The Rise of the Third Reich

U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull could imagine the dilemma facing the British Empire when he looked at the pale, thin, sick-looking British Prime Minister in front of him.

According to data provided by the British, the Germans now have 320-350 submarines, of which there are as many as 80 ocean-going submarines that can operate in the Atlantic. This number has far exceeded the level in 1917! Therefore, although the British took many anti-submarine escort measures, their losses still reached a level similar to that in 1917. Losses (of British merchant ships) in both September and October exceeded 300,000 tons.

By November, although the destroyers of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet began to cruise freely in the North Atlantic, they also used clear telegrams to report the location of German submarines discovered by them. However, due to the addition of German auxiliary cruisers (camouflaged assault ships) and German submarines adopting group attack tactics (wolf pack tactics), British losses further expanded to more than 400,000 tons - this is because the climate in the North Atlantic is not conducive to submarines The results achieved during the attack!

The situation in the first half of December still did not improve. In just 13 days, the British lost 190,000 tons of merchant ships!

However, even though the achievements of German submarines and auxiliary cruisers were brilliant, they did not reach the point where they could immediately strangle Britain. Because the British Empire has a very strong financial background, this loss will not paralyze the British Empire's overseas transportation lines.

However, the economic losses suffered by the UK were very heavy. The value of 12 to 300 thousand tons of merchant ships and hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo is astronomical. And a considerable part of these goods sent to the seabed were raw materials needed for British military industrial production.

If the loss of merchant ships of more than 400,000 tons per month continues, the British Empire may really not be able to survive.

"Mr. Secretary, we have nothing to do with those German submarines!" Chamberlain said in a hoarse voice. "Our number of light cruisers and destroyers is far less than that in 1917, and some of them have to be used in the English Channel and Norway. The sea and Danish sea patrol or cover minesweepers. Now some camouflaged raiders must be sent to hunt down the Germans, and many ships have been lost or damaged in continuous months of high-intensity combat.”

"Perhaps we can transfer some of the mothballed destroyers to you. Although those ships are all products from the First World War, but..." Hull said carefully, but he soon discovered that Prime Minister Chamberlain did not show the slightest expression of interest.

"Mr. Secretary, we do need destroyers, but that is not a top priority." Chamberlain said, "And I am very familiar with the sale process of stored arms. The transfer of dozens of destroyers cannot be achieved in a few days or weeks. . Moreover, if these ships have been mothballed for more than ten years or more, they will need some repairs. The whole process is likely to take several months, and the UK is in urgent need of help now!”

"Prime Minister, what do you mean..."

"Convoy!" Chamberlain looked at Hull with pleading eyes, "We buy your supplies and pay in cash, and we can take care of the transportation ourselves. But we spend precious gold and foreign exchange to buy necessary supplies for Britain, and then ship them to the Germans. The sinking of the submarine was pointless."

"Convoy escort is an act of war!" Secretary Hull pointed out.

Chamberlain shook his head and said: "How could it be an act of war? A formation composed of American cruisers and destroyers was sailing freely in the Atlantic Ocean and happened to encounter a British convoy. Then American and British ships sailed along the same route. Until approaching the British Isles. This is the freedom of navigation of the United States Navy on the high seas!"

It's a bit of a stretch, but still very dangerous!

Because German submarines are likely to launch attacks despite the presence of American warships, and American warships may be accidentally hit...

"This is war brinksmanship!" Hull said to Chamberlain. "If Germany attacks an American warship, the United States may be involved in a world war!"

"No, actually it won't." Chamberlain said, "I know the Germans. They do things carefully and strictly according to the rules. If a German submarine spots several American destroyers traveling with a British escort formation, what measures will be taken? It is impossible to attack immediately, but to ask Berlin for instructions, so our escort fleet will arrive in the UK safely."

"But..." Cordell Hull frowned, "But such a good thing can only happen once. When the Germans are prepared, the American warship may be attacked!"

Chamberlain shrugged, "Then let's do it once... Let dozens of merchant ships loaded with American supplies arrive safely. This is of great significance to stabilizing the British people."

…

Chamberlain's request was something Hull could not agree to. At the end of the meeting, the U.S. Secretary of State only agreed to convey the British request to President Roosevelt.

However, at a later British cabinet meeting, Admiralty Churchill showed some optimism.

"Roosevelt would agree!" Churchill, who was holding a cigar in his mouth, had nerves made of steel. Even if the loss of merchant ships reached a shocking level, he would not waver in the slightest. "Because he is a great American president. This is our luck and the Germans' misfortune!"

Chamberlain nodded and said: "He should agree. He is ready to be re-elected as president for the third time. This breaks the American practice and shows that he really wants to do something. Winston, we should make good use of this time Chance!"

"Understood, I understand." Churchill said, "I will let the fleet assemble in New York, and then the Germans will see an unprecedented 'school of fish'!"

There is no doubt that the German Central Security Service has a spy network in New York, so the large gathering of the British fleet will definitely be detected by the Germans...

Chamberlain nodded, then changed the subject, "The Americans also hope that we will fulfill our original commitments to Russia... Of course, we will fulfill our commitments to the Soviet Union!"

"Give Turkey to the Soviet Union?" Churchill puffed out smoke, "But Turkey does not belong to us." He paused, "But I would like to see the 12th Russo-Turkish War break out...Turkey is not easy to deal with! "

Türkiye is a mountainous peninsula and cannot be easily pushed over by the Soviet Union. Moreover, Turkey has now been trained by Kemal to become a modern nation-state, and its military strength is not weak.

In addition, Türkiye is now more pro-German and is Germany’s main source of chromite ore. Through the chromite trade, they also exchanged a lot of advanced German weapons and equipment. If the Soviet Union really attacked Türkiye, Germany might provide support. In this way, Soviet-German relations will collapse!

Chamberlain said: "Then let our special envoy tell Moscow that as long as the Soviet Union can reduce the oil delivered to Germany by 70%, we will no longer object to the Soviet Union entering Turkey."

"I think it's okay." Churchill nodded and said, "But such a commitment cannot be made public." He thought for a while and then said, "I don't think we can place too much expectations on the Soviet Union. If we want to cut off Germany's oil supply , the most appropriate way is to use bombers!”

"But this will anger Stalin!" Chamberlain said hesitantly, "The Soviet Union may completely fall to Germany!"

"That's nothing," Churchill sneered. "The alliance between the Soviet Union and Germany cannot last long. Moreover, once the Soviet Union and Germany form an alliance, we will also gain new allies."

"New allies?"

"The Kingdom of Italy," Halifax took up the topic, "because of the Liberator's Proclamation, the relationship between Italy and Germany has cooled down. If the Soviet Union and Germany form an alliance, Mussolini is likely to turn to us."

"And the United States!" Churchill said with a smile, "Roosevelt will not just watch the Soviet Union and Germany carve up the world. If the Soviet Union and Germany form an alliance, the United States will definitely join us! As long as the United States joins, we can win!"

…

"I just received information that British and French merchant ships are arriving in New York in large numbers!"

At the headquarters meeting on December 20, Hersman first reported the important intelligence sent to the General Staff by the Central Security Bureau.

"It seems that the British are preparing for a big purchase!" Hersman said. "As of yesterday afternoon, more than 100 British and French merchant ships have arrived! This will be an unprecedented large fleet!"

"100 ships!" Hitler shouted, "at least hundreds of thousands of tons. We can't let them reach England safely."

"We can dispatch the breakers!" Admiral Redl still stubbornly wants to use the fleet. "The climate in the Norwegian Sea and Denmark Strait is very bad now, and daytime is almost non-existent..."

"This is not possible," Marshal Schleicher shook his head, "The fleet cannot be used...the best way is to dispatch submarines!"

Redl said helplessly: "Then send out submarines to ambush on the North Atlantic route, and at the same time lay a large number of mines near the ports in western England."

"That's it!" Hitler said, "We have to keep the fleet so we can land in Britain in 1941 or 1942."

Hitler had not carefully considered whether he could land in Britain in 1942, but he was now unwilling to lose any more battleships.

Hersman did not expect that there would be American ships escorting the British transport fleet at this time. After the decision to dispatch a submarine attack was made, he turned the topic to Finland.

"The Soviet Red Army has currently surrounded the Brest Fortress, and the second Soviet-Polish War is expected to end within a few weeks." Hersman said, "The Soviet Union is very likely to attack Finland in the spring of 1940, and we have agreed to do so. We can’t help Finland.” He paused and then said, “But Sweden and Italy can!”