US President Roosevelt is now in a good mood, and the large amount of dollars he invested in the Soviet Union has not been in vain -- Comrade Stalin seems to be a real man who uses the advantages of others to fight wars for others. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Moreover, the Soviet Red Army was not as weak as some American military experts believed, and although it could not defeat Germany, from June to the present, instead of planting the red flag in Berlin, it suffered heavy losses, and even the second capital, Leningrad, was surrounded by the Germans. However, the Soviet Union showed no signs of imminent collapse, the morale of the people was still quite high, and the mobilization of reservists was very rapid.

It seems that as long as the United States continues to provide aid, the Soviet Union will be able to fight Germany forever!

In addition, the British also survived the autumnal equinox of 1942. Before the autumnal equinox, the Germans used JU288 and Fritz-X remote-controlled gliding bombs to discourage all the British and American fleets from going out, making the so-called Combined European Fleet the dominant force in the North Atlantic, completely blocking Britain's maritime lifeline. At that time, the British were already ready to "one British and each other", but fortunately, even if Stalin went to war with Germany, it gave the British the courage to continue fighting.

Now that the autumn equinox has passed, the North Atlantic is "long nights" and the weather has become very harsh. The German JU288 will not be able to threaten the North Atlantic route for at least a few months.

Moreover, the Soviets also offered to come up with 4 Soviet-class battleships and 2 Kronstadt-class battlecruisers to fight together with the British and American navies!

With these 6 powerful battleships and battlecruisers, the strength of naval forces in the North Atlantic was immediately reversed. The German blockade of the British Isles would be broken, and not only would American aid and energy continue to flow to the British mainland, but even American troops would be able to go directly to Ireland to support the British army. This will certainly be a great encouragement to Britain's will to resist!

In addition to the good news from the Atlantic and Europe, progress has now been made on a small goal of the war against Japan -- after the Battle of Hawaii, Roosevelt decided to begin construction of 20 light fleet carriers and 40 Cleveland-class light cruisers (now reduced to 30) to break diplomatic relations.

The lead ship of the light fleet carriers, the Independence-class aircraft carrier, built on the hull of the Cleveland-class light cruiser, was commissioned on September 24, and the second ship of the Independence-class ship, the Montpellier, was commissioned on October 1. The Cleveland-class lead ship, the USS Cleveland, the No. 2 ship, the Columbia, and the No. 3 ship, the USS Denver, were also commissioned from June to September.

Moreover, while the "Independence" class aircraft carriers are in service, the United States also has a carrier-based aircraft with satisfactory performance on paper -- the F4U Corsair carrier-based fighter. The first squadron of fully equipped F4U Corsair carrier-based aircraft boarded the USS Independence in early October and has now presumably arrived with the USS Independence in San Diego, the home port of the Pacific Fleet. The Independence Air Force, consisting of 12 F4U fighters, 9 SBD dive bombers and 9 TBF torpedo attack aircraft, will soon be killing the Japanese devils on the sea transport lines!

Although it is only a small goal, it has not been fully achieved. But it's always a good start...... The United States can finally start fighting back!

……

"Mr. President, Mr. Hull, Secretary of State, and Admiral Lacey and Admiral Marshall have arrived."

Roosevelt's adjutant Colonel Caton pushed open the door to the Oval Office and reported to the president.

"Invite them in." Roosevelt said.

Then the U.S. Secretary of State walked in with Admiral Raisi, the president's chief of staff, who chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Marshall, the chief of staff of the U.S. Army.

The president nodded to the three visitors, then gestured to the chairs across from his desk. The three of them sat down, and roosevelt gathered around a large desk.

"The President, Molotov, and Viscount Halifax all believe that we should take advantage of the favorable weather in the North Atlantic and seek a decisive battle with the German fleet, while also sending ground troops to Ireland."

Secretary of State Hull has just exchanged views with the visiting People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union and the British Ambassador to the United States. Molotov and Viscount Halifax once again demanded to regain control of the North Atlantic and launch a counteroffensive in Ireland.

Roosevelt looked at Marshall, asking for his opinion.

"Mr. President, it's muddy season in the USSR right now." "The roads in the Soviet Union were in poor condition, and in many places there were no hard pavements, so it was very difficult to march during the rainy and snowy season in the fall," Marshall said. And the Germans clearly understood the situation, and their main counterattack ended in September. Now only on the territory of Ukraine are still the German army is still counterattacking, and on the battlefields of Belarus and Leningrad, the German army has suspended large-scale operations. ”

Due to the fact that the Soviets abandoned Brest on their own initiative and shrank their forces around Warsaw. Thus, by the end of September, the military operations of the German army in Western Belarus and Poland were very smooth. On the one hand, Warsaw was encircled, and on the other hand, the Soviet-German military demarcation line in Belarus was maintained in the state it was in before the outbreak of the world war.

And in Ukraine, after the victory and defeat were separated from the Armageddon in Belarus, the initiative has always been in the hands of the German army. Although it was muddy season, the German army was advancing into the hinterland of right-bank Ukraine. But the scale of the offensive was not large, but in the order of hundreds of thousands of people.

In the vicinity of Leningrad, the German army was also shrinking, abandoning Novgorod and Chudovo, tightening the forces around Leningrad, and at the same time clearing the large and small strongholds around Leningrad that were entrenched by the Soviet army, consolidating the encirclement. And let Empress Olga symbolically return to Tsarskaya Village on the outskirts of Leningrad!

"The Germans do not seem to want to expand their offensive in the Soviet Union," Marshall continued, "at least not until the muddy season is over next spring...... This meant that the Germans could switch part of their army and air force to the Western Front, ending the Battle of Ireland this winter. ”

If Ireland were to be fully controlled by Germany, Britain would really have to kneel - even if the United States and the Soviet Union temporarily regained sea power in the North Atlantic, it would be difficult for supplies to be transported to the British Isles. And the UK has already depleted a lot of reserves in the spring and summer of this year, and now it will not last long.

"Do they have the ability?" President Roosevelt said, "The Germans have been in a tug-of-war with the British in Ireland for several months." ”

"There's no doubt about it!" Marshall spread his hands and said, "As long as Germany transports a part of the Panzer Division from Belarus to Ireland, the British will soon be unable to support it, unless we can support it in time!" ”

"Send our armored division?" Roosevelt asked rhetorically.

"Yes." "That's the only thing the Army Staff can think of right now," Marshall said. ”

"What about the Navy?" Roosevelt asked William. Lexie. Lacey is not now the Chief of Naval Operations, but as the Navy-born Chief of Staff, the equivalent of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he knows very well what the Navy wants.

"The Navy considers the defense of Australia and the recovery of German-occupied Guyana to be of paramount importance." "The Japanese are now accelerating the consolidation of their bases in the Bismarck and Solomon Islands, and it seems that they will soon attack Australia," Lacey said. German rule in Guyana has become increasingly solid, and it now controls both French Guiana and British Guiana. If we can't get the Germans out of South America as soon as possible, we are afraid that Venezuela will be the next victim. So the opinion of the Navy is that Australia and Venezuela take precedence. ”

Germany has been sending more troops to Guyana over the past few months, and it is likely that the current presence in Guyana is more than one division. Moreover, the Germans also divided their forces into French and British Guiana, and now the three Guianas have been united.

In fact, Guyana does not matter much, and it is not afraid of being temporarily controlled by Germany. But Venezuela, which is next to Guyana, is a different story. Venezuela is now a major oil producer, and at one time was the world's largest oil exporter in the 20s. At present, its total oil production is on par with that of the Soviet Union, and it is the world's second largest oil exporter after the United States.

Since the 1901 Venezuelan Affair (which did not recognize foreign debts, which provoked Britain, Germany, and Italy to send troops to settle the account, and finally the United States stepped in to settle the bill), pro-American has been the mainstream of political diplomacy. Its abundant oil resources in the country are, of course, controlled by large companies from the United States and the United Kingdom. After Germany suddenly sent troops to Guyana, Venezuelan President Isaias. Medina. On the one hand, Angarita declared neutrality, but on the other hand, he invited the US military to station.

Naturally, this apparently biased "neutrality" did not last long, and once Germany gained a foothold in Guyana, it was likely to attack Venezuela by land. And once Venezuela is controlled by Germany, Germany's oil supply can be greatly abundant.

So Venezuela is also a territory that the United States must defend -- Venezuela must defend, Britain itself must be saved, Australia cannot give up, Hawaii is a territory that must be recovered, and the Soviet Union also needs American assistance.

However, Roosevelt's forces, especially naval forces, were very limited, and it was impossible to take very active action in these areas at the same time, and there had to be a trade-off.

Therefore, many people in the US Navy, which was flattened by Japan, advocated "No. 1 in the Pacific," that is, abandoning Europe and Germany and taking the Atlantic Ocean as the boundary. Then concentrate the forces on the Pacific theater and beat the Japanese devils down first.

But Roosevelt was clearly not going to agree to abandon Europe, and now "Europe first" is still the national policy of the United States. (To be continued.) )