On April 12, the 31st year of the Republic of China (1942), when the Chinese Expeditionary Force was undergoing intense training in Burma, when the Japanese army was massively increasing its troops to the Southeast Asian battlefield through the mainland transportation line, when the US-British Allied Forces and the German-Italian Allied Forces in the African battlefield were still in a stalemate.
, but a violent change occurred on the European battlefield-the Soviet Union split!
In June last year, Germany launched a powerful offensive propaganda against the Soviet Union, which eventually led to the first split of the Soviet Union. Among the 15 republics that formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (referred to as the Soviet Union), except for the Russian Federation, the remaining 14 republics
All broke away from the Soviet Union and successively joined the Axis Alliance led by Germany.
Yue Weihan, a little butterfly, flapped its wings in Asia, but it turned out to be a hurricane in Europe!
Compared with history, the Russian Federation at this time has been greatly weakened in terms of military strength and war potential compared to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is also in chaos, and Stalin's dictatorship is facing increasing challenges.
Such a severe challenge that even Molotov began to openly criticize Stalin's Great Purge policy on different occasions.
However, the biggest change compared to history was Nazi Germany’s policy towards the Soviet Union!
In the historical Soviet-German war, Nazi Germany was an absolute military offensive. Hitler, a crazy fascist, did not bother to take any political measures. But this time, Hitler unexpectedly listened to Okamura Neiji's suggestion and attacked the Soviet Union.
The policy was adjusted to focus on political propaganda and supplemented by military offensive!
In October last year, after the Soviet Union split and Belarus, Ukraine and other union republics announced they would join the Axis Alliance, 5.5 million German troops launched simultaneous attacks in three strategic directions: Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad.
The German army achieved unprecedented results in the early stages of the war, annihilating more than 5 million Soviet Red Army troops in just half a month.
After that, the German army did not continue to go deep as it had in history, but stopped at the borders between Russia and Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia and other countries. In this way, the German army could obtain support from Ukraine and other allies nearby, thus avoiding the damage caused by the harsh winter.
It has a logistical supply dilemma, but it can maintain strong military pressure on Russia.
Hitler's move can be described as quite vicious. 5.5 million elite German troops pressed on the border, bringing unprecedented pressure to the entire Russia. However, the German army delayed attacking. This gave the Russians a chance to breathe, and also gave Russia a chance to breathe.
People created the illusion that the country would not be in danger for the time being, which led to the whole of Russia falling into endless quarrels.
Reflections on the Great Purge, criticism of Trotskyism, the failure of German counter-propaganda, the distribution and use of US aid supplies, the defensive deployment of the German army, the mobilization of reserve troops, etc., everything,
They all became the trigger for fierce quarrels among the top leaders of the Russian Communist Party, and Stalin became increasingly unable to control the situation.
On the night of April 11, 1942, the coup that shocked the world finally took place!
After repeated temptations from the German Nazi group, the dictator Stalin's most loyal follower, Soviet Prime Minister Molotov, together with Marshal Budyonny of the Soviet Red Army, launched a military coup. However, the coup makers failed to capture Stalin because the coup
Someone in the camp tipped off, and Stalin learned the news in advance and hid in Marshal Voroshilov's military camp.
The next day, Molotov announced that the Soviet Union would withdraw from the Anti-Fascist Alliance and join the Axis Alliance.
On the same day, Stalin, who had fled to Stalingrad, gave a radio speech, declaring Molotov a traitor and calling on the people of the entire Soviet Union to rise up to resist and crush the traitor's conspiracy. Half an hour after the speech was delivered, the commander of the Soviet Far East Military Region, General Zhukov, was about to receive a call.
The whole country declared war on the Molotov group and firmly joined Stalin's camp.
Overnight, the seemingly powerful Soviet Union fell apart. The nearly ten million Soviet Red Army also split into two mutually hostile military groups. The Soviet Red Army supporting Molotov exceeded 5 million and controlled the entire territory west of the Ural Mountains.
In most traditional areas of Russia, the Soviet Red Army that supports Stalin still has nearly 4 million people, but it is divided into two clusters. The Voroshilov cluster controls the lower Volga region, and the Zhukov cluster controls the entire Far East.
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The drastic changes in the Soviet Union immediately triggered a series of chain reactions internationally.
In mid-April, Manstein, Guderian and Rommel should be recalled to the country.
At the Berlin High Command, the "Mustache" with a confused expression, accompanied by the Nazi Party's second-in-command and Air Marshal Göring, walked into the small conference room with vigorous steps. The three German soldiers who had already been waiting in the conference room
The famous generals stood up one after another and raised their hands to pay military salutes to the supreme head of state of Nazi Germany.
At this time, Germany is facing an unprecedented opportunity to "win the whole world"!
The Soviet Union has been completely split, and the Molotov Group has turned from Germany's enemy into an ally. Although the Stalin Group is still lingering in the lower reaches of the Volga River and the Far East, it seems that it is no longer a grasshopper in the autumn.
The Soviet Union, once a great enemy, fell almost overnight.
Manstein proposed an ambitious strategic concept to Hitler. He would first recognize the Soviet Union's ally status and withdraw troops from the Soviet Union, and then invest the 5 million elite German troops who had withdrawn into the Asian and African battlefields to help Italy seize Africa.
In the Middle East, seize India, the crown jewel of the British Empire, and then flank Burma to help Japan occupy all of China.
Finally, based on the Eurasian and African continents, with Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Soviet Union as the axis, a new continental alliance was formed to counter the maritime alliance with the United States and Britain as the core, and then Xu Tu developed a strategic air force and navy to strive for
Overwhelm the Maritime Alliance in strategic air power and naval power, and ultimately seize domination of the entire world.
Guderian also agreed with Manstein's strategic vision, but Rommel did not take a position.
However, Hitler was obviously more inclined to use military means to completely dismember the Soviet Union.
In Hitler's view, it can be said that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dismember the Soviet Union, but the war in Africa can still be slowed down, and for Germany, even if it has lost the other fourteen republics, Russia is still too big.
, not only has a vast territory but also a large population. In the long run, it will still pose a serious threat to Germany!
In the end, this highest-level military conference did not reach an agreement on the policy towards the Soviet Union. Hitler then decided to send troops to the lower Volga region to "help" Molotov, regardless of the firm opposition of Manstein and Guderian.
The group eliminated the Stalin group and at the same time urged Japan to send troops to the Far East to contain the Zhukov group.
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Washington, White House.
After news of the drastic changes in the Soviet Union spread, President Roosevelt immediately summoned U.S. Army Chief of Staff Marshall, Secretary of State Hull and all presidential advisers to the White House to urgently discuss countermeasures.
In the conference room, Army Chief of Staff Marshall spread his hands and said with a wry smile: "Mr. President, it seems we must reduce our investment in the Asian battlefield."
"It seems that this is the only way." Roosevelt nodded with deep understanding.
The Soviet Union split and the Molotov Group joined the Axis Alliance. This was an absolutely catastrophic counterattack for the World Anti-Fascist Alliance. It is foreseeable that Germany will greatly increase its investment in the African battlefield in the near future. In order to
To ensure that the war situation in Africa does not collapse, the United States must also increase its investment in the African battlefield.
However, the United States' industrial and military strength also has limits. If it wants to increase investment in the African war, it must reduce investment in the Asian battlefield.
According to the economic aggregate in 1940, the United States was 200 billion US dollars, while Germany was 56 billion US dollars. From a numerical point of view, the economic aggregate of the United States was almost four times that of Germany, but it must be pointed out that the industrial scale between the two countries was
The gap is actually not that big, and the quality of German industry is far superior to that of the United States.
In other words, the quality advantage of German industry is enough to offset the scale advantage of American industry.
When Germany was no longer restrained by the Soviet Union, the African battlefield almost became a duel between the United States and Germany. Considering the huge advantages of the German Army compared to the US Army, the Allied forces' prospects in Africa are not optimistic.
In view of this, it has become an inevitable choice for the US government to reduce its investment in the Asian battlefield.
Seeing Roosevelt's nod, Marshall immediately put forward his package plan: "Mr. President, the U.S. government must mobilize for war again. The first batch will be mobilization of at least 50 infantry divisions, followed by at least 200 infantry divisions. At the same time, the original plan is to deploy into the Pacific Theater
20 Marine Divisions must also be transferred to the African battlefield."
Roosevelt listened and took notes, and then asked: "Is there any more?"
Marshall nodded and added: "The strategic air force must also speed up its construction and continue to strengthen strategic bombing of heavy industrial cities such as Berlin and Munich to continue to weaken Germany's industrial and war potential."
"Isn't our U.S. strategic air force strong enough?" Secretary of State Hull said with some confusion.
Due to the natural barriers of the two oceans, the U.S. Army only had a pitiful 100,000 men at the beginning of the war, and only more than 300 tanks. Although the total tonnage of the U.S. Navy surpassed that of the United Kingdom and ranked first in the world, it was still the largest in the world in terms of the number of naval officers and soldiers.
Measured in terms of quality and actual combat capabilities, it still ranks third in the world after the United Kingdom and Japan.
Only in terms of air power, the United States was definitely the undisputed leader in the world at that time.
Although the Luftwaffe was also very powerful during the same period, it was only strong in tactical air force and was very lacking in strategic air force. The main reason was that the Luftwaffe did not have long-range large strategic bombers and strategic transport aircraft. This is why the German army was still unable to destroy Britain despite its best efforts.
war potential, and the main reason why they were unable to land on the British Isles.
The United States not only has a powerful tactical air force, but also a powerful strategic air force!
In terms of tactical air force, although the performance of the P-40 Falcon is mediocre, the P-51 Mustang fighter developed subsequently is recognized as the king of propeller fighters; in terms of strategic air force, although the early B-17 Flying Fortress has a short range, it has a large bomb load.
It is large and has extremely strong survivability. The b-24 Liberator that is already in service not only maintains the advantages of large bomb load and strong survivability, but also has a range that has increased from 3,000 kilometers to 5,000 kilometers. The b-29 Superfortress that is about to enter service will be even more
It's a legend.
Facing Hull's confusion, Marshall said: "If it is just for self-defense, our US strategic air force is strong enough, but if we want to defeat Germany, it is far from enough! A conservative estimate is that at least 2,000 B-24s need to be produced.
Liberator or B-29 Superfortress bombers can ensure the continued weakening of Germany's industrial power."
After saying this, Marshall said to Roosevelt: "In addition to the Navy's Pacific Fleet can continue to stay in Asia and continue to attack the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, the main forces of the 10th and 14th Air Forces in the Southeast Asian battlefield must also be transferred to the African battlefield. As for the
The Chinese, leave them at most two Mustang fighter squadrons."
Roosevelt pondered for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.
Due to the drastic changes in the Soviet Union, the situation on the European battlefield suddenly became confusing.
Even if the United States is as powerful as the United States, it is impossible to say that it will definitely win this war. And even if the United States can win in the end, it will never win within three to five years. In other words, the United States will inevitably be involved in the European War.
Quagmire, then it is obviously not in the interest of the United States to continue to increase its assistance to China and help China quickly defeat Japan.
In this case, it is necessary to mobilize the air force from the Asian battlefield to Africa.
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Yangon, Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters.
Stilwell walked into Yue Weihan's office solemnly and said with some regret: "Yue, I'm sorry that the U.S. government has decided to reduce its investment in the Asian battlefield, and the main force of the Tenth and Fourteenth Air Forces will soon be transferred to Africa.
, however, Chennault will leave two squadrons of Mustangs to help you train the Air Force."
Yue Weihan nodded, this result was already within his expectation.
Fortunately, what Yue Weihan was most worried about, the U.S. government taking the opportunity to reduce the scale of industrial assistance, did not happen. Firstly, this is because these industrial equipment and technical personnel are not indispensable to the United States. Secondly, industrial assistance to Myanmar can also make China
The expeditionary force can better "support itself", and the U.S. government can get rid of a heavy burden.
However, after the U.S. government reduced its investment in the Asian battlefield, the good days of the Chinese Expeditionary Force have come to an end. Not only will military pay be significantly reduced, but the food standards for all officers and soldiers will no longer be as luxurious as they are now. Fortunately, these difficulties
It's all temporary. Once Myanmar's industrial base is built, everything will be no problem.
However, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the strategic counterattack that Yue Weihan had previously boasted came to nothing!
The United States' assistance to the Chinese Expeditionary Force has been significantly reduced, and the Japanese army continues to increase its troops to Southeast Asia. The Chinese Expeditionary Force has lost the possibility of strategic offensive. Now what Yue Weihan needs to consider is no longer a strategic counterattack, but how to defend the base area in Myanmar.
, but Yue Weihan believes that the Japanese army will not fight the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Southeast Asia!
This is because, after the coup in the Soviet Union, the Japanese base camp is likely to resume its northward strategy!