President Roosevelt, with his sallow face like a dead man and sweating profusely, frightened Admiral Jeffrey Field, although he knew that since the US Army and Navy suffered a series of crushing defeats in the Eastern Pacific, the president's spirit had not been better, but the handling was not as scary as it is now, as if he could go to see God at any time!

Admiral Jeffrey Field, glanced at the president worriedly, and said with concern: "Your Excellency, your body is not feeling well again, I will call the doctor immediately, or simply be admitted to the hospital, on this eventful time, you can't have any problems with your body!" ”

Roosevelt waved his hand weakly, smiled reluctantly, and said: "My own body, I know it myself, there is no big problem, Jeffer Field, I asked you to come here today to hear your views on Tang Qiuli's troops and the capture of Hong Kong, there is no need to have any taboos, just let's discuss it!" ”

After speaking, Roosevelt pressed the electric bell on the table, and a secretary came in with a few pills, and after Roosevelt swallowed the pills, after a few minutes, his face turned a little bloody.

Jeffrey Fell swallowed and foamed, and said: "Your Excellency, according to my personal analysis, this is a signal released by Tang Qiuli to us, or rather, a gesture, he uses this way to tell us that he is willing to fulfill the obligations of the allies, I personally believe that we should seize this opportunity and ask Tang Qiuli for help, only the Chinese army, joining the Southwest Pacific Theater, MacArthur's troops, can have a chance to turn the tide of the war on Luzon!" ”

Jeffrey Phil paused, seeing that Roosevelt did not have any expression, and then elaborated: "Tang Qiuli's troops, after joining the Southwest Pacific Theater, will share more than three-quarters of our pressure, Mr. President, in all fairness. I was full of worries about MacArthur's plan to defend Manila, hundreds of thousands of troops, cut off from the mainland, and relying on Australia alone could not support a long-term hold on to Manila. ”

"The troops have been attrition for a long time, and they cannot be replenished by domestic troops, so they can only use the British and Australian troops in Australia, while the hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops who ended the battles of Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi have remained in place. Its intentions are worrying, and the huge force of the Japanese army, whether it is to pounce on the battlefield of Luzon or to attempt to attack Australia, is for us. It's all a catastrophe! ”

"So, Mr. President. I personally build yì. Abandoning the plan to defend Manila, withdrawing all MacArthur's troops on Luzon Island to Australia, and holding on to Australia can also be used as a bridgehead and base for our future counterattack in the Southwest Pacific. I received a report from MacArthur that the Japanese troops on Luzon had moved frequently in recent days, he judged. It was a large-scale offensive operation by the Japanese army against itself! ”

President Roosevelt just listened to Admiral Jeffrey Field's tirade and did not interject a word, but when he said that the Japanese army was attempting to attack Australia, there was a faint look of pain on his face.

President Roosevelt knew in his heart that what Jeffer Fell said was correct and in line with the current situation in the Southwest Pacific Theater, but he did not see that the consequences of asking Tang Qiuli for help were tantamount to drinking water to quench his thirst, which was the biggest difference between a soldier and a politician, but he was not prepared to say these words to Jeffer Field, as a shrewd politician, sometimes, even the person who trusted him the most, could not open his heart.

After Jeffrey Fell's finished speaking, President Roosevelt did not speak for a long time, as if he was digesting his words, giving Admiral Jeffrey Fell's feeling that His Excellency the President seemed to have something unspeakable, and the two giants of the United States were silent, each thinking about their own thoughts, and the atmosphere in the office was a little dull and depressing.

It took a long time for President Roosevelt to say: "Jeffrey Field, we can't ask the Chinese for help unless we have to, because that Tang Qiuli is a more dangerous figure than the Japanese, and I have reached a consensus with British Prime Minister Churchill that all British military forces in Australia will be assigned to MacArthur's command and the Southwest Pacific Theater Headquarters will be established, with MacArthur as the commander and unified command of the US, Britain, and Australia." ”

"Even MacArthur's troops are in danger of being annihilated, and the defense of Manila must be carried out according to the original plan, and if necessary, Australian troops can be transferred to join the Luzon battlefield, Jeffrey Field, we need time, you imagine that if MacArthur's troops retreat to Australia and occupy more than a million Japanese soldiers in the entire southwest Pacific region, and free up their hands, where will the next target be?"

Without waiting for Jeffer Field's answer, Roosevelt himself gave the answer, "Two goals, one is to attack Australia, the other is to attack the United States mainland, all regions of the Southwest Pacific, and even the lives of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers, can be lost, but we must not let the flames of war burn to the homeland, Jeffer Field, a series of fiascos in the Eastern Pacific, have lowered the morale of the people to the lowest point!" ”

"Can the American people, who have not experienced the baptism of war at home and have low morale, show the courage to fight to the death and stop the Japanese from leaving the country? Jeffrey Field, neither you nor I can guarantee that we cannot gamble with the future and fate of the United States, what we need most now is time to accumulate military strength and restore the morale of the people, and the defense of Manila can hold back more than a million Japanese soldiers and advance eastward, and this is its significance! ”

"Therefore, I know that the defense of Manila is a gamble with almost no chance of winning, and I have to do it, and the time to ask the Chinese Tang Qiuli for help can only be under the premise that MacArthur has no ability to resist the Japanese army at all, and the country is not ready for a counteroffensive, or in other words, has not accumulated enough strength to repel the Japanese attacking the mainland, Jeffrey Field, I hope you can understand my painstaking efforts and intentions!"

When he said these words, President Roosevelt's expression was very painful and helpless, because the United States has a huge national strength, but because it is in a corner of the country and relies on the natural barrier of the two oceans, it always thinks that the flames of war will not burn on its head, and it has not built up enough armaments and reserve forces, so that the Japanese are caught off guard.

However, President Roosevelt believed that as long as he gave himself two years, the United States would have enough ability to regain its hegemony in the Pacific, and asking the Chinese Tang Qiuli for help was drinking poison and a last resort, because the United States needed Tang Qiuli's troops to contain more than one million Japanese troops in the southwest Pacific region when MacArthur was exhausted, so as to buy enough time for the country!

Admiral Jeffrey Field, understanding President Roosevelt's inner thoughts, he dragged His Excellency the President's crippled body, for the future and destiny of the United States, exhausted and exhausted, and felt sad, at the same time, his heart was also torn like a sharp pain, why is this happening, why is the powerful United States reduced to today's state, who caused this qiē?

Of course, Admiral Jeffrey Phil could not find an answer, and even President Roosevelt could not give a satisfactory answer, perhaps, God no longer favored, and the Americans, who had made war money, also let them taste the pain of the war burning on their heads.

Interestingly, Japan's Emperor Hirohito did not intend to attack the US mainland within a few years, to be precise, it should be courageous, but the Americans themselves, frightened enough, but some of them had the feeling that all the plants and trees were soldiers, I believe that if Emperor Hirohito and President Roosevelt sat together and calmly held a ceremony for the transfer of dominance in the southwest Pacific region, the Americans from top to bottom, I am afraid they would be greatly relieved, right?

If it were possible, the Americans would definitely take out all the benefits of the Southwest Pacific region to satisfy the appetite of the Japanese, but this qiē did not happen, and it will not happen, because with Tang Qiuli and nearly a million soldiers of the Independent Division, history is often in the hands of those who are prescient!

At midnight on 4 August, Tang Qiuli received a secret telegram from Qi Hanzhi, "Division commander, all the members of our special operations detachment have infiltrated the city of Singapore, and with the assistance of the agents of the Singapore station of the intelligence department, they have already made contact with Mr. Huang. ”

Tang Qiuli's mood relaxed, the special operations detachment's shun lì infiltrated and progressed smoothly, undoubtedly giving him a reassurance, as long as Singapore is kept and not destroyed by the Japanese army, the purpose of the campaign has been achieved for more than half of the time, and the remaining 10,000 Japanese troops can be fought no matter what!

Immediately, Tang Qiuli issued an order for the troops participating in the battle to advance in concealment, and the first brigade of Liu Hongzhang, Chu Ziye's fourth brigade, and Liao Zhenbang's second brigade of the Sulu Mobile Corps, totaling more than 50,000 troops, a brigade of the Battelle armored corps, and more than 300 tanks, assembled on the front line of Kuala Lumpur overnight.

In order not to alarm the Japanese Yokoyama Brigade in Singapore and achieve the suddenness of the launch of the campaign, according to the order of the division headquarters, all the participating troops marched at night and rested during the day, and the Malay Peninsula during the day, as always, the deep blue waves of the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand caressed the narrow peninsula affectionately, and it was very quiet.

At night, it was a different scene, countless trucks, artillery trucks, logistics convoys, and tank columns with their lights turned off, like a rolling torrent in the dark night, advancing in the direction of Singapore!

On the afternoon of 5 August, Tang Qiuli led the Singapore Campaign Command to enter Kuala Lumpur ahead of the troops, and behind him were tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks, like a stealthy tiger, showing their cold sharp teeth and quietly approaching their prey.

(To be continued) (To be continued.) )