Chapter 1008

It's not that complicated. After German bombers visited the Icelandic air force base, the United States tried its best to think about what they could do in this war. Obviously, there is no doubt about defeating Japan. After all, there is no need to fake all kinds of victories from the front line.

However, the attack against the axis powers has become very troublesome. The fact that the German barrier to the Atlantic has been operating in such a tight way has really made the senior management of the United States realize that it is impossible for a dog to bite a hedgehog. Of course, the bombing in Iceland also made the operation against Norway very difficult.

So an important question is put in front of the Americans: where on earth can we fight with the Germans to achieve the greatest victory? After some thinking, almost everyone's conclusion points to an answer: impossible!

Yes, it's impossible! The United States has no way to break the Atlantic barrier run by Germany for a moment. In North Africa, the German Italian coalition forces have also defeated the British and American Coalition forces. The situation on the battlefield between the Soviet Union and Germany is even more worrying for the American high-level. The Icelandic bombing plan was formulated to ease the pressure on the eastern front

What has happened has proved that the plan of bombing Norway did not fundamentally solve the problem of German pressure on the eastern front. The United States must find a new way to help the Soviet Union stabilize its defense line.

So we all looked around, and only in the Middle East and the axis countries, can we really attract the attention of the German army. After all, it is not an easy thing to defeat the German army over the Suez Canal.

"It's really embarrassing... We have to attack the axis * * team and avoid the most elite German forces... How do we fight this kind of war?" At a meeting to study the matter, an American general sighed and shook his head to complain.

Sitting next to him was the famous American General Bradley, a genius who had just returned from an expedition to Africa. He took a look at the fat fellow beside him, and looked at Marshall on the other side.

"It's been a long time since we planned to reinforce the Middle East with 100000 infantry, but we still have very few troops deployed near Saudi oil fields. It's very reluctant to expect these troops to resist Rommel's attack at least. " An officer in charge of the replenishment of American troops in the Middle East sighed, and said with a weak voice: "although we know that Rommel does not have many troops in his hands, they are all elite soldiers in a hundred battles, and the replenishment is better than ours..."

"It's better to study how to stop the German attack here and at least keep the oil fields in the Middle East." Another general agreed with the majority. He believes that it is not worthwhile to send the American soldiers who are hard to arm to the distant battlefield to die.

Roosevelt was in his wheelchair, banging on the armrest. He knew that many of the officers present did not belong to his camp. In this kind of routine discussion, many people were using their opposition to try to win the support of President Roosevelt.

Roosevelt also knew that it was a very unrealistic thing to expect allied forces to defeat Rommel's African Legion in the Middle East. If there was a chance, Barton and Montgomery would not lose in North Africa. Now that the German supply lines are shorter and the forces are stronger, there is no reason why they will lose to the declining allied forces in the Middle East.

Although the United States relied on Britain and its own huge transport fleet to send more than 70000 US troops and various kinds of equipment to the Middle East, there was still no way to stop the German army from moving forward. At this time, we need to work out a more reasonable operational plan to delay the collapse of the Middle East. This meeting is actually about this.

"I got through with General Bradley. He also met with General Patton and general montbarton in the Middle East. He knows more about the situation there than I do." Marshall looked at the white President Roosevelt and quietly interrupted the endless quarrel: "I have a feasible plan here. Let's discuss it."

If the whole United States is compared to Shu in the Three Kingdoms, then General Marshall is undoubtedly the incarnation of Zhuge Liang. This man, known as a think tank at the top of the United States, was a military adviser and assistant to Eisenhower and even Roosevelt. Half of the U.S. plan was written by him, and it's no exaggeration to say that he helped the United States win World War II in another time and space.

Now he said he had a new plan, and everyone naturally shut up. Exaggeration and real ability are two states. Most of these generals sitting around the conference table can only fight on behalf of the interests of all parties. If they speak again at this time, they will expose their ignorance in dealing with difficult problems. No one will do such a stupid thing.

"General Bradley and I agree that it is not worth the loss to fight back directly against Rommel's African Legion. It will disrupt the retreat and defense deployment of general Mountbatten, increase our losses and speed up our failure. " Marshall repeated what those people had just discussed and said it as an opening remark.

Then he continued to speak and said to Roosevelt, "but what if we have another opponent? Apart from Germany, is it possible for the US Army to defeat the armies of other countries? " When he asked this question, he looked at several generals who represented the army at the meeting. These people immediately patted their chests and assured: "of course! If not fighting with the German army, then the combat effectiveness of the army is trustworthy! For example, the result of attacking Japan in the Pacific Ocean is the best proof! "“ After occupying Alexandria, Germany broke through the defense line of the Suez Canal. Their combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated, but it really ends here! " He pointed to the map on the table and explained the problem to Roosevelt: "Rommel did not cross the desert of Saudi Arabia, which proves that he still lacks fuel and the support of his own country!" Then he looked at Roosevelt with a smile: "but not long ago, the axis powers themselves put their weakness under our eyes! Now that we know what to do, we will use a whole chain reaction to deal a heavy blow to the arrogance of the axis powers! "“ Weakness? What weakness? " Roosevelt was stunned, and then looked at Marshall puzzled. Roosevelt is very satisfied with his subordinates. At least in the Pacific War, the United States team's victory cannot do without Marshall's central scheduling, and the strategy of adhering to the Pacific first the Atlantic. " Not long ago, Turkey crossed the border in an attempt to attack Syria and other areas controlled by the French government in exile. As a result, their attack was easily beaten back, and our loss was so small that there was no need to report... "Bradley said with a smile, took Roosevelt's words and introduced them:" if I had not gone to Africa myself, then this incident would not even have shocked anyone here. " Marshall nodded, and then continued: "originally we thought it was just a small-scale brush gun incident in the border area. After all, so far neither side has any intention of further war... But after some investigation, we found that it was an attack launched by Turkey!" An attack? It's the scale of a border conflict? Roosevelt caught the eye and immediately grasped the crux of the problem. He looked at General Marshall and asked, "well, if we launch a counterattack against the axis powers on the Turkish border, how much effort will it take?" Marshall smiles, then looks at Turkey with complex terrain, and finally chooses a more stable number: "the Germans once deployed some troops there, and I think if we defeat them together, we need at least seven divisions... About 180000 people."“ Do we have so many troops in the Middle East? Generals. " Roosevelt did not say anything more to Marshall, but adjusted his eyes to all the generals present: "can we mobilize nearly 200000 troops in the Middle East?"“ There are about 50000 local armed forces who can cooperate with us. The British and Indian forces can support between 100000 and 120000 troops. Our troops over there, if all of them are included, are more than 100000... However, Mr. President, these troops can not be transferred completely. They must have a certain number of troops in the front to cope with the German attack, so there are only more than 100000 troops that can be transferred. " A general asked his colleagues on both sides before answering Roosevelt's question“ General Bradley, if General Patton arrives in Bagdad from India to direct an attack against Turkey... Try to avoid the German army and annihilate only the Turkish troops... Is 100000 troops enough? " Roosevelt asked another question, but this time he asked General Bradley alone, not everyone. So everyone, including General Marshall, focused on Bradley, who didn't answer the question immediately. The American general confidently answered Roosevelt's question: "Mr. President, if we lose this battle again, there is no need to fight for any interests with the Germans."