Chapter 324 Intelligence Work
America on the other side of the Atlantic.
Washington, White House.
"Italy also declared war on Britain?" U.S. President Roosevelt looked at the document in his hand and couldn't help but sigh. "It's simply Chi Guoguo's conspiracy. This Crown Prince Yannick is also a good player in conspiracy."
"Yeah, no one even knows when he started planning Italy. Three years, five years, or ten years?" The speaker was Army Chief of Staff George Cartwright Marshall.
The Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army is the highest position in the U.S. Army. He is led by the Secretary of Defense in peacetime, but in wartime he can be said to be the boss of the Army. Moreover, before World War II, the United States only had an army and a navy, and many naval policies were formulated by Marshall. To put it simply, the entire direction and strategy of the United States' entry into World War II was formulated by Marshall alone.
Before the end of World War II, which was the Battle of Normandy, Roosevelt felt a little sorry for Marshall. After all, as a general, he felt uncomfortable because he had not fought in a war. So I wanted him to command the entire Normandy landing, but later found that no one could take charge of the Army Staff after he left, so I had to choose Eisenhower to take command.
At that time, the highest military rank in the United States was a five-star general, which means marshal. For example, the well-known Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Bradley are all five-star generals. These people's military ranks all rose through military merit, and they all fought in many battles. But Marshall was the only one who was promoted to a five-star general without fighting a single battle during World War II, and everyone was convinced.
"What's even more frightening is that he is not only good at conspiracy, but also involved in almost every field; politics, technology, economy, military, education, society, culture, entertainment, he is outstanding in every field, he is simply an all-rounder. These are He has almost won all the awards in every field this year.”
"Is it God who cares for Germany?" After sighing again, Roosevelt got down to business. "Now Germany, Italy, and Vichy France are uniting to deal with Britain; is it possible for Italy to withdraw?"
"I'm afraid there's not even a 1% chance." Marshall smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I heard that Queen Silvia came to Germany a few years ago and lived in the Berlin Palace. To be precise, she lived with Crown Prince Yannick. After she took office, the top brass of the Italian government were immediately purged and replaced with Now Italy has become Germany’s most loyal follower. Unless Germany is completely defeated, Italy will follow Germany to the end.”
"This is not good news. What about Vichy France? Will it follow Germany wholeheartedly?"
"It's hard to say. Because of Britain's 'Operation Ballista', France is now even more hostile to Britain than Germany. The German army should be able to recruit many French soldiers who are willing to teach Britain a lesson."
"'Operation Ballista', the British really made a bad move. How did the German army learn about the British action plan and set up an ambush?"
"The British side has not investigated it for the time being. However, the German military broadcasts at that time mentioned code names such as 'Duke', 'Marquis', 'Count', 'Viscount', etc. This may be to confuse the audience, or it may really be the code names of those spies. maybe."
"Does that mean that Germany has a very high-level intelligence network at the top of the UK? So high-level that even top-secret plans like 'Operation Ballista' can be intercepted in advance?"
"It's very possible. And not only within the UK, I suspect that we even have a German intelligence network here." A few days ago, all the spies planted by the United States in Germany lost contact at almost the same time, and their lives and deaths are unknown. Some of them are old agents who were deployed during the last world war. They have been safe and sound for 20 years, and it is almost incredible that they are suddenly exposed.
In later generations, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States was one of the most famous intelligence agencies in the world, and it also appeared many times in movies and TV dramas with various themes. Under the influence of many movies and TV dramas, many people believe that the CIA must be an intelligence agency with a long history.
However, the CIA was officially established in 1947 after the end of World War II. This is why there is no CIA in reliable World War II-themed movies and TV series.
Starting from the end of the 19th century, as the industrial revolution accelerated, the United States gradually transformed into imperialism. At this time, the U.S. government and military had successively established specialized intelligence agencies. The methods of intelligence work such as interception, dispatch, and collection had been shaped and fixed through repeated iterations, and a professional and stable intelligence force was gradually formed. From the beginning of the intelligence community, U.S. intelligence activities have always lagged behind Europe due to historical and geographical reasons.
Later, with the dramatic changes in the international situation, in 1911, Pearson, then a member of Congress, proposed the establishment of a "National Defense Commission" to determine the different needs of the army and navy. The members of the National Defense Commission should include the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, Chairman of relevant congressional committees, President of the War College, etc. However, because the United States pursued the "Monroe Doctrine" at this time, was not very involved in international affairs, had a small military, and the country was relatively isolated geographically, and there was no imminent threat, this proposal was opposed by the State Department at the time. opposition, while Congress took little action.
With the outbreak of World War I and the expansion of the war, the "Military Appropriations Act" was passed by the U.S. Congress on August 29, 1916, and the "National Defense Committee" was established. In Woodrow Wilson's view, "Congress has realized that when this country is thoroughly prepared for peace, it is also best prepared for war." The members of the National Defense Committee are composed of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, etc. Its main responsibilities are to coordinate resources and industries to support the war, including coordinating transportation, industrial and agricultural production, financial war support, and public morale.
However, it is worth noting that the committee does not focus on military or diplomatic affairs, but on the coordination of national defense resources and the encouragement of people's fighting spirit.
During World War I, the United States had its first historic intelligence agency-the American Black Cabinet. However, this intelligence agency did not last long. Its main responsibility was code breaking. After a discussion on whether an intelligence department was needed in 1929, then Secretary of State Henry Stimson closed the "Black Cabinet" on the grounds that "gentlemen do not open other people's letters."
Until the outbreak of World War II, due to the mutual opposition between the US government and the military, the United States had not established a complete intelligence security system. The intelligence work of various departments worked independently. Although the Army and the Navy had established intelligence bureaus, there was little mutual intelligence exchange and cooperation between the two.
In 1938, Secretary of State Cordell Harr suggested the establishment of a "Standing Liaison Committee" between the Army and the Navy, with members including the Deputy Secretary of State, the Army Chief of Staff and the Chief of Naval Operations. The committee is "the first institution in the United States to conduct regular political and military consultations on foreign policy." In fact, this standing liaison committee did not regularly solve some important policy issues. It only provided a platform for information sharing between departments, especially intelligence about Latin America. However, because the US State Department at the time did not want to take too much responsibility, the management scope of the committee was greatly limited.
It can be said that the current US intelligence work is simply shit. Even if Marshall suspected that there was a German intelligence network within the top leadership, it would be impossible to conduct an effective investigation.
In fact, Roosevelt noticed the backwardness of US intelligence work very early and planned to establish an intelligence coordination department. But once this department is established, the military intelligence agency and the FBI will certainly not be willing to see their status decline and will block it; therefore, the plan has not been announced for a long time.
Sometimes he envied the German crown prince's dictatorship. What he said was an imperial decree, a decree, and no one dared to disobey it. The execution efficiency was amazing.
"It seems that Britain's situation has become more difficult." It was already difficult to fight against Germany, and now there are Italy and Vichy France. Roosevelt doubted whether Britain could hold on.
Once the British Empire fell or surrendered, Germany, which integrated the resources of the whole of Europe, would be the biggest enemy of the United States. "We must support Britain. It is best to let the British Empire fight with the European continent and both sides suffer losses. This is the result that best suits the interests of the United States."
At this time, Roosevelt had predicted that the United States would inevitably join the war, and Britain was an excellent base for both its own defense and future offense. So he persuaded Congress to increase financial subsidies to Britain, and the two sides were negotiating on this.