The Rise of the Third Reich

The Bay of Fundy is located between the Nova Scotia Peninsula, Brunswick and Maine. It is a long and narrow trumpet-shaped bay, surrounded by land on three sides. The only entrance and exit faces the east coast of the United States, and it is not wide. It is only more than 70 kilometers away and is now blocked by anti-submarine nets and mines.

Therefore, this bay is a relatively hidden place. Once the main force of the 56th Task Force enters, it will be difficult for the Germans to detect them. At least a waterborne early warning aircraft like the Bv138E, which flies very slowly, would not dare to enter the Bay of Fundy to search without escort. Although the Me264H early warning aircraft can easily break into the Bay of Fundy (and there is considerable risk), it is 3,200 kilometers away from the Azores, which is too far even for the Me264H. Even if you can barely get in, you won't be able to stay for more than a few minutes before you have to go home.

Therefore, the Bay of Fundy has always been outside the surveillance of German early warning aircraft, and because the entrance is blocked by anti-submarine nets and mines, there are also many American and British (Canadian) escort destroyers patrolling, and even U-shaped submarines are not easy to approach. .

"What is the mission of Task Force 56?" Mitchell thought for a while and asked.

"The mission of Task Force 56 is to use the Bay of Fundy as a stronghold to provide air support to Newfoundland." Spruance said, "Task Force 56 has 15 Essex-class aircraft carriers and 9 After the Independence-class aircraft carriers are divided into 6 Essex-class and 3 Independence-class ships, there are also 9 Essex-class and 6 Independence-class ships, with more than 900 various carrier-based aircraft... This is quite powerful. air power!"

In addition to these more than 900 carrier-based aircraft, the United States and the United Kingdom can now temporarily gather more than 2,100 fighter aircraft. In other words, the British and American Allied Forces will soon be able to deploy more than 3,000 combat aircraft on the Newfoundland battlefield. Even if Task Force 57 failed to lure the enemy, 3,000 aircraft would be enough to regain part of the lost air supremacy, and at least cover the Allied ground forces on Newfoundland to launch a fierce attack during the day.

According to the estimate of Army Chief of Staff General Marshall, as long as there are two daylight days for the U.S. Army on Newfoundland to launch an attack, the 20,000 Germans who parachuted to the island will be wiped out.

In addition, in order to ensure victory, in the early morning of April 26, nearly 50,000 officers and soldiers from three divisions of the U.S. 18th Airborne Corps were airdropped to the island of Newfoundland. After obtaining the weapons and equipment stored on the island by the US military, these three airborne divisions will greatly strengthen the strength of the allied forces defending the island.

After explaining the Pentagon's plan and discussing it with Mitchell and Arleigh Burke for more than an hour. Spruance's plane took off again, and he will immediately fly to New York to exchange views with Admiral Fletcher, commander of the U.S. 1st Fleet, and deploy tasks at the same time.

The task assigned to Fletcher by Spruance was to lead a battleship formation into the waters near Newfoundland.

Two Iowa-class battleships and six Alaska-class battlecruisers from the 56th Task Force and the 3rd Fleet will arrive in New York soon. They will join the 1st Fleet and become the 11th Task Force. Core. The 11th Task Force will break into the battlefield from the southern waters of Newfoundland and launch an assault on the European fleet conducting landing operations on the west coast of Concepcion Bay!

In the north of Newfoundland, the main force of the British Canadian fleet will also form Force Z. The fleet will include 3 Elizabeth-class battleships, 1 King George V-class battleship, several heavy cruisers, and more light cruisers and Destroyer. They will burst from the northern waters of Newfoundland to Concepcion Bay!

"Raymond, the risk of this assault is not small. Many battleships may be lost."

At the U.S. 1st Fleet headquarters in New York, Spruance, who had been flying for almost a whole day, met Admiral Fletcher who had just been transferred from the Pacific Theater. Fletcher expressed doubts about the plan proposed by Spruance. After all, the battleship fleet of the European Combined Fleet is far more powerful than that of the United States and the United Kingdom (Canada).

"Maybe," Spruance nodded, "but the loss will be worth it, as long as our light cruisers and destroyers can successfully break in."

It turned out that Spruance did not expect the battleship formation to win the battle at sea. He believed that as long as he could use the battleships of the United States and the United Kingdom to deceive the battleships of the European Combined Fleet away. Then the British and American patrol forces, which have a great numerical advantage, can go on a killing spree!

Spruance told Fletcher: "In fact, my target is not their battleships at all, but their transport ships and landing ships... As long as the German landing fleet can be completely destroyed, then the Battle of Newfoundland will be If they can win, the Germans will lose at least 150,000 troops and a large number of ships and equipment on Newfoundland.

And the huge losses will definitely make the Germans seriously consider our peace proposals! "

"Our peace proposal?" Fletcher asked in a low voice, "Raymond, is it true?"

Since the peace negotiations were conducted in secrecy, Admiral Fletcher did not know about it. At most, he had heard some rumors.

"Yes!" Spruance didn't know the news in this regard, but still nodded with certainty, "There must be some. If not, then the people above are derelict in their duties!"

…

White House Bunker, Office of the President.

Secretary of State Edward Stettinius Jr. seemed to be leaving this dark, dank office that was reminiscent of a tomb.

He stood up from the chair, picked up his briefcase, and was about to turn around to leave, but was stopped by President Truman in a hoarse voice: "Edward, after meeting the Vice President, told him that a communication channel must be established with Hitler as soon as possible... … If possible, channels should be confidential and unmonitored.”

"Ah?" Stettinius was stunned. "President, is this inappropriate? This is against U.S. law."

In this era, the United States pursued the line of small government and large parliament, and the supervision of the government was relatively strict. In theory, the president and vice president cannot bypass Congress to engage in secret diplomacy, let alone the targets of secret diplomacy are the enemies of the United States.

So once this matter becomes public, Truman's political opponents can launch an impeachment attack, unless he makes deals in other areas - such as supporting the repeal of the New Deal!

But in this case, Truman had no leverage to get the Republicans in Congress to support the unequal treaty he had reached with Hitler to "traitor the country for glory." And his Democratic government may fall apart at the most difficult time in the United States, and then the domestic politics of the United States will fall into chaos...

Therefore, Truman had no choice but to take a desperate step and violate U.S. laws by instructing Kennedy to conduct secret diplomatic negotiations with Germany.

"I know." Truman nodded, "It's really not appropriate..." He picked up the pen on the table and wrote on a piece of report paper, "He should be given a written order. According to the Constitution, the Vice President must To carry out official activities with the authorization of the president. I gave him the authorization and declared this matter to be a national secret, so the responsibility is mine. If Congress wants to impeach me, I will step down!"

In fact, with this paper authorization, the actions of Kennedy and Truman still violated the law. But American law can be negotiated. As long as Kennedy presents Truman's authorization order to Congress, he can reach an agreement with Congress to avoid investigation (the investigation of Kennedy) and prosecution.

In other words, with the secret order written and signed by Truman, Kennedy could betray Truman to protect himself when necessary.

"Mr President……"

Truman waved his hand. He had already finished writing the authorization order and signed his name. "Edward," the President said, "if I win in Newfoundland, no one is going to impeach me because I saved America! But if I fail in Newfoundland...someone has to end this damn thing." War, and someone is going to step down. And that person can only be me! I am the president of the United States, and this is my responsibility.”

This is also true. The President of the United States has judicial immunity. Even if he violates the law, he can only go through impeachment proceedings and not allow the FBI to directly enter the White House to arrest people. But impeachment is not a legal issue but a political one.

It is the last word for the United States to win. As long as Truman can win the battle on Newfoundland, the Republican Party will not initiate impeachment proceedings. There is no doubt that it will impeach a president who has led the United States to successfully preserve the living space in North America and win a decent peace. It's political suicide. If the Republican Party had impeached Truman in 1945, it would have collapsed in the midterm elections in 1946. Then the Republican Party bosses would not be so stupid.

But if Newfoundland was defeated in the First World War, President Truman would have to betray his country. It was probably inevitable to be impeached as a scapegoat after selling out the country. Anyway, even if he was impeached and stepped down, Truman would not be afraid of breaking the bank.

He handed the signed written order to Stettinius: "This order is for you too! Edward, when you get to Chicago, stay there. If Mr. Kennedy becomes president, he will need your help, because "You are an experienced diplomat and know the war situation very well."

Edward Stettinius Jr. was in charge of the distribution of Lend-Lease supplies before becoming Secretary of State. This position allowed him to accumulate rich experience in both the diplomatic and military fields. If Kennedy succeeds as president in the future, he will definitely become an important player in Kennedy's cabinet.

"Mr. President," Stettinius took Truman's "evidence of guilt", carefully put it away, and then bowed respectfully to Truman, "I believe that the American people in the future will not forget that you were the most difficult person in the United States. You made the right choice regardless of personal gains and losses... I believe that your decision will be the beginning of America becoming great again."

"Great again?" Truman smiled bitterly upon hearing this, "I hope it's not too late."