The Rise of the Third Reich

Truman had attended the cabinet military meeting chaired by Roosevelt, and was familiar with the scene of generals in uniforms describing the battlefield situation and making reasonable suggestions in the conference room.

But now he was sitting next to President Wallace, looking at a room full of generals and cabinet members, and listening to their respective opinions, but he had a strange feeling that he had never had before - as if everyone in the conference room was wearing a mask and telling lies.

In the United States, this situation should not happen at all!

"... The air defense of the East Coast has been significantly improved. Hundreds of radar stations have been deployed on the vast coastline from Newfoundland to the Florida Peninsula. At the same time, we have deployed 6,000 fighters along the East Coast, most of which are P47, P51, P61 and F7F with good interception capabilities. In addition, we have deployed more than 15,000 anti-aircraft guns of various calibers in major cities and military bases on the East Coast, and raised tens of thousands of anti-aircraft balloons. All of this can effectively prevent German missile attacks.

At the same time, we are also actively preparing to counter Germany The ultra-long-range XB-44 long-range bomber has been designed and will be tested in early 1945. Because this aircraft is based on the B-29 with an expanded fuel tank capacity and replaced with a super-powerful R-4360 28-cylinder air-cooled engine, the design and test flight process is relatively short. If all goes well, it will be put into trial production before the end of June 1945. By then, we will have an ultra-long-range bomber that can bomb across the Atlantic Ocean..."

General Arnold of the Army Air Force reported some good news, and Wallace seemed very satisfied. But Truman frowned. The air defense of the East Coast has not been tested in actual combat, and compared with the long coastline of four or five thousand kilometers, 6,000 aircraft are not particularly many. As for the XB-44, it is just a pie in the sky.

"Admiral," Harry Truman interrupted Arnold, "has our defense in the Caribbean been weakened by strengthening the defense on the East Coast?"

"No," said Admiral Arnold, "at least the Army Air Force is still quite strong in the Caribbean. Because our combat missions in Australia and the Hawaiian Islands have been greatly reduced, the air defense pressure on the West Coast has also been greatly reduced, so we have the spare capacity to simultaneously deploy a large number of troops to the East Coast, the Caribbean and South America."

Harry Truman nodded and felt a little relieved. However, he did not know that Admiral Arnold's Army Air Force had reduced its troop deployment on Newfoundland. Originally, the U.S. Army Air Force deployed more than 1,700 fighters of various types on Newfoundland, but now the number of fighters deployed on Newfoundland is less than 1,000, of which 336 are P-61B-10 fighter-bombers with both night combat and bombing capabilities.

Such a force adjustment would definitely not be allowed in the Roosevelt era, but President Wallace asked the Army Air Force to mobilize enough air forces to bomb Buenos Aires to overthrow Juan Peron's regime while ensuring that the East Coast and the Caribbean were "safe". In order to improve the effectiveness of the air strikes, Wallace even asked the Army Air Force to launch daytime bombings - in Wallace's view, as long as the political situation in the New Asbanian Federation was turbulent, Germany would have to accept "fair peace", which would make him a hero who saved the United States!

Therefore, General Arnold had to withdraw hundreds of long-range P51s from the Army fighter unit, which was not abundant in force, and sent them to Chile for daytime bombing escort.

In addition, President Wallace was unwilling to give up Brazil and the Soviet Union, two brave allies.

Therefore, he also sent part of the Army Air Force's forces to the Brazilian battlefield. At the same time, the latest C-54 long-range transport aircraft was sent to transport supplies to Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula, which was surrounded by tens of thousands of Japanese troops (this is an important ice-free port on the Pacific coast of the Soviet Union, second only to Vladivostok, and only more than 2,000 kilometers away from Alaska in the United States. If the Japanese army captured the port, the shipping supply between the United States and the Soviet Union would be completely cut off). A small number of Army Air Force fighters were also sent there.

"At present, the Army has deployed more than 1.2 million ground forces on many islands in the Caribbean Sea and Venezuela. It has also deployed hundreds of thousands of combat troops in the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, and New Zealand. The number of Army combat troops deployed in Chile is also close to 150,000, and will soon reach 200,000. More than 100,000 ground forces have also been deployed in Brazil.

In addition, we have deployed heavy troops on the East Coast, Bermuda Islands, Newfoundland Island, and northeastern Canada, with a total force of more than 1.8 million."

Admiral Marshall briefly introduced the deployment of the US Army's forces. The total strength of the army he mentioned is about 3.45 million, and there are also troops stationed on the west coast of the United States, Panama, Alaska and other places that are not mentioned. If all are taken into account, the total strength of the front-line combat troops of the US Army is about 4 million.

In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of marines, which are the troops that can really fight ground wars abroad among the 16 million American soldiers on paper.

Of course, the United States is a country where everyone has a gun and has a deep militia tradition. Once the German army invades the United States, they will face more than 4 million US ground forces.

Therefore, Truman is relatively confident in the ground defense forces of the United States. Even if the Germans can drop atomic bombs on American soil, their army will find it difficult to conquer the United States!

"Currently, the Navy is also actively preparing for a decisive battle to defend the Caribbean islands and the mainland coast." Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest King made the final speech and began to introduce the Navy's latest combat readiness.

Compared with the Army and the Army Air Force, the U.S. Navy is now in a more difficult situation. After the Battle of Bermuda, it completely lost control of the Atlantic Ocean. It is difficult to maintain the blockade between the Nova Scotia Peninsula, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. ——After the German missile carrier and Me264 broke through to 500 kilometers off the eastern coastline of the United States to launch missiles, the more than 2,700 kilometers of sea area between the Nova Scotia Peninsula and Puerto Rico became the "absolute defense line" of the United States mainland and was a must. To be defended.

Therefore, even though the U.S. Navy knew that it did not have control of the Atlantic Ocean, it still sent a large number of destroyers and submarines to perform tasks in the Atlantic Ocean. As a result, these "low-value" ships have become the prey of the German Type 21 U-boats and the Me264 or Ju288 carrying air-to-ship missiles. As long as the weather conditions in the Atlantic allow, the Type 21 U-boats, Me264 and Ju288 will be used in the Bv138E type. The attack was guided by a seaplane.

As long as the U.S. destroyer fleet is targeted by various underwater and aerial opponents, the ship will be destroyed and people will die. From support in October to now, the U.S. Navy has successively lost more than 20 destroyers, and 18 destroyers have been severely damaged.

Therefore, Admiral Ernest King no longer mentioned the matter of defending the "absolute defense line", but directly proposed the concept of decisive battles in the Caribbean and East Coast. However, when he mentioned the decisive battle between the Caribbean and the East Coast, Ernest King's tone was still full of belief.

"In order to operate in offshore and shallow water areas, the Navy has focused on the development of torpedo boats and mines since October. We plan to increase the number of PT-103 class torpedo boats to more than 1,000 by the end of March 1945, and at the same time begin to Mines were mined along the coast and near important islands in the Caribbean.

In addition, the naval aviation will also be equipped with B-25J attack aircraft to fight against Nazi soldiers trying to land. "

The American PT-103 class torpedo boat is a cheap wooden-hulled torpedo boat, and its defensive capabilities cannot be compared with the German S-100 class torpedo boat. However, it has 4 torpedo tubes, 2 12.7mm machine guns and 1 20mm cannon, and can also carry 2-4 depth charges. The firepower is very powerful! If used properly, it can still pose a great threat to the German landing troops.

The B-25's improved B-25J attack aircraft is also a special weapon developed for anti-landing operations. The armament of this aircraft is very strange. It has no bombs, rockets, or cannons. Instead, it is equipped with 18 12.7mm machine guns. The threat to the landing German infantry is not inferior to the PT-103 class torpedo speedboat.

"The situation is not bad now, isn't it?" After listening to the speeches of the leaders of the Army, Army Air Forces and Navy, Truman frowned and asked the President's Chief of Staff William Leahy.

"Yes, sir." William Leahy replied, "It should be able to hold on... As long as the Germans don't use atomic weapons, the United States can at least hold on for a long time."

William Leahy's answer is actually the only "correct" answer, because the domestic politics of the United States are now divided and it is impossible to seek peace in the short term. Even if Truman wanted to take the blame at all costs, Congress would not approve it.

Therefore, William Leahy, Marshall, Arnold, Ernest King and others can only find ways to direct the US military to persist in resistance, and no longer make any suggestions for peace.

At least until the situation on the battlefield deteriorates significantly, no one will make politically incorrect peace proposals...

"Okay, okay." Truman nodded repeatedly. Of course, he also knew that he must be "politically correct" at the moment, otherwise he might be impeached and removed from office. "We should hold on until we wear the Germans down."