"You're going to drop out?" When the top echelons of the party heard Truman's remarks, they were all shocked -- something that had never happened before in history. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"It's a last resort, but it's also the best choice." Truman sighed, "The South Atlantic campaign has failed, and no matter how many enemy ships we have sunk and how many enemies we have destroyed, we still have not achieved our original goal: to destroy or inflict heavy damage on the enemy fleet while preserving ourselves before the arrival of the enemy's main fleet. At the moment, at best, we will lose both sides, and even we will suffer a loss. ”

"Aren't there a lot of warships on the slipway?"

"It's useless, it's too late. The main German fleet may arrive in ten days, and our other two Essex-class ships will need to be pulled out for war in October, and we will have five aircraft carriers in December, which is on par with the enemy's strength - who knows if the Germans will come up with new aircraft carriers in the next few months. Truman shook his head and sighed, "General Nimitz did not make any major command errors in this battle, and the officers and men did their best, which makes me feel a little hopeless -- I don't know who will win the battle, if it works." ”

Everyone was helpless, Truman didn't have to use the combination of Admiral Lehi-Marshall-King, nor did he have to command Nimitz Halsey Spruance or Eisenhower Patton Clacley, but he never found a hero who could turn the tide, and no one dared to recommend a commander who could change the situation.

"So it's not unreasonable for Dewey to attack us for being 'in a hurry and not knowing how to use people', he doesn't need to say who is good, just say who is bad......," Truman sneered, "I want to switch places with him, so that he can experience the feeling of trembling and walking on thin ice." ”

The bigwigs were silent for a while, and after a long time, someone asked, "Harry, have you thought about it?" It's not good for your reputation, and they'll put the hats of cowardice, incompetence, cowardice, etc. on your head. ”

"Reputation?" Truman laughed, "They can't defeat me, it's not Dewey or the Republicans who decide my reputation, it's the people!" It's public opinion! As for the cowards...... Belch...... This title is about the same for Dewey. ”

After Truman's explanation, everyone finally figured out his layout: in the upcoming third debate, Truman will sing a high note, insist on resistance, insist on war, and absolutely not make peace with the Axis, even if it lasts 20 years and 10 million casualties will not be compromised......

"The people and public opinion will definitely bombard me and say that I am crazy...... But no one dares to say that I am a coward, I plan to fight for 20 years and die 10 million, what else do I want? Truman's tone was very cold and made people feel a piercing chill, "The line of our party is in the same line, since Mr. Roosevelt, we have always maintained a high degree of vigilance against German fascism and Japanese militarism, and resolutely oppose their change of world order through war or the threat of force, but because of the connivance of the Anglo-American appeasement politicians on the axis, because of the containment of domestic Republicans and isolationism, his correct line of thought has not been implemented, and I, as Mr. Roosevelt's successor, It is to defend and not oppose his political line. ”

Truman's tone of voice makes people feel very uncomfortable -- it is not like the system of a democratic state, but like a symbol of some totalitarianism. When will the American people understand this? In the United States, today it is the Democratic Party, tomorrow it can be the Republican Party, no one says that you are a traitor, in the USSR or Germany you go and try to betray the party? Get you into a concentration camp in minutes.

"The battle is not good, I take this responsibility, I am responsible! But if the war is not fought well, is it because the Americans do not know how to fight, so they are not suitable for war? Obviously, it is because our war preparedness work is insufficient, because the national defense cause is not perfect, because the command system is not independent, and because the political struggle and politicians are too much to contain. In 1939, when Germany used a large number of armored forces to attack Poland, the United States was still a small military country, not to mention that compared with the Axis, even Czechoslovakia's armed forces surpassed ours; While the Germans and the Japanese did not hesitate to borrow money to build new military weapons of all kinds and to develop various military technologies, we were still thinking about balancing the budget. Truman spread his hands out, "The economy alone can be the king and hegemon, what does the world need an army for?" ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then nodded and said: The United States has always been an economic hegemon, not a military hegemon.

He denounced it with great satisfaction: "It is precisely because the politicians represented by the Republican Party did not pay attention to war preparations before the war, opposed the elevation of the status of military personnel, opposed the strengthening of the military command system, and tied up a little military budget with other policies. Do you think it is possible that this bill will be passed by calling for a national mobilization, a wartime mechanism, a comprehensive strengthening of supervision, and the coordination of all industrial production and defense forces to deal with this war? ”

Everyone shook their heads in unison: What are you kidding, the current state of emergency is already being accused of violating the rights of citizens to freedom, engaging in general mobilization similar to Germany and the Soviet Union, or Japan's militarism, and is there still the term "free world"?

"That's good, if you don't want to mobilize, you just surrender obediently...... Anyway, the Germans didn't say they wanted to invade the American mainland. Truman looked at me with a smile on his face, "Let Dewey oppose it, I expect him to veto my proposal on behalf of the people." Anyway, I, Harry Truman, advocate hitting to the last shot, and would rather die standing than bow my head in front of the Axis! Who likes to do this president, or, you will choose another candidate? ”

By this time, the top echelons of the party still did not understand Truman's great method of throwing the blame, and they had been engaged in political struggle for so many years.

Truman's withdrawal was clearly based on the fact that the next president would not be able to do anything about it: not only to grovel to rapprochement with Germany, but also to find an endless price to defeat Japan. By now, the United States had lost 1 million people to the war, and according to the estimates of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it would take at least 2 million casualties and at least five years to defeat Japan.

So Dewey wanted to make peace, so let him go and ...... I can responsibly tell you that Germany is much more dangerous than Japan, and that Japan has only made the United States lose face, and that Germany is the key factor that really prevents the United States from becoming a world leader. Truman concluded, "After the peace, the freedom that the American people loved, so the free flow of capital and the free play of business opportunities, will cease to exist, and most of Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia will be included in the Axis system, and the United States will be confined to the North American continent." Sooner or later, the people and the capitalists will get tired of it and renew their confrontation with the Germans, and maybe a third world war. It is Dewey and the Republican Party who lead the peace, and of course we are the ones who lead the war! ”

"After becoming an opposition party, we are much freer, and we can pick on Dewey's terms for peace talks -- humiliating surrender is like betraying the country; If the battle is not fought well, it can be blamed - it is not our command anyway; The economy and the budget can be reversed -- we can do what they did before......

"We need to talk about it."

Truman nodded: "You tell me the results as soon as possible, if you want to put forward a new candidate, and look for it as soon as possible, I will cooperate with his campaign strategy, and you can also push it on my head for the unfavorable situation in the recent past, which is the unshirkable responsibility of being a president, as a candidate." ”

After Truman left, the big guys immediately engaged in a fierce debate, and one consensus was reached first: it was impossible to change candidates, not to mention that there was no better and more suitable candidate, and even if there were, it would be too late to rush out at this time.

On this basis, the second consensus is also easy to reach: Truman's election is bleak, and if there is no strategic twist in the next few months, the election will not be won. In order to save face, it is a good idea to withdraw from the election.

The only disagreement was whether to sing a high profile -- to follow the "militaristic line" under the liberal democratic system, and after three hours of debate, a consensus was finally reached.

Harry Truman can put this label on himself, and the Democrats can't put it on for the time being. If that label works, Truman is the next presidential candidate -- he's a Democrat, and if it doesn't, uh...... So what are you supposed to do......

On 9 August, Nimitz, who had learned his hard life in South Africa, suddenly received a telegram informing him that he had been promoted to take over the post of General King, who had retired for health reasons.

Defeated the battle and still promoted? Nimitz didn't know how to look at this picture?

Smith advised him: "I don't say it's a defeat at home, I think we are a miserable victory, a miserable victory to achieve the desired goal......"

Nimitz shook his head, and this sentence Smith comforted others could, comforting himself that he felt a little self-defeating.

"What about the Atlantic Fleet?"

"It's still up to you, but Vice Admiral Mitchell is in charge of the day-to-day work......," Smith smiled bitterly, "Anyway, there aren't many warships yet, and it is said that Admiral King still prefers Admiral Spruance to be the commander of the Atlantic Fleet, but at least until he recovers from his injuries." ”

Nimitz nodded slightly: Although Mitchell's ability is a little worse, he is still stable, and his qualifications are not bad. Spruance was seriously injured last time, and he is almost 60 years old, so it is a little difficult to recover, and he has just been sent home to recuperate, but fortunately his health is fine, and everyone thinks that he can return to command.

"How many days will it take to make emergency repairs?"

Although the Franklin was not fatally damaged, after all, a 400-kilogram bomb was hit on the deck, and many near-misses were hit, and the complete repair could not be done until Hawaii, and South Africa provided emergency repairs.

"It's going to take another five days."

"Then we'll leave for Australia on August 15 and hand it over to Halsey as fast as we can." Nimitz said worriedly, "I've had a bad feeling lately. ”

"Sir, the Germans have been dispatched, and all the main forces are pouring out to attack." At this moment, an urgent message arrived.

Nimitz sighed and said no more, the situation in South Africa was also tense, full of an atmosphere full of mountains and rains, the face of the army commander Lieutenant General Bradley had been tense, and South Africa entered a strategic defensive state earlier than South America......