Chapter 523: Opportunity
“Mr. Ambassador. It has been less than a month since Führer Akado’s special envoy, Guff, left the United States. Logically, I should not be in such a hurry to discuss these issues with you at this time, but the cooperation between Germany and Turkey in the Middle East has made us deeply uneasy.” The moment they met, U.S. President Roosevelt came straight to the point, expressing his dissatisfaction with the situation in the Middle East.
The German ambassador, of course, had come prepared. The domestic government had already informed this important diplomat of its position. So the German ambassador immediately replied to Roosevelt, “Mr. President, Germany has no interest in America’s interests in the Middle East. We are merely striving for world peace.”
Roosevelt really wanted to slam his fist on the table and shout at the German ambassador, “You are starting a war!” But in the end, he gave up on such a useless, hysterical roar. “All I see is a new war. I do not see any intention from Germany to end the war.”
“Mr. President, Germany had originally hoped to achieve peace with both the Soviet Union in the west and Britain in the east. You have also seen that both the defeated Vichy France and Northern Britain have already signed peace treaties with Germany,” the German ambassador replied. “But both the Stalin government of the Soviet Union and the original British Royal Family in Iceland have refused to hold peace talks with Germany. This has made the Führer deeply worried about the war situation facing Germany.”
“You know that we are a peace-loving nation. To achieve peace, we have no choice but to launch an attack on the British colonies in the Middle East that are supporting the British Royal Family in Iceland. This way, the war will end more quickly,” the German ambassador concluded, after a long-winded speech of more than half an hour, summarizing the German people’s difficult choice to expand the war.
You invaded Poland, invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, invaded Denmark and Norway, invaded France, invaded Britain… You’ve taken all the benefits, eliminated almost all the threats, and now you say you don’t want to play anymore, you want peace? When did you Germans become so shameless? Huh?
After cursing viciously in his heart, U.S. President Roosevelt finally had a chance to speak. “But if you provoke a war in the Middle East, it will affect American oil extraction. This could affect the friendly relations between Germany and the United States! Germany has already made enemies on all sides. I’m sure Mr. Führer does not wish to see the United States become an enemy of Germany, does he?”
“Of course, Mr. President!” The German ambassador nodded in agreement with Roosevelt’s point. “The German government has never thought of making an enemy of the United States. Our two countries are both rich and powerful. A war between us would be enough to make the world system collapse. This is clearly a very unwise decision.”
“Then, Mr. Ambassador, we in the United States attach great importance to the stability of the Middle East. This is also a common interest of both Germany and the United States,” Roosevelt said after a moment’s thought. “If I can persuade some of the local Arabs to sell a portion of their oil to Germany and guarantee that this oil can be delivered into German hands, can the situation in the Middle East maintain the status quo?”
The German ambassador appeared troubled. He clearly had not received any instructions from home on how to act after an American compromise. However, he still showed great negotiating skill and played the “delay” card, saying to Roosevelt, “I must inquire with my home government before I can give you an answer, Mr. President. I hope you can understand my predicament.”
Roosevelt nodded. This American compromise was a last-minute decision by Congress. His long-standing plan to use Britain to contain Germany was on the verge of collapse, and many dissonant voices had appeared within Congress. These voices were growing stronger and were gradually gaining the power to challenge the alliance between Roosevelt and the Jews.
This included the American Nazi party, some isolationists, and even many congressmen from opposing parties. They looked at German-American relations from another perspective and felt that even if a powerful Germany were to emerge in the future, it would not be a cause for concern. They were confident in America’s economic advantage and felt that it was very unwise to get involved in a war of uncertain outcome at this time. Unfortunately, this argument was supported by the majority of the public, who believed that America should not get involved in Europe’s wars again.
And in fact, not all of America’s investments had paid off. The Roosevelt administration’s aid of tanks, planes, and even warships to Britain had been exchanged for many overseas military bases that had originally belonged to Britain. These bases would be enough for the United States to maintain a relatively advantageous international position in the future.
However, recently, Britain’s national strength seemed to have been completely drained. The British government could no longer effectively exercise its absolute control over its colonies. The method of exchanging colonial privileges for American aid had not been working well in the past two months. On the other hand, the American “volunteer army” in North Africa was like a bottomless pit. Every month, it would consume the oil extracted from the Middle East and would need to be supplemented with tanks and planes produced by domestic military factories. Taking the Battle of Tobruk as an example, Patton had used up 400 tanks in one go, all of which had to be replenished from the United States to the North African front.
In this way, different voices emerged within the United States. If Germany guaranteed America’s oil interests in the Middle East, then why should they help the British fight the Germans to the death in North Africa? Is a peaceful coexistence between Germany and the United States necessarily less beneficial than suppressing Germany?
Roosevelt was completely bogged down by this short-sighted argument. This practice of only looking at the immediate interests was simply self-deception. Germany was different from the United States; it was a continental country. Its once-tragic geographical location would have many advantages once the situation opened up. This country’s connection with Asia, Africa, and Europe was naturally much closer than that of the isolated United States.
Germany didn’t even need to do anything special; the Steel Axis would isolate the United States from the mainstream international environment. At that time, if others didn’t want to play with America, what could America do? Go to war with all of Asia, Africa, and Europe with the strength of the Americas? That would be a truly evenly matched war.
To go to war with Germany now would be a perfect case of “striking the enemy when he is down.” But the fools in Congress were thinking about how to draw a clear line with the British Royal Family in Iceland and to establish a stable cooperative relationship with the powerful Germany.
Although many people with insight still supported Roosevelt, and American military equipment was still being continuously shipped to North Africa, Roosevelt felt the resistance, felt that he was not as effective as he would like to be. If this continued, as long as Germany established a strategic advantage in North Africa and took the Mediterranean and the Balkans into its pocket, America would more or less be kicked out of the international situation ahead of schedule. That would be the ultimate tragedy.
Of course, the investment in the Soviet Union had clearly not yielded the expected returns either. Although the Soviet Union had transported a large amount of raw materials to the Alaska region of the United States through trade, much of the military aid had not reached the front, and the Soviet Union had not achieved the strategic objective of pinning down the German army on the main front.
In other words, among the current implicit alliance of Britain-America-Soviet Union, only the United States had been continuously playing the role of the consumer. This was clearly not the situation Roosevelt had hoped to see. He had hoped to consume the German army’s strategic resources on various battlefields, not to use America’s own strategic resources to fill the bottomless pits of the Soviet Union and Britain.
Now, Germany had extended its demonic claws to the American-dominated Middle East. This move, which in the past would have absolutely enraged the American capitalists, was now being tolerated by them. They had actually decided to use a partial compromise in exchange for a German concession. This was clearly an expression of their dissatisfaction with America’s long-standing policy of supporting its allies. If you continue to support Britain and the Soviet Union with this kind of investment without return, we will have to get tough!
“Send a telegram to the British Royal Family. We are to adopt a fully defensive posture in North Africa,” Roosevelt said to his secretary behind him, having thought it through. “Suspend the aid to the Soviet Union as well. Tell Stalin that with the way he is fighting now, we Americans cannot afford to supply him.”
“Strengthen America’s presence in the Middle East. If necessary, transfer Patton over there!” he then added. “We must act with America’s fundamental interests as our premise… The production of Middle Eastern oil must be ensured! Transport one of our divisions to the Middle East to strengthen the garrison there! We must be careful of the Turks.”
This was Roosevelt’s well-thought-out countermeasure. He had decided to shrink America’s investment in North Africa and the Soviet Union and to strengthen America’s power in the Middle East. This was, in a way, strengthening America’s control and defensive capability over the Middle Eastern oil-producing regions without expanding America’s military spending.
At this point, he was no longer considering when it would be most advantageous for America to enter the war. He was now trying his best to maintain the existing international situation to ensure that America would not be driven out of the entire world war ahead of schedule by Germany’s quick victories. He now had the intention of clinging on, just gritting his teeth and waiting, waiting for a great change in the international situation.
Both sides were still waiting for an opportunity. If Germany were to make the first move in the Middle East and win in North Africa, then America would be out, and Germany would directly win the world war. Of course, if America were to get an opportunity to enter the war early, then Roosevelt would win. America would be drawn into the war, and the world situation would become even more confusing.
Roosevelt was gambling. He did not think that staying out of it was a long-term solution. He felt that it was advantageous for America to be drawn into the world war. This was the common thought of him and many behind him. They firmly believed that America would become the future world leader, not an isolated ghost excluded from the world circle.
“Now, it all depends on what our opponent is thinking!” Roosevelt said with a sigh. “Does he plan to defeat America in one fell swoop and ascend to the true pinnacle of the world, or will he play it safe and clean up the board, not even giving us a chance to join the war?”
Published: 2025-09-02T03:33:54.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2025-12-10T19:49:26.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c523-137920395
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