Everyone's faces suddenly became gloomy, and the United Fleet's current posture was to roast the Pacific Fleet on fire, and the fire was getting more and more fierce, and it was almost scorched. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Everyone's brain moves to know that today is Melbourne, and in two days it will be Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, maybe Wellington, and all the big city opportunities in Australia and New Zealand will not escape this assault.

In the choice of the next move, the Pacific Fleet is now in a dilemma:

Going to meet it is obviously not a good military option. The Combined Fleet is full of morale and spirit, and the Pacific Fleet has just fought a bloody battle at Tarawa, losing a North Carolina, not to mention a large amount of ammunition and fuel, and the officers and men are exhausted, so it is definitely not a good time to meet the battle in such a posture.

Choosing to avoid war is obviously not a good political choice. Almost all the important cities in Australia and New Zealand are located along the coast, and if the Japanese army is allowed to bombard and harass them all the way, it will deal too much damage to the morale of the people and troops, and will shake the prestige of the United States in the eyes of the people of Australia and New Zealand, and politically it will almost be tantamount to suicide.

But among the high-ranking officials present, even Halsey, who has always been the most belligerent, now refuses to mention the fact that he will not fight a battle with a probability of victory of less than 15 percent: he is a little reckless, but he is not stupid, and a fool cannot be a vice admiral.

Now the situation is so obvious: the Japanese army has 6 aircraft carriers, 7-8 battleships, including super battleships, and almost 10 heavy cruisers, which is 2-3 times the strength of the Pacific Fleet at any level. It's okay to think about defeating the strong with the weak, and it's a dream to pin on it every time.

After a while, Nimitz opened his mouth with difficulty: "Now we have such a little strength in our hands, we urgently need to replenish and adjust after the Battle of Tarawa, and we are temporarily unable to fight with the main fleet of the Japanese army, and the Indiana is injured again, my opinion is to pull it back first to replenish and rest." ”

"Back to Australia?"

"That's hitting the muzzle of the Japanese guns, let's go back to Pearl Harbor!" Nimitz patiently explained, "There is also an Independence-class aircraft carrier and several escort carriers coming through Cape Horn, and joining forces with them will significantly increase the strength of the fleet." ”

"But both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Australian side told us to go back to the rescue immediately, what should we do?"

Nimitz gritted his teeth and made up his mind and said: "Washington does not necessarily know our actual situation, I will refuse them, I will resist any pressure, even if I am dismissed, I will admit it, I can't watch the fleet go to death." ”

"Sir!" Everyone exclaimed, it takes a lot of courage to disobey orders, and General Nimitz seems to be on the line for his future.

"Don't worry about me, people in Washington aren't as stupid as we think they are." Nimitz tried to comfort everyone, "If we lose, they will know the consequences better - the whole Far East will fall into the hands of the Axis, and they are more afraid of defeat than we are." ”

"What about Tarawa?" Holland became nervous: as soon as the fleet left, Tarawa's position became extremely awkward, and if he left his troops, once the Japanese army came to attack, it would soon fall, which was equivalent to sacrificing in vain; If you don't keep the army, you will fight a battle in vain, and in the end you will not be able to occupy Tarawa, and it will be difficult to explain to all aspects.

"If I leave a regiment of troops, do you have the confidence to hold on to it like the Japanese and wait for the fleet to return?"

Devon, who had suffered heavy casualties in the troops, was obviously not confident and did not dare to take on this job, so he only turned his eyes to Holland for help, but Johnson, the commander of the 4th Marine Division, looked thoughtfully.

Halsey looked at the chart and said: "The Japanese fleet is now near Melbourne, they still have at least 4,000-5,000 nautical miles to Tarawa, we are about 2,500 nautical miles away from Pearl Harbor, the fleet goes back and forth plus emergency repairs and replenishment, it is estimated that it will take 3 weeks, if the Japanese fleet comes to attack, I expect that the Marine Corps may need to support independently for 3-5 days." ”

Johnson gritted his teeth and said, "Good! I took this task, and I personally led a regiment to stay on the island, but I had 2 conditions. ”

"You say."

"The airport on the island has resumed operations, and I need to get some air support, whether it is land aviation or sea aviation, we need to send enough forces; Second, most of the Japanese fortifications have been destroyed, and we will not be able to repair all of them in a short time, but the stranded North Carolina is a rare point of support, and I hope that the Navy will leave some personnel to help us defend it. Johnson explained, "Hopefully we can have a chance to play Tarawa as a second Midway." ”

Nimitz turned his gaze to Halsey, who nodded: "I think these two requests are very reasonable, I can agree, I will concentrate all the shells that can be used on other warships on the North Carolina." ”

Nimitz held Johnson's hand tightly: "Everything is done!" ”

"If the Japanese devils can hold on for a few days, we marines can also hold on for a few days, and now it's time for them to bleed." Johnson grimaced, "But before I do, I'll clean up those groundhogs." ”

That night, in the dark corners of Tarawa's beneath the earth, several creatures with long beards, ragged clothes, and skeletal shapes that barely made out the whispers of humans.

"Sir, sir, U.S. troops are withdrawing?"

"Withdrawal?" Shibasaki, who was still dying just now, suddenly burst into a strange brilliance in his eyes, and said eagerly, "How do you know? ”

"There are a lot fewer people on the island, and there seem to be fewer warships......"

"The commander has come to save us, the US troops are withdrawing in a hurry, so that everyone can save their vital forces, and we must hold on until the United Fleet arrives." Shibasaki asked, "How many more people do we have?" ”

"There may be more than 200 more, all of them scattered and missing, and today there were a few soldiers who were hungry and panicked to steal supplies from the American army, and then failed to come back......"

Shibasaki's face was gloomy: "Tell everyone, hold on, the dawn is just around the corner!" ”

"This fleet is currently returning to Pearl Harbor and will return to Australia to carry out the relevant orders after resting and replenishing, and it is estimated that it will take ......a month to return to and fro." After receiving this reply telegram, Marshall and Roosevelt were deeply surprised, because the Joint Chiefs of Staff had not yet responded to Nimitz's reply.

"He's disobeying!" Someone muttered discontentedly.

Admiral Kim was furious and shouted, "Who the is talking in private, there is a kind of coming to the stage to say!" ”

Lehi's brow jumped, and he cast a meaningful look at Admiral Kim, but did not say anything.

Congressman Davis did not say such a sensitive word as "disobedience", but he considered Nimitz "cowardly", and he made a speech without a mouthful, and in the end there was only one meaning - the Pacific Fleet should bravely pounce on it and fight like a fighter!

But Admiral Kim defended Nimitz again: "I don't think it's right to put all the bets that are left on it, because it's easy to get out of control, and it's easy to say if you win, what if you lose?" Can we send a second fleet to ANZ? Or are you planning to stop Australia and New Zealand even from India? ”

Others were speechless.

Admiral Kim was not easy to mess with, and someone pointed the finger at Arnold, the commander-in-chief of the Army Air Force, accusing the Army Aviation of being unfavorable: the 8th Air Force returned home in Europe, the 7th Air Force did not perform well in the Far East, and the other air forces behaved like a ball of-in the Caribbean and Panama campaigns!

Unexpectedly, Arnold, who has always been mild-mannered, slapped the table angrily and roared like a thunderous lion today: "At the beginning, you said that you would first Europe and then Asia, thinking that the Japanese army was not to worry about sending the best planes and the best pilots to Europe, and now complaining that we can't do it?"

The enemy's pilots have been in the army for decades, regard the military as a lifelong profession, regard the military as the supreme honor, and are generally respected and admired in the country, and are the most enthusiastic objects of the girls; And our pilots used to either fly pesticide planes, or fly show planes, or fly domestic civil aviation, being a soldier is said to be a waste of resources, a stupid soldier, and the defense funds have been cut and cut, not to mention finding a good girl, you have to deduct and repay the compensation for retired veterans of the last war!

The pilot is already our best performing class here, you can check out the other troops? Not to mention fighting, many people will tremble when they hear the gunshots, now it's war, you don't care, you don't pay attention to, you don't provide resources in peacetime, and now in turn you ask them to be at the same level as the enemy's elite, what kind of bastard logic is this? ”

He was so angry that even Marshall could not restrain him, and Stimson gave Roosevelt a wry smile: Arnold sounded complaining about the members of Congress, but seemed to be pointing the finger at the president himself for his Europe-first-Asia policy.

But politicians are politicians, and Roosevelt did not directly express anything to Arnold's complaints, but pointed out that on the basis of the actual military expenditure of more than 80 billion yuan this year, it should be increased by at least half in fiscal year 1944 to 130 billion yuan (the total national income of the United States in 1941 was only 124.5 billion yuan), and if the normal income is insufficient, an additional 50 billion yuan of national bonds should be issued.

In fact, the highest US military expenditure in history in 1944 was only $87.4 billion, and the figure of 130 billion yuan means that the US imperialists have also begun to fight a war with all their strength.

The parliamentarians were also stunned, such a big deal, let alone whether it can be beared, the inflation level is completely unwatchable. And from the current point of view, there is no possibility of ending this war in the short term, and the level of 130 billion will only increase in the future, not shrink.

There was a lot of talk in the audience, and a second bombshell was dropped into the venue: agents stationed in Egypt found a large number of warships and transports crossing Suez, and the transports were not only supplies but also troops.

"Is this going to attack India or South Africa?" The atmosphere of the meeting suddenly became tense. (To be continued.) )