Iron Cross

The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting was held in a solemn atmosphere. Army Chief of Staff Marshall reported the latest war situation to President Roosevelt on behalf of the military: British and American troops that had been out of contact for several days after landing on the coast of Somalia, including the 2nd Armored Corps commanded by George Patton Division, the British 78th Infantry Division and a large part of the surviving naval personnel of the Fast Column finally had the exact whereabouts - after walking for 4 days and 3 nights, they contacted the British troops in Somalia who came to search, and then used The radio station promptly sent a report back to the country.

Although many people were rescued, the overall situation was very bad. Take the Second Armored Division as an example. The commander of the division was killed and one-third of its officers above the major were lost. It was only thanks to Patton's personal charm and perseverance that he could survive. The temporarily formed headquarters also played an important role. The situation of the British 78th Infantry Division was worse than that of the Second Armored Division. The overall organization was completely disrupted. In the end, all British soldiers and naval officers were mixed into the US military team. In this way, all the personnel combined were not as complete as the original one. 2nd Armored Division. Of course, Patton firmly believed that some troops were lost along the coast of Somalia, and finding them was a top priority.

The condition of the surviving troops was not ideal: the two divisions lost all their heavy equipment and a large number of officers and soldiers. Some soldiers also suffered from various symptoms due to fear, hunger, acclimatization, etc. People died every day, and even There were also a small number of officers and soldiers whose will collapsed and couldn't hold on anymore and committed suicide in despair midway. There were still more than 1,000 lightly wounded soldiers in the army. They hoped to receive medical rescue as soon as possible. However, the telegram did not mention the seriously wounded at all. Everyone speculated that basically all of them were killed—— In fact, this guess is correct.

The Somali side stated that it would try its best to help these troops, but their capabilities are really limited and cannot accommodate so many officers and soldiers. Food, medicine, and various supplies are all problematic. They sent an emergency call to request support, and the sooner the better.

"What good ideas do you have?"

Marshall Report reported: "Coordinates have been coordinated with Kenya to airlift the supplies needed from Somalia as soon as possible. However, the escort command said that they do not have enough aircraft and hope to temporarily use carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier - the fleet just arrived in Mombasa today."

Roosevelt turned to Nimitz and asked: "Can carrier-based aircraft undertake this function?"

"Theoretically, both SBD and TBF can carry some cargo after emergency modification." Nimitz thought for a while, "But in this way, the fleet's attack power will be weakened."

Roosevelt pondered for a moment and said to Admiral Kim: "The fleet's top priority now is not to fight, but to cover the landing troops ashore as soon as possible. Therefore, there are fighter jets that can also undertake air defense tasks, and let the remaining carrier-based aircraft take off to Kenya. Rescue is the most important. Then some of the injured will be rescued back to Mombasa depending on the situation.”

The second news was reported by General Nimitz: Under the command of MacArthur, the Pacific Theater Army troops captured Lae two days in advance. More than 10,000 enemy troops were killed, and the casualties of the US and Australian coalition forces also reached 4,000. The attack on Vail Island may be accelerated, but in any case not earlier than January 15th. In addition, the number of casualties of the army troops attacking Bougainville Island has been close to 2,000, and it is expected that the number of casualties when the island is finally captured may not be less than that of Lae.

No one expected such a fierce resistance from the Japanese army and the number of army casualties. Everyone believed that it was absolutely necessary for the president to send two divisions to reinforce the Pacific battlefield. However, before the battlefield situation could be discussed, General Kim's adjutant suddenly handed over a letter. After reading this urgent telegram, Admiral Jin stood up in shock. His right hand holding the copy of the telegram trembled slightly, and he could not say a word.

Everyone's expressions changed drastically. What could make Admiral Jin change his expression so furiously must not be good news. Sure enough, Nimitz took the telegram from Admiral King and said in a very sad tone: "I just received news from the British that two infantry divisions preparing to reinforce the Pacific Theater encountered an encounter on the South Indian Ocean. The Japanese fleet made a surprise attack, and the entire fleet and 2 infantry divisions... were almost completely destroyed!"

"Bang!" With a sound, Roosevelt slammed his fist on the table. "How did the Japanese master the accurate whereabouts of the fleet? Was our code or intelligence leaked?"

"No." Admiral Jin shook his head after regaining his composure. "The fleet reported that they suspected an enemy submarine was following them. They racked their brains and couldn't find it. It is estimated that the submarine pointed the direction for the Japanese fleet."

"Did the Rapid Column also fail for this reason?" Roosevelt immediately thought of this issue sensitively.

"There is no clear evidence, but it is very likely - without accurate information, it is difficult to accurately capture a fleet on the vast sea." Admiral Jin said, "However, regardless of whether it is the reason or not, it is best to all Change your passwords.”

Everyone was worried: Not only were the two infantry divisions that the Pacific theater had been waiting for so long, but the situation in the Indian Ocean would be completely unsolvable for a while...

The meeting fell into silence, and it took a long time for Marshall to speak: "In view of the strength of the enemy and our weakness in the Indian Ocean, in order to avoid unnecessary losses, it is recommended that all ships and warships stop sailing."

Everyone nodded helplessly: This is not a good solution, but it is the only solution available at the moment.

Secretary of War Smith Tingson reported on the war situation in North Africa and the Middle East: "The current situation is that the main German army has surrounded the city of Cairo. General Alexander, the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Theater, has fled to Aswan in southern Egypt with more than 10,000 people. There are still two Dominion divisions in Cairo. The British are now in a quarrel. Cairo city defense commander Ramsden and the commanders of the two divisions accuse Alexander of abandoning his troops and abandoning the city. Alexander defends this. According to the arranged retreat plan, he first led more than 30,000 local troops to retreat, and then Ramsden led other troops to retreat later. It was just that the Germans were advancing too fast and they could not retreat. He argued that it was fortunate that he commanded immediately. Retreat, otherwise more troops will be surrounded. It is difficult to tell who is who and Prime Minister Churchill will have a headache. "

"Scandal! An out-and-out scandal!" Admiral Jin was furious. "Churchill was already shameless enough, and now there is someone even more shameless than him. If there is something unclear, let Alexander fly back and fight with these two divisions. Isn’t it clear that we will persevere together to the end?”

Marshall also despised Alexander's behavior: This kind of behavior was not even half as good as Montgomery's. "The British originally planned to set up a unified command in East Africa to continue fighting the German army, and they also planned to make Alexander the commander-in-chief..."

"No! We can't let him take the position. I can't trust him. To be precise, I can't trust any British people now!" Smith-Timson turned his attention to Roosevelt. "I suggest that Ike should be given this position. Now it's all in Africa." Our troops, the British are just a bunch of defeated soldiers... Even George is better than them - he at least saved the landing force. "

Roosevelt nodded: "Please coordinate with the British side as soon as possible to let General Eisenhower serve as the supreme commander of the African theater, General Patton as his deputy, the senior British officer in Kenya can serve as the chief of staff of the theater, and General Hewitt serves as the naval commander. As for General Clark first returned to the country to form a new batch of troops, which was responsible for commanding all wars east of the Suez Canal."

Smith-Tingsheng continued to report on the war situation in the Middle East: "The situation in this direction is not optimistic. Rommel led two armored divisions to rush forward and entered Iraq. The straight-line distance from Mosul and Baghdad is less than 400 kilometers, and the distance from southern Iraq is Basra is only more than 600 kilometers away, and we judge that the Germans’ primary goal is to seize oil fields.”

"Do the British still have troops in Iraq?"

"They also have a 10th Army in Iraq and Persia, commanded by General Wilson, but its strength is very poor. The main combat force only has 6 divisions in total, including 2 British divisions and 4 Indian divisions, all of which are infantry divisions. There are very few tanks, and they are no match for the Germans in terms of morale, equipment, and combat effectiveness. It is expected that the German army will continue to provide support to Rommel after solving the Cairo problem. "

"Now we can only allow Stalin's troops to enter Persia?"

"Yes, President!" Secretary of State Hull, who had never spoken, sighed, "If we still want to keep Persia, we must introduce the Russians. If they mobilize enough troops, they can also launch a counterattack on the border between Persia and Iraq. However, Turkey will become a big problem."

"Türkiye?"

"Turkey and the Russians have a history of grievances. They have always been highly wary of Russian influence going south. After Britain and Russia took control of Turkey's political situation in the early stage, this suspicion and hostility have fully grown, and now the situation is even more serious. We are stationed in Istanbul The ambassador reported that after the Germans occupied Cyprus and marched into Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, they have surrounded Turkey from the west and south. Cyprus in particular poses a great threat to Turkey. If bombers are deployed above, the entire territory of Turkey will be covered. Under the threat of Germany, not to mention that the Germans now have control of the sea in the Eastern Mediterranean and can launch a landing attack on Turkey at any time. Moreover, Turkey and Germany were allies in the last war and have close ties with Germany. There are pro-German and anti-Russian forces in the country. The momentum is very strong. If the British are forced to withdraw from the Middle East, they are very likely to turn to the Germans.”

"What's Stalin's opinion?"

"First, we hope that our country will persuade Turkey to join the allies, or at worst remain neutral; second, it requires us to increase support. He urgently needs 2,000 aircraft and 1,000 tanks, as well as a series of material lists... If these conditions are met , he will send a group army with a total of 150,000 troops into Persia, including at least 6 tank brigades. If there are 150,000 Red Army troops plus 100,000 British troops, they may be able to compete with the Germans. Their strength is estimated at 120,000-150,000 troops. In the meantime, since the German army still has to deal with the threat from our army in Africa, it is estimated that it can only spare 70,000 to 100,000 people to attack Persia. "

Faced with such a major decision, Roosevelt fell into deep thought...