Chapter 586 The Crisis of the Gibraltar Conference

On October 3rd, the White House.

"Mr. President, the New York is ready. You can leave at any time."

Wilson stood at the window, nodded to Robert Lansing, finally sighed, and slowly lowered the curtains.

The thin curtains can no longer block the tsunami of tens of thousands of Americans outside demanding that the United States withdraw from the war. When the tragedy in New York was reprinted by the newspaper, and when the picture of the Statue of Liberty collapsing was transmitted to all over the world through radio waves, the United States seemed to have become a rooster stuck in its neck and could no longer be sent. Any tweet.

Only three warships, more than an hour of shelling, have dealt a heavy blow to the United States. Not long ago, those weak anti-war voices have gushed out like magma. The east coast is like an earthquake and tsunami. Countless Americans are rushing inland with their families. Trains from the east and west coasts to inland states such as Texas have After being fully packed, the most important shipyards and factories on the East Coast were unable to continue to operate at full speed. As soon as the New York stock market opened, it fell to a trough within a few minutes. Finally, the exchange had to forcibly terminate all trading and announce an indefinite closure.

In front of him is a huge dilemma. The United States is suffering from a historical crisis. Although the flames are also high, although many people begin to grit their teeth and say that they will continue to support the war until the final victory, he knows how much this heavy loss will hit the confidence of the United States, even in the next four or five years. There is no way to reply. What's more serious is that as an immigrant country, after the attack on New York, immigrants from various countries have considered withdrawing to go to safer South America. In the long run, the confidence of the people and soldiers will disappear rapidly, and whether they can win the war has become a negative word.

What should I do?

From the first day of the war against Xinhua, the United States and the entire Allies Group have been in full chaos. It is estimated that the war against Xinhua was launched early. The three naval battles in the southwest Pacific were as uncomfortable as a stick, and then the 31st Fleet entered the Atlantic Ocean, and then the entire eastern front of Russia that had just arrived was surrounded.

Looking back now, these can be avoided, but because of coordination, because politicians intervened too much in the war and did not let soldiers speak, which led to the bitter result of the final shelling of New York.

From a strategic point of view, Li Mo likes strategic adventures too much, and his adventures are not without flaws and traces. It was only because of the chaos and lack of estimation of the Ally that gave him loopholes, but now he will never give him another chance!

War needs a turning point!

Wilson got dressed, thought about it, and then picked up the newspaper on the table and walked out until he got into the car, and the newspaper in his hand was never put down.

In the latest Washington Post, in addition to the news of New York, there is also a speech by William II when he received German people from all walks of life. He said, "The alliance has won a great victory. With the help of Germany, New York has been wiped out and the United States is collapsing." The words and rampant undoubtedly injected a shot of strength into the allied army!

In just a few days, Germany launched two small-scale battles on the Eastern and Western Front in a row. New York was hit hard. The United States was in crisis, and the Allies could no longer gather all their strength. Encouraged by these signals, the Allies had just arrived at the Western Front Saint-Mières of France with 80,000 Spanish troops and the French The 27th Army was defeated in just three days, and Saint-Mier, a strategic point connecting Lyon and western France, including Verdeng, was cut off by 100,000 German troops.

On the Eastern Front, Germany has surrounded Warsaw, the striker has arrived in Brest (now Belarus), and even the old Austro-Hungarian Empire has crossed the Dniester River again.

In the Osmandanelle Strait, the ghosts of the British Expeditionary Force are scattered, and hundreds of thousands of corpses are spread all over the desert!

The most important thing is that the serious losses have also changed the domestic political situation in Russia. Under the influence of the spread of anti-war and the Bolshevik Party's [***] trend, riots and turbulence have emerged one after another, and Nicholas II's ruling foundation has been precarious.

Wilson can't imagine the consequences of Russia's withdrawal from the war. Although the country's army is vulnerable, the world's leading human resources on the European continent are indispensable!

And this is only on land. More importantly, there are more than 150 British and American warships deployed in the Atlantic Ocean, but so far no one knows where the fleet is. Although news and intelligence are found from time to time, every time they see them, they are sailing at a high speed of more than 25 knots. In terms of degree, the warships that can catch up are either destroyed or dare not approach, but those that can match can't catch up at all!

However, summarizing these, it can be clearly found that the fleet does not hide its strategic intentions. They are accelerating their departure from the Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps this is the only good news this winter!

The battleship New York slowly anchored for the first time. Under the escort of six other warships, it left the Atlantic Fleet Command's Chesapyg Bay and headed for Gibraltar.

On October 10, when Wilson had fallen into turmoil at home and the economy and heavy industry began to decline sharply, the main leaders and representatives of the Allies, including Britain, France, Italy, Russia and Spain, also arrived one after another. The Gibraltar Conference, which is considered a major turning point for the Allies. The meeting was held.

In the three-day meeting, the Allied States fully affirmed the serious consequences of the uneasiness and chaos of various countries after Xinhua's intervention in the war. At the same time, for the first time, it divided the clear command according to the war zone, and at Wilson's suggestion, opened the second front against Xinhua, that is, to attack the southeast peninsula from the Indian Ocean and defend Malacca. Block the passage between Xinhua and Europe and cooperate with Australia's decision to fully open the war in the southwest war zone.

According to this decision, the U.S. Fleet A in Gibraltar will be disbanded on the spot. Two Pennsylvania-class battleships and two Northampton-class heavy cruisers, as well as four Brooklyn-class light cruisers that are modifying their air defense systems and equipped with a large number of anti-aircraft guns will all be joined by the British Vice Admiral within a month. The Indian fleet led by Campbell, the commander-in-chief of the Indian fleet.

In order to thank Britain and the United States for their support to France, the French Navy also sent two Dandong-class battleships (quasi-dreadn) and two Brittany-class battleships (5 double 340 mm guns) to join the Indian fleet.

Spain provides a USS Spain (4 double-link 305mm) plus the former E-fleet Malaya and Ireland provided by the United Kingdom, as well as six Nelson-class battleships (dreadnaught) and two French Lone-class battleships (6-door double-link 3 05mm gun) and six old-fashioned battleships. The Allies will have at least 15 main battleships, 10 old-fashioned battleships, 20 cruisers and 40 destroyers, and 4 seaplane carriers in the Indian Ocean by the end of December.

At the same time, the Australian fleet was renamed the Pacific Southwest Fleet. The commander was two old friends, with the former commander of the U.S. Mobile Fleet Commander, Lieutenant General Clarkston as the commander-in-Chief, and British Lieutenant General Seymour as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief.

In order to strengthen the presence in the southwest, the United States will immediately send two Delaware-class super battleships, two old Illinois-class battleships, four old Tennessee-class armored cruisers and four Omaha-class light cruisers to Sydney to join the three Bolerophon-class battleships that are about to arrive there, Neptune. The USS Battleship, the Southwest Pacific Fleet composed of two French Gopaku-class battleships, and nine Magnificent-class old-fashioned battleships and 12 cruisers.

The entire fleet will have 8 super battleships, 11 old battleships and 20 cruisers, as well as 30 other auxiliary ships.

In addition, Italy will take over the entire Mediterranean defense and cooperate with the remaining French and Spanish navies to blockade the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires.

The U.S. Atlantic Fleet will also send a main battleship to Britain for the first time to join Lieutenant General Jelicot's fleet, striving to fight against the main force of the German high seas fleet as soon as possible, destroy the German navy first, and free up for the decisive battle in the Pacific Ocean.

In addition, if there are only eight capital ships left, five old battleships, and it will take some time to deliver the new battleships, the United States will immediately transfer all the remaining nine old battleships in the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and continue to maintain the pressure on the New China Pacific Fleet, so that it cannot support the southwest and Indian Ocean. War zone.

However, in terms of the army, after careful consideration, the United States only promised to invest a total of 200,000 troops in the European and Indian theaters, and 200,000 troops in Australia. The rest will be determined according to the follow-up situation.

I have to say that the attack on New York made Wilson start to worry about the security of the United States when he was fully prepared for war and did not dare to send more ground forces to Europe, which eventually led to major problems later.

Finally, according to the agreement of the leaders of various countries, the United States and the United Kingdom will jointly provide the first batch of materials and aid loans totaling more than $30 billion to the Allies from now on to help countries accelerate the procurement of weapons and build more warships until the complete victory of the war!

With the end of the Gibraltar Conference three days later, New York suffered the worst loss in history. The United States was completely enraged and began to worry about local security. Two months after Xinhua joined the war, the Ally finally stepped out of the previous chaos, reached a consensus and formed a clear division of war zones, and adopted The three-line attack on the Pacific Ocean and accelerate the war on the European continent.

The 31 fleet completed the task, but also brought serious sequelae. This is the mistake made by Li Mo. Tactical adventure and deceit are necessary, but the strategic adventure is not worth the loss in this level of war, just like Churchill promoted the Battle of the Dardanelles. Li Mo sent 31 ships. In addition to putting thousands of soldiers and two strongest battleships in danger, the United States, which was completely enraged at the same time, placed in front of him and Xinhua is a target that needs to be smashed like a mountain!

The day after the meeting, the U.S. Fleet A entered the Strait of Gibraltar and converged the French Brittany and Provence in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as two Dandong-class ships to Sikkim to join the British Indian fleet under the protection of four cruisers.

At the same time, the U.S. Congress passed the bill to expand the war by a majority. After major revision of the original New Orleans-class heavy patrol drawings, it was officially renamed the Lexington-class battlecruiser, with a purchase volume of eight!

In addition, four new Tennessee-class battleships, as many as 30 light cruisers, and nearly a hundred destroyers imitating the British W-class, which also used steam turbines secretly provided by the United Kingdom, began to be launched. In particular, after seeing the use of aircraft by the Xinhua Navy, the United States also learned for the first time. The British Campania converted five conscripted fast cargo ships into flying carriers. Unlike Campania, although these carriers are not straight to the flat deck layout, the deck length has reached 120 meters for the first time, and it can already take off and land the army's two-wing combat reconnaissance aircraft.

The Gibraltar Conference has become a major turning point in this world war. When a tug-of-war has been formed in Europe, the entire battlefield of the Pacific Ocean has begun!

(to be continued)