Chapter 438 Active Defense Plan
Seeing that the balance of victory in this war was constantly tilting towards France, Xiao Jie's original mood of progress gradually relaxed. According to the vision of the General Staff, the war in Europe will end before the end of this year. Europe will be more united after the war. At that time, there will be only one country and one voice in Europe. After the end of the war in Europe, France will take a year to rest and restore its economy, while also preparing for an expedition to the Americas.
By that time, the three major fleets of the French Navy will be fully staffed, and the army of one million troops and the army of millions of slave countries will all be on standby. Xiao Jie had reason to believe that the French army at that time would definitely be able to quickly drive the US and Canadian navies out of the Atlantic Ocean with overwhelming momentum, and successfully landed in the Americas, finally defeating the two last enemies of France. Everything is going well!
However, since the outbreak of the European war, the United States and Canada have been paying close attention to the development of the war situation. They obviously will not let everything develop in favor of France.
On April 23, a discussion meeting on France strategy was held at the U.S. Department of Defense in Washington DC with the participation of the heads of government and military generals of the United States and Canada.
As the host, US President Adams presided over the meeting. "Gentlemen, generals. Thank you very much for being here on this day. For the United States and Canada, which have always been allies, the evil France has always been our worst enemy. They think about it all the time. How to invade our country, defeat our army, occupy our land, plunder our wealth, and enslave our people. This is something that the American and Canadian people who have always loved peace and freedom will never accept. To protect us The country and people of our country, we have to take up arms and resist the invasion of the enemy. I believe that justice will eventually triumph over evil. As long as we, the United States and Canada, are united and with the support of the people of the two countries, we will be able to crush the despicableness of France Conspiracy. For this reason, we sat together today to discuss how to resist France's countermeasures. Before starting, I would like to inform you of the latest situation of the European war situation that our intelligence department has obtained. March 27, The French Air Force airlifted the French 3rd Army and the Polish army besieged in southern Finland, solving the biggest problem facing this force. After solving the logistical problems, the French army launched a counterattack and re-emerged on March 28. Occupy the port area. Since then, the battle between the two sides has continued to revolve around the scramble for the port. Unfortunately, our ally, the heroic army of the Kingdom of Sweden has been unable to retake the port. On April 14, the French Navy arrived in Kotka , transported about 50,000 reinforcements and tens of thousands of tons of combat materials. Under these circumstances, on April 20, the French army launched a large-scale counterattack. Our allies were defeated across the board, and the situation was very unfavorable to them. In addition , On the Eastern European battlefield, the French army has also made a breakthrough. If there is no external interference, it will only be a matter of time before France pacifies Eastern Europe. This is definitely bad news for us. Once France wins the European war, then we have to face the powerful France again. Therefore, we urgently need to discuss a solution, preferably to allow the European war to continue, and let France shed its last in Europe A drop of blood."
"There is no doubt that we have no other choice now. We must provide assistance to our Swedish allies so that they can continue the war with France. As for the method of assistance, it is worth discussing. It is to provide material assistance. ? Or send troops to directly participate in the war? Or carry out both ways at the same time? Everyone should come up with a clear opinion." US Secretary of State Brandon continued.
"Our country also agrees with the proposal to assist our Swedish ally. Only by continuing the European war can France consume more strength. At the same time, it can also give us more time to prepare." Canadian Prime Minister Liverpool also represented Ghana Speaking broadly.
In general, the opinions of the two countries are still very unified. It's no wonder that the two countries are now grasshoppers on the same rope. If they don't work together, they will only have the fate of being destroyed by France.
"As far as I am concerned, I have reservations about the combat effectiveness of the Swedish army. Even if we provide them with more supplies and weapons, they will not be able to withstand the French attack. Therefore, I propose that the United States and Canada form a coalition again, Go to Sweden and start a direct war with France. Only in this way can we ensure the continuation of the European war." The US Chief of Staff Zominsk proposed.
"Your Excellency, Chief of the General Staff, I object to your proposal. At present, it is very disadvantageous for us to go to war directly with France. In the whole of Europe, when France is at its peak, it is very difficult to send troops to Europe. It may not be able to achieve our strategic goals, and at the same time, we will suffer heavy losses." Canadian Army Commander-in-Chief Wellington retorted.
"I don't mean to die. It's just that I think Sweden's failure is inevitable. We don't need to invest too much power in a war that has no chance of winning. Give them the necessary Material support, if it can be delayed by one day." Wellington suppressed the anger in his heart and explained.
To be honest, his views represent the views of most people in both countries. In their view, Sweden and the three Eastern European countries are just tools they use to consume France's strength and buy them time to prepare for the war. After the tool is out of use, they will never invest too much unnecessary energy. Of course, it is still acceptable if the tools can play their last bit of residual value and make a necessary investment.
Next, everyone debated for more than two hours on whether to form a coalition expedition to Europe again. In the end, the side that only provided material assistance and did not form a coalition to participate in the war won an overwhelming victory.
"Now that everyone has discussed the results, in the next time, we will mainly focus on armament expansion and preparations for war. We will continue to provide military assistance to Sweden so that the European war can continue." Finally, Adams concluded road.
"Everyone, I have another opinion. While preparing for war, our army cannot sit still and should actively defend. Only in this way can we be in a favorable position in the decisive battle with France in the future." Zominsk said finally.
"Oh? Then I wonder if the Chief of Staff has any good proposals?" Wellington said.
Zominsk didn't answer him, but gestured to Davis beside him, asking Davis to announce the plan they had prepared. They seemed to have expected that their proposal to form a coalition would not be passed, so they drew up a more compromise plan, which they called the "Active Defense Plan". The so-called "Active Defense Plan" refers to the fact that before the decisive battle with France, the United States and Canada take advantage of the fact that France is busy with the European war and cannot spare a hand, by capturing some new areas and forming a solid front as a Front line defense against France.
After receiving the signal from Zominsk, Davis stood up, sorted out his thoughts, and said: "Everyone, according to the information we have received. Due to the strong pressure from France, the British government is likely to go back again. Falling to France. I believe everyone is very clear about what this means to us. From then on, the entire Atlantic Ocean will be completely open to France, and we will lose our bridgehead against France. France's extremely powerful navy will be in our territorial waters Rampage, the flames of war will even burn to the Americas again. Therefore, we must increase our garrison in Ireland in time, and increase our influence in the United Kingdom, so that the United Kingdom will continue to be consistent with us. And, actively build new bridgeheads, let the war Do as much as possible in Europe~www.mtlnovel.com~First of all, we propose to add another 80,000 troops to Ireland, increasing our garrison in Ireland to 200,000. According to the national conditions of our two countries, the 200,000 people, There are 120,000 American troops and 80,000 Canadian troops. I wonder if you have any objections?"
Liverpool and Wellington discussed it. In the end, Wellington said: "Is 80,000 people too much for our country? You all know very well that our army is very weak. Therefore, I propose that the 200,000 coalition forces consist of 150,000 US troops and 5 Thousands of our troops will be formed."
Preferably, after a fierce bargain, the two sides set the number at 140,000 US troops and 60,000 Canadian troops, which together form the two countries' garrisons in Ireland.
"As for the new bridgehead. After our detailed deduction, we chose the Faroe Islands in the northwest of the United Kingdom and Iceland farther away. This is very close to the European continent and can directly threaten France. At the same time, it can also provide for our In addition, according to the information we have received, France does not have a large-scale garrison in these two places. The Faroe Islands belong to Denmark, so France does not have garrisons on the island. Iceland and France are only in Reykjavik stationed a regiment of troops and a small fleet with only a few small warships. As long as we can capture these two places, then we can form an army in the North Atlantic region consisting of Iceland-Faroe Islands-British Islands the island chain against French attack."