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The atmosphere of the Joint Conference was shrouded in pessimism. The Hawaiian defenders sent a telegram to Washington to inform the news that the main force of the joint fleet occupied French Polynesia. At present, French Polynesia, Christmas Island and Marshall were connected into a large triangle, and the overall cut off the routes in the Central Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands, were all interrupted, and the blockade was even more powerful than the time when Musashi broke the diploma. .

In addition, about 2,200 kilometers east of Hawaii, a Japanese fleet with 2 battleships (Musashi, King Kong), 4 aircraft carriers and multiple cruisers and destroyers are performing break-in operations, and the Hawaii route is being cut off.

This is the second aviation battle under the order of Tsukahara Nishisan to carry out the Hawaii blockade. On the surface, although there are 4 aircraft carriers, only 2 are regular fleet aircraft carriers (Yunlong, Tiancheng), one of the other two is the escort aircraft carrier Condor, and the other is the watercraft carrier Hi-ri-jin. However, on the surface, there is no problem at all and it is majestic.

"Lt. General Halsey wants to attack, but General Ingram doesn't agree?" Looking at the few words at the end of the telegram, Truman frowned, "What do you think about this?"

Li Hai sighed: "It is a terrible thing to be blocked from Hawaii. This means that except for air transport, it will not be possible to transport supplies to Hawaii anymore. The distance between Hawaii and the local area is nearly 5,000 kilometers. Heavy transport aircraft can barely arrive, but the weight of the transported supplies is only 4-5 tons. After deducting the return fuel, it can only transport 1-2 tons in a net transportation."

As soon as he finished speaking, Arnold jumped up immediately: "The Army Airlines is not able to perform ultra-long-distance large-scale transportation missions for Hawaii. This distance is twice as far as the support of the Iceland Battle, and 60% longer than the strategic air transport of the British. The aircraft will have to fly in the air for nearly 12 hours, which is a great test for pilots, and the technical difficulty and risks have increased greatly. Some elite crews may perform emergency transport tasks in small teams, and large-scale supply is absolutely not feasible. Now the supply missions of Patton's troops in the South American battlefield have restrained the great energy of the land and shipping troops, and they cannot draw any manpower to carry out other transportation tasks."

"General Halsey believes that the cut-off of the route means that Hawaii is blocked and he must take the initiative to break this blockade. Moreover, in terms of force comparison, our army is not particularly at a disadvantage." Li Hai listed, "The Pacific Fleet has two South Dakota-class battleships in Hawaii, and its combat effectiveness is weaker than the Yamato-class opponent but stronger than the King Kong-class, and it is generally barely equal; our army has 14 escort aircraft carriers, and it can also receive some land aviation support, and the aviation force is not at a disadvantage against the opponent. More importantly, the main force of the joint fleet is currently in the state of division of troops in French Polynesia, which is a very good time."

Truman nodded: "Since that's the case, why does General Ingram object?"

"The Admiral's concerns are two. First, the 14 fleet aircraft carriers are slow and the combat capability is weak, so they may not be able to defeat the opponent. If the battle is halfway through, the main force of the joint fleet will come over, should they retreat or fight? No matter which option is passive; second, Admiral Nimitz's T48 fleet has two fleet aircraft carriers, and he hopes to wait until these warships return to the team before looking for fighters." Turner added, "The T48 has just arrived in Melbourne, and the USS Franklin has been put into emergency repairs. It is expected to complete the repair work on September 14 and return to the South Pacific route."

Truman calculated that according to this arrangement, T48 will have at least 7 weeks to arrive in California, and then the Hornets will have to be repaired for at least half a month, and may not be able to be reused in November. If you insist on waiting until T48 returns to the team and attack again, you don’t have to consider breaking the blockade before December. And even if the two fleets meet as scheduled in December, the Pacific Fleet, which has two large and 14 small, can deal with the main force of the joint fleet?

"If Hawaii needs December to launch a counterattack, can the remaining supplies on the island last until that period?"

"It's basically OK." Turner asked someone to find a form, "The Joint Conference and Hawaii have verified how long the existing material warehouse can last without a ton of material assistance. The conclusion is still relatively optimistic, but..."

Truman took it and looked carefully. The above items were listed very thoroughly:

Food and other necessities of daily necessities: more than two years;

All kinds of ammunition, spare parts and other military supplies: more than one year;

Oil storage capacity: There are still 534,000 tons, which can support more than half a year, but it is very unsafe;

...

"What does this sentence mean?"

"Before the war in Hawaii, there were about 4.5 million barrels (7 barrels about 1 ton) of fuel reserve capacity, which usually maintained more than 80% of the conformity, but most storage places were exposed to the ground. Although they were lucky enough to be destroyed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it also sounded the alarm for us. In recent years, a number of underground oil storage facilities have begun to be built, but the number is not large, and the storage capacity is only tens of thousands of tons, which are used to store the most dangerous aviation fuel and other gasoline." Turner's face was full of sorrow, "I am most afraid of this scene: after the Japanese blocked the Hawaii route, they sent planes to destroy the fuel, and then this battle would be really lost, and we cannot stop the enemy's bombing. As long as a 500-pound bomb landed in a key position, it would be enough to trigger a flaming flame in the oil storage area..."

During the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the Joint Fleet believed that the oil storage tanks placed on the ground by the US military were only disguised. Because fuel was almost second only to warships in the Japanese Navy, it was very precious. All oil storage tanks were built underground and could withstand direct bombing of 500 kilograms of bombs. Every time the oil depot (usually called oil houses by sailors) were extremely strict and no more oil was added. The 6 million tons of heavy oil reserved by the Japanese Navy when the war started was saved bit by bit. Even though Japan's fuel supply has improved greatly, the savings and attention to oil are still deep into the bones.

Therefore, the Americans' clear oil storage tanks on the ground during the Battle of Pearl Harbor did not seem to be true to the Japanese, which is why the pilots of the mobile fleet decided to let go of these fuels.

Later, everyone in the joint fleet knew that the oil storage tanks placed on it by the Americans were real, because they had seen it in Panama, and the fuel from the US military was still placed on the ground in a large manner, and then it was blown away by the plane. Everyone, including Iroku Yamamoto, felt deeply regretful that if the fuel from Pearl Harbor was blown up, how could there be so many things happening later?

Hori Teiki waved his hand indifferently about this: "Just, let it go, forget it, there is no regret, it doesn't explode, it doesn't explode again this time, what's wrong with blowing it up again!"

Similarly, it is only a person with great courage like Hori Teiki who proposed the "crazy and extravagant" tactic of using oil tankers to switch units, which others dare not think of such a thing no matter what.

After listening to Turner's explanation, everyone in the Joint Association was stunned: Hawaii was blocked and could barely support a drop of oil for a few days. If the inventory was lost, then there would be only one who would lose without a fight! Where should the plane, warship, and tank not have oil? Judging from the current situation, the fuel situation after Hawaii was blocked was even more dangerous than the joint fleet. Although the latter lost the supply tanker, it was also terrible. At least the fuel in the warship itself could support it for a while. Once the Hawaii fuel foundation is removed, the entire Pacific Fleet and the Pacific War Zone will collapse.

"Admiral Ingram has taken a variety of emergency arrangements. On the one hand, it declares that Hawaii has entered a state of emergency, reducing fuel consumption, and all civilian gasoline are controlled and cannot be used; on the other hand, it disperses the reserve of fuel, but this effort is not effective." Turner hesitates, "He also recommends suspending long-distance air strikes in the mainland aviation."

Hearing that Hawaii Land Airlines was going to suspend its attack, Arnold not only did not feel relieved, but his face looked very serious, which meant that something even more terrifying would happen.

Up to now, the situation and future direction have become obvious: Hawaii's blockade is not broken, it is waiting for death; Halsey takes a ticket to escort aircraft carriers out to fight the Kaortian fleet alone, seeking death, at most, it is even a matter of seeking death.

If you fight, you have no confidence in victory; if you don’t fight, you have no capital to persist! The entire American strategy is in a dilemma.

"Do you want to seek peace from Japan and Germany?" An inappropriate voice rang in Truman's mind. He tried every means to suppress it, but found that he could not refute it no matter what.

He was silent for 5 minutes, and after a long time, he spoke with difficulty: "Today's meeting was very deep. Everyone did not blindly optimistic, but expressed the most terrible prospect. According to my understanding, the next worst direction of the battle situation will be like this: in the Pacific direction, our army was unable to break the Japanese blockade, and was eventually forced to surrender under the suffocation of the enemy; in the South American direction, Patton's troops and Clark's troops could not be saved and were forced to surrender, and our army would lose the entire South America... The two evil axes of Japan and Germany will approach the local area from the west and the south, and in the near future, a cruel local defense battle will be needed."

Everyone sighed. Although the scene depicted by Truman was terrible, no one dared to guarantee that it would not happen. The Joint Conference had already eaten many times before the war, and was probably too optimistic, but in fact it was a deteriorating battle.

"Give General Nimitz a call to tell him the embarrassment and threats of Hawaii, Halsey's request for war and General Ingram's opposition, and ask him to state his follow-up considerations for the war in Hawaii; Gen. MacArthur, seek his opinion on the battlefield in South America, whether to give up Patton's troops and let Clark retreat immediately, or stick to the original plan, let Patton go to Recife to join the battle of Recife..." Truman paused, "The United States is facing the most dangerous moment, and hopes that they can think about the problem from a holistic and long-term perspective, and do not worry about any measures that can be taken. We have no capital to choose pretentiously. In the face of the country and the people, no one cannot sacrifice, including me, Truman and all members of the Joint Council."
Chapter completed!