Iron Cross

Roosevelt did not attend the Joint Chiefs' combat discussion meeting that day, but when Marshall and General King came together to report the combat plan to him the next day, he couldn't help but frown: Turner's plan seemed a bit desperate. Of course it would be good if the atmosphere of decisive battle is achieved. If it is not achieved, the naval essence and fleet superiority of Britain and the United States in the Atlantic may not be preserved at all. He was very hesitant and didn't know whether he should approve this plan.

Admiral King did not dare to rush Roosevelt, because this matter was highly variable. Turner told him privately several more dangerous situations: First, Gibraltar would be breached before April 7 arrived, and the Mediterranean Axis Navy Swarming out, even if the Japanese combined fleet is not considered, all the German and Italian navies combined are not an easy opponent to deal with; secondly, the German fleet was not in port when the Battle of the Azores was launched and was not detected. When the Allied aircraft carriers carried When the planes were locked in a bitter battle with land-based aviation, the German aircraft carrier suddenly came out - it would be a replica of the Battle of Midway; third, Germany concentrated more than 400 aircraft in the Azores and was unable to overwhelm its opponents in terms of force.

The first and third situations are okay. The Allies can immediately adopt evasive tactics after discovering it. In the worst case, the plan will be cancelled, and self-protection is more than enough. Only the second situation made Admiral Jin very worried. The more he thought about it alone in bed at night, the more he felt that the Azores and the Battle of Midway were very similar. His situation was even a little worse than that of Yamamoto Isoroku. The other party just wanted to eliminate them. The U.S. fleet pretended to seize the island. Midway Island was a target that could be abandoned. However, the real purpose of this battle was to seize the island, and the Azores simply could not give up.

If he works hard to facilitate this matter, then his political future and prospects will be completely linked to the outcome of the war. Success will of course be a big success. If he fails, will he be the scapegoat? He started to think a little wildly.

"Plan B is of vital significance." Roosevelt sighed, "If Plan B succeeds, I will approve Plan A without hesitation, but if it doesn't work..."

"Then let's discuss it in detail, and also take a look at the situation in Gibraltar." Admiral Jin quickly added.

Marshall nodded. Admiral Jin's reaction was quick, and he well grasped President Roosevelt's worry about gains and losses. The Azores had many problems when they lost, but there were even more problems when they lost in a desperate gamble. He asked Admiral King: "What do you think will happen if Plan B succeeds but Plan A is not implemented?"

"Is that so..." Admiral Jin pondered, "If the German army loses its fleet and can only use submarines and aircraft to break diplomatic relations, the risk will be much less. Our fleet will probably have to circle around more, and then we will have to deploy more Escort warship."

“What is the Maritime Commission’s decision on subsequent shipbuilding?”

"It's very difficult." As soon as he heard Roosevelt talking about this, General Kim opened his briefcase and reported it, with a frosty look on his face.

"Based on early battle losses and subsequent transportation needs, experts from the Navy believe that it is necessary to add 50 Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers, 50 20,000-ton oil tankers, 6 additional Montana-class battleships, and 6 additional Iowa-class battleships. 8 ships.”

Roosevelt frowned: "With so many additions, can the slipway handle it?"

"No, so there must be a choice. They suggested that since Germany and Japan do not have follow-up corresponding warships, building three Alaska-class large cruisers is enough. As fleet operations generally shift to aviation operations, heavy cruisers are not in greatest demand. Therefore, The construction tasks of the Baltimore-class and Oregon City-class heavy cruisers and all the Des Moines-class heavy cruisers are cancelled. In addition, the construction of the Atlanta-class and Cleveland-class light cruisers is cancelled. A total of 28 light and heavy cruisers are expected to be reduced.”

"Where's the aircraft carrier?"

"It will be completed according to the current plan, without any increase or decrease." Admiral Jin sighed, "As long as it can be completed according to the schedule, we will not be short of aircraft carriers in the next year, but we will be short of experienced carrier-based aircraft pilots. Although the Navy There are more than 1,000 carrier-based aircraft pilots on the ministry’s list who have completed complete training, but more than 90% are rookies within six months of graduation, and less than 10% are experienced veterans.”

"Where are the skilled pilots?"

"All sacrificed." Admiral Jin said helplessly. "We have been fighting for more than a year. The pilots trained before the war lost a lot after the South Pacific Campaign. Then in the past few months, Halsey launched an offensive campaign and another Some were lost, and then some were lost in the North Africa and Indian Ocean campaigns. Of course, some people grew up. The lack of experience I mentioned mainly refers to the lack of pilots participating in large fleet battles. "

"This is not possible." Roosevelt said worriedly, "How can an inexperienced pilot fight against the enemy?"

"Experience can only be accumulated in battles. If we don't rely on them, who else can we rely on?" Marshall said, "The Army has also never fought in a war. Ike sent me a telegram to complain, saying that he understood that the Kenya landing battle was canceled due to changes in the domestic situation. , but hope to ensure the supply of supplies in the African theater. The Germans have occupied Somalia and are preparing to attack the Northeast Corridor of Kenya, and aircraft reconnaissance shows that the Germans can rely on nearby transport ships and ports to obtain supplies from Mogadishu. Except for the Australian and New Zealand Division, which had fought against the Germans, this was the first time for the rest of the troops to go into battle, and they felt very guilty.”

“What do the Anzacs say about the Germans?”

"It's difficult to fight..." Marshall forced out a smile that was uglier than crying. "The opponent's commander is Guderian, who is considered one of the three best armored commanders in the German army, and all his men are from Poland. The battle begins with the elite troops marching south and north."

"Send him another batch of supplies. Don't worry about the loss of ships. It will not be easy for him to fight alone there." Roosevelt stared at General Kim. "The American people must hear the good news and cannot always 'fail, retreat, and lose.'" 'With words like this, even if Ike can hold his own, it's good news."

Admiral Jin gritted his teeth and agreed. Marshall also breathed a sigh of relief. Roosevelt had set the tone for the African theater of war - victory was victory if he could hold on.

"I have just received an intelligence report that there has been a power change within Germany: Marshal Milch, the former No. 2 figure in the Air Force and suspected of being Jewish, has been appointed Deputy Minister of Armaments, assisting Speer in his work and concurrently serving as the leader of the Imperial Labor Front; the former Western Front Air Force The commander, Marshal Hugo Speller, was dismissed from his post by Hitler and became the nominal general adviser of the Air Force. There are also rumors that Hitler was not satisfied with the Navy Commander-in-Chief Raeder and was gradually evacuating his power. "Roosevelt asked the two of them, "You guys. What do you think you can decipher?”

General Kim did not pay much attention to this matter. Marshall said: "This should be a step for Hitler to further strengthen the centralization of power. He is purging those generals who do not comply with his wishes. One day, he will be backlashed by this power."

Marshall was right about one thing. Hoffman was indeed strengthening centralization, but he was not strengthening his own power. He was strengthening Speer's power. The Ministry of Armaments is the most important department in Germany, known as the Mini Cabinet. Speer is not only called the economic head, but also one of the four giants under the party head. He has a prominent position. When further promoting the integration of mobilization and production systems, the Imperial Labor Front The leader, Robert Ley, relied on his many years of experience to refuse to sell Speer's battle and to uniformly distribute all the labor force.

In addition, Robert Ley was also a very stubborn anti-Semite. He took overt and covert measures to resist Hoffman's "new policy" against Jews, which offended Hoffman for the second time. He instructed Bowman to investigate this person's situation. If he had no major problems, he could be assigned another position. However, after verification, he found that he was still a corrupt person: before the war broke out, Robert Ley used the car he owned. The factory encouraged ordinary Germans to make prepayments to buy cars that had not yet started production. While buyers after prepayment were waiting for the cars to go into production, the war broke out, and the car factories were instead used to produce tanks and motorcycles that were urgently needed by the front line. In the end, the money All went into Ley's pocket, and the total income was about 100 million marks.

Bowman immediately dealt with this guy in a vigorous and resolute manner and returned the relevant advance payment. Although there were not many financial benefits, it greatly consolidated the reputation of the head of state. After Robert Ley was executed, everyone thought that Speer would take up the post himself. Unexpectedly, he suddenly nominated Milch for this position and also offered him the position of deputy minister. Pell had many contacts and worked very hard in prisoner care and labor organization, and his comprehensive and efficient execution ability was recognized. Hoffman also knew that Speer did not want to give himself too much power, so he immediately agreed to the relevant personnel adjustments. As a result, Milch became the second big figure to make a comeback and return to the central stage after Field Marshal Blomberg (who served as commander-in-chief of the reserve army).

Marshal Hugo Speller made many mistakes during this period. In the beginning, when competing for the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, he looked down on the junior Jeshunek and repeatedly resisted him; later, he violated Hoffman's instructions and was unwilling to Transferring aircraft to the night fighter force; recently, he openly and covertly resisted the transfer of Air Force pilots to Hainan Airlines... The accumulation of various deeds made Hoffman lose patience with him and dismissed him directly, while Hans Jürgen Stone Air Force General Puff was promoted to general due to his effective command and support of the Southern Front Campaign and succeeded Speller in charge of the Western Front Air Force.

Redl's problem was more complicated. After the North Sea Campaign, Richthofen believed that he was barely qualified to be the commander of the naval aviation, but not the commander of the aircraft carrier group. Moreover, because his military rank was higher than that of the fleet commander Machar, during the command process There will be problems, and he believes that the Navy currently does not have a suitable candidate. Combined with the performance of the Japanese advisory group headed by Ozawa, he recommended to Hoffman that Ozawa temporarily serve as the commander of the aircraft carrier group. However, this recommendation and appointment caused Redl dissatisfied, so the appointment was deadlocked here.