"A perfect rescue operation!"

Before MacArthur and his troops arrived at Haikou, the U.S. War Department had already received the news. Marshall immediately rushed to the White House and told Roosevelt the good news, giving the operation a very high rating.

"The Chinese air force and navy work very closely, and the intelligence work is very precise. In particular, the Navy cleared the Japanese artillery positions in the first place, which made MacArthur able to retreat more easily. ”

"A large part of the Chinese Air Force's aircraft are made in the United States." Roosevelt was a man with a big heart, at least in the eyes of many. It's a pity that his perception of China has never been better, and he can't help but want to be sarcastic whenever he finds an opportunity.

"That's true, but there's also a problem with that, and that's that the planes they need are the ones that our aircraft manufacturing companies use the technology they provide." "We should look up to this ally," Marshall reminded. ”

"Allies? Allies don't attack allies. Roosevelt snorted coldly, "I don't even know how to explain it to Churchill during the meeting tomorrow." Because it was we who prevented possible retaliatory measures by the British government. ”

"Churchill could not provoke the Chinese at this time, although he was very angry, but he was a good politician, he just wanted to use the appearance of anger to fight for more benefits." Harry. Hopkins spoke. Roosevelt's most important think tank, the "shadow president" of the White House, after reading the cable sent by MacArthur in detail, let out a long breath: "The Chinese are far more powerful than we think. …… Especially in the development of new equipment, they are not much behind us. Mr. President, look here......"

"Where?" Roosevelt followed Hopkins' finger and looked at the telegram, "Radar? Sonar? ”

"During the retreat. The Chinese sonar accurately spotted the Japanese submarine and dropped depth charges. Hopkins smacked his lips and looked at Marshall again: "General, since MacArthur specifically pointed out this matter on the telegram, what did he want to tell us?" ”

"You're sharp," Marshall said, "If I'm not mistaken, MacArthur should be trying to tell us that the Chinese have gone ahead of us, if not everyone, in the development of sonar." However, this needs to be rewarded by the Navy. They're the real experts. That's right. I would also like to remind: the time when they found the Japanese submarine was at night. ”

"You're trying to remind me...... The Germans' 'wolf pack'! Hopkins was silent for a moment and asked.

"We and the British have decided to strengthen the escort system, and the tactics of the Germans will hardly be a threat anymore." Roosevelt said in a deep voice. The Germans' "wolf pack tactic" was another version of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare during the First World War, and the inventor of this tactic was none other than one of the German submarine captains during the unrestricted submarine warfare. Dönitz. At the time of the First World War. Although submarines attack underwater, most of the time they duel large fleets during the day...... This duel will cause significant damage to the warship, though, at a relatively small cost. Or even sink it directly. But it also exposes submarines to attacks from ships. A submarine is not a ship, and if it is attacked, the people on it will at least have a chance to escape. Once the submarine is injured and loses the power to float, if it is lucky, it can abandon the boat and escape, but more often than not, it will be buried at the bottom of the sea with people in the boat. The feeling of waiting to die in the submarine cabin can be imagined how terrible it was. And Dönitz reformed this tactic of allowing submarines to fight during the day.

The "wolves" first dispersed and hunted. As soon as a target is spotted, it notifies its partner to come and hunt its prey. But they attack not during the day, but at night. And, in the face of the escorting warships, Dönitz boldly allowed the "wolf pack" to surface at night...... Night and sea water are the best protection for submarines. Warships' sonars, on the other hand, tend to monitor the underwater, not the surface. So, in this way, the "wolf pack" easily evaded the corvette's monitoring network and easily approached the target. And then...... In the face of vicious wolves, even ordinary battleships may be robbed if they are not careful, let alone those ordinary merchant ships?

This tactic is not trivial. A year before the outbreak of World War II, Dönitz commanded his "wolf pack" to attack the passenger liner "Athena", which began to sink in just a few minutes and finally died at the bottom of the sea. In the last two years, Dönitz's "wolf pack" has run rampant across the Atlantic, repeatedly attacking large Allied transport fleets, and has been invincible, almost making night sailing a psychological shadow for Allied captains. But so far, the Allies have not had any way to deal with the "wolf pack tactics". The average large fleet, even with the escort of a heavy fleet, if it encounters more than 20 German submarines, it is almost a catastrophe.

"Strengthening the escort regime only reduces the pressure on the Germans on the sea, which is tantamount to achieving their strategic goals in another way." Hopkins knew that Roosevelt was just talking hard, "The German submarines are very good, and according to previous documents, the British have always wanted to build a solid radar defense network." But at present, we can't do it with our technology. ”

"Medicine, electronics, explosives, and even aeronautics...... The Chinese seem to have many means that we don't expect? Roosevelt suddenly laughed.

"That's right. And I'm sure they should have a lot of cards that we don't know about. Marshall also said.

"But now they're showing the same worrying ambitions." Roosevelt said, "I fear that in the future they will be our opponents." ”

"I have analyzed that although China is aggressive, they should only do it to seek more benefits, because they do not have the confidence and strength to expand outward." "Because they're very poor!" Hopkins said. Their people don't even have enough to fill, and there is famine everywhere. There is no decent industry, agriculture is backward, and they are not even self-sufficient with matches. Not only that, but their political situation is also very precarious. If it weren't for the Japanese invasion, they might still be in a de facto division. And through the various intelligence provided by our embassy in China, we have even come to the conclusion that without assistance from the West, the ammunition reserves of the Chinese army may not be able to hold them up in front of the Japanese for more than a year. This result is simply unthinkable for us...... But the Chinese fought alone against the Japanese for four or five years in such a state of poverty. ”

"Since they can fight the Japanese for four or five years, they should be able to fight for another four or five years." Roosevelt said.

"But what if the Soviet Union is defeated?" Marshall suddenly asked, "If the range of power between Japan and Germany were directly linked, the Chinese would face an even more terrible situation." ”

"So, we need to help them, don't we?" Roosevelt smiled wryly, "Seriously, my friends, I really don't want to do that. Because my gut tells me it's not a good idea. ”

"But the threat of the Chinese is the most real." "They have withdrawn their garrisons in most parts of French Indochina," Marshall said. And this also means that they are unwilling to hinder the strategic attempts of the Japanese to continue to move south! If they shrink back into their own territory, the Japanese will extend their tentacles into the Indian Ocean and even attack India directly. ”

"India again." Roosevelt smiled wryly and sighed, "Britain has already concentrated hundreds of thousands of troops in Singapore, Malaya, Burma and other places, and they have not yet fought the Japanese. ”

"Judging from the combat effectiveness of the Philippine army, these hundreds of thousands of colonial troops of the British may not be able to stop even a Japanese division." Marshall shook his head and said, "You must know that the Philippine troops were still trained by MacArthur before the battle, while the British colonial troops were mostly formed improvised except for a few who participated in the training. Their combat effectiveness is doubtful. ”

"Then what do you think of the Chinese's proposal to form an Allied Command in Southeast Asia?" Roosevelt sighed. This argument has been going on many times. He has been trying to convince himself by convincing his subordinates to stop supporting China. But as Marshall and Hopkins put it, they couldn't find a reason. China, as the biggest barrier to the Japanese in the East, is the object that they must not give up. As long as those people have not reconciled with the Japanese or joined the Axis powers, they must always support each other, no matter how much they them off.

"MacArthur couldn't stay in China. He could not have good and beneficial cooperation with the Chinese. His destination was supposed to be Australia, where he was supposed to lead his troops to establish new defensive positions in order to prevent the Japanese from attacking next. Marshall said hurriedly. He understood Roosevelt's intentions well. Send the 30,000 US troops stationed in the Philippines to the Indochina Peninsula to cooperate with Chinese...... This seems to be a very money-saving, time-saving, and labor-saving plan, but through the performance of the Chinese in the past two years, since they proposed the formation of the Southeast Asian Allied Command, they must be aiming for that supreme command. But how could MacArthur be a man who could accept the command of others? Moreover, the defensive line they have placed in Australia is also in great need of reinforcements.

"At the last meeting, Churchill proposed to me that Arthur Churchill, who was stationed in Malaya, should be asked to do so. Lieutenant General Percival's intention to be commander of this Allied army......" Roosevelt added.

"No, no, no, it can't be. The Chinese would not accept that the British would command the war in Southeast Asia. Hopkins shook his head, "What's more, that guy is still a lieutenant general!" I doubt Churchill's sincerity. ”

"I ...... too"

"Ding-woo!" The phone rang suddenly, and Roosevelt glanced apologetically at the two of them and grabbed the microphone:

“…… It's me, what's the matter? ”

"What's the matter?"

Seeing Roosevelt put down the phone, Hopkins asked again.

"It's Churchill, and he hopes to meet me tonight!" Roosevelt smiled bitterly, "Discuss the personnel of the European theater of operations, as well as the Asian theater of operations, as well as the arrangements for the war." ”

"He wants to leave the Chinese alone!" Marshall licked his tongue, "It's going to lead to a lot of trouble." (To be continued......)