Chapter 324: Between Wars (21)
Just as the Dewey administration deployed North American defense and Stalin deployed North American revolution, Hoffman presided over a strategic meeting to fully deploy a military offensive against North America.
Ribbentrop reported on the entire process of negotiations with Dulles at the meeting. When he heard that the US position had signs of softening, but when he tried to provoke Japan-German relations, Hoffman laughed and instructed Ribbentrop to expose some Japanese-German conflicts. He originally hoped that the Americans could seize the opportunity, but he did not expect that the other party completely misunderstood this meaning and did not consider it thoroughly.
"Head of the People's Republic of China, however, this meeting was not without positive results. In both aspects, Americans have almost recognized it. As long as we put a little pressure on it," Ribbentrop analyzed. "The first is the control of the Panama Canal. I think the United States has agreed to jointly control and international co-management. When there are many doubts about the garrison; the second is the Newfoundland issue, the United States has basically agreed to be part of Great Britain. When it tries to let Churchill entrench on it, I refuted it with a British policy. The main problem that the United States is facing now is how we view Japan-Germany and Japan-US relations after the peace of Germany and the United States."
"Anyway, we will not promise to use military means to interfere in the Japanese-US war. They will fight as long as they are willing."
"But Dulles is very worried about this. He hopes that we can further guarantee that no intelligence and diplomatic support will be provided, and that materials and equipment will be transported directly in cash, and that both sides will be equal."
"He thought it was pretty beautiful. Who wouldn't know that Japan owed us a lot of debts. Isn't these words meant to be bought by the United States?"
Ribbintrov shrugged: "Maybe that's what I think."
Keitel frowned and said, "It seems that there is a need to teach Americans a little more. The Japanese did a good job this time and gave Americans a lesson on Hawaii Island. I think the west coast of the United States will soon face a huge threat. At this moment, if the East Coast is hit hard, the Americans will learn from it."
Goebbels added: "This can also break the false propaganda of the U.S. government to the people. They keep clamoring for the Caribbean victory. If they can effectively deal with key cities on the East Coast, the deceptive propaganda of the U.S. government will be self-defeating."
Hoffman nodded, instead of expressing his opinion directly, he turned his attention to Yodel and asked, "How are the European joint exercises ready?"
"It's basically the same, but it can be launched on time on May 8. The main force of the exercise is Marshal Guderian's European Rapid Reaction Force, with a total of 240,000, including 3 Italian divisions, 2 British and French divisions, Romania, Hungary, Belgium, Spain, and Ireland. Some SS units act as reserves, plus some air force and special forces to support the troops, with a total of 500,000 troops involved. The exercise code is 'Europa', with the Eastern European Plain as the main exercise area, and simulates the tactics of going south from Canada to raid the Great Lakes and the northeastern region of the United States. At present, the troops are being deployed urgently and are expected to be officially in place on May 1, and then mobilize, decompose operations and target deployment."
Hoffman nodded: "Very good. Although this joint exercise is mainly based on intimidation, it can still test our new tactical results when it is a little bit. It is also a touch for European countries. It tells all troops that the exercise should be close to actual combat, increase the difficulty, consider a variety of variables, and be as consistent as possible with the actual situation. The exercise results and reports can be selectively leaked."
Yodel laughed: "That's true. We have invited military and diplomatic representatives from many countries. I believe there must be American spies mixed in."
"Information can be transmitted, but moles must be found out. I don't believe that Americans have so many spies to squander."
After talking about the operational intimidation, Hoffman began to deploy attacks on the East Coast: Nearly a month after the end of the doomsday trial, the German rocket forces not only supplemented the rocket reserves, but also received support from the fourth rocket aircraft carrier. Now they have 4 standard rocket aircraft carriers. Their combat objectives are very clear: using Bermuda as a base to haunt various ports on the east coast of the United States and using force to force the United States to agree to the negotiation conditions of Germany. Of course, this is not the main goal. The most important point is to prepare to cover the development of the offensive against Venezuela in South America.
At first, everyone had the choice of the city chain of Washington, New York, and Philadelphia, but later Hoffman went against the opposition and chose a more hidden target: Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
According to the confession of the captured American personnel, Norfolk Naval Shipyard and New York and Philadelphia Shipyards together form the backbone of the East Coast shipbuilding force, occupying more than one-third of the shipbuilding force. Moreover, Norfolk is very close to Bermuda, and the straight-line distance is only 1,200 kilometers, which means that the rocket aircraft carrier only needs to travel 200 kilometers at night to conduct a steady attack. Not only is the concealment greatly enhanced, but the safety is also very good. It can be protected by the fighter jets throughout the journey. More importantly, in addition to the V4 rocket, the me464 fleet based on Bermuda can also take off and attack, and the V3 cruise rockets they released can also be guided by submarines nearby, greatly enhancing the strike force.
So Hoffman's proposal was quickly approved.
On the night of April 21, after Oak Ridge, the missile attack that made the Americans extremely afraid of began: dozens of v4 rockets and hundreds of v3 rockets rushed towards Norfolk Naval Base in a lightning-thrust manner.
The Navy Shipyard is a huge goal. Not only does it have a huge dock, but the warships that go in to repair, but also a pile of various materials. Although it does not cause a chain reaction like Oak Ridge, the damage caused is as serious.
Especially for the semi-finished products on the ship platform, rockets do not need to be completely destroyed. As long as they break through a corner of the dock, causing sea water to flow back or twist the warship keels, it is enough to scrap the dock or even scrap the hull.
Like Oak Ridge, the radar also discovered the V3 rockets flying from low altitude, but this offensive weapon without any means of counterattack completely ignored the futile US aircraft in the night sky and rushed towards the designated target with a concealed head and head.
Amid the "boom" explosion, not only did the Norfolk Naval Base be severely damaged, but one Essex-class and two Atlanta-class semi-finished products on the ship were hit and repaired, but it was easier to rebuild it.
The worst thing is that many rockets deviated from their targets and landed in the Virginia Shipyard workers' gathering area. Many of them were workers' residences transferred from the UK. They originally thought that they could get some peace if they escaped from the UK, but they did not expect that when the British land returned to peace, Germany's attack on the United States had just begun.
For the Dewey administration, attacking the Norfolk base not only seriously curbed the United States' potential for war, but also the deathly blew the window paper that pierced the peace and advocated the Caribbean victory!
On April 23, Norfolk workers who suffered heavy losses joined forces to organize a general strike to protest the government's inaction, and daunting slogans and the long-lost red flag also flew. The next day, the wave of demonstrations swept through first-tier cities such as New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Virginia, and Boston. The difficult life and the future of victory were nowhere to be seen. The increasingly severe military situation made Americans feel heavy. The losses of Norfolk shipyards and the casualties of workers made the crisis deepen and detonate unprecedentedly.
Now, the US government is in a deep crisis, and the call for Dewey to step down has become loud for the first time. Even in the newspapers, it is not that Hoover is inaction, but that all newspapers are publishing this way, and his staff can no longer be suppressed!
ps: It was originally scheduled to pass at 8 o'clock, but I encountered some difficulties. Fortunately, I finally overcame my sweat. It will be the third update tomorrow, so I will try to get it earlier!
Chapter completed!