Chapter 218 Public Opinion Offensive (Part 2)
Keitel asked Hoffman: "American and British soldiers really will be lenient whenever they surrender with leaflets?"
"certainly."
"There must be a lot of fakes inside."
"It doesn't matter if it's fake," Hoffman laughed. "When a soldier has an enemy leaflet to save his life, can you still expect him to fight to the end? These words are not so much for the African enemies, but for those who are still in the United States! They have also hoarded millions of troops in their homeland, and they have them of all ethnic groups. Guess who can Roosevelt send to war with confidence?"
Keitel was stunned at first, then laughed. He did not ask the enemy a stupid question, "What should we do if we do the same?", let alone arrogant German officers and soldiers who have won many battles will not have such ideas. After the African battle is over, the German and American army will be out of contact and will not find a partner who can surrender.
Neither Hoffman nor Goebbels expected that the "Voice of Europe" they set up would have such a great impact on the United States:
After publicly reporting on the Berlin bombing and the African war, the number of Americans who listened to the Voice of Europe rose sharply, especially at 12 o'clock in the evening. Any family with relatives joining the army, especially those serving in the Eighth Air Force or Africa, is worried.
Among the mainstream media, Time magazine publicly reported the war ahead and the miserable situation of the American African military. Although the slogan was still calling for perseverance to the end and fight back bravely, the confidence was no longer enough. The radio station followed up and the host proposed to pray for the front line in the traditional way of hanging yellow ribbons. As a result, the trees in major cities were hung the next day with yellow ribbons looking forward to the safe return of their loved ones.
Although the F-Press under Hoover tried its best to interfere with the radio station and clearly ordered the ban on listening to "enemy stations", there were always unstoppable news circulating quietly, and even government departments, media, and National Guard members themselves were organizing listening. For F-Press, with only more than 1,000 people, going door to door is obviously a thankless thing, let alone the people's radios cannot be confiscated. The president himself made a "fireside conversation" and had to be spread by the radio.
The only thing that is beneficial to Hoover is that his idea of strengthening surveillance and news control has been recognized by more and more lawmakers. The funding is quickly placed and the personnel are expanding rapidly. Hoover even knew that some 3K party members were mixed in, but he pretended not to see it. As for the news released by Time magazine, it was also released by Hoover nodding. The reason is very simple: some bad news must be released, not at all, and the news that praises victory everywhere is too different from the facts, which is afraid that it will cause public opinion and even a pressure cooker must be equipped with a pressure reducing valve.
After Roosevelt fainted and was hospitalized the previous time, his physical condition was not ideal. Although he still insisted on working, he heard bad news, which inevitably made him even more anxious. The latest bad news was brought by his confidant, William Joseph Donovan, director of the US Strategic Intelligence Agency, who was established during the war.
"The situation of German radio stations has been initially found out: the headquarters is in Berlin, and there are three transit stations in Spain, Portugal and Azores respectively, which greatly strengthened the signal and added multiple frequencies at the same time. Except for Azores, we can bomb it, the rest cannot be processed." Donovan smiled bitterly, "And the transit station of Azores seems to be on a boat, and it is so large that it starts working at night again, so I can't catch it."
"Damn it, have you engaged in diplomatic contacts with Spain and Portugal?"
"After contacting, the other party said that the freedom of the press is also a commercial act and cannot interfere. If we need it, we can set up a transfer station in them!"
"A bunch of bastards!" Roosevelt was so angry that he smoked his orifices.
Hoover has told him that it is useless to German radio. Germans have low radio share. Many radios sold on the market do not even have short wave bands, and they cannot hear them at all. With the Gestapo's omnipresent attitude, how can a German dare to listen to "enemy stations"? Taking a step back, even if a German is willing to listen to American radio, what will it be reported? Spreading the preaching of free and democratic rulers over and over again, smearing the head of state and the National Socialist Party has no effect at all. After all, the needs of Germans and Americans are different. Germans are not afraid of war. What they want is victory and desire for strength. The United States can only gain a lot of eyeballs with the call of free and democratic rulers. Moreover, if the United States really wants to set up a transit station, there is no need to find Portugal and Spain. Britain is the better transit station.
"The radio station is still a trivial matter. Anyway, the situation on the front line cannot be hidden from the omnipresent media. As long as it is effectively controlled, the situation can be stable. The worst thing is the other two pieces of information." Donovan said carefully, then looked at the exhausted Roosevelt, and seemed very hesitant again.
"You said..." Roosevelt smiled bitterly, "I can hold on!"
"The first is the intelligence leak problem. The day before yesterday, on May 17, the Royal Air Force dispatched more than 130 heavy bombers to carry out bombings on the Ruhr Dam. It was originally investigated in advance that Germany's defense power was not strong. As a result, on the same day, the low-altitude raid crew encountered precision ambushing of nearly 200 enemy aircraft and temporary anti-aircraft artillery troops. There were only 21 aircraft safely retreating back to the UK, and the losses were heavier than the Berlin air strike..."
Roosevelt slapped the armrest of the chair and pondered: "I think there is something wrong with it, by intuition."
Hoover was nervous: "Is the UK's investigation into the information leak of the Eighth Air Force? Through this incident, I suspect that the same spy was done by the Berlin air strike."
Donovan nodded: "The British are so suspicious, but the investigation is not ideal. In addition to the specific execution troops, only the Royal Air Force's top leaders, the senior staff and the cabinet's top leaders know, and even our people don't know. In addition to the investigation of the failure of the Berlin operation, the MI5 determined that the news was leaked at the level of the senior staff or the cabinet's top leaders. "
"The bombing of Azores was also very unsuccessful. German jet fighters have appeared on the island. The Royal Air Force bombers suffered heavy losses because they did not have fighter escorts." Donovan said with a wry smile. "When the Eighth Air Force retreated, he left hundreds of heavy bombers to the British, and more than 200 were compensated in a few days. Prime Minister Churchill was furious and ordered the intelligence leak to be strictly investigated. According to analysis, the Big C believed that the last time the super secret was destroyed because someone leaked the news. He believed that the character was very high."
“What level is it?”
"The core minister of the cabinet, chief officer of the British army and the main staff, has no more than 20 people..." Donovan explained, "Before the investigation, Prime Minister Churchill had ordered the suspension of large-scale bombings on the European continent to avoid unnecessary losses. Now a strict investigation is being carried out internally, and even the Prime Minister's Secretary and Adjutant are no exception, just a trace of information."
"This is really bad news." Hoover sighed.
"The second bad news is that the Joint Fleet is back to Japan."
"Really? When?"
"Italian time on May 17th at 9:00 a.m., Italian time," explained Donovan, "Germany organized a farewell ceremony, and Hitler and Mussolini showed up. The scene was very lively. Yesterday, the newspaper published the news, and our people also scrambled in. After repeated confirmation, the news was sent back."
"This news is very important. We will convene an emergency meeting and discuss specific response strategies."
After listening to the information about the joint fleet, General Jin frowned: "Will it be another conspiracy to make a flick of a shot?"
"This time it is probably true. Two days later, our intelligence officers in Greece also saw the vast fleet. There is also an opportunity to verify whether it is true. If the fleet wants to return to the Far East, it must pass the Suez Canal. Normally, it should be a week to cross the canal. I have told our people to keep a close eye." Donovan's mood was obviously not very high. "After Germany controlled Egypt, there were a lot of fewer British expatriates and pro-British people. Coupled with the pervasive infiltration of the Gestapo, intelligence officers suffered a lot of losses. It was unrealistic to send them in the short term. Egypt is now very friendly to allies. We used to have huge power in the past, so the Germans could only sneak up on it. Now the situation is reversed and many people cannot adapt."
"No matter how difficult it is, we must persevere." Roosevelt sighed and asked thoughtfully, "It's better for the Japanese to return to the Far East. They are mixed up with the Germans, and the pressure on us on the Atlantic Ocean is too great."
"It is impossible to draw conclusions so simply, and there may be greater trouble." Admiral Kim walked to the map and pointed to the location of South Africa and said, "The Germans have controlled the northern line of Tanganyika, with a number of no less than 20,000. Then there is Guderian's African army in Kenya, and at least more than 80,000 mechanized troops. Ike is retreating. This means that we have no defensive power in the inland Africa, and the enemy can pounce on South Africa next."
"South Africa?" Everyone was thinking.
"How is the withdrawal?" Roosevelt turned to ask Arnold.
"It's quite smooth. As of 17:00 local time on the 19th, we have successfully transferred more than 6,300 Australian and New Zealand troops, and before that, more than 3,000 wounded people have been transferred." Arnold's eyes, who had been worried about the major arteries in Africa for several days, had completely sunken.
"Where are our people? Where are George?"
"The second batch of retreats," Marshall added, "Ike sent me a telegram, and British Army Lieutenant General Ramsden took the initiative to ask for the troops to surrender. The only requirement was to let the first batch of Australian and New Zealand troops retreat."
"Bastard, how can you agree to such a condition?" General Jin, who was furious, was the first to curse. Now he no longer cared about his own neglect of the army.
"I agree to this matter and the president also approved it." Marshall said helplessly, "We must always leave troops to block the attack. If our army retreats in the first batch, we are afraid that the Australian, New Zealand and British troops will collapse suddenly. In the end, no one can escape. In this situation, order can still be maintained."
Everyone's hearts were heavy and they couldn't say a word. (To be continued.)
...
Chapter completed!