Chapter 864: War Is the Highest Realm of Politics (Part 1)
On April 10, Zeitzler finally returned to Berlin after a long time of rushing. At this time, the air raid on the British Isles had entered the 8th day, and the final action time was getting closer and closer. However, war will never be carried out step by step. As soon as he arrived at the headquarters, he received an unexpected news: Yesterday evening, the submarine cooperating with the operation encountered a US aircraft carrier formation in the southwest of Greenland. It was roughly estimated that there were 3-4 aircraft carriers, 3-4 battleships and a group of light warships. The US fleet was very fast, and the submarines could not catch up with the pursuit, let alone achieve results.
The news immediately attracted the attention of the Supreme Command, and Hoffman himself also attached great importance to it. Today, the fleet's carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft did not find the enemy fleet after searching during the day. The navy was a little nervous, and the army was also nervous. At the end of the day, reconnaissance planes kept shuttling across the Atlantic Ocean, and Caiyun Kai and Atlantic Inspector flew everywhere, as if they would turn the North Atlantic upside down.
Hoffman was very confident about this. Although the North Atlantic was large, he would definitely find it if he was determined to find it. If he couldn't find it today, he would find it tomorrow. If he couldn't find it tomorrow, he would find it the day after tomorrow. Anyway, he wouldn't be far away for too long. The British and American fleets didn't have an absolute advantage. If they met, they would fight. What was there to worry about? He was more concerned about the political trends and war patterns of Britain and the United States.
Cutting off the British-Canadian route and air strikes on the British Isles were not only military battles, but also political battles. There were three main purposes: first, to strike at the hardliners in Britain and tell them not to think that there was no other way except to break the diplomatic relations with Germany, which was currently confronting them across the sea; second, to test the solidity of the Anglo-American alliance - people in Britain and the United States had already secretly negotiated peace with the German side. Hoffman didn't believe that they didn't know each other's little moves, and wanted to see if the two enemies were now sleeping in the same bed and dreaming differently; third, to verify the next policy direction of the United States and decide on the response policy.
Of course, such a big public news that Wallace was replaced could not be concealed. It was inevitable that it would be spread to Germany after a long time. Other senior members of the National Socialist Party did not understand the difference between Wallace and Truman, but Hoffman saw it very clearly. Even if he didn't know the specific content of Wallace's speech on interrupting aid to Britain and the Soviet Union, as long as he combined the negotiation process between Joseph and Kennedy and the personnel changes in the United States, he could guess the subtlety of the US position - the peace conditions that Joseph brought back were rejected by Washington, and the faction that advocated being tough on Germany and continuing the war prevailed, so the war had to go on. As for Truman, Hoffman knew better than anyone that he had a huge "hardliner" label on his forehead.
Under this premise, Hoffman wanted to see how determined the United States was, or what the position or limit of "fighting to the end" in the American mouth was. Now it seems that the relationship between the happy enemies of Britain and the United States has not yet reached the point of breaking up. The Americans sent an aid fleet so quickly, which shows that they are still very ambitious - as Joseph hinted in the negotiations, if Germany does not give up Japan, the United States will not give up Britain.
This is still expected by everyone, but the situation in Japan is a bit unexpected.
Cole recently sent a message to inform Japan of the situation: First, the Japanese side has an ambiguous attitude towards the second westward expedition. Unlike the first time, they rushed to communicate with Germany to ask how much benefit they can get. Instead, they began to emphasize their own difficulties, such as insufficient warships, the situation in India is not stable, etc., implying that it may not be possible in May. The second is about protection fees. The Japanese did not hide this point and refused to talk about it. Instead, they truthfully confessed and explained the benefits they got. They also informed the German side of the number and types of materials obtained by the Soviet Union, hoping that Germany would understand the difficulties of the Japanese side and forgive them.
Japan is famous for its petty-mindedness. This time, it should be overjoyed to get 24 ships of materials (more than 300,000 tons). Whether the German side understands or not, Japan will do so. Hoffman does not need to be angry with Japan for a few materials. That would be too petty.
The original intention of supporting Hori Teikichi was to hope that he could cut off the Soviet Union's foreign aid channel, and the other party did fulfill its promise. Hoffman was also aware of the negotiation of the 40% protection fee. He initially thought that Hori Teikichi was just giving the Soviets an excuse after cutting off the Soviet aid route. The Supreme Command, including himself, believed that the United States would never suffer this loss in silence, and this route would definitely be cut off. He never expected that the United States would bite its teeth and do it. This made him look at the United States' tough attitude with a new eye, and it was difficult to blame Japan for anything - it couldn't be that Japan didn't collect 40% of the toll and worked exclusively for Germany, right? It was okay to force Japan to do so, but Germany must compensate for this 40%? Then it would be Germany's turn to suffer.
Cole reported his speculation: Japan might be planning a major military action in mid-to-late May. The wind has already started blowing. He didn't know where it was going, but he knew it was led by the navy. He guessed whether Japan was preparing to counterattack the South Pacific and seize Australia. However, the Japanese side was tight-lipped now. They only said there was an action but didn't say the specific location, which made people feel tricky. Cole believed that the news was not groundless, nor was it a deliberate move by Japan to increase the price of the westward expedition. If he stood on this standpoint, he could probably explain why Japan was not very enthusiastic about the second westward expedition - there must be a conflict between the two goals, and he hoped that the country would be mentally prepared for this.
Hearing Keitel complain about Japan's unruly behavior and accusing Hori Teikichi of not working hard enough at the meeting, Hoffman laughed: countries are very pragmatic, and it is impossible for both sides to reveal their most important strategic goals and directions, just as Germany could not tell the Japanese about the real purpose of the Caucasus Campaign and the air strikes on Britain. It is also completely normal for the Japanese to keep the next military action secret from Germany.
Hoffman was most afraid that Japan would go north to attack the Soviet Union or south to attack Australia and New Zealand. Although the 40% protection fee made him feel that the style was not right, at least the possibility of going north had been basically ruled out. As for going south, it was in line with the current logic of Japan sending fleets to the Central Pacific to disrupt trade, and he could do nothing about it. After all, Japan and Germany were only an alliance based on interests, unlike Britain and the United States, which still had the most basic cultural identity. In other words, as long as the United States offered a high price, he could sell Japan without any psychological burden. Unfortunately, the Americans not only refused to pay a high price, but also chose to continue fighting with Germany, which made him quite annoyed.
Based on this situation, he could not blame Japan, but on the contrary, he had to continue to win over the other side. All kinds of weapons and equipment could be sold as long as Japan was willing to pay. After all, it was rare for Japan to have smart people in power now. Hoffman subconsciously believed that Hori Teikichi would not go to attack Southeast Asia, let alone occupy Australia and New Zealand - that was a completely thankless job, and he did not believe that the other side could not see it with his shrewdness. The other party must have a hidden agenda. I must think about all the possibilities and not push too hard.
Everyone agrees with the head of state's judgment. The 40% protection fee gives everyone a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Hori Teikichi's business acumen. Several navy generals finally understand why they are just generals while Hori Teikichi can be a politician - in essence, Ozawa and Tsukahara are pure soldiers, but Hori Teikichi, who can do business and stage a coup, is not.
"Very good, the American fleet is here!" Hoffman smiled slightly, "The good thing is that this fully demonstrates the attitude of the Americans to sell blood and kidneys to aid Britain and the Soviet Union, which shows that we have not hurt the Americans yet, and also shows that there are fewer possibilities for the next strategic direction."
"The matter of two SS American divisions just passed like this?" Keitel was shocked, "Can the American people tolerate this? Is there any democratic system left? Is there any rebellious spirit left?"
"It shows that we don't have a deep and thorough understanding of the American democratic system, and we don't have a thorough understanding of the Americans' wealth."
"The British probably pinned their hopes on This American fleet." Jodl analyzed, "Wait until this fleet is destroyed, and see what the British will do?"
"It is the Navy's responsibility to destroy the fleet, but there is one thing I cannot understand." The Navy's first deputy commander, Dönitz, expressed doubts, "Since Britain is so important, why did the Americans send a fleet to deal with Krank at such a critical moment? Haven't they suffered enough from the division of forces? Or do they arrogantly think that their 3-4 aircraft carriers can easily defeat our 5 aircraft carriers? Where do the Americans get such confidence?"
"You know there are 5 in total, but we sent them out in 2 groups, and the Americans don't know about it?" Kate. Smiling, he teased, "It's like they thought Crank only had two aircraft carriers and were confident that four would be able to defeat him, but who knew they would be killed in the end?"
It was Ozawa's suggestion that the navy be dispatched in two waves. He thought that dispatching five aircraft carriers at once was too scary and would easily scare the Americans back, so he suggested that they be divided into two teams - the first wave was dispatched with the three aircraft carriers Zeppelin, Dunkirk and Hyuga as the main force, and they are currently fighting in the North Atlantic, while the second wave was a guerrilla fleet with Jean-Bart and King (comprehensive aircraft carrier) as the main force, and they were about to leave the Strait of Gibraltar to cooperate in the North Atlantic.
For this campaign, Ozawa not only deployed two waves of fleets, but also deployed a large number of aviation forces in the Azores, France, Spain and Portugal based on cross-platform tactics, intending to rely on the three angled aircraft carriers Dunkirk, Hyuga and Jean-Bart to play the role of force multiplier.
In other words, as long as the German fleet operates within the radiation range of the four points of Azores, Brest (France), Lisbon (Portugal), and La Coruña (Spain), it can get sufficient land-based support at any time. If the US fleet dares to enter the sea area surrounded by these four points, almost endless air force will be waiting for them.
Hoffman looked at the time, the pointer was pointing to three o'clock in the afternoon, he cleared his throat and said: "Gentlemen, I believe the navy will give us a surprise - just like General Krank has given us."
As soon as the voice fell, Darges came in to report: "Report, 25 minutes ago, the reconnaissance plane found the enemy fleet, 600 kilometers southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland..."