Iron Cross

The news that the German army was making a large-scale landing in Arakaloo followed the Army Aviation report and poured into Washington, Recife, and the headquarters of the retreating Fifth Army. Everyone's expression changed drastically...

As of the evening of September 9, the Fifth Army was fighting and retreating at a retreat speed of 30-40 kilometers per day. The forward was already on the Esplanada line. The connection between the rearguard and the forward was very close, and the distance between the front and rear marches was only more than 60 kilometers. , but the total number has dropped to just over 75,000 - soldiers continue to be left behind, injured or missing due to air raids and pursuits (the nickname of fleeing or surrendering)

The pursuit group led by Rommel followed closely, but did not try to penetrate. During the forced pursuit, Rommel's troops also lost more than 2,000 troops, but he did not want to give up.

After the Sauken Group eliminated Roosevelt's troops, it began to advance wildly. Except for the 2nd Armored Grenadier Division, which sailed north to land, the rest of the troops deployed along the Brazilian plains. The daily advancement speed is as high as 120-140 kilometers. Shaoken has ordered all ministries to just advance and not to worry about the marching sequence. The order of the main pursuit group is quite chaotic.

The biggest obstacle restricting the advancement of the German mechanized troops is fuel and supplies. These supplies are on board the ship, but they cannot be unloaded at Seguru Port or other places. As the troops advance, the supply center set up at the rear will become increasingly crowded. the further away. The German army does not have the air transport capabilities that the United States uses to ensure the supply of materials. Now the South German army has only received a total of more than 30 transport aircraft, and it is impossible to provide sufficient supplies for tens of thousands of troops. Without fuel, it was impossible to catch up with the Americans simply relying on infantry on foot.

At this time, the German war experience came into play. Rommel's profound intention in sending most of the transport fleet south and accompanying the troops to the north can also be seen. Now he has broken the airborne division into parts and deployed them as a platoon-level battle group. Transport planes airborne section by section, and then they went to the front line to form emergency supply depots.

The supplies for the military depot came from supplies on cargo ships. They accompanied the army as they moved north. When they encountered a "military depot", they used cranes to place fuel and supplies on the Sibel landing craft. These guys who could land on the beach turned into the military depot material transport team. According to The paratroopers roared with instructions and stormed the beach, using primitive but timely methods to deliver supplies. Each landing craft can transport at least 300 tons of supplies every day. The joint operation of multiple landing crafts is completely sufficient to support the assault group operations of the troops, because the troops only consume fuel and supplies, but no ammunition, and the supply requirements are relatively low.

On the other hand, although the U.S. military's supply operation is generous, it is completely bleeding. The supplies and fuel carried by the Fifth Army are partly consumed, partly discarded or lost, and they are already in crisis.

Even on the way to escape, American soldiers still had higher needs for supplies than the Germans. In order to meet the needs of Patton's troops, Arnold was forced to transfer precious transport aircraft that were originally used for strategic airlift to deliver supplies to Patton, and then paired them with a large number of fighter jets, so that the number of fighter jets that were supposed to provide cover for the bombers began to be insufficient.

All the German pilots were chanting: "General Arnold is a good man. He knew that we lacked records and were eager for points, so he sent a 4-engine heavy transport aircraft to our door. He made an indelible contribution to the medal cause of the German Air Force. May God May he remain Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army Aviation!"

The reason is the simplest: in the German military evaluation system, shooting down a 4-engine transport aircraft counts as 4 points, and shooting down a single-engine fighter only counts as 1 point. No matter how weak the U.S. fighter pilots are, they are always more difficult to defeat than the transport planes. Now the pilots are swarming to arrest them. Just open fire and beat up the transport plane.

Even if the US military switches to night airlift, they are not afraid. There are many Western Front night fighter aces in the German army. They know the rules best - the number of kills in night battles is doubled. Lieutenant General Garland personally admitted that this principle still applies to Brazil.

Heinz Schnaufer is the number one ace of the Luftwaffe's night fighters. He has more than 70 kill records on the Western Front (mostly British 4-round heavy bombers such as Halifax and Lancaster, because the US military only likes Playing day air raids), this time a large number of night fighter pilots headed by him pestered Garland to come to Brazil, but the latter could not resist them and brought more than 20 aces. As a result, Schnaufer alone killed 9 transport planes and 2 P-47 night fighters with radar in one fell swoop during the two nights of September 7-8, without himself being harmed!

Other night aces also made frequent gains, ranging from 1 to 3-4.

The strategic airlift lasted for three days. Although it met the fifth group army's material needs for a week, the Army Air Forces lost more than 400 transport aircraft crews and more than 60 fighter pilots - all of whom were experienced and skilled, which made General Arnold painful. Heartbroken, sleepless all night. It also made Rommel understand the seemingly childish instructions from the head of state in the telegram: "There is no need to rush to eliminate the US troops in the Fifth Army. They can take the opportunity to use up their pilots and transport troops to create convenience for the next stage. "

This unusual instruction greatly benefited the Air Force.

Gauss, who was based in El Salvador, didn't understand the US military's tactics very much: Running hundreds of kilometers to escape to Recife was obviously not a good idea. Why not just find a place with favorable terrain to stabilize, gather troops, and wait for supplies to fight? What about the Battle of the Brazilian Encirclement? It is entirely possible to wait for Recife or other American troops to come to the rescue. Wouldn't this be better and more lasting than running exhausted?

Of course, Patton also wanted to find a place to fight a defensive war. He believed that the troops would be overwhelmed sooner or later if this continued, but no one agreed with this view. Everyone believed that once they were surrounded by the German army, it would be a dead end - the African campaign had proved this, and the Australian and New Zealand troops As soon as they flew away, wouldn't the other American troops in the encirclement surrender?

Patton's own explanation was not convincing at all. He could only run away with his troops and watched helplessly as his troops changed from 110,000 to 100,000, and from 100,000 to 90,000 and 80,000. He didn't know when he ran to Resi. Philip still has tens of thousands left. Besides, is Recife definitely safe? Clark only had 100,000 troops there. Why could the 5th Army's 100,000-strong enemy be stopped in Recife?

Clark suggested a way: let Patton's troops defend on the spot to attract the attention of the German army, and the 100,000 people in Recife could make an emergency retreat before the German army came up. You can also go to Venezuela, British Guiana, or Brazil. Giving up, even losing all equipment and supplies, and withdrawing 100,000 officers and soldiers is the only way to go. He calculated that if 2,000 transport planes were used to carry out the evacuation mission, transporting 30,000 officers and soldiers every day, it would only take four days to transport them all. If there was still extra time, some supplies and light equipment could also be transported away.

As for Patton's remaining tens of thousands of troops, he could do nothing to help them. Of course, he made one thing clear: officers and technical units above major level were valuable assets, and they had to be evacuated from the air.

But even he himself did not dare to report this strategy to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was quick-thinking and found an intermediary. He asked a Democratic congressman who was a family friend to send the evacuation plan directly to Truman, hoping that the president would consider it from an overall perspective. thing.

Although Truman did not understand military affairs, he was shocked by the information revealed by members of Congress from his own party. He barely pretended not to know who proposed the method, and only said: "I understand, and we will discuss it later. "

"Your Excellency, if this matter is not handled well, it will go to court in the future. I am very anxious about this. Please make a comprehensive plan."

"Abandon the 5th Army? No! You can't do this!" Eisenhower understood immediately after hearing this, and jumped to his feet and cursed, "Did that bastard Clark propose it? He only wants to retreat! This is the case in Africa! The landing in El Salvador The same is true in the war. Now he has to retreat to Venezuela. Where can he retreat to Florida next time? If the Germans approach Florida, will he want to go to the Great Lakes again? "

"Ike, don't get excited, I haven't expressed my consent yet." Truman gritted his teeth and said, "I need the Joint Chiefs of Staff to tell me what it means for the German troops to land in Arakalu, and whether Patton's troops will return Not coming? Once Patton’s entire army is finally destroyed, will the other units in Recife (also part of the Fifth Army) not be able to survive?”

"Your Excellency, this does not mean..."

"Ike, we have to be prepared for the worst. If we only look at half of the problem every time, and find out at the end of the day that this won't work, that won't work, we will be the unlucky ones in the end." Truman fell into a somewhat crazy state and patted the table. He yelled, "I can accept whoever needs to be sacrificed or lost, and I can have expectations. The only thing I can't accept is that you first tell me that this is okay and that there is hope. That will never happen. In the end, things will always turn to the worst." I can’t explain to Congress and the people the direction of development.”

After a while, he calmed down and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't lose my temper with you, but I urgently want to know, what is the worst consequence? Can we bear this consequence?"

Eisenhower sighed and told him the results of the emergency deliberations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today (September 10): He hopes that Patton's troops can break through the enemy's obstruction and join the Recife defenders. In this way, Recife is expected to have more than 150,000 troops. This place has been operating for many years, its fortifications and defense systems are relatively complete, and its supplies are relatively sufficient. We will rely on these for long-term defense. The Navy has confirmed that the Atlantic Fleet will be partially restored by October. Two Essex-class ships have been built and are undergoing sea trials and training. The other two Alaska-class cruisers (barely close to battle cruisers) will also be put into service and will be deployed. The New Jersey accompanies the fleet operations, which can effectively contain the German fleet. Then, depending on the situation, continuing to send more troops to Brazil or covering the army's retreat are negotiable options.

"Do you have to wait until October?" Truman's heart suddenly went cold. His intuition told him: Patton's troops will not last until October...