Shadow Spy

Chapter 325: Write a report and make great contributions

On the European battlefield, on the evening of August 8, during a small-scale bombing operation, a German bomber lost its way due to weather conditions and mistakenly flew over London and dropped a bomb.

On August 8, in retaliation for the bombing of London, the Royal Air Force dispatched 25 bombers to attack Berlin, the German capital, and also conducted small-scale bombings of other major German cities.

At this time, both Germany and Britain tore off all masks of "gentleman's war" and opened the war box of attacking civilian targets.

On Monday, August 8, Li Junhao received an emergency telegram from Washington. Deputy Secretary of State Ayers asked him to provide an analysis report on the British Air War within 26 hours. The sooner the better!

Although he was a little surprised, Li Junhao knew that this old man must be in urgent need of his opinions on Germany's "Sea Lion Project", so he did not dare to neglect and immediately began to analyze and write.

Fortunately, it is relatively easy to write this report because of my previous life experience.It took him three hours to write the report. After checking it, he sent it back to Washington.

In this report, he briefly mentioned the actions in the past few days after the start of "Operation Sea Lion" and believed that the German army failed to achieve its planned combat objectives. The reason was not only the stupidity of its air force commander Goering, but also the failure of the plan itself. Among the flaws, the biggest one is: no war in the world can be ended by air force operations alone, just like the most powerful battleship cannot reach land, and fighter jets cannot implement occupation!

Military fans of later generations have debated why Hitler only used the air force and not the army at the same time for landing. Many people believe that the British naval fleet was still stronger than Germany at that time, and the German army did not dare to send army troops for landing operations. .But Li Junhao doesn’t think this is the reason!
At that time, the German army had occupied all of France. They could choose any point in France to cross the English Channel at any time. The narrowest point, the Dover Strait, was only 34 kilometers (21 nautical miles) from Calais, France to Dover, England. wide, a slightly faster landing craft could cross the strait in less than an hour...

Although the British fleet is stronger than Germany in terms of strength, it does not dare to enter the narrow Strait of Dover because the water environment here is not suitable for the deployment of the large fleet and cannot give full play to its advantages; coupled with the strong German air force, If the British fleet really dares to come, it will face a three-dimensional attack from the sea and the air, and it will not be able to win the war.

Some people also believe that at that time, Britain concentrated British troops, some French troops, and some colonial troops on the three islands. The number of regular troops reached 50, and it also organized millions of militia troops called "Home Guards." Even if the German army pretended to The landing was successful with huge casualties, but they would face a brutal battle. Even if they finally won and occupied Britain, they would suffer huge losses... So Germany gave up its plan to land, hoping to use the power of its air force to force Britain to surrender. .Li Junhao also disagreed with this view. Was Hitler the kind of person who gave up fighting because he was afraid that his troops would lose too much?Obviously not!
In the report, Li Junhao stated all the above-mentioned reasons in his own language, and finally asserted that Germany will not send ground troops to land until the end of the British air battle. There are two reasons for this:
One is that Hitler did not pay enough attention to the determination of the British to resist before. He probably really believed that air power alone could force them to surrender. However, he later discovered that this was not possible, as time had been delayed and the best opportunity to attack had been lost;

The second reason is that the mainland plot is at work. The British Isles are just three small islands after all. What Hitler really wanted was the Soviet Union, which had a huge land area. In his mind, it was probably wasted on a small land like the British Isles. It’s simply not worth the manpower, material resources and time!

Therefore, the "Sea Lion Project" that started in a hurry will also end in a hurry.

He predicted that the German Air Force would stop large-scale air raids in another month at most; of course, there would still be small-scale air raids in the following period, but the focus of the German offensive would shift...
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Ayers was very pleased to receive the analysis report so quickly. No matter what the content was, it showed that little Ogg still attached great importance to what he had told him. He heard that it was urgent, so he must not have wasted time.

However, after reading the report, Ayers frowned and found it difficult to make a judgment.It's not that the analysis in the report is wrong, but that he doesn't believe that Germany will soon give up its air raids on Britain!
After the Battle of Britain began, the British continued to come to the United States for rescue. The United States made it clear that it would not join the war at this time. Britain no longer asked the United States to send troops, but it wanted weapons and equipment, ranging from large warships and aircraft to medium-sized tanks, Armored vehicles, everything from rifles to bullets are unnecessary!
Under such circumstances, President Roosevelt, who had just decided to run for re-election, was under great pressure.

At present, isolationism in all walks of life in the United States is still very serious, especially among members of Congress. If Roosevelt insists on large amounts of foreign military aid at this critical moment of the campaign, it will definitely affect the subsequent campaign; but if he ignores the British request, he will offend A large number of British voters - you know, the white people who make up the upper class of the United States are basically from Britain!
The reason why Ayers urgently asked Li Junhao, who was far away in Shanghai, for his opinion on the British air war was mainly because of the special military assistance requested by the British - 50 destroyers.This is to protect the sea routes between the British colonies and the mainland and deal with the threat of German submarines. With the addition of these destroyers, the British main fleet can concentrate on defending the mainland to contain the German army's possible landing operations at any time.

President Roosevelt was hesitant. The military aid requested by Britain this time involved a huge amount of money. However, while Churchill claimed that it was urgently needed, he said that he did not have the funds to pay for the ship purchase and hoped that it would be in the form of pure aid. It was simply a waste of money!
In order to relieve the old president's worries, Ayers immediately came to the White House with Li Junhao's report...
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On September 9, after several rounds of negotiations, with real confidence, Roosevelt stuck to the bottom line, and finally signed an agreement with the United Kingdom: the United States would transfer 2 destroyers to the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom would transfer some of its naval bases around the world. Lend to the United States.

Because this agreement did not ignore the interests of the United States and expanded the United States' overseas presence, it was quickly approved by Congress; but in fact, Roosevelt's little trick succeeded-the signing of this agreement meant formal neutrality The end of the war marked the beginning of limited U.S. participation in the war.

(End of this chapter)