"We must not give up Haiti. Once this large island falls into the hands of the Germans, most of their bodies will enter the Caribbean. The soldiers are aimed directly at Cuba, which is only separated by a strait. The beachfront anti-landing fortifications and deep defense systems built by our army are far from reassuring. It must be noted that although the terrain of Haiti Island is rugged, the nearby Cuba is almost a plain, which is extremely suitable for the exercise of armored forces. If we cannot stop the attack of German infantry on Haiti Island, how can we resist the opponent's armored cluster in Cuba?" At the temporary war meeting, Marshall, Chief of Staff of the US Army, said to the congregation with a solemn face.

In front of the wide long table with the map spread, the expressions of senior American generals were dull and pessimistic: the cold wind at the end of the year squeezed in from the window, which made them feel a little more powerless about the future battle situation. In order to resist the German expansion on Haiti, they had already sent the war-capable soldiers in the army to the barbaric land to guard it by dangerously; however, after a real fierce battle, they found that the armies that they felt were great could not withstand the real test of the war. In the case of occupying military strength and air superiority, they performed poorly. Once the situation was slightly declining, the retreat of these troops would be irreversible like an avalanche!

"The strategy we can adopt now is to further increase troops on Haiti Island, so that we can stabilize the front line again and buy time for the defense of Cuba. More heavy artillery, tanks, and combat aircraft should also quickly enter the island to increase the amount of heavy weapon support the soldiers can get." Seeing that the colleagues around were all devastated, they just stared at the map on the table silently, Marshall's mouth twitched. Finally, after waiting for a long time, he spoke again, "At the same time, we must also launch a fierce attack on the German logistics supply line, so that they can stop the attack due to lack of supplies; now every bullet and every spare part of their company must be transported out of Europe 4,500 miles away. As long as we can sank several of their transport ships, the Germans' actions on Haiti Island will naturally stop."

"General Marshall, the Navy is afraid it will be difficult for you to achieve this strategy." Johnson, the new commander of the US Atlantic Fleet, finally spoke up, ending the embarrassing scene of Marshall singing a one-man show in the venue. "After the unfortunate Battle of Bermuda, the number of warships that the Atlantic Fleet can dispatch has dropped sharply; in the current rampant German submarine activities, the Navy cannot risk being attacked by submarines and precisely attacked by guided bombs, and then send valuable large ships to sea to meet the enemy. At present, the fleet anchored at the Guantanamo base in Cuba only has ships of the level below heavy cruisers. There are only one cruiser team and three destroyer teams. The German fleet stationed at the Port of San Juan and Venezuela as its bases have at least three times the tonnage of our army, which has greatly restricted the activities of our fleet."

Johnson looked solemn, and his words contained unconcealed concern: "As the Luftwaffe's Air Force gradually became stronger on Haiti Island, the transportation routes between Guantanamo and Port-au-Prince have become more dangerous; in order to avoid being hit by the other party's double blow from sea and air, the ships we transport supplies to the army on Haiti Island have now changed from slow merchant ships that can carry a large amount of cargo to fast destroyers, and the freight tonnage is almost an order of magnitude less than merchant ships!

Therefore, if we continue to increase troops on Haiti Island on a large scale, it will be difficult for the navy to ensure transportation and supply to these troops. As for the rear supply line that attacked the opponent, our submarine troops have made every effort since the beginning of last month. Judging from their achievements in sinking 17 cargo ships from the opponent in the past month and having a total of 7 ships, it is also an unrealistic idea to make them suffer decisive damage to the German transport team with a complete escort system by themselves alone.

"Aren't we short of destroyers? As long as more than three destroyers can be fully loaded with supplies to unload goods in Port-au-Prince every day, it should be able to support the daily consumption of two or three armies, right?" Marshall retorted. Although he was from the army, it does not mean that his understanding in the naval field is a blank: in order to eliminate the threat of German power in the Caribbean, he has studied a large number of cases of land and sea coordinated operations in the previous few weeks. If everything goes well, the three destroyers can carry more than 700 tons of various materials, and their total transportation volume will not be less than a small merchant ship. Looking at the other party's face that still wants to fight, Marshall said slowly: "General Johnson, the navy must make certain sacrifices for the interests of the United States. Which of the few warships or a very strategic island is more important, I don't need to explain it to you again?"

Hearing the last words of the other party, Johnson couldn't help but feel disgusted. The previous German occupation of Puerto Rico and landing on Dominican were precisely because of the incompetence of the island-guarding army, which had the most serious consequences to the US's overall strategy of the two-ocean strategy: in order to pay for the army's idiots, the Atlantic Fleet, which was at an absolute disadvantage in the overall lineup, was forced to attack, and under the opponent's thunder and lightning strike, paid the heavy price of the sinking of 4 aircraft carriers and 2 new battleships. Now, due to the incompetence of these army, they were going to pull the navy into danger: which German planes, warships, and submarines, were vegetarian-eating soft-footed shrimps? If you really want to fight with the other party, you will suffer from an absolute disadvantage in any angle!

"General Marshall, you do this to put the strength accumulated by the fleet during the reconstruction period into a harsh war of attrition! I will not allow you to drag the fleet, which has not been healed in a trap full of sharp blades for a risk!" Johnson accused without mercy, his angry and stern face and full of breath formed a sharp contrast with the worry and silence at the beginning of the meeting. Faced with the fleet commander who suddenly became excited, Marshall still spoke calmly: "General Johnson, it is the will of the President to stick to Haiti Island. We must be in this

The island will last for another half a year before it can gain sufficient time to consolidate Cuba’s defense. In addition, this also buys time for the navy to restore its strength. If Haiti Island suddenly falls, the German army will invade Cuba on a large scale, or even endanger the local area. By then, the navy can only participate in the battle with a more broken lineup, and the situation is many times more severe than using destroyers to risk transportation and supplies now! The current consumption is ultimately more than there are no new warships, which is essentially the same as the navy’s dormant strategy of watching the Germans expand their power in Guyana a few months ago, but it only requires some advance payment."

Johnson was silent after hearing this. If the situation was as Marshall said, it would be impossible for the Navy to take risks in the waters east of Cuba; however, what he was most worried about was that the Army could not achieve the expected time of persistence, which made the Atlantic Fleet, which was already short of family, be hit hard again. As the other party pulled out the president's skin, Johnson could only accept it. He looked at Marshall in front of him with a complicated expression and said, "His Excellency the Chief of Staff, I hope the Army can achieve your expectations in this operation."

After many discussions, the US side determined a plan to increase troops on Haiti Island on a large scale. The mobilized army troops arrived at Miami, the southernmost tip of Florida, and then transferred to destroyers and sailed nearly 650 nautical miles to Port-au-Prince in western Haiti Island. The entire journey can be completed within one day. Heavy equipment such as artillery are transported by light cruisers and fixed on the deck of the warships. It is also a rare sight to see the army artillery. According to the US military's plan, they will put four divisions on the island, making the total number of US troops fighting on Haiti Island reach 8 divisions and 90,000. In addition, a large number of fighter jets and bomber squadrons also flocked to the Port-au-Prince base, and the US military has already set out to fight to the death with the German army on this remote island.

This large-scale operation of the Americans naturally did not hide from the German reconnaissance. The high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft modified from the ju-88 rapid bomber discovered the opponent's abnormal movements, and the German army quickly responded accordingly: the attacking troops accelerated their progress so as to occupy more important transportation routes before the opponent's reinforcements arrived. The naval fleet and air force also attacked with all their strength, aiming to send the opponent's reinforcements into the sea to feed fish. After a few days, the losses of both sides were higher than those of the previous few days.

The battle rose sharply: Two destroyers of the US military were sunk in the night battle, one of which was loaded with 300 tons of arms that had not yet been unloaded. This directly led to the defeat of the US 14th Division in Santiago, a major city in central Haiti Island (this place name is very common in the Americas) and was forced to retreat backwards. One destroyer also sank, and the other one suffered heavy damage. The aircraft damage of both sides rose rapidly, so they both chose to keep their hands cautiously in the subsequent battles.

"Haidi Island is surrounded by mountains and mountains, which is not suitable for large-scale troops to fight in clusters. This time, the Americans launched a large-scale transport of troops to the island. The only purpose of the only way is to protect this key bridgehead in eastern Cuba." In the front line command post hidden under the jungle, the German Caribbean War Zone commander Kesselin, under the gaze of many eyes, poked his finger on the map in front of him, saying, "Since that's the case, we can take advantage of the situation to change the attack and directly choose to attack Cuba; the strategic significance here is undoubtedly much higher than that of Haiti!" (To be continued)

ps: Thanks to book friend Jin Crab, r's monthly ticket support, and Jin Crab, Yuan yh1234567, and Zhouyu1976's reward~~~

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Chapter completed!