Chapter 860 Canada (3)

The news of the German army's capture of St. Pierre and Miquelon soon reached the United States, causing panic among the top US officials.

"What's going on?! Didn't the Canadians send troops to garrison there?!" How did the Germans occupy it so easily?

"I heard that the Canadians withdrew all the garrisons on the island without firing a shot, which was equivalent to handing the islands over to the Germans."

"What are these guys going to do?!" St. Pierre and Miquelon is located at the "doorstep" of Canada, not far from the mainland of the United States. It is more than 1,300 kilometers away from New York and more than 1,700 kilometers away from Washington. When the Germans build an air base on the island, not to mention the German heavy bombers, even their attack aircraft can fly over and drop bombs.

Isn't this a blatant invitation to a wolf? Are the Canadians crazy? Aren't you afraid that your own capital will be blown to pieces? The capital of Canada in St. Pierre and Miquelon is only more than 1,200 kilometers away, and is also within the bombing range of the German attack aircraft.

Such an important strategic point can be lost just like that? If you can't defend it, you can say it!

"Something is wrong!" Commander Arnold's brows were almost knotted. "So far, Canada has not been hit by a bomb!"

After he reminded them, everyone's face suddenly changed. At the beginning, Canada also followed the United States to declare war on European countries, but the German bombers only bombed American cities and didn't even look at Canada. And now Canada has handed over such an important gateway to others, which makes people wonder if there is something shameful between them.

Just when they were about to find the Canadians to blame, the Canadians made a broadcast to announce to the world that Canada officially withdrew from the war and would remain neutral.

The senior US officials were in a collective state of panic.

The US Ambassador to Canada rushed to the Canadian Prime Minister's Office angrily and broke into the Prime Minister's office directly. "What does your country mean by this?!"

The Canadian Prime Minister waved his hand and asked the guards who chased in to withdraw. "It's nothing, we just don't want to get involved in this war that has no chance of winning. Forget about your ungratefulness and betrayal. If it weren't for your stupid President Roosevelt, would we be involved in this war? If it weren't for you, would the foreign exchange in our treasury become a pile of waste paper? If it weren't for you, would our soldiers die in vain? Do you know how much compensation we have to pay to withdraw from this war?!" The Prime Minister became more and more excited, looking at the other party as if he wanted to eat him alive.

"..." The American ambassador subconsciously took a step back, fearing that the hysterical Prime Minister would pounce on him and bite him the next second.

The Canadian Prime Minister took a deep breath, calmed down, and said coldly. "Tell your President Wilkie that we should be thankful that we didn't beat you with the Germans. If you dare to make trouble for us, we are happy to cooperate with the Germans. Get out now!!"

The American ambassador left the Prime Minister's Office in disgrace, returned to the embassy, ​​and sent a telegram to Washington.

The top leaders of the United States were naturally very angry, but as the Canadian Prime Minister said, if they were pushed too far, they might turn to the Germans, which would only be more disadvantageous to the United States. A large number of German troops would land in Canada and head south to the United States.

But even if the Canadians declared neutrality, neutrality was completely unreliable. For example, at the beginning of World War I, the United States declared neutrality and would not participate in any party. As World War I progressed, the war became more and more cruel and fierce. On April 16, 1917, the United States unexpectedly declared war on Germany, joined the Allied camp, and officially intervened in this war that mainly took place in continental Europe and the Pacific.

What if Canada also said it would remain neutral today, and turned to Germany tomorrow?

The Americans were anxious, but they couldn't think of any good countermeasures.

Someone suggested. "How about we send troops to seize the Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Islands"

"The fleet sent by the Germans has four battleships and six aircraft carriers. Can we defeat them?" Although they had just commissioned four South Dakota-class battleships not long ago. Unfortunately, even if these four latest battleships were sent, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

In fact, the combat effectiveness of the South Dakota class is not weak. The South Dakota-class battleships in the original time and space are quite powerful, and they simply beat all treaty ships of the same tonnage.

In terms of firepower, the main gun of this battleship is 3 triple 4k6 guns. The super-heavy shells combined with this gun have a high horizontal strike strength, which can be called the first initiation god gun in World War II. In the Casablanca operation in the original time and space, the third South Dakota-class ship "Massachusetts" fired an armor-piercing shell at a distance of about 26,000 meters from the Jean Bart (the second ship of the French "Richelieu" class). It directly penetrated the 150mm main horizontal armor of the French battleship, and further penetrated the 40mm anti-fragment and square collapse structure under this layer of protection, and hit the secondary gun ammunition depot, causing an explosion.

Such a top-level strength cannot but be admired. In addition to the main gun, the secondary weapons include 20 twin-mounted 127mm dual-purpose guns, at least 40 40mm anti-aircraft guns and at least 35 20mm anti-aircraft guns, which are completely no problem for close-range barrage protection.

In terms of protection, the side protection of the South Dakota-class battleship is a built-in 310mm main armor plate and a 22mm back plate. The main armor plate is designed with an outward inclination of 19 degrees. Due to the restrictions of the treaty at that time. Therefore, the tonnage can only maintain a standard displacement of 35,000 tons, and it cannot continue to rise. Therefore, this battleship cannot improve its defense capability by increasing the thickness of the main armor. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the inclination angle to obtain better protection, but increasing the inclination angle means that the horizontal protection capability needs to be strengthened. Therefore, the main armor adopts the method of built-in main armor.

In terms of speed, the maximum speed is 27 knots. Although it is the last (tied) among the new ships, it has reached the level of high-speed battleships in World War II.

It can be said that the South Dakota-class battleship is the treaty-type battleship with the best offensive and defensive balance in World War II.

Unfortunately, the German warships at this time are not only equipped with powerful fire control radars, but their torpedoes are also abnormally strong. The Americans have not yet figured out a fire control radar that can be put into actual combat, and there has been no breakthrough in torpedoes. Therefore, even if these warships are put into service, they can only stay in the port as a "fleet of existence".

The vice president said angrily. "Does that mean that within this year, or even in the first half of next year, we will not be able to compete with the German fleet?" How pathetic! We have the world's top industrial base, but we can't build warships that can compete with the Germans. "Could it be that all the talents in this area have been plundered by the Germans?" Stimulated by the Goddard incident two days ago, he was very suspicious whether the Germans had poached all the talents in the United States, leaving behind a bunch of good-for-nothings.