After the Americans left, Natsuki summoned Prime Minister Pierce, Army Commander Admiral William Brandt, Air Force Commander Admiral Robert de Bloney, and Navy Commander Admiral Sean Purcell, and briefly revealed to them the Americans' intentions and the various conveniences he had given, but instead of asking for the opinions of these important ministers, he instructed them to do something secretly. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Two weeks later, with the acquiescence of the Western Allies, the main force of the US Atlantic Fleet was reduced to zero, and quietly set off from various ports on the east coast to the south, through the Panama Canal, and then assembled at Rodman Naval Base on the Pacific coast.

Now that its intentions were revealed, the U.S. Navy preemptively intervened, ordering four battleships, one battle cruiser, seven aircraft carriers, three heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, and 17 destroyers to arrive at the Rodman base and engage the southbound Japanese mobile fleet in the waters west of Nicaragua. The U.S. fleet, which had rushed into battle, had an absolute advantage in terms of strength, and the Japanese mobile fleet commanded by Shigetaro Shimada had only two Kongo-class battlecruisers and two Soryu-class light aircraft carriers.

Only three days after the Battle of West Nicaragua, the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet, led by Takahashi Miyoshi, rushed to the waters of Central America with great vigour, and Yanel once again led the main force of the Atlantic Fleet with an incomplete lineup. This time, the strength of the Japanese fleet slightly exceeded that of the American fleet, and at the beginning of the battle, the carrier-based planes of both sides attacked the opponent's aircraft carrier as the first target, and on the first day, the American aircraft carrier sank and was damaged, and the Japanese aircraft carrier was sunk and wounded, and then Yanel resorted to the strategy used by the Allied fleet in the Battle of the Azores, deliberately leaking communication secrets to make the Japanese fleet mistakenly believe that the American aircraft carrier formation had suffered a fatal blow, and the American fleet was hastily withdrawing to the Rodman naval base. Takahashi Miyoshi then commanded the fleet to approach Rodman, and early the next morning, he divided the carrier-based air force into two and went all the way to attack the Rodman naval base and bombed the Panama Canal locks all the way.

At a small cost of losing one aircraft carrier and one light cruiser, the US forces sank three Japanese aircraft carriers and severely damaged two ships, winning the most brilliant and important victory since the war against Japan. Since the Japanese troops had already captured the islands of St. Nicholas and St. Claremont in the southwest of the United States, laying solid conditions for further landing on the west coast of the United States, and in order to stabilize the people's hearts as soon as possible, Yanel quickly led the fleet northward in an attempt to drive the Japanese troops away from the mainland of the United States. However, he obviously underestimated the Japanese Navy's ability to resist setbacks, and instead of choosing a strategic retreat because the air force under his command was seriously damaged, Takahashi Miyoshi instead learned and sold on the spot, put on a posture of hasty retreat, ordered the naval ships to withdraw the landing force from the islands of St. Nicholas and St. Claremont, and commanded the main force of the Combined Fleet to quietly ambush in the sea area about 600 kilometers west of Los Angeles, and waited until the US fleet appeared, that is, to use the mobile fleet to feint and lure the enemy, and then seize the opportunity. With the few remaining carrier-based aircraft, they launched a fierce air attack on the US fleet, and actually won a complete victory, sinking 4 US aircraft carriers in World War I!

Undeterred by the predicament in front of him, Yanel, who had suffered an even more devastating blow in the Battle of the Azores, had the damaged ships sail into the ports of Los Angeles and San Diego, where the U.S. Department of the Navy mobilized shipyards for emergency repairs, and covered the Marine and Army forces in a combat operation to recapture seven islands, including St. Nicholas, St. Claremont, and St. Cruz. After all, Takahashi Miyoshi's early retreat was a false shot, and there were still more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers stranded on these islands 40-100 kilometers away from the coastline of the North American continent, and they were hidden all over the islands, and when the American troops landed on the coast, they did not put up frontal resistance, and when the American troops began to advance into the hinterland, these well-trained and combative Japanese soldiers relied on the bunkers and terrain to give them very great damage.

Although the Yanel fleet lost most of its aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft, it was operating in the coastal waters west of Los Angeles, and the air force fighters transferred from the Atlantic theater were able to provide strong protection to the fleet and the island landing counterattack force. In order to prevent the U.S. Navy from retaking the islands and rescuing the Japanese troops on the islands, Takahashi Miyoshi commanded the fleet to launch a night battle, and the main combat ships of both sides encountered each other more than 200 kilometers southwest of Los Angeles. In the Atlantic theater, the US Navy was repeatedly ravaged by the gap in radar technology, and switched to the Atlantic, facing the Japanese Navy, which followed the traditional night battle mode, and the technological disadvantage immediately turned into an advantage, and those battleships and cruisers equipped with fire control radars showed great might, so that the Japanese Combined Fleet lost three battleships and one battle cruiser one after another in this frustrated night battle, and a total of more than 3,000 experienced naval officers and men died at the bottom of the sea, which was the largest naval battle since Japan entered the war......

On the afternoon of September 11, 1935, the Stars and Stripes flew again on the highest mountain on the island of Santa Cruz, and the Japanese troops that landed on the coastal islands off the west coast of the United States had been basically wiped out by the United States, and the final defeat in the naval battle of the East Atlantic forced the Japanese Combined Fleet to withdraw from the waters off the west coast of the United States to the Hawaiian Islands. For the American people who were depressed after the signing of the Berlin Armistice Treaty, this was a powerful shot in the arm, and for the top US military and political leaders, the repulsion of the Japanese army bought them valuable time to readjust their national strategic deployments, and made it possible for all their plans and visions to be realized.

After relieving the siege of the homeland, the next target of the Americans in the Pacific Theater is naturally Hawaii, which is not inferior to the Azores in strategic value, and the United States has been in this area for more than 30 years, spending huge sums of money to build a large number of military and civilian facilities, and the defense of Hawaii in 1934-1935 lasted nearly 300 days, and this battle has become a symbol of the tenacity of American officers and soldiers, so the recapture of Hawaii has extraordinary military and political significance for the Americans.

On the morning of 17 September, US Admiral Pratt led a delegation to visit the Irish capital again to hold talks with the Irish top officials on confidential military matters. It is worth mentioning that the Americans took the Aer Lingus intercontinental flying ship "Liberty 5" on a 34-hour transoceanic flight from New York to Limerick -- the fastest transatlantic transport route at present.

With the previous meeting as a foreshadowing, the US delegation headed by Pratt still came under the banner of "like-minded mutual assistance," and they put forward the US demands to Natsuki straight to the point: The victory in the battle in the East Pacific has strategically equipped the US military with the conditions for implementing the Hawaiian strategy, but the attrition of the battle in the East Pacific has caused the US Navy to face the dilemma of lacking combat aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft. Due to the restrictions of the "Berlin Armistice Treaty", all the ships of the United States that were previously in the construction stage have been suspended, which means that the US Navy cannot replenish new ships, and can only do its best to repair damaged ships at this stage.

Although the 19 provisions of the Berlin Armistice Treaty were negotiated by political veterans in many countries, they were not infallible and seamless, such as the peace treaty restricting the purchase of new ships and new aircraft by the US military for a certain period of time in the future, but it did not prohibit them from leasing ships and fighters from foreign countries; Military ships and aircraft ordered by the U.S. military and built at domestic factories must be stopped, but if ownership of these warships and aircraft is transferred to a foreign country, they can continue to be built until they are completed and delivered.

Natsuki can see these loopholes, and of course savvy Americans can see them. The smoke in the Atlantic Ocean has dissipated, the Germans need a huge army to consolidate their hegemonic position, Ireland is a small emerging country, its family background is not yet solid, and it is also dragged down by the complicated affairs of "two countries and one king"; the reduction of armaments is inevitable; most of the hundreds of warships, thousands of warplanes, and tens of thousands of military vehicles newly commissioned in wartime will be retired from active service, and the gains in dismantling outweigh the losses, and the subsequent investment in mothballing will be required, and it is not as cost-effective as selling. Although the United States was burdened with a huge amount of war reparations because of the "Berlin Armistice and Peace Treaty", in the 20 years from 1915 to 1934, the gold reserves of the British Empire entered the treasury of the Federal Reserve, and before the outbreak of the economic crisis in 1927, the United States' military investment soared year after year, the government deficit continued to expand, and the economic and financial situation was still under control. At the moment, I am afraid that no country can come up with more hard currency than the United States to buy arms.

Because of this, the two sides are willing to hit it off.

After secret negotiations, Ireland agreed to provide the US military with three of the latest Confederate-class aircraft carriers and a fully formed carrier-based aircraft force on a lend-lease basis, each with a lease of $5 million, and if it was lost in the war, Ireland would be reimbursed another $5 million for each of them. In this manner, Ireland will also transfer to the United States forces in batches over the next two months two heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, nine submarines, 20 destroyers, 600 warplanes, and 1,200 combat vehicles, to be paid in cash or in gold. In addition, in the name of arms procurement, Ireland has enabled the construction of US warships and designated types of fighters that are nearing completion to be renewed, and after they are completed and put into service, they will be transferred to the US military under the name of lend-lease, and the Irish military will not interfere in the substantive affairs of the construction and commissioning of these ships and fighters, and the US side will handle and settle all the arms purchase funds on its own.

(End of chapter)