Chapter 618 Turning

Washington, White House.

The secretary gently pushed the door open and put the coffee in front of the generals. He didn't dare to go out and walked out quickly. But when he brought it to the door, he couldn't help looking at the office that was colder than outside. When the door was completely covered, he sighed deeply.

The Pacific Fleet is gone!

There is no worse news than this.

Just three days ago, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was second only to Xinhua, with up to 12 new capital ships and 11 old battleships of formidable maritime forces. They were once regarded as the iron wall on the west coast of the United States. Even after losing as many as eight capital ships after the war, they were still considered to be able to defeat the enemy. It will also pay a heavy price.

But after a day, to be precise, seven hours, the fleet almost completely disappeared. Except for the two Delaware-class battleships and several armored cruisers in Australia, the United States has only six old Connecticut-class battleships and a few tattered cruisers in the Pacific Ocean, even the wide-defended west coast. No.

Warship support must be transferred from the Atlantic immediately!

"Yesterday, Panama was bombed by warplanes again. The Chinese dropped at least 300 bombs, killing 728 soldiers. The canal lock was slightly damaged, but it would not affect the passage of the ship.

In addition, we have reached an agreement with the United Kingdom that the New York, Texas, Indiana, Chilshage and four Omaha-class light cruisers will depart directly to San Diego in three days at the latest. In addition, the only two Florida-class battleships in the Atlantic Fleet, Kentucky, The Illinois is also ready. The new secretary of state, Jolson, handed the war report of the two days to President Wilson, who looked a little gray.

"Is there anything else besides these?"

Jorson shook his head: "Britain does not want us to withdraw the four capital ships of the Indian Grand Fleet, because if we leave, the Indian Grand Fleet will lose the most important combat effectiveness. Once Xinhua breaks through the Indian Ocean and enters the Persian Gulf, then Germany and Xinhua will be connected, and our losses will be greater! "

"What about the new warship? The remaining 12 Pennsylvania-class and Northampton-class ships were built before the war. Can't they be fully delivered? Secretary of State Lansing asked.

"The two Pennsylvania-class battleships and two Northampton-class heavy cruisers we sent to the Indian fleet before were actually ineffective. The reorganization was completed half a month ago. As for the rest, it must wait until June for the navy to get two Pennsylvania and two Northampton, and the last eight will be the fastest. It will not be delivered until the end of the year.

As for the Mexican and Lexington class built after the war, they will not be able to get the first four until the end of next year.

This is the fastest!"

Wilson rubbed his eyebrows. He finally knew that the industrial power and the military power were two sides. What's more, no matter how strong the industrial capacity of the United States was, it could not help but consume it. In one day, he lost 23 warships, including 12 new capital ships, especially four Nevada-classes that had just been deployed to the Pacific Ocean. In less than a year, even if all the shipyards are gathered together to build only one warship, it is impossible to get 12 cutting-edge capital ships like the Nevada class in a short time.

Britain's concerns are justified. The Indian Grand Fleet is currently the only one that can compete with the aggressive advantage on the Xinhua Sea, so the four capital ships cannot be withdrawn. If they are not withdrawn, there will be only eight new battleships left in the United States, two of which are still in Australia. Dalia, and the opponent's Pacific fleet alone has four Hebei-class, two Guam-class and two Yanjing-class, and more importantly, two brand-new aircraft carriers with amazing power!

"What should I do? Do we want to throw away both Panama and the West Coast? Lansing pointed to the map of the west coast and shouted.

"It's not that bad." Sitting next to him, William Benson, who had been silent since the beginning, shook his head. The fatigue and blood in his eyes made the general in his fifties a little more haggard. The destruction of the Pacific Fleet was almost a bad news for him. Everyone could see that the first person in the U.S. Navy was exhausted.

"Mt. Gen. Benson is right. Although the morale of the Chinese army is very strong now, it will face the encirclement of millions of our troops after landing on the west coast across the ocean. Even if it can gain a foothold, it will be a huge war of attrition." Jwson added: "Their army is now divided into three parts. According to the current intelligence, 1.5 million have gathered in the northwest, 1.3 million in the south, and Australia has soared to 400,000. In addition, the southwest Pacific islands and Panama have contained about 400,000, and their troops mobilized in the early stage have also reached the limit. The second batch will not complete the training until at least June.

What's more, if they want to complete such a large landing campaign, they need at least tens of millions of tons of supplies and at least more than 1 million troops, so we don't see the possibility of Xinhua Army appearing on the West Coast in the short term.

But this is just our speculation. Now no one knows what Li Mo is thinking, so I suggest that the Australian fleet should be transferred back to strengthen the defense of the West Coast. Jolson said.

"It's too late." William Benson sighed: "This morning, Xinhua naval warships have shelled the Cologne Islands. They did not intend to attack Panama at all, but went to the Cologne Islands. Now there are at least four battleships and two aircraft carriers. In addition, we have received the news that the Marshall Islands and Gilbert. Most of the islands have been lost. The next target of the Xinhua Marine Corps will be the Ryan Islands. The passage from Australia to the west coast has been cut off. At this time, Clarkston can only be returned in vain.

"So we suggest it." Lieutenant General Foreman Morrison, the Secretary of the Army, took over the conversation: "Now, in addition to sending the main army to the West Coast to strengthen defense, we will start to gradually withdraw from cities such as San Francisco and Seattle."

"No, you can't do that!" President Wilson waved his hand: "Foreman, do you know how many people it will involve? How much panic will it cause?

"Mr. President, we have no choice!" William Benson took a deep breath: "Now even if the Atlantic Fleet is transferred to the Pacific Ocean, we only have six capital ships, which can only maintain limited defense, so we must hold on until June, when we can have 10 capital ships and at least three mother ships. Although the attack is insufficient, it is basically We can defend against the security of the West Coast, so we need to buy time, and

Before he finished speaking, President Wilson suddenly stretched out his hand and interrupted, "Gentlemen, what about Europe? Britain and France hope that we can send at least another 1 to 2 million troops, because Russia has encountered difficulties recently, and they need us to make up for Russia's losses.

William Benson and Foreman looked at each other and shook their heads: "Mr. President, with all due respect, now we must first consider the security of the West Coast. According to our calculations, we need at least more than 4 million troops from California to Canada, while the total number of our pre-war army is only 350,000. Of them, 250,000 were sent to Australia, and the additional 300,000 volunteers were also sent there. Although we recruited 5 million troops after the declaration of war, the first 400,000 completed the training have been sent to Europe and India respectively. The second batch of 1.5 million can complete the training within this month, but they need to We have to go to Panama and the West first. We have 3 million in the third batch, but we have to wait until at least June, and we will be sent to the West Coast first!"

"We can no longer send troops to Europe. Not only can we not send troops, but we should immediately contact Canada and ask them to stop sending soldiers to Europe." Foreman said heavily: "The North American continent is suffering from serious external threats!"

"We need to do our best to defend against the Pacific Ocean."

"Wait a minute."

Wilson suddenly interrupted Jonson and said word by word, "Tell me why we are still defending...!"

Why are we still defending?

This sentence immediately made everyone speechless. In addition to the loss of eight capital ships at the beginning of the war, the United States seemed to have entered the strange circle of defense. Even if four Nevada-class battleships were added, when the number of capital ships once exceeded the enemy, the first thing that came to mind was defense.

The United States has fallen into a huge and bitter, and there is no way to save the strategic mistake! What should I do now?

When everyone was lost in thought, the secretary appeared indoors again. This time, he was slightly short of breath, pinched his fist and said excitedly, "Mr. President, there is a turning point in Europe. We have taken Saint-Mières!"

The secretary's excitement quickly solidified on his cheeks, because he did not see the excitement brought by the news, but saw the bitter smile at the corners of everyone's mouth.

God played a huge joke on the United States!

On February 10, after 77 days of brutal fighting and paying the price of 430,000 sacrifices, the Allied Forces broke through the German St. Miel defense line and successfully entered the Verdun fortress, which had been almost smashed by the German army.

Although the battle is far from over, no one can deny that this is a heavy hit for Germany. The cost of the death of up to 230,000 elite soldiers directly made Little Mourke become a scapegoat. He was replaced by Erich von Faginham. In order to save the defeat and prevent the Allied allied forces from continuing to use Verdunwei. Threatening Belgium and Lorraine, Kaiser Wilhelm II even sent the crown prince to fight in person, and began to use gas bombs on a large scale in the Verdun region. The Battle of Saint-Miel entered the second stage.

Although the sacrifice is large, it is undoubtedly a major turning point in the European battlefield, but for the United States, the news is too late!

If Saint-Miel's victory took place before the Battle of the Gulf of Panama, Wilson would certainly send the army to Europe at all costs, hoping to defeat Germany as soon as possible and gather all the forces of the Allies to deal with Xinhua. However, with the defeat of the Gulf of Panama, the strategy of the United States began to change dramatically, and we had to give priority to the West Coast. Safety.

February 15th is a worse day.

The news of the end of the U.S. Pacific Fleet made the hesitate South Americans who had been swaying without a threat. Ecuador attacked and then declared war on the Ally of the pretext that the United States occupied the Colon Islands.

At the same time, the Second Battle of Cologne began. With the support of 2 aircraft carriers and 4 battleships (Hebei class going home to recuperate), 8 cruisers and 20 destroyers, the fifth division of the Xinhua Marine Corps and 50,000 soldiers, inspired by the naval victory in the Gulf of Panama, against Isabel, the main island of the Cologne Islands, which lost the protection of the fleet. La Island launched a fierce attack, and it took only 24 hours to establish a stable landing site. At the same time, the navy also recovered the port of Hebakriso on San Cristobal Island and began to build an air force airport here.

On February 18, after Ecuador, Peru announced that it had joined the Allies to declare war on the Allies and sent two old battleships to join the Ecuadorian navy to the Cologne Islands.

19 said that the United States and Canada began to stop sending soldiers to Europe, and the United States mobilized again, announcing that it would arm 4 million soldiers again.

20 said that the largest anti-war demonstration broke out in the United States, which eventually turned into a conflict. Germans, Chinese and Mexicans were severely persecuted. A total of 627 people were killed and nearly 10,000 people were injured in two days.

22 said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Xinhua solemnly protested the move of the United States to mutilated ordinary people of the Allies, and announced the detailed process of the Panama Bay victory, showing reporters photos of two Nevada-class battleships that were dragged back to Pearl Harbor after 15 days of hard work.

23 said that after receiving an emergency mission, two Western Qin-class heavy aircraft carriers of the First Fleet of the Royal Chinese Navy arrived off the coast of San Francisco and bombed the United States for the first time. Although it only injured less than 400 people, it seriously hit the confidence of the United States. The migration tide that appeared on the East Coast in October last year came. The West Coast.

25 On the 25th, the Ministry of National Defense of the Xinhua Empire announced that the main battle on the Malay Peninsula was over. At the same time, the Kingdom of Brunei, which obtained Sarawak and Sabah, announced that it had joined the alliance and declared war on the Allies.

26 said that the Malay New Deal announced that it would accept the leadership of Xinhua and join the Allies to build a prosperous Asia.

27 said that Laos, supported by Xinhua and Siam, Cambodia and Cambodia announced their secession from Vietnam, established a new autonomy axe, and joined the alliance.

29 said that Vietnam submitted a letter of surrender to Xinhua, ceding all the areas north of Haiphong, becoming the first country among the Allies to surrender. At the same time, the autonomy axe of northern Vietnam was announced. So far, Vietnam, which once ruled most of the Southeast Peninsula with the help of France, has lost more than 70% of its land.

30 said that at the end of the Battle of Cologne, the 27560 U.S. Army soldiers who lost their support put down their weapons and announced their surrender.

After losing the Colon Islands again, not only was the important southwest channel in the Pacific Ocean of the United States completely cut off, but also gave the Xinhua Staff a good opportunity to intervene in Central and South America. It officially announced the establishment of the Central and South American Theater Command on San Cristobal Island, and sent two Yanjing-class fast battleships and six Yangtze River-class. The light patrol and 16 destroyers, together with the navies of Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, formed the United States Fleet of America based on the ports of Hebakuriso and the ports of Guayaquil.

The fleet will aim to block the Gulf of Panama, cut off the route from Australia to the west coast of the United States, and ensure the security of Central and South America. Unexpectedly, the commander of the fleet was General Sa Zhenbing, who returned to the navy after a few months of rest. .

The next day, when Li Mo proposed to reopen the South American route, the Xinhua Navy mobilized 500 ocean-going cargo ships to deliver supplies to Honolulu without interruption. At the same time, the newly trained army soldiers were stationed in the Zhoushan Islands for three months of sea crossing training there.

On March 3, the bad news came to the United States again. 5,000 Xinhua and 20,000 soldiers suddenly appeared in Alaska. In just five days, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands were separated from the United States.

Just as the European battlefield with the Battle of Saint-Mille as the core entered the second stage, the Pacific battlefield also entered a major turning point.

(to be continued)