The sudden appearance of the Spruance fleet in the Indian Ocean certainly caught the Japanese by surprise, but the unexpected landing of German troops in Uruguay on 4 May also caught the United States by surprise. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 After discovering that the German fleet had passed through the coast of West Africa, the U.S. military was in full swing to speed up the deployment of troops, while struggling to guess the true intentions of the German army.

Speculation on the German landings in West Africa: disillusionment;

Speculation on the German attack on Recife: False;

Presumably the German attack on Rio de Janeiro: it did not happen;

Speculation that the Germans continued to reinforce the Falkland Islands: a big mistake!

No one could have guessed that the Germans would actually land in Uruguay.

The Brazilian defenders were in a state of imminent war, and the U.S. military also moved troops non-stop to try to stop the situation from deteriorating, but the change still happened: late on the night of May 7, Fritz, the leader of the German political group in Brazil and the former leader of the Brazilian Integration Movement (National Socialism), declared independence from Brazil in Rio Grande do Sul, established the German American Republic, and invited the German army to protect it. In the following half an hour, two regiments of German troops immediately crossed the Uruguayan border into the "Republic of the Americas" and wiped out more than 2,000 Brazilian troops in the state with lightning speed.

It was said that it was annihilation, almost like an armed parade, and the bewildered Brazilian army was simply unable to contend with the German army, and as soon as the artillery rang out, the planes exploded, the tanks rushed, and the Brazilians surrendered after dozens of deaths. Rommel played his usual assault spirit, and did not even bother to collect the prisoners, and directly led the troops to rush in.

On May 8, the German army began to take over the state's key areas, and the German residents welcomed their national army with songs and dances, and they were even more boiling after hearing that it was Marshal Rommel who led the army. In the evening of the same day, the Constituent Assembly of the American Republics adopted a formal resolution to adopt the laws of the Third Reich as its own law, elected Fritz as the head of the Republic, invited Rommel to be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic and accept the protection of the Third Reich, and at the same time formed a 5,000-strong defense force.

In less than fifteen minutes Rommel announced his acceptance of the appointment and read out a telegram that had been prepared long ago, announcing on behalf of the Führer his agreement to protect the American Republic, and the Germans, on the one hand, rapidly deployed on the ground, and on the other hand, landed the main forces in Porto Alegre, the most important port of the state. In the afternoon of the same day, more than 20 Brazilian Air Force planes arrived to bomb and were shot down by German planes.

In just two days, subversion, control, infiltration, and independence were all done in one go, and the progress far exceeded that of Colonel Donovan of the United States, who had been engaged in the "liberation movement" in South America for many years.

The countries of the La Plata bloc have sent congratulatory telegrams, of course, the establishment of diplomatic relations or something must continue to negotiate, because since the American Republic is a protectorate, its foreign policy is under the administration of Berlin, and the republic in the embryonic stage is still in a stage of excitement and chaos, except for the clear German protection and military control, all governments and officials need to be reappointed.

After the declaration of independence, many residents of Brazilian origin fled, and some stayed and continued to live with the mood of trying, whether they went to stay in the German army, they were happy to see it, and it was not difficult, coupled with the good military discipline of the German army and the small population of the state, a small number of gangsters who took advantage of the fire to loot (no matter what ethnicity) were directly ordered by Rommel to break out, and the order was stable.

What is even more jaw-dropping is that when some of the German motorized units (less than a battalion) advanced to the neighboring state of Santa Caterina, nearly 5,000 Brazilian troops collapsed under bomber intimidation before they could fight, and the German-Italian residents of the state also cheered for joining the American Republic. Taking advantage of this moment, the La Plata group secretly conspired, and Perón put the forces of the two armored brigades that had just been reorganized to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, under the pretext of preventing unrest in Brazil, in fact, he coordinated with other countries and prepared to cut meat from Brazil.

At this moment, Crank, who was in Buenos Aires, led a fleet of ships ready to return to the Mediterranean, but Rommel had to go to Uruguay and Argentina to show his face first, and take his deception tactics to a higher level.

"Bang!" At the Joint Staff meeting, Truman slapped his face heavily on the table, apparently extremely annoyed. He received the information a few days ago, but today he was even more angry when he saw the report -- Fritz and Rommel actually appeared in Montevideo to have a very happy conversation with the heads of state of the La Plata group, hoping that the countries would give support to the new American republic and expressing the status of the American republic to apply to join the La Plata group. The countries expressed their understanding of their "independence" cause and hoped that the stability and overall situation of South America would not be "undermined".

"How are our troops deployed?"

"General Patton has just landed in Venezuela with the first batch of troops of the South American Army Group, and the reinforcement planes sent by the Army Air to Brazil were basically in place yesterday." Marshall sighed, "But the enemy is faster, and now that the Germans have taken control of all the territory of the rebel states and driven out the non-German population, the nearby Brazilian forces are on the verge of collapse." We tried to launch an air strike, but the Germans seemed to have a decent air force, and both attacks were repulsed, and our troops lost more than 40 aircraft."

"How many troops did the Germans have in the rebel states?"

"Intelligence indicates that they have deployed at least one armored division, plus a marine brigade each in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, with a total strength of between 3 and 35,000 and perhaps 100 to 150 air forces."

In fact, Marshall's estimate of the strength of the army was accurate, but there was a slight problem with the estimation of the air force, and the German air force initially relied mainly on carrier-based aircraft, and it took only two days to control the situation and carry out the rapid deployment and staffing of land-based airfields, and at the same time to step up the construction of radar systems, which could not be perfected without 10-15 days of effort.

"The State Department has warned Argentina and Uruguay about their breach of neutrality, but if the warnings work, the world will not need the military." Truman's expression was grim, "The war between Argentina and Uruguay will be discussed for the time being, but it is urgent to pacify the rebel states." Gentlemen, the presence of the United States of America in the Americas has never been more humiliating than it is today. ”

"If the intelligence is correct, this division is the famous 'Flying Fortress' armored division, and General Patton and I have fought against this unit, so it's not easy to mess with." Eisenhower explained, "Now it's Rommel leading the team again, and I don't think the situation is optimistic. Not to mention 1-20,000 Brazilian troops, even if all Brazilian troops are dispatched, they can't be defeated. ”

"The Brazilians are so poor?" Truman was stunned and said, "What are such allies coming for?" ”

"No, the point is that the terrain of the rebel state is troublesome." Eisenhower knew that the vice president could not read the contour map, so he simply pulled him to the side of the sand table, which seemed more intuitive, "You see, the north and west of this state are mountainous areas, which is not conducive to the movement of large forces, and if you want to attack, you must either fight a landing battle from the east, or land in Uruguay and outflank it from the rear." ”

From Uruguay's outflanking Truman to know that there must be no need to think about it, how could the Uruguayans and Germans obviously wear a pair of pants to allow the US military to cross the border? There is no shortcut to fighting Uruguay, not to mention that declaring war on a foreign country requires congressional authorization and passing relevant bills, even if you really make up your mind to fight, although Uruguay is small, there is the entire La Plata group standing behind it. The Germans may still wish that the US military would attack these South American countries, but as long as the US military dares to make a move, tomorrow there will be a coalition of the entire La Plata bloc to join the axis, and it is impossible to choose politically.

Then there is only one way - to land in the rebel state, even if you want to fight Uruguay.

"If we land, our troops will not have enough troops." Turner said helplessly, "The German army has deployed 2 regular aircraft carriers and 4 light aircraft carriers in the rebel states, and our army currently has only 6 escort aircraft carriers, which can only cover the transport fleet from the US mainland to South America, and there is nothing to do to carry out landing operations, let alone naval battles with the enemy." ”

"Then watch the Germans continue to make a fuss in South America?" Truman was unwilling and knocked on the table, "Gentlemen, we have to think of more ways, South America is the core interest of the United States, and it cannot be destroyed by the enemy!" ”

"The initial idea is that the army will first complete the deployment of 100,000 troops and then wait for the navy to become an army." Admiral King told Truman the results of the deliberations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "The two aircraft carriers will be ready for service in late May, and we will have more troops at that time, and we are expected to launch a counteroffensive in the direction of Brazil in mid-June, and at present use the army aviation as much as possible to weaken the enemy's forces, and at the same time control the situation in other states to prevent the rebellion from spreading." ”

"Brazil has asked us for assistance, initially involving the army, air force, navy, etc., is it considering expanding the application of the Lend-Lease Act in Brazil?" "I think it's important to strengthen our presence in Brazil and to turn around the impression of Brazilians. ”

A few years ago, the United States negotiated and reached an agreement with Brazil to provide three old destroyers to the Brazilian Navy, but the deal was eventually canceled by Congress, and the Brazilian government later purchased $55 million worth of infantry weapons and artillery from Krupp before the outbreak of the European war. After Brazil joined the Allied camp, the United States provided nearly $300 million in aid as a reward, but basically the United States also had relatively backward or unsalable weapons and equipment, not to mention that it could not be compared with Britain, and even compared with the Soviet Union -- at least the latter also had Sherman tanks and modern anti-aircraft guns.

Truman pondered for a moment and said: "Yes, prepare 2 old cruisers and 4 destroyers for the Brazilians to help them gradually restore their naval strength, and in addition, we will allocate a batch of supplies to the Brazilians for this suspension of aid to Britain and China, the amount will be more than all previous times, so that the Brazilians can feel our sincerity." As for the counteroffensive, since the army and navy have a clear plan, I will not interfere and wait for your good news. ”

News of the German landing in Brazil and the establishment of the American Republic also reached England.

"Hah! The Germans turned out to be a trick, we were all deceived, and their real purpose was to land in Brazil and open a second battlefield. After receiving the news, Churchill seemed to have been shot in the arm again, "The British Empire is not over yet, we have to persevere, and 2 aircraft carriers are ready for service as soon as possible!" ”

Everyone looked at each other.

PS: I went to Qingdao on a business trip today, and the second estimate is slightly late......