The Rise of the Third Reich

Harry Truman once again sat in the White House Cabinet meeting room. He participated in the Cabinet Military Meeting as the president-elect, and he also had considerable decision-making power. It can be said that he was half the president of the United States before he officially took office. Although this arrangement is not in line with the conventions of American politics, it is understandable. After all, the United States is fighting a very difficult war.

As the next commander-in-chief, Truman must participate in the highest decision-making of the US military before taking over, so as to ensure that there is no short-term chaos in the command center.

However, Truman, who was sitting in the cabinet meeting room at this time, still found that the U.S. command center was under the control of a chaotic thinking.

In Truman's view, the root cause of this chaotic thinking is war and uncertainty. On the one hand, they know they cannot win and want to ask for peace; on the other hand, they are forced by the mainstream public opinion in the United States, pressure from Congress (now the U.S. Congress is dominated by the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party), and the various rhetoric boasted by the Democratic Party during the election campaign. They must adhere to the "political "Correct" peace negotiation conditions actually closed the door to peace talks.

In this situation where there is no way to win and negotiate, the strategy of "fighting to promote peace", which is actually military adventurism, has become the most popular option of the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

However, including Truman himself, all the big shots who could sit in the cabinet meeting room did not dare to take the risk to the end. They only dare to take risks in the southern region of South America, which relies on the Pacific Ocean, but do not dare to take risks in the direction of the Atlantic Ocean.

Therefore, the current U.S. military strategy is to conduct military adventures in the southeastern Pacific-southern South America region, while pursuing a military conservatism line in the main Atlantic battlefield.

“…Currently our attack on Santiago is relatively smooth. The troops commanded by General Eisenhower have completed the siege of Santiago on three sides and cut off the communication between Santiago and Puerto Montt.

The first phase of the expansion project of the Valparaiso Port in central Chile has been completed. The port's throughput capacity has increased by 100% compared with the original level, which can meet the high-intensity combat needs of at least 500,000 ground troops and 1,500 combat aircraft.

The German-controlled Puerto Montt has limited throughput capacity and is blocked by submarines from the Pacific Fleet. The highway through the Andes is often bombed by our army aviation, and its transportation capacity has been greatly reduced.

Therefore, the Joint Chiefs of Staff judged that the German army is currently unable to maintain a military presence of more than 100,000 people in Santiago. And there is no ability to transport enough ammunition and heavy equipment to Santiago. If we continue to send more troops to Chile, we should be able to liberate Santiago, the capital of Chile, in early 1945..."

Presidential Chief of Staff William Leahy opened today's meeting by laying out a plan to capture San Diego in early 1945.

He went on to say: "At the same time, we should also intensify the bombing of Buenos Aires. Send more B-17 and B-24 bombers, as well as P51 fighter jets that can perform long-range escort missions. In this way we Air strikes can be carried out during the day, thereby hastening the collapse of the Peron regime.”

"Do we have enough troops?" Truman interjected and asked, "If we want to attack Santiago and launch a daytime air attack on Buenos Aires, won't we need to invest a lot of land and air forces?"

"We can retreat from British Guiana." William Leahy replied, "Our operation in British Guiana has achieved its purpose and can now be ended."

In fact, the US military was almost defeated in British Guiana. Shortly after the Battle of Bermuda, the Germans landed in New Amsterdam, less than 100 kilometers away from Georgetown. At the same time, the navy and aviation were used to block the waterway from Trinidad to Georgetown, leaving the landed US troops in a dilemma of severe shortage of supplies. If it weren't for the fight for the election, the Joint Chiefs of Staff would have ordered the US troops in Georgetown to withdraw.

Now that the electoral vote has ended, and Truman's presidency has been fully implemented, it is time to fully shrink the Atlantic Ocean.

"So..." Truman glanced at Wallace, who was sitting in the presidential seat, "Where is the channel for peace negotiations? Is it still open?"

Truman knew that Wallace was too idealistic and had many misunderstandings about the American people and Comrade Mussolini, a good friend of the black brothers. Therefore, after becoming the "interim president", he gave the peace-enthusiastic Mussolini a cold butt. Without Mussolini to mediate, peace negotiations would become very difficult - without Lao Mo, the level of negotiations between the United States and Germany suddenly dropped to the ambassadorial and consular levels, and was no longer the original leader level. And among other friends of the United States, no one could exert as much influence on Hitler and the Nazi Party as Mussolini did.

"The door to peace negotiations is of course open," Secretary of State Cordell Hull said with a frown. "Our ambassador in Rome is in constant contact with the German embassy in Rome."

"I would like to arrange for Mr. Kennedy to visit Rome," Truman said, "just before I take office."

He had not forgotten Harry Hopkins's advice and was ready to let Kennedy take Mussolini's route to negotiate peace with the Germans.

If possible, he also wanted Kennedy to have a secret meeting with Rudolf Hess or even Hitler himself as the Vice President of the United States!

Wallace frowned, as if he wanted to stop him, but Cordell Hull said first, "Sir, no problem, we'll make arrangements right away."

After all, Truman was the elected president! Wallace's time is running out. And Truman also arranged a good position for Wallace - he will serve as Secretary of War (Secretary of the Army) after Truman takes over as president.

So after Hull opened his mouth, Wallace nodded, which was regarded as approval of the arrangement.

He thought for a while and then said: "I think we should launch the Battle of Santiago when Mr. Kennedy visits Rome. If we can invade the city of Santiago, it will definitely be beneficial to peaceful contact."

"What are the terms of peace?" Truman asked.

The terms of peace have long been made public, and they are the "Truman Five Points." However, when Truman raised this issue now, he certainly did not forget the content of the "Five Articles." But I am preparing to postpone the ticket...

However, if votes are to be bounced, we can’t make a 180-degree turn immediately. After all, the Democratic Party does not control Congress now!

“Self-determination of the American peoples is possible,” Secretary of State Cordell Hull said. “Maintaining a costly presence in the Americas may not be in Germany’s interests, and once Canada returns to the British Empire, it will be more difficult for Germany to integrate Europe. But Australia will most likely seek asylum from Europe to avoid being invaded by Japan.”

"Self-determination certainly includes the option of becoming European!" Truman said.

"It's okay not to cede territory." William Leahy added, "The Germans probably won't consider letting ground troops invade the United States, so they have no ambitions for our homeland."

“There is probably no hope for a complete open door,” said Finance Minister Morgan Tao. “It is impossible for Europe to open its market to us, but it can sign some trade agreements... even if it is an open door.

In addition, helping Europe to rebuild peace can...can replace reparations and meet Europe's need for reconstruction funds to a certain extent. "

"Disarmament and arms limitation are also beneficial to Europe, which has less financial resources than ours. I believe it will be supported by the European people."

Wallace, who is about to take over as Secretary of War, also added a sentence, which can be regarded as support for Truman's "vote-hopping line" - although he is now the leader of the war faction in the Democratic Party, he cannot oppose the peace talks themselves. All he can oppose is Unfavorable peace terms for the United States.

Truman nodded, "So... where is our bottom line?"

"Bottom line?" Wallace asked warily.

"The bottom line!" Truman said bluntly, "How much can we give them?"

this is the key of the problem! The Germans do not care whether they receive "politically incorrect" reparations or "very politically correct" aid. What they want is money, the more the better!

"This must be discussed with the Republican Party, the Bolshevik Party and the National Fascist Party." Wallace frowned and said in a warning tone, "If the amount is too large, for example, if it reaches 100 billion US dollars... I'm afraid it will have to be carried out. Some political exchanges, but such a deal would divide and disintegrate the Democratic Party!”

In democratic countries, Congress is often a market for power transactions. This is not to belittle democracy. Democracy does not mean being selfless, nor does it mean that all voters will reach agreement on all issues. It is very normal for different groups of voters to have conflicts of interest, and it is very common for members of Congress representing voters to make some transactions in Congress so that the interests of the voters they represent can be realized to a certain extent.

The demands of the middle- and upper-class voters represented by the Republican Party on domestic issues are to repeal a series of New Deal legislation with socialist tendencies! If Democrats wanted to gain Republican support on reparations, they would have to support Republicans on repealing New Deal legislation.

However, voters who support the New Deal legislation are the basis of the Democratic Party. If the Democratic Party betrays them in Congress, the 1946 midterm elections will be the day when the Democratic Party collapses.

Faced with the prospect of electoral collapse, a split within the Democratic Party is likely to occur first! Some members of Congress who firmly support the New Deal and oppose surrender to Europe may quit the Democratic Party to join the Bolshevik Party to form the Socialist Party, while another group of Democratic conservatives are likely to join the National Fascist Party to defend the iron-voted areas of the seven southern states.

By then, the end of the Democratic Party will really be near!