January 1, 1916.

The bells of the New Year rang in the midst of cannon fire and miserable howls, laughter was drowned out by roaring artillery, joy was swallowed up by flames, and the desire for peace was at full swing with the belligerents, and there was no hope that no one would escape from this great quagmire within this year.

In Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Americas, the war has enveloped the five continents, and the world is quietly undergoing changes under the sound of artillery, whether it is the Entente that previously occupied a dominant position, or the allies who claim to want "a piece of sunshine and need fairness", no one can withdraw at this moment, no matter who must grit their teeth and persevere, until the winner is divided and a new international order is established.

The once-bustling Big Apple, surrounded by wind, snow and cold, was once thought to be a place where war would never happen, but since the Statue of Liberty collapsed under the roar of naval guns two months ago, New York has lived in depression and dreary like a singer with a broken voice.

Two months later, the stock exchange still shows no sign of opening, the once busy Manhattan seems to have fallen into dead silence, and the charred Liberty Island in the distance has become a sad place for the whole United States.

The victory in the battle of the Colón Islands made the United States cheer for a while, but the ensuing troubles caused the US political axe to fall into embarrassment, Ecuador political axe has asked the United States to withdraw from the Colon Islands, Peru political axe has rejected the United States' proposal to join the Entente to jointly ensure peace in South America, Chilean political axe even said that it does not want the flames of war to enter the South American continent, and South America, which has been submissive to the United States, is surging.

The frenzied recession of the economy contrasts sharply with the hustle and bustle of the shipyards, where workers have to work around the clock to build more warships and weapons for the army to defeat the enemy, and a disproportionately small income.

"How long is this damn going to be?!"

Sampaio sat on the deck and smoked a cigarette silently, with an electric welding torch at his feet, and under his butt was the Pennsylvania-class No. 4 ship, the battleship Alabama, which had been outfitted and even installed with four twin 15-inch guns, the battleship Alabama, which was originally a monster with a full load displacement of 35,000 tons, was nearly completed, but for some reason suddenly received an order to reinstall more anti-aircraft guns, and at least 20 imitation twin-mounted Lewis machine guns purchased from Britain were also installed.

What's the use of these little guys?

Sampaio didn't understand, but the electric welding gun that had just begun to be used under his feet had greatly improved the efficiency of shipbuilding, but it was a pity that it could not weld thick armor, otherwise it would have been faster.

In the distant dockyard, the silhouettes of the ships were exciting and gave the United States hope of victory, but for Sampaio, who is of Mexican descent, he was more concerned with the corresponding remuneration for his labor than with President Wilson's remark that "America needs to do its best" and made him and his partners give everything.

Extinguishing the cigarette butt, Sampaio picked up the torch again, he had to finish welding the four twin machine gun mounts today, but before the torch could be brought out of the spark, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi Sampaio, you know? Big news? ”

"Big news?" Sampaio looked at his partner, who was also of Mexican descent, took off his mask and asked, "What's the news?" ”

"The Xinhua army occupied Singapore."

Sampaio shook his head, he didn't even know where Singapore was, so he was untouched by the news, and seeing his blank face, his partner immediately took out today's newspaper and handed it to him.

In the newspapers, it was the news that the Xinhua Army had captured the Singapore Fortress, and Vice Admiral Phillips, commander of the British Far East Fleet and commander-in-chief of the Singapore garrison, surrendered to Xinhua with more than 19,000 surviving British troops and an hour after the New Year's bell rang.

The whole battle began in the early morning of the 25th, and in just five days, the Xinhua army took the Singapore fortress, which was considered by the British to be able to hold for at least two years, with lightning speed.

But what interested Sampaio was that the newspaper said that Xinhua had dispatched hundreds of new planes, and the British Far East Fleet had been destroyed in the harbor without even firing a single shot.

"Look at the back." The companion seemed to be particularly excited, and rushed to help him turn to the second page, pointing to the news of the beginning of the Battle of Saint-Miel: "The British have begun a counteroffensive, they have sent nearly two million troops, and Germany will soon be defeated!" ”

"Yes." This news made Sampaio involuntarily excited, if Germany could be defeated and gather the strength of the entire Entente to attack Xinhua, then the war would end early, maybe he would no longer have to be so busy but his salary was scarce.

The two of them, sitting in front of the machine gun mount, chatted without a word, as if they saw the dawn of victory, but suddenly a brief conversation from below the deck made both of them involuntarily tighten.

"Did you hear that? General Pershing led his army into Mexico yesterday. ”

"Why? Isn't it a war with the Alliance? What to do in Mexico? ”

"Because everyone is worried that Mexico will fall to the Allies, we must deal with them first and stabilize the security on our continent before we can concentrate our forces on the Allies."

"Oh, I see."

"Hehe, those Mexican fools will soon know that although we in the United States are injured, it is not something they can challenge! They should learn how to treat the United States. ”

"Mexican fools!" Sampaio and his companions had anger in their eyes and rushed to the side of the ship, but unfortunately there was already no one below. "Damn white bastards!" Sampaio cursed in his heart, wishing he could find the two guys and sew them in the mouths with a welding torch.

The partner next to him shredded the newspaper and threw it off the high deck.

The cold wind blew the newspaper fragments everywhere, and some of them even flew towards Manhattan Island under the strong wind, and when the pieces of paper followed the howling north wind for several kilometers, and one end was equipped with the thick floor-to-ceiling windows of the naval base building, Wilson turned his head: "William, has the fleet to Britain departed?" ”

Lieutenant General William Benson nodded: "Hugh. Rear Admiral Rodman had already led four battleships and four cruisers of the Atlantic Fleet with three days earlier, and they would return to the British Grand Fleet in five days to deal with the German High Seas Fleet. ”

"With our assistance, the German High Seas Fleet will not be able to break through the North Sea defense line for at least half a year, and Britain and we will be free to concentrate on defending the Indian and Pacific Oceans." The Commander-in-Chief of the US Navy, Vice Admiral Charles, also said immediately.

Wilson nodded, looked at the silent New York outside the window again, and sighed in his heart, he couldn't remember how many times he had been here, but every time he couldn't see any signs of recovery, which made him very worried, New York is the vane of the American economy, and it is an area where heavy industry is concentrated, if it can't be recovered as soon as possible, it will be extremely unfavorable for the United States.

Thinking of this, he continued to ask: "William, what do you think about Xinhua aircraft?" ”

"It's strong, we can't match it at the moment!"

William Benson frowned, thinking of the news of the Singapore battle report he received earlier, his heart felt as if a big stone had been crushed, and he shook his head and said: "I don't know what would happen if our fleet faced that kind of attack, but I think that if we are not prepared, Rear Admiral Andrew's Pacific Fleet will be difficult to resist this kind of air attack."

Yesterday, four Nevada-class battleships have already set off for the San Diego base, plus the eight capital ships where, we can basically ensure the safety of the west coast, and now Li Mo's strategic focus is on the southwest and the Indian Ocean, even if he can quickly take Singapore, it will take at least half a year to free up his hands to return to the Pacific Ocean, so we must use this time! ”

William Benson looked at his partner Charles with a solemn face, and continued: "Charles went to Colt Company with people from the War Department a few days ago to see the demonstration of Mr. Browning's new machine gun, the machine gun is very perfect, and the army has promised to purchase at least 50,000 units, in addition, after Mr. Browning listened to our needs for air defense, he said that he could complete the improvement of the heavy machine gun within half a year, so that the machine gun can be used for air defense, so that we buy imitation light Lewis machine guns from the United Kingdom, It basically meets the needs of close-range air defense.

What our navy currently lacks is medium-range anti-aircraft rapid-fire guns, according to our research and observation, almost every warship of the Xinhua Navy has installed a large number of twin, even quadruple 37mm machine guns for air defense, and recently two small-caliber rapid-fire guns have appeared, so I think we should also learn to imitate. ”

"According to the British sailors who survived the Battle of Colombo, the Xinhua aircraft will fly to about 1,800 meters and drop torpedoes every time they attack, and we have done experiments in the past few days, and this distance is just the range of the machine guns, and the two shot down by the Agamemnon are also in this range, so if a large number of anti-aircraft machine guns can be installed, it can still have some effect. Of course, we prefer planes with the capabilities of the Xinhua and motherships that can carry aircraft, because we can't always defend. Charles also immediately made a suggestion.

Facing the burning eyes of the two top commanders of the US Navy, Wilson smiled bitterly at the corner of his mouth, the problem of the mothership is not too big, the five motherships converted with fast freighters have already started, and they are also preparing to be converted into the all-through deck appearance of Xinhua according to intelligence, and it is expected that they will be delivered one after another within half a year, but the aircraft is a big trouble.

The American industry is not a problem, it has only been two months since the United Kingdom obtained all the manufacturing technology for the Camel F1 fighter, and the United States has already manufactured 2,500 of them. It was also equipped with two M1914 Lewis 7.7mm twin aviation machine guns, and half of them have been shipped to Australia, but the battle of Singapore has confirmed that the Camel F1 fighter is useless in front of the metal aircraft of Xinhua, so the Camel fighter that the United States is copying in large numbers may also face slaughter, and the camel cannot drive the torpedo of Xinhua at all, even the enhanced twin-engine fighter that is currently being tested, after improvement, can only carry 340 mm and a small torpedo with a range of only 1000 meters, because its engine power is seriously insufficient.

The backwardness of technology and engines has led to the US Navy struggling step by step, even if it takes the Colon Islands and temporarily opens up the route to Australia, it may face a counteroffensive in a few months, how to get through this difficulty?

"Mr. President, I have a solution."

"Oh? What's the solution? Hearing William Benson's words, Wilson hurriedly asked.

"Xinhua has an aviation wing stationed in Kuwait!" William Benson took a breath: "Britain should also see the inferiority in aviation, if we can get one or two intact planes at any cost, then at most half a year!" ”

"I see!"

Wilson pinched his eyebrows, although the words are simple, but how easy is it to get?

(To be continued)