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Chapter 204: Clearance (End)

This congressional inquiry set an unprecedented record: First, Hoover's thematic report and proposal shocked everyone, occupying most of the time and attention in the first place, and then German radio occupied the main scene. Hundreds of people listened carefully to the "enemy station" broadcast on Capitol Hill for more than two hours, and their real goal of questioning the president and discussing subsequent policies was actually very weak.

Secretary of State Hull glanced at Roosevelt with great meaning and quietly gave a thumbs up, applauding the president's political skills and ability to adapt to the situation. It is a good way to confuse the water first, so that everyone can ignore the main goal is also an excellent means of political struggle. Regardless of whether Hoover's request can be passed smoothly, at least it has successfully diverted its attention and attracted most of the firepower. And he found such a wonderful excuse for spies! No one dared to promise that there was no, after all, F force kept receiving intelligence and secret reports, and there were previously German agents who tried to lurk in the United States on a submarine and were intercepted.

The issue of spies has also greatly reduced the pressure on the frontline failure. Although it may not be entirely correct, it at least gave congressmen the suggestion: the reason why the fight is currently only because of various reasons. At first, the United States was hit by a sudden attack and there was no time to react; then the mobilization and organization were slow; then the allies were not strong and all kinds of unreliable; now it is spy or leaks, it is not that the United States has poor military strength, but that there are various reasons that have dragged the back. At least these explanations make the congressmen sound much more pleasant.

As for the unsuccessful war, especially the precise "ambush" of this 100-air bombing, Hull believes that there may be other reasons, such as the password being leaked or deciphered. Don't think that the American password cannot be broken. The reason why the Pacific Fleet won the strong with the weak defeat of the strong in Midway was because it deciphered the Japanese password? He believes that compared with suspense spies, the password issue may be more urgent.

The reason why Roosevelt is Roosevelt is that his political experience can always find a place to be used in the crisis. He said: "My parliamentarians, can we order the public to prohibit listening to the broadcast of the Germans' panic news? Although this is not in line with the right to freedom."

There were a lot of discussions in the audience, and everyone didn't know what to do, but there was one thing that the congressmen understood. If the German broadcasts were allowed to continue to be broadcast, the morale accumulated by the American people would soon collapse. Not to mention anything else, just the news of threatening to bomb Washington today will be released, and there will be a lot of middle-class people tomorrow. The upper class will find ways to relocate. At first, everyone was yelling at the axis to bomb the East Coast. It was not until the disaster came that it discovered that the air strikes were terrible. It turned out that the air strikes would really die. It turned out that the Germans would specifically deal with the rich areas.

How many rich people and politicians are there in Washington? Do you hide in the air-raid shelter every night and live like a mole?

"We cannot let the Germans do whatever they want. We should come up with enough methods. At the same time, we should educate and guide the people to establish correct ideas and strengthen confidence in our country." Connecticut Senator Carter stood up and supported him first, and soon won applause. Hoover's face slowly smiled.

"Let's talk about strengthening national defense..." Although he was reluctant to set up the defense plan and funding budget last time, the facts were in front of him. Roosevelt seized the opportunity and was passively active. He immediately struck while the iron was hot and asked Marshall to describe the overall plan, and quietly increased the requirements for the number of people, equipment and budget.

This was originally part of the content that the congressmen had to question. Now I heard that there were plans and plans to advance. Judging from the degree of detail and integrity, it was not a temporary mistake by Marshall. It can be seen that the president had already prepared, and it was nothing more than to let the enemy take the lead. The congressmen expressed their understanding of this, and the uproar caused by the attack on New York also calmed down a lot.

However, the reaction of the MPs during the temporary vote was unexpected by Roosevelt and a group of senior officials of the Joint Conference: they passed unanimously!

An additional resolution was even made. Given the excessive losses of air strikes against Germany, before the Army Air Force found a way to reduce the losses of air strikes, it was recommended to change the budget originally used to manufacture heavy bombers to the national defense budget. In the simplest terms, it is to learn the response ideas of the Luftwaffe's Air Force, reduce the output of offensive weapons such as the B-17b-29, and significantly increase the output of P-47 and P-51 air defense fighters. This part of the budget changes involved 2,000 4-engine bombers.

Arnold shook his head with a wry smile. A b-17 was as high as 300,000 US dollars, 8 times that of f4f, 6 times that of f6f, 5 times that of p51, 300 b-17s are equal to the price of an Essex (including carrier-based aircraft), and the price of a b-29 is more expensive than the b-17. If you reduce 2,000 heavy bombers, you can do a lot of things. However, in this way, the policy of strategic air strikes against Germany will not be bankrupt, but at least it will be in a state of stagnation. Most of the people in the Eighth Air Force can go home directly.

Budget balance still needs to be taken care of. Since the land defense has cost so much money and preparing to repair the Panama Canal also costs a lot of money, it must be reduced in other aspects. The parliamentarians demanded that given that Russia has failed to play a major role in resisting the German offensive and that a large amount of materials have been hoarded in China have not been shipped yet, it emphasized that the surplus materials should be allocated first, and the budget for the remaining rental materials will no longer be allocated this year and will be transferred to land defense.

This seems fair, but Marshall sighed: the remaining supplies are all old or outdated goods, such as the p-38p-39p-40 and the Stuart tank. The United States itself does not intend to continue to equip it. However, now is not the time to care about Congress' attitude, and ensuring that the president passes the test first is the most important thing. Anyway, the route is broken, and good things cannot be sent to Russia.

In addition, lawmakers pointed out that since the United States has given so much material and support from the United Kingdom, and the new German fighter jets are so powerful, the government must put pressure on bringing British jet technology experts and scientific research results to the United States, in the name of "joint research and accelerate development."

The MPs are not fools. Roosevelt's request to relocate 100,000 British technicians and skilled workers was quickly approved, and even had a tail that authorized the president to issue an additional 30,000 family visas this year and include them in the next year's immigration plan. Everyone hopes that the more the strength of the United States, the better.

"Next, Secretary of State Mr. Hull will report to Congress whether to make peace with Germany alone." After Roosevelt threw the bomb out, it caused a stir.

Hull said slowly: "Although we have not contacted Germany directly or indirectly, the information obtained from secret channels and third parties has been obtained, and the conditions are very simple: we give up our support to Britain and Russia, do not interfere with Germany's actions in Europe and Africa, and recognize the results. Germany gives up our support to Japan, do not interfere with our actions in the Pacific and America, and recognize the results; the two sides have concluded peace agreements, are neutral, do not claim compensation, and do not interfere with each other. The subtext is to recognize that Germany and the United States jointly lead the world after the war."

Roosevelt expressed his opinion: "I firmly oppose this idea. This idea is not only unacceptable, but also unable to talk about it. The reasons are as follows:

“First, the Atlantic Charter clearly stipulates that Britain and the United States jointly advance and retreat, and neither party can make peace with the axis alone, and we cannot violate the commitments of this country and international morality;

Second, from the actual situation, this condition is very unfavorable to us. Britain without the support of the United States may not be able to support it for even three months, while Japan without the support of Germany can support it for a long time."

This judgment was unanimously recognized by the senior leaders of the Joint Conference. Nimitz believes that if the United States strives to deal with Japan and Germany does not interfere, the overall victory time will not be less than 3 years.

"Third, judging from Hitler's usual style of tearing up contracts, this kind of peace promise is unreliable. In the end, every peace treaty he signed was torn apart. Once he successfully resolved Russia and Britain, he would occupy Europe exclusively, and then he might tear up the agreement again and join forces with Japan again, which would lead to the ultimate failure;

Fourth, from the perspective of the feelings and dignity of the American people, we are not allowed to make peace with Japan unless Japan surrenders;

The fifth and most critical point is that looking at the post-war situation, the United States cannot accept the political arrangements that are incompatible with the pride of the American people and are not commensurate with the international status of the United States."

Most members of parliament believe that this explanation and explanation is reasonable, and some members are still in doubt.

At this time, Roosevelt began to release the news:

"To sum up, I solemnly declare that if Congress passes the resolution of "United States and the Axis Powers make peace separately", as the president, I will respect public opinion and do not exercise the veto power, but will announce it on the day of the resolution..." Roosevelt glanced at the venue majesticly and slowly spoke up a word, "Resign!"

After the resignation was expressed, the audience was stunned and the congressmen were shocked.

Hull quietly gave a thumbs up. The president's hand was playing beautifully with retreating. If peace really came, Roosevelt would have to sign the agreement. This not only seriously undermined his self-esteem, but also showed that the president's preparations for war over the years have completely failed in the policy of Europe and Asia. What are the faces that he can continue to stay on stage?

At 2 a.m. on May 4, the Congressional Interrogation Meeting finally came to an end:

The "Strengthening Land Defense Program" and related budgets were adopted unanimously;

87% of lawmakers expressed support for continuing the war and not making peace with the Axis;

Passed the Hoover proposal with a slight advantage of 54%, but cut half of the resources required and asked Hoover to report progress in 6 months...
Chapter completed!
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