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Volume 2 Growth Chapter 724 The Argument of Persistence

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    "We must not abandon the island of Haiti. Once this large island falls into the hands of the Germans, most of their bodies will move into the Caribbean, and their troops will be directed towards Cuba, which is only separated by a strait. Our troops are in  The beachhead anti-landing fortifications and in-depth defense systems built here are far from reassuring. It must be noted that although the terrain of Haiti is rugged, neighboring Cuba is almost entirely plain.  It is suitable for the use of armored power. If we can't stop the German infantry attack in Haiti, how can we resist the opponent's armored group in Cuba?" At the impromptu war meeting, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Marshall said solemnly.  Said to the crowd.  In front of a broad long table with maps spread out, a group of senior U.S. military generals looked gloomy and pessimistic: the cold wind at the end of the year squeezed in from the windows, making them feel a little more powerless about the future war situation.  In order to resist the expansion of the German army on the island of Haiti, they had sent their most capable soldiers to the barbaric land to hold on to the danger; however, after a real fierce battle, they discovered that those few soldiers who felt great to them were  The army simply cannot withstand the real test of war.  With their strength and air superiority, their performance was unsatisfactory. Once the situation deteriorated, the retreat of these troops would be as irreversible as an avalanche!  "The only strategy we can adopt now is to further increase troops to the island of Haiti, so that we can stabilize the front line again and buy time for the defense of Cuba. More heavy artillery, tanks, and combat aircraft should also be stationed on the island quickly.  . In order to increase the amount of heavy weapons support that the soldiers can get." Seeing his colleagues around him looking like they were mourning, they just looked at the map on the table in silence, and the corner of Marshall's mouth twitched.  Finally, after waiting for a long time, he spoke again and said, "At the same time, we also need to carry out a violent blow to the Germans' logistics supply lines to make them stop their offensive due to lack of supplies; now every bullet and every one of their  Spare parts have to be shipped from Europe 4,500 miles away. As long as we can sink a few of their transport ships, the German operations on the island of Haiti will naturally stop. " "General Marshall, I'm afraid.  It¡¯s hard to realize your strategy.¡± The bald new commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Johnson, finally spoke out, ending the embarrassing scene of Marshall¡¯s one-man show at the meeting.  "After the unfortunate Battle of Bermuda, the number of warships that can be dispatched by the Atlantic Fleet has been sharply reduced; at present, when German submarine activities are rampant, it is impossible for the Navy to take the huge risk of being attacked by submarines and accurately attacked by guided bombs, and send precious large-scale warships  The ships go out to sea to meet the enemy. Currently, the fleet parked at the Guantš¢namo base in Cuba only has ships below the heavy cruiser level, with a total of only 1 cruiser squadron and 3 destroyer squadrons, while the German fleet is based in San Juan Port and various ports in Venezuela.  , its tonnage is at least three times that of our army, which greatly restricts the activities of our fleet." Johnson looked solemn, and his words contained unconcealed worry: "With the German Air Force on the island of Haiti.  As the situation becomes stronger, the transportation routes between Guantanamo and Port-au-Prince have become quite dangerous; in order to avoid being attacked by the other side from the sea and the air, our ships transporting supplies to the army on the island of Haiti have been moved from  Slow merchant ships that can carry a large amount of cargo have become fast destroyers, and the cargo tonnage is almost an order of magnitude less than that of merchant ships. Therefore, if the navy continues to increase its troops on a large scale to the island of Haiti, it will be difficult to ensure the transportation and supply of these troops.  . As for attacking the opponent's rear supply line, our submarine force has launched an all-out attack since the beginning of last month. Judging from their results in sinking 17 cargo ships and damaging 7 ships in the past month, I think.  It is also difficult to realize that they can cause decisive damage to the German convoy with a complete escort system by themselves. "As long as we have more than three destroyers every day, don't we?"  If the destroyer can be fully loaded with supplies and unloaded in Port-au-Prince, it should be able to support the daily consumption of two or three armies, right?" Marshall retorted.  Although he is from the army, it does not mean that his knowledge in the naval field is blank: in order to eliminate the threat of German forces in the Caribbean, he has studied a lot about land and sea coordinated operations in the past few weeks.  case.  If all goes well, three destroyers can carry more than 700 tons of various supplies, and their total transportation volume will not be less than that of a small merchant ship.  Look at the other person's face that still wants to fight.  Marshall said slowly: "General Johnson, the Navy must make certain sacrifices for the interests of the United States. What is more important than a few warships and an island of great strategic significance? I guess you don't need me to explain it to you again, right?"  Johnson couldn't help but change his expression at the other party's last words.  The previous German occupation of Puerto Rico and the landing in the Dominican Republic were precisely due to the incompetence of the army defending the island, which caused the most serious consequences for the entire two-ocean strategy of the United States: andTo pay for what the Army idiots did, the Atlantic Fleet, which was at an absolute disadvantage as a whole, was forced to attack, and paid a heavy price in the sinking of 4 aircraft carriers and 2 new battleships under the opponent's violent thunder and lightning strikes.  Now, due to the incompetence of this group of armies, they are dragging the navy into danger: Which of the German aircraft, battleships, and submarines is a vegetarian soft-footed shrimp?  If a battle breaks out with the opponent, you, who is at an absolute disadvantage in the lineup, will suffer greatly no matter from which angle you look at it!  "General Marshall, you are doing this to put the strength accumulated by the fleet during the reconstruction period into a harsh war of attrition! I will not allow you to re-enter the fleet that has not recovered from injuries for the sake of an adventure.  "Dragged into a pit full of sharp edges!" Johnson loudly accused without mercy. His angry and stern face and strong voice were in sharp contrast to the worried silence at the beginning of the meeting.  Facing the suddenly excited fleet commander, Marshall still spoke calmly: "General Johnson, it is also Mr. President's wish to stick to the island of Haiti. We must persist on this island for another six months to gain sufficient time to consolidate Cuba's defenses.  . In addition, this also buys time for the navy to regain its strength. If the island of Haiti is suddenly lost, the German army will definitely invade Cuba and even endanger the homeland;  It is countless times more serious than using destroyers to risk transporting supplies. The current consumption is ultimately more than the new battleships. This is essentially the same as the navy's dormant strategy of sitting back and watching the Germans expand their power in Guyana a few months ago!  It¡¯s the same, you just need to pay some fees in advance.¡± Johnson fell silent after hearing this.  If the situation is true as Marshall said, it is not wrong for the Navy to take risks in the waters east of Cuba; however, what he is most worried about is that the Army will not be able to hold on for the expected time, causing the family's already stretched Atlantic Fleet to suffer another heavy blow.  Since the other party pulled out the president's tiger skin again, Johnson could only reluctantly accept it. He looked at Marshall in front of him with a complicated expression and said: "Your Excellency, Chief of General Staff, I hope the Army can meet your expectations in this operation."  "After many discussions, the United States has decided on a plan to send a large number of troops to Haiti.  The mobilized army troops took a train to Miami, the southernmost tip of Florida, and then transferred to a destroyer and sailed nearly 650 nautical miles to Port-au-Prince in the west of Haiti. The entire journey can be completed in one day.  Heavy equipment such as artillery is transported by light cruisers, and army artillery fixed on the deck of a battleship is a rare sight.  According to the U.S. military's plan, they will deploy another 4 divisions to the island, bringing the total number of U.S. troops fighting on the island of Haiti to 8 divisions and 90,000 people.  In addition, a large number of fighter and bomber squadrons have also swarmed into the Port-au-Prince base. The U.S. military has assumed a posture of fighting the Germans to the end on this remote island.  Naturally, this large-scale American operation was not hidden from the German reconnaissance eyes and ears.  The high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft modified from the JU-88 fast bomber discovered the opponent's movements, and the German army quickly responded accordingly: all attacking armies accelerated their advance in order to occupy as much space as possible before the opponent's reinforcements arrived.  There are many transportation arteries, and the naval fleet and air force also attack with all their strength, aiming to send the opponent's reinforcements into the sea to feed the fish.  After a few days, the losses of both sides increased significantly compared with the battles in the previous days: two US destroyers were sunk in the night battle, one of which was fully loaded with 300 tons of munitions that had not had time to be unloaded, which directly caused the US 14th Division to  They lost in the defensive battle of Santiago, an important town in the center of Haiti (this place name is very common in the Americas), and were forced to retreat in large strides backwards.  One German destroyer was sunk and another suffered heavy damage. The battle losses of aircraft on both sides increased rapidly, so that in the subsequent battles, they all chose to stay somewhat cautiously.  "Haiti is an island of mountains and mountains, which is not suitable for large numbers of troops to fight in groups. This time the Americans sent a large number of troops to the island, and their purpose may only be to protect this key bridgehead in eastern Cuba." In the frontline command post hidden in the jungle, the German army  Under the gaze of many eyes, Commander Kesselring of the Caribbean Theater stabbed his finger on the map in front of him and said, "In this case, we can take advantage of the situation to change the focus of our attack and directly choose to attack Cuba; the strategic significance of this place is undoubtedly  It¡¯s much higher than Haiti!¡± (To be continued) PS: Thanks to book friends Jin Crab and r for their monthly support, and Golden Crab, Yuan yh1234567, and zhouyu1976 for their rewards~~~?¡­
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