US Secretary of State Cordell Hull could imagine the dilemma faced by the pale, thin, and sickly British Prime Minister in front of him.

According to data provided by the British, the Germans now own 320-350 submarines, of which as many as 80 ocean-going submarines can fight in the Atlantic Ocean, a number far exceeding the level in 1917! Therefore, although the British took many anti-submarine escort measures, their losses still reached a level similar to those in 1917. The losses in September and October (British merchant ships) exceeded 300,000 tons.

In November, although the destroyers of the US Atlantic Fleet began to cruise freely in the North Atlantic, they also used clear telegrams to inform the location of the German submarines they discovered. However, because the German auxiliary cruisers (camouflage attack ships) were added and the German submarines adopted the group attack (wolf pack tactics), the British losses further expanded to more than 400,000 tons. This was the result achieved when the North Atlantic climate was not conducive to submarine attacks!

The situation in the first half of December still did not improve. In just 13 days, the British lost 190,000 tons of merchant ships!

However, even though the German submarines and auxiliary cruisers had a brilliant record, they did not reach the point where they could immediately kill Britain. Because the British Empire had a strong family background, this loss would not have paralyzed the British Empire's overseas transportation lines.

However, the economic losses suffered by Britain were very heavy. The value of 1.23 million tons of merchant ships and hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo was astronomical. Moreover, a considerable part of these goods sent to the seabed were raw materials needed for British industrial production.

If the loss of merchant ships of more than 400,000 tons per month continues, the British Empire may really not be able to hold on.

"Sir, we have no choice but to use those German submarines!" Chamberlain said in a hoarse voice. "Our light cruisers and destroyers are far less numerous than in 1917. We have to take out some of them to cruise or cover minesweepers in the English Channel, the Norwegian Sea and the Denmark Sea. Now some camouflage attack ships must be sent to hunt down the Germans, and many ships have been lost or damaged for several months of continuous high-intensity operations."

"Maybe we can transfer some sealed destroyers to you. Although those ships are products from World War I,..." Hull said carefully, but he soon discovered that Prime Minister Chamberlain did not show any expression of interest.

"Mr. Secretary of State, we do need destroyers, but that is not an urgent task," said Chamberlain. "And I understand the process of selling arms sealed. The transfer of dozens of destroyers cannot be achieved in a few days or weeks. Moreover, if these ships sealed for more than ten years or even longer are necessary to put them into use, the whole process may take several months. And Britain is in urgent need of help now!"

"Prime Minister, what do you mean..."

"Escort!" Chamberlain looked at Hull with a look of help, "We can buy your supplies, pay in cash, and transport them yourself. But it is meaningless to spend precious gold and foreign exchange to buy necessary supplies in the UK, and then load them to sink the German submarines."

"Escortable is an act of war!" Secretary Hull pointed out.

Chamberlain shook his head and said, "How could it be an act of war? A formation of American cruisers and destroyers sailed freely on the Atlantic Ocean, and happened to encounter British escort fleets, and then American and British ships sailed along the same route until they approached the Isle of Britain. This is the freedom of navigation of the American navy on the high seas!"

This is a strait ball, but it is still very dangerous!

Because German submarines are likely to launch attacks regardless of the presence of the US ship, and American warships may be attacked by mistake...

"This is a policy of war at the edge of war!" Hull told Chamberlain, "If Germany attacks the US ship, the United States may be involved in the world war!"

"No, it's not," Chamberlain said. "I understand the Germans. They do things carefully and strictly. If a German submarine finds several American destroyers and British escort formations, the measures taken cannot be to attack immediately, but to ask Berlin, so our escort formation will arrive in Britain safely."

"But..." Corder Hull frowned, "But such a good thing is at most. When the Germans are prepared, the US ship may be attacked!"

Chamberlain shrugged, "Then let's implement it first... Let dozens of merchant ships loaded with American supplies arrive safely, which is of great significance to stabilizing the hearts of the British people."

...

Chamberlain's request was unanimous to answer. At the end of the talks, the US Secretary of State simply agreed to convey the British request to President Roosevelt.

However, at a later British cabinet meeting, Navy Secretary Churchill showed some optimism.

"Roosevelt will agree!" Churchill, holding a cigar, had a nerve made of steel. Even if the losses of the merchant ship reached a shocking level, he did not waver at all. "Because he is a great American president, this is our luck and the misfortune of the Germans!"

Chamberlain nodded and said, "He should agree. He is ready to be re-election for the third time. This breaks the American convention and shows that he really wants to do something. Winston, we should make good use of this opportunity!"

"I understand, I understand." Churchill said, "I will let the fleet gather in New York, and then the Germans will meet unprecedented 'fish schools'!"

The German Central Security Agency must have a spy network in New York, which is undoubtedly the case. Therefore, the gathering of the British fleet will definitely be detected by the Germans...

Chamberlain nodded and changed the topic, "The Americans also hope that we will fulfill our original promise to Russia... Of course, it is to fulfill our promise to the Soviet Union!"

"Take Turkey to the Soviet Union?" Churchill squirted a sip of cigarettes, "But Turkey does not belong to us." He paused, "But I'm happy to see the outbreak of the 12th Russian-Turkish War... Türkiye is not easy to deal with!"

Türkiye is a mountainous peninsula terrain, which is not so easy to be pushed down by the Soviet Union. Moreover, Türkiye has been trained by Kemal to become a modern nation-state, and its military strength is not weak.

In addition, Turkey is now more pro-Germany and is the main source of chromite. Through chromite trade, they have also exchanged a lot of advanced German weapons and equipment. If the Soviet Union really attacked Turkey, Germany might provide support. In this way, the Soviet-German relationship will collapse!

Chamberlain said: "Then let our envoy tell Moscow that as long as the Soviet Union can reduce the oil delivered to Germany by 70%, we will no longer object to the Soviet Union's entry into Türkiye."

"I think it's OK," Churchill nodded, "but such a promise cannot be made public." He thought for a while and said, "I don't think there should be too much expectations for the Soviet Union. If we want to cut off Germany's oil supply, the most appropriate way is to use bombers!"

"But this will anger Stalin!" Chamberlain hesitated, "The Soviet Union may completely turn to Germany!"

"That's nothing," Churchill sneered. "The Soviet Union and Germany's alliance cannot last for too long. Moreover, once the Soviet Union and Germany form an alliance, we will also gain new allies."

"New allies?"

"The Kingdom of Italy," Halifax took over the topic, "because of the Liberator Declaration, the relationship between Italy and Germany has cooled down, and if the Soviet Union and Germany allied, Mussolini would likely fall to us."

"There is also the United States!" Churchill smiled and said, "Roosevelt would not watch the Soviet Union and Germany divide the world. If the Soviet Union and Germany form an alliance, the United States will definitely join us! As long as the United States joins, we can win!"

...

"I just received an information that British and French merchant ships are arriving in New York in large quantities!"

At the Command Meeting on December 20, Hessmann first informed the important information sent to the General Staff of the General Administration of Security.

"It seems that the British are preparing to make a big purchase!" Hessman said. "As of yesterday afternoon, there were more than 100 merchant ships in Britain and France! This will be an unprecedented large fleet!"

"100 boats!" Hitler shouted, "at least hundreds of thousands of tons, we cannot let them arrive in England safely."

"You can send out a ship to the ship!" Marshal Raidel still stubbornly wanted to use the fleet. "The climate in the Norwegian Sea and the Denmark Strait is very harsh now, and it almost does not exist during the day..."

"This is not possible," Marshal Schletcher shook his head, "The fleet cannot use it... the best way to dispatch submarines!"

Redell said helplessly: "Then send submarines to the North Atlantic route to ambush, and at the same time, they lay a large amount of mines near the ports in western Britain."

"That's it!" said Hitler, "we must keep the fleet so that we can land in Britain in 1941 or 1942."

Hitler did not think carefully about whether he could land in Britain in 1942, but he is now unwilling to lose any battleship.

Hessman did not expect that American ships would escort the British transport fleet at this time. After the decision to dispatch submarines to attack, he directed the topic to Finland.
Chapter completed!