Chapter 1150: Politics Must Be Correct
Truman attended the cabinet military meeting chaired by Roosevelt and was no stranger to the scene of generals in military 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 officials, and listening to them express their respective opinions, but he had a strange feeling that he had never felt before - as if everyone in the conference room was Wearing a mask and telling lies.
In the United States, this should not happen at all!
"...The air defense on the East Coast has been significantly improved. Hundreds of radar stations have been deployed along the vast coastline from Newfoundland to the Florida Peninsula. At the same time, we have also deployed 6,000 fighter jets along the East Coast, including Most of them 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 have also raised tens of thousands. Air defense balloons. All these have been able to effectively prevent German missile attacks.
At the same time, we are still actively preparing means to counter Germany. The design of the ultra-long-range XB-44 long-range bomber has been completed and will be tested in early 1945. Because this aircraft is based on the B-29 with expanded fuel tank capacity and a super-powerful R-4360 28-cylinder air-cooled engine, the design and test flight process will be relatively short. If everything goes well, it will be launched in June 1945. It will be put into trial production before the end of the month. By then we will have ultra-long-range bombers that can fly back and forth across the Atlantic..."
General Arnold of the Army Air Corps reported some good news, and Wallace seemed very satisfied. But Truman frowned. The air defense on the east coast had not been tested in actual combat, and compared to the long coastline of four to five thousand kilometers, 6,000 aircraft was not particularly large. As for XB-44, it is just a painting.
"Admiral," Harry Truman interrupted Arnold, "have our defenses in the Caribbean been weakened by strengthening the defenses of the East Coast?"
"No." General Arnold said, "At least the Army Air Force's strength in the Caribbean is still quite strong. Because our combat missions in Australia and the Hawaiian Islands have been greatly reduced, and the air defense pressure on the west coast has also been greatly reduced, we have the ability to simultaneously A large number of troops were invested in three battlefields on the East Coast, the Caribbean and South America.”
Harry Truman nodded, feeling a little relieved. However, he did not know that General Arnold's Army Air Forces had reduced the deployment of troops on Newfoundland. Originally, the U.S. Army Air Force deployed more than 1,700 fighter jets of various types on Newfoundland, but now the number of fighter jets deployed on Newfoundland is less than 1,000, 336 of which are capable of both night combat and bombing. P-61B-10 fighter-bomber.
Such a force adjustment was definitely not allowed in the Roosevelt era, but President Wallace asked the Army Air Forces to mobilize enough aviation forces to bomb Buenos Aires while ensuring that the east coast and the Caribbean were "foolproof." To overthrow the regime of Juan Peron. In order to improve the effectiveness of air strikes, Wallace even asked the Army Air Force to carry out daytime bombings - in Wallace's view, as long as the political situation of the New Asbania Federation was in turmoil, Germany would have to accept a "fair peace." , and this will make him the hero who saves America!
Therefore, General Arnold had to dispatch hundreds of long-range P51s from the Army's fighter force, which was not abundant in strength, and sent them to Chile to prepare for daytime bombing and escort.
In addition, President Wallace was unwilling to abandon Brazil and the Soviet Union, two brave allies.
Therefore, he also sent part of the Army Air Corps to the Brazilian battlefield. At the same time, the latest C-54 long-range transport aircraft was also dispatched to Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula, which was surrounded by tens of thousands of Japanese troops (this was an important ice-free port of the Soviet Union on the Pacific coast, second only to Vladivostok. It is only more than 2,000 kilometers away from Alaska in the United States. If the Japanese army captures the port, shipping supplies between the United States and the Soviet Union will be completely cut off.) Transport supplies, and a small number of Army Air Force fighter planes will be dispatched there.
"Currently, the Army has deployed more than 1.2 million ground troops on many islands in the Caribbean 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, which will soon reach 200,000, and more than 100,000 ground troops have been deployed in Brazil.
In addition, we have deployed heavy troops on the east coast, Bermuda Islands, Newfoundland and northeastern Canada, with a total of more than 1.8 million troops deployed. "
General Marshall gave a rough introduction to the deployment of U.S. Army forces. The total strength of the Army mentioned by him is about 3.45 million, and there are also troops stationed in the West Coast of the United States, Panama, Alaska and other places that were not mentioned. If all are taken into account, the total strength of the U.S. Army's front-line combat troops is now approximately more than 4 million.
In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of Marines. These are the troops among the 16 million American soldiers on the books who can actually fight ground wars abroad.
Of course, the United States is a country where everyone owns a gun and has a strong militia tradition. Once the German army invades the United States, they will face more than 4 million US ground troops.
So Truman was quite confident in the ground defense of the US mainland. Even if the Germans could drop an atomic bomb on American soil, it would be difficult for their army to conquer the US!
"The Navy is also actively preparing to defend the Caribbean Islands and the coastal decisive battle of the mainland." Admiral Ernest King, the Chief of Naval Operations, spoke last and began to introduce the latest combat readiness of the Navy.
Compared with the Army and the Army Air Force, the US Navy is now in a more difficult situation. After the Battle of the Bermuda Islands, it completely lost the sea control in the Atlantic Ocean. Even the blockade line between the Nova Scotia Peninsula, the Bermuda Islands and the Puerto Rico Island was difficult to maintain. After the German missile carriers and Me264 broke through 500 kilometers outside the eastern coastline of the United States and launched missiles, the more than 2,700 kilometers of sea area between the Nova Scotia Peninsula and the Puerto Rico Island became the "absolute defense line" of the US mainland, which must be defended.
Therefore, the US Navy, knowing that it did not have the sea control in the Atlantic Ocean, still sent a large number of destroyers and submarines to perform missions in the Atlantic Ocean. As a result, these "low-value" ships became the prey of the German Type 21 U-boats and 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 attack under the guidance of the Bv138E seaplane.
As long as the US destroyer formation is targeted by various underwater and air opponents, it is inevitable that the ship will be destroyed and people will die. From October to now, the US Navy has lost more than 20 destroyers one after another, and 18 destroyers have been severely damaged.
Therefore, Admiral Ernest King no longer mentions the defense of the "absolute defense line", but directly puts forward the concept of decisive battles in the Caribbean and the East Coast. However, when mentioning the decisive battles in the Caribbean and the East Coast, Ernest King's tone is still full of belief.
"In order to fight in offshore and shallow water areas, the Navy has focused on developing 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 start laying mines near important islands along the eastern coast of the United States and the Caribbean.
In addition, the Navy Air Force will also be equipped with B-25J attack aircraft to fight against Nazi soldiers attempting to land."
The US PT-103-class torpedo boat is a cheap wooden hull torpedo boat, and its defense 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 carry 2-4 depth charges. The firepower is very powerful! If used well, it can still pose a great threat to the German landing forces.
The improved B-25, the 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 machine guns, but is equipped with 18 12.7mm machine guns. The threat to the landing German infantry is no less than that of the PT-103 torpedo boat.
"The situation is not bad now, is it?" After listening to the speeches of the Army, Army Air Force and Navy leaders, 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 do not 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 United States is now politically divided and it is impossible to seek peace in the short term. Even if Truman wants to take the blame at all costs, Congress will not approve it.
So William Leahy, Marshall, Arnold and Ernest King can only find ways to command the US military to persist in resistance and no longer propose any peace proposals.
At least before the battlefield situation deteriorates significantly, no one will make a politically incorrect peace proposal...
"Okay, okay." Truman nodded repeatedly. Of course, he also knew that he had to be "politically correct" at the moment, otherwise he might be impeached and removed from office. "We should persist until we wear down the Germans."