Chapter 1415: The Giant's Conversation

"Although the situation is not out of control, the crisis has come, and the Germans may launch a new offensive at any time to take France in one fell swoop. Then coerce the British Isles. The war is about to enter its darkest phase, and we must do something. Churchill's words on the phone were filled with deep apprehension.

"The generals are still discussing the next plan of action, I think we should not interfere too much in military affairs for the time being, and think about our own considerations, such as France and China. Another example is how long your country can hold out after the fall of France, and how can we get your country through the vacuum period before China's entry into the war. There was a coldness in Roosevelt's words.

"Are you going to give up France completely?" Although the answer was expected, Churchill still had some hard time believing his ears that a European power was abandoned in a matter of words? Churchill still couldn't accept it, after all, the pride in the bones of the Europeans made it difficult for him to let go. It still makes him uneasy to be thrown away by Americans who are seen as hillbillies. But it's also good that if there is less for France, then more for Britain, which is also good news for the British!

"France can no longer support it. Even if there is still a considerable amount of military strength, once the sea route is cut off, the French surrender is an inevitable choice, and there are similar voices within the French government. There's no benefit to throwing too many resources there. After a brief explanation, Roosevelt was not interested in talking about the subject any more, but decisively moved on to the next more important topic. The conditions for Huaxia have been opened. They want to turn all of Southeast Asia into their paradise, including British Malaya, Brunei and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands west of the Strait of Malacca! ”

"These bandits! As allies, they actually want to take colonies from the British Empire! They. Hearing the news, Churchill suddenly lost control. and even began to scold!

"Calm down, Mr. Prime Minister. Although the conditions proposed by the other party are excessive. But even if they are devils, we have to make this deal with them. Because they are a little stronger than the Germans after all. If we can use the strength of Huaxia to tide over this difficulty. Then the British Empire is still a world power, and if it can't get through it, the end of your country will be unimaginable. In extraordinary times, you should make a decision. Roosevelt sighed and said this in as calm a tone as possible. In fact, from the bottom of his heart, Roosevelt was not at all surprised that China exchanged colonies from the British, after all, who will help you if there is no benefit? As a continuation of France, the situation is the most difficult. The most disadvantaged big country, Huaxia doesn't get some benefits from you, but can it get benefits from there? What's more, after losing these places, if the British want to maintain their position in South Asia, then they must rely more on the United States, so as to completely tie themselves to the American chariot, which is good news for the United States! It has an extremely far-reaching impact on the post-war situation!

"This is not something I can decide alone, but I hope that your country will provide some financial support to our country through the Lend-Lease Act, so that we can get more supplies and equipment from China. If we can, can we first ask Huaxia to provide an aircraft carrier fleet to supplement our shortcomings? Churchill chose to stay away for the time being. On the contrary, he hoped that Huaxia would send a decisive force as soon as possible.

"This is impossible, Huaxia said that it will take more than 3 months to complete the final combat preparations, or rather. Until your country agrees to their conditions, the main fleet of Huaxia will not appear in the Atlantic. If we can, I hope we can discuss the future defence of the British homeland. The U.S. Air Force will do everything it can to help. Roosevelt said with a little regret.

"And what about the American fleet? Will the U.S. fleet be able to build a North Atlantic line of defense with the Royal Navy? What about stopping the German attack on the British Isles? Churchill's crucial words overwhelmed Roosevelt a little, compared to airplanes. The fleet is undoubtedly more precious, and the Air Force throwing a thousand planes a month is not necessarily much heartache for Roosevelt. But if you throw away 4 aircraft carriers at once, even if Roosevelt is fine, it is estimated that the navy may collapse! Faced with this problem, Roosevelt, who did not understand the Navy himself, could not make any suggestions for fire guarantees.

Not only did the high-level relations of the Allied countries have a relationship with the Allied fleet, but at the headquarters of the Allied Combined Fleet in London, the top brass of the US Navy represented by Nimitz and the British Royal Navy represented by Pound are also arguing about the future situation! Compared with the high-level discussion of the situation after the fall of France, the crisis faced by the Allied navy was more realistic and came faster!

The fate of Fletcher's fleet has been made known to all of you present by telegram, and the combat effectiveness of the German naval aviation is stronger than Nimitz and others expected! Even at the meeting, some of the generals bluntly suggested that the Allied fleet had no chance of winning if the war was fought in fair terms. After determining the basic situation between the enemy and us, the next step is to determine the strategy, whether to deal with the Raeder fleet in the South Atlantic first, or to concentrate on the plan that the main German fleet may move west to the Atlantic, or whether everyone will go back to their own homes and find their own mothers?

This last point is definitely not a joke! Although the above decision on France has not yet reached the ears of Nimitz and others, as high-ranking officers of the Entente, they also realize that France may not be able to hold it! And if the French base is lost, the Allied fleet will be faced with a choice, should everyone join forces in Britain or disperse? If it is the former, I am afraid that the entire fleet will be blocked near the British Isles and become a disguised existence fleet, and if it is dispersed, then the British and American fleets will lose the ability to fight a large-scale decisive battle!

As for going to the German fleet in the South Atlantic first? This plan is easy to say, but it is still full of too many uncertainties, where do you find one of the other side's fleets in the depths of the ocean? According to the experience of the last search, the two hunting fleets only discovered one of the other fleets when they cooperated with each other, and the other main fleet was hidden under their noses! And according to Fletcher's telegram, if there were no 3 fleet carriers. I really can't beat my opponent. Then the two detachments are 6 ships! If the Germans continue to increase their forces, the number of fleets needed will increase! In this way, the Entente fleet was split. The possibility of loss is even greater! And this kind of hunting is definitely not going to work in a short period of time!

"I think, at times like these. We should take the initiative and launch a series of air raids on the Allied land-based air bases in Spain before the German High Seas Fleet is dispatched! Gradually weaken the superiority of the Allied Navy through the first-mover advantage! Just when everyone was at a loss, Cunningham proposed a plan to attack, which immediately plunged the whole meeting into a cold field, and people did not expect that in the case of disadvantage, Cunningham would actually let the fleet take the initiative! If the person who spoke was not Cunningham, then I am afraid that he would be kicked out directly, right?

"I would like to ask you, can our fleet leave France without firing a shot?" Cunningham asked, looking at his colleagues. In the face of everyone's puzzled, ridiculed and even surprised targets. Cunningham didn't shy away from it. Although the people here already know that France can't hold it, and they should be ready to talk about it when necessary, if they don't even do enough superficial work, it will definitely not work, after all, big countries want to lose face, and even if the United States and Britain want to throw away France, they must throw it beautifully. Don't you see that when Italy was about to be occupied by Germany, the Allies and China also concentrated most of the aircraft carriers in their hands and the Germans just had a frontal battle? And even more so the current France! And what Cunningham didn't know was. In fact, Nimitz and the others are already preparing to coerce the French fleet to withdraw to other countries when necessary, if you don't do something, why will the French fleet go with you?! Could it really be that at a critical moment, the fleets of the United States and Britain concentrated their firepower to deal with the French Navy?

"It's a political thing. But we shouldn't give up on our allies. The American fleet will not retreat without a fight. Nimitz said carefully, this sentence is tantamount to agreeing with Cunningham's opinion in disguise.

"In that case, then everything is easy to say. Sooner or later, we will have to fight the German High Seas Fleet. Why not strike first? Before the appearance of the high seas fleet in the Atlantic, weaken the opposing side's land-based aviation. Create a favorable external environment for future wars? Do we still have to wait for the Germans to make a move and then react passively, as we did at the beginning? Cunningham asked rhetorically. In fact, he still hasn't said a word, that is, if the layout is good, even if you lose, you will lose less!

"What about the southern Atlantic shipping lines? We can't leave it alone! Kincaid said, glancing at the large-scale map. There have been many protests from the Army and Air Force. ”

"We know that the German Navy's aircraft carriers have an advantage, so why do we still fight with each other in the vast ocean? We can think of it another way, the Germans have already put 2 fleet aircraft carriers and 5 aviation cruisers in the South Atlantic, if you count the number of carrier-based aircraft above, then at least more than 350 carrier-based aircraft, this is already a very powerful force, if the German high seas fleet intends to take a big action, then it is inevitable to recover the fleet operating in the South Atlantic, and it will take some time for this fleet to return to combat effectiveness. And isn't this tantamount to solving the problems of the South Atlantic in disguise? And to be honest, I don't think we are in a position to solve the problem of the South Atlantic at the moment with the guarantee that the main fleet will be stationed in France. Cunningham's words revealed a sense of helplessness.

Cunningham was right that while the problems of the South Atlantic were important, the current situation was clearly beyond the scope of the Entente fleet. Is it for the sake of a transport line to set up a half-pull Allied fleet, or to use the method of encircling Wei to save Zhao and let the Germans transfer the fleet back by themselves? Although Cunningham made this suggestion, he was not sure what the outcome would be, after all, if the German High Seas Fleet did not plan to fight a decisive battle in the short term, then wouldn't the Raeder fleet be in trouble in the South Atlantic?

"We can let out some words and make the Germans think that we are going to continue to fight them in the South Atlantic, and then we can use our precious time to prepare our aircraft carrier fleet, you know, although most of our fleet is not involved in the fierce fighting, but a lot of carrier-based aircraft on aircraft carriers have been transferred to land-based airfields, although they are performing secondary missions, but the losses are still quite a lot, and we need at least a week to replenish the aircraft." Pound expressed his support for Cunningham, since he intends to abandon France, then relying solely on the North Atlantic transportation line and the Panama Canal can still support British consumption, and it is not impossible to abandon the South Atlantic route for the safety of Britain itself.

"Then we need to strengthen the monitoring of the Strait of Gibraltar, after all, the German fleet has been retreating to the absolute security circle for some time, and it is difficult for us to get relevant information. We can prepare for this battle first, and as soon as the top brass agrees, we will act immediately! In the end, with the strong support of the British, Nimitz also expressed his willingness to support this battle plan, but the premise of everything was that the top management agreed, and this kind of play that directly pressed the US Navy's family base for more than ten years made Nimitz have to be cautious!

The next day, as Roosevelt sat at his desk rubbing his somewhat swollen temples, Nimitz and the others' plan was finally delivered to his desk. And along with this plan, there was also a secret message from Stuart Leiden. Roosevelt probably glanced at the whole plan and put it aside. He then picked up Stuart's secret telegram. After reading it, a wry smile appeared on his face.

The contents of the letter were good news for the Americans, who hinted that the fleet would be dispatched earlier, and that if the British could hand over East Malaya first, then this time could be brought forward. But considering the actual situation, it is estimated that it will take two months no matter how fast it is, and the telegram of Nimitz and others just now has already said that they will abandon the South Atlantic transportation line, if so, can France still support it for two months? Roosevelt was skeptical. In his opinion, at least the first half of the letter really doesn't mean much! However, in the end, Roosevelt found some differences in it, because just behind the telegram, Situ Leiden emphasized that as long as the funds were in place, Huaxia was willing to send the air force to join the current battle as volunteers! That's a real benefit! It plays a very important role in mitigating the deterioration of the situation!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~, as well as the book friend weiyizhi, zhouyu1976, athlon9527, Wei Bian Sanjue, and the monthly pass support of the Hell Princess~~~. (To be continued......)