Spruance sent a secret telegram to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informing him of Cunningham's rapid adjustment and realization of the British and British ships, and not only could he not stop it, but the fleet was in fact basically in place. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Stingson was shocked, Cunningham actually dared to go alone? He's crazy!

"What is he going to do here?" Arnold was puzzled, "The command of the US-British joint fleet has a clear position, he can only manage the aircraft carrier force, who else let him interfere?" What's more, even if he can manage the aircraft carrier force, he does not have the authority to give such an order! ”

"There are people who advocate the interruption of British aid, and the Royal Navy still doesn't take care of their own family background?" Mitchell sneered, "I can understand him, it's sad for a soldier to be rounded and flattened by politicians in his own country, if he is rubbed and flattened by foreign politicians, does he still have the face to face the officers and soldiers below?" That is, Britain and the United States still have a bit of a democratic system, you go to Japan and try it, Horiyoshi will teach you how to be a man in minutes! Compressing military spending before the war and destroying morale during the war, no wonder the axis can't be defeated! …… The government doesn't want to give aid to the British, it's okay, don't use other people's fleets if you have the ability! Hitler asked the Japanese to help pay a lot of money! Wouldn't it be nice if the British surrendered to Hitler, and the Germans wouldn't do anything with them. ”

Nimitz and Eisenhower smiled wryly: Now that this is the case, all career officers hate it, saying that Turner is angry enough, and now it seems that Mitchell is no better.

Arnold smiled bitterly: "Do people who have the idea of cutting off aid to Britain know what they are doing?" Lose the British fleet, and the Navy immediately loses half of its combat strength! It's not that if you have a ship, you have combat effectiveness! ”

Then the crowd scolded Wallace incessantly.

Stingson, a civilian rather than a professional soldier, was deeply troubled by this matter: It was not that the Joint Chiefs of Staff would not have been able to function without Marshall, Admiral King, and Lehi, but that the Republican Party was now at war after all, and the important officers of the army and navy were all confidants and protégés of the three people, so what did the Republicans want to do? Engage in a purge of the Great Purge? With such an attitude of hostility towards the soldiers, what officer could swallow such a breath?

Don't talk about the uselessness of protection money, not protection money - this is not true after all. It's okay for Wallace not to sign the papers, you are completely in charge, but you should never have poked out in front of Congress and betrayed the military. It's like being in the players' locker room, who is doing well and who is bad in today's game, everyone can say it in private, and they can also be released to reporters to openly attack teammates? Is it still necessary to unite the team? In addition, it is not too late to communicate and discuss privately to form a consensus on aiding Britain, and it is not too late to coordinate, and before taking practical action, he just let go of the wind, and Cunningham took action, did he go and tell Churchill to let him change Cunningham? Even if Churchill dared, Pound would have stopped it - the fleet was British, not Churchill's. Pound and Cunningham were responsible first for the Navy and then for Churchill. What's more, maybe Qiu Fatzi himself is behind the scenes.

Stimson's speculation was not unreasonable, and after Cunningham completed the action, he reported the situation directly to Marshal Pound, a member of the Royal Navy, who in turn quickly reported it to Churchill, who had just returned home. Churchill was shocked at first, believing that Cunningham was intensifying the conflict between the United States and Britain, and even asked Pound if he could remove him.

But Pound, who has always been very obedient to him, was unexpectedly furious this time: "Prime Minister, I think Admiral Cunningham has done nothing wrong, he must prevent it, this is his duty to the Royal Navy." He could not let the Germans sink the fleet, nor could the friendly forces swallow it up - there was no difference between the two for the British Empire, and it meant that we would lose the Royal Navy! ”

"But...... This will worsen relations with the United States. ”

"The Americans' proposal to cut off aid to Britain is worsening relations! We give everything we can, we don't owe anything to the Americans! Field Marshal Brooke, Chief of the General Staff, sent a message, "Your Excellency doesn't really plan to take the fleet to Canada to set up another government, do you?" ”

"I ......" Churchill was dumbfounded, he really didn't dare to respond to this sentence, it was only a last resort, after answering wouldn't he become a national sinner who divided Great Britain? Why is de Gaulle looked down upon in France, because he voted for all kinds of wagging tails and begging for mercy from the Americans, and his face is too far worse than Petain, at least people are now running France very well, the social order is stable, the economy is thriving, is it so difficult to admit defeat and take responsibility after losing the war?

"Not only will the fleet become independent now, but all the Royal Navy officers and men who have served on US warships will be withdrawn, and the two battleships and two armored aircraft carriers on the mainland will be completed this year, if the US government is still hesitant to betray our attitude of compromise with Germany at any time, I do not agree to let them join the US-British combined fleet!" Pound gritted his teeth and said, "Peace negotiations with Germany? We won't talk about it ourselves? Wouldn't keeping the fleet and giving it to the Germans give Great Britain a little benefit, at least better than France? Tell the Americans that whatever they don't help us, if they don't, we'll help Hitler build a ship! The Royal Navy can also join the Combined European Fleet ......"

Brooke helped beside him: "Also, I heard that someone is negotiating with the German side, and the price seems to have increased a little: the four major dominions still belong to us, and India probably can't keep it, but it doesn't matter, the Germans agreed to divide Brazil and Central America into us, and in the future, the Panama Canal can also be under our control, and the oil in the Middle East can also be given to us as a shareholder, on the condition that the Royal Navy joins the European Combined Fleet, and the local production of armaments for the Germans - they will pay!" The conditions are a little better than before. ”

The so-called someone, everyone knows that it is Edward VIII, who has been negotiating with the German side, but he didn't expect the news to spread so quickly, did he put his hand into the army and navy?

Churchill was stunned at first, then furious: "You ...... You ......"

"Prime Minister......" Pound persuaded, "you can negotiate this condition, and it is better for you to come forward than to cheapen others." We can strive for more preferential conditions, such as the establishment of a European integrated armed forces in the future, the army and air force will of course be commanded by the Germans, and the navy will always be under the command of Britain, right? ”

Churchill finally said nothing, stamped his feet in hatred and left. Now that the situation is serious, he originally had an emergency plan, which was to use the US army to bloodied the "surrender faction" once the situation was unfavorable. And looking at the current posture, no matter whether the bloodbath can succeed or not, the Navy will certainly not follow it -- this is a big problem, is it really to go to Canada to be Roosevelt's little follower?

The reason why Pound and Brooke are so stubborn today is that Wallace's statement that he interrupted his aid to Britain stimulated them - it turns out that the Americans have plans to abandon us; Second, Aiden and Attlee in the cabinet intentionally or unintentionally contributed to the trouble. In fact, everyone has a similar idea, if Edward VIII returns, the people who support his restoration are estimated to get the most benefits, and the government and the army will definitely have to change a group of people, but can't the current cabinet and military dignitaries talk in the name of George VI? As for Churchill, a willingness to go with the flow could make him a transitional prime minister, and stubbornly stick to it and go cool.

Of course, cooperating with the Germans is only the second choice, the first choice is to fight the war with the Americans and become the victorious country, so that the interests can be maximized, if it is the first choice, then Churchill is still the "most far-sighted and charismatic" political leader of the British Empire!

Knowing that the British were beginning to think differently, the question of whether it was necessary to intercept the German fleet, which had crossed the Suez Canal to Madagascar and the Falklands, became a point of contention.

"Our intelligence officer in Egypt sent back a report that the German fleet passing through the Suez Canal had a total of two fleet carriers—none of which had been seen, suspected to be a newly completed Axis carrier, and one was presumed to have been modified from the battleship Hyuga; 1 battlecruiser - presumably the Gneisenau; 2 heavy cruisers; 6-8 destroyers or light cruisers; There were also a lot of freighters, all of which seemed to be Victory ships captured by Germany from Newfoundland! ”

"Damn it!"

There is a slight problem with the intelligence here, 1 fleet carrier is Hyuga, and the other is just an integrated aircraft carrier Savoy. Italy got the King, which was completed a week earlier, which is a comprehensive aircraft carrier transformed with a large cruise ship, Italy paid the cost, and the Germans paid for the modification fee and related equipment (including carrier-based aircraft), and the two countries each took one, and the size looks like a majestic large aircraft carrier, but the strength is different from the fleet aircraft carrier, but how can the intelligence officers be so fine? It's good to be able to tell that it's a new aircraft carrier.

With regard to follow-up operations, the internal staff officers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff originally had three different opinions: First, they suggested that only some submarines and escort aircraft carriers should be sent to South Africa to intercept and attack on cargo ships; The second is to suggest that the main naval force be dispatched to wipe out this German fleet; The third is to suggest that the Navy send a part of its forces and detour through the Indian Ocean to reinforce the Pacific Fleet after the operation is completed to deal with the aggressive offensive of the Japanese fleet.

Cunningham resolutely opposed the second opinion, for reasons that were speechless: what if the main fleet went south, and the main German and Italian forces went out of the Atlantic to block the Anglo-Canadian route, or simply landed on British soil? His opinion was as close as saying that the Royal Navy warships remained only in the Atlantic. In the past, Nimitz could force his way through, but now the British and British ships could not force it, otherwise Cunningham would really dare to take his troops and leave! Cunningham himself probably won't cooperate with the Germans in his life, but he has no reason to let his subordinates all die because of his non-cooperation!

The Joint Staff Committee is not Churchill, and he does not dare to learn ballistas to sink the British fleet, not to mention that now the Royal Navy's carrier-based aircraft aviation has transferred a group of Royal Air Force pilots to different posts, and their quality is stronger than that of the United States. Everyone didn't know what to do for a while.

Since the second one doesn't work, you can only choose between one and three.