Chapter 415 Advertising War Ending

"What, the British blew up the Pope?"

It was only on the morning of February 16th, US time, that President Roosevelt received the news that Pope Pius XII had died in a British plane bombing on the night of the 15th. In addition to being surprised, Roosevelt secretly exclaimed that he was lucky. If a British plane had taken the Pope to see God a few months earlier before voting in the US general election, Catholic voters might have cast their precious votes for Republican Wilkie.

"So, the British strategic bombing has achieved good results?" President Roosevelt asked.

Although Roosevelt was a Protestant, he believed there was a subtle connection between the Pope and Jesus. Therefore, the Pope is blessed by Jesus and his luck will never be too bad. If even his old man was blown up to heaven by a British bomb, then the damage to the city of Rome must have been serious!

Bombing the pope is of course a bad thing. It will cause Catholic countries to have a great dislike of Britain.

But as long as the bombing effect is good enough, these useless Catholic countries can still be deterred from joining the war.

Admiral Marshall frowned and replied: "Actually, the damage to the city of Rome was not serious... About two to three hundred buildings were damaged in the bombing, and the number of personnel losses was about several hundred."

"Only a few hundred people were killed? Isn't that too few?" Roosevelt felt a little incredible.

Rome is a big city with a population of over one million, and one of the hundreds of people killed in the bombing was an ecumenical patriarch! What about God's blessing as promised?

"It's so unfortunate," Roosevelt felt that he had said something wrong and quickly changed his words. "The U.S. government must condemn all atrocities that kill innocent people in war!"

If the British killed thousands or tens of thousands of Italians in one day, and one of them was the Pope, it would undoubtedly be a great victory. France and Spain would be too frightened to join the German side in the war.

But if only a few hundred civilians and a pope were killed, it would undoubtedly be an indiscriminate atrocity that must be condemned.

"Mr. President, should we also condemn Germany's atrocities in attacking unarmed commercial ships in the Atlantic?" Secretary of State Hull suggested. The slap can't just be slapped on the British's ass, otherwise sympathy for Britain in the United States will diminish.

He paused and then added: "Also, is it necessary to suspend the transfer of heavy bombers like the B-17 to the UK?"

Roosevelt looked at Marshall, and General Marshall considered and said: "The performance of the B-17 in the first battle was not as good as we imagined... During the day on the 15th, 18 B-17s broke into the sky over Rome from an altitude of 9,200 meters, effectively avoiding They received ground anti-aircraft fire, but they were attacked by 12 Fokker Zero aircraft, six of which were shot down."

"Didn't you say that the Fokker Zero's high-altitude performance was not good?" Roosevelt asked puzzledly.

Marshall replied: "President, the Germans have obviously noticed this problem, so they have developed the Fokker Zero that can be used at high altitudes. So it seems more dangerous for the B-17 to operate during the day."

In fact, the Fokker Zero C-3 fighter equipped with a new type of engine is still an engine positioned at medium and low altitudes. It's just that its high-altitude performance has been improved by using a supercharger, and it can also rely on "drugs" to temporarily significantly improve engine performance, allowing it to gain a brief but satisfying speed at an altitude of 10,000 meters.

However, the "major victory" achieved during the day on the 15th was mainly due to the British ground crew making a stupid mistake (this mistake has been made in history), which caused the B-17's machine gun to be frozen and unable to fire, and it would certainly die if it was beaten without fighting back. It was very ugly.

"Then let's temporarily stop providing Britain with aircraft that can be used for strategic bombing." Roosevelt sighed.

If the B-17 is really powerful, he would not mind resisting the pressure from domestic Catholic forces and continue to hand over this aircraft to Britain. After all, the United States is not a predominantly Catholic country, and most of its citizens still believe in Protestantism.

But now this kind of aircraft has encountered its nemesis in Italy and cannot be dispatched during the day, so there is no need to provide it to the United Kingdom. For night bombing, the British's own Wellington bombers and Lancaster bombers are enough. The United States does not need to be the big villain.

"President, due to the unexpected death of the Pope, the Holy See must elect a new Pope." Harry Hopkins frowned and interjected, "And the new Pope is likely to lose his neutrality. sex!"

The Ecumenical Church has never been politically neutral, and Pius XII, who was just killed by an "artificial intelligence" British bomb, was a pro-British and American pope. After his death, the Holy See will naturally elect a new pope, and the results of the election are likely to be unfavorable to Britain and the United States.

Although the influence of the Catholic Church in the United States is not great, Latin America, the backyard of the United States, is a country that believes in the Catholic Church. The churches there are theoretically obedient to the Vatican. If the church changes its position to support Germany and Italy, it will be difficult for the pro-American forces in Latin American countries to suppress the pro-German and Italian forces.

Today, it is difficult for the United States to play a decisive role in the election of the ecumenical Pope. I'm afraid it won't be long before America's backyard becomes uneventful.

Thinking of the big trouble caused by a British bomb, President Roosevelt frowned more and more.

…

On February 16, the whole of Rome was immersed in sorrow and anger. The National Fascist Party and the Vatican Church stood together for a rare occasion. Fascists in black shirts and priests in robes paraded in the streets, holding high banners condemning British atrocities. Sometimes they sang Catholic hymns, and sometimes they sang Italian fascist songs.

People quickly gathered in Piazza Venezia. Mussolini, dressed in military uniform and full of murderous aura, stood on the balcony of the Venice Palace and began a long speech, cursing British Prime Minister Churchill's ancestors for eighteen generations, and swore to bomb London. At the end of the speech, he solemnly issued an order, requiring the German and Italian troops in the Mediterranean to launch an immediate attack, launching the most fierce offensive against the despicable and brutal British invaders from the sea, land and air.

While Mussolini was yelling about revenge for a pope he hated, Yamamoto Isoroku and Kuroshima Kameto were strolling on a heavily guarded platform at Rome Central Station.

Thanks to the British bomb that killed the pope, Kuroshima Kameto and several elite Japanese naval staff officers were about to leave Rome for Taranto. Because the Italian fleet would set out at dawn tomorrow to bombard the British army in Tobruk.

Because Japan was an ally of Germany and Italy, Kuroshima Kameto could board the flagship of the Italian fleet, the Veneto, and observe the naval battle at close range.

However, Yamamoto and Kuroshima were not concerned about the upcoming naval battle. They were discussing a plan proposed by Hessman last night to concentrate the super battleships of Germany, Japan, Italy and France to defeat the US Navy before a large number of super battleships were put into service.

"Two Hindenburg-class, two Bismarck-class, four Veneto-class, two Richelieu-class plus our two Yamato-class... a total of 10 super battleships!" Colonel Kameto Kuroshima said with a smile, "The United States will have at most 8 super battleships by then, and we seem to have a good chance of winning!"

Hersman's plan was to cause trouble for the United States in the winter of 1942, when the United States had about 4 South Dakota-class, 3 Colorado-class, and at most 1 Iowa-class super battleships.

"But the key is the two Yamato-class!" Yamamoto Isoroku said lightly, "Without these two Yamato-class, it won't work to rely on the 8 super battleships of Germany, Italy and France. And... after the fall of the British mainland, there may be several super battleships fleeing to Canada. So to ensure victory, two Yamato-class are indispensable."

Kuroshima Kameto understood what Yamamoto Isoroku meant. The Yamato-class was too precious. It was Japan's national treasure. How could it be sent to the Atlantic casually? Who will be responsible if it breaks?

"But Marshal Hessman promised to provide most of the special steel needed for Ships 110 and 111..." said Kuroshima Kameto, "so that the construction of Ships 110 and 111 will not be troubled by the lack of materials."

Ship 110 and Ship 111 are the 3rd and 4th ships of the Yamato class, and construction began after the Yamato and Musashi were launched. However, since Japan began to prepare for war with all its strength in 1940, there was a serious shortage of special steel, so the construction of Ships 110 and 111 encountered difficulties, and it seems difficult to complete them on schedule.

Yamamoto Isoroku smiled bitterly, "But those are Yamato and Musashi! Do you think we can really send them to Europe?"

"But Marshal Hessman is willing to send four large cruise ship-converted aircraft carriers to the Pacific," said Kuroshima Kameto, "They will be equipped with carrier-based aircraft and pilots!"

The four cruise ship-converted motherships are indeed precious to Japan, but they can still be produced with a little effort, but the carrier-based aircraft pilots on the motherships are difficult to get. It only takes 18 months to convert a cruise ship into a mothership, but it takes at least 3 years to train a carrier-based aircraft pilot according to strict requirements! And the ace pilots sent by Germany who fought with real swords and guns may not be trained even in 10 years.

According to Hessman's promise, the four cruise ship-converted motherships will be equipped with a carrier-based aircraft brigade with 60 "common aircraft" (referring to combat organization)... This is 240 elite pilots (referring to pilots), which is a powerful combat force. The Japanese Navy Combined Fleet currently has only about 400 carrier-based pilots.

Yamamoto Isoroku still shook his head, "Kuroshima-kun, this matter is not as easy as you think. At least I, the commander-in-chief, cannot make the decision. Let's see what happens in the future."