Iron Cross

Aiden said coldly: "What does this mean? Declaring war on France involves a war of independence? If you really care about this, should you declare war on the United Kingdom?"

Hopkins breathed a sigh of relief and almost didn't come back. After thinking about it, he felt that there was no need to be as knowledgeable as Aiden, so he said with a smile: "But we agree with Mr. Prime Minister's proposal to dispatch a fleet to occupy the French colonies in the Western Hemisphere. The government of the United States agreed to allow the de Gaulle government to occupy these places and also agreed to provide arms, supplies, and equipment to arm the Free France.”

"As for the establishment of a Jewish state, the president believes that Germany's conspiracy cannot be allowed to succeed, and the Jewish groups in contact with Germany do not represent Jewish organizations. We still insist that the Jews must establish a state in Palestine, and Germany must return the relevant properties of German Jews and compensate for losses." Hope Kings asked, "This is also the purpose of the Balfour Declaration. Can you agree with this?"

"I think you can agree." Churchill immediately agreed.

Aiden sighed: "I think it's acceptable, but the Jewish nation must pay the Arabs to buy land."

"I think this is okay." Hopkins struck while the iron was hot. "The third problem is that the US Army hopes to get 200-300 experienced Royal Air Force pilots, especially fighter pilots."

"This will greatly weaken our defense capabilities." Aiden glanced at Churchill, "But I don't understand the military issue. I'd better ask the Prime Minister to make the decision?"

Churchill did not directly say yes or no, but only asked someone to call the Air Force. The reply was that the Royal Air Force agreed to transfer 200 personnel, but hoped that the United States could support an additional 500 P-51s. Hopkins was busy responding to this question. I agree, 500 P-51s are less than half a month’s current production, so there’s nothing I can’t bear to part with. However, Churchill immediately proposed that due to the recent excessive losses of escort aircraft carriers, he hoped to get 8-10 more as soon as possible.

Now it was Hopkins' turn to frown. After careful consideration, he said: "Although the current production progress of escort aircraft carriers has improved a lot than before, there is still some time before large-scale launch. I'm afraid this number is a bit difficult..."

Due to the existence of the Azores base and the German surface fleet's control of the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, the German anti-submarine power in the Atlantic has increased very rapidly. Coupled with the destruction of super secrets, the current output of British and American escort aircraft carriers has increased compared with the same period in history. It has increased a lot, but the losses have increased even more. All the early escort carriers, including the Nagashima class and the Sangamon class, have been lost. The Borg class, which has the most mass production, has produced nearly 50 ships so far, and the remaining number There are less than 15 ships. Except for the remaining 9 ships in Australia and the Pacific, there are only 5 ships left in the Atlantic field. The first batch of Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers began to enter service in early June. By the end of July, a total of less than 12 ships were put into use. , and another four ships were sunk.

The Navy Department under the leadership of Admiral Kim has made statistics. Although the construction speed of escort carriers is very fast - the average construction time of the larger Casablanca class is less than 180 days, their life cycle is even shorter - less than 140 days. This forces The Naval Committee further accelerated the pace of construction. The original construction quantity of the Casablanca class is 50 ships, and the additional construction plan is 75 ships. Just equipping these ships with equipment, aircraft and personnel will cost billions of dollars. However, judging from the current battle losses, there is a vague concern within the Navy that there may be an additional 100 ships by 1944. The Navy Department is now afraid to report this plan to Congress.

"If 8-10 ships are in trouble, how many can be squeezed out?" Aiden added, "Now the domestic demand for supplies is very urgent..."

"Maybe 3-4 ships." Hopkins didn't get the relevant authorization before setting off, but now he didn't want to show his cowardice, so he gritted his teeth and said, "In order to support the Pacific battlefield, we transferred 1 ship half a month ago. The light aircraft carrier and two escort aircraft carriers are used to maintain supplies in the Pacific, and the Australia-New Zealand front line is also very important. In addition, the president also said that the Royal Navy can get another fleet aircraft carrier this year.”

"Essex class?" Aiden didn't want the independent class to fool people.

"Yes, Essex class!" Hopkins looked pained, but still gave a positive answer.

The frowning brows of British senior officials have finally relaxed: by the end of this year, Britain and the United States are expected to have 8-10 aircraft carriers in the Atlantic waters, and will finally be able to establish a force advantage over the German and Italian navies. However, there still seems to be no solution in the Pacific direction. . Hopkins responded vaguely to the British request for the United States to provide support to India.

Early the next morning, the worried two men immediately returned to Washington and reported to the Joint Chiefs of Staff: General Arnold was overjoyed when he heard that Britain had agreed to support 200 pilots. 500 P-51s were not a big deal. When it came to 3-4 escort aircraft carriers, Admiral Kim couldn't help but objected, but President Roosevelt expressed his approval. But when the last topic was reported, the atmosphere suddenly became strange.

Donovan called Hoover and asked him to control the situation. All irrelevant personnel were cleared out. Even adjutants, including Marshall, General King, and many other senior officials were cleared out.

"What's going on? Do you suspect there are spies around us?" Marshall had long been irritated by the FBI's recent series of small moves among civilians and the military, but he didn't dare to express it in front of Roosevelt, so he could only rely on Give it a try on such an occasion.

"More terrifying than spies, Admiral..." Donovan explained the situation in a few words, "... In short, this is the situation. Prime Minister Churchill is prepared to use force as a last resort."

"What?" Everyone in the audience was stunned, Marshall muttered to himself, "70% of the people are against him? Has the situation in Britain deteriorated to such a serious level?"

"He wants to imitate Cromwell?" Admiral Jin sneered, "What a joke. He doesn't even look in the mirror, but his fat face is one ten thousandth as good as Cromwell's?"

Shi Tingsheng frowned: "Even if we take action, it is impossible to cleanse 70% of the top executives. That is not consolidating his power, it is subverting the country."

"You don't need to kill them all. His goal is to kill about 20 leading figures from both parties, and then find a way to get rid of the Duke of Windsor. This can basically control the situation."

"This is not easy either." Marshall sighed. "We have troops stationed in the four autonomous territories of South Africa, Canada, and Australia and New Zealand. Once this precedent is set, what will other allies think of us in the future? They will think that it was our initiative. Winston is just our puppet!"

Roosevelt was in a turmoil, but his face seemed calm. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Can someone else solve the problem?"

"You can change people, but you can't solve the problem." Hull filtered the senior leaders of the two parties in the UK one by one. "From what I have seen, there are many people who have served as political leaders in Great Britain, but people like Winston There are very few politicians who are determined to fight to the end and unswervingly pursue the line of British-American cooperation. Many of them are speculative figures who are wise and self-protective. It is certainly good to look at the problem from their standpoint. The problem is that now we have to be responsible to the American people."

"If Great Britain withdraws from the war, can the United States win independently?" Roosevelt first turned his attention to General King.

"If the four major dominions can still be with us, I think we can win." Admiral Jin came to the conclusion after a moment of thought, "After the British mainland withdraws from the war, it means that we no longer have to provide support to them. , instead of investing more energy in the direction of the Azores, we can devote all our attention to the Far East, and all those resources will be used to fight Japan. The victory logic will become like this: we first kill Japan and take over the entire East Asia and the Pacific. , and then join forces with the Soviet Union to use the huge manpower and land forces of China and Russia, plus our navy, to launch a comprehensive counterattack. Of course, this will take a lot longer to win. I estimate that it will take 1948-1950. , you have to be re-elected for two more presidential cycles.”

Marshall believed: "If Britain withdraws from the war, the people may demand that we punish and destroy Japan, but they may no longer support our hostility to Germany. Our strategic policy will become to destroy Japan and control the Pacific, and confront Germany across the Atlantic. Maybe there will be another world war in another 20 years: it will be a decisive battle between the European and African groups led by Germany and the American and Asian groups led by us; there is also a possibility that it will not be fought - for example, the emergence of destructive weapons !”

"Is it necessary to make peace with Germany in exchange for Germany giving up its support for Japan?" Smith-Timson made a suggestion, "It can temporarily stabilize them."

"Germany may accept it, but it will not really give up the Axis Alliance. For example, it will continue to export weapons, materials and technology. Germany needs Japan to hold us back and buy time for them to integrate Europe and digest Africa and the Middle East."

Someone outside sent a new telegram in. Hull sighed after reading it and said helplessly: "The Chongqing authorities rejected the request to send additional troops to India, but agreed to our contact with the Chinese Communist regime and made a suggestion. Since The CCP has repeatedly expressed its lack of supplies and equipment and its strong desire to resist Japan. It suggested that the CCP send 3-5 divisions to India and be armed by us. We have contacted the CCP’s external liaison representatives in Chongqing and they said "We are not opposed to sending some troops to fight in India, but we require the British government to commit to granting independence to the Indian people and at the same time demand a clear return of Hong Kong."

"In addition, the CCP proposed that if it sends troops, it requires independent political status and separate management from the Chongqing authorities' military. At the same time, it requires us to provide security guarantees and commitments. After the CCP troops are committed to India, the Chongqing authorities cannot exert military pressure on the CCP. At the same time, The economic blockade on Yan'an must be lifted..."

"Finally, they pointed out that they could send about 30,000 people, no more, if they contributed to the Allied cause, hoping to form a coalition government after the war and accommodate the Chinese Communist Party, and promote China's democratization process... …”