"Falkland?" Some army generals were still wondering which remote corner this was, and Admiral Kim had already stood up and scolded angrily: "Bastard! Bastard! He was so agitated that at the age of 65, he stumbled to the ground, and if it weren't for Turner's quick hand to hold him, the Navy commander would have almost fallen to the ground. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

When the staff officers unfolded the map on the wall and looked at it carefully, everyone gasped, and they finally understood why Admiral King was so out of shape: there were three shipping routes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the most convenient one was through the Panama Canal, which was now destroyed and impassable; The second is the traditional shipping route, which bypasses Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America to the Pacific Ocean, and once the Falkland Islands are occupied, this route will be under the full deterrence of the German army, even greater than the Azores' deterrence of the Atlantic; The third route is probably the route through the Arctic Ocean passage from northern Canada, but the admiral explained that the polar route usually has ice floe, and it is a dead end.

"So, if the Germans occupy the Falkland Islands, our supply routes to the Pacific will be cut off?"

"It's not possible to cut it off completely, and we can transport supplies to the west coast via the transoceanic railroad that crosses the country, and then dispatch and transport it. After the destruction of the Panama Canal, in order to speed up the transportation, we have taken the above approach, the traffic of the transoceanic railway last month increased by three times compared to the same period last year, and it continues to grow, but it has ......a great impact in other aspects," Li Hai explained, "warships and ships will not be able to pass, and general transport ships, including liberty ships, still have production capacity on the west coast, and escort aircraft carriers can also produce, but other warships, especially large warships, can only be supplied by the east coast at present." ”

Everyone nodded involuntarily, but the generals of the army system obviously did not realize anything, in their minds, the next task was to fight the Azores, and there was no time to send warships to the Pacific side, and the Falkland Islands matter could be put aside for a while, and some people even secretly rejoiced - at least this situation showed that Germany and Italy were not prepared to fight South Africa or India. Only the admirals had a very bad face.

When Lehi told him about the battle of Tarawa and the battle situation, the meeting room was finally fried, and the army generals were even more excited than General King. They had already been holding back their anger on the Pacific Fleet because of the attack on Australia and New Zealand, and now Nimitz was fighting a battle in which both sides were defeated at such a critical juncture -- this was Lehi's assessment and conclusion, which meant that the Pacific Fleet had no follow-up combat capability. Just now, we were discussing the shift in strategic focus for the coming period, and in the blink of an eye, such bad news came, which makes people not angry.

Although others used more restrained words and did not rise to the level of personal attacks, the words were fierce and "irrational" to Nimitz and the Pacific Fleet. In view of the fact that Admiral Kim did not say anything to explain that he had dissuaded Nimitz, and even supported Nimitz when asked by everyone, everyone mistakenly thought that this battle was at his behest, and even complained about Admiral Kim, but most of the admirals knew Admiral Kim's thoughts and true opinions, and at the same time did not think that Nimitz had done anything wrong, and they also unceremoniously ridiculed each other.

Seeing that the naval and army armies were so noisy that the scene of the joint staff meeting turned into a busy city, Roosevelt finally got angry, slapped the table and shouted: "What kind of system is it to be noisy and noisy? Can the victory of the United States be achieved by quarrelling? ”

The crowd was speechless.

"What do you think of next?" Roosevelt looked at Admiral King, "Although the British report is vague, let's assume that Germany has occupied the island and has the main force of the Axis Fleet. ”

"There is no other option but to postpone Plan C and launch a campaign to retake the Falkland Islands instead." When he was arguing just now, Admiral Jin didn't talk much, not that he was aggrieved or felt that he had nothing to say, but that he was seriously thinking about what to do next, and he went on to speak more methodically, "First of all, the location of the Falkland Islands is very important, and it is related to the communication between the two oceanic navies, even if it does not affect the dispatch of materials for the time being, it is also a key strategic node in the long run, and it will not work if it is not fought; Secondly, judging from the enemy's situation, the Germans had just occupied the Falkland Islands, and could not build their battalions into strong fortresses in the short term, and if we launched a counterattack now, it would be more convenient to recapture them -- if the German fleet could escape, the Falkland Islands would not be able to escape there; Thirdly, we have enough troops for Plan C to easily use the tiles in the direction of Falkland, which has a better chance of winning than the Azores. ”

"What about the situation in the UK? Don't the Azores care? ”

Admiral Kim shook his head: "From a military point of view, it can't be both. From the build-up of troops to the official attack on the Falkland Islands, don't think about it for a month and a half, it's a blessing to be able to complete the Falklands strategy before Christmas, and then wait for the fleet to return home in January, which happens to be the coldest season in the North Atlantic, and it is not suitable to attack the Azores at all. My logic is to attack Falkland first and then the Azores next spring. ”

"The Azores can be put aside for the time being, I don't think there will be fatal consequences." Turner added, "At present, the Anglo-Canadian route is basically open, except for German submarines and a small number of aircraft, which do not pose a threat to us, and when we have a relatively sufficient escort force, the fleet transportation loss rate is about 20%, assuming that the next stage is increased to 25%, which is also within the range of our gritted teeth, it is a big deal that we send more supplies over." ”

Turner's tyrant style has been taught to everyone, and it is not surprising that he was prepared to sacrifice so much in the Azores in the first place—to the United States, the loss of some supplies is nothing.

"How many troops do we need to fight Falkland?" Stimson asked.

"Assuming Argentina remains neutral, I need the entire Atlantic Fleet, 15-20 escort carriers and 2-3 divisions."

"What if Argentina falls to the Germans?"

"The situation is complicated, it is not a simple Falkland Islands operation, it will have a chain reaction in South American countries. Chile and Argentina are both traditional South American powers and suspect hostility towards us, and the Army must consider marching into South America and forming an overwhelming advantage. Admiral Kim's tone was complicated, "I don't know about land warfare, but I think 10-15 divisions are needed after all, at least with a whole army aviation force and enough logistical support." ”

Anyone who has read the map will understand the current importance of Chile and Argentina, both of which have territories at the southern tip of South America, and both of them can effectively block this vital shipping route.

"Is there a problem between these two countries?" Roosevelt asked Donovan, who had a wealth of experience in South American affairs and, in a sense, knew even better about the political ecology of the region than Secretary of State Hull.

"Chile should not be a big problem, although it may not be inclined to us, but it is still certain to remain neutral; But the situation in Argentina is complicated...... "Although Donovan has been busy arranging the British special task force recently, the tentacles that were ambushed in South America in the early stage still continue to report the situation of Argentina's domestic political situation," Argentina has a military coup d'état, which has a tendency to develop into extremism, and this group of officers has not yet formed a stable and clear core leadership force, which means that there is likely to be the next round of turmoil, among which there is a figure that must be paid attention to - Juan Peron, He is more radical than all the current conservative officers and has strong opposition to us, and the Argentine people's long-standing claim to the Falkland Islands is a very important factor. ”

Donovan's succinct account of Peron's ideas and recent activities, reminding the crowd not to be ignored, Roosevelt apparently listened, but a large number of army and navy generals dismissed it, believing that Argentina was nothing more than a stronger grasshopper -- a grasshopper no matter how strong it was.

"The Navy has made its point of view, what does the Army think?"

Marshall pointed to Eisenhower and motioned for him to speak. Despite the defeat in the African theater and the attack of the domestic public, Marshall's trust in Eisenhower has not wavered, and he has been entrusted with important tasks as always, and other high-level officials also understand that the failure of the African direction is not a problem for the commanding officers - MacArthur can be reactivated, and naturally he will not embarrass Eisenhower, so the latter still maintains his position, but after such a setback, Ike, who was already somewhat taciturn, is more cautious in his words and deeds.

"My suggestion is that the Azores campaign continue to be completed in early November, and then move forward with the Falkland Islands campaign after a moderate rest." He explained why:

First, from a climatic point of view, if the Azores were to end in November, the Falkland Islands campaign could be launched at the beginning of 1944 - in the late spring and early summer of the southern hemisphere, and continuous operations could be carried out;

Second, from the point of view of rhythm, the suspension of the two-ocean route will affect the dispatch of warships, but at present, there are no warships on the east coast that can support the Pacific Fleet, so the blockade is only psychological and visual, and will not have a substantial impact, and it will be completely too late to open up when a large number of new warships are in service in early 1944;

Third, from the point of view of the relations between the allies, once the Soviet Union withdraws from the alliance, Britain will inevitably be impacted, and it is difficult to guarantee that the British side will not have other ideas when the situation is so complicated, and if the Azores campaign plan that has just been negotiated is canceled, it will be tantamount to telling the British that the United States of China can only be responsible for itself;

Fourth, from the point of view of military operations, the main force of the German fleet is currently in the South Atlantic, which can effectively exclude its support in the Azores direction, which is a once-in-a-lifetime offensive opportunity, not to mention that the Axis fleet can still be stationed in Falkland?

Fifth, as for the situation in South America, the top priority is to stabilize the mood of Chile and Argentina, and to extend an olive branch to Argentina, and if it is willing to join the allied system and declare war on Germany, it can consider returning the Falkland Islands to Argentina after the war......

Eisenhower said eight or nine points in a free air, and all of them were reasonable, which undoubtedly made people's eyes shine, and the meeting re-entered the time of debate...... (To be continued.) )