The crisis of the five-eighty-six Gibraltar Conference

October 3, White House. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

"Mr. President, the USS New York is ready for you to go."

Wilson stared at the window, nodded at Robert Lansing, and after finally sighing, slowly lowered the curtains.

The thin curtains could no longer block the protests and demonstrations of tens of thousands of Americans outside who were shouting like a tsunami demanding that the United States withdraw from the war, when the tragic situation in New York was reprinted in the newspapers, and when the picture of the collapse of the Statue of Liberty was transmitted to the world through the airwaves, the United States seemed to be a rooster stuck in the neck, unable to make any more noise.

Only three warships, more than an hour of shelling, has dealt a heavy blow to the United States, not long ago those faint anti-war voices have been gushing out like magma, the east coast is like an earthquake and tsunami, countless Americans are rushing inland with their families, trains from the east and west coasts to Texas and other inland states have been all crowded, which has even led to the East Coast those important shipyards and factories have been unable to continue to maintain full speed, and just opened the New York stock market, within a few minutes fell to the trough, Later, the exchange had to forcibly terminate all trading and announce an indefinite suspension of the market.

There is a huge dilemma in front of him, the United States is suffering from a historical crisis, although the anger is also high, although many people began to grit their teeth and say that they will continue to support the war until they win, but he knows very well how much this heavy loss has hit the confidence of the United States, and it will not even be able to recover in the next four or five years, seriously, as a country of immigrants, after the attack on New York, immigrants from all over the world have considered evacuating and going to South America, and the confidence of the people and soldiers will disappear rapidly in the long run. Whether the war can be won or not has become a negative word.

What to do?

From the first day of the war against China, the United States and the entire Entente bloc were in a state of total confusion, underestimated, and launched the war against China early, and the three naval battles in the southwest Pacific were as uncomfortable as sticks, followed by the entry of the 31st Fleet into the Atlantic, and then to the encirclement of the entire Russian Eastern Front, which had just arrived.

In retrospect, these were avoidable, but because of coordination, because politicians intervened too much in the war and did not let the military speak, it led to the bitter consequences of the shelling of New York.

From a strategic point of view, Li Mo likes strategic adventures too much, and his adventures are not without flaws and traces, just because the chaos and underestimation of the Entente countries gave him a loophole to exploit the gap, but now he will never give him another chance!

The war needs a twist!

Wilson got dressed, thought for a moment, picked up the newspaper on the table, and walked out until he got into the car, and never put down the newspaper in his hand. 【 I want: super fast update 】

In addition to the news from New York, this Washington Post also included Wilhelm II's speech when he met with all walks of life in Germany, in which he said, "The Allies have won a great victory, and with the help of Germany, New York has been wiped out, and the United States is collapsing." The remarks and rampant undoubtedly injected a shot in the arm for the Allied army!

In just a few days, Germany launched two small-scale battles on the Eastern Front and the Western Front in succession, and encouraged by the signals that New York suffered heavy losses, the United States fell into a crisis, and the Entente could no longer gather all their strength, the Allied forces were overwhelmed, and a Spanish army of 80,000 men and the French 27th Army, which had just arrived on the Western Front, was routed in just three days, and the strategic point connecting Lyon and western France, including Verdun, Saint-Miyères, was cut off by 100,000 German troops.

On the Eastern Front, Germany had already encircled Warsaw, the advance had reached Brest (present-day Belarus), and even the aging Austro-Hungarian Empire had recrossed the Dniester River.

In the Ottoman Daniels Strait, the ghosts of the British expeditionary force were scattered, and hundreds of thousands of corpses covered the entire desert!

Crucially, the heavy losses had already led to a change in the domestic political situation in Russia, and under the influence of the spread of anti-war and the Bolshevik Party's ideological currents, and turmoil one after another, the foundation of Nicholas II's rule was already in jeopardy.

Wilson could not imagine the consequences of Russia withdrawing from the war, and that the country's army, though vulnerable, would be indispensable for its vast human resources, which were second to none on the European continent!

And this is only on land, the key is that the British and American warships deployed in the Atlantic Ocean have exceeded 150, but no one knows where the fleet is, although from time to time there will be news and intelligence to find them, but every time they see it, they are sailing at a high speed of more than 25 knots, at this speed, the warships that can catch up are either destroyed or dare not approach, but those who can match cannot catch up at all!

However, it is clear that the fleet is not hiding its strategic intentions, and that it is accelerating away from the Atlantic, which may be the only good news this winter!

The battleship New York slowly lifted its heavy anchor and, escorted by six other warships, left the Atlantic Fleet Command, Chesapeake Bay, and headed for Gibraltar.

On October 10, when Wilson arrived in Gibraltar at a time when the country was already in turmoil and the economy and heavy industry began to decline sharply, the main leaders and representatives of the Entente countries, including Britain, France, Italy, Russia, and Spain, also arrived, and the Gibraltar Conference, which was considered a major turning point for the Entente, was held.

During the three-day meeting, the Entente countries fully affirmed the serious consequences caused by the uneasiness and chaos of various countries after China's intervention in the war, and at the same time for the first time divided the command authority according to the theater of operations, and at Wilson's suggestion, opened the second front against China, that is, to attack the southeast peninsula from the Indian Ocean, defend Malacca and block the passage between China and Europe to the death, and cooperate with Australia's decision to start a war in the southwest theater in an all-round way.

According to this decision, the American fleet in Gibraltar was disbanded on the spot, and two Pennsylvania-class battleships and two Northampton-class heavy cruisers, as well as four Brooklyn-class light cruisers, which were being modified with air defense systems and equipped with a large number of anti-aircraft guns, were all to join the Indian fleet led by Vice Admiral Campbell, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Fleet, within a month.

In gratitude to Britain and the United States for their support of France, the French Navy also sent two Danton-class battleships (quasi-dreadnought) and two Brittany-class battleships (5 twin 340mm naval guns) to join the Indian fleet.

Spain supplied one battleship HMS España (4-door twin 305 mm)

Together with the two super-battleships of the former fleet, the Malaya and the Ireland, as well as the six Nelson-class battleships (dreadnoughts), the two French Lone-class battleships (six twin 305-mm guns) and six old battleships provided by the United Kingdom, the Allies will have at least 15 capital battleships, 10 old battleships, 20 cruisers and 40 destroyers, and four seaplane carriers in the Indian Ocean by the end of December.

At the same time, the Australian fleet was renamed the Pacific Southwest Fleet, and the commanders were two old friends, with Vice Admiral Claxton as commander-in-chief and Vice Admiral Seymour as deputy commander-in-chief of the former U.S. Mobile Fleet.

In order to strengthen the Southwest presence, the United States will immediately send two Delaware-class super battleships, and two Illinois-class old battleships, and four old Tennessee-class armored cruisers and four Omaha-class light cruisers to Sydney, joining the Southwest Pacific Fleet, consisting of three Bellerophon-class battleships, the Neptune battleship, two French Guba-class battleships, and nine Majestic-class old battleships and twelve cruisers.

The entire fleet will have 8 super battleships, 11 old battleships and 20 cruisers, as well as 30 other auxiliary ships.

In addition, Italy was to take over the entire defense of the Mediterranean, along with the remaining French navy and the Spanish navy, and to go all out against the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires.

For the first time, the US Atlantic Fleet will also send its main battleships to Britain to join Vice Admiral Jerichaw's Grand Fleet, striving for an early decisive battle with the main force of the German High Seas Fleet, destroying the German Navy first, and freeing up hands for a decisive battle in the Pacific.

In addition, with only eight capital ships and five old battleships left, and it will take some time to build battleships before they can be delivered, the United States will immediately transfer all the remaining nine old battleships in the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and continue to maintain pressure on China's Pacific Fleet so that it will not be able to support the Southwest and Indian Ocean theaters.

However, in terms of land forces, after careful consideration, the United States only agreed to invest a total of 200,000 troops in the European and Indian theaters, and 200,000 troops in Australia, and the rest will be decided according to the subsequent situation.

It has to be said that the attack on New York made Wilson worry about the security of the United States when he was preparing for war with all his might, and did not dare to send more ground forces to Europe, which eventually led to major problems later.

Later, according to the agreement between the leaders of various countries, the United States and Britain will jointly provide the first batch of various material and aid loans totaling more than $30 billion to the Entente countries from now on to help them speed up the procurement of weapons and build more warships until the war is completely won!

With the end of the Gibraltar Conference three days later, when New York suffered serious losses in history, the United States was completely enraged, and began to worry about the security of the homeland, two months after the Entente finally entered the war in China, they came out of the previous chaos, reached a consensus and formed a clear division of theaters, and adopted a posture of attacking the Pacific on three fronts and accelerating the war on the European continent.

The 31st fleet completed the task, but it also brought serious sequelae, this is the mistake made by Li Mo, tactical adventure and deceit are necessary, but the strategic adventure is not worth the loss in this level of war, just like Churchill pushed the battle of the Dardanelles, Li Mo sent the 31 fleet, in addition to putting thousands of soldiers and two strong battleships in danger, but also at the same time was completely enraged by the United States, in front of him and Hua, is a target that needs to be smashed like a mountain!

The day after the meeting, the U.S. fleet entered the Strait of Gibraltar and joined the French ships Brittany and Provence in the Mediterranean, as well as two Danton-class ships under the protection of four cruisers, and went to Sikkim to join the British Indian fleet.

On the same day, the U.S. Congress passed a bill to expand the war by a majority, and after the original Orleans-class heavy cruiser was greatly revised, it was officially named the Lexington-class battlecruiser, and the purchase volume reached eight!

In addition, four Tennessee-class battleships, as many as 30 light cruisers, and nearly 100 destroyers imitating the British class, which also used steam turbines secretly provided by the United Kingdom, began to launch in a steady stream, especially crucially, after seeing the use of aircraft by the Chinese Navy one after another, the United States also learned from the British Campania for the first time, and converted five conscripted speed cargo ships into flying carriers, unlike the Campania, although these motherships are not directly through the flat deck layout, but the deck length has reached 120 meters for the first time, It is already possible to take off and land the army's biplane combat reconnaissance aircraft.

The Gibraltar Conference became a major turning point in this world war, and when a tug-of-war had already formed in Europe, the Pacific theater was opened on all fronts!

RO！ ~！