacific region, which one poses a greater threat to us?”

Although Hull did not give a clear opinion, the answer was ready to come out.

"My decision is as follows: Unless major changes occur, with the end of October as the start date of Operation Overlord, we should exert political, military and economic pressure on South American countries to force them to distance themselves from Germany, while continuing to strengthen The military power of South America." Roosevelt nodded and said calmly, "I agree with General Arnold's opinion to dispatch an air force to South America; I also agree with General Kim's opinion to further increase military assistance to Brazil. Send 5-6 divisions to South America in advance to prevent various extreme situations; I also agree with General Eisenhower’s opinion that we should first let the enemy out, and we should not follow them wherever they go, but should force the enemy to maintain 20,000 kilometers The above supply lines consume their strength, and at the same time, they can calmly observe these governments in South America and judge who is our friend and who is our enemy. "

"As for the Pacific Fleet, it is recommended that they rest in Pearl Harbor first, sum up experience, and accumulate strength." Roosevelt said with a wry smile. "One thing they did well is that they did their best to fight the enemy to the death - whether it was for American taxpayers or allies. We, the soldiers and the people, can all give an account.”

Admiral Kim knew that the President had not yet changed his determination to "Europe first, Asia second" strategy. He did not argue, but reluctantly asked: "The Falkland Islands themselves?"

"Diplomatic mediation by Mr. Hull, the return of the islands in exchange for neutrality for the Argentines, and the promise of military and economic aid if Argentina would join the Anti-Axis Alliance - guaranteed to be more than they could get from Germany; by more Director Novan conducts covert operations and, if necessary, resorts to extraordinary measures to ensure that Argentinian politicians who favor the United States remain in power.”

"I hope that the Battle of the Azores can be more fully prepared. If it is too late in late October, it can be postponed for another half a month. I think Winston can understand." Roosevelt concluded, "I sympathize with the Russians' experience. , regardless of whether Stalin will leave us alone to negotiate a peace, we at least cannot give up this ally, so I decided to provide him with support that remains unchanged, but the focus is adjusted to maintaining supplies for protracted operations."

Everyone nodded with a heavy heart: America urgently needs the Soviets and is willing to do its best to assist, but now there is really nothing that Stalin likes, other than using supplies to smash them.