Chapter 794: Manhattan

In an office within the United States intelligence department, an elderly man in a suit was anxiously explaining the information they had on hand to President Roosevelt, who had come to hear an estimated report on the progress of German weapons research.

His assistant, a young military officer, was showing a slideshow. Some slides contained purely textual records, some had blurry photographs, and others were government documents signed by various individuals, some even bearing the German eagle emblem.

As he flipped through the slides, he introduced the content, “Intelligence shows that the German army began research on atomic weapons as early as 1927. In the subsequent war, after they occupied Norway, they set up a heavy water refinement plant there.”

Another assistant, flipping through a notebook, added, “Some of Germany’s special departments once misappropriated public funds to finance many scientists whose names we didn’t even know at the time. The then-famous Einstein was once a close friend of the current German Führer, Akado Rudolph.”

“This is a photo taken by our spies of the German science city. It is not far from Berlin, but the level of security is quite high. Some experts speculate that it has at least five underground levels and is a massive complex. The Germans are researching all kinds of weapons and strange things there. We have reason to believe they are conducting nuclear energy experiments there,” the man said, as if afraid Roosevelt would think the Germans weren’t investing enough in weapons research. They used various photos to prove that the Germans had a huge weapon research institution.

Another person supplemented with some of their own operations, using failures to prove that several of Germany’s heavily fortified locations were indeed conducting secret weapon experiments. “We once attempted to raid a concealed laboratory of theirs in Munich, which was on an isolated mountaintop. Unfortunately, the operation failed, and the 19 of our commandos in hiding were killed. But the defenses there were even tighter than those of the Munich city hall. It must be related to Germany’s superweapon!”

“There are reports that the Germans are researching an ultra-high altitude, ultra-long-range bomber with a flight ceiling of 13,000 meters. It has an all-metal fuselage and is equipped with six large aircraft engines. This plane is capable of reaching areas like New York! The intelligence department speculates that the Germans intend to use this high-altitude bomber to carry a secret weapon and launch a surprise attack on our East Coast,” the director of the intelligence agency said personally, as the slideshow flipped to a photo so blurry that nothing could be seen clearly. He explained this picture, which was almost no different from a randomly taken scrap photo.

“Gentlemen, the things you have given me are either speculation or some photos and documents of unknown authenticity that cannot be used as evidence at all,” Roosevelt said with a frown after listening to these people for a long time. He finally questioned them, “With what do I go and argue with Congress? Say that the Germans might have a weapon that can threaten us? Will they believe me?”

The head of the intelligence department was also at a loss. The number of spies they had deployed in Germany who could infiltrate high-level German institutions was very small. The two organizations, the SS and the Army Intelligence Bureau, were impenetrable and had eliminated most of the high-level British and American spies deployed in Germany.

So he could only grit his teeth, hold a pile of fringe intelligence that couldn’t be presented in public, and desperately hype the idea that the Germans were researching a superweapon. “During surveillance, an intelligence officer discovered that the German army once used a unit with an iron cross emblem with a golden gear in the center to transport a batch of containers at a secret base. These containers were painted with strange symbols, a black, triangularly distributed pattern on a bright yellow background. Our people have seen this symbol more than once, and it is mostly suspected to be related to the German army’s atomic weapon research.”

Another assistant took out a list and began to read the names on it in front of Roosevelt. “The Hungarian physicists Szilard and Teller, the German physicists Heisenberg, Einstein, and Otto Hahn, and even many of our own American physicists have been funded by the Germans, have taken German citizenship, and have become the core talent of German weapons research. We don’t even have a complete list of their names to this day. Who would have thought that the Germans would have started investing in talent reserves as early as the damn year of 1927.”

Just as Roosevelt was about to lose his temper, some slightly more plausible content finally appeared. “The Germans are equipping a new type of aircraft. Someone has seen a swept-wing aircraft being test-flown in the skies over a German aircraft testing ground, codenamed XG-79. The sound of the engine is very loud, similar to the British Meteor.”

“The German Air Force is testing a type of aircraft that is very fast. Yes, similar to the long-nosed Fw-190D fighter. You can even hear a rumbling sound when it dives. It’s definitely not a plane we’ve ever seen, definitely not! This is a telegram sent back by one of our spies. The content was originally just like this,” an officer said. The content about advanced German aircraft made the U.S. Army Air Corps and the Naval Air Corps very sensitive. Bringing these things up would definitely get them a large budget from Congress. Thinking of this, Roosevelt finally calmed down a little and controlled himself from the brink of an outburst.

“There is definite intelligence showing that the various departments of the German Air Force are systematically strengthening their homeland air defense. They are building a radar air defense network, setting up a complete anti-aircraft gun defense line, and setting up an outer air defense fighter interception network in the occupied territories. This is a directive from their homeland air defense command. We spent a lot of money to get it from a French air force commander,” the intelligence director said, pointing at the slideshow to Roosevelt.

Another intelligence officer quickly took the opportunity to bring the topic back to the superweapon. “According to intelligence provided by a spy, the Germans began researching a superweapon long ago. So they also believe that the enemy is researching the same weapon. Therefore, according to the Führer’s directive, they are stepping up the construction of an absolute defense system over the entire empire.”

The little bit of solid information that the American spies had managed to obtain was now presented at the very end of the briefing. The intelligence director placed a German air force weapon model designation document in front of Roosevelt and said, “The German homeland air defense units are re-equipping with the new Ta-152 fighter. This aircraft is what we generally refer to as the long-nosed Fw-190D in our reports. This plane is, in fact, an ultimate improved version of the Fw-190 fighter, and its performance is very terrifying. The German ace pilot known as the ‘Black Tulip,’ who is causing the Soviets a headache on the Eastern Front, is flying this advanced fighter.”

After Roosevelt had picked up the document and had looked at it for a while, he continued to add, “The P-51 fighter that we are currently designing and developing is still not up to the level of the Ta-152, which is already in service with the German army. The gap between the two is not small. This will make it very difficult for us to gain air superiority over the German army on the main front. On the contrary, it will be easier for the Germans to gain air superiority and use it to attack our ground forces.”

“We must speed up the development of the P-51 fighter…” Roosevelt muttered to himself as he read the document. “The navy also needs to hurry up. We must have new fighters in service, otherwise America will lose the war…”

“Mr. President, the situation on the Soviet side is even more serious now. The Germans have bombed Stalingrad. Based on the range, it is not impossible for these German bombers to attack Moscow,” the intelligence director said beside Roosevelt. “The Soviet Union has requested our aid of 4,000 fighter planes and 30 new radar sets. Now, under these circumstances, I think we must consider it again before replying to them.”

Roosevelt was taken aback for a moment, then rested his chin on his hand and thought carefully. Radar, as America’s secret weapon, had already played a huge role in the Pacific theater. The American fleet, relying on its electronic advantage, had already stabilized its position. The victory in the Pacific theater had also saved his position as president, and the United States had thus escaped the fate of defeat and surrender.

Now, to just hand over this advanced technology to the Soviet Union for free was really a bit reluctant. But the situation in the Soviet Union was indeed not good now. Once Germany began a large-scale bombing of Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad, no one could know how long the Soviet Union could hold on in this war.

Roosevelt now really wanted to meet that German Führer. He had formally held great power in Germany since around 1925, but the facts proved that from around 1923, this Führer had established his prestige in the German military. German weapons, from that time until now, seemed to have never had a single failed product.

Rifles, semi-automatic rifles, assault rifles, machine guns; motorcycles, cars, armored cars, tanks; fighters, bombers, attack planes; destroyers, cruisers, aircraft carriers… every single weapon of Germany seemed to be at the forefront of the world, and had proven to the world that this path was absolutely correct.

“Are there really prophets in this world?” Roosevelt asked in a low voice, gritting his teeth and squinting his eyes. He then recovered his expression and signaled his intelligence director to come closer. He ordered, “You, personally handle this matter. Find all the trustworthy paranormal masters in the entire United States. Try it from this angle, see if you can deduce what this German Führer, Mr., really is!”

Speaking of which, even he himself felt that this order was a bit too childish. But he still did not retract it, because he felt that if something could not be explained by science, then one had to try other methods.

“Also,” since he had already given a ridiculous order, one more wouldn’t matter. Roosevelt thought for a moment about that mysterious German superweapon research project and finally felt that he should make preparations early. “I will find a way to raise some funds, to find a way to start our own American superweapon research project… The name of the project, the name… let’s call it the ‘Manhattan Project’.”

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