Chapter 921: Encirclement (End)

"Oh my God, the Germans are coming, they are really coming! This is not a false report of military intelligence, they are really coming!"

"Boom!"

The one who made this exclamation was not the British and American officers and soldiers on Iceland, but the Brazilian and American troops who had no psychological expectations at all.

After Brazil decided to send troops to quell the rebellion, Brazilian troops including the First Expeditionary Division and American troops have been pressing forward in recent days. The fastest expeditionary division's vanguard has also crossed the hilly area that was initially considered relatively troublesome - there was no danger along the way. The Germans did not ambush them here. They only need to worry about their marching routes and transportation capabilities.

The US Army Air Force also frequently launched raids on the Republic of America based in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina. The German Air Force could only defend itself and had no power to fight back. Of course, the skills of German pilots are much better than those of American and Brazilian pilots. They have repeatedly shot down enemy aircraft, but their numbers are too small. Even if they often achieve results of 1:5 and 1:4, they cannot change the general trend.

In recent days, the US and Pakistani air forces have not only fought with the German Air Force on a large scale, but also bombed suspected German ambush sites many times, and indeed hit many places. But they did not expect that the enemy's counterattack would come from the sea this time. Before dawn on May 29, they were suddenly attacked by the German naval aviation that came from the sea. More than 200 planes were paralyzed on the airport before they could take off. Even the few planes that were lucky enough to fly were soon shot down by the aggressive German fighters.

In the early morning, the Richelieu and Scharnhorst appeared in the defenders' field of vision. Then more and more warships, including destroyers, launched fierce artillery fire on the port and beach positions with naval gunfire. An armored grenadier battalion carried by the King integrated aircraft carrier began to land on the beach, and more than 20 Sibel tank landing craft rushed to the beach to release tank troops-although there was no Leopard, the power of the No. 4 was enough to give the enemy a hard time.

At noon, the German army quickly defeated the panicked Brazilian defenders, not only successfully transporting one armored battalion and two armored grenadier battalions ashore, but also controlling many key locations such as ports, docks, and airports. Then a steady stream of landing forces rushed deep into the city. By the afternoon, a complete Marine brigade had successfully landed, and another was also landing in a hurry, not only to control the entire city, but also to copy the retreat of the Brazilian rebels.

The Brazilian army still wanted to struggle to the death, but when a large number of armored forces launched a ground suppression attack in depth, their morale finally couldn't be maintained and they were ready to retreat. After learning that the landing was successful, Schocken immediately asked the Flying Fortress Division in defense to switch from defense to offense at the fastest speed, ready to move forward to hold the Brazilian First Expeditionary Division.

Originally, according to his idea, he wanted to lure all four Brazilian divisions over and destroy them. According to this plan, the landing would take a few days, but the head of state personally sent an urgent telegram, saying that the Icelandic front was tight and hoped that he could provide support. Shaoken did not dare to neglect it and immediately adjusted the plan temporarily, changing the plan of destroying 4 divisions of the Brazilian-American coalition forces to destroying the Brazilian First Expeditionary Division, and the target was reduced by three quarters at once. Of course, the target adjustment is not without benefits. At least it is more convenient to fight now - one German armored division plus two marine brigades against one Brazilian division is completely inhumane.

The sudden change in the battlefield situation was shocking. The US-Brazilian coalition forces, which were still aggressive and ready to flatten the American Republic in one fell swoop two days ago, were demoralized when they learned that they were surrounded. A lot of people tried to escape, especially the other three divisions that Montero had explained before departure. They were obviously more than 100 kilometers away from the landing of the German army, but after hearing the situation, they ran away without thinking, and were defeated. The two marine brigades thought they would have a hard fight, but they didn't know that they would start armed marches after defeating the defenders at the beginning.

The streets were crowded with German and Italian Brazilians, and even descendants of Hungarians, Bulgarians, Romanian, Irish, French, Portuguese, and Japanese came out to welcome them. The flags of their motherlands were flying, and there was a scene of great unity of the Axis.

They knew the routine of the American Republic very well. When the Germans took control of the situation, the British and American industries and the industries of the indigenous capitalists would be confiscated by the government, and then a little profit would be given to them, and the debts would be written off. Many civilians had long been looking forward to the earth-shaking changes. Even the indigenous residents knew that the Germans were reliable and had much stronger administrative capabilities than the Brazilian government after the martial law. For example, the order in the "rebellious state" was very stable, and it was difficult for those ruffians, gangsters, and mafia to survive.

Only the poor main force of the Brazilian Expeditionary Division was trapped in the hilly area, unable to advance or retreat, and could only watch the two German troops rush over to surround them. That's not all. The German Air Force, which had been shrinking for the past two days, suddenly appeared, and nearly 200 planes roared and launched a fierce attack. The Brazilians finally realized that they had been fooled. The Germans were not without strength, but had been holding back and waiting for them to take the bait.

Major General Moraes, the commander of the expeditionary division, ordered the troops to shrink their defense in the mountains and desperately called on the other three divisions to move closer to him. On the other hand, he sent a message to Rio de Janeiro to beg for reinforcements from the rear. It was obvious that calling on the three divisions to move closer was a failure. Others were afraid to avoid it, so how could they dare to run into the encirclement again? However, the telegram sent to the General Staff was not necessarily effective. Not to mention that Montero did not want to save him, even if he wanted to save him, he did not have the strength to do so.

"Sir, the situation is exactly as you expected. The Germans have begun to counterattack..." Montero's confidant shook the telegram and sighed, "The situation is not ideal. Florianopoli, the capital of Santa Catarina state, After the fall of Sri Lanka, the German ambush emerged from the direction of the rebel state and besieged our army. The air force suffered serious losses. Major Nairo Mora, the captain of the 1st Combat Group, was killed in action. A total of nearly 300 aircraft were lost. After the airport fell, we had no available aircraft. , the remaining airport defense forces, pilots and ground crews retreated hastily, and many people were captured by the Germans. What was even worse was that local Germans also began to riot, and some members of Congress even sent out calls to join the rebel states. "

"I can't control the Air Force, what about the Army?"

"The expeditionary division was flanked from front to back and is now defending in place in the mountains. It is said that German planes are chasing them and bombing them. Brigadier General Farias (artillery commander) was killed and Brigadier General Costa (infantry commander) was seriously injured; the personnel losses may have exceeded 1,500 people; the other three divisions ran fast when the momentum was bad, only losing some heavy equipment, and the other personnel suffered little loss... The key problem now is that the expeditionary division cannot be withdrawn! "

Montero looked at the map and shook his head: "It is impossible for the main force to withdraw! There is still hope that the rearguard can escape quickly. In another 2-3 days, the Germans will completely trap them to death. We can't even get the relief troops." Come out, even if you have them, who dares to use infantry to fight the German armored divisions? That’s not brave, it’s courting death!”

A bunch of people were silent. The expeditionary division's own supplies would not be a problem for 3-5 days, but what to do after 3-5 days? Run out of ammunition and food and the entire army is destroyed? But no one dares to bring in more power for rescue—not even if they don’t want to, but because they really can’t!

"What now?"

"Tell Moraes to defend on the spot and block the attack tenaciously. We will find a way to send troops." Montero said slowly, "There is still a chance of resistance in the end. If we give up, the entire army will be destroyed in less than three days."

"this……"

"In addition, we can only tell President Vargas that the country must enter a state of emergency, implement martial law and general mobilization, and let the Americans send 200,000 troops to fight."

"Martial control..." The confidant muttered this word: it was obvious what the commander was going to do, and everyone began to get excited.

"Someone asked carefully, what if..."

He only had time to start his speech before he was interrupted by Montero, who said coldly: "There is no if, the Americans must come, or we will leave! I can't watch the country of Brazil be destroyed!"

Of course, our departure does not mean that Montero wants to cause division, but that he wants to take Brazil away - to change camps, or at least to withdraw from the alliance.

"What? The German troops have landed in another Brazilian state?"

"Yes... the situation is very bad. The expeditionary division we assisted in training is in trouble and is being outflanked from both sides." Eisenhower took Clark's emergency telegram and reported, "The Brazilians asked us to send 200,000 troops to rescue."

"Didn't the Brazilians dispatch 4 divisions in total? Where are the other 3 divisions?"

"Before engaging the enemy, flee."

"What do I want from such a force?" Marshall was furious. "They must come back for rescue."

"It's useless. General Clark has urgently communicated with President Vargas and General Montero. The two of them were completely panicked and lost confidence. Vargas was even thinking about moving the capital - Rio is also a port city. …”

Marshall was stunned: "How many troops did the Germans dispatch?"

"It's not clear at the moment. It's estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000. Including their troops in the rebel states, it's estimated to be around 50,000." Eisenhower mused. "The dispatch of 200,000 is obviously an exaggeration. The current number of troops in South America is The total force is only a little over 200,000. How can it be possible to put all of it in Brazil? But we have to be wary of the domino effect - Brazil is also surrounded by Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia. In addition, after the German army takes control of the two states, if it continues. By capturing Parana, they will truly threaten the two important cities of São Paulo and Rio, which is fatal.”

Marshall is silent: The loss of Brazil is not a big problem militarily, but it is too serious politically, which means that South America will be completely out of the orbit of the United States.

"Judging from the current progress of the war, I don't think the Brazilians have the ability to save themselves. We made an assessment at the beginning that as long as the Germans put 3-4 main divisions in Brazil, they would have a chance to sweep the country. Now they have 2 divisions. The troops have arrived, and Brazil’s military strength is weaker than we thought. If we don’t intervene, these 50,000 German troops can wipe out Brazil’s active troops.” Eisenhower’s suggestion was clear, “Either consider abandoning Brazil, or take advantage of it.” The Germans didn't have many troops, so they immediately sent out a large army to press them over. "

The news immediately exploded in the Joint Chiefs of Staff...

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