Ismay's words immediately attracted a great deal of attention, and Churchill's frowning brow suddenly relaxed, and he said with relief: "Please keep talking, we are all listening carefully." ”

"In addition to the supply problems faced by the Germans, we should not ignore the influence of terrain on the progress of the battle." Ismay gave everyone a shot in the arm, "This is also in our favor." ”

After Ismay's analysis and judgment, everyone realized that there is a famous Great Rift Valley in northern Kenya, and its traffic terrain is not conducive to the operation of a large army of heavy armies. The only way to attack Kenya by land is to take a detour from Somalia through the narrow plains of eastern Kenya in the direction of Mombasa, and from Uganda to the west, to insert Kenya on the north side of the huge Lake Victoria.

"The Germans will certainly not choose the latter option, because they will not be able to get supplies." "The Germans can only attack Kenya through Somalia, and Somalia itself has a very bad road system, and my most optimistic estimate for the Germans is that they will be able to cross the Somali-Kenyan border in mid-to-late March, so we still have time." If we had enough naval forces, we could easily contain the German offensive - the narrow plain passage to the east was all under the threat of naval artillery fire, and Kenya, which had naval supremacy, was very safe. ”

"But now we don't have the right to control the sea." Tovey whispered, "What if that's the case?" ”

"We also have an advantage -- air supremacy." Ismay explained, "I found that the Germans hardly interfered with the current African routes, not because they didn't know the meaning of this route, but because they couldn't do anything about it, we could use a large number of bombers to carry out large-scale bombing of the Germans' supply lines and access roads, to contain and delay their offensive speed, to disrupt their supply routes, to weaken their offensive capabilities, even if the Germans gained sea supremacy, it was useless, and carrier-based aircraft could not compete with heavy bombers." ”

Everyone nodded their heads again and again.

"If the Axis had taken control of the sea, although we could hardly defend it any longer, it would have somewhat alleviated the threat of Gibraltar - they could only attack in one place. If we get enough strength, we can even try to land in Somalia and launch a counteroffensive to contain the enemy when they attack Gibraltar; In the unlikely event that the enemy's primary objective ended up being to take control of the Kenyan coast, Gibraltar would be saved. ”

Ismay's words eased the tension at the meeting, and everyone finally realized that if there were enough heavy bombers and transport planes, not only would the troops in the African theater be more and more fully supplied, but there would also be room for air strikes against German troops and supply lines, thereby extending the German army's entry into Kenya indefinitely, forcing the enemy to fight a war of attrition that they were not good at and unwilling to do, and that the more forces Germany committed in Africa, the fewer forces they could use elsewhere.

"And there is another advantage of delaying for a long time, which can drive the Japanese away as soon as possible." Ismay asked, "How long can the Japanese fleet stay in the Indian Ocean or the Mediterranean?" 2 months? 3 months? Half? I don't believe they'll ever go back! ”

After listening to the analysis, everyone's suspense was finally relieved: Gibraltar and the African theater could be kept at least, and if the Germans made a mistake in their strategic choice, not only could both places be saved, but there was also hope for a counterattack on Egypt -- that would mean putting the Axis Navy in the cage of the Mediterranean Sea again.

"I think it's a good idea to consider." Pound said immediately after hearing this.

"I agree with that." Tovey agrees.

"I think it's the best way to deal with it at the moment." Field Marshal Brooke concluded, "Shall we communicate this idea to the American side first?" ”

Ismay added: "It is imperative to replenish the aircraft, whether it is a heavy bomber, a fighter or a transport aircraft, no less, the more the better." ”

Pound immediately picked up: "The Americans are moving relatively fast at this point, their landing force is still being selected, but the planes and escort aircraft carriers have taken the lead in departure, and it is expected to arrive in Cape Town in 10 days, the fleet has brought the most urgently needed materials and equipment at present, and the escort aircraft carriers are neatly equipped with B-25, B-24, B-17, C-47 and other models, and they intend to increase the scale of air transport by 1-2 times." They believe that regardless of whether the landing is carried out or not, it is necessary to ensure the supply of the various units in the African theater, but they have not yet considered large-scale air strikes, perhaps because of insufficient numbers. ”

"The U.S. side has informed me that the supply of bomber replenishment to the Eighth Air Force will be suspended in February-March, and all of them will be transferred to the direction of South Africa." Brooke added, "So the fleet of aircraft carriers will continue to depart and arrive in Cape Town. ”

Churchill, who was dizzy by the impact of various opinions, finally caught the dawn given by Ismay in the dark, of course, he was unwilling to let go, he thought about it for a while and said slowly: "Lieutenant General Ismay, I now grant you the position of temporary general, with full responsibility for planning this operation and communicating directly with the top level of the US military, you can send the personnel you think are competent to cooperate with the plan, but before that, you must agree with General Eisenhower, the supreme commander of the African theater, and obtain his support." We will consider the implementation according to the schedule for the end of March, and then we will decide which option to choose based on the situation of the Japanese Navy. The top priority is to first increase the delivery of materials and let the power of air transport be exerted to the limit. ”

The Chief of Staff of the Royal Air Force, Admiral Charles Frederick Algernon-Portal, interjected: "That...... What about strategic air strikes against Germany? ”

"It can only be downsized, in fact, a suspension of 1-2 months is not a big deal, just to give the Eighth Air Force a breather." Field Marshal Brooke said in a helpless tone, "They have had so many dead people in recent months that they are almost a little unable to hold on. ”

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding, but in fact, many people laughed in their hearts: Americans are good at everything, rich and generous, and they don't blink an eye when they lose ships, arms, and equipment, except that they can't die -- when less than 100,000 people were lost before and after the Indian Ocean Campaign, the United States was boiling over and over again, and the newspapers denounced it one after another, forcing President Roosevelt to make a speech to appease the people. If you look at how many millions Stalin lost, how many million the German Führer lost, and how many hundred thousand did the British Empire, the country is still as stable as Mount Tai.

In the final analysis, Americans have seen too little of the world - this is a global war, not a Mexican-American war!

Of course, the Americans are also quite aggrieved: This war has only been fought for more than a year, and the number of deaths is five times that of the previous war, making it the second most deadly war in American history -- second only to the bloody Civil War.

The meeting set a record for a British wartime cabinet, running from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., a full 12 hours.

At the same time as the meeting was adjourned, Vice Admiral Kumetz, who had gathered all his strength, decided that the Norwegian cruiser fleet would conduct a large-scale search to the west, because the weather was bad, the Ar-272s could not take off, and he could only rely on the radars of each ship to cooperate with the visual search, since there were only four destroyers left in the entire fleet, so it was agreed that the Lützov and the Tirpitz would each take one, and the Hippers would rush to the front with two destroyers.

Late last night, after receiving information that the JW-51B escort warships would rush to reinforcements, the JW-51A fleet immediately turned around, and at noon the main position was 60 kilometers southwest of Bear Island, less than 70 nautical miles from the German fleet. The Germans did not expect the British to return so quickly, and although they had the advantage of speed, they never caught the main force of the transport fleet, and only the British minesweeper the Raspberry, which had fallen behind, encountered the Hippel unexpectedly in the middle of the way, and as a result, it was beaten and sank to the bottom of the sea.

On 4 February, the weather was still not good, and Kumets, who had not been able to find an exact target, was under great pressure, and for a time he thought that the British fleet had slipped out of his search net. But the Hipper sent a clear telegram: "After interrogating the surviving sailors on the Raspberry, they have received an order to retreat, and the whole fleet should have turned around and ......retreated," according to which Kumetz believed that the British fleet was still nearby, and was determined to continue to advance and intensify the search to the west and south.

Hoffman spent a day at the command of the Navy, got nothing, and finally left sullenly.

On 5 February, the weather was slightly better, visibility was still not high, but luck suddenly began to favor the Germans - the destroyer Z4, which had been rushing to the front with the Hippel sortie, spotted a signal on the radar that it was suspected to be a British ship, and immediately swooped down to reconnoiter and then saw the target: two heavily damaged British escort ships staggered forward accompanied by a British frigate and a minesweeper - it was the British warship that had been badly damaged in the previous day's engagement, one Sheffield and the other Anslow, the maximum speed was less than 17 knots, and the British were not aware of the arrival of the German destroyer at this time.

Considering that the other side still had a cruiser present despite the heavy damage, the Z4 did not dare to make a mistake, and while quietly following behind, it repeatedly sent signals to remind other friendly ships to come and converge. At 11 a.m., the Z4 was finally discovered by the British frigates, and after discovering that only one German warship was following, they had tried to destroy it with 2 heavily damaged warships, but the Z4 skillfully evaded their pursuit, and avoided the Sheffield whenever it turned, and once the enemy continued to escape, he desperately stuck to it, hanging behind him at an unhurried speed and informing the direction. (To be continued.) )