"Judging from the results of the Battle of Tarawa, the starting point for formulating the B+ plan is still a little more optimistic, and our strength is not overwhelming. www.biquge.info We have observed that there are at least 600 aircraft deployed in the Azores, most of which are cutting-edge aircraft, including the most advanced jet fighters of the German army, and they can also be easily reinforced from Spain and Portugal, Spain currently has at least three Luftwaffe wings stationed, although Portugal does not, but we believe that there is a tacit understanding between the two countries and are ready accordingly.

In addition, unlike Tarawa, which has only one island, the Azores have several islands, and the existing fleet size cannot achieve a complete blockade at the same time, and must be fought one by one, which will be a bloody tug-of-war......"

Admiral Kim said it in bits and pieces, but in fact, in one sentence, according to the performance of the Japanese army in defending the island and the battle situation, he did not believe that the infantry could take down the Azores in a week or 10 days. In the general concept of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the German Army is the first in the world to the out-and-out kind, and the Japanese Marines have been able to hold out for so long and inflict so much damage on the troops, there is no reason why the Germans can't do it. Now the cost of air strikes on the Azores has become higher and higher, the British side has not been able to get fuel because of the previous blockade, so the air strikes have been temporarily stopped, and the average loss rate of bombers taken off by the US military from Newfoundland Island is more than 25%, this is still with the latest B-29, if it is the original B-24 or B-17, the loss is even greater than to see.

Therefore, the cost of casualties and losses proposed by Admiral Kim is a bit staggering: "We expect that once the whole plan is pushed forward, we need to prepare for 5-6 divisions to be severely damaged, lose 1,000-1,500 aircraft, and plan to lose 20-300,000 tons of capital ship tonnage, and we have not yet reached the point where we can bear this price." ”

Roosevelt's face turned pale, and he knew that Admiral King was doing it for his good, and it was very uncomfortable for a general to admit that his skills were inferior to others -- and it was even more humiliating to say that Admiral King was a stubborn man. If he forcibly asks for a campaign when the conditions are not met, I am afraid that Admiral Kim will not refuse, but the losses will be very large, as he himself said. Once it loses, it means that the strength that the United States has accumulated for more than half a year will be swept away again, and that will be politically unbearable -- the most unacceptable thing now is defeat! A costly victory like Tarawa's was barely acceptable.

Roosevelt also knew that after the defeat of the African campaign, the army had an instinctive panic about confronting the German army, and they did not dare to say that they would win the battle against the German army, and they did not dare to say that they would win the battle.

"So what's next?"

"The Atlantic direction continues to maintain a defensive position, the aircraft carrier group continues to train and cultivate on the mainland, the Pacific Theater forces must be strengthened, after the North Carolina ran aground, Nimitz had only three battleships available in his hands, the number was too small, and it was proposed to transfer two battleships and part of the army forces to reinforce the Far East; in addition, the Pacific Theater also put forward a new operational plan -- it intends to attack the Marshall Islands after the main force of the Combined Fleet transits."

"Can he hold the Gilbert Islands?"

"It's okay if you can't hold it. It doesn't matter if you let the enemy occupy it again. ”

Everyone wondered why Admiral Kim said this.

Lehi unraveled the mystery: even if the Japanese recaptured Tarawa, they would not have enough time to build a similar defensive system to the original, and the second and third battles to seize the island would be much easier. Essentially, it is not the ground forces that decide whether or not the island can be seized, but the navy -- the Pacific Ocean is so large that the Pacific Fleet and the Combined Fleet can play hide and seek until the balance of forces between the two sides changes fundamentally.

Roosevelt nodded slightly: "If we can get the Marshall Islands down, it will be considered a great victory, which is equivalent to us kicking open the defense gateway of the Japanese Empire in the Central Pacific, and taking away 2 battleships will be harmful to the situation in the Atlantic?" ”

"It's not a big problem, the battleship Wisconsin (Iowa class) can be commissioned at the end of October, and the USS Missouri (Iowa class) can be commissioned in early December, and the strength will not be weakened too much, so this time I plan to transfer the Iowa and West Virginia to him - this is what he was owed before, and by the way, a few more escort aircraft carriers will be provided, anyway, the Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers will soon be put into service in large quantities."

When it comes to escort aircraft carriers, Roosevelt has a toothache like a convulsion, although the escort aircraft carrier is built quickly, but in fact, the price is not cheap, a Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier (excluding carrier-based aircraft) costs 12 million US dollars, which is about one-sixth of an Essex-class fleet aircraft carrier, but the vitality is too fragile, the last time it was provided to Britain 5 escort aircraft carriers, after the German fleet and submarines broke up and tossed, now it is all finished, together with the planes and other equipment above, 100 million US dollars is so fluttering.

Now escort aircraft carriers are almost the largest losers of the Navy's personnel, and the loss rate is higher than that of submarines. The second big loss is the army aviation, the new B-29 bomber is about 650,000 US dollars a plane, and at least 400 planes have been dropped since the installation, B-17 \ B-25 \ B-24 \ C-47 and so on are not fuel-efficient lamps, and the number of losses this year must be calculated in thousands, and the dense numbers on the ledger make people panic. As for the sunken free wheel and the supplies on it, it was drizzle, and the original idea was that as long as I could make a round trip, it would be enough.

Up and down now understand that the ship is not the key, the ship of the axis is not particularly many, but the sailors and pilots above are the key, as the losses accelerate, the experienced old leeks are cut off one by one, and now many naval frigates, torpedo boats and even officers who graduated after the Pearl Harbor incident and joined the Navy for less than 2 years, some escort destroyers are even forced to use many veteran officers of the First World War, some of whom are even older than Nimitz! Carrier-based pilots are even worse, with more than 95% of them being novices who joined the army after the start of the war.

The situation in the navy was not good, and the army aviation was not much better, this time the 7th Air Force sent an attack group in Melbourne to attack the Japanese fleet, and lost nearly 100 planes at one time, and almost no results were achieved, and the next day the unbelieving American and Australian pilots tried again, and the result was almost the same, the results were still very few, and the loss rate was very stable -- about two-thirds. Some people have seen General Arnold secretly wiping away tears after receiving the war report -- if this continues, the 7th Air Force will have to follow in the footsteps of the 8th Air Force sooner or later, but it cannot help but be refused, Nimitz's fleet will not return to Australia to rescue, and if the Army Air Force does not attack again, the Australians must think that the United States has betrayed them.

In fact, the lack of results is just an illusion, and the losses of the combined fleet are still a little. Several capital ships ate bombs again, although they were not fatal, but they were scarred, the destroyers Longtian Light Cruiser, Wakatsuki, and Yutachi were sunk one after another, and others also lost 1 transport ship and 1 oil tanker, and more than a dozen pilots were killed one after another, and half of the fighters had actually been updated. This loss is small and insignificant compared to a large team. But the Japanese army's sweeping momentum like locusts crossing the border made people look frightening. That is, Nimitz dared to disobey his future and not return, if he had changed people, maybe he would have rushed back with a scream.

Admiral Kim saw this very clearly, so he had to defend Nimitz at all costs.

Compared with the losses, what is even more unacceptable is the psychological humiliation: the Combined Fleet has beaten people stupidly all the way around the coast of Australia, Australia's already not powerful navy has been hit by the war, the merchant fleet has been forced to be unable to leave the port -- it is not necessarily safe to leave the port without leaving the port, and all the merchant ships parked in Melbourne have been bombed to the ground by the planes and naval guns of the Combined Fleet. Now the whole Australia is in a panic, the east coast of Australia has been urgently evacuated, all normal production and life order have been disrupted, a large number of buildings and factories have been razed to the ground, and the losses are unknown.

Australia has deep interior for evacuation, where are people in New Zealand evacuated? Therefore, the 7th Air Force knew that it was invincible, and it had to continue to stand forward and die, and if they didn't die, the Pacific Fleet would die. Therefore, he can understand Arnold's anger, and the climax of Lu Hang's sacrifice has not yet come. This kind of back-and-forth death scene has been staged once in the battle of Panama, but I didn't expect it to be staged again in Australia and New Zealand.

"In addition to the fleet, send more aircraft to the Far East, especially the high-performance P-51 \ P-47, dive bombers, anti-aircraft guns and other defensive equipment should also be provided as much as possible, and this situation must not occur again next time." Roosevelt said with a solemn face, "Australia and New Zealand are the cornerstone of our Far East, and we must not afford to lose them." ”

Admiral Kim nodded, and the president refused to take a position on adjusting the policy of "Europe first and then Asia," but he was also transferring warships and adding planes, and in fact, it could be seen that he was also very conflicted in his heart.

"Next, I hope to do three things: first, to ensure the smooth flow of the British-Canadian route, expand the volume of strategic airlift, and let the British adhere to the determination of the war of resistance; second, to consolidate South Africa's defenses and continue to strengthen its forces to ensure that this bridgehead is not lost; Third, to further revise and improve Plan C, the nail of the Azores must be removed, if it is not resolved, whether it is a counterattack on the European continent or the maintenance of the British Isles, it will face severe challenges. ”

Marshall asked, "What about India?" ”

"Tell Mountbatten that the main fleet of the Japanese army is currently raging in Australia and New Zealand, and that there are only 50,000-60,000 German and Japanese troops landing in India, so that they can find a way to counterattack - they have 300,000 troops in their hands." Roosevelt said angrily, "If we can't defeat even this enemy, the United States will not be able to win the war even if it mobilizes twice as many troops!" (To be continued.) )