"No, I have to help George. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info" paced back and forth for four or five laps, and after thinking about it for a long time, Nimitz finally made up his mind, "Helping George is also helping ourselves." ”

"Help? How can it help? Smithton was stunned, Nimitz still had the power to interfere in the Army's operations?

"Send a telegram to Admiral King, telling him that now that the German fleet is avoiding a fight, I need an army unit to carry out the landing mission and lure the German fleet out." Nimitz explained, "Equipment and supplies are limited, of course, whoever can fight to whom, and whoever has the strongest desire to fight will go first!" ”

"Are you really going to land?" Smith thought it was a little incredible, "If the Germans don't move, the navy can attack Rio City." ”

"You're going to turn the city into ruins with naval guns and planes?" Nimitz shook his head, "It's not a wise choice, and with the Luftwaffe in Rio, that's not easy." ”

"It is said that there are quite a few German troops in Rio, and the landing may fail."

Nimitz pointed to the map: "With more than 1,500 kilometers of coastline from Rio to Porto Alegre, is it possible for the Germans to defend everywhere?" With a total of 70,000 to 80,000 troops, they can only hold a few particularly important port cities at most, so can't I put on the posture of attacking Rio, attract German troops to Rio, and then land in Porto Alegre or Florianópolis in the rebel states with a false shot? Could it be that the German Army, without a fleet, could keep up with the pace of our offensive? ”

"It can't be."

"That's right." Nimitz smiled, "That's when the German fleet should appear...... Then we can go and deal with the German fleet. ”

"Okay, you convinced me, but you have to convince Admiral Kim and the Joint Chiefs of Staff first."

"He'll understand."

After receiving Nimitz's telegram, Admiral Kim couldn't help frowning: Nimitz conducted a lot of program research before demonstrating this battle, such as how to fight if the enemy discovers first, how to fight when the enemy discovers first, how to fight the decoy fleet when the enemy hits first, and how to fight the main fleet when the enemy first strikes, but there is one thing that he did not say -- after being discovered by the enemy, the enemy army neither meets nor retreats, but only focuses on hide and seek.

After thinking about it, let someone invite Turner to discuss it first.

"He wanted to send George to war...... He had asked me to ask Admiral Marshall. Turner explained why Barton was still squatting in Venezuela, and then added in a ghostly way, "But Hewitt doesn't have a very good impression of George, who gave him endless trouble last time in Operation Torch, and he still haunts it." ”

"If George is really transferred, they will run into each other again this time!" Admiral Jin spread his hands, "What do you want me to do?" ”

"George can come over if he wants, and he can fight if he wants, but he has to say in advance that he must obey Nimitz's command, and this time it is the army to cooperate with the navy, so he needs to put the relationship between priority and priority."

"Can Marshall listen?"

"Yes, I don't hear his tone very tough, he needs a step down, or shall I get Ike for you?" General Marshall listened to Ike the most, and he intervened to persuade him to go. ”

Everyone knows that there are only three people in the US Army who can influence Marshall the most, one is Eisenhower, who is currently the deputy chief of the general staff, one is Weidmeier, the chief of staff of the Southeast Asian theater, and the other is Stilwell, the chief of staff of the Chinese theater, but now Weidemeyer is trapped in Pakistan, Stilwell is trapped in China, and only Eisenhower can exert the greatest influence.

"No, this matter can't be conveyed through Ike, I have to go and tell him personally, otherwise George's matter will not be handled well, and he will fight with me again in the future."

Marshall and Admiral King had fought at the Joint Chiefs of Staff over two divisions of the Cape Verdean Army, and now the old story was brought up again, and Turner couldn't help but rehash it, but he soon understood that Admiral King was right in his concerns. As far as Patton's character is concerned, someone else would have cleaned him up a long time ago, and only Marshall could endure it again and again, not only endure it and sometimes try to excuse Barton, which is sophisticated: Patton was Pershing's adjutant back then, and he almost married his sister to Pershing, and Marshall was picked up by Pershing. It was clear that Barton had contributed to the promotion process, which is why Marshall had to take care of Barton.

And everyone knows that when Patton was about to retire because of the live-fire training, Marshall still promoted Patton by one level and then transferred to the reserve, and finally President Roosevelt relieved Patton with a word, even so, the order to promote the officer to one level was not invalidated, otherwise Patton would still be a major general. Take another 10,000 steps back and say, Pershing, the great god, is still alive, if the Navy is confused and Patton is lost, how will Marshall explain to the old man? When the time comes, you can't be in a hurry with Admiral Kim?

"This is the case, the fleet is in trouble, the Germans are avoiding the fight, we need the cooperation of the army to beat the German defenders and force the enemy navy to show up as soon as possible." Admiral King said to Marshall, "We think General Patton is the best person to accomplish this task, so we have asked you directly for help." ”

"No wonder Turner asked, you asked." After hearing Admiral King's intentions, Marshall sighed, "Of course I know that George can fight, and it is true that he is a good general, but I have so many troops under my command, I can't always accommodate him alone." ”

"The problem is that no one but George wants to carry out the arduous task of landing behind enemy lines." Admiral King complained, "Nimitz asked Clark yesterday, and no one volunteered. ”

Marshall smiled wryly: Expecting Clarke, who is as good as a monkey, to fight such a vicious battle deep behind enemy lines, and to volunteer himself is probably like the sun coming out of the west.

"Isn't that the end of it?" Admiral Jin said with a strange expression, "You don't need to fight those who are willing to fight, and you are all piled up on the front line of those who are not willing to fight, how can you go on like this?" Dude, we are responsible for history, the presidential election day is getting closer and closer, and if there are no achievements, we can't explain the president here. ”

As soon as he thought of the election, Marshall nodded with a heavy face.

A week earlier, the two presidential candidates, Truman and Dewey, had held a second debate on domestic issues. Unlike the previous debate, this time Dewey won a landslide victory in the opinion poll, with a whopping 64 percent support, only 29 percent supported Truman, and the remaining 5 percent did not indicate attitude or neutrality.

It is said that it is a debate on domestic issues, but in fact it is a reflection of the international situation and the war situation: As the Soviet Union and Britain entered the armistice stage one after another, the situation faced by the United States has become more and more unfavorable, and it is almost single-handedly supporting and coping with the entire Axis camp, and the political, military, and economic balance of forces is in an unfavorable situation -- in fact, after stopping aid to Britain and the Soviet Union, the United States has still saved its resources, but the people do not know this, they only think that the three Axis countries are aggressive, and they are fighting alone.

That's not all, the most uproaring thing for public opinion and the public is the defeat of the Battle of Iceland and the official involvement of the United States in the British coup d'état, no matter how Hoover controls public opinion and suppresses different voices, at least the Voice of Europe cannot be shut down, and the people generally know three situations:

First, whether deliberate or accidental, Marshal Pound, the head of the Royal Navy, died at the hands of the American contingent;

Second, after the surrender of the American army in Iceland, Germany announced the formation of the third SS American division, and said that in the future it would also form a fourth American division and a separate SS American Army;

Thirdly, the two American divisions of the SS Army fought against Stalin on the Eastern Front, and their heroic and outstanding deeds were deeply "loved" by the people and "respected" by their European counterparts.

The impact of the third piece of news was particularly severe, and some people began to form the idea that it was not our army that could not do it, but that our politicians and high-ranking generals at the top could not do it, and that it might be better to change the group of people.

When this poll reached the Joint Chiefs of Staff, everyone's faces turned ugly. Now that Admiral King mentioned the election, Marshall's face immediately changed dramatically -- he and Admiral King were grasshoppers on a rope, and if Truman could not succeed in continuing to take charge of the White House, both of them would have to go, and perhaps they would be used as scapegoats for defeat.

"I agree to send George to carry out the landing campaign, but you must keep him safe."

"Of course, I'll let Nimitz keep him in check, and how about Hewitt stay with him on the New Jersey? This is our most powerful battleship at the moment, and safety is guaranteed. ”

"Okay, I'll issue the appointment and appointment letter today."

On 22 July, after an agreement was reached between the Navy and the Army, George Patton's long-awaited letter of appointment and transfer was finally issued.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff asked him to select and transfer the 1st Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division of the US Army to cooperate with the Navy in carrying out landing missions behind enemy lines, and at the same time make him the commander of the newly formed Fifth Army, responsible for commanding all ground forces in South America. At the same time, the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued an order to formally establish the South American Allied Command (theoretically including the United States, the United Kingdom, the Free France, the Dutch government-in-exile, the Brazilian government, Venezuela and Colombia), with Nimitz as the supreme commander-in-chief and Clark as the deputy commander.

In this way, Nimitz and Clark can rightfully manage Barton.

But Patton himself didn't care about this, he cared about finally getting out of the situation of idleness, and he could fight the Germans merrily, and as soon as he got the telegram he yelled in his office: "Brothers, get ready, there is something to do!" ”

"Sir, please take me with you!" Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., deputy commander of the 1st Red Division and the eldest son of US President Theodore Roosevelt, took the initiative to ask, "Our division can take the lead!" ”

Roosevelt Jr. never dreamed that according to the course of history, he should have hung up due to a heart attack at this time, even earlier than his cousin President Roosevelt, but he has been recuperating in Venezuela for more than half a year, and his health is actually not bad, and he is still alive and kicking.

"Okay, I'll take you!" Patton grinned, "But I can't just take your division, I also have to take part of the 1st Cavalry Division, and you each go to 2 regiments!" ”