mixed in the war

"A perfect rescue operation!"

Before MacArthur and his troops reached Haikou, the U.S. War Department had already received the news.Marshall rushed to the White House immediately, told Roosevelt the good news, and gave this action a very high evaluation.

"The cooperation between the Chinese air force and the navy is very close, and the intelligence work is also very precise. Especially the navy cleared the Japanese artillery positions in the first place, which made it easier for MacArthur to retreat."

"A large part of the aircraft of the Chinese Air Force is made in the United States." Roosevelt was a broad-minded person, at least in the eyes of many people.It's a pity that his perception of China has never been better. Whenever he finds an opportunity, he can't help but want to be sarcastic.

"This is indeed a fact, but there is also a problem, that is, the aircraft they need is precisely manufactured by our aircraft manufacturing company using the technology they provide." Marshall reminded, "We should face up to this ally. "

"Allies? Allies don't attack allies." Roosevelt snorted coldly, "I don't even know how to explain it to Churchill at the meeting tomorrow. Because it was we who prevented the British government from taking retaliatory measures."

"It is impossible for Churchill to provoke the Chinese at this time. Although he is very angry, he is an excellent politician. He just wants to use his angry appearance to win more interests." Harry Hopkins S spoke.Roosevelt's most important think tank, the "shadow president" of the White House, after reading the telegram sent by MacArthur in detail, let out a long breath: "The Chinese are far more powerful than we imagined....Especially in the new In terms of equipment development, they are not much behind us. Mr. President, look here..."

"Where?" Roosevelt followed Hopkins' fingers and looked at the telegram. "Radar? Sonar?"

"During the retreat. The Chinese sonar accurately detected the Japanese submarine and dropped depth charges." Hopkins smacked his lips and looked at Marshall again: "General, since MacArthur specifically pointed out in the telegram What is he trying to tell us about this?"

"You're very sharp," Marshall said with a blank expression. "If I'm not mistaken, MacArthur should have wanted to tell us that the Chinese have gone ahead of us, and even everyone, in the development of sonar. Feedback from the Navy is needed. They are the real experts. By the way. I also want to remind: they found the Japanese submarine at night."

"You're trying to remind me...of the German 'wolves'!" Hopkins asked after a moment of silence.

"We and the United Kingdom have decided to strengthen the escort system. It is difficult for the German tactics to become a threat." Roosevelt said solemnly.The German "wolf pack tactic" is another version of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare during World War I, and the inventor of this tactic was a submarine captain when the Germans were conducting unrestricted submarine warfare , Carl Dönitz.During World War I.Although submarines launch attacks underwater, most of the time they confront large fleets during the day... Although this kind of confrontation will cause major damage to warships at a relatively small cost.Even sink it directly.But it will also expose the submarine to attacks from ships.A submarine is not a ship. After being attacked, the people on it at least have a chance to escape.Once the submarine is damaged and loses the power to float up, if you are lucky, you can still abandon the boat and escape, but most of the time, the boat and people are buried in the bottom of the sea.One can imagine how terrible the feeling of being suffocated in the submarine cabin waiting to die.And Doenitz reformed this tactic of allowing submarines to fight during the day.

The "wolves" first scatter for hunting.Immediately after finding the target, it will notify the partner to come to hunt the prey.But the time when they attack is not daytime, but night.Moreover, in the face of the escorting warships, Doenitz boldly let the "wolves" surface at night... Night and sea water are the best protection for submarines.However, the sonar of warships often only monitors the underwater, not the sea surface.Therefore, the "wolves" easily escaped the monitoring network of the frigate and approached the target easily.Then... in the face of vicious wolves, even ordinary battleships may be robbed if they are not careful, let alone those ordinary merchant ships?

This tactic is no trivial matter.And as early as a year before the official outbreak of World War II, Doenitz commanded his "wolves" to attack the passenger ship "Athena", causing it to sink in just a few minutes, and finally buried in the seabed.In the past two years, Dönitz's "wolves" have been rampant in the Atlantic Ocean, attacking the large transport fleets of the Allied forces many times, without any disadvantages, almost making night sailing a psychological shadow for the captains of the Allied countries.But the Allied Forces have so far had no way to deal with the "wolf pack tactics".For a general large fleet, even if it is escorted by a heavy fleet, if it encounters more than 20 German submarines, it will almost be a disaster.

"Strengthening the escort system will only reduce the pressure on the Germans on the sea, which is tantamount to achieving their strategic goals in another way." Hopkins knew that Roosevelt was just talking bluntly, "The performance of the German submarines is very good. According to previous documents, the British have always hoped to build a solid radar defense network. But our technology is not yet able to do it."

"Medicine, electronics, blasting, and even aviation technology...the Chinese seem to have many unexpected means?" Roosevelt suddenly smiled.

"That's right. And I believe that they should have many cards that we don't know about." Marshall also said.

"But they are also showing worrying ambitions now." Roosevelt said, "I am very worried that they will become our opponents in the future."

"I have analyzed that although China is acting aggressively, they should do so only to seek more benefits, because they do not have the confidence and strength to expand outward." Hopkins said, "Because they are very poor! Their people can't even fill their stomachs, and there are famines everywhere. There is no decent industry, and agriculture is very backward. They can't even support themselves with matches. Not only that, but their political situation is also very unstable. If not Because of the Japanese invasion, they may still be in the actual division. And through the information we provided in the Chinese embassy, ​​we even came to such a result: If there is no assistance from the West, China* The ammunition reserves of the * team may not be able to sustain them in front of the Japanese for more than a year. This kind of result is simply unimaginable to us... But the Chinese fought against the Japanese alone for four years in such a poor state Five years."

"Since they can fight against the Japanese for four or five years, they should be able to fight for another four or five years." Roosevelt said.

"But what if the Soviet Union is defeated?" Marshall suddenly asked, "If the spheres of influence of Japan and Germany are directly linked, the Chinese will face an even more dire situation."

"So, we need to aid them, don't we?" Roosevelt smiled bitterly. "Seriously, my friends, I really don't want to do it. Because my gut tells me it's not a good idea."

"But the threat from the Chinese is the most practical." Marshall said, "They have already withdrawn their troops from most areas of French Indochina. And this also means that they are unwilling to hinder the strategic intention of the Japanese to continue going south! If they shrink back into their own territory, the Japanese will extend their tentacles into the Indian Ocean and even attack India directly."

"It's India again." Roosevelt smiled wryly and sighed again, "Britain has concentrated tens of 10 troops in Singapore, Malaya, Burma and other places, and they haven't fought the Japanese yet."

"Judging from the combat effectiveness of the Philippine army, the hundreds of thousands of British colonial troops may not even be able to stop a single Japanese division." Marshall shook his head and said, "You must know that the Philippine troops still went through MacArthur's reorganization training before fighting. Yes, and except for a few of the British colonial troops who participated in training, most of them were formed temporarily. Their combat effectiveness is doubtful."

"Then what do you think of the Chinese proposal to form the Allied Command in Southeast Asia?" Roosevelt sighed.This debate has been fought many times.He has been trying to convince himself to stop supporting China by convincing his men.But as Marshall and Hopkins say, they couldn't find a reason.As the biggest barrier against the Japanese in the east, China is the object they must not give up.As long as those people haven't reconciled with the Japanese, or joined the Axis powers, they must always support each other, no matter how the other party pissed them off.

"MacArthur cannot stay in China. It is impossible for him to have good and beneficial cooperation with the Chinese. His destination should be Australia, and he should lead his troops to establish new defensive positions in Australia to prevent the Japanese from following Attack." Marshall said hastily.He understood Roosevelt's plan very well.Send the [-] U.S. troops stationed in the Philippines to the Indochina Peninsula to cooperate with the Chinese... This seems to be a plan that saves money, time and effort, but based on the performance of the Chinese in the past two years, since the establishment of the Allied Forces Command in Southeast Asia is proposed , it must be aimed at the supreme command.But how can MacArthur be someone who can accept orders from others?Moreover, the defense line they deployed in Australia is also in desperate need of supplementary troops.

"During the last meeting, Churchill proposed to me that Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, who was stationed in Malaya, would serve as the commander of the Allied Forces..." Roosevelt said again.

"No, no, it's impossible. The Chinese will not accept the British commanding the war in Southeast Asia." Hopkins shook his head, "Besides, that guy is a lieutenant general! I doubt Churchill's sincerity."

"I also……"

"Dinglingling!" The phone rang suddenly, and Roosevelt glanced at the two apologetically, and picked up the receiver:

"...It's me, what's the matter?"

"what's up?"

Seeing Roosevelt put down the phone, Hopkins asked again.

"It's Churchill, he hopes to meet with me tonight!" Roosevelt smiled wryly, "to discuss the personnel and war arrangements in the European theater and the Asian theater."

"He wants to get rid of the Chinese!" Marshall licked his tongue, "This will cause a lot of trouble." (To be continued...)