Iron Cross

After receiving the inquiry telegram from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, MacArthur and Nimitz looked worried - the United States had been forced into a corner, and it would be over if they were not cautious.

MacArthur was initially unwilling to accept the position of Chief of Staff of the Army. He had already held this position and now preferred to command the entire Pacific Theater. However, Truman sent him a telegram telling him that the overall war situation was unfavorable and hoped that he would put the most urgent needs of the country first, so the latter agreed to accept the appointment.

"How did William use escort carriers to attack the Japanese break-up fleet more than 2,000 kilometers away from Hawaii?" Nimitz did not directly affirm or deny Halsey's offensive intention, but asked, "Escort carriers cannot take off heavy-duty attack aircraft. Even if you go back and use SBD, you can only carry one 500-pound bomb, and the killing power is too small. "

"General Halsey noticed this difficulty. His strategy was to carry all fighter jets on the escort carriers: F4U or F6F. The F4Us carried a 500-pound bomb. The 14 escort carriers could mobilize a total of more than 400 fighters, of which 150 The F4U can also carry a 500-pound bomb." Smith explained Halsey's very complex tactical system:

1. Luring the enemy to attack first at a long-distance contact position: Appearing at a distance of 700-800 kilometers to lure the Tsunoda fleet to attack. Halsey estimates that the Japanese army can send up to 200 attack aircraft to attack (calculated based on 4 Japanese aircraft carriers). He plans to use fighter jets to consume the Japanese army - the loss of a few escort carriers does not matter. It is feasible to exchange the ships for Japanese aircraft and crews. The downed US pilots still have the opportunity to be salvaged and rescued. This can weaken the size of the Japanese aircraft fleet and even allow them to get closer. Some of our own fleet;

2. Continue to approach and coordinate the attack by land and sea: Since the escort aircraft carrier cannot take off heavy-loaded attack aircraft, Halsey hopes that the Army Aviation will send heavy bombers to attack the Japanese fleet. Our fleet will take off carrier-based fighter jets midway to escort, and some fighter jets will be attached. The 500-pound bombs were used to attack in a coordinated manner and the bombs were dropped to continue escorting. This solved the problem of the Army aviation bombers having no escorts.

3. If the first wave's strategy of luring the enemy to attack first fails, close the distance again and attack forcefully.

"General Halsey intends to sacrifice the sinking of 5-6 of his escort aircraft carriers and the loss of 150 land aviation crews and 100 sea aviation crews in exchange for the total annihilation or severe damage to the enemy's engagement fleet."

Nimitz sighed: "William's tactical theory is feasible, but there are many problems in practice."

"Please tell me and I can forward these opinions to Hawaii and Washington."

"First, who stipulates that the Japanese must respond to the battle? What should the Japanese fleet do when they discover that Halsey's fleet has left the harbor, turn around to avoid the battle and lengthen the distance? I have already made this mistake, and I hope he will not make it again."

Smith nodded. He knew that Nimitz was talking about the problems in the South Atlantic Battle. He had made several plans for the fight with Krank, but he did not consider how the other side would avoid fighting and hide and seek. As a result, he was very passive later. Hal The situation in the West is almost exactly the same.

"Second, this tactic requires too much coordination. What if the army aviation formation and the aircraft carrier fighter group are forming, and the Japanese attack aircraft group pounces on them? Luck is a very fatal thing. After the Battle of Midway, a Japanese sailor told me They were changing ammunition when the army attacked. The deck was full of bombs, and the explosion was very powerful. It would have been impossible for this to happen half an hour earlier or half an hour later, but we hit it right." Nimitz. Sighing, "One more thing. The whereabouts of the Japanese main fleet after taking French Polynesia are unknown, which is very worthy of attention."

"My opinion is: patiently wait for the opportunity and don't attack for the time being!" Nimitz thought for a while, "Let them find a way to figure out where the main force of the combined fleet is. If I am sure that it is not near Polynesia, I can even take a risk and let the TF48 fleet Cross the blockade to Pearl Harbor!"

"Sir, this is too dangerous!" Smith exclaimed.

"The danger is a little bit, but it is not insurmountable. After completing its rest in Melbourne, the Franklin will at least be able to exert its full combat effectiveness and supplement its pilots, and the engine of the Wasp will also improve."

Australia's shipbuilding level is stronger than that of South Africa. The Franklin is convinced that it can be repaired, and the Wasp is partially repaired, which can restore the maximum speed to more than 24 knots. Australia currently has 6 escort aircraft carriers stranded, and Nimitz sent some pilots and aircraft to them. Franklin, and two more escort carriers were deployed to join TF48.

Now the strength of TF48 has returned to the level of 2 fleet aircraft carriers (one of which is incapable of combat) and 4 escort aircraft carriers. Although the pilot level is not as good as that of the South Atlantic period, it is at least full.

Nimitz walked to the chart: "The original route was to New Zealand and then go around the South Pacific. This speed is too slow. My idea is this. After the fleet left Melbourne, it headed northeast, in New Caledonia and Stand by in the middle waters of Fiji. If you are sure that the main force of the combined fleet is not there, continue to move northeast, try to pass through the overlapping air defense patrol circle between the Marshall Islands and Christmas Island at night, and then break into the Pearl Harbor air defense circle, even if it is attacked early the next morning. The enemy's reconnaissance aircraft discovered that our military's combination of one fleet aircraft carrier and four escort aircraft carriers has sufficient self-defense capabilities. This entire journey is about 6,000 nautical miles, which is half the cost of taking a detour to the South Pacific to return to the homeland."

"The only disadvantage is..." Nimitz walked up to MacArthur and said in a very apologetic tone, "I have to ask you to risk crossing the blockade with us."

"Haha, it's nothing. If you're not afraid, I'm fine." MacArthur waved his arms. "The president said that at this point, no one in America is not expendable. We old men who have been in the military all our lives should set an example for the people below and let them know our confidence and courage."

The Hawaiian issue was solved satisfactorily: after Nimitz's counter-proposal was sent back, not only did Leahy, Turner, Mitchell and others of the Joint Chiefs of Staff agree, but Ingram and Halsey of the Pacific Fleet also agreed. If the Pacific Fleet returns to the combination of 2 regular aircraft carriers + 18 escort aircraft carriers, the war can still be fought.

The army issue was very thorny. After careful consideration, MacArthur gave a completely different suggestion:

"I have been serving in the Pacific theater and have basically never fought against the German army. I am relatively unfamiliar with it, but it also means that I can evaluate it from a relatively independent and unbiased standpoint.

From the progress of a series of wars in the past two years, I think there should be a clear positioning of the combat effectiveness of both sides...

I agree with General Clark's point of view: Under the premise that the US Army does not have firepower and air superiority, it needs at least 3 times the troops and a favorable defense system to resist the German attack; under the premise that neither side has air superiority, at least 2 times the troops are needed to be on par with the enemy; under the premise of mastering firepower and air superiority, the US Army of the same strength may perform better. This conclusion is cruel, but it must be faced.

Specific to the current South American war, as of the intelligence received so far, I think it is necessary to Let's look at it from two perspectives: After the enemy landed in Alacal, Patton's troops were faced with an unfavorable situation of being blocked in front and pursued from behind, which was basically equivalent to being surrounded. Now he still had about 70,000 troops who were exhausted, wounded, and had a weak fighting spirit and organization. It was impossible to expect them to fight their way out. I also disagree with the view proposed by some staff officers that Clark's troops should go south to support, which would only involve more troops and end up ruining them.

According to reconnaissance, they faced three enemy forces. The first was the intercepting enemy who had just landed in front of them, about 20,000 (actually less than 14,000); the second was the pursuing enemy who was chasing them closely behind, about 30,000 (actually 17,000); the third was the German army that was heading north from the east coast of Brazil, about 80,000 (actually about 60,000)... As long as the first group successfully blocked Patton's troops for more than 3 days, they would be trapped and eventually destroyed.

Therefore, I suggest that Patton Patton's troops immediately looked for a place with favorable terrain nearby to defend the dangerous terrain, and at the same time tried every means to build an airport. The Army Aviation dispatched transport planes to cover the troops' retreat, imitating the retreat method of the African campaign - all supplies and equipment were abandoned, only people were left! Consider withdrawing to Guyana or Venezuela to regroup.

In order to avoid causing chaos, and to avoid all kinds of criticism and morale collapse caused by poor preparation during the retreat of the African campaign, it is recommended that officers explain to all soldiers and encourage their determination and courage to fight for the country to the end and cover other companions to retreat first. I hope to give priority to the withdrawal of most officers - some officers with a spirit of self-sacrifice may need to stay to boost morale.

While Patton's group retreated strategically, Clark's group must hold on to the Recife area and build the first line of defense to block the German army from advancing to the mainland. The Army and Army Aviation must send more forces to South America for coordinated defense and build It is proposed to send more airborne troops to South America to strengthen the strength. In view of General Clark's plan to return to the United States to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff, I hope that the President can make an exception and promote General Matthew Ridgway to the supreme commander of the Recife Group. His courage and tenacity are enough to help us win the defensive war..."

Eisenhower carefully read the long telegram sent by MacArthur from Australia:

Truman quickly understood what MacArthur meant:

First, Patton's group is basically finished, and we should save as much as we can;

Second, the Recife Group cannot be withdrawn. If it is withdrawn, not only the Caribbean Sea but also the soft underbelly of the United States will be directly exposed to the German attack, which is very dangerous;

Third, MacArthur hinted that Clark's overall view and strategy are okay, and it is feasible to be the Deputy Chief of Staff, but he is not suitable for leading troops on the front line (just the opposite of Patton), and he is not enough to take on the defense of Recife. Ridgway must be replaced.

Everyone quickly discussed this opinion...