Cranke consulted Sauken before making a decision: "If the two navies do not participate in this campaign, what do you think will happen to the US army with about 120,000 US troops with at least 1,000 combat aircraft?" ”

Sauken replied in the affirmative: "If the troops and supplies just delivered have not arrived, I don't dare to guarantee it, but now this cluster has more than 60,000 troops, and the Flying Fortress Armored Division is still the latest 1944 type of troops, the 7th Armored Division is also fully staffed, and it has been resting for a long time, and the Air Force has two wings with a total of more than 430 aircraft, and the supplies are sufficient in all aspects, even if the US military has a double advantage, I think it is completely possible." Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Taking a step back, assuming that the enemy had three times the advantage over us, our army would be able to hold at least the core of the American Republic and the two states -- there were two more Marine brigades in Argentina and Uruguay that could serve as reserves, and the American Republic had recruited more than 5,000 German volunteers in the early stage, and the army could be expanded to 80,000 in an emergency. ”

In addition, after the Montero coup, the defection of the Brazilian regime, and the march into São Paulo and Rio, he obtained nearly 100,000 tons of fuel stored here (including more than 20,000 tons of very important U.S. aviation fuel) - both Brazilian military and civilian contributions, as well as the contributions of the U.S. military. So he's very confident now.

"I'm relieved when you say that." Crank's plan was simple, "If the Army thinks it can hold out, the Navy intends to ignore the U.S. fleet for a while, catch and hide for a while, and then talk about it -- I'm going to use Nimitz's own tactics against him." ”

Through the interrogation of the captured American pilots, Cranke not only knew that it was Spruance who had fought him last time in the Falklands and South African waters, but also that Nimitz had replaced Ingersoll as the commander of the American Atlantic Fleet.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know the Battle of Midway?"

Speaking of this, Shaoken thought about it seriously first, and then asked, "Are you going to leave first and then fight back?" ”

"Nope! I was going to leave, but not to fight back, but to delay the enemy, and when to counterattack would have to wait for a more favorable time. "Nimitz was a very cautious man, more familiar with his own tactics, and if he could not find our fleet, he would never risk a sneak attack on the landing—it would save you from the danger of being attacked on your back." ”

Hindz asked curiously, "You don't plan to fight back as soon as possible?" ”

"No, I'm not in a hurry, it should be the enemy who can't find us and is annoyed......"

In addition, judging from the current size and strength of the fleet (including 3 aircraft carriers, 2 escort carriers, and 3 battleships), it is considered a very powerful force, and retreating without fighting will not be accountable to the Berlin side, and it will also be a great damper to the morale of the officers and men, but Krake finally persuaded him.

Cranke explained what he had done: "In more than 40 days, Marshal Machar will arrive in Brazil with the main fleet from the mainland, when the two armies will converge and our army will have an overwhelming advantage, why should I rush to a decisive battle with Nimitz at this time?" It should be him, not me, who is in a hurry to start the war. ”

After repeated discussions, the land, sea, and air forces reached a consensus on the development of the campaign.

Kranke judged that Nimitz's campaign goal was to take advantage of the current situation in which the two fleets of the German Navy were separated in the South and North Atlantic to launch an attack first, first eat the South Atlantic fleet, and then turn back to deal with the main fleet of Marchar.

Sauken judged that the U.S. military had two tactics in the ensuing ground warfare: the first was to devote all its forces to a frontal attack, divided into two routes, one way to attack from the coastal zone, that is, along the line of Espírito Santo, Rio, and São Paulo, with the goal of occupying the two key major cities of Rio and São Paulo, and extinguishing the pro-German Brazilian regime in Montero. The other road is outflanked from the deep zone of Minas Gerais to São Paulo and Platana, and the traffic conditions on this road are poor, and it should be a partial division, with almost 20,000 people, and no matter how much the US military logistics can not support.

The second tactic is much the same as the first, which is nothing more than repurposing the troops in the first roundabout offensive, that is, attacking frontally on the coastal line with 100,000 troops, and at the same time landing behind the flank with 20,000 troops, shaking the German army's morale with a flank attack, encircling or forcing Sauken to retreat, and then taking São Paulo and Rio without a fight

"The places where the US troops landed were none other than the three key port cities of Rio, Santos, and Florianópolis." Sauken frowned and said, "According to my original idea, as long as I control Florianópolis, it has nothing to do with whether the other two locations are US troops landed or not, but listening to what you just conveyed, I can't care about the Dutra regime here?" ”

Now that the Brazilian government is completely divided, with the pro-German faction joining the Montero-controlled southern Brazilian government (former Army Minister Dutra as president) and the pro-American faction joining the Osvaldo-Alania (former foreign minister, pro-American) controlled northern Brazilian government (still with the imprisoned Vargas as president), the two sides are engaged in a brutal civil war. The pro-Germans controlled more troops, but the pro-Americans controlled larger territory and were directly linked to the U.S. military.

Although both factions claim to represent the orthodox central government of Brazil, they do not really have much territory to control: the pro-German faction controls only the three states of São Paulo, Rio, and Espírito Santo, and is currently trying to control the fourth, Minas Gerais; The pro-American faction controlled ten states in the northeast, with the Recife region as its core. The vast interior of Brazil is at a loss as to who to obey.

Although the pro-Germans controlled a small territory, they had a large population. The states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are the most populous regions in Brazil, and the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are not only the first and second largest cities in Brazil, but also the capital of Brazil.

Frank was also a little entangled in this, and after hesitating, he said: "I don't think we should give up, this Brazilian regime was supported with great difficulty, not to mention the two cities of São Paulo and Rio are very important, and their gains and losses determine the future political direction of Brazil - whether or not we can form post-war conditions that are favorable to us, I think depends on the above two points." ”

Sauken sighed: "If this is the case, the deployment of the army will have to be adjusted accordingly, I originally planned to fight and retreat, in order to abandon the decoy of São Paulo and Rio, gradually lengthen the supply line of the American army, reduce the density of the enemy's troops, and then launch a counterattack when appropriate......"

"We still have a little time," said Hindz, "if you can develop two sets of plans, one aimed at keeping power in São Paulo, the two cities of Rio, and Brazil, and the other based on the strategy you just outlined, and send them to Berlin together?" ”

In the early morning of July 17, Hoffmann's desk was filled with a battle plan jointly signed by Crank, Schauken, and Hintz, but the plans were two very different sets, and Jodl elaborated on the map one by one:

"Judging from the current enemy situation, the US military has 7 divisions in Brazil, about 140,000 or so army strength, 1,000-1,200 combat aircraft, and another 40,000 pro-US Brazilian puppet troops to fight together, and the main force of the US Atlantic Fleet is dispatched, with 3-4 fleet aircraft carriers, 3-4 cutting-edge battleships, 10-12 light or escort aircraft carriers, and a large number of transport ships and auxiliary warships. Two combat scenarios were drawn up:

Radical plan: The Craconian South Atlantic Fleet held the coastline of Santos and Rio to achieve flexible and mobile operations, and thwarted the enemy's landing attempt on the premise of avoiding a head-to-head confrontation with the main force of the enemy fleet, the army transferred a marine brigade from Uruguay to defend Florianópolis, and the main force of the Sauken cluster was deployed along the northern border of São Paulo and Rio, with the cooperation of the Brazilian government army (nearly 80,000), to repel the US attack with offensive defense and flexible assault, waiting for the 'watch' plan to begin;

Conservative plan: The Craconian South Atlantic Fleet held Florianópolis to avoid the enemy's edge and achieve a wide range of flexible and mobile operations, the army transferred a Marine Brigade from Uruguay to defend Florianópolis, and the Sauken cluster with a part of its strength (2-3 Marine Brigades) carried out delayed operations on the northern border of São Paulo and Rio states, gradually retreated, and if necessary, it could abandon São Paulo and Rio cities. The 7th Armored Division was the main force to detour the enemy's right flank, carry out interspersed operations, wait for an opportunity to annihilate 1-2 divisions of the US army, and cooperate with the 'Watch' plan to launch another counteroffensive. ”

Hoffman asked: "Which option does the front-line commanders themselves tend towards?" ”

"Both are acceptable, and it seems that Cranke is more inclined to the former, and Schoken is more inclined to the latter."

"What about you?"

The Supreme Command chose the former and the latter, and Hoffmann took a look, and generally speaking, the Shanghai Army generals such as Machar and Dönitz chose the former, the army generals such as Zeitzler and Rommel chose the latter, and the Air Force generals chose the former and the latter.

Only Keitel and Yodel did not take a stand.

Hoffman asked the two, "Do you have a better proposal?" ”

"From a purely military point of view, we would like to choose the latter, but from a political point of view, I think the former should be chosen." "But in the end, we have to win." ”

"I'll choose the former!" Hoffman explained his reasoning, "Not only because political factors were crucial here to the postwar layout, but also because of another possibility—who decreed that the Americans would have to attack the American republics again to take São Paulo and Rio and lengthen the front?" If it's me, I'll rest on the spot after the fight and wait for the next batch of reinforcements to come up. ”