611 declares war
Will the Americans sit back and wait for death after one defeat? Apparently not! On April 13, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor, the President of the United States delivered a speech to Congress declaring war.
Just looking at the date on this day is quite unlucky for the Western world. 13 is an undesirable number, but Americans must respond on this day.
The United States, which almost single-handedly provoked a world war, finally tasted the consequences of its brewing.
It was drawn into the war, which was divided into two parts, in two different parts of the world, unfolding at the same time.
On one side, there was the Pacific War between Japan and the United States, and on the other, the Soviet-German war between the Germans and the Soviets.
It is not impossible to insist that these two wars are one, because there are several unlucky countries that are involved in both wars at the same time......
These unfortunate countries are: the poor British government-in-exile and the poor French government-in-exile.
Therefore, later historians prefer to call this day the flashpoint of the world war. They believed that the world war broke out on this day, and that all the world's leading countries were involved in the war on this day, and that none of them were spared.
The other part of the population would like to believe that the war between England, France and Germany was actually over before the war between Germany and the Soviet Union began around March 20.
Therefore, according to this judgment, there are also many people who advocate calling the war between Britain, France and Germany the war of Europe.
And the war that was separated from each other is called World War II. However, the vast majority of scholars agree that the ensuing war was actually a follow-up to the Anglo-French-German war in Europe, so it should be uniformly called World War II.
In any case, the latter war, which was determined to be called World War II, has now truly begun.
In the largest meeting hall of the Congress, the flashing lights of the reporters were flashing non-stop. Roosevelt was in the position of the speech, and was personally supported by Marshall to his feet.
It was here that he was about to deliver the most famous speech in history, to encourage the American people, who had fallen into passivity, to fight the Japanese enemy to the end.
The president of the United States, whose lower body was no longer able to stand, stood up with his disabled legs and let the sweat on his face drip like raindrops onto the podium.
Roosevelt knew that everything he insisted on and had to fulfill would unfold in the future, and he was convinced that his decisions would help his beloved country win the future.
So, at this moment, he insisted on standing and insisting on using his spirit to inspire all the American people.
On this day, the American people were excited, and on this day all the discordant voices were drowned out by the word war, and the United States had never been so united in preparing for a war, and had never been so eager to win a war.
In the past, the United States preferred to watch the war in Europe from afar, and even did not hesitate to stretch out its black hand in the back.
But those are the wars of other people's houses that are played and arranged by a few people, and it must personally join this world war that does not know the winner or loser.
Standing in front of countless flashing lights, under the gaze of countless people, Roosevelt spread out the speech in his hand.
Faced with those angry, desperate, anguished, and overwhelmed gazes, he began his war speech.
Everyone knows that after this speech, the pattern of the world will change, and everyone knows that their country will join this war after this speech.
After a long wait of several seconds, President Roosevelt finally opened his mouth slowly, ready to shout the most powerful voice in his dry voice.
He had so many things to deal with in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor that he didn't rest that night, just an hour before he was sorting out reports of naval damage in Pearl Harbor.
It was a desperate number, and Roosevelt didn't even dare to look at the casualty figures, and the familiar names of the sunken battleships......
As he spoke, he remembered them, the names and numbers that had filled his mind just a moment ago.
More than 20,000 soldiers and civilians were killed or wounded, and the number of soldiers killed was close to 8,000.
The USS Arizona sank......
Enterprise Sinking ......
The sinking of the Lexington......
The Pennsylvania sank ......
At last, he spoke, slowly but forcefully, word by word:
"Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and House of Representatives:"
"Yesterday, April 12, 1941...... This is a day of shame that we must always remember. ”
"The territory of the United States of America was subjected to a sudden and deliberate attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Air Force! …… History will prove that this was a sneak attack that had been planned for a long time! ”
"The fact that Hawaii is so far away from Japan shows that this Japanese attack was carefully planned over many days or even weeks."
"During this period, the Japanese government deliberately deceived and confused us with false statements and expressed desire to continue to maintain peace!"
"Yesterday, the Japanese government has launched an attack on Malaysia!"
"Yesterday, the Japanese army attacked Guam!"
"Yesterday, the Japanese army attacked the Philippine Islands!"
“…… Hostilities already exist. Needless to say, our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger! ”
"But the nature of this attack on us will always be remembered by our entire nation. No matter how long it will take to defeat this premeditated invasion, the American people will surely win an absolute victory with their own righteous forces! ”
"Believe that our armed forces rely on the unwavering determination of our people! We will surely achieve a great victory, may God help us! I ask Congress to declare that there has been a state of war between the United States and the Empire of Japan since April 12, 1941, when Japan launched its unprovoked and despicable attack! ”
"The United States will win this war!" He put away his speech and stood on the high platform, looking at the reporters and parliamentarians in front of him.
"Declare war! Declare war! Declare war! Declare war! ”
"War! War! War! War! ”
Everyone present shouted slogans, and no one would joke about their country at such a time.
The members of the US Congress, who always want to make some gimmicks on weekdays, expressed their position with their own practical actions.
They unanimously voted to declare war on Japan, and stood firmly on Roosevelt's side, ready to fight their enemies to the death.
And by the moment this congressional resolution was passed, the United States of America was already involved in the war, with Japan on the other side of the Pacific!
Compared with Roosevelt's impassioned Congress, Li Le, who was not able to obtain an exact report on the loss of Pearl Harbor, could only roughly assess the Japanese results in his office.
He anticipated the variable of the destruction of the oil depot, and then estimated the fact that the losses of the US Pacific Fleet must be quite small this time.
However, he could not confirm that the Japanese had actually sunk all the American warships, so he could not determine whether Japan had the upper hand or the United States at this time......
In this case, Germany's attitude can only become ambiguous. It was only on 14 April that the German Führer hastily issued a statement expressing Germany's unwillingness to get involved in the war in the Pacific.
In response to Germany's neutrality, the United States raised 30 ships of flour and sold it directly to Germany at a low price, breaking the ice of trade between the two countries.
You must know that after Germany provoked World War II, the United States sanctioned Germany's continuous expansion with the practical action of embargo.
And this time, in order to stabilize the situation in the Atlantic, the United States took the initiative to show goodwill, and Germany laughed at the protection fees paid by the United States for the Atlantic.
Unlike history, the fake Hitler who occupied the magpie's nest, Germany's Führer Li Le did not wait to declare war on the United States, but chose to remain silent.
What if he doesn't remain silent? Germany, lacking naval personnel, could not support the navy left by the British in a short period of time, and certainly could not fill the warships it was about to launch.
By the time these warships have formed combat effectiveness, it may be 1942 or even 1943.
Therefore, the Germans now have neither the fundamental ability to threaten the United States, nor the need to trouble the United States.
Helping Japan block the Caribbean routes of the United States is actually more than worth the loss, and even if these routes are cut off, with the Panama Canal and Mexican land transportation, the United States' logistical supply will never be cut off.
Moreover, the Americans could choose to take the West Coast route: Japan did not have the ability to cut off the West Coast route of the United States, so it was impossible for Germany to achieve its campaign objectives.
Under these circumstances, it is in Germany's vital interest to honestly turn the attention of the Americans to the Pacific.
The United States, without Britain and suffering heavy losses in Hawaii, did not act aggressively, but tried to maintain what appeared to be peace on the surface of the Atlantic.
Also on April 14, Hong Kong, which had almost no British troops and was almost completely evacuated by Elizabeth, fell into a new Japanese colony.
Interestingly, after attacking the French and British concessions in Shanghai, the Japanese left the German lend-end, and also gave very lenient entry and exit conditions, and sent troops to provide the necessary protection......
Of course, Vietnam, the nominal jurisdiction of the French government-in-exile, was also turned upside down by the Japanese.
By May, some of the African colonies, which had been attached to the French government-in-exile, had changed their flags and became supporters of Vichy France after seeing the fate of Vietnam.
What people never expected was that Japan's expansion in the Pacific and Southeast Asia allowed Germany to achieve the best effect of surrendering without a fight in the distant African region.
Of course, for Germany in April, these effects are already a thing of the past. At present, Germany is trying to complete its established battle plan and annihilate the Soviet army around Minsk as much as possible.
And Guderian, who was in charge of the forward attack, was thinking about how to use the minimum cost to cross Borisov and attack the more distant Orsa.
Zhukov, who had just arrived in Orsha, painfully gave a new combat order after learning that his preset position Borisov had been bypassed by the Germans.
He ordered the Soviet troops to retreat to the area around Krupki, where they reorganized their defenses and met the Gudelhi Corps, which was attacking at an incredible rate.
After receiving reinforcements, he now has about 150,000 troops at his disposal, but he has to defend the length of the line where the original 400,000 troops are stationed.
The situation was not optimistic for him, because Budyonny's counterattack on the flank of the Southern Front had failed, and the German flanks repelled his attack and launched a ferocious counterattack.
As a result, Budyonny almost lost Lviv, and now he no longer dares to attack easily, so he can only continue to strengthen his defense line to deal with the increasingly fierce German attacks.
As a result, the Soviet army of about 2 million did nothing in the south, while Zhukov could only use a very small number of troops to face the German army close to Smolensk.
Moscow is in jeopardy, and Leningrad is on the verge of becoming a front-line city...... The few large cities in the Soviet Union were now almost all within the reach of the Germans.
It's just April, and there are still 7 months to go before the winter when the Soviets hope to stop the German offensive!
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Plus more, this chapter Long Ling used the US president's declaration of war speech again, after all, it is a historical classic, and Long Ling is more inclined to pay tribute, so he used it again.
Because it was used again, the number of words in the chapter of Long Ling was intentionally written a little more (the extra less than 1000 words is free of charge).
The number of words that came out of the speech water was made up for everyone, so you don't have to complain that Long Ling is not kind......