216

Episode 216: What will you toast for (7)

January 2, 1943

Washington DC White House, USA

-Well, what do you mean?

Churchill's voice, heard through the receiver, was trembling as thinly as an aspen tree.

It was so unexpected that my brain was overloaded and I had no idea how to respond.

"I'm sorry, Prime Minister."

Even Roosevelt never thought things would turn out like this. Roosevelt, who heard Hitler's warning, was delighted, saying that Hitler would open the way for the United States to enter the war.

However, the public's reaction was stronger than Roosevelt expected.

Americans did not understand why the government wanted to go to war with Germany while the war with Japan was in full swing.

The Navy's response was also strong. In a meeting with Roosevelt, King strongly objected, saying that it would not be enough to divert all of the naval power to the Pacific, and that precious power was being wasted on useless activities in the Atlantic.

Roosevelt was taken aback by King's resistance, which was tantamount to protest.

However, what embarrassed him even more was that Marshall and Arnold, whom he trusted, and even William Leahy, the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander of the U.S. Army and Navy, who was his closest associate, rebelled against his will.

"dismissal. "The people do not want the United States to intervene on the European front."

Richie continued with a determined look on his face, as if he had to say this at least.

"Our military is already concentrating all troops and supplies on the Pacific front. However, if it becomes involved in the European front, it will have to be deployed again to the Atlantic, which will require enormous administrative power, time, and cost. Naturally, the counterattack in the Pacific will be delayed, giving the Japanese military time to reorganize its forces and establish defensive operations."

"Of course, I understand your concerns. There is no one here who does not know that Germany is many times more dangerous than Japan, and that if Britain falls, Germany will enter the Atlantic, and that will never be a good thing for America. But now we need to be clear about what we need to do first. "Your Excellency, would you rather put out the fire in the front yard first, or the fire in the back yard first?"

"The cause already exists in Germany. Even if war breaks out, the public will not easily agree that the cause of the war is Germany. That's because Hitler warned us first and clearly expressed his intention to resolve the issue through dialogue. And the people do not know that we rejected Hitler's offer."

"······."

"dismissal. Let me be clear: starting a war with Germany now is too big a gamble. Not only is the public unable to understand this, but the German army is on a different level from the Japanese army. Even if we somehow convince the people of the justification for the war, this is only the beginning, and we still have to fight and win directly against the German army. "It's against the world's best lethal weapons, based on years of actual combat."

As Leahy said, Hitler has consistently expressed his will to resolve the issue through dialogue with the United States. And the people know it.

However, it was the Roosevelt administration that ignored Hitler's proposal, and Hitler even issued a final warning.

All ships sailing to England must stop immediately if requested to do so by the German Navy.

If you refuse and run away or use force, they will attack you without mercy.

What would the public think about ignoring Hitler's direct warning and sending a ship to England?

Wouldn't it seem like the government is anxious to go to war with Germany? Otherwise, there would be no reason to do something like that.

Let's say he miraculously convinced the people of the need for war with Germany.

What next? Of course, we had to organize an army and send it to Europe to help England fight Germany.

To do this, we must first transport troops and supplies to England while avoiding the U-boats swarming the Atlantic.

Of course, if you just send a transport ship, you will have to see the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, so you will have to remove the power needed for escort and return it to the Atlantic Ocean.

However, naval power is in the Pacific, and if some of this power is withdrawn and transferred to the Atlantic, a vacuum will be created in naval power in the Pacific.

Naturally, the advance toward the Japanese mainland would be delayed, and Japan's surrender, which all Americans were anxiously awaiting, would also be delayed.

And even if troops and supplies arrive safely in England, they must land in France to fight the Germans directly.

However, the British military has already personally proven that the defenses of Northern France are not at an average level. Of course, breakthrough would require enormous sacrifice.

Even if the landing is successful, we must continue to fight as we advance into Germany in order to obtain Germany's surrender or at least strengthen our forces on terms commensurate with the sacrifices made so far.

No matter how hard you use the calculator and run the hope circuit, you will only end up with losses. Is this correct? really?

"Until Germany declares war on the United States, a war against Germany is absolutely impossible. Please reconsider."

Even Roosevelt, a 9th-level politician, was left speechless by Leahy's explanation, which he could not refute.

It was nearly impossible to persuade Leahy, who had already concluded that a war against Germany was absolutely impossible, with any words.

No, I wasn't confident that I could beat him with words in the first place. Roosevelt himself, who was very close to Leahy, knew this well.

"But you can't just sit by and watch England fall, can you?"

"That is a reasonable statement. However, it does not necessarily have to be a war. "As before, material support is enough."

Leahy also did not question the necessity and legitimacy of Landrys. However, he was completely opposed to direct US intervention.

"As I have said repeatedly, the only time America enters a war is when Germany declares war and when German troops land on the British mainland. Until then, participation in the war is impossible."

"Okay."

Due to the public's opposition and the military's strong dissuasion, Roosevelt's plan to save Britain and Europe by participating in the war was aborted before even taking a first step.

"And it seems that it will be difficult for the time being to have our Navy's destroyers serve as escorts for cargo ships bound for the UK. As you know, public opinion is not very good. "I hope you understand."

-Well, then what happens to our UK? Has America decided to abandon Britain?

"What are you saying! The United States of America will never give up on Britain. How can you make such a choice when British freedom leads to American freedom? "It's just that I need to take care of myself for a while because the situation is not good."

To appease a disappointed Churchill, Roosevelt announced to him that he would significantly increase the amount of land leases and lend additional 100 Liberty-class transport ships, also known as Liberty ships, and 20 destroyers needed to transport supplies to Britain.

Britain had already handed over naval ports in the Caribbean to the United States and received 50 old destroyers used in World War I to supplement the number of destroyers needed for its own defense.

After hearing Roosevelt's words, Churchill soothed his troubled feelings. At least this is somewhere.

-All right. Still... I hope you'll think about it carefully. It's an embarrassing thing to say, but now the only corner the British Empire can rely on is the United States. Without the United States, Europe and the world might be trampled by the German army.

"I completely understand. "We have no choice but to bring Japan to its knees as quickly as possible."

-her. It would be better if Germany were allied with Japan. Then, the United States would have been able to automatically participate in the European war.

***

January 7, 1943

New Fuhrer's Residence in Berlin, Germany

As winter continued, our troops devoted themselves to stockpiling supplies and training.

In order to conclude the Eastern Front within this year and focus on the war against Britain, 'Operation Blue' in the summer had to be successful.

For an offensive to be successful, sufficient supplies, troops, and equipment are essential.

The armies of the newly independent countries that had been liberated thanks to Germany, the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, and Free Russia, were also gaining ground under the training of instructors from the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS.

When Operation Blue is launched, the front line will almost double compared to now, and in this case, it will be nearly impossible for the German army to manage the entire expanded front line.

Therefore, I plan to train as many allied forces as possible and make them elite, and entrust them with assisting the German army.

Since December of last year, the Soviet Union succeeded in restarting the Baku oil field. I must say that the will to restart the oil fields with tenacity even as Moscow fell and Stalin fled to Kuybyshev was truly remarkable.

Of course, it was only in operation, but the amount of oil extracted from the oil field was ridiculously small compared to before the air raid.

That's because it wasn't completely restored, but only restored to operation, so it's natural that the amount of oil is low.

However, although the amount of oil was small, re-supplying fuel to the Soviet Army was not a good thing, so the Air Force planned a second airstrike on the Baku oil fields. The name of the operation is Cosmos.

Operation Cosmos, which began on January 5, involved about 110 bombers, more than during Operation Penguin.

This was taking into account that the Soviet Union had established a strong anti-communist fire network in the Baku oil field area after the last airstrike.

To conclude, the operation itself was a success. The Air Force successfully hit the oil field with a bomb this time, putting the Soviets' efforts in vain.

"With this, the Baku oil fields will not be able to operate until the defense forces take over."

I nodded to Goering, who was reporting the results of the operation with a triumphant expression.

Still, nothing is free in this world, and although the operation was successful, there was some damage to our troops.

Eight bombers were shot down, 12 were slightly damaged, and 9 were seriously damaged, necessitating long-term repairs.

All eight planes shot down were caused by enemy anti-aircraft fire, and none were hit by fighter planes.

Thanks to the Daimler-Benz DB610 engine, the He 177s flew and bombed at an altitude of about 6,000 m, but the Soviet military's fighter planes were all equipped with engines for low and medium altitudes, so they could not reach the He 177.

"With this, the Soviet military will further increase its efforts to develop high-altitude engines."

"I guess they could have made it. While they are crawling on the ground, our air force is flying. How can they be a match for them? ha ha ha."

"But don't be too proud. "Because all mistakes and failures in history resulted from pride."

Did my warning work? The United States no longer attached its own navy's destroyers as escorts to convoys heading to Britain.

Instead, it is said that Liberty ships and destroyers were provided to Britain, so it was not that they were giving up on Landless, but they seemed to have judged that it would be dangerous in many ways to go directly.

As the United States took a step back, Dönitz maintained his stance that he should have taken such a strong stance a long time ago and that he should not back down even from now on.

Currently, the number of U-boats owned by Crix Marine is 174. Of these, 60 are roaming the Atlantic Ocean hunting for ships bound for Britain, and U-boats are continuously being produced at the factory.

In actual history, the total number of U-boats that were sortied at any given time was less than 10, but they caused Britain trouble, but here, there are as many as 60 ships running around.

Britain was also taking necessary measures to counter this, such as strengthening anti-submarine forces such as destroyers and patrol ships, but the number of U-boats was too large.

Furthermore, because Turing, who deciphered Enigma, was not present, Bletchley Park's code-breaking rate lagged behind history, and with the introduction of the Lorentz encryption system, there were more mountains to overcome.

Heydrich's SD confirmed that Britain had not yet completely deciphered Enigma. The chances of Britain deciphering Lorentz are extremely low.

If things continue like this, it might be possible to kill Britain with U-boats alone...?

However, even if the British people starve to death, the basic premise that the war will end only when the army lands and the flag is planted remains unchanged.

So I brought back the plan that had been abandoned after the signing of the first Anglo-German Peace Treaty.

Operation Sea Lion.

The most famous unimplemented operation of World War II, which Nazi Germany planned and attempted to carry out, but was postponed indefinitely due to the defeat in the British mainland air battle, and was ultimately not carried out.

Even if the air war on the British mainland ended in Germany's victory, I have heard that it is extremely unlikely that Operation Sea Lion would actually have been carried out, as Germany had many disadvantages in many ways.

However, the Germany of today is different from the Germany of real history.

The Royal Navy has lost a large number of its capital ships due to the failure at Dieppe and is living in a corner, and the Army has also suffered a major blow, with only a handful left.

Our air power is also superior to the RAF.

Not only this, but unlike the actual Krix Marine, which was only a sigh of relief, the current Krix Marine has only 9 battleships - 12 if you include the old battleship Deutschland class - and in fact, has 2 aircraft carriers, which it did not have even one before the end of the war. When this happens, one more ship will be added, bringing the total to three.

There are 8 heavy cruisers, 14 light cruisers, and 60 destroyers.

If you add together the armed merchant ships, transport ships, schnell boats, and torpedo boats that have been converted from civilian ships, it reaches a level comparable to that of the Royal Navy.

This is literally a level where you can seriously consider landing on the British mainland.

Therefore, I ordered that this be seriously considered, and the leaders of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, including Keitel, Brauchitsch, Göring, and Leder, worked together to study and review the feasibility of Operation Sea Lion day and night.

After long discussions and research, the conclusion they reached was that the implementation of Operation Sea Lion itself is possible with current forces.

The Royal Navy has become a rebel, and the Air Force continues to win.

However, to land in Britain and completely occupy the British mainland, at least 400,000 troops and supplies to feed them were needed.

It is minimal at best, and if we take into account the inevitable resistance of the resistance and the British army, as well as the possible limited or full intervention of the US military, the number could double.

Although there are more troops than in actual history, it is inevitable that some units will be drafted from the Eastern Front.

At the very least, the number of experienced elite divisions should be in double digits to facilitate landing and advancement.

As important as securing troops and supplying supplies was the timing of the landing.

Attempting an amphibious landing in the middle of winter is tantamount to suicide. It's natural to feel cold when your clothes get wet.

What if it's winter, when the sea water is the coldest? The soldiers would all die from hypothermia before they could fight the British army.

Therefore, the optimal time for landing is from May to August when the sea water is warm.

However, in May, Operation Blue is being prepared to end the Soviet Union.

"Can we conduct Operation Blue and Operation Sea Lion at the same time?"

"It's impossible, Mr. President."

Brauchitsch shook his head. Göring and Leder, who hesitated, followed Brow Hitch and shook their heads left and right, expressing their intention to do so.

Write. Although I expected it, I still feel very disappointed. And since our forces had never conducted an amphibious landing operation before, long-term research, review, and training were necessary.

The conclusion reached was that it was impossible to land in England unless the Eastern Front was completed.

The longer it took for the British to land, the more Britain would rebuild the shattered Royal Navy and build trenches and torchcars along the coast.

The United States also doesn't know how long it will remain neutral.

The road to 'Final Victory (Endsieg)' was still long and difficult.