Chapter 1663: landing point

"Gentlemen, it is already the end of October. Our landing plan is about to start. However, we have not yet made it clear where we choose as the landing point." German Minister of War and Chief of the General Staff Marshal Manstein Said.

   This is a military meeting attended by senior generals of the German army, navy and air force. The key topic of this meeting is the upcoming landing operations in North America.

"This time, we are crossing thousands of kilometers of the Atlantic Ocean and landing in North America. For us, it will be a huge test. Therefore, we have to be fully prepared. Otherwise, this will be a huge challenge for us. Bring a failure." Marshal Raeder reminded.

  Although, the German Navy has won a comprehensive victory in the Atlantic naval battle. However, in launching a landing operation against North America, the German Navy also did not dare to take it lightly. This is about Germany's complete defeat of the United States and victory in this war. The navy has to do its best. Otherwise, once this attack fails, not only will Germany suffer heavy losses, but it will even affect everyone's confidence in defeating the United States across the sea. This will have an extremely profound impact on subsequent strategies.

   All the generals of the German army, navy and air force nodded repeatedly.

"The Americans have stopped bombing the Bermuda Islands. We have expanded the two airports on the island. The Air Force has sent two fighter jet wings to the Bermuda Islands. Next, we will also build on the island Five airports. In this case, we can send up to a thousand aircraft to Bermuda." Air Force Minister Albert Kesselring said.

"Although Bermuda is a good bridgehead, it is still too far away from the mainland of the United States. The distance of more than 900 kilometers is still a natural barrier. In addition, the area of ​​Bermuda is too small to accommodate large troops." General Georg von Küchler, deputy chief of staff, said.

   Indeed, Bermuda is suitable as an air base. The Luftwaffe could use it to take off heavy bombers to bomb the continental United States. The cooperation of long-range fighter jets and heavy bombers can completely include the entire east coast of the United States within the strike radius. Even the most important industrial base in the Northeast of the United States will be within their bombing range. But if you want to start from here and land directly on the mainland of the United States, it will undoubtedly be more difficult.

"Bermuda is really not suitable. If you abandon this direction, there are only two directions. One direction is to go south, land on those islands in the Caribbean Sea, and then find a way to land on the Florida Peninsula or the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. However, The Americans have also been prepared in this direction. They have deployed heavy troops on the islands in the Caribbean Sea. They have also left a huge army on the Florida peninsula. It will be very difficult to make a breakthrough in this direction. Difficult," said Admiral Ernst von Busch, commander of the Marine Corps.

"According to the information we have obtained, the U.S. military has deployed more than one million troops in the Caribbean Sea. In addition, the U.S. Army Air Force has also deployed more than 2,000 combat aircraft on the islands in the Caribbean Sea. In addition, the islands in the Caribbean Sea The location is very complicated. Even if we can gain a firm foothold on one or two islands, we will be attacked by US troops from other islands. If we want to compete with the Americans island by island, it will undoubtedly be It will be very difficult, and the loss of the troops will be very large." Admiral Küchler said.

"Another point is that the Americans have been operating in the Caribbean for a very long time. It is very difficult for us to defeat the Americans there. The price we pay will be very high. In addition, even if we work hard and pay heavy losses , escaped the islands in the Caribbean Sea from the Americans. It is also very difficult to attack the mainland United States from these islands. Although the Strait of Florida is not wide, the Americans have already taken the iron barrel of the Florida peninsula. Even It is about to turn the entire Florida peninsula into a fortress. It is not easy to open up the situation there. What's more, even if you land on the Florida peninsula and then advance northward, it will be very difficult to fight until the United States admits defeat Yes. The South has never been the center of gravity of the United States." Marshal Raeder said.

  Marshal Manstein nodded, he understood what everyone meant. In the three directions listed before launching the landing in North America, in fact, everyone is not optimistic about the central direction and the southern direction. Therefore, there is only one direction left in the end, that is, the north direction.

   "So, are you optimistic about landing from the north?" Marshal Manstein asked.

   "Yes, Marshal. Judging from the current situation, landing from the north is undoubtedly the best choice." Admiral Ernst von Busch said.

"We can directly launch an attack on Newfoundland. After taking Newfoundland, we can directly threaten the mainland of Canada. Whether it is crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence, attacking the Nova Scotia peninsula, or attacking New Brunswick in Canada The difficulty is relatively small in Ontario. More importantly, we are facing the British in the initial stage of the attack, not the Americans. Compared with the Americans, the strength of the British is undoubtedly weaker. We launched The possibility of a successful attack is relatively greater." Admiral Küchler said.

"The area of ​​Newfoundland is large enough, although the terrain is not flat. But there are still many plains along the coast. We can vigorously build airfields and field airports on Newfoundland. If the supporting facilities can keep up, we can even build a Thousands of combat aircraft are deployed on the island of Finland. In this way, we can take off from Newfoundland and directly support the army. We can even directly attack important industrial centers in the United States.” Air Force Deputy Commander and Strategic Air Force Commander Edward ? Marshal Milch said.

"If we can defeat the United Kingdom, then we can start from Canada and directly attack the strategic center of gravity of the United States. As long as the Americans are defeated in the Northeast of the United States and the Great Lakes area, the Americans will lose most of their industrial base. In that Under the circumstances, apart from surrendering to us, the Americans simply can't hold on." Marshal Raeder also said.

   "In this case, let's choose Newfoundland as our landing point!" Marshal Manstein finally decided.