Iron Cross

"Marshal Hori destroyed the U.S. Pacific Fleet?" Hoffman heard this shocking news just after returning to Berlin from the frontline of the Madagascar exercise.

"Basically all destroyed, maybe a few light cruisers and destroyers escaped..." Keitel said with emotion, "What's even more rare is that it is said that not a single Japanese warship was sunk, and a few American warships were captured. It probably lost its own More than 30 pilots. Of course, the public battle report did not say so, saying that more than 100,000 ships and more than 200 aircraft were lost..."

"What does this mean?" Hoffman was confused. "I've only heard that Japan concealed and underreported its losses. He?"

"These are battle losses from battles in several other directions. He simply put them in together." Keitel shook his head and said, "I don't understand what this means, but Marshal Hori is obviously different from ordinary Japanese. He is much more honest... …”

Hoffman shook his head: "This has nothing to do with honesty. He is afraid of the Army..."

"Afraid?"

"I'm afraid that the Japanese Army won't be able to figure out the situation, and they will reach out and make random prices. They have good intentions." Hoffman said thoughtfully, "It seems that he wants to make peace."

"Want to make peace?" Keitel smiled slightly, "It's too early. How many people have died in the United States..."

Hoffman nodded silently: He does not advocate peace between Japan and the United States, and even if he wants to make peace, he cannot make peace so quickly. Japan is still very high-spirited, and the United States still has great potential. Such an early peace would not only be a disservice to the world audience, but also not in the interests of Germany. To put it in perspective, if peace is achieved so early, who will the German arms be sold to? The United States is not the only one in the world who can make war fortune, Germany also wants to make a good fortune.

"So, he's going to play Hawaii next."

"When you mentioned Hawaii, I remembered one more thing...the fuel stocks at Pearl Harbor were all burned." Keitel said in a gloating tone, "I'm afraid the Americans won't be able to hold Hawaii anymore. They will accept our conditions." "?"

"It's hard to say. Dewey will be on stage soon. He keeps sending people to contact us..." Just halfway through, Ribbentrop called in. "Führer, can I interrupt you for a few minutes?"

"Of course, you said..."

"The Americans proposed new peace conditions, which mainly include: first, they will no longer force us to abolish the Axis Alliance, but Germany should maintain a neutral position and sell supplies to both sides; second, agree to join the United Nations after the war, and in terms of voting rights , assuming that they cannot be equal to us, and hope that the difference will not be too big; third, we can conditionally admit that we control South Africa, but the latter should remain independent; fourth, the islands of relevant European countries in the Caribbean can be managed by European governments, but not should station troops; fifth, the Panama Canal issue can be discussed, but does not include the right to station troops; sixth, South America has ceased fire along the actual line of control and divided spheres of influence; seventh, if Europe is willing to allow the United States to enjoy economic most-favored-nation status, the United States can provide a A huge 50-year low-interest loan to help European countries recover their economies; eighth, after the normalization of relations between Europe and the United States, the United States will guarantee the return of the gold from the Bank of France; ninth, the United States promises not to station troops in Canada and Mexico in the future..."

"Is it Truman's idea or Dewey's idea?"

"That's Dewey's idea. In addition, there are still rumors in diplomatic circles that the United States is also trying to negotiate terms with Japan through Switzerland, but we haven't found out what the specific terms are."

"It seems that the Pacific Fleet's fiasco is certain." Hoffman smiled slightly, "You can talk to the other party about our feedback, but the principles need to be grasped, and the adjustment should still be those conditions - but say it in a less aggressive tone. It's more decent. Of course, I believe it won't work out in the end. You have to cover the launch of military operations. The battles in South Africa and South America will start soon, and I won't give the Americans a chance to breathe."

Ribbentrop was stunned for a moment, and then he immediately realized: The head of state had learned that the Americans had suffered a disastrous defeat, and had already raised the price in his mind. Of course, he would not go back on his words, so he understood and patted his chest and said: "I promise not to give up before Christmas." Any binding terms will be reached!”

"Want Dewey's appetite, but don't stalemate the relationship. Besides, he's not the official president yet, so what's the rush?"

Just as Japan and Germany were sharpening their knives and preparing to advance their next strategy, the situation in Washington had reached a critical point. Although the results of the Pacific Battle have not yet been announced, sensitive public opinion has realized that the situation is not good - the docks are under martial law, the hospitals are full of wounded soldiers, and large numbers of aircraft are frequently dispatched over the city. The front line is feared to have suffered another major defeat.

They used all means to inquire from Washington, the Army, Navy, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. People with knowledge of the matter either kept silent, or simply said "waiting for official news" if they couldn't be bothered. This strange and bizarre situation proved that the situation was very bad—— The government either doesn't know what the final result will be, or it is trying to cover up and whitewash the final result. If it were peacetime, public opinion would have exposed the shady story long ago, but now because of the control of the FBI and Hoover, newspapers dare not do so. They can do anything if Hoover is pushed into trouble. To take a step back, reporters and editors are also afraid of learning the cruel truth. Everyone is like an ostrich, intending to bury their heads first.

Most of the remnants of the Pacific Fleet returned to Los Angeles and San Francisco in the evening of November 1. To cover their retreat, the West Coast Army and Navy dispatched a large number of aircraft to cover. At first, everyone thought that the Japanese army would follow closely because of the intelligence from a reconnaissance aircraft. came to attack, but it turned out to be a false alarm. After noon on October 31, the main force of the combined fleet began to turn around from a place about 1,400 kilometers away from the west coast, and slowly retreated at a speed of 16 knots.

But the scene at that time was extremely shocking to these remaining warships. Wave after wave of Japanese aircraft arrived in the dark night, and they were crushed without any resistance. This made them frightened and rattled on the way to escape. Many people It wasn't until I set foot on the west coast that I felt relieved.

The most well-manned among the retreating warships was the Delu Division - not only was the entire warship unscathed, but it also brought back all the personnel on the Bismarck Sea escort aircraft carrier. But other warships were not so lucky. There were naval officers and soldiers everywhere who had suffered heavy losses, especially the wails of the sick and wounded, which made the entire warship look like a hell on earth. It made the army and navy officers and soldiers who came to the dock to rescue them cry. .

Halsey's performance was even more worrying. His eyes were dull and his expression was broken. He sometimes muttered and sometimes cried while guarding McCain's body, and refused to eat or drink for two days and two nights. In order to prevent accidents, the adjutants and staff had to take turns guarding him to prevent him from acting irrationally, and finally arrived in Los Angeles safely.

Spruance greeted them at the dock. Seeing an acquaintance, Halsey's expression returned to normal slightly, but without saying a word, even Spruance burst into tears as he watched McCain's body being pushed past. —When he was hospitalized, the other party came to see him almost every afternoon. At that time, everyone was still talking and laughing, but we didn’t expect that we would say goodbye forever.

Considering that McCain's body had spent a lot of time at sea after all, despite the cold weather, it had to be buried as soon as possible in order to prevent an accident. Spruance endured the great grief and comforted Halsey, and finally the Army Air Force Planes were arranged to fly everyone to Washington.

As soon as he arrived in Washington, Halsey couldn't stand it anymore and fell ill. After repeated resuscitation and infusion, the doctor finally found that there was no major physical problem after a comprehensive examination. It was just that he suffered a huge blow that he couldn't bear. He could recover after a few days of rest.

On the afternoon of November 2, the Joint Chiefs of Staff held an expanded emergency meeting. This meeting was held in a hospital for the first time. Now not only Nimitz, but also Spruance and even Truman were admitted to the hospital due to huge blows. , the entire power center and command center in Washington have been completely paralyzed. Everyone no longer cares about ordinary daily affairs, and is focused on the military. Now the war situation in the United States has deteriorated to the extreme. Although the combined fleet has turned around, it does not mean that the west coast is safe. The Japanese can come back anytime and anywhere.

Admiral Ingram, who lost his entire fleet and became a mere commander, took the risk of flying from Pearl Harbor to the Aleutian Islands and then back to the West Coast to participate in the meeting. As several big bosses in the Navy fell one after another, and Mitchell, Hewitt and others were alerting the German fleet in the Atlantic, he was temporarily appointed as the head of naval affairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and worked with Turner to handle daily affairs. .

Dewey braced himself to introduce to everyone the progress of the peace talks with Germany and Japan. No one had any objections to the revised terms of the contract with Germany that he proposed - if you can't defeat them, of course they can only accept humiliating conditions.

Regarding the conditions for the armistice with Japan, Dewey said that the intermediary had conveyed the intention to Japan, but it would take at least 3-5 days to receive a reply, because the line was interrupted after Japan's peace proposal was rejected by the United States. Recovering takes time, and America needs time most!

"According to the reconnaissance of the Army Aviation at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attack on Hawaii is probably imminent." Ingram introduced the severe situation currently facing Hawaii. "In the past month, the submarine force has reported that Japan has continued to attack Midway Island from the mainland. A fleet was sent in the same direction. Although they sank some, they also suffered heavy casualties. Now this line is basically unstoppable.

The Army Aviation long-range reconnaissance aircraft conducted detailed reconnaissance on both Midway Island and Christmas Island, and found that large-scale construction was underway on both islands. The most worrying thing was Midway Island. The aviation and defense forces were getting stronger and stronger, and the number of personnel was also increasing. , pilots reported to me that they were intercepted by Fw-190s, Ta-152s and even Spitfires! In addition, we also discovered a large number of landing craft - a few Japanese models, many German Sibel-class landing craft! "

As soon as they heard the word Spitfire, everyone's expressions turned ugly: they had learned through diplomatic channels that the British gave the Giant-class aircraft carrier to Japan. Now it seems that the British went too far and gave the Spitfire fighter jets too. After giving it to Japan, shouldn't the Japanese Army drive Churchill or Cromwell tanks to land in Hawaii next?