.Portugal Salina Cruz, Mexico.

On a rainy day at the end of July, the dock was as bustling as usual, and local vendors wearing big straw hats sold handicrafts, cocoa beans, cigarettes, candy, chocolate and other small commodities. In this largest commercial port and oil export port in southwestern Mexico, people of all kinds can be seen. Indians, Europeans and even Asians, with cargo ships of different styles of various countries, including Chile, Germany, Britain, Turkey, and even Japan. The clouds of war seem to have not dispersed here.

Just after noon, loud whistles came from the port. The merchants on the dock looked up and saw two warships flying the German flag and the German Navy flag slowly sailing into the harbor. Behind them, there were majestic cruise ships, cargo ships sailing into the harbor one by one, and finally docked in the dock area on the north side of the port.

Seeing this, Mexican hawkers rushed towards the place where the ships were moored. Unexpectedly, a large group of Mexican military and police with live ammunition had already blocked the dock area. The hawkers had to look from a distance who was trying to use such a big show.

After the cruise ship's gangway was lowered, the first one to get off the ship were several German sailors wearing dark blue naval uniforms. At this time, people on the dock could see that the ship's sideways were full of German soldiers wearing light gray summer uniforms, dome helmets, and rifles and luggage. However, unlike in the past, the skin color of the faces under the helmets was not European-white, and their arms were also dark.

There are many black people in the United States, and most Mexicans have seen them, but this is the first time most Mexicans here have seen them in groups like this. The vendors have completely forgotten that they are here to sell goods, and they all look at them curiously.

The black soldiers slowly but very orderly got off the gangway, and then more than a hundred people gathered on the dock near the gangway. After counting their soldiers, the black officers shouted loudly in German:

"Stand upright! Turn right! Step in line!"

Roar! Wow!

The black soldiers were calm and calm just now, shocking the audience in the distance with uniform movements, and then the big leather boots stepped on the stone pier and made a sound of neat and pleasant footsteps. All the soldiers looked ahead indifferently, with their chests high, as if they were participating in a military parade.

The Mexican military and police who were blocking the dock quickly made a way, and the onlookers outside retreated a few meters away, and then looked at the black soldiers lined up from the dock to the train station with extremely curious and surprised eyes.

"Are they Germans?"

"It seems not!"

"But they are wearing German military uniforms!"

"It's probably the German colonial army!"

"oh……"

In the next period of time, such fleets arrived every two or three days, and the soldiers of the German African colonial army naturally would not buy anything from the Mexican vendors on the dock. So most of the Mexican vendors gathered around the train station again. Before the army left, they had the hope of selling their goods to the black soldiers sitting in the carriage. Although the salary of these soldiers was not as high as that of the German local army, they could still leave some pocket money to buy cigarettes and candy while supporting their families.

Since late July, the port of Salina Cruz in the Bay of Tevantepec has gradually become the busiest military-civilian port on the west coast of Mexico. The reason is simple. The Americans deployed a large number of submarines in the Gulf of Mexico and sent mines to lay mines at major ports on the east coast of Mexico at night. Although German and Mexican destroyers and minesweepers have been working very hard to clear these obstacles, the route from Bremen to Veracruz has been greatly affected.

The loss of a ship of cargo was sunk by torpedoes or mines. However, if it was a troop transport ship full of soldiers, it would probably be a huge tragedy every time it was attacked. Therefore, the German Navy's troop transport ship took another safer route - detouring South America and then heading to the port of Mexico's west coast. Although this route took nearly a week, the loss rate had dropped to about three percent under the escort of the Alliance Navy. By mid-August, more than 500,000 troops were transported from the German mainland, and only one troop transport ship sank during the attack of American submarines. Fortunately, most of the soldiers above were rescued by the escort ships.

On the other hand, the Americans lost more than 70 submarines and more than 30 minecraft boats in the month after the war. Although it is undeniable that the strong US shipbuilding industry is enough to make up for these losses in a short period of time, the lost skilled sailors cannot be cultivated in one or two months.

After receiving reinforcements from 150,000 local troops and 400,000 African colonial troops, the German Expeditionary Force commanded by General Oli and the Mexican army commanded by Marshal Villa began to attack two other states in the southern United States - California and Arizona on August 14, and captured Los Angeles, a major southwestern United States town on the 17th. On the 19th, five German African colonial divisions launched the Battle of Las Vegas with the cooperation of a German armored brigade. The brave African soldiers' fearless fighting on the battlefield was praised by the German and Mexican commanders, which also made the US officers and soldiers on the opposite side frightened.

In addition, after a week of rest, the Goodry A Army began to advance towards Louisiana, and Rommel's armored division also captured Oklahoma City with the cooperation of Mexican infantry. All five southern states in the United States fell on August 20.

The ground forces are in full swing, and the Luftwaffe is not idle either. By mid-August, more than 1,200 Doniel DD long-range bombers had been deployed in the southern United States, Guadeloupe and Newfoundland. Almost every day, one or two large aircraft groups intensively bombed important industrial areas and oil fields in the United States. Nearly 50,000 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs caused a severe blow to the industry that Americans have always been proud of: the Baltimore city was almost leveled, Zhou

The operating rate of factory side is less than 5%, and the situation in New York is even worse. The once prosperous financial neighborhoods, ports, and Broadway were all wiped out by German bombs. The whole city was quietly waiting for the moment when life ended like an old man. Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Detroit were also facing the danger of being destroyed by bombs and incendiary bombs. Now, the Minnesota and St. Paul industrial areas that are far away from the German air bases have not been bombed for the time being.

When the southern Houston oil-producing and refining areas were occupied by the German army, although the US government did not face the oil-focused crisis for a while, its war potential was undoubtedly greatly weakened. For this reason, the US government had to re-adjust the deployment. On the one hand, they accepted that the British and Canadian governments sent ground troops into the United States to fight, and on the other hand, they asked Russia to attack Germany from land according to the secret agreement between the two countries in order to restrain the German troops and divert the attention of the German senior leaders.

The Russian Empress quickly politely rejected the Americans' request. Although the Americans provided tens of millions of dollars in funds and material assistance to Russia, Germany was far from the level of empty defense at this time. Together with Oli's Royal Fighting Army and the German 5th Army who were later transferred to the front line, the German Army only sent less than half of the conventional troops, and nearly 500,000 conventional troops are stationed in the country. It is even more terrifying that Germany will mobilize the whole country in one week. In just one week, more than 2 million well-trained and mostly participating in the European war will join the combat sequence. In addition, there are nearly 500,000 fully trained African colonial troops, and with the excellent equipment of the German Army, this powerful enemy Russia will never be able to abdicate.

In addition to disappointment, the US government had to place hope on its own fleet of two oceans.

On August 4, after three weeks of voyage, the US Pacific Fleet finally returned to its long-distance west coast. Since its former home port, San Diego, was severely damaged under the fierce bombing of the German and Mexican ground forces, and the port city was approaching the port city, the fleet had to temporarily go to San Francisco, the west coast, which was not as equipped as San Diego and Norfolk in all aspects, but also built a large naval base. Before deciding where to go, it was a good choice for the US Pacific Fleet on the West Coast.

August 7, San Francisco, USA.

The breeze was mixed with the unpleasant smell left by something burning. The bustling city was morbid and whimpering, the whimpering sound of fire trucks, the crying sound of women and children, and the extremely miserable choking sound of the old man.

The city was filled with smoke, and outside the narrow Kinmen Strait, a fleet with star-striped flags hanging on the mast did not know whether to advance or retreat. The sailors standing on the railings were filled with anger and sadness.

In the command room of the flagship "South Dakota", General Robert Kontz looked at San Francisco, which was unrecognizable. Although he knew that the German army had fierce offensives since the war started, he did not expect that even San Francisco, which is more than 600 kilometers away from the southern border, would be subjected to violent air strikes. Since the San Diego military port close to Mexico had been captured by German and Mexican troops, he and the Pacific fleet had lost their home port on the west coast. Originally, he thought that the naval base in San Francisco was still available, but now it seems that this port within the range of the Luftwaffe bombing cannot be stationed for a long time.

An hour later, the Pacific Fleet commanded by General Koonts neither entered the port nor left, but was just flowing over and over again on the sea. The decision to enter or leave was not with him. In fact, in the Naval Operations Department in Washington, senior generals were discussing this issue fiercely. Going north to Seattle or south to Panama represents two ways for this fleet to meet with the Atlantic Fleet - entering the Atlantic from the Arctic Ocean or entering the Panama Canal into the Caribbean Sea. Both channels have their pros and cons and risks. You must know that the powerful German Atlantic Fleet is enough to run any fleet alone.

Not long after, a single-wing and twin-engine German reconnaissance plane appeared over San Francisco. The German pilots above obviously noticed the fleet outside the port, and then began to hover over the air again and again. It was not until the three f48 fighters that took off from the USS Langley aircraft carrier took off that the German plane turned around and flew towards the south.

"It seems we can't stay here too much!" General Kontz sighed, "Send a signal to the San Francisco Naval Base to send ships to transport fresh water, vegetables and fuel, and the fleet heads north at a cruise speed!"

With unwillingness, the American sailors said goodbye to the Golden Gate Strait and San Francisco with their ships, but twenty-four hours later, they had to turn their heads on the sea and head south because Washington sent a secret telegram asking General Koont and the Pacific Fleet to adopt the B plan, that is, to go to Panama, and the Atlantic Fleet stationed in Norfolk will also carry out corresponding actions in the near future to finally achieve the goal of rendezvous fleets.

Washington made such a decision because not long ago, the German North Sea Fleet left the land and joined the German and British Fleets stationed in Pascalflo, a powerful fleet with 5 battleships, 2 aircraft carriers and 40 light ships had entered the Atlantic Ocean and was estimated to be renowned in a week. According to reliable intelligence, the German Mediterranean Fleet and Turkey's main fleet were also ready to go to the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, even the US two-ocean fleet would be difficult to compete with the Allied Fleet with air superiority.

Another very important reason is that the German Atlantic Fleet, which appeared in the waters near the Bahamas and Cuba a few days ago, began to shell out military fortresses and ports along the coast of Cuba in the early morning of August 8. Although the United States did not directly rule Cuba at this time, the current Cuban regime was also supported by the United States. The United States also has army and naval forces in Cuba and occupy the Guantanamo naval base. Currently, Cuba can be said to be half of the United States' colony.

On the same day, a US submarine lurking near Guadeloup discovered a German fleet centered on three super-large landing ships, which also confirmed the speculation of the US intelligence agencies that the German army was about to land in Cuba!

However, the only thousands of US troops and more than a dozen small and medium-sized ships stationed in Cuba have no ability to resist the German Atlantic Fleet, and Cuba's armed police force may be vulnerable in front of the German Marine Corps.

Once Cuba falls into the hands of the Germans, the North Gate of the Caribbean Sea will probably not be able to tell the American ships that came out of the Panama Canal and entered the Atlantic Ocean. However, Cuba is only separated from the United States by a Florida Strait more than 200 kilometers wide, and the consequences of allowing the Germans to establish air force bases there are unimaginable.
Chapter completed!