PS: This chapter is a big update for the leader of the book "Gai Hong", thank you for your support, thank you.

"The introduction of 150,000 Red Army can beat the Germans?"

"This ...... It's basically hard. In the face of such a major strategic decision, several generals did not dare to deal with it at will, Marshall analyzed, "Theoretically speaking, the Red Army and the German army can get supplies from their own countries, and they can fully support the war, and the victory and defeat will not be determined quickly, but the British are afraid that they will be driven out of the Middle East." ”

The situation of the British army is the most unsatisfactory: although Britain now has the largest number of troops in the Middle East, with 100,000 troops in one group army, after losing the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean sea supremacy, it cannot even guarantee the safety of the route from India to Persia, and although India borders Persia on land, the road conditions are very poor, and it cannot support large-scale supplies at all, so the British Middle East troops will only fight one less and one less, and it is impossible to expect Stalin to send supplies to the British -- the Russians themselves are still reaching out to the outside world.

"I have to say that although it is very reluctant that the hand of the Russians is stretched so long, it will not work without introducing the Russians now." Stingson sighed, "The only way to count on the Russians to hold back the Germans and buy us time will give Ike enough time to combine George's landing force, the remnants of the British retreat from Egypt, the British troops in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, and the three divisions we landed, and form a pincer offensive against the Germans in Egypt from the east and south if appropriate - I think this is the only key to victory in Africa and the Middle East." ”

"You mean to fight with the Germans in Africa?"

"This is the only place where the Germans can be directly threatened at the moment - they will also be forced to project their forces across the Mediterranean, which will invisibly lengthen the German front. conducive to their eventual defeat. ”

Hull interjected: "What if Turkey enters the axis? ”

"Turkey's entry into the Axis depended not entirely on the southward movement of the Red Army, but more on the prospects for the war and the demonstration of German power. If we lose and retreat. By ceding North Africa and the Middle East, the Turks will only speed up their entry into the axis - these are a bunch of opportunists. Marshall sighed, "But in order to fundamentally turn the tide of the war in Africa and the Middle East, it is necessary to obtain the right to control the sea in the Indian Ocean, otherwise even the material supply in the China-India-Burma theater cannot be maintained." ”

Roosevelt couldn't help frowning: the Hump route is now the only way to supply China, but India can't produce these supplies, and they are all transported from the United States. The Indian route has been blocked for a long time, and even if the Hump route is not cut off, it will be difficult to cook without rice.

"Is it possible to take advantage of the absence of the main forces of the Japanese Navy to forcibly land and deliver supplies off the coast of China?"

Admiral Kim and Nimitz exchanged glances, shook their heads, and said, "It's unlikely. All port cities along the coast of China were under Japanese control. Even if we were able to transport it, we would still be snatched up by the Japanese army when we got to the interior -- unless two more American divisions were brought up, but then it would be an amphibious landing in China, before the islands of Southeast Asia were cleared. It's too risky to go directly to China for landing. ”

Nimitz added: "Even if you want to take the risk, you should go to the Philippines first. ”

"I remember that the Essex aircraft carrier will be ready for service soon?" Roosevelt sighed. Set your eyes on Admiral Kim with hope.

"Yes, you remember correctly, I grabbed the 2-day construction period, and tomorrow I will officially enter service, and there will be a small handover ceremony."

"Keep the ceremony as short as possible, no more than half an hour, and save every minute. I know that according to naval practice, the new capital ship will go to Pisacek Bay for sea trials after it enters service. Now the situation is urgent, and we don't have that much time. So I hope ......," Roosevelt said in an unquestioning tone, "after completing the relevant carrier-based aircraft in early January, and going directly to Pearl Harbor, you are required to arrive at Pearl Harbor within a month and a half, that is, February 15, and complete all the sea trials, and then take a moderate rest at Pearl Harbor, replenish supplies, and maintain ships, and I will see him in battle in the Pacific in late March, can you do that?" ”

Although the president asked if he could do it, Nimitz knew that he must not say "no," so he gritted his teeth and agreed: "As you wish, there is no great surprise that you will see him open fire on the Japanese by March 25." ”

"Are there 3 more battleships that promised to support the British?"

"The afternoon before yesterday, I officially set sail for South Africa, and I also brought a batch of supplies." Admiral King did not approve of investing too much in Europe, but he still supported the decision to maintain the war in East Africa.

"I don't believe that the Japanese will stay in the Indian Ocean for a long time without leaving their old nest, so I decided to send two more divisions from the mainland to the Pacific theater -- this time by taking the Pacific route, to recover as many islands as possible during this time." Roosevelt gritted his teeth and said, "The fleet must be ready to defeat him as soon as the combined fleet returns." ”

Nimitz wanted to express a little dissent, but Admiral Kim motioned with his eyes not to talk more, and he finally resisted.

"Agree to the Russians' condition that they send 150,000 troops into Persia to protect this vital region." After much deliberation, Roosevelt opened his mouth and said to Herr, "Everything is for the sake of winning, and the post-war affairs will be talked about when the time comes, even if the Middle East is occupied by the Russians, it cannot be occupied by the Germans." Please speak to the UK side. ”

"It's not difficult on the British side, Prime Minister Churchill should be able to understand this, but the matter of supplies ......"

"Supplies are also given to him." Roosevelt gritted his teeth and said, "After the Persian route is interrupted, increase the transportation of the North Atlantic and Pacific routes, don't be afraid of losses, we can afford to lose half of it on the road." ”

The president is in a hurry! Everybody feels that way. This is not a matter of simply losing half of the country, and the United States' domestic productive forces are not endless, and when foreign aid increases substantially, it will inevitably affect the speed of its own armament.

"Tell the Turks that if they can remain neutral in the big war, they will have a deep friendship with the U.S. government -- the U.S. will give them $50 million in humanitarian aid and $500 million in interest-free loans, which can be repaid after 30 years."

This is not insignificant: although there is a clause for restitution after 30 years, at the rate of depreciation of the dollar historically, the purchasing power in 30 years will be roughly one-tenth of what it is today - which is equivalent to giving the Turks $500 million in disguise.

Hull was also stunned, and he said hesitantly, "This...... This one...... Is it okay if there is no parliamentary deliberation? ”

"Let's go out and see how the Turks react, and Congress can do the work." Roosevelt explained, "If this does not impress the Turks, I am afraid that the lower belly of the Russians will be in danger -- I do not say that the neutrality of the Turks is worth this price, but that he is worth the price if he joins the Axis." ”

The generals at the meeting felt a fever on their faces: the soldiers could not defeat the enemy on the battlefield, and the president was forced to buy the enemy and even neutral countries with money, which was a great shame.

"I'll give you a final update on the equipment." Marshall took out the file and said, "In terms of aircraft, after the Eighth Air Force tested and compared the P-47 and the F4U, it is believed that the P-47 can effectively provide protection for the bombers after being equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks, and we are ready to increase the number of equipment." In addition, intelligence indicates that the new heavy tank that the Germans put into the battlefield is the No. 6 tank, which is internally codenamed 'Tiger', which is currently equipped with only four battalions, and is expected to be equipped with three battalions per month from January. The tank outperformed all current models in service, with a firepower of an 88mm anti-aircraft gun, an estimated armor thickness of more than 100mm, and an estimated weight of around 50 tons. The allied tanks could not kill them head-on at a reasonable distance, and the army had two opinions on this, one was to develop and equip heavy tanks in a targeted manner, and the other was to increase the equipment of medium tanks (Sherman tanks). ”

"What do you think?"

"I think it should be-for-tat." Marshall's position is clear, "First of all, the exchange ratio of medium tanks to the Tiger is too ugly, the exchange ratio of the T-34 of the Russians is about 17:1, and our Sherman exchange ratio is about 13:1, which means that we have to produce 40 more battalions of equipment per month to be equal to the Germans, which is unacceptable - even if the production is okay, it is impossible to have so many car groups; Secondly, the front-line soldiers have a fear of the tiger style, and there are too few heroes who rush forward knowing that they can't be beaten, and if this emotion is all the while, it will have too much impact on morale; In the end, we are not without heavy tanks, maybe our model is a little worse than the enemy, but at least it should go to the battlefield to improve and perfect. The Germans' No. 4, the Russians' T-34, our Sherman are all progressing in succession. ”

Marshall's words are not all bragging, the heavy tank developed by the United States Ordnance Commission is codenamed T1E1 (code M6A2 after finalization), the performance is relatively good, a major breakthrough has been made half a year ago, and it was originally planned to be put into production in November, of which the early models of M6 and M6A1 were provided to the United Kingdom, and M6A2 was given to the United States for its own use. But the Command of the Armored Forces Command, Admiral Jacob Danforth, wrote to the Army Command that the M6 tank was too heavy and disproportionate to its sheer size, and that it would be more efficient to transport two 30-ton medium tanks into battle than to transport one 60-ton behemoth. This sentence made a lot of sense in September, because Sherman's No. 4 was also considered a chess opponent, but in November and December, after Sherman was taught to be a man by the Tiger, the Americans couldn't hold back. Of course, the M6A2's 76.2mm gun had proven useless against the Tiger, so the Weapons Committee's urgent report to Marshall was to prepare for the installation of a tank gun converted from a 90mm caliber anti-aircraft gun, internally codenamed M6A3. In addition, the project of T25 and T26 heavy tanks is being prepared.

At the end of the meeting, it was unanimously agreed to develop a new tank, hoping to see the finished product in 3 months, and at the same time decided to compress the M3 series of tanks and make every effort to increase the production of new M4 models. (To be continued.) )