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Chapter 1807 Strategies and Recommendations

The sumptuous and lively welcome feast ended at nearly eight o'clock in the evening. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

After the banquet, Roosevelt did not resemble Mrs. Anna. Eleanor apologized and left, but invited An Yi and Zhao Dongquan to the small conference room on the top floor together. Hull invited Dinh Diem to the café to talk.

Due to strict security measures, the Mayflower Hotel will not stay overnight overnight tonight, seeing Lin Xudong, Ma Zhiyuan, Zhang Xi and his wife, Lin Shuangshu and others not going, and Roosevelt was obviously a little impatient, An Yi had to promise to visit one by one during his stay in the United States, and everyone was relieved and left one after another.

In the small conference room on the top floor, Marshall and several military generals were already present. Roosevelt sat down with An Yi, Zhao Dongquan, and a group of translators and recorders.

Seeing that the people had arrived, Roosevelt said bluntly: "Mr. President, now that the war in Australia is urgent, the United States needs your help very much!" ”

An Yi was a little surprised, thought about it and asked with some uncertainty: "Before coming to the United States, I commanded troops in the Middle East and taught the Japanese troops in Syria a lesson. Why, has the situation in Australia deteriorated significantly? ”

"Yes, it's dangerous!"

Roosevelt nodded, and his expression became extremely serious: "I would like to ask General Marshall to explain the situation of our army and the recent progress of the war. ”

"I want to hear about it!" An Yi made a gesture of listening.

Marshall stood up, picked up a thick document in his hand, opened it, glanced around the people in the room, and then began to explain: "Since the fall of France, we have begun to implement a compulsory conscription system throughout the United States, but the problem is that after the conscription, there is a shortage of training equipment...... This is mainly because all along, we cannot be sure, whether to fully and openly support the surviving German opponents, or to arm ourselves first. And if it were too abrupt to change the country's economy and normal life, it would help domestic isolationists to oppose the current government. Therefore, from June last year to the end of the year, our factories were still producing weapons and equipment as well as everyday consumer goods.

"At the very beginning of rearmament, our industrial products did not include light and medium tanks, nor new 105mm howitzers, not to mention large-caliber anti-aircraft guns and heavy artillery. Although the production of artillery and anti-aircraft guns was later put on track with British assistance and independent research and development by various military enterprises, and the production of tanks was solved by introducing your Wolf and Leopard tank manufacturing technology, the output still could not meet the actual needs of the troops.

"For example, last year, the Army Operations Department was preparing to form an army for the European and African theaters, in which four anti-aircraft artillery regiments need to be formed, but the problem is that if these four regiments are fully equipped, the other 37 air defense regiments with an equipment rate of only 20% will be deprived of all anti-aircraft guns, even those used for training in peacetime. The 1st Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Division, which landed in the Azores last November to ensure the smooth passage of our Atlantic Ocean, used all of our stocks of scarce ammunition, including all 3-inch anti-aircraft shells and 37mm anti-tank shells.

"Until Pearl Harbor, the world's largest auto industry was still producing a variety of civilian vehicles and preparing to launch new models this year, while the Army was desperately short of tanks, armoured vehicles and transport trucks. In a military exercise held in mid-December, our two armies used models of weapons, but the department stores had plenty of goods for Christmas......"

While listening to Marshall's explanation, An Yi comprehensively analyzed the US intelligence he had obtained before.

Marshall's remarks have a certain one-sidedness, and the grabbing of resources from civilian production and military production is certainly one aspect, but the main reason for the embarrassment of the US team in the desperate shortage of equipment is probably related to the excessive generosity of aid to Britain, and the root is undoubtedly Roosevelt. In the wake of the sudden collapse of France, Roosevelt decided to come to Britain's aid, even at the expense of America's own military buildup.

When the war broke out in September the year before last, the United States had only 100,000 troops, and the only way to change the situation of the US army was to slowly expand its troops behind the shield of Britain. Taking combat aircraft as an example, Britain obtains more than 600 percent of the fighters produced in the United States, while the United States itself has only 30 percent, and the remaining 10 percent is allocated by other countries.

The 500 military advisers sent by the An Jiajun went deep into the 36 divisions formed by the 1.62 million recruits recruited by the United States, and were surprised to find that the equipment rate of the troops was less than 50 percent, and many of them could only train with their bare hands. As a result, at the time of Pearl Harbor, most of the weapons and equipment of the US Army were dilapidated, and even these old goods were seriously insufficient.

The attack on Pearl Harbor prompted the U.S. Army to quickly draw up a plan for the creation of a new type of army division, following the advice of the South China military advisers, which exacerbated the problem of lack of equipment.

So far, three months later, the U.S. Army is still severely under-equipped. The General Staff of the US Army had no choice but to issue a plan for the supply of troops in the first, second, and third categories and the non-divisional units, and in these three main categories, it was also subdivided into several levels, and only the first category of troops could receive all the quota equipment, and only the units that were about to leave for the combat area could officially become the first category of troops, and the second and third categories of troops were all "training units." If they did not immediately participate in the war, the second category of troops could only receive 50 percent of the quota equipment, and if they were not divisional units, the percentage would be even smaller. There are even fewer indicators for the three types of troops, and sometimes some units are listed as a first-class unit for too short a time, and the soldiers simply do not have time to familiarize themselves with the complex equipment before going to the battlefield.

Marshall's voice continued: "Originally, our expansion plan was to build a total of 213 divisions with a total of 8.84 million troops before launching an offensive operation against the Axis powers, and the immediate goal is to establish 71 divisions by the end of this year. After the Pearl Harbor incident, the War Department, on the advice of the South China advisers, drew up a specific plan to form three to four divisions a month, starting in March this year. The new division will be established through the backbone system, that is, a certain number of experienced officers and soldiers will be drawn from the original division to form the organization, training and core of the new division, and the other officers will come from the candidate officer school.

"Due to the hasty expansion of the army, the troops did not have combat effectiveness, and the South China advisers again made a recommendation that it should take 10 to 12 months to form a new division and be ready for combat: 17 weeks for initial organization, 13 weeks for basic training, 13 weeks for regimental training for regimental troops, and 14 weeks for composite training, which included at least one division-to-division confrontation exercise. Our General Staff Department has agreed with this suggestion and will strictly follow this training program in the future. So, until now, the newly formed units are being trained, and we do not have enough divisions for the Australian battlefield. ”

When Marshall said this, he sat down, and then the admiral who stood up gave Roosevelt and An Yi a military salute and introduced himself:

"I'm the new Chief of Naval Operations, Ernest Brown. Kim, now it's up to me to tell about the situation in the Navy. After the Pearl Harbor incident, our navy suffered a serious blow, with two of the three aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet sunk and nine battleships destroyed, and we also lost a large number of ships, including heavy cruisers, in the struggle for Philippine waters and other islands.

"At present, in the waters west of Hawaii, the First, Third, Fifth, and Ninth Fleets under the Pacific Fleet have only one aircraft carrier, four cruisers, eight destroyers, twelve submarines, and more than 40 auxiliary ships, which can only exist under the protection of land-based fighters; In Australia, the Seventh Fleet, which is part of the Southwest Pacific Theater, has only one old-fashioned seaplane carrier, seven cruisers, eight destroyers, nine submarines, and more than 30 torpedo boats, gunboats, and maintenance ships......"

"That's not right!"

An Yi shook his head and suddenly asked: "As far as I know, your country's Atlantic Fleet currently has nine battleships, four aircraft carriers, more than 20 cruisers and a large number of destroyers, why don't you mobilize some ships to fight in the Pacific Ocean?" Now Germany has not declared war with the United States, its navy is mainly based on submarine warfare, surface ships do nothing, and there is little threat to the Atlantic fleet...... Why don't you concentrate your forces and destroy the enemy in the Pacific first? ”

Ernest. Jin didn't expect An Yi to know the U.S. Navy so thoroughly, he glanced at Roosevelt, and after receiving an affirmative signal, explained:

"The threat of German naval submarines is far greater than imagined, and they are flocking in droves and frequently attacking our merchant fleet, and we must send warships to escort them. In addition, we also need a large number of ships to escort the transportation of officers and soldiers and combat materials to Australia, which also occupies a large number of combat ships. It will take at least a year for our productivity to be quickly converted into ships, and in that year, Australia is very dangerous! ”

Roosevelt looked at An Yi with a sad face: "Mr. President, the bad news in Australia has become a nightmare that haunts my heart. General MacArthur telegraphed yesterday that the Japanese troops from Darwin Harbour had advanced to the Buckley Plateau, while the Japanese troops at Wepa Harbor, passing through the vast grasslands and primeval bushland, suddenly appeared in the town of Cohen near the Great Dividing Range, strangling McKillres Ridge and blocking the safety of the Cape York Peninsula.

"The whole of Arnhem Land and the northern part of the Cape York Peninsula are now under Japanese rule. The Goff of Cape Arnhem in the northeast of Arnhem Land and the island of Machinba in the Wiesel Islands, as well as the Weipa of the Cape York Peninsula, are world-class bauxite mines, which are currently developed by China's Los Angeles Mining Group, and the bauxite produced is mainly sold to China and South China. As we all know, aluminum alloy is an important material for aircraft production, and the loss of these two regions will weaken the production capacity of fighters, and enough attention must be paid to it!

"The most frightening thing is that four days ago, the Japanese suddenly landed in the area of Port Hedland and Dampier in the northwest corner of Australia, and in a very short time broke through several lines of our army's defenses and advanced south along the road to the Bruce Hill area of Hammersley Ridge. As of 6 o'clock this afternoon, the enemy's and our fronts were maintained in the vicinity of Vitnus and Marilana, and due to the extremely fierce Japanese offensive, the front-line units suffered heavy losses, and they were frequently in a hurry!

"At present, the Australian government and the Allied Command are most worried that the Japanese army will use its sea supremacy to carry out leapfrog operations again, enter southwestern Australia, and even directly implement landings in Melbourne, Adlaile and other southern areas. General MacArthur has repeatedly called for more reinforcements to be sent from home, but where can the country be sent in a short period of time? Therefore, we urgently need the assistance of the generals! ”

An Yi knew that the Los Angeles Mining Group was the property of the Chinese Group, and the area around Hammersley Ridge was a famous iron ore mining area, which was also owned by the Los Angeles Mining Group and had a close relationship with him. He didn't think much of Roosevelt's call for help, but he was a little unimpressed, and asked strangely: "Mr. President, now that the sea and air from Indochina to Australia are blocked by the Japanese army, how can I help you?" ”

Roosevelt said earnestly: "Quite simply, we want the General to attack the Japanese in Burma, the East Indies, and Malaya as soon as possible. In that case, the Japanese may send troops to help, and Australia will be safe. Besides, has it not always been the expectation of Mr. President that the opening of the continental communication line between your country's West Indies and the mainland of your country? I think that this kind of good deed, which kills two birds with one stone and benefits others and oneself, Mr. President will not shirk it! ”

When An Yi heard this, his brows furrowed, and he said frankly: "Mr. President, General Marshall, and respected General Kim, our army is not as strong as the outside world sees, and due to the siege of the army expansion, our armaments are now seriously insufficient, and we are temporarily unable to launch a counteroffensive!"

"In addition, it is already April, and Myanmar, Malaya and India have all entered the hottest season of the year, with daily temperatures above 40 degrees. In a little more than a month, we will soon face the rainy season again, the humid climate and muddy roads will become an ally of the enemy, our offensive will be seriously hampered, and the supply lines will be threatened by torrential rains, flash floods and mudslides! The offense is pure gain and loss!

"Here, I would like to ask you to recognize the reality that it is not us who can really save Australia at the moment, but your army and the Australian army itself. Due to the development of mining and industrial and agricultural development in recent years, Australia has become the world's fifth largest industrial country, where there are mines and factories that are urgently needed by the people, and there is a vast land area that can be used as a strategic depth, which is the best place for people to move out of the earthquake-prone archipelago. Coupled with the plague that swept through Australia three years ago, the population of the place plummeted by half, plus the population that migrated to other countries and regions, the total population is less than 300, even if all the people are soldiers, they can only form an army of 500,000, which is like a powerless infant with a huge treasure, and the attraction of *** this bandit country is self-evident!

"There are many entanglements of interests, even if we ignore the reality and launch a counteroffensive in the Indochina Peninsula and the subcontinent, we will definitely not return to help, and may even be more determined to run Australia and rely on its current world-ranking navy to completely transform into a maritime country! I really don't understand, your country has such a powerful industrial productive force, even if it is a desperate consumption, the Japanese army is not an opponent, how can it be so embarrassed, and the grass and trees are all soldiers? Is there a problem with your operational guiding ideology? ”

Roosevelt and Marshall glanced at each other, and Marshall said with some uncertainty: "The strategy adopted by General MacArthur before was to steadily defend the whole island and wait for an opportunity to counterattack. So far, we have transferred 972 fighters to the Southwest Pacific Theater, including the P-37, P-39, P-40, and the latest P-45, P-46, and P-47 models modified from the South China A26, A27, and A28, and three types of bombers: the B-17, the Dreadnought dive bomber, and the TBD torpedo plane.

"In addition, we sent more than 400 tanks, more than 800 armored vehicles and more than 1,600 trucks...... Indeed, with so many planes and combat vehicles, shouldn't you be so passive? What went wrong? ”

A major general fought: "President, Mr. President, General Zhao, and colleagues, I think there may be something wrong with General MacArthur's operational guiding ideology." Originally, the Australian General Staff had a plan, and its basic starting point was to abandon large areas of territory in the north and northwest of Australia, rely on the mountains and rivers of central Australia, concentrate superior forces, and form a solid defensive line. However, General MacArthur had enough of being squeezed and surrounded by the Japanese in Manila in the Philippines because of insufficient strategic depth, and believed that it was necessary to hold the coastline and keep the enemy out of the country, and once again transferred the troops withdrawn to the southeast to the front line, resulting in exhaustion of various units.

Of course, General MacArthur did not simply occupy the coastline and defend it, he divided the coastline and the area of 200 to 300 kilometers behind it into different fronts, forming a wave-like defensive system, one front was lost, and the rest of the troops immediately retreated, relying on the second line of defense to defend again. However, the consequence of this is that the forces are too scattered, after all, Australia has nearly 8 million square kilometers of land and more than 36,000 kilometers of coastline.

"What is especially critical is that the previous air force and tank units were not used centrally, but adopted the tactics of refueling and put them into batches. In the case of the warplanes we have replenished, in order to prevent a possible landing battle by the Japanese army, the fleet is scattered behind the long coastline of Australia, and only a small number of fighters are deployed in each area. As a result, as soon as the enemy came, he took off to meet the battle, always outnumbered, and suffered great losses, resulting in air supremacy always being controlled by the Japanese army. It is inconceivable that our tanks are always evenly distributed among infantry divisions in battalion units, acting as support weapons for the infantry, rather than being used in a centralized manner as in Germany and South China......"

An Yi recognized this major general as Eisenhower, the former logistics planner of the US Western Military District Command who visited South China last time, when he was still a colonel, but now he is a general, and it is estimated that his position has also undergone earth-shaking changes.

Seeing An Yi looking at himself, Eisenhower nodded in a friendly manner. Eisenhower did meet with something extraordinary, and soon after returning home, he assumed the post of chief of staff of the Third Division, and later the expansion of the army, he hitched a ride to become chief of staff of the Ninth Army. When the Pearl Harbor incident broke out and the troops were expanded again, he was already the chief of staff of the Third Army and was successfully promoted to brigadier general.

In just a few months, Eisenhower's promotion was so fast that everyone expected. However, his path to promotion did not stop, as the Japanese captured Oahu and destroyed the Panama Canal, Eisenhower was recalled to Washington, D.C., and promoted to deputy chief of the War Planning Division, which was soon promoted to the Office of Operations, and he was appointed director of the Operations Department, and a few weeks later was promoted to major general, officially completing the transition from colonel to major general.

At this time, Eisenhower was already able to stand in the perspective of the supreme commander and represent the interests of the United States to guide global strategic actions, and his opinions left a deep impression on An Yi.

An Yi nodded approvingly: "General Eisenhower's opinion is correct. At present, the top priority of the Australian army is not to gain or lose one city or one place, but to eliminate the strength of the Japanese army and valuable combat resources. As far as I know, Australia's topography is similar to that of the Middle East and North Africa, with deserts, Gobi, grasslands and mountains, and logistics are key to fighting in such places. A division of the Japanese army was equipped with less than 400 vehicles, soldiers basically marched on their feet and bicycles, and their artillery relied on horses, so their logistics were extremely fragile.

"As long as we can restrain the *** Army, with the cooperation of its navy, through leapfrog operations, continue to move from the northwest to the south, and gradually swallow up the coastal areas of Australia, then the Allies can completely let go of the enemy and let it go deeper. The logistics of the Japanese army basically relied on local recruitment, but whether it was North Australia or Western Australia, there was nothing but sand and rocks. Australia is no better than the Middle East, except for some mines that are connected by rail to ports, the rest of the place does not even have a road, let alone anything else. The population of most of the area here is less than a single household on average 100 kilometers, and the Japanese army cannot collect any food at all, as long as they go 300 to 400 kilometers deep into the land, then their supplies will be basically cut off.

"Therefore, I propose to build a large number of military airfields in the southern, eastern and southeastern coastal areas of Australia, as well as on the islands around the mainland, and to gather air forces to prevent the navy from continuing to advance along the coastal road, and at the same time take this opportunity to accumulate counterattack forces. The productivity of the United States is far above ***, and it only needs to withstand half a year to a year, then, the number of fighters and tanks, as well as soldiers and combat materials of the Pacific Southwest Front, will far surpass the opponent, and then it will be able to launch a counterattack on all fronts, and finally completely wipe out the Japanese troops who have landed! ”

Roosevelt nodded repeatedly, Marshall looked surprised, and Eisenhower was greatly admired. An Yi's strategic analysis of peeling back the cocoon opened the eyes of all participants on the US side.

In this era, in addition to Germany's blitzkrieg and the Soviet Union's strategy of great depth, most of the army's overall operational ideas were inherited from World War I. Therefore, An Yi's theory of sports warfare has given great inspiration to the US military, of course, as for whether it works or not, we have to look at specific practice to know.

By the end of the meeting, it was already three o'clock in the morning.

Roosevelt, Marshall, and others politely took their leave. An Yi was tired from the journey, and he could finally rest at this time.

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: This weather is really troublesome, continuous low temperature and rain, causing the family to catch a cold and fever, sad and urging! Fortunately, after today's infusion, the fever has subsided, and the inflammation of the almonds has also improved, and I hope to recover tomorrow!

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