U.S. Secretary of State Cordell. Hull could imagine the plight of the British Empire as he looked at the pale, emaciated, sickly-looking British Prime Minister.

According to the data provided by the British, the Germans now have 320-350 submarines, of which up to 80 are ocean-going submarines that can operate in the Atlantic, and this number is already much higher than the level of 1917! Thus, despite the many anti-submarine escort measures taken by the British, their losses reached a level similar to that of 1917. Losses (of British merchant ships) in both September and October exceeded 300,000 tons.

By November, although the destroyers of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet had begun to cruise freely in the North Atlantic, they had also used clear telegrams to inform them of the location of the German submarines they had discovered. However, thanks to the addition of German auxiliary cruisers (camouflaged assault ships) and the tactics of group sorties (wolf pack tactics) adopted by German submarines, British losses were further increased to more than 400,000 tons - this is still achieved when the climate in the North Atlantic is not conducive to submarine attacks!

And the situation in the first half of December still did not improve, and in just 13 days, the British lost 190,000 tons of merchant ships!

However, even with the brilliant record of German submarines and auxiliary cruisers, they did not reach the point where they could immediately strangle the British. Because the British Empire had a deep foundation, this loss did not paralyze the British Empire's overseas shipping lines.

However, the economic losses suffered by Britain as a result were very heavy. The value of 1,230,000 tons of merchant ships and hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo is astronomical. And a significant part of these cargoes sent to the bottom of the sea were raw materials needed for the production of the British military industry.

If the loss of more than 400,000 tons of merchant ships per month continues, I am afraid that the British Empire will really not be able to hold on.

"Mr. Secretary, we have nothing to do with those German submarines!" "We have far fewer light cruisers and destroyers than we did in 1917," Chamberlain said in a hoarse voice, and some of them must be used to cruise or cover minesweepers in the English Channel, the Norwegian Sea, and the Danish Sea." A number of camouflaged raiders had to be sent in pursuit of the Germans, and many ships were lost or damaged by months of intense fighting. ”

"Perhaps we can transfer to you some mothballed destroyers, which are the products of the First World War, but ......," Hull said thoughtfully, but he soon noticed that Prime Minister Chamberlain did not show the slightest expression of interest.

"Mr. Secretary, we do need destroyers, but they are not a priority." "And I know very well the process of selling mothballed arms, and the transfer of dozens of destroyers is not something that can be achieved in a matter of days or weeks." Moreover, if these ships that have been mothballed for more than ten years or more want to be put into service again, it is indispensable to repair them, and the whole process is likely to take several months. And Britain is in dire need of help now! ”

"Prime Minister, what do you mean......"

"Escort!" Chamberlain looked at Hull with a pleading look, "We buy your supplies, pay for them in cash, and we can also take care of the transportation ourselves." But there was no point in spending precious gold and foreign exchange to buy the supplies necessary for the British, and then loading them on ships to sink the German submarines. ”

"But escorting is an act of war!" Secretary Hull noted.

Chamberlain shook his head and said, "How can it be an act of war?" A formation of American cruisers and destroyers sailed freely in the Atlantic, encountering a British convoy, and then American and British ships sailed along the same route until they approached the British island. This is the freedom of navigation of the US Navy on the high seas! ”

It's a sideshow, but it's still very dangerous!

Because it is very likely that German submarines will attack despite the presence of American warships, and American warships may be hit by mistake......

"It's a brinkmanship!" Hull said to Chamberlain, "If Germany attacks American warships, the United States risks getting involved in a world war!" ”

"No, not really." Chamberlain said, "I know the Germans, they do things with thorough and strict rules. If a German submarine had spotted several American destroyers accompanied by a British convoy, the measure taken could not have been to attack immediately, but to ask Berlin, so that our convoy would have arrived in England safe and sound. ”

"But......" Cordell. Hull frowned, "But this kind of good thing is at most once, and when the Germans are prepared, the American warship may be attacked!" ”

Chamberlain shrugged, "Then let's do it once...... The safe arrival of dozens of merchant ships laden with American supplies was of great significance to stabilizing the hearts and minds of the British. ”

……

Chamberlain's request was not available to Hull, and at the end of the talks the US Secretary of State only promised to relay the British request to President Roosevelt.

However, at a later British cabinet meeting, Churchill, the Secretary of the Admiralty, showed some optimism.

"Roosevelt would have agreed!" Churchill, with his cigar in his mouth, had nerves forged of steel, and he did not waver even when the loss of merchant ships reached shocking proportions. "Because he is a great president of the United States, this is our luck and the misfortune of the Germans!"

Chamberlain nodded and said, "He should agree, he is ready to be re-elected president for a third time." This breaks with the conventions of the United States and shows that he really wants to do something. Winston, we should make the most of this opportunity! ”

"I understand, I understand." Churchill said, "I will have the fleet assembled in New York, and then the Germans will see a 'school of fish' like never before!" ”

There must have been a network of agents in New York, there was no doubt about it, so the great build-up of the British fleet would have been detected by the Germans......

Chamberlain nodded, then changed the subject, "The Americans still want us to fulfill our original promises to Russia...... Of course, the fulfillment of promises to the USSR! ”

"Give Turkey to the USSR?" Churchill puffed on his cigarette, "But Turkey does not belong to us." He paused, "But I'm glad to see the outbreak of the Twelfth Russo-Turkish War...... Turkey is not easy to deal with! ”

Turkey is a mountainous peninsula terrain that was not so easily toppled by the Soviet Union. Moreover, the current Turkey has been trained by Kemal to become a modern nation-state, and its military strength is not weak.

In addition, Turkey is now more pro-German and is the main source of chromite in Germany. Through the chromite trade, they also exchanged a lot of advanced German weapons and equipment. If the Soviets did attack Turkey, Germany might come to their aid. So that Soviet-German relations will collapse!

Chamberlain said: "Then let our envoy go and tell Moscow that as long as the Soviet Union can reduce the amount of oil sent to Germany by 70 percent, we will no longer oppose the Soviet Union entering Turkey." ”

"I think so." Churchill nodded and said, "But such a promise cannot be made public." He thought for a moment and added, "I don't think we can expect much from the Soviet Union. If we want to cut off Germany's oil supply, the best way is to use bombers! ”

"But this will infuriate Stalin!" Chamberlain hesitated and said, "The Soviet Union may completely fall to Germany!" ”

"That's nothing," Churchill sneered, "that the alliance between the Soviet Union and Germany cannot last long." Moreover, once the Soviet-German alliance is formed, we will also get new allies. ”

"New allies?"

"The Kingdom of Italy," Halifax said, took over the subject, "because of the Declaration of the Liberators, relations between Italy and Germany have cooled somewhat, and if the Soviet-German alliance is formed, Mussolini may well fall to us." ”

"And the United States!" Churchill smiled and said, "Roosevelt will not watch the Soviet Union and Germany divide the world, if the Soviet Union and Germany form an alliance, the United States will definitely join our side!" As long as the United States joins, we will win! ”

……

"I just received information that British and French merchant ships are arriving in New York in large numbers!"

At the meeting of the High Command on December 20, Hersman first reported important information sent to the General Staff by the Central Security Bureau.

"It seems that the British are ready for a big purchase!" "As of yesterday afternoon, more than 100 British and French merchant ships had arrived!" It's going to be an unprecedentedly large fleet! ”

"100 boats!" Hitler exclaimed, "At least hundreds of thousands of tons, and we can't let them get to England safe." ”

"You can dispatch the shipbreaker!" Marshal Raeder still stubbornly wanted to use the fleet, "now the climate in the Norwegian Sea and the Danish Strait is very harsh, and the ...... is almost non-existent during the day"

"This will not work," said Field Marshal Schleicher, shaking his head, "the fleet cannot be used...... Sending out submarines is the best way to do it! ”

Raeder said helplessly: "Then send submarines to ambush on the North Atlantic route, and at the same time lay a large number of mines near the ports in western Britain." ”

"That's all!" Hitler said, "We had to keep the fleet so that we could land in Britain in 1941 or 1942." ”

Whether it would land in Britain in 1942 was not considered seriously by Hitler, but he was now reluctant to lose any of his capital ships.

Hirschmann did not anticipate the presence of American ships escorting the British convoy at this time, and after the decision to attack with submarines was made, he turned the conversation to Finland.

"The Soviet Red Army has now surrounded the Brest Fortress, and the Second Soviet-Polish War is expected to end in a few weeks." "It is very likely that the Soviet Union will attack Finland in the spring of 1940, and we will not be able to come to Finland's aid by agreement," Hersman said. He paused, then added, "But Sweden and Italy can!" (To be continued.) )