Chapter 1152 Gao Qibao Plan 2

Harry Truman once again sat in the White House Cabinet Meeting Room. He attended the Cabinet Military Meeting as the President-elect, and he also had considerable decision-making power. It can be said that he was half of the President of the United States before he officially took office. Although such an arrangement does not conform to the conventions of American politics, it is also understandable. After all, the United States is fighting a very difficult war.

As the next commander-in-chief, Truman must participate in the highest decision-making of the US military before taking office, so as to ensure that there will be no temporary chaos in the command center.

However, Truman, who was sitting in the Cabinet Meeting Room at this time, still found that the US command center was under the control of a chaotic thinking.

In Truman's view, the root of this chaotic thinking is the uncertainty of war and peace. On the one hand, he knew that he could not win and wanted to ask for peace; on the other hand, he was forced to insist on the "politically correct" conditions for peace talks due to the mainstream public opinion in the United States, the pressure of Congress (now the US Congress is dominated by the opposition) and the various boasts made by the Democratic Party during the election, so that the door to peace talks was actually closed.

In this situation where they cannot win and cannot negotiate, the "fighting to promote peace" strategy, which is actually military adventurism, has become the most popular option for the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

However, including Truman himself, all the bigwigs who can sit in the cabinet meeting room for meetings did not dare to take the risk to the end. They only dared to take risks in the southern part of South America relying on the Pacific Ocean, but did not dare to take risks in the Atlantic direction.

Therefore, the current US military strategy is to take military adventures in the southeast Pacific-southern South America region, and implement a military conservative line in the main battlefield of the Atlantic.

"…Our attack on Santiago is going smoothly. The troops commanded by Admiral Eisenhower have completed the three-sided encirclement of Santiago and cut off the communication between Santiago and Puerto Montt.

The first phase of the expansion project of the Port of Valparaiso in central Chile has been completed. The port's throughput capacity has increased by 100% compared to the original, which can meet the high-intensity combat needs of at least 500,000 ground troops and 1,500 combat aircraft.

The throughput capacity of Puerto Montt controlled by the German army is limited, and it is also blocked by submarines of the Pacific Fleet. The roads through the Andes Mountains are also often bombed by our Army Air Force, and the transportation capacity has been greatly reduced.

Therefore, the Joint Chiefs of Staff judged that the German army is currently unable to maintain a military presence of more than 100,000 people in Santiago. And there is no ability to transport enough ammunition and heavy equipment to Santiago. If we continue to send troops to Chile, we should be able to liberate the Chilean capital Santiago in early 1945..."

At the beginning of today's meeting, Presidential Chief of Staff William Leahy threw out a plan to occupy Santiago in early 1945.

He went on to say: "At the same time, we should also increase the scale of bombing Buenos Aires. Send more B-17 and B-24 bombers, as well as P51 fighters that can perform long-range escort missions. In this way, we can carry out air strikes during the day, thereby accelerating the collapse of the Peron regime."

"Do we have enough troops?" Truman interrupted and asked, "If we want to attack Santiago and launch a daytime air strike on Buenos Aires, we need to invest a lot of land and air forces, right?"

"We can withdraw from British Guiana." William Leahy replied, "Our operations in British Guiana have achieved their goals, and now we can end them."

In fact, the US military was about to fail in British Guiana. Shortly after the Battle of Bermuda, the German army landed in New Amsterdam, less than 100 kilometers from Georgetown. At the same time, the navy and air force blocked the waterway from Trinidad to Georgetown, leaving the landing US troops in a dilemma of severe supply shortages. If it were not for the election, the Joint Chiefs of Staff would have ordered the US troops in Georgetown to evacuate long ago.

Now that the electoral votes have ended and Truman's presidency has been fully implemented, it is time to fully retreat in the Atlantic.

"So..." Truman glanced at Wallace sitting in the presidential seat, "What about the channel for peace talks? Is it still open now?"

Truman knew that Wallace was too idealistic and had many misunderstandings about Comrade Mussolini, a good friend of the American people and black brothers. Therefore, after becoming the "interim president", he gave the peace-loving Mussolini a cold shoulder. Without Mussolini's mediation, peace talks became very difficult - without Mussolini, the negotiation level between the United States and Germany suddenly fell to the ambassadorial and consular level, no longer the original leadership level. And among other friends of the United States, no one can exert as much influence on Hitler and the Nazi Party as Mussolini did.

"The door to peace talks is certainly open," Secretary of State Cordell Hull said with a frown, "Our ambassador in Rome has been in contact with the German Embassy in Rome."

"I want to arrange for Mr. Kennedy to visit Rome," Truman said, "just before I take office."

He had not forgotten Harry Hopkins's advice and was ready to let Kennedy take Mussolini's route to negotiate with the Germans.

If possible, he also wanted Kennedy to meet with Rudolf Hess or even Hitler himself in secret as the Vice President of the United States!

Wallace frowned and seemed to want to speak to stop him, but Cordell Hull said first: "Sir, no problem, arrange it right away."

After all, Truman was the elected president! Time for Wallace was running out. And Truman also arranged a good position for Wallace - he would serve as Secretary of War (Secretary of the Army) after Truman took over as president.

So after Hull spoke, Wallace nodded, which was considered to be his approval of the arrangement.

He thought about it and said, "I think we should launch the Santiago campaign when Mr. Kennedy visits Rome. If we can enter the city of Santiago, it will definitely be beneficial for peaceful contact."

"What are the conditions for peace?" Truman asked.

The conditions for peace have long been made public, namely the "Truman Five Points". However, Truman's question now is definitely not because he has forgotten the content of the "Five Points". But he is preparing to default on the bill...

But if he wants to default on the bill, he can't make a 180-degree turn right away, after all, the Democratic Party does not control Congress now!

"Self-determination is possible in America," said Secretary of State Cordell Hull. "It is not necessarily in Germany's interest to maintain a costly presence in America, and once Canada returns to the British Empire, it will be more difficult for Germany to integrate into Europe. But Australia will most likely seek protection in Europe to avoid invasion by Japan."

"Self-determination of course also includes the option of becoming European!" Truman said.

"It's also possible not to cede territory." William Leahy added, "The Germans will probably not consider sending ground troops to invade the United States, so they have no ambitions for our homeland."

"There is probably no hope for a complete open door," said Treasury Secretary Morgan Towe. "Europe cannot open its market to us, but we can sign some trade agreements...even if it is an open door.

In addition, helping Europe to rebuild peacefully can...can replace reparations and meet Europe's demand for reconstruction funds to a certain extent."

"Disarmament and arms restriction are also beneficial to Europe, which has less financial resources than us, and I believe it will be supported by the European people."

Wallace, who is about to take over as Secretary of War, also added a sentence, which is considered to be support for Truman's "delayed payment route"-although he is now the leader of the pro-war faction in the Democratic Party, he cannot oppose the peace talks themselves. He can only oppose peace conditions that are unfavorable to the United States.

Truman nodded, "So...where is our bottom line?"

"Bottom line?" Wallace asked vigilantly.

"The bottom line of paying money!" Truman said bluntly, "How much money can we give them?"

This is the crux of the problem! The Germans don't care whether they get "politically incorrect" reparations or "politically very correct" aid. What they want is money, the more the better!

"This must be discussed with the Republicans, the Bolsheviks and the National Fascists." Wallace frowned and said in a warning tone, "If the amount is too large, such as $100 billion... I'm afraid some political exchanges will be necessary. But such a deal will cause the Democratic Party to split and disintegrate!"

In democratic countries, Congress is often a market for power transactions - this is not to belittle democracy. Democracy does not mean selflessness, nor does it mean that all voters will agree on all issues. It is very normal for different voter groups to have conflicts of interest, and it is a common method for members of Congress who represent voters to make some transactions in Congress so that the interests of the voters they represent can be realized to a certain extent.

The demands of the upper-middle-class voters represented by the Republicans on domestic issues are to abolish a series of New Deal legislation with socialist tendencies! If the Democratic Party wants to gain the support of the Republicans on the issue of reparations, then it must support the Republicans on the issue of abolishing New Deal legislation.

However, voters who support the New Deal legislation are the foundation of the Democratic Party. If the Democratic Party betrays them in Congress, the mid-term elections of 1946 will be the day of the Democratic Party's collapse.

Faced with the prospect of a collapse in the election, the Democratic Party is likely to split first! Some members of Congress who firmly support the New Deal and oppose surrendering to Europe may withdraw from the Democratic Party to build the Socialist Party with the Bolshevik Party, while another part of the Democratic conservatives may join the National Fascist Party to defend the iron vote area of ​​the seven southern states.

By then, the end of the Democratic Party will really be not far away!