Chapter 1050 Expansion of Armaments

The next day, President Roosevelt summoned Secretary of State Hull, Secretary of the Navy Swanson, Secretary of the Navy Durne, and Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau.

"Everyone, I have already thought of a plan for the next development of the United States. If successful, this will allow us to get out of the economic crisis soon." President Roosevelt said.

"Your Excellency, what can we do?" Hull asked.

"From now on, increase the expansion of armaments. In a short period of time, let our military power grow exponentially!" President Roosevelt said.

The few people present were suddenly shocked. None of them were fools, so they immediately understood President Roosevelt's intentions. No one expresses their opinions, and they know after a little thought that there is no way to do it. If not, the economic crisis will continue and cause even greater losses to the United States.

"Your Excellency, are we preparing for war?" Minister of War Ron asked.

More than ten years ago, they were attacked by the German fleet and caused great losses to the United States. This has always been regarded as a great shame by the Americans. Over the years, they have also been working hard to improve their military strength. However, in order not to over-irritate the Germans, they were not fast.

Secretary of the Navy Swanson was even more excited. Because many shipyards on the east coast of the United States were destroyed, the shipbuilding strength of the United States was severely damaged. Under such circumstances, although the U.S. Navy has been developing over the years, there is undoubtedly a big gap from becoming a powerful navy. If the United States can start to expand its armaments from now on, then this undoubtedly means that the great development of the US Navy will soon begin.

"Yes, it can be said that this time the economic crisis has hit us hard. The Germans will not let go of this opportunity. Therefore, we must have stronger armed forces as soon as possible. In this case, even if the Germans If we want to attack us, we also have the ability to protect ourselves. At the same time, we can also use large-scale government procurement to stimulate the domestic economy and let our country come out of the economic crisis at an early date." President Roosevelt said.

"However, Your Excellency, this requires a large amount of funds. And our finances have long been overwhelmed." Finance Minister Morgenthau reminded. If you don't have money, you can't do anything.

"In terms of funds, we can continue to issue treasury bonds. In addition, we can also borrow from major banks. After all, if the economic crisis continues, it will be detrimental to major banks. If we can get out of the economic crisis as soon as possible, major banks can also benefit from it ...More importantly, we have expanded our armaments on a large scale, which can bring a large number of orders to those factories. Everything will develop in a good direction." President Roosevelt said.

Morgenthau frowned. As the Minister of Finance, he knew how much money was needed to promote all this. If we rely solely on US finances, we simply cannot come up with that much money. Therefore, it can only rely on the issuance of national debt and loans from major banks. But will those banks lend to the government? As the representative of the major financial groups in the cabinet, Morgenthau knows how greedy and stingy those financial groups are.

"Your Excellency, I can give it a try. But I don't know if it will be successful." Morgenthau couldn't guarantee this either.

President Roosevelt nodded: "I will contact people from major consortiums. Since everyone is an American, I hope they can help our country tide over the difficulties."

"Your Excellency, if we really expand our armaments on a large scale, I'm afraid it will irritate the Germans." Secretary of State Hull still has some concerns about this.

"We don't need to pay attention to the attitude of the Germans. Anyway, the war between us and the Germans has long been unavoidable. Since this is the case, it is undoubtedly that we should work hard to develop our military power and ensure our own security. That's what matters," Roosevelt insisted. Although he is a person who can listen to opinions. However, once a decision has been made, it is also very difficult to change.

"Okay, Your Excellency the President." Hull had no choice but to say no more.

Perhaps it was because Roosevelt personally talked with major consortiums that the government's loans went very smoothly. Sales of Treasury bonds have also gone well. The public can only think that the government raised so much money to defend the country, and also to defend them, so naturally they enthusiastically supported it.

Three days later, Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur, four-star general (interim), submitted a plan for the expansion of the Army's armored forces. He hopes to purchase 3,000 taels of new tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, and 20,000 trucks in the next five years, expanding the armored forces of the US Army from the current three divisions to ten divisions. At the same time, further increase the artillery configuration of the infantry division to strengthen the firepower.

After all, in the next war, the U.S. Army might have to fight the German Army. The German Army has always been known for its powerful firepower. If the firepower is too weak, the U.S. Army may be defeated by the German Army. After all, it is obviously impossible for the U.S. Army to be on par with the German Army in terms of the sophistication of its troops.

With a flick of the pen, President Roosevelt approved the Army expansion plan.

Subsequently, Admiral William Harrison Standley, Chief of Naval Operations, also submitted an expansion plan for the US Navy.

The U.S. Navy plans to start construction of 15 aircraft carriers in the next five years, and continue to start construction of new battleships.

The current U.S. Navy already has eight aircraft carriers, but the 'Langley' is an experimental aircraft carrier. Moreover, the aircraft carriers equipped by the U.S. Navy are far from being comparable to the German Navy in terms of performance and quantity. Therefore, this time, the U.S. Navy proposed to build a large number of first-class powerful aircraft carriers that can be mass-produced.

In terms of battleships, in the naval battle of the Azores more than ten years ago, all the battleships of the US Navy were lost. However, now the U.S. Navy has rebuilt two "North Carolina-class" battleships and four "South Dakota-class" battleships, and another six "Iowa-class" battleships are also under construction. The combat plan submitted by the Department of the Navy this time is to add five more "Montana-class" battleships to further increase the size and strength of the U.S. Navy's capital ships. After all, the German Navy still retains a large force of capital ships.