When Marshal Dill told the people of London that "if you don't send me, you won't send me, you will die together", all the bigwigs slapped the table. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Marshall scolded: "Shameless! ”

Lehi scolded: "Bastard! ”

Admiral Kim shouted angrily: "A bunch of shit! ”

Truman didn't curse, but the face that was blacker than black charcoal showed that he couldn't suppress the anger in his heart—it was close to the breaking point.

He said coldly: "This is the British blackmailing us to prepare to surrender!" I order that all supplies and channels for aiding Britain be stopped; General Patton prepares to take over British Guiana; General Nimitz prepared to take over other British islands in the Western Hemisphere, including Bermuda; General Bradley prepares to take over the defense of South Africa; In the direction of India, our army aviation force tried to retreat to Chinese mainland; In addition......"

Nimitz interrupted him: "Your Excellency, forgive me for interjecting, it doesn't matter, some are time tosses, after all, the 60,000 defenders of Iceland were attacked by the superior forces of the German army, and we fought to the end and gritted our teeth, and there are more than 100,000 American troops in the key British mainland, what if the British surrender and betray us?" ”

"This ......"

Everyone hesitated again, looking at each other and not knowing what to say: Iceland lost 60,000, Britain lost more than 100,000, and in the blink of an eye, 200,000 went out. Even if the US national defense force is as high as 10 million, 200,000 is not a small number, and these 200,000 troops can be regarded as the main force of the army very early, but it is not comparable to those National Guard divisions that have been newly recruited now.

The two SS divisions were in a hurry, especially since the Soviets were still taking great pains to raise this during this time, and even slapped Washington in the face, what if the Germans formed an SS American Army Group out again? That's the biggest joke in the world.

Truman nodded slowly: "Your concerns are very reasonable, I am mad at the bottomless attitude of the British, this damn shit-stirring stick!" ”

Since Truman's attitude has slowed down, Nimitz can't hold on to it, in the final analysis, rescuing Iceland is not only a military issue but also a political issue, not long ago the United States hoped that Britain would drag the Germans until the end of the year, and give up in a blink of an eye because Germany fought Iceland? That's incredible.

"So, what do you say about the Icelandic problem?"

Nimitz thought for a while and said: "First of all, I think that purely from a military point of view, the British side still has the strength to consume it with the Germans, although the Royal Navy cannot move, it is not difficult for the Royal Air Force to draw hundreds or thousands of aircraft, even if Britain is short of fuel, this fuel is always no problem; Secondly, there are 80,000 defenders in Iceland, relatively sufficient military supplies, although this part of the army is not rich in war experience, but it is not muddy, I think they have good strength, and the combat effectiveness shown with confidence and lack of confidence will be two different things; In the end, I am willing to lead the naval fleet to the rescue of Iceland, I will not fight the Germans, I will fight guerrilla warfare with them. ”

"What are the odds of victory in Iceland?"

"If the British and we are willing to do whatever it takes, I think the probability of winning is more than 60 per cent, and the key is that no one can make that decision." Nimitz smiled wryly at Truman, "Your concerns are justified. ”

Lehi said indignantly: "We really should support Britain, the key British attitude is too annoying - they should not be this kind of attitude that we will look for Hitler if you don't come!" This is not the idea of a responsible politician, this is the routine of street thugs who has the biggest fists and who follows. ”

"I think Prime Minister Winston Churchill still wants to resist, but there are certainly different voices in the British Cabinet, just as there were different voices in the British Cabinet, just as there were different voices in the past." Nimitz suddenly remembered Wallace, the poor man whose words would have been "the truth in every word" if he had dragged on for a few more months, and he felt a little sympathetic to the other man when he had been killed by a bullet from a Colt pistol.

But Admiral King coughed out of place, and when he heard two "cough-cough" sounds, Nimitz was startled, and immediately realized that he had gone too far, and there was Truman standing opposite him, the vice president who had criticized Wallace.

Sure enough, Truman frowned slightly, but pretended not to hear what Nimitz meant: this is a good general, he has no political ambitions, he says this only with emotion, and his behavior is not as tactful as other people's—this is a pure soldier!

"Now, because of our statement, we have been caught in the sore feet by the wavers within the UK, which is why this voice is coming. I suggest that it should be rescued if possible. Nimitz said sincerely, "There are many British officers and men in the Atlantic Fleet who work for our army, and we hope that British scientists, British engineers, British workers, and even British officers and men will continue to work for us in the future, so we can't be too harsh with the British authorities -- after all, this is our comrade-in-arms in the trenches, although materials and equipment cannot be delivered at present, but other aspects must always do something anyway." ”

Truman sighed and nodded slightly: Nimitz said all the old and serious remarks, how can politics simply be happy with enmity? In particular, when he is facing a general election, he cannot exercise his decision-making arbitrarily -- he is also acting as a substitute for his powers, and Nimitz's words just now certainly evoke some uncomfortable memories, but how can they not be a vivid lesson to himself?

Nimitz knew that the rift between Britain and the United States was getting bigger and bigger and could not be repaired, but he still wanted to do his best to postpone the last desperate moment, and suggested: "Let the two new aircraft carriers stay at home for sea trials, and I will lead the Franklin and six escort aircraft carriers to attack, I will not fight the Germans head-on, but at least I can divert the enemy's attention and destroy its supply lines, right?" This was an encouragement to the British - just as the British sent two divisions of reinforcements knowing that the situation in India was unfortunate, and sometimes it could not be simply calculated by success or failure. You see......"

Truman did not express his position directly, but used his gaze to seek the opinions of others, and Admiral King, Lehi, and Marshall all nodded slightly. Seeing that everyone was unanimous, he gave clear guidance: "General Nimitz is requested to command a suitable fleet to the North Atlantic to contain the German movements; General Arnold was asked to send Army planes to support him as promised; Ask General Smith to stay the course, and we will fight to thwart the enemy's spirit in the Battle of Iceland! ”

The call back for this decision soon arrived in London, and Pound nodded with satisfaction and said to Churchill: "Prime Minister, I don't want to offend you, but sometimes when dealing with the Americans, we have to show our toughness at the right time, and we can't always whisper and beg the other party." Regardless of the success or failure of the British Empire, the position of a second-class power cannot be secured, but it is different for the United States, and Hitler is more clever than them in this regard - why did the Germans be polite to Petain? Isn't it just about world hegemony? ”

Churchill was so choked by him that he couldn't speak.

Attlee frowned and said, "Since the Americans are willing to send a fleet, should we also send a navy to harass the Germans?" ”

Pound shook his head: "Except for submarines, other warships are not suitable, at least not before dampening the German army, but you can send more planes, and the navy will be responsible for reinforcing the 300 fighters in Iceland, and I will find a way to collect a group of attack planes to attack the German fleet." ”

Potter also said that tomorrow he would send planes to fight the Germans to the end.

Aiden saw that Churchill was sullen, so he persuaded: "Prime Minister, isn't it time to achieve your goal?" We can continue to persevere, the British Empire is not so easy to finish, negotiations are negotiations, fighting is fighting, these are two different things, the better the fight, the better the negotiations! ”

Churchill barely managed to squeeze out a smile: "It's me who didn't think it through, I ......"

Seeing him say this, several military leaders were busy and apologized: I was emotional just now, please don't mind, Prime Minister, the meeting finally passed in the laughter of everyone, Churchill left the conference room full of concern, and several military leaders went to the headquarters to coordinate the operational deployment......

In the early hours of the morning, the huge landing fleet had reached less than 800 kilometers from Iceland, and the main fleet under Commander Marchar had reached less than 600 kilometers, Ozawa ordered the landing fleet to turn northwest and distance itself as far as possible from the British mainland, while the main fleet continued to advance and immediately launched a third round of air raids on Iceland - the first on May 28.

In Scotland, in Northern Ireland, in Norway, in Denmark, in the Netherlands, in Belgium, in France, in Germany itself, all major airports were full of aviation waiting to strike. However, the goal of the attack is not the same, and the Axis group on the European continent will launch an unprecedented attack on the south of England; Norwegian Air will conduct raids on major air bases in northern England; German carrier-based aircraft will carry out another air attack on the Icelandic defenders; The target of the British fleet will be the German landing fleet more than 1,500 kilometers away.

When Europe and the North Atlantic were still silent in the dark, and the sun was shining more than 4,000 kilometers away from the west coast of Australia, the Tsunoda fleet and the TF44 fleet invariably released reconnaissance planes, and at 2 a.m. Greenwich time and 10 a.m. Singapore time, a Japanese Caiyun reconnaissance plane was the first to discover Spruance's fleet, 650 kilometers away from each other; Forty-five minutes later, the U.S. fleet also spotted the Tsunoda fleet standing in front of them, and when he heard the report that the Tsunoda in front of the fleet had 1 large aircraft carrier, 2 light aircraft carriers, and 2 battleships, Spruance couldn't help but secretly complain.

But there was no way out of turning and escaping, and with the Tsukahara fleet in hot pursuit 1100 kilometers behind TF44, he gritted his teeth and gave the order for the carrier-based aircraft to prepare, trying to fight his way forward, while his opponent, Kakuharu Tsunoda, who had been waiting for a long time in the open sea, had already given a similar order.

In the early morning of May 28, TF44 officially fell into the encirclement of the main forces of the Combined Fleet......