Chapter 834 Roosevelt at a Historical Turning Point (End)

February 13 was John Kennedy's most glorious day. Not only did he receive the Congressional Medal of Honor (the highest honor) and the Purple Heart (Wound Medal) for his outstanding contributions in successfully escaping from prison, being gloriously wounded, and covering his companions, he also successfully delivered a keynote speech in Congress. His speech was so successful that it won applause from the whole room. In addition, the soldiers on the torpedo boat used stuttering but immersive language to describe the wise and decisiveness of their superiors in leading them out of danger and the glorious deeds of their courage to cover others. Everyone was deeply moved. The Speaker of the Senate thanked on behalf of Congress: "Thank you, brave and fearless soldiers, thank you for everything you have done for the country!"

Combined with Kennedy's family and educational background, everyone regarded him as a rising political star. What made Roosevelt and the Democratic Party bosses even happier was that his speech actually expounded a thought-provoking question-should the wronged soldiers retaliate against the country and other comrades? The conclusion is no! If you have grievances, you can come back and say it. Revenging on comrades and colluding with the enemy are all despicable and low-character behaviors. This immediately broke the legitimacy of the "rebellion on the battlefield" and reversed the vague prejudice of the investigation committee against Turner.

At the subsequent hearing, the Army also admitted that it was a bit embarrassing that two divisions could not take down 5-6 thousand German troops. Combined with the resolution file signed by Marshall, which stated "dismissed on the spot and made meritorious contributions while serving his sentence", it is easy to conclude where the real problem of the failure of the battle lies - it was precisely because the Army failed to take down the German troops on the island that the overall situation was passive.

Given that Lieutenant General Devers, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, and Admiral Ingersoll, Commander of the Navy's Atlantic Fleet, have assumed relevant responsibilities, forcibly pursuing Turner's responsibility will not only be of no help but also not in line with the politically correct principle of "tolerance". With a certain tone, subsequent investigations will be much easier, and the Democratic Party and the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be relieved. The Army also successfully passed the buck and put all the responsibility on the two division commanders - they will be sentenced to death in absentia for "treason".

The top leaders of the Democratic Party believed that John Kennedy's best future was not to join the army, but to join politics, and suggested that he start as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (relatively speaking, members of the House of Representatives are more down-to-earth and require less political experience, which is in line with Kennedy's age of only 27). Because of the relationship between old Joseph and Roosevelt, a group of heavyweights including Hannigan, Richard, Truman, McKinsey (Joseph's close friend) all looked favorably on him and actively campaigned for him. FBI Director Hoover also secretly helped Kennedy.

For a week in a row, the three major newspapers in the United States published Kennedy's glorious deeds in the form of front-page headlines and column interviews, and summarized the last sentence of his speech in Congress as the best quote of the year, and even extracted it as a symbol of the American spirit and widely publicized it. He also became the cover character of Time magazine. All the public opinion machines worked together to dilute the impact of the defeat in the battle.

Within a few days after the news was made public, the hospital where Kennedy was treated received thousands of flowers and gifts, so much so that the hospital had to set aside a ward for him. His comrades spontaneously performed patrol and guard duties, and the single young man even received hundreds of thousands of letters expressing his love from all over the country.

Because he helped the Navy clear its name and even helped the Army reduce its responsibility, the top leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came to the hospital to visit him in person. Although they were very sorry for the loss of this outstanding young man in the military, they fully understood the necessity of the Kennedy family's political career. With the full support of the Navy, he soon received a certificate of retirement due to injury. Many observers assert that as long as Kennedy can accumulate a certain amount of political experience and does not make serious mistakes, he is very likely to be elected president within 20 years - and he will definitely be a Democrat!

On February 18, Truman, who was striking while the iron was hot, submitted a review report on the Turner issue to Congress on behalf of the independent investigation committee, believing that Turner "faithfully performed his duties and did the best he could in this battle... It is recommended to stop the review and reinstate him." This conclusion won an overwhelming victory in Congress! But that's not all. The ruthless Truman proposed a review of Henry Wallace, accusing him of "undermining the relationship between the British and American alliances" and "disclosing military secrets at will."

Wallace asked Dewey for help, but the latter avoided him as much as possible. The Republicans also thought that he had lost his value and abandoned him. The Democrats who controlled Congress hated the "betrayal" Wallace. When the Republicans almost gave up, they agreed to the committee's request and began to review Wallace.

Upon learning that Wallace was going to be investigated, several members of the newly formed Progressive Party united to announce that they had been deceived by him and were quitting the party. Their reason was simple: since the investigation showed that there was no problem with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then the issue of protection money raised by Wallace was suspected of "slandering the military personnel," and they were unwilling to "go along with him." As a result, Wallace was the only one left among the Progressive Party members who had been established only a week ago, and the party was deserted by everyone.

On February 20, the independent investigative committee officially launched a review of Wallace, and his request to resign as vice president was approved. Wallace himself was released on bail pending trial, and all information and relevant official documents in his office were sealed for interrogation. All people closely related to him, including drivers, secretaries, housekeepers, personal doctors, etc., received subpoenas to cooperate with the investigation. That afternoon, the desperate Wallace learned that Hoover's men were not only haunting his residence, but also collecting all kinds of black materials related to him from his friends, colleagues, subordinates and even relatives. He called the lawyers he knew, and none of them came. Dare to take the case, but just advised him to be patient; called the reporter, the reporter told him that the current propaganda caliber is to further mobilize the entire American people around Kennedy's famous quotes.

That night, a desperate Wallace drank a bomb and died at home. Before his death, he left a suicide note accusing Roosevelt, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hoover and others. However, his wife knew that this matter could not continue, so she wrote to Harry, the only one who could speak. -Hopkins called and offered to hand over the suicide note to him without making it public, but hoped that the other party would promise not to disturb the family's purity again. After careful consideration and consultation with Roosevelt, Hopkins agreed. On the evening of the next day, the Independent Investigation Commission dropped the charges on the grounds of the death of the suspect, hastily announced its conclusion that it would not continue its review, and ended its operations.

Because of Truman's ruthless performance in the case, Roosevelt formally nominated him as the vice presidential candidate. Since the Democratic Party controlled both houses of Congress, it was not difficult for the appointment to be approved.

After learning the news that Wallace had committed suicide, Li Hai and Admiral Jin looked at each other and sighed at each other. No one expected that they would reach this point. At the same time, the two of them were also afraid: if they had not gritted their teeth and refused to admit it, Wallace's current situation would have been their fate. But thinking so, the work must continue. Roosevelt signed the relevant documents and agreed to change the transfer location of the supplies to the Aleutian Islands and let the Soviet side be responsible for the last section of transportation. He also added in the proposal letter "In case the supplies are intercepted, the Soviet Union The Japanese side should ensure that ships are scuttled as much as possible to prevent materials from falling into Japanese hands." The Su side military attaché signed his name with a smile - didn't he have the final say whether the ship should be sunk or not?

On February 21, the Joint Chiefs of Staff resumed all normal operations. The Navy hoped that Roosevelt and Churchill would have in-depth communication to repair the previous rift between the two countries and at the same time provide convenience for the next battle.

After hearing the inside story that the Navy had planned to send a fleet to intercept the German fleet in the Falkland Islands but then had to give up, Roosevelt sighed and remained silent for a long time. Li Hai gritted his teeth and said: "In terms of instigating relations between Britain and the United States, he has done what the enemy has always wanted to do but failed to do."

Everyone knew that although the continued aid to Britain was temporarily approved, and Churchill repeatedly emphasized that his confidence in the alliance would not be shaken by Wallace's "inappropriate" remarks, the rift between the two sides eventually existed.

"Is it too late to go now?"

Nimitz shook his head and said: "Because this matter was delayed for a full two weeks, it is probably impossible for the main fleet to intercept. We can only let the submarines and land aviation from the direction of South Africa harass them. The biggest possibility now is to pursue them. , and they will be chased after this fleet leaves the Falkland Islands, and this will require the warship to sprint over at almost high speed to catch the opponent..."

"In other words, we lost a great opportunity?"

"Yes, this is damn politics. We could have wiped out the warships and supplies along with the German ground forces, but now at most only the German fleet is left."

"I agree, you can formulate a battle plan." Roosevelt thought for a moment, "Who will lead the team? Do you need to notify the British to replace Cunningham?"

"You can't and you don't have to," Nimitz said. "I suggest that Spruance lead the troops. In addition, I also propose that the aircraft carrier Hancock, which is about to be commissioned, be given to the British to use practical actions to make up for the relationship between the United States and Britain. ”

Admiral Jin looked reluctant, but no matter how reluctant he was, he would nod.

"In addition, the situation in the Pacific is also very urgent." Turner added, "After the Japanese fleet wandered for several days, it suddenly launched a raid on some islands. Now Tuvalu, Tokelau, and the Samoa Islands are all occupied by it. It is speculated that The next step is Vanua Levu and Fiji - the Australia-New Zealand route is in danger of being permanently cut off. Regardless of whether to deal with the German fleet, reinforcements must be sent to the Pacific Fleet! "

Tsunoda and Nishimura, who really couldn't find a ship to break up with in the past few days, were too bored to lead the Second Air War to attack the island. As a result, they found that the U.S. military was very weak. With a bombing of planes and a bombardment of naval guns, the Musashi even The U.S. military hoisted the white flag and surrendered before they even opened fire, so they unceremoniously occupied three islands and plundered all the U.S. military supplies on them - packing everything away!

In the early morning of February 24, 1944, Spruance led the South Atlantic Squadron and galloped towards the Falklands...