Iron Cross

Chapter 692 Atlantic Strangulation War (1)

In the dark night, the main force of the Axis Fleet arrived in the Azores, replenishing the ammunition, fuel, and aircraft consumed by continuous fighting, and letting the Marines who suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Bermuda land for rest. Anyone who sees the miserable state of the Marines now cannot help but look askance. They have lost all their equipment, and only half of the three battalions are left. They even have no time to bury or take away the bodies of their dead comrades. Marshal apologized to them privately, sincerely admitted his command mistakes, and was ready to be scolded.

Unexpectedly, the telegram from Berlin was very mild. Dönitz conveyed the opinion of the head of state-he did not think that the fleet had suffered a defeat. Except that the Marines suffered a little more losses in the Battle of Bermuda, all other aspects met the requirements: the Falkland Islands were taken, and the second batch of reinforcements arrived successfully; the Brazilian Navy was destroyed, and the fleet successfully demonstrated its strength in the direction of Guyana. More importantly, it slowed down the rhythm of the British and American offensive against the Falkland Islands, which was conducive to the next step.

Therefore, the fleet was given a lot of medals and promotions. For example, Ozawa received the Knight's Cross. Among the main officers, only Marshal himself did not receive a promotion or medal. However, these were external things. He valued the attitude of the Führer more. As long as he had the trust of the Führer, what marshal's baton and medals would he not get in the future? Now it seems that the Führer was still very tolerant of him, which made Marshal secretly grateful in addition to being ashamed. Of course, he was also grateful for Dönitz's intercession, good words and full support for him. He knew that when the old Marshal Raeder was quite disapproving of the Berlin Operation, in contrast, Dönitz was obviously much more kind.

After getting supplies, replacing 3 brand-new Marine battalions, and more importantly, receiving the Führer's telegram of consolation, Marshal's confidence began to recover and he was determined to fight the Americans again as Berlin required. If you think about it carefully, you will find that the Americans are not that scary: they were beaten black and blue by us in Bermuda, and now they are talking about victory with all their might, but they know that the enemy lost at least 800 planes and suffered 3,000-4,000 casualties, which is several times more than our losses, not to mention the Bermuda Islands which were reduced to ruins. "Voice of Europe" summed it up clearly: if this is victory, then what is failure?

"Are the British and American fleets following us?"

"No, they are expected to return to the east coast to rest and replenish. The reconnaissance planes have repeatedly detected them but have not found them."

"The new carrier-based reconnaissance planes are very good. I think we should add a few more." Crank suggested while asking, "What are you going to do next?"

"We still have to find an opportunity to fight with Britain and the United States. It would be best if we can get closer to the Azores, even if we don't use the Azores' support forces..."

Ozawa pondered, "This may be a bit difficult. The enemy has suffered a loss and I'm afraid they won't be fooled again."

The so-called loss in Ozawa's mouth refers to the time when the Spruance fleet was defeated by the Azores' aviation force and the fleet and all its aircraft carriers were destroyed. Marshal nodded. This matter is indeed not easy to handle. Now, both the British and American fleets and merchant ships are circling the Azores. There are almost no British and American ships within 1,000 nautical miles of the Azores. It has completely become a black hole in the Atlantic Ocean. It is extremely difficult to lure the enemy over.

All the fleet leaders, including Marshall, did not know at this time that the British and American fleets had always had two fleets and had been divided. The main fleet led by Admiral Ingersoll returned to the east coast to rest and replenish and keep an eye on the Axis fleet, while the other escort fleet with nearly 25 escort aircraft carriers slowly moved southward. They would cover the army all the way to Brazil. After the first batch of three divisions successfully established a foothold in Venezuela and Guyana, the second batch of four divisions set out from the mainland again to prepare for Brazil. Originally, the second batch of troops included the 82nd Airborne Division, but because they suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Bermuda, they were temporarily replaced by other troops.

The commander of the second wave of army troops was Major General William Hood Simpson, who served as the commander of the 4th Army. He and Patton were classmates at West Point Military Academy. He graduated from West Point in 1909 and participated in World War I. He was 7 years older than Ridgway in terms of age and graduated 8 years earlier than Ridgway in terms of seniority. According to Japan's hammock number system, although they were both major generals, his ranking would be far higher than Ridgway.

Unlike Patton, who had a hot temper and impulsive personality, he was an academic scholar, gentle and polite, good at internal organization and training, and had led a national division. He was particularly suitable for the appetite of a civilian defense minister in peacetime. It was originally his turn to be promoted, but Ridgway suddenly emerged and stole the limelight. He was promoted to lieutenant general first and made no one dare to be promoted in the same batch as Ridgway, otherwise the scene would be very embarrassing. Ridgway had the merit of recovering the Bermuda Islands and saving friendly forces. What made you do that? Even if he was promoted to lieutenant general like Collins, who had been leading his troops in Southeast Asia and defending the front line against Japan; or like Patton, who at least went to Africa to fight the Germans and came back to be promoted to lieutenant general.

Poor Simpson's nomination for lieutenant general was delayed. Fortunately, Marshall was not unreasonable. He immediately arranged for Simpson to serve as the commander of the second batch of troops to lead his troops to Brazil. Devers, the commander-in-chief of the Army of the Joint Element Operation, also knew the mentality of these generals and hoped to give them as many opportunities to make merit as possible. After the Battle of Bermuda, he quickly reported to the Joint Chiefs of Staff the results of stabilizing the situation in Venezuela and Bolivia and recovering Dutch Guiana and French Guiana, so that he could probably get another lieutenant general position.

The main task of the second batch of troops was very simple. They deployed their forces on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, suppressing the separatist forces in southern Brazil and putting pressure on the Argentines. Then they would wait for the third batch of troops to attack the Falkland Islands, overthrow the anti-American regime in Argentina, and completely overwhelm the strength of the Axis in South America. President Roosevelt wanted not only the Falkland Islands, but also a South America that had changed and had closer relations with the United States.

He had partially succeeded. The Venezuelan authorities, who had strengthened their garrisons, were more submissive. The Bolivian authorities, who had already revealed their anti-American intentions, were under heavy pressure from the US military. The pro-alliance and anti-axis forces in the country were encouraged to rise again and prepare to plan a coup. Anyway, these countries were prone to coups. Although the Bolivian authorities had been unwilling to express their support for the post-Axis or alliance, their attitude towards the Argentine populist regime was obvious. Perón was their leader, so they hurriedly sought assistance. Perón's prestige had just been established. Since he wanted to be the hegemon of South America, he had to help. So he asked the Bolivian authorities to pretend to be friendly with the United States, and at the same time he transferred two divisions from the country to the border between Argentina and Bolivia to cheer up the Bolivian authorities.

This was exactly what the United States wanted. The joint element operation had a long deployment time. The United States was not in a hurry to fall out with Argentina. It was okay to contain two divisions of the other side. It was just that it was unknown how many troops the Argentines could send after Brazil stationed four US divisions.

Roosevelt was in a very good mood recently. On the one hand, the defense of Bermuda was won, and domestic public opinion applauded one-sidedly, reversing the unfavorable situation and views against him; on the other hand, the situation in northern South America, including Venezuela, Bolivia, and Guyana, was developing in a positive direction, which made him determined to promote the joint element operation and complete the Falkland Islands and Argentina offensive war. His improved mood and physical condition also improved greatly. After completing Ridgway's promotion and medal ceremony, he gave an enthusiastic speech to the media, and deliberately used a tone that seemed to inadvertently reveal his preparation for re-election to test the public opinion.

According to Director Hoover's secret report, the media was slightly surprised by this matter, because there has never been a person who has been re-elected as the US president for four consecutive terms in history, but now, stimulated by the news of victory, they generally agree to continue fighting and win the final victory. The sensitive financial groups and capitalist groups have expressed their approval of the president's current shift of the focus of the war to South America and expressed their willingness to support his re-election. Although this kind of public opinion is unreliable and easily transferred, it makes Roosevelt feel very satisfied and firm in his determination - once the joint element operation is successful, he will officially announce his proposal for re-election.

In addition to promoting the battle summary internally, the US side got more research opportunities because the German army did not have time to destroy or take away its own equipment, including the G43 rifle, STG43 assault rifle, Whirlwind self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, No. 4 tank, Panzerfaust, recoilless gun, armored vehicle, landing craft and other weapons (or wreckage) fell into the hands of the US military. The Joint Chiefs of Staff was overjoyed and immediately sent an expert group to inspect and accept them. The conclusion is that the Garand rifle currently equipped by the United States is slightly better than the G43, and the STG43 assault rifle is far beyond the level of the United States. The MG42 machine gun, which is mainly made of stamping parts, looks simpler and rougher than the Browning machine gun, but the military experts are generally not very happy. The physical objects prove the German army's superb level in stamping and machinery, but in terms of the economy and convenience of large-scale production and manufacturing, the MG42, which uses a large number of stamping parts, is far better than the Browning, which is still using traditional cutting technology.

The German recoilless gun is about the same as the American one, but it is obvious that the Panzerfaust is stronger than the bazooka. All unbiased people believe that the Panzerfaust has a better cost-effectiveness ratio. As for the Type 4 tank and the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, the US actually has the performance data, and it is nothing more than a field verification to see if there is any upgrade. Based on the strong opinions of the expert group, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved two decisions with the highest efficiency. One is to develop and improve the bazooka according to the characteristics of the Panzerfaust; the other is to quickly issue a bidding document, requiring an assault rifle like the STG43.

Unfortunately, this good mood only lasted for two days, and he was sickened by the new news he received.

Chapter 692/1109
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Iron CrossCh.692/1109 [62.40%]