"Do we have enough strength to carry out this campaign?"

"It depends on how you estimate it." John Tovey took stock of the Prime Minister's belongings, "If the campaign is launched at the beginning of April, without considering the transfer of the home fleet, we can get three aircraft carriers - the Victory, the Dreadnought (both Glorious class returning from the Pacific Theater), the Indomitable (just repaired in the United States), four battleships: the Duke of York, the Anson (both of the George V class returning from the Pacific Theater), the Elizabeth and the Warrior (both of the Elizabeth class), and we can build the African fleet with them as the core." ”

Both the Elizabeth and the Warrior were torpedoed by the Italians in Alexandria, Egypt, in late 1941, and one was expected to be repaired in the United States by the end of February and the other in Simmonston, South Africa, in early March.

"If we add the support forces of the Atlantic Fleet, we will have a lot of strength - they also have two battleships, the Nevada (Nevada-class) and the Tennessee (Tennessee-class), which will also be modernized in early March, and they can also provide two additional heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, four escort carriers and all transports, and then they can also use the many small frigates of the South African Navy."

The USS Nevada and USS Tennessee actually ended the modernization process ahead of schedule because of the need for troops on the front line.

"That's not a small power." Pound said a rare truth, "In terms of scale alone, it has even exceeded the original strength of the Torch Project, and if the Japanese Navy is excluded, the Italian and German navies combined will not be able to defeat our ......."

Everyone was silent, and the Americans probably thought the same thing, so they forced the British to attack.

"The problem is that the Japanese Navy is still there." "If we consider them, we're still weak in naval power, unless we bring in the home fleet. ”

"This is impossible, they still have to keep an eye on the Germans, the strength of the home fleet has been reduced to a minimum, and it can no longer be withdrawn." Pound immediately rejected the idea, "We are not going to fight a general showdown with the Axis Navy, that is not in our goals and interests." ”

"Waiting is not an option, who knows when the Japanese Navy will return to the South Seas? Delays will only lead to the total destruction of the Kenyan Army. ”

"The Prime Minister's number one objective is to hold on to Gibraltar." Field Marshal Brooke explained to the crowd, "This is the key chain that keeps the enemy from rushing to the Atlantic, and the Atlantic route holds the maritime lifeline of the British Empire." ”

It dawned on everyone that the key differences between the British and American leaders were here: the prime minister wanted to keep Gibraltar, because the west of Gibraltar was the lifeline of Great Britain; And the Americans want to keep the army in Africa, because this is the most valuable seed of the US Army. Then there was even greater silence: the loss of Malta did not affect the overall situation, the loss of Gibraltar would completely lose the Mediterranean, and the Axis attack on Gibraltar seemed to be a foregone conclusion. After careful discussion, it was felt that the Americans could not be blamed for not caring about Gibraltar, perhaps they had decided that Gibraltar could not be saved.

"Can you deploy this fleet to the Mediterranean?" Churchill asked.

"No, no, no!" Tovey was anxious and said repeatedly, "You can't put it in the Mediterranean." ”

Just kidding, if this amount of troops were put into the Mediterranean Sea and directly confronted the navies of the three Axis countries, there would not necessarily be a chance of victory.

"And what about the strength of the home fleet?" Churchill was not dead yet.

"This ......," Tovey thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "it depends on how the Germans fight, and we will have an advantage in a landing battle, but what if the Germans come from Spain to fight a land war?" ”

This was an evasive answer - it did not directly answer the question of the outcome of the battle with the Axis Navy, but only expressed doubts about Gibraltar's future position: it was certain that it could hold it in a landing war, but it was afraid that it would not be able to hold it in a land war.

This view was widely recognized, and Gibraltar had the most fortified fortress and coastal defense system after years of operation and dangerous terrain, and if it could still be supported by the home fleet, the Axis Navy would have suffered heavy losses if it dared to launch a landing operation. But the problem is that Germany does not have to attack by sea, they also attack from Spain, so the navy will not work.

"Will the Germans attack from Spain?" Churchill also felt that the ground war could not prevent the German army, "Will Franco completely fall to the Germans?" ”

"It's hard to say whether Spain will tear off the pretense of neutrality." Brooke hesitated for a moment, then explained in embarrassment, "We can't tell what Franco thinks in his heart, but at least not yet. ”

In the eyes of the general public, Spain was of course hardcore pro-Axis, otherwise they would not have sent a volunteer army, the Blue Division, to the Eastern Front, but the British were keenly aware that Franco seemed to be more of an opportunist. In order to stabilize the Spaniards, Britain made concessions in many aspects, which made them a lot of money, and the United States was also worried about the vacillation of Spain's neutrality, and was trying to find a way to do Spain's work -- the Spanish channel in the process of Jewish transactions was officially semi-openly supported by the United States, so that the Spaniards could reap the benefits, but the old grievances between the United States and Spain and the Spanish-American war were not so easy to resolve.

Aiden, who had been silent, interjected: "The Foreign Office will make the greatest concessions and efforts on the issue of Spanish neutrality, and can even consider compensating some Spanish colonies in Africa, but I dare not guarantee that Franco will continue to maintain neutrality after the Germans have the upper hand." We all know very well that he is a scheming opportunist, and there is nothing he does not dare to sell except for profit. Our ambassador had vaguely inquired about his thoughts, and the price was very high - he wanted Gibraltar, but he could sign a treaty with us and settle it after the war. ”

The crowd was indignant: Franco would take advantage of the opportunity and take advantage of either side

"The point is that even if we agree to deliver Gibraltar, he will only agree to neutrality, and we will not give him any more benefits, and even if we are willing to give it to him, we will not dare to ask for it, because Spain will not join the Allies in the most optimistic case - his little troops will not be able to stop the Germans." Attlee sighed, "I suggest that the defenses should be strengthened as much as possible, but also be prepared for the fall of Gibraltar. ”

There was a desolation in everyone's hearts, and once Gibraltar was lost, the Axis naval power of the Mediterranean could rush into the Atlantic without any scruples.

Churchill barely managed to squeeze out a smile: "We will do our best to defend and do everything possible to buy time for the Allies." But taking a step back, even the loss of Gibraltar is not the end of the world, and I believe that President Roosevelt will not sit idly by, and he will definitely send more naval forces into the Atlantic to support us, and perhaps take the opportunity to eliminate the Axis naval forces. ”

The participants nodded solemnly, but then all the hopes of the British Empire could only be pinned on the United States.

After discussing it for a long time, Churchill could not make up his mind, and he was always in a hesitation between gaining and losing: he wanted to keep Gibraltar but could not give up the African theater -- Britain could accept losing the African theater, but the Americans would not accept it, and now everything depends on the United States, so Roosevelt's request cannot be simply refused.

"How should we respond to the U.S. request for advice on the battle in Kenya? They have made it clear that the Atlantic Fleet can be mobilized in its entirety, but the Pacific Fleet will not be mobilized. Seeing that there was no conclusion for a long time, Brooke was anxious, stood up and asked bluntly.

It makes sense that the Americans are so anxious, because most of the African theater of operations is the US Army, and there are two armored divisions that have been trained with great difficulty; In Roosevelt's position, this decision was not wrong, his navy could not draw more strength, he could not sail all the navy to the Indian Ocean in order to save tens of thousands of men, he had to let Britain take part of the military responsibility, if Britain did not even have this responsibility, he really could not persuade the domestic people to continue to support Britain; Brooke's anxiety is also justified, as several British warships have already set sail from the Pacific Ocean for the United States to resupply, and the relevant decisions cannot be postponed indefinitely—it takes time to make up a decision, and it takes even more time to complete the plan, draw up the battle plan, and mobilize forces and supplies. ”

Everyone was silent, and Churchill refused to say anything for a long time.

"Prime Minister, gentlemen, I think it is okay to accede to the demands of the Americans, but the situation may not be as pessimistic as we estimated......" Lieutenant General Hastings-Ismay, Chief of Staff of the Secretary of Defense, who had not expressed his opinion, suddenly stood up when the meeting was deadlocked, and clearly expressed his views that did not agree with the opinions of the people.

Churchill's eyes lit up: "Tell me what you think." ”

Ismay walked to the map and said with a whip: "Although the current offensive momentum of the German African Army Group is fierce, it is not so easy for them to hit Kenya. Guderian's armored forces were so powerful in Sudan that he was supported by ships on the Nile, which ended at the Sudan-Ethiopian border, and the longer he went, the longer the supply line became, and the greater the attrition. Another important supply route available to the Germans was to reach the ports of French Somaliland by sea, and then to use the railway from French Somaliland to Addis Ababa, but even then his logistical system would at best support his occupation of Ethiopia. ”

"I don't know if you have noticed the fact that every tank and shell of the German army had to be transported from the mainland, and the transportation distance to Ethiopia was more than 8,000 kilometers -- the distance from Brazil to South Africa was almost the same as the distance from Brazil to South Africa, equivalent to two-thirds of the distance from the east coast of the United States to South Africa, how long could the Germans support such a fragile and long supply line?" (To be continued.) )