Three o'clock in the morning, US time, at the White House.
President Roosevelt was woken up by Secretary Louise Howe, and kissed his wife Eleanor apologetically on the forehead. He immediately asked Secretary Miss Lehand and the White House staff to dress him, and then helped him into the wheelchair. Then Lehand
Miss De pushed her all the way to the oval conference room.
In the conference room at this moment, Vice President Garner, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Secretary of War Stimson, and FBI Director John Edgar Hoover were already present.
"Cordell, what's the matter so late?" Roosevelt asked with a smile, not at all unhappy about his sleep being interrupted.
Cordell Hull nodded: "Two very serious incidents have just occurred in the Far East, which may affect the formulation of our country's national policies. At the same time, Mr. Johnson, the Ambassador to China, called us and asked us to further clarify our relations with China, so I will
It is recommended that this meeting be held immediately."
"Oh? What is so important?" Roosevelt habitually picked up the pipe filled with cut tobacco, lit it, took a deep breath, and looked at Secretary Hull with interest.
Hull said solemnly: "Just four hours ago, General An Yi, a cabinet member of the Nanjing government of China and an important leader of the army, was ambushed by Japanese carrier-based fighter jets in the Yellow River area of China. His current whereabouts are unknown, but there is a possibility of an accident.
Very big. Later, the search engine sent by the Chinese Air Force
Looking for the team, traces of the Japanese Second Fleet were discovered in the waters south of Qingdao, China. Desperate for revenge, they launched a surprise attack and sank one Japanese Navy aircraft carrier, two cruisers, and nine destroyers in one fell swoop.
The losses were only two bombers and a reconnaissance aircraft.
"Not only our diplomats cannot believe such a disparity in the results, but officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Navy also find it difficult to accept. The specific combat situation is still being further verified. Since these two incidents are likely to be global
It caused an uproar in Japan, which in turn led to changes in European countries' China policies. Therefore, our government must unify its ideological understanding and find a balance between Japan and China, otherwise I am worried that something will go wrong."
Roosevelt was very surprised: "What? A group of fighter jets sank an aircraft carrier and a cruiser? Is this news concocted on April Fool's Day? Cordell, do you know how many fighter jets the Chinese Air Force dispatched to participate in the war to achieve such a great result?"
Hull looked at the document in his hand: "It was a group of the Air Force, with a total of six squadrons working together to complete this initiative. Before this, I never thought that fighter planes against warships would achieve such brilliant results. I guess this time
After the results of the sea and air war come out, various countries will set off a wave of air force construction. At the same time,
It is also imperative for all major naval powers to upgrade their warships. When going to sea without sufficient anti-aircraft firepower, the fleet will become a moving target for bombers. Warships will also pay more attention to the thickness of their armor. In the future, naval battles will also evolve into sky fighters.
, all-round operations of surface ships and submarines below sea level.”
Roosevelt nodded in agreement. The reason why both Roosevelt administrations chose Claude Swanson, chairman of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee, as Secretary of the Navy was that President Roosevelt saw that Swanson was old and sick and could not function normally at all.
In handling naval affairs, President Roosevelt himself, who had served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for a long time, became the de facto Secretary of the Navy that no one could control.
Roosevelt has been in love with ships and the sea since he was hiding in the attic as a child and looking through the blue cloth-covered whaling ship logs left by his ancestors. As a teenager, he tried every means to collect ship models and pictures, as well as test equipment on old ships.
Cheng Yi, maritime albums, etc. He read voraciously the history of the U.S. Navy and the works of Admiral Mahan.
Driving his father and his own sailboat, he spent countless summers along the coast of Campobello. When he left Harvard University, he collected a total of books, pamphlets, papers, manuscripts, original documents, etc. about the navy and ships.
More than 10,000 items. He is a well-known expert with extensive knowledge of ships and naval business.
Roosevelt personally planned and implemented the U.S. naval development strategy. In the first year after he was elected president, he made a sharp-sighted three-year plan to spend $238 million to build 2 aircraft carriers, 4 cruisers, 20 destroyers and auxiliary ships.
.In 1934, Congress passed the even larger "Vincent-Trammell Act", authorizing the Navy to build 102 warships before 1942, bringing the number of newly built warships to 134.
It can be said that Roosevelt was the first wise man in this era to realize that aircraft carriers play a decisive role in determining the victory of naval battles, and he was an American president who truly understood what kind of ships the navy needed.
"Let's discuss the navy matter later. Now let's study whether it is necessary to change the established policy towards China and Japan to force Japan to withdraw from the war with dignity and return to the track of peace."
When Roosevelt said this, he turned to the FBI's intelligence chief, Edgar Hoover: "Edgar, can you tell us about the current trend of terrorism in the country? What do we, the American people, think of Japan, China, and China?"
What kind of mentality does the war have? If our government is a little tougher on the Communist Party, will it cause strong opposition from the House of Representatives and the Senate?"
John Edgar Hoover coughed slightly: "Because Hollywood Lightning Films releases one or two movies every year that reflect the history of the rise of Japan and expose the ugly face of the Communist government and people. In fact, we the American people have little regard for
Japanese people are very disgusted, and the situation of Japanese Americans in the United States is very difficult. However,
Compared with personal likes and dislikes, what the people fear most is the threat of war. Isolationism is still the main theme at present. This is also a reality that the president had clearly recognized before the election last year. Therefore, if the president shows a certain degree of war,
This tendency will definitely attract criticism from the president and congressmen, and the gains outweigh the losses!
"In fact, as far as I am concerned, not getting involved in the Sino-Japanese war is the best policy. On the one hand, it can greatly consume the national power of Japan and China through continuous wars. On the other hand, it can also deter the extremely expanded nationality of the Chinese in America.
Self-esteem and pride. As we all know, Chinese Americans have been
From less than 100,000 people in 2001 to 3 million now, I think this development momentum is quite alarming and must be resolutely stopped. Of course, everyone knows how all of this was caused. Before the Great Recession of 2009,
The Chinese brought a large amount of money into our country. Before and after the economic crisis,
It has made great gains in the stock market and futures market. In addition, most of the factories and companies it invested in were sold to China and Southeast Asia, earning a large amount of foreign exchange. Although it temporarily alleviated our currency crisis, it also contributed to its completion.
The massive accumulation of capital. All of this was highly valued at the time.
The business activities encouraged by the government can drive and stimulate our economy, but from today's perspective, it seems to be taking advantage of the situation. Then the Chinese consortium used its wealth to organize Chinese immigrants on a large scale and obtain legal status for the immigrants. Over the past few years,
This created a situation where today's tail is too big to lose.
“In the minds of most Americans, although Chinese conglomerates provide a large number of employment opportunities, the continuous influx of Chinese into our country is also increasingly threatening the rights and interests of the American people. Even in the minds of some ultra-nationalists, Chinese
They are a hateful ethnic group like the Jews. With the economic recovery after the New Deal, the government has made great efforts to ensure people's jobs.
When *** immigrants entered the country, the people were overjoyed and even changed the government's slogan of "Americans are Americans' America" to "Work is American's work." So, in fact, in the minds of the people, China and *
Both countries are not countries they like, and the people have no psychological expectations about intervening in the war between these two countries. It is better for our government to be more cautious."
Roosevelt nodded. Although the first pot of gold for his presidential campaign came from Zhang Xi's donation, at this time Roosevelt had already been re-elected for the second term as President of the United States, and he was more concerned about how to safeguard the interests of the United States.
In the first four years of Roosevelt's administration, the Chinese consortium made a significant contribution to solving the unemployment rate in the United States, stabilizing the market economy, and stimulating a comprehensive economic recovery. However, Roosevelt felt that he gave more preferential treatment to the Chinese consortium, especially during the economic crisis when he indulged a large number of
Chinese immigration, in Roosevelt's view, was the fault of former President Hoover and himself. Now the United States
The total population of the country is about 160 million. Although the Chinese have become a huge ethnic group accounting for one-fiftieth of the total population, their influence on Japan is still very weak. There are only a few members in each state and in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
A few. In the current situation where isolationist thoughts are rampant, how to cater to the needs of the majority of the people and consolidate one's rule is the top priority.
Vice President Garner added: "We must also see the positive role that trade with Japan can bring to our country's economic growth. Since last year, our economic recovery momentum has begun to slow down, and factory shutdowns have occurred again in some places.
, although the unemployment situation of workers has been properly arranged through the efforts of our government, this reality tells us that the United States very much needs a market for dumped products.
"China is not an industrial country in the true sense. Every year they also purchase a large number of high-tech products such as engines, precision machining machine tools, automobile production lines, and electronic and electrical production lines produced by our American companies, but their trade share is still far behind that of Japan.
*, and since the war between China and Japan, the Navy has begun to closely patrol China's offshore waters to prevent materials from flowing into China. Although our products can still enter the Chinese market through French Annan, the scale has been further reduced. Under such circumstances
Next, Mr. President, how do you think the major chaebols will handle Sino-Japanese relations?"
"Okay, I understand what you mean!"
Roosevelt finally made up his mind: "The United States must stay away from war, but war can greatly promote the demand for steel, oil, grain, rubber, chemical products and other raw materials and strategic materials by China and Japan, which are at war, and can expand the use of American products in the above two countries. my country's sales share will promote the overall recovery of our country's economy. Therefore, there is no need for us to get involved in the Sino-Japanese dispute. We can just wait and see how it changes. It is expected that the scale of the war between China and Japan will be larger in the future, affecting all areas. Wider, unless one side surrenders, the war will never stop..."
...
Baoding, Qingyuan Airport.
Nearly an hour had passed since the search operation in charge of the Fifth Army Military Police Regiment and the Army Intelligence Division. Air Force Commander Zhou Zhirou, who was unaware of the truth at first, stood up and shouted loudly. However, under the instruction of Colonel Xiao Ruofei, the commander of the Military Police Regiment,
Immediately order all places to be opened to inspection by Anjia officers and soldiers.
All officers and soldiers of the Central Air Force sensed the seriousness of the matter from the murderous red eyes of the Anjia officers and soldiers, and cooperated fully without any resistance.
"Report to the commander, I took the 1st and 2nd battalions and searched all the pilot dormitories, hangars, maintenance shops and other places, and found nothing." Major Yan Jiusheng, the deputy commander, ran to Xiao Ruofei's side and stood at attention to report.
"Reporting that the mechanics, navigators, plotters and other staff of our Southwest Air Force stationed at Baoding Airport have all been visited. At the same time, during the consultation with the ground staff, no abnormalities were found." Zhang Mingchi, commander of the third battalion.
The major looked helpless after reporting.
Xiao Ruofei's heart sank: "What's going on? Did I make a mistake in my judgment? No, how did the Japanese fighter planes determine the takeoff time of the commander's plane?"
At this time, Colonel Li Mu, deputy director of the Intelligence Division, came to Xiao Ruofei: "Commander Xiao, I want to ask you a question: According to Battalion Commander Zhou Song of the Third Battalion of the *** Division Teaching Group stationed at the airport, before the commander arrived at the airport in the morning
, there was once a 'big leopard' carrying
Three officers and soldiers of the Military Police Regiment went to the airport to stand in front of the brigade. Since they were dressed the same as our soldiers, and they had been notified of the trip by the commander of the Corps Headquarters early this morning, they were released after briefly checking their documents. Initially, I thought it was nothing, but
Camp Commander Zhou again
They said that the "Big Leopard" had left before the commander's plane took off. They were a little surprised. Logically speaking, after seeing off the commander, they should return to the camp with you, so Battalion Commander Zhou specifically asked.
The one sitting in the passenger seat
The lieutenant colonel said that he was ordered to go back to the camp to get something. The commander was in a hurry to ask for it. Battalion Commander Zhou thought there was no problem and let him go. Not long after, the commander's special plane took off, but the lieutenant colonel of the gendarmerie regiment who went back to get something did not come back.
I have always had this matter in mind."
This Li Mu was the former deputy section chief of the Political Training Section of the Public and Tibetan Division who took the initiative to cover up An Yi's identity when An Yi crashed and was captured by the Red Army. After being rescued by Ding Zhicheng, he went to the Central Military Academy for half a year under An Yi's arrangement.
After completing his training, he was assigned to the 17th Division. Now he has been promoted to Colonel and Deputy Director of the Intelligence Department of the Fifth Army Corps, and he is considered to be outstanding.
"No, the gendarmerie didn't send anyone to attack the front line!"
Xiao Ruofei categorically rejected: "Everything has been arranged, how can we still send people to attack the front line? There is definitely a problem! Since they are suspicious, why don't the people from the *** division teaching team stop them?"
Li Mu did not answer Xiao Ruofei's question. He pondered for a moment and suddenly said: "This matter is getting more and more complicated. Only our Anjia Army is equipped with the 'Big Leopard' off-road vehicle. So far, among other friendly forces in North China, only the War Zone
The headquarters sent ten vehicles. This was mainly due to the respect of the commanders in the theater.
Six of the vehicles sent out were used by Commander Liu Zhi of the Second Army. In addition, the commander gave five vehicles to General Wan Fulin of the 53rd Army and five to General Pang Bingxun of the 40th Army. They were fully equipped, except for ourselves.
Outside of others, these twenty 'big leopards' are the only ones that can be stolen and passed off as our own."
"It should be impossible for General Wan Lao and General Pang Lao. If they really want to be disadvantageous to the commander, wouldn't there be more and better opportunities on the battlefield in Tianjin a few days ago?"
At this point, Xiao Ruofei was extremely shocked: "So, the theater headquarters and the Second Army have serious suspicions..."
Li Mu also felt that the matter was difficult: "This matter has been out of our control. We have to report the situation to the Corps Headquarters as soon as possible, and the commander and chief of staff will investigate. As long as the confirmation is reported to the theater headquarters and the commander of the Second Group Army,
Whoever owns the leopard, and now whose car is gone, can roughly know who the suspect is!"
Xiao Ruofei was convinced, looked at each other with Li Mu, and quickly ran to the airport telecommunications room.