Just when Qiu Fatzi was looking forward to President Roosevelt's quick decision, Admiral King, who was forced into a corner, was secretly discussing the feasibility of Plan C within the Navy, and there were only three people attending the meeting. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"The situation is almost like this, Lao Tzu was robbed and pointed at and said that he would not do it......" Admiral Jin scolded and scolded, full of nonsense, "You think about it seriously, you can't hesitate, just do it, if you can't do it, you can't do it." ”

There was one thing he had firmly grasped: Churchill's intention to carry out a coup d'état had not been revealed to the two men - he was afraid of scaring them.

Turner and Spruance didn't bother to pay attention to Admiral King's foul language, and seriously considered the feasibility of implementing Plan C now.

"Sir, frankly speaking, the chances of winning are not big, you must fight now?"

"Yes, the Azores are important, but why is there such a hurry?"

Admiral Kim nodded and said simply: "The president has set a date for September-October, and if it is too late, he is afraid that the British will not be able to hold out and will surrender." ”

"Climatically speaking, September and October are more suitable days, and after that, the weather will become colder and the sunshine will be shorter, and it will be very difficult to deal with the German army in the Azores." Turner said, "The key is that there are not enough troops now, and there is no certainty of victory, and if it is delayed until April or May next year, it will be more certain." ”

"The Army Airlines said it could dispatch 1,000 heavy bombers."

Turner pouted: "What's the use?" After taking off from Newfoundland, it will stay in the air for 5-10 minutes at most in the Azores, and then it will be back immediately. ”

"It's not like it's a complete lack of chance." Spruance mused, "Assuming the war starts in early October, how many escort carriers will be in service?" ”

"Up to six more ships on the current basis."

"Not enough, at least double it." Turner Road.

"Is there still a way to increase the number of escort carriers?" Spruance added, "The quality is almost fine, and it's scrapped anyway." ”

"There is always a ...... way," Admiral Kim touched his head and said fiercely, "It's a big deal that I will slow down the construction of the Essex-class ships, concentrate all the ship-building workers and resources to build escort carriers, and pile them out!" ”

Hearing this crazy idea, even Turner, who had never been afraid of heaven and earth, was stunned, and muttered to himself: "Let me calculate, if I can dispatch 30 ships into battle, plus the fleet aircraft carriers, I can probably get together 1,100 aircraft." If the carrier-based aircraft of the German and Italian naval fleets are completely absent, the German army on the island will consume part of it by heavy bombers according to the calculation of 600 aircraft, and then through the hard consumption of carrier-based aircraft, it is estimated that by the time the German aircraft runs out, we will only have 200 aircraft left, which is completely insufficient for the seizure of the island. ”

"If you add 7 more ships, it will be 200 more, and 400 will barely be better." Turner sighed, "It's calculated that the air firepower is not enough to support the ground forces, if you put 45 ships in one performance, it will be much easier, then you can dispatch 1,500 aircraft at a time......"

Spruance said: "There is another way that is not a way, learn from the Pacific Fleet and get an Iowa-class battleship to rush the beach!" ”

"Let the Iowa class go beaching? The North Carolina was forced to take the initiative to rush to the beach, and you can say it! Admiral Kim looked incredulous and shook his head like a rattle, "No, no! The Iowa class is the most powerful battleship at the moment, and the new Montana class will generally not be in service until 1946-1947, and they are all washed up and exhausted, so what will I do with guys like Tirpitz in the future? ”

"I'd like to use the Queen Elizabeth class, but their firepower is too weak, their speed is too slow, and their survivability is not strong." Spruance sighed, "If it were them, two would be enough for one island." ”

"2 ships are 2 ships, and the British have to pay for it! And let them send 4 army divisions! Damn, it's all Churchill who hurts people...... "Admiral King scolded and scolded, talking to His Excellency the Prime Minister of the British Empire, the old bastard, and the fat man with his mouth shut, in short, he didn't have half a good word, and he almost scolded a bloody dog.

Turner and Spruance always felt that Admiral King had something to say, but it was inconvenient for them to inquire about what it was.

After repeated deliberations, the decision to go to war was finally determined, and Admiral Kim also specially asked Nimitz for his opinion, and the other party gave him an interesting answer: "Who gave you this advice?" I suggest that this person be transferred to the reserve on the spot and never be used again! ”

Turner and Spruance, who received the call back, looked at each other, crying and laughing.

Admiral King sent another telegram: "The person who made the suggestion is Franklin Roosevelt, and the rest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff agrees, just wait for the Navy to make a statement." ”

The second call came back quickly, and the text was full of helplessness: "Okay, I hope God bless America, but the few warships promised to me should not be missing." ”

On August 10, Admiral Kim, who had been suffering for several nights and had bloodshot eyes in his eyes, spoke at the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "Since Plan C has determined that the Navy will take the lead, then I will first talk about the Navy's requirements, and if this requirement is not met, I would rather resign and go home than sign the order."

First, 45 escort aircraft carriers need to be guaranteed for sorties, with a minimum of no less than 42 ships, and one-third of the corresponding carrier-based aircraft should be prepared for World War II losses;

second, prepare 8 divisions for landing, including 4 American divisions and 4 British divisions, which must include 2 armored divisions, 3-4 divisions on the first wave, and prepare half of the battle losses;

Third, reserve the loss of 4-6 battleships, of which 2 Queen Elizabeth-class, USS New Mexico, and USS California rush to the beach as fixed firing points, reserve another 2 battleships, and 2-3 regular aircraft carriers damaged in battle;

Fourth, weather permitting, the ground aviation will make no less than 500 cover sorties per day. ”

Everyone was dumbfounded, Admiral Kim's posture was almost to press all the capital in his hands, this was not an ordinary battle, this was almost a decisive battle in the Atlantic.

Marshall asked suspiciously: "45 escort aircraft carriers?" Now there are so many warships available? Are you ready to call the Pacific direction? ”

"Not now, but it can be increased, I suggest that the construction of the newly started Essex-class warships be suspended, and all forces should be concentrated on the construction of escort aircraft carriers, and the progress must be accelerated in the next two months, and 15-20 ships must be built. The size of the fleet in the Pacific direction will not move, and the reinforcements promised to them must also be given as scheduled. ”

Roosevelt remained silent, thought painfully for a long time, and slowly spoke: "If you meet this requirement, when can you attack?" How many wins are there? ”

"No earlier than late October, the ...... won," Admiral Kim glanced at the venue, "barely close to 55 percent." ”

"I'm curious how much the Germans are concentrating in the Azores and need us to pour so much into it."

"I didn't think I needed it, but the Battle of Tarawa reminded me that there's nothing wrong with making things a little harder." Admiral King explained, "The enemy fleet did not appear in the Battle of Tarawa, and the Pacific Fleet used a total of 4 battleships, 11 aircraft carriers, including escort aircraft carriers, and nearly 200 army aircraft, which consumed more than 20,000 tons of ammunition and lost 8,000 people in that projectile land. Intelligence shows that the strength of the German army in the Azores is at least 4-5 times that of the Japanese army, with a very strong land-based aviation force, after nearly half a year of construction, the German army has a very complete system of fortifications in all aspects, 55% of the winning side is based on the German and Italian navies without interference, if they are also involved, maybe it will drop to 45% ......"

It was now impossible to accuse Admiral King of cowardice, for the Battle of Tarawa was such an aftermath, and it was agreed that the Germans were at least much more difficult to deal with than the Japanese.

Roosevelt's head ached, and he didn't know which decision to make: either to support Churchill's coup d'état, or to take the Azores as a lifeline for Britain - the ambassador to the United States, Halifax, believed that retaking the Azores was the only way out for Britain in a protracted war.

It seems easier to support Churchill's coup d'état, and Donovan has secretly reported the plan, but there are endless troubles. Hull reminded him that if this incident is poked out in the future, it will not only have irreversible consequences for Anglo-American relations, but also bring irreparable consequences to the political lives of Roosevelt and Churchill. Britain and the United States are not Germany, and even if the president and prime minister are given the equivalent of the head of state, their term of office cannot remain unchanged for life.

Hull warned him: "There will always be a day when history will reckoning. ”

Roosevelt retreated again, he was not alone, there was a Roosevelt family full of people behind him!

"Actually...... I think that in a place like the Azores, when the time comes, we will just give the Germans a secret bomb. Admiral King's words meant something, he knew the ins and outs of the Manhattan Project, "I heard scientists say that one secret bomb can wipe out the Azores!" ”

"Unfortunately, it was still a theoretical idea." Marshall sighed, "It is estimated that it will not be until 1946 at the earliest, we can't wait that long, and the British can't wait that long......"

Roosevelt gritted his teeth: "There is no foolproof thing in a war, our strength is growing, and the enemy's strength will also grow, who dares to guarantee that we will have an overwhelming advantage after half a year?" Hitler gradually consolidated his superiority in Europe, and if he hesitated, he feared that we would continue to miss opportunities. I guess when the Germans went to fight France, they must not have expected it to go so well, right? ”

Everyone nodded, which was more convincing.

"I have made up my mind that in October, if we can confirm that the main force of the German and Italian fleets is not in the North Atlantic, we should start Plan C, which will not only help to improve our strategic posture, but also help to save our British allies, and if ......," Roosevelt paused, "I am willing to take full responsibility for the failure of this plan, and I will personally apologize to the people at that time." ”

"I announce that Plan C is officially launched, codenamed Overlord!" Roosevelt slammed the table, "Let's work together to pull out this nail!" (To be continued.) )