Chapter 830 Roosevelt at a Historical Turning Point (Part 2)
Spruance sent a secret message to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informing him of Cunningham's rapid adjustment to realize the British fleet. Not only could he not stop it, but the fleet was actually basically in place.
Smith-Tingsheng was shocked. How dare Cunningham walk alone? He is crazy!
"What is he going to do?" Arnold was confused. "The command of the US-UK combined fleet has been clearly defined. He can only manage the aircraft carrier force. Who else asked him to intervene? What's more, even if he can manage the aircraft carrier force, he has no power to Such an order!"
"Some people advocate cutting off aid to the British. Why doesn't the Royal Navy take care of its own family?" Mitchell sneered. "I can understand him. It is very sad for soldiers to be rounded and flattened by their own country's politicians. If If he is beaten by foreign politicians again, will he still have the nerve to face the officers and soldiers below? In other words, Britain and the United States still have a democratic system. Go to Japan and try it. Horikichi will teach you how to be a good person before the war and kill people during the war! Morale, no wonder it can't defeat the Axis! ...The government doesn't want to give aid to the British, but if you can, don't use other people's fleets! Hitler asked the Japanese to help and paid a big price! Wouldn't it be better if the British surrendered to Hitler? I won’t do anything to them.”
Nimitz and Eisenhower smiled bitterly: Now that something like this has happened, all professional officers hate it with gnashing of teeth. They all say that Turner is an angry young man. Now it seems that Mitchell is not much better.
Arnold smiled bitterly: "Do people who have the idea of cutting off aid to Britain know what they are doing? If the British fleet is lost, the navy will immediately lose half of its combat effectiveness! It does not mean that there are ships and there is combat effectiveness!"
Then everyone scolded Wallace again.
Smith-Tingsheng was a civilian rather than a professional soldier. He was deeply troubled by this matter: It is not that the Joint Chiefs of Staff cannot function without Generals Marshall, King and Le Hai, but it is because we are at war now, and the army and navy are very important. The officers are all confidants and disciples of the three people. What does the Republican Party want to do? A big purge? How can any officer swallow such an attitude of hostility towards soldiers?
Don't talk about useless things like protection fees or not - this is not true after all. It doesn't matter that Wallace didn't sign the document. You are completely justified in this matter, but you should never betray the military in front of Congress. This is like saying in the players' locker room who performed well and who performed poorly in today's game, it's okay for everyone to talk about it privately, but can it be released to reporters to publicly attack teammates? Do you want team unity anymore?
In addition, it is not too late to reach a consensus through private communication and discussion on the matter of aiding the British. However, before any actual action was taken, the situation was let loose. Cunningham immediately took action. Should he complain to Churchill and replace Cunningham? Even if Churchill dared, Pound would stop him - the fleet belonged to Great Britain, not Churchill. Pound and Cunningham were responsible first to the navy and second to Churchill. What's more, Fatty Qiu himself might be adding fuel to the fire behind the scenes.
Smith-Tingson's guess was not unreasonable. After Cunningham completed the action, he reported the situation directly to the head of the Royal Navy, Marshal Pound, who quickly reported it to Churchill who had just returned home. Churchill was initially horrified, thinking that Cunningham was exacerbating conflicts between the United States and Britain, and even asked Pound if he could replace him.
But Pound, who had always been very obedient to him, unexpectedly got angry this time: "Prime Minister, I don't think Admiral Cunningham did anything wrong at all. He must take precautions. This is his unshirkable responsibility to the Royal Navy. He Neither the Germans can be allowed to sink the fleet, nor the friendly forces can be allowed to annex the fleet - there is no difference between the two for the British Empire, both mean that we will lose the Royal Navy!"
"But... this will worsen relations with the United States."
"The Americans' proposal to cut off aid to Britain is worsening relations! We have given everything we can, and we don't owe the Americans anything!" Chief of General Staff Marshal Brooke said something out of nowhere, "Your Excellency does not really intend to take the fleet to Canada. Establish a government?”
"I..." Churchill was silenced. He really didn't dare to respond to this sentence. It was just a last resort. If he responded, wouldn't he become a national criminal who split Great Britain? Why is de Gaulle looked down upon in France? It’s because he surrendered to the Americans and begged for mercy. His appearance was far worse than that of Pétain. At least he is running France very well now, with a stable social order and a prosperous economy. After a defeat, he admits defeat and takes responsibility. Is responsibility so difficult?
"Not only must the fleet be independent now, but all Royal Navy officers and soldiers serving on U.S. warships must be taken back. In addition, the two battleships and two armored aircraft carriers in the mainland will be commissioned this year. If the U.S. government is still hesitant and ready at any time, It may betray our attitude of compromise with Germany. I don't agree to let them join the US-British combined fleet!" Pound gritted his teeth and said, "We won't negotiate with Germany ourselves? Can't we give the fleet to the Germans in exchange for something? The benefits are at least better than the treatment in France, right? Tell the Americans that they can help us or not. If not, we will help Hitler build ships! The Royal Navy can also join the European Combined Fleet..."
Brooke helped: "Yes, I heard that someone is negotiating with Germany, and the price seems to have been raised a bit: the four major autonomous territories will still belong to us, and India may not be able to keep it, but it doesn't matter, the Germans agreed to give us Brazil and Central America. In the future, the Panama Canal can also be controlled by us, and we can also take a stake in the oil in the Middle East. The condition is that the Royal Navy joins the European Combined Fleet and the local production of armaments for the Germans - they will pay! This condition is better than before. "
The so-called someone, as everyone knows, is Edward VIII who has been negotiating with Germany. I didn't expect the news to spread so quickly. Did he even reach out to the army and navy?
Churchill was stunned at first, and then he was furious: "You...you..."
"Prime Minister..." Pound advised, "You can also negotiate this condition. Instead of giving it to others, it's better for you to come forward. We can strive for more favorable conditions, such as the establishment of a European integrated armed force in the future. Of course, the army and air force will be commanded by Germans, and the navy will be commanded by Britain, right?"
Churchill didn't say anything in the end, and stomped his feet and left angrily. Now the situation is serious. He originally had an emergency plan to use the US army to bloodbath the "surrenderists" if the situation is unfavorable. Now it's all good. The Americans are going to shrink back. Why should he do this? And looking at the current situation, whether the bloodbath can be successful or not, the navy will definitely not follow him - this is a big trouble. Is he really going to Canada to be Roosevelt's little follower?
The reason why Pound and Brooke are so tough today is that Wallace's statement of cutting off aid to Britain stimulated them - it turns out that the Americans have plans to abandon us; secondly, Eden and Attlee in the cabinet have intentionally or unintentionally fanned the flames. In fact, everyone's ideas are relatively similar. If Edward VIII comes back, those who support his restoration will probably get the most benefits. The government and the army will definitely have to change a group of people, but can't the current cabinet and military officials talk in the name of George VI? As for Churchill, if he is willing to follow the trend, he can be a transitional cabinet prime minister. If he is stubborn and sticks to it, he can just sit back and relax.
Of course, cooperating with the Germans is only the second choice. The first choice is to fight the war with the Americans and become a victorious country, so that the benefits can be maximized. If it is the first choice, Churchill is still the "most visionary and charismatic" political leader of the British Empire!
Knowing that the British have begun to have different ideas, whether it is necessary to intercept the German fleet that has crossed the Suez Canal to Madagascar and the Falkland Islands has become the focus of debate.
"Our intelligence agents in Egypt reported that the German fleet passing through the Suez Canal had a total of 2 fleet carriers - neither of which had been seen, and they were suspected to be newly completed Axis aircraft carriers. One was speculated to be a conversion of the Hyuga battleship; 1 battlecruiser - speculated to be the Gneisenau; 2 heavy cruisers; 6-8 destroyers or light cruisers; and many cargo ships, which seemed to be all Victory ships captured by Germany from Newfoundland!"
"Damn it!"
The intelligence here is a little problematic. One fleet carrier is the Hyuga, and the other is just the integrated aircraft carrier Savoy. Italy got the King, which was completed a week earlier. These are integrated aircraft carriers converted from large cruise ships. Italy paid for the capital, and the Germans paid for the modification fees and related equipment fees (including carrier-based aircraft). The two countries each got one. They all look majestic large aircraft carriers, but their strength is different from that of fleet aircraft carriers. But how can intelligence personnel tell so much? It's good enough to be able to judge that it's a new aircraft carrier.
Regarding the follow-up operations, the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had three different opinions. The first was to suggest that only some submarines and escort aircraft carriers be sent to intercept the South African waters, focusing on cargo ships; the second was to suggest that the main force of the navy be dispatched to completely eliminate the German fleet; the third was to suggest that the navy dispatch a part of its forces, and after the operation was completed, it would bypass the Indian Ocean to reinforce the Pacific Fleet to deal with the aggressive offensive of the Japanese fleet.
Cunningham expressed his firm opposition to the second opinion, and the reason was speechless: What if the main fleet went south in full force, and the main forces of Germany and Italy went out of the Atlantic to block the British-Canadian route or simply landed in the British mainland? His opinion was almost to say that the Royal Navy warships would only stay in the Atlantic. In the past, Nimitz could force his way through, but now the British and British ships cannot be forced, otherwise Cunningham would really dare to take the troops and leave! Cunningham himself probably would never cooperate with the Germans in this life, but he had no reason to let his men all die because of his non-cooperation!
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is not Churchill, and they dare not learn to use crossbows to sink the British fleet. Moreover, the Royal Navy's carrier-based aircraft aviation has transferred a group of Royal Air Force pilots, whose quality is better than that of the United States. If a real fight breaks out, who will teach whom a lesson? Everyone didn't know what to do for a while.
Since the second option is not feasible, they can only choose between the first and third options.