Chapter 1197 Landing in North America 13
The intelligence sent by Donovan immediately filled the originally dark and gloomy conference room with sunlight. Even Henry Arnold, who had just advocated a full withdrawal from Chile and Brazil, did not mention the withdrawal of the air force.
Now is the critical moment for the United States to win a decent peace! If Juan Peron's fascist regime falls and the New Azbania Federation collapses, it will be difficult for the Germans to fight a large-scale and protracted war in the Caribbean.
"The air strikes on Buenos Aires must be maintained!" Wallace looked at Arnold and said, "At least the large-scale air strikes at night must be maintained, and all possible assistance should be provided to the Argentine liberals."
"Okay, okay, Mr. Minister, the night air strikes will continue until Peron steps down." Arnold replied immediately.
"Throw more leaflets," Wallace said, "We must tell the Argentine people that the enemy of the United States is not them, but only the Peron fascist warlord group, and the United States is willing to help the Argentine people regain independence, freedom and democracy."
"Mr. Minister, should the leaflets mention Germany or the European Community?" Arnold asked.
According to the propaganda of the US government in the past, the New Asbanian Federation was a tool for Europeans to colonize South America.
In fact, this is not a smear, because "Asbania" (espana) means Spain, and New Asbania means New Spain, using the same name as the historical New Spain Viceroyalty. This shows that the rulers of New Asbania do not want to cut off ties with Europe, and a considerable number of white people in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay still see themselves as Europeans rather than Americans.
There are even some upper-class people in the New Asbanian Federation (pro-Peron upper class) who want to merge the New Asbanian Federation with Spain and rebuild a powerful Spanish Empire. And this is also the intention of the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, Mussolini and Franco are behind the scenes.
Therefore, the efforts of the United States and the democratic fighters in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay supported by the United States to discredit the New Azbania Federation as a tool of European colonization did not achieve any results. Instead, people who agree with the New Azbania Federation have become more determined in their views - unlike the situation in the United States, the Indians in South America have not been completely wiped out, so these white people are the evil colonizers!
"Don't mention it anymore," Wallace shook his head, "Don't mention Germany or Europe, Argentina's liberals should not make too many enemies."
What he meant was: so as not to scare the Argentine people... The bombs and incendiary bombs of the Americans are terrible, but aren't the German atomic bombs terrible? So if Germany and the European Community are included, there will be fewer people who dare to stand up against Juan Perón.
"Okay, okay, I understand."
"In addition," Wallace paused and emphasized, "We must inflict heavy damage on the Germans in Labrador. Mr. President hopes that we can win so that we don't have to go to Catoctin Hills for the summer."
According to the original plan, the heads of various US government departments, the main personnel in the Pentagon, the US President and members of the US Congress will all go to Catoctin Hills for the summer after the German army landed in eastern Canada... In fact, this is the government and Congress fleeing Washington, DC!
Once the news of "the president and the cabinet fleeing" is made public, it will definitely hit the American people's fighting will hard!
After the meeting at the Pentagon, Wallace and the President's Chief of Staff William Leahy went to the White House together to report to President Truman and make suggestions.
At the same time, Truman was meeting with Vice President Kennedy who came from Chicago and Mussolini's son Vittorio Mussolini in the White House bunker.
The confidentiality of the talks was quite high. Only Truman, Kennedy and Vittorio Mussolini were in the Oval Office of the White House.
Thanks to the efforts of Vice President Kennedy, a secret peace channel that bypassed the US government and was unknown to Congress had been established. Through Vittorio Mussolini, the Roman Empire's Consul General in New York, and Vittorio's father, Caesar Mussolini, Truman had established a contact channel with Hitler.
Such a secret diplomatic channel is certainly not in line with the relevant laws and political principles of the United States, but Truman had no choice. Because the Democratic Party of the United States is an unprecedentedly weak ruling party and is facing a crisis of division. As the president and the natural leader of the Democratic Party, Truman cannot make a wrong step on the huge issue of war and peace, and cannot even express his position of seeking peace too early.
Moreover, in the 1944 election, all candidates, including Truman, declared their opposition to secret diplomacy and black box operations. The U.S. Congress even passed a "Diplomatic Openness Act" by a large margin at the end of March 1945, which stipulated that future peace negotiations must be conducted in an open and transparent manner, and that nothing should be concealed from Congress and the public.
This "Diplomatic Openness Act" seemed quite correct at first glance, but it made it difficult for diplomatic negotiations to proceed - now it was not that the peace treaty had to be voted on by Congress, but that Congress would directly participate in the negotiations. If Truman made concessions that were detrimental to U.S. interests in the peace talks, Congress would immediately intervene, and the Democratic Party would split.
As a last resort, Truman could only adopt the route of secret diplomacy and negotiate with Hitler behind the backs of Congress and even the Communist Party.
"Mr. President, I just heard some shocking news." Mussolini said in fluent American English, "The German army has landed in North America... I think you know what this means. ?”
"This means that they will soon suffer a disastrous defeat in the coastal areas of Labrador, Canada." Truman said in a calm tone, "I firmly believe this!"
Mussolini Jr. nodded, even though he was a fascist that most Americans hated. But on the issue of defending North America, his position is on the side of the American people.
"That would be great," Mussolini Jr. said, "an American victory would help lower the Germans' asking price... But my father would like to remind you that the main danger to the United States does not lie in the inaccessible Rab Along the coast of Lado.”
"Everyone knows this," Kennedy interjected, "but we still have to defeat the invaders along the coast of Labrador... This is also a fact that everyone knows."
Although Labrador is inaccessible and the transportation is extremely inconvenient, it is the east coast of North America after all. If it is occupied by Germany, it will greatly damage the fighting will of the American and Canadian people.
"What if, I mean what if you couldn't do this?" The corners of Mussolini's mouth turned up slightly, showing a bit of sarcasm, "In fact, it was difficult to defeat the Germans, at least in the past. No one has really done it in almost six years.”
"We will do it," Truman said, "and they will suffer a shameful defeat!"
"Well, in that case," Mussolini Jr. stopped arguing with Truman, "maybe this is really an opportunity."
"Chance?"
"A chance to win peace," Mussolini Jr. said, "a heavy defeat will let the Germans know that North America is not so easy to invade... This will allow them to lower their asking price. If the United States makes some concessions, perhaps the ultimate decisive battle It doesn’t have to happen.”
The so-called "ultimate decisive battle" refers to the Caribbean Battle or a battle of the same level. Mussolini and his military experts were not optimistic that the US military could win in such a war. Once the United States fails, it will pay a very heavy price and lose the possibility of becoming one of the world's top three powers in the future.
Therefore, Mussolini's biggest goal for the peace movement was to promote reconciliation between virtue and virtue before the "ultimate battle" began.
Truman and Kennedy looked at each other, and Kennedy said, "Mr. President, I think we should avoid putting the United States in a huge gamble that goes against us."
Truman nodded, of course he knew that the ongoing Battle of Labrador was just a prelude to the German attack, and the real decisive battle was yet to come. Even if the United States can win the prelude, it will be difficult to win the final decisive battle.
"Mr. Consul General," a smile suddenly appeared on Truman's face, "just before you arrived, I received reports that there were large-scale protests in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, and Argentines were opposing Juan .Perón’s dictatorship!”
Little Mussolini looked unmoved: "Mr. President, I knew about this before the protest happened. Our Roman Empire has an intelligence network in New Asbania, and it is quite effective."
He was actually reminding Truman that the Germans had also planted a large number of spies in Buenos Aires. They could intervene in the internal affairs of New Asbania and nip the protests caused by the bombing in the bud. middle.
But the Germans did not do this, and Rome also did not interfere with the "democratic movement" in Buenos Aires. This is obviously an absolute guarantee that Juan Peron's regime will not be overthrown - after all, Juan Peron's regime came out of the barrel of a gun. As long as the barrel of the gun does not "change its mind," demonstrations and protests are the only way to push it forward. Not turned over. And how dare the guns of the New Asbanian Federation oppose Germany?
However, President Truman did not pay attention to Mussolini's well-intentioned reminder, because he also believed that the United States' long-standing influence in Argentina had now begun to exert its effect. If the United States can win the Battle of Labrador, Juan Peron's rule may fall apart at any time!
At that time, it will be a good opportunity for the United States to win peace at the lowest cost.