Chapter 3, A Different World War II (Part 2)
Regarding Britain’s tentative olive branch of peace, the Kremlin’s request is simple and arrogant:
They demand all of Europe!
Well, to be precise, the entire European continent except for the British Isles.
——Facing the stern inquiry from the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Anthony Eden, Uncle Joseph (Stalin) politely stated that the Bolsheviks’ current goal is “only” the entire European continent! The British Isles are not yet within the target range.
Therefore, as long as the fat man at No. 10 Downing Street no longer wants to interfere in any continental European affairs, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom can still live in peace.
To be more specific, Stalin made the following package of demands for the British side:
First, withdraw all British troops in France within a time limit and no longer provide any support to the French fascist puppet government;
Second, withdraw the British troops who invaded Norway within a time limit and recognize the newly established Norwegian red regime;
Third, withdraw the British troops who invaded Greece within a time limit and recognize the newly established Greek red regime;
Fourth, the Italian issue should be resolved peacefully, the occupying forces of various countries should withdraw from Italy, and the Italian people should vote in a referendum to determine the future;
——Because the Soviet Union occupied the densely populated and economically developed northern Italy, it had a series of historical cities such as Florence, Milan, and Venice in its hands. The population was far more than that of southern Italy controlled by the American and British coalition forces. So if there is a referendum, it will definitely be the result of the Italian Communist Party coming to power...
Fifth, "symbolic" compensation of 300 million pounds will be provided as compensation for the victimized left-wing organizations in France, the Netherlands, Greece, Belgium and other countries.
……
To put it crudely, it is: British barbarians, get out of the European continent and go back to your island to enjoy yourself! Only in this way can I spare your life. Well, don't forget to leave the compensation when you leave. When you broke in and caused damage, you also smashed a lot of flowers and plants!
This attitude of treating the British Empire as if it were nothing made Churchill so angry that he jumped three feet high and almost hit the ceiling. After shouting hysterically and venting his anger, the fat man gave up all thoughts of compromise with the Russian Bolsheviks and decided to grit his teeth and fight to the end.
Therefore, on the day when the second Dunkirk evacuation ended successfully, Churchill gave a speech in Parliament and openly encouraged a declaration of war against the Soviet Union:
"... When the clutches of Nazi Germany threatened Britain, I made it clear to Congress that I would devote my blood, toil, tears and sweat to lead our country to overcome such an extremely severe test and survive this extremely severe test. Through protracted struggle and suffering
And now, Britain has once again reached its most dangerous moment, girls! Gentlemen! I have to continue to ask you to continue to dedicate your blood, hard work, tears and sweat, as in the past, to fight to the death against the evil red dictator of the East for our freedom and survival. If you ask us, What is the policy? My answer is: fight on land, sea, and air. Fight with all our strength, with all the power God has given us, against the darkest, most murderous organization in human history. This is our policy.
What is our goal? I can answer in one word, victory. To win at all costs - to win despite all horrors - to win no matter how long and difficult the road ahead is. Because there is no survival without victory.
We must be soberly aware that without victory there will be no British Empire, without victory there will no longer be everything that the British Empire has symbolized, and without victory there will no longer be the strong demands and impulses that have existed for centuries: mankind should strive towards its own goals. Move forward.
I took on my tasks with high spirits and confidence. I am convinced that if we all unite, our cause will not be frustrated.
At this critical moment, I feel I have the right to ask for support from all sides. I want to say: Come on, let us work together and move forward side by side! ”
Although Churchill's fighting spirit and passion in his speech seemed as strong as in the past, he received only a handful of applause in the House of Representatives.
——No matter how heroic the language is, it cannot cover up the paleness of reality, and no matter how passionate the incitement is, it cannot revive the withered soul.
In the all-round brutal war that lasted for six years, on countless vast battlefields extending from the northern European ice sheets and African deserts to the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, the British Empire not only exhausted all its manpower, material and financial resources, but also It was drained of all its energy, courage and perseverance.
A whole generation of young men fell on the battlefield, even women were conscripted into the army, and the blood of the Anglo-Saxon nation was almost drained.
The British had had enough of endless wars and ubiquitous deprivation, and no longer wanted to live this nightmare.
As long as the homeland on the island of Great Britain can be kept peaceful as before, the rest of the glory of the empire and the balance of power on the continent will go to hell!
In the end, the proposal to declare war on the Soviet Union was rejected. Instead, someone proposed an end to the wartime state, and was greeted with cheers.
In the face of waves of opposition from the parliament, Prime Minister Churchill's face was extremely livid. If he really had high enough prestige, he might have been thinking about whether to follow the example of Cromwell and Napoleon and send troops to dissolve Parliament by force.
But unfortunately, he didn't. The British soldiers did not like Churchill, but were resentful of him because of a series of failures.
——It has declined from being a top-notch power before the war to being a follower of the United States. At the same time, it has to directly face the terror of the Soviet Union’s furry bear on the front line.
For bringing the British Empire to such a miserable state, Prime Minister Churchill is really to blame.
Once the wartime state ends and the national defense law becomes invalid, then the countdown to his resignation as wartime prime minister will probably begin.
At this time, Prime Minister Churchill, who was isolated and helpless, found that he seemed to have only the last straw left.
So, he turned his head and turned his expectant eyes to the West, the "arsenal of democratic countries" on the other side of the Atlantic...
However, are the Yankees in the United States really willing to pay with their blood and money to pay for the European hegemony of the British Empire?
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Across the ocean, the United States
It has been four years since the Pacific War broke out and the United States was involved in the vortex of World War II.
Because the flames of war never reached the United States, compared with European countries that were full of death and deprivation, the life of Americans during the war was much better. New York's Broadway is still bustling with entertainment, and Florida's beachfronts are still bustling.
But no matter what, the protracted war has still had a certain impact on the lives of ordinary Americans. The rationing of gasoline made it impossible for Americans to drive comfortably. And wartime market controls meant that there were only some green frozen chicken and potatoes on the market, and the candy that children liked was always hard to find. Butter, beef jerky, and fruit were also infrequent. There was no problem with eating enough. , but forget about eating well. Unless there is a special relationship, it is difficult to buy high-end food such as oysters and lobsters, no matter how much US dollars you spend.
Because the army conscripted too many young men, in order to make up for the shortage of labor, more and more women appeared in factories. President Roosevelt's wife made many public speeches during the war, calling on women to come out of the house and use their hands to contribute to their families and the country.
In general, Americans at this time were not yet obviously war-weary and still wholeheartedly supported the country in winning the anti-fascist war.
But what would happen if the enemy was no longer fascist?
Washington, White House
Although it was late at night, Secretary of State Cordell Hull came to the door of the Oval Office holding a folder.
Looking at the orange light shining from the crack of the door, he coughed lightly and then knocked on the door.
"...Come in. Mr. Hull!"
What came from inside the door was no longer the kind voice of the "giant in the wheelchair", but another slightly unfamiliar answer.
Yes, President Franklin Roosevelt, the most famous American leader in the 20th century and the greatest ray of hope for modern mankind, despite being lame but physically disabled, died of illness not long ago. Sitting in this office now is President Truman.
A lucky man who rose to power in a hurry as vice president, a hard-right conservative, and a good-looking young man.
In general, President Truman did not understand the grand global strategic plan formulated by President Roosevelt, and did not like the government team left by President Roosevelt. However, because of its shallow foundation and lack of popularity, he had to hold his nose and continue. I reluctantly cooperate with you "veterans from the former dynasty".
Then, during the process of cooperation, various contradictions and conflicts continued to arise because of each other's diametrically opposed ideas.
If it were a peaceful era, such bumps and bruises would be nothing. But in the current war era, it seems very deadly - millions of American troops are fighting to the death on various battlefields around the world. Any wrong judgment by the White House may ruin thousands of young lives!
In recent times, due to various conflicts of opinion between President Truman and the entire executive team, a series of strategic decisions in the White House have been messed up, and many plans no longer know how to implement them. For example, after completely wiping out the Nazis in Germany, the Soviet Union should have been urged to declare war on Japan as soon as possible... But if President Truman had followed President Truman's ideas, the Soviet Union might have declared war on the United States!
God! He really seems to regard Britain as a close ally that needs to be supported at all costs!
As for the great significance of dismantling the British and French colonial system to the United States of America, Truman forgot about it. Even though many people tried to persuade him and analyzed the pros and cons, he still insisted that the White House should stand with No. 10 Downing Street. Fight the Kremlin side by side!
It's not even just a verbal expression of attitude, but a real move by Eisenhower's troops on the Roman front!
Damn it, what good does it do to the United States to help the British maintain their colonies and go to war with the Soviet Union in Europe for the British?
Although they all expressed hostility and vigilance against the Bolshevik "Red Plague", in fact, except for President Truman, most people in the White House understood that after defeating the Axis Powers, the next real enemy of the United States of America was Britain. , well, and maybe France.
During this era, the gentlemen of England owned the largest colonial territory in the world. One-quarter of the world's population is a subject of the British Empire, and one-fifth of the earth's land area is covered by the British Empire. Spreading from the British Isles to Gambia, Newfoundland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Myanmar, India, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Malta and countless islands, the British Empire exists in 24 time zones on the earth territory, so it is known as the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets". The international order under British hegemony was known as the Pax Britannica, giving a clear picture of the global influence of this vast empire. In comparison, the great conquerors of the past, whether they were Alexander the Great, Caesar or Genghis Khan, could only look back and sigh, unable to catch up.
British economist Jevons once proudly described the economic influence of the British Empire: "...the plains of North America and Russia are our cornfields, Canada and the Baltic Sea are our lumberyards, and Australia is our of ranches, Peru is our silver mine, South Africa and Australia are our gold mines, India and China are our Our tea base, the East Indies provide us with sugar cane, coffee and spices, and the southern United States is our cotton plantation..." Even after entering the 20th century, various new core strategic resources such as oil, iron, and aluminum Most of the raw material production bases of lead, zinc, copper, nickel, rubber, etc. are also controlled by the British Empire.
Raw materials from various colonies of the British Empire were continuously shipped to various factories on the island of Great Britain, and the vast territories spread all over the world provided a unique trade market for its industrial products. If it is not completely dismantled, the hegemony of the United States of America will be impossible.
As for the actual all-out struggle with the Soviets, it should at least be after the two old colonial empires of Britain and France were dismantled, right?
Hull understood and supported the above point of view, and Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's shadow and think tank, also believed the same.
But President Truman did not think so. He seemed to really think that the United States was already the leader of the democratic and liberal camp and needed to fully assist the British in fighting the Bolshevik "Red Plague" sweeping Europe... This idea is actually correct, but the problem is Too ahead of its time!
In order to make it easier for the United States of America to more completely accept the legacy of the British Empire in the future, this English-speaking colonial empire should indeed not collapse now. However, the United States cannot provide too much assistance, otherwise it will be a disaster if the British Empire is revived. Are you asking for trouble?
Due to the conflict between the two views, the White House's European policy during this period was almost paralyzed. Various quarrels followed one after another, which was really a headache... Of course, Secretary Hull also had to admit that, The strategic plans left by President Roosevelt were far from perfect, and even went bankrupt many times. In particular, the various misjudgments against the Soviet Union and Japan were extremely serious and outrageous.
Although many intelligence analysts cannot understand this, and even break down and shout, "It's not me! It's the world that's wrong!" or they roll their eyes and mutter, "Reality is more outrageous than fiction"... But reality is reality. , no matter how much you refuse to admit it, it’s useless.
Sighing again and pushing the above-mentioned complicated thoughts out of his mind, Secretary of State Cordell Hull opened the door, walked in, closed the door, and then saw President Truman and Special Assistant Harry Hopkins standing there. In front of a map of Europe, they were arguing about something.
"... Look how terrible it is! From Amsterdam to Brussels, then to Paris and Orleans, then Tours and Nantes, and probably Lyon and Marseille next! The torrent of Bolshevik armor cuts through butter like a sharp knife. , penetrated the whole of France in just two months
Then, in Northern Europe, the Soviets not only occupied Finland, but also blatantly invaded the Kingdom of Sweden, which had previously remained neutral, and turned it into an evil red regime. What is the difference between such an outrageous and unreasonable invasion and Hitler's previous invasion of Poland and the Czech Republic?
Now, the Soviets have extended their clutches to Norway again, and the entire Scandinavia Peninsula is about to be dyed red! ”
President Truman drew several thick arrows on the map with a red pencil, and then said with excitement, "...The British have lost the war to contain the Bolsheviks. Now it is our turn to fulfill our obligations as an alliance, Save freedom and democracy in the European civilized world! ”
"...Ahem, Mr. President, with all due respect, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom have not yet declared war on each other, so legally speaking, the fighting that broke out in the Low Countries and France in the past few months can only be regarded as a local armed conflict... The United States has no ally obligations that need to be fulfilled..."
Hopkins coughed and said, his face unusually haggard - President Roosevelt's think tank had been in poor health many years ago and had been fighting the disease. Since 1941, doctors had been predicting his future every month. He only had a few weeks left to live, but he always got back on his feet. Until President Roosevelt passed away, he continued to support his illness and manage state affairs together with President Truman who succeeded him.
Although President Truman did not like Hopkins's left-wing liberal ideas, he still had to recognize his ability and resourcefulness.
"...a 'local armed conflict' where even atomic bombs were dropped?" Truman snorted sarcastically, turning his head accidentally, and then noticed another person in the office - for some reason, since then After entering the door, Secretary Hull stood silently in front of the wall, silent for a long time, as if he was organizing his words, and as if something he wanted to talk about was beyond his thinking ability.
"...Why don't you speak? Is there any trouble? Mr. Hull." President Truman asked.
"...There is indeed a problem." Hull chose his words as carefully as possible. "...Churchill suffered a serious setback in Parliament. In response to the continued Russian advance, he not only asked for our support, but also proposed several Very absurd suggestions, such as establishing a German government in exile..."
"...German government-in-exile? What on earth is Prime Minister Churchill thinking?" President Truman was slightly startled when he heard this, then turned back to his seat and said with a serious expression: "...Can you tell me in detail, what exactly is this? What’s going on? ”
Then, listening to Secretary Hull's stammering description, both Truman and Hopkins opened their mouths wider and wider.
——For no other reason than Prime Minister Churchill’s imagination is really too big this time!
Obviously, the pressing red iron current on the European continent and the brewing rebellion in Great Britain seemed to have given this fat man signs of insanity. Under the harsh situation of internal and external pressure, Churchill abandoned the White House. Here are some incredible "anti-Soviet strategies":
The first is to restore the Italian King Vittorio Emanuele III to the throne, establish an "legitimate kingdom government" in the half of Rome controlled by the US military or in Naples further south, and use the traditional influence of the royal family to cooperate with the North Italy's red regime competes for hearts and minds.
The second step was to try to seduce Spain's General Franco to join the war and send Spanish troops into the French battlefield to resist the Soviet Red Army's front.
If these two suggestions make people feel uncomfortable as if they have eaten flies, they are still within the scope of normal thinking and logic, then the next suggestion is simply the ravings of a madman - Berlin was captured by the Soviet Red Army, and Nazi Germany On the eve of the collapse, Goebbels, Goering and other key Nazis fled to the Netherlands and were later captured by the British army. Dönitz also surrendered to the British army on the high seas in a submarine. These people are currently prisoners of war in the UK. Reunion in the camp. Churchill, who was in a hurry and sought medical treatment, now had his mind set on them. He was planning to release these people with the consent of the United States, form a German government-in-exile in London, and lead the "anti-Soviet guerrillas" in Germany!
Prime Minister Churchill had even arranged the choice of the new head of state of the German government-in-exile in advance - Hess, the deputy head of state of Nazi Germany, flew to the UK four years ago and was detained in an attempt to negotiate peace, and is still in their prison. Compared with other notorious Nazi leaders, Hess has a relatively clean resume, and now he is naturally pushed to the position of the new head of the German government-in-exile...
This idea that breaks through human imagination...how should I put it? Indeed, the German Third Reich has only been destroyed for a few months, and there are still many Nazi remnants left across Europe. If the United States and Britain change course, support them in restoring the German regime, and provide arms and funds to the remnants of the Nazis in Germany through various espionage channels, they will indeed cause a lot of trouble for the Soviets.
But the problem is, if this happens, all the anti-fascist war propaganda of the Allied Powers in the years before will become a complete joke - do you really think that as long as Hitler is removed, the remaining German Nazis will not be fascists? No matter how hard you try to fool the public, you can’t do it like this!
Thinking of this, Hopkins couldn't help but glance at a "Captain America" comic thrown next to the sofa: In this popular and popular comic, Hitler is certainly the image of the big devil, but Goebbels, Goebbels, Aren't these guys like Lin demons crawling out of hell?
"...a bunch of ridiculous ideas! Churchill is really crazy! We can't follow him crazy!"
Even President Truman, the most anti-communist among the three, vetoed Churchill's crazy idea of "supporting the Nazis", and also vetoed all other ideas. However, before Secretary Hull and Hopkins could breathe a sigh of relief, they heard Truman change the topic again, "...However, it is no longer urgent to curb the expansion of Soviet power and help our British allies! Are there any good countermeasures? ”
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How to contain a nuclear-armed Soviet Union? How to help the crumbling British Empire?
These two problems really gave Hopkins, who regarded himself as a smart man, a headache, especially when he could not directly start a war with Su.
Indeed, today's strategic situation in Europe is really bad for the United States. The best parts of most of Europe have been cut off by the Soviet Union, swallowing up the most juicy war dividends in one go. The U.S. and British coalition forces were left with only a tasteless piece of food like southern Italy and several islands in southern Greece. Although France was still in the midst of a civil war, after the Soviet armored cluster entered Paris, the outcome was already a foregone conclusion.
However, no matter how dissatisfied they were with the rapid expansion of Soviet power, the White House bureaucrats and Wall Street plutocrats had no cards to play.
Different from the history of another world, the Soviet Union in this world was much stronger and richer in World War II. Except for a small amount of purely symbolic "friendly donations", Uncle Joseph (referring to Stalin) did not need to rely on American aid supplies to fight the war. During the war, the United States and the Soviet Union did maintain trade relations, but the number and scale were simply insignificant. It was impossible for the White House to use the U.S. aid supplies as a bargaining chip to manipulate the Russian fur bears.
As for assisting the anti-Soviet forces in European countries, the White House has actually been doing this in recent months, but unfortunately there have been very few results. Currently, the entire Europe is trembling with fear under the shock of the torrent of Soviet steel, and the mushroom cloud rising off the coast of the Netherlands is making everyone tremble.
In fact, according to Hopkins's idea, even though Churchill already knew that the Soviet Union had the atomic bomb, he still insisted on armed anti-Soviet warfare. This was simply playing with fire while sitting on a dynamite pack! Unlike the United States, there is no vast Atlantic Ocean as a natural barrier between the British mainland and the Soviet Red Army, and the narrow English Channel is of no use at all. Just in case Uncle Joseph is in a bad mood one day, takes a few more sips of vodka, slaps his forehead, and orders a bunch of nuclear bombs to be dropped on Britain... Hurrah! All troubles are solved! There is no more British Empire!
——Not long ago, Hopkins had just read a report sent by the American medical team from the British naval base Scapa Flow, describing the tragic situation of contracting radiation sickness due to the atomic bomb explosion: Experts said that this disease is fundamentally Without a specific medicine, even the best doctors in the United States could only watch as the officers and soldiers of the Royal Navy had skin ulcers and internal organs rotting bit by bit, and finally died in extreme misery with putrid stench and pus all over their bodies.
I don't know whether to be brave or crazy to confront an opponent who possesses such nuclear weapons, especially when the British don't have atomic bombs in their own hands - anyway, the United States of America will never use it just developed The nuclear bomb was handed over to them.
To be honest, it is really difficult for Hopkins to understand how the poor and backward Russians in his impression could tinker with such a high-tech thing as the atomic bomb - indeed, the basic principles of making atomic bombs are not a secret. It can be found in pre-war public publications.
However, the key technical obstacle to making an atomic bomb has never been the design and manufacture of the atomic bomb itself, but how to separate a sufficient amount of enriched uranium. As long as so much weapons-grade uranium and plutonium can be obtained, even an ordinary electrical engineer can Can make a nuclear bomb.
But the problem is that with the technical conditions of the World War II era, it would be extremely difficult to accumulate so much nuclear materials - the "Manhattan Project" undertaken by the United States lasted three years, employed 200,000 workers, and cost a total of 200,000 workers. One billion U.S. dollars (the U.S. dollar at that time was worth much more than the green notes in the future, a The cost of a submachine gun was only US$10, and the Kuomintang government’s total savings after the end of the Anti-Japanese War was only US$900 million). It did not hesitate to use the silver from the national treasury as winding wires to make giant electromagnets, and finally built only three nuclear bombs...one of which was in It had been used for test explosions in July, and now only two are left.
The Soviets now have two atomic bombs that hit the British heads, and they don't know how many more they have in stock.
Of course, the two atomic bombs that exploded off the coast of the Netherlands may also be the entire Soviet nuclear arsenal. At the moment, Stalin may be holding a non-existent atomic bomb to scare people under the guise of an empty one. But who dares to bet on the fact that if the judgment is wrong, the country will be destroyed and the species will be exterminated?
Well, Churchill seems to really dare to bet, but there is really no need for the United States of America to accompany him crazy, and even the British are about to abandon him.
It is certainly difficult to contain the nuclear-armed Soviet Union, but how to help the down-and-out British is even more troublesome - this is not just a problem that can be solved by aiding dozens or hundreds of ships of supplies, but needs to actually help the British stabilize their Inhabit the territory of the colonial empire, even if only temporarily.
For the British Empire, its vast colonies around the world were both the source of endless wealth and the source of all troubles. In the 20th century, when nationalism was sharply awakening, every corner of the world was filled with increasingly violent anti-colonial movements. .
The dumping of goods and exploitation by the metropolitan country has also caused serious disasters to colonial and semi-colonial countries - for details, you can refer to the realistic novel "An Overcharge of Three to Five Dou" during the Republic of China... This is how it treats semi-colonial China, which cannot be fully controlled, and India. Colonies in , Burma, South Africa, and West Africa were expropriated and expropriated by the British colonists to an appalling degree. All kinds of resistance flames came and went and were never extinguished.
In the World War II era when the British Empire was extremely weakened, these flames that had been simmering for a long time burst out like a volcanic eruption!
Looking at the miserable current situation of various British colonies on the world map, Hopkins felt that it was as hopeless as his own terminal illness.
Burma and Malaya have been occupied by Japan for several years, and most of Australia has been planted with sun flags. After MacArthur escaped from the Philippines, he continued to command the Allied forces in Australia to fight the Japanese for several years. His morale became lower and lower, and his territory became smaller and smaller. Today, only a few strongholds such as Melbourne, the southernmost tip of the Australian continent, remain. If we suffer a few more defeats, we may have to flee to New Zealand or Tasmania.
And India, the brightest jewel in the crown of the British Empire, has become a battlefield where heroes compete for victory. Although the Japanese army only occupied the island of Sri Lanka, Subhas Chandra Bose, the leader of the Congress rebel group who was sent to the Indian subcontinent, successfully triggered an anti-British uprising throughout India. Hyderabad, Kashmir and other princely states have become independent one after another. The warlike Sikhs have rebuilt their Khalistan kingdom in Punjab. Even weaklings like Nepal, Afghanistan and Iran cannot help but extend their black hands to the rich Indian subcontinent. .
——The Soviet Union in this world does not need channels for transporting American aid supplies into the country, so the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union did not join forces to carve up Iran during World War II. On the contrary, with the acquiescence of the Soviet Union, Shah Reza of Iran even sent troops to the east in an attempt to get a share of the collapse of the Indian colony.
Since the British Royal Navy was never able to completely defeat the Japanese combined fleet and regain control of the Indian Ocean, and had no spare capacity to send large amounts of reinforcements to India, the British colonial rule in India was crumbling like a candle in the wind. Even South Africa has other ideas.
Looking at the world, the only British colonies that have a relatively stable ruling order are Black Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East. But the tropical plantations of the former were of limited significance to sustaining the war effort, and the latter had nothing but sand and oil. However, the Soviet Union and the United States are not short of oil, and even have a surplus to supply Europe. Japan, which occupied the Dutch East Indian colonies, is also not short of oil. The remaining people of color are too poor and backward to use much oil...
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In short, asking the U.S. military to help Britain suppress colonial resistance was a thankless job that was likely to earn a bad reputation. And no matter how you look at it, there is no need to take action. More importantly, doesn’t the United States of America itself have troubles to solve?
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"...Mr. President, before we think about how to contain the Soviet Union and aid the United Kingdom, we should first think about how to defeat Japan!"
After hearing this answer that Hopkins had been holding back for a long time, President Truman couldn't help but feel depressed.
oh! Disgusting Japanese!
Not only did it drag the United States into the war, it also disrupted the overall strategic plan of the United States of America!
——Since participating in this world war, the reason why the United States of America has been unable to deploy large forces into Europe and allow the Soviet Union to dominate Europe is that in addition to political considerations, it is also constrained by another key factor: that It is the Pacific battlefield where we compete with the Japanese Empire!
Since the attack on Pearl Harbor, defeating Japan and forcing it to surrender unconditionally has become the strongest wish of all Americans.
And this is also the direct goal of the United States' participation in the war. Giving up and ignoring this goal is absolutely politically incorrect!
Even with the dignity of the President of the United States, he cannot go against the aspirations of the public.
President Roosevelt, who successfully broke through the norm and was reelected for four terms, could not do it, and President Truman even more could not do it.
Although as early as the end of 1941, when the United States first entered the war, President Roosevelt gave a speech to persuade members of Congress not to focus only on Japan, a clown-like opponent, but to focus on Europe, and launched the " "Europe first, Asia later" strategic policy.
But the problem is that President Roosevelt obviously underestimated the difficulty and ferocity of Japan's "clown-like opponent" - the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Philippines, the sweep of Southeast Asia, the fall of New Guinea, the assault on the Indian Ocean, the landing in Australia... along with Another dazzling sun flag rose on the map, and the Japanese samurai's knife struck from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere, smashing the faces of the navy and army of the United States to pieces.
Especially the two earth-shattering naval battles at Noumea, each time almost annihilating the main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The stunning performance of the two super battleships of the Japanese Navy, the Yamato and the Musashi, made naval and ship experts all over the world drop their glasses. The ship-borne radar seems to be able to scan up to nearly a thousand kilometers. range! The alloy armor is so thick that even sixteen-inch armor-piercing bullets and submarine-launched torpedoes cannot penetrate it! The "uranium alloy armor-piercing bullets" used in the main guns are not only hard, but will also spontaneously ignite after hitting... What's even more unscientific is that they are two super battleships with wide bodies and fat bodies, but they can still run at a speed of 42 knots. High speed, even faster than many torpedoes! Is this a battleship or a racing boat? !
In order to kill these two demonic Japanese battleships, the U.S. Navy worked hard and came up with all kinds of imaginative ideas.
From pigeon bombs to giant ship collisions, from frogman sneak attacks to saturation bombings... Unfortunately, so far, all attempts have failed. On the contrary, in the recent period, the Japanese have launched two new battleships of the same class into service, named Mino and Shinano...
——As the number of Super Nu-class Japanese battleships doubled, the nightmare of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet also doubled.
All in all, after two such defeats that nearly wiped out the entire army, coupled with a series of piecemeal attacks before and after, the backbone of the U.S. Navy has been basically broken - for the United States, a world factory with rich resources and the most industrial strength in the world. For me, the losses of battleships and aircraft were never the focus, but the two hundred thousand suffered well The deaths and injuries of well-trained and experienced naval officers are the most painful and irreplaceable losses for the United States: the navy is not like the army, but a technical branch. It is impossible to exert the power of warships with only enthusiasm. At least it requires Only those who have received a moderate level of education and a long period of rigorous training can be considered a qualified sailor. The modern navy has higher quality requirements for officers.
In other words, in the hands of a group of newcomers, even the most powerful battleship will be difficult to exert 100% of its strength.
As a result, due to the depletion of qualified sailors and captains, the U.S. Navy's human resources are almost exhausted. Even the most critical battleships and aircraft carriers can only rely on sailors recruited from merchant ships to operate. As for the secondary ships such as destroyers and landing ships, they are filled with countless novices and landlubbers. All kinds of weird accidents and mistakes occur one after another. Their performance on the battlefield is even more embarrassing.
What's more terrible is that the repeated misfortunes in the Pacific battlefield not only embarrassed the U.S. Navy in front of world public opinion, but also completely bankrupted President Roosevelt's strategic attempt of "Europe first, Asia second". Although the United States also implemented very strict wartime news controls, no matter how well-informed people were there at any time, rumors were still circulating in society that Japanese troops were about to land in Hawaii, or that Japanese battleships were bombarding West Coast ports.
Next, even Capitol Hill was shocked by such a tragic defeat. On the plus side, members of the Senate and House of Representatives have not lost their fighting spirit. Instead, they are passionately demanding revenge and have approved large sums of money for the Navy's reconstruction plan. On the downside, you members have strongly demanded that the Pentagon must To ensure the absolute security of the U.S. mainland, the coastal defense on the west coast of the U.S. must be vigorously strengthened and receive widespread public response. In desperation, President Roosevelt had to change the "Europe first, then Asia" strategy based on the post-war vision to "Asia first, then Europe" in the face of the actual war situation. A large number of resources were originally intended to be used to open up a second battlefield in Europe. , was pinched by the nose and turned into the country, turning into immovable coastal forts, air defense shelters and land fortresses. At the same time, in order to be able to deal with the Japanese combined fleet, especially those two hated new battleships, astronomical amounts of precious resources were invested in the naval reconstruction plan of the Pacific Fleet... and then they were all driven into the bottom of the sea again. .
In addition, it is not only the Navy in the Pacific Theater that consumes resources, but the U.S. Army in the Pacific Theater is also not a fuel-efficient lamp. Since Australia has almost no industrial strength, in order for General MacArthur's troops to continue to resist the Japanese invasion in Australia, every liter of gasoline, every plane, and every tank he needs must travel thousands of miles. Shipped over from mainland America - except for wheat, mutton and Australian lads who were not afraid of death, Australia could hardly provide anything MacArthur wanted. If it were the Chinese Eighth Route Army guerrillas, they might be able to persist in fighting under such conditions, but MacArthur could not do such a thing and could only rely on transportation and supplies from the United States.
——There are two ways from the arsenal in the United States to the Australian front line. Either go around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and take the southern Indian Ocean; Under the threat of German U-boats and the Japanese combined fleet, either route has become an out-and-out death route. On average, at least twenty "free ships" are captured on these two routes every month. Or sink!
But in order to win this war, the Pentagon continued to transfuse blood to the Australian battlefield with tears of heartache and regardless of sacrifices and losses.
However, even though so much money has been spent regardless of the cost, it has an absolute advantage on paper. But even so, the US military still couldn't defeat the Japanese! It just barely stopped the decline in the early stages of the war and entered the stage of strategic stalemate! The Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, this devilishly tenacious and cunning opponent, still has not suffered any decisive defeat. Its power is still strong and it is waiting for an opportunity to strike back!
The U.S. Pacific Fleet clearly has an absolute advantage in numbers, but it has been repeatedly beaten by the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet for four consecutive years. Defeat after defeat, 200,000 soldiers were buried under the blue waves, morale fell to the bottom, and New Zealand could only barely hold on. The front line is a headache for the Pentagon.
As a result, the huge power of the United States is firmly contained in the mainland and the Pacific, and it is basically unable to launch any large-scale offensive in Europe.
As a result, after four years of participating in the war, the Americans found that their record was extremely dismal. Apart from achieving some achievements in North Africa, defeating the "Desert Fox" Rommel with the British, and annihilating the German and Italian Afrika Korps, he has never defeated any enemy head-on: the German Nazis were defeated by the Soviet Red Army The Italians were killed by their own coup and gave up resistance, while the Japanese are still having fun...
As a result, Americans' self-esteem and morale have been seriously frustrated. Many Americans have begun to feel frustrated that although their country has huge productivity and mobilization capabilities, the combat effectiveness of the US military is really disappointing... Spending huge sums of money to study data Although the atomic bomb was built in 2000, the U.S. Air Force could not find a bomber that could fly directly from Hawaii to Tokyo and could not drop it on the Japanese islands.
And it would be too wasteful to use precious atomic bombs to destroy the Japanese frontline island bases - atomic bombs are not cabbage. After the test explosion, there were only two left, and the cost of each one was more than one Japanese island. , I don’t know how long it will take to make the next one!
In short, when the Pacific battlefield was at a stalemate and the European battlefield was unable to open up the situation, even President Truman, a die-hard conservative (actually just to the right of Roosevelt, far worse than McCarthy in the future) would not dare to Before the Japanese were solved, there was a direct confrontation with the Soviet Union's steel torrent in Europe. The U.S. Army, which lacked self-confidence, also did not have the courage and self-confidence to withstand the Soviets.
In this case, although he was very reluctant, President Truman had to admit that he indeed had to temporarily abandon Europe, first Asia and then Europe, and take defeating Japan and controlling and seizing the Asia-Pacific region as his primary goal. I can’t explain it at all...
What's even worse is that the Japanese fascists have not yet been defeated, but the Allies are already fighting and killing each other. If the United States really jumped on the British chariot, leading to a full-scale war between the Western camp headed by Britain and the United States and the Eastern camp headed by the Soviet Union, and even forced the Soviet Union to form an alliance with Japan, then it would defeat Japan and wash away the shame of the attack on Pearl Harbor. , I’m afraid it will really become a dream that can never be realized.
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"...Okay! I understand, Mr. Hopkins, we can only leave matters in Europe to him for the time being. The key now is to defeat the Japanese!"
After a moment of silence, President Truman let out a long sigh, stood up and rolled up the map of Europe hanging on the wall, then took out a military map of the Pacific Theater from the drawer and spread it out on his desk. Compared with the familiar Europe, the Pacific theater seemed vast and boundless, with a string of unfamiliar island names everywhere. President Truman could not help but frown for a while, feeling dazzled and dizzy.
"...How are the preparations for the next counteroffensive in the Pacific Theater...? Can MacArthur still persist in Australia?"
After looking at the map for a while, Truman turned to Hopkins and asked, "...I have been focusing on the situation in Europe for the past two days..."
"...MacArthur has just won a victory near Melbourne. Mr. President, he said that as long as the logistics are sufficient, he can continue to fight."
Hopkins stepped forward, pointed to the map of the Pacific Theater and said, "...The Pacific Fleet also sent a telegram, claiming that they are ready to replenish themselves and are expected to launch the third Battle of Noumea at the beginning of next month! The minimum goal is Try to sink one to two Japanese decisive battleships..."
"...Those two demonic Japanese battleships? Uh, no, it has become four now..." Truman scratched his hair, "...Hey, it has been four years since the war started! Mr. Hopkins , this decisive battle is very important, please let someone make an assessment as soon as possible and if necessary. If it's possible to use those two atomic bombs, don't be stingy. Any weapon is built for use. The United States needs a victory now! No matter what the cost, we must break the myth of the invincibility of the Japanese combined fleet... …”