Chapter 491 Asking Price

In terms of time difference, London is 5 hours ahead of Washington.

When a large number of paratroopers landed in the UK, it was just night in Washington.

President Roosevelt, who was discussing the war situation in Europe with General Lacey, Chief of Staff of the President, General Marshall, Chief of Staff of the Army, and others, received the news that the German army sent paratroopers, and his expression suddenly became serious. "The Germans have launched a landing war, and they are really anxious." It is only the end of February, and the temperature is still a little cold, but the Germans can't wait to launch a landing war.

Marshall sighed. "The Germans are worried that something will happen if they delay."

General Lacey seemed to be talking to himself. "How long can the British hold on?"

Marshall couldn't help but smile bitterly. "What's the point of how long? If I were the British Prime Minister, I would surrender immediately. Of course, with Prime Minister Churchill's temper, he should fight to the death and live and die with Britain. But it's hard to say about others."

The last time Churchill's speech left a deep impression on people. "We will fight on the beaches; we will fight at the enemy landing sites; we will fight in the fields and streets; we will fight in the mountains; we will never surrender!"

"Never, ever, ever surrender!!"

Marshall did not doubt Churchill's determination to resist to the end. Moreover, Churchill's character was not very good. He would not hesitate to use any means to win, and he could trample on all laws and moral norms without hesitation. It can be said that he had no bottom line as a human being.

The Germans must have known Churchill's character very well, and they issued a warning on the radio; saying that if the Churchill government dared to use poison gas, the German army would resolutely fight back with more violent means ten times or a hundred times; dropping dozens of tons or hundreds of tons of super poison gas. The Germans also emphasized that the toxicity of these poison gases was enough to kill tens of thousands of people with one gram, and even gas masks were difficult to resist.

No one would think that the Germans would be soft-hearted in this matter. Under such a threat, even if Churchill really gave the order to release poison gas, the people below would probably not execute it; after all, everyone has their own flesh and blood, and no one would sacrifice the lives of their relatives and friends for the sake of killing a few German soldiers.

And now Britain is just a mantis trying to stop a chariot. The more Churchill resists, the greater the price Britain will have to pay after the defeat.

Of course, what price Britain has to pay is not what he cares about. What he cares about is that once Britain falls, it will be difficult for the United States to interfere in Europe. At this time, Marshall once again deeply realized the profound meaning of the sentence "The truth can only be mastered by a few people forever, and most people are mediocre." Several people present knew that the United States could not lose Britain. Unfortunately, few people would consider longer-term interests. They only care about food and clothing and a stable life.

Just as Marshall sighed in his heart, the presidential secretary came in and reported to Roosevelt that Secretary of State Cordell Hall had arrived.

Roosevelt nodded. "Let him in."

Caudle Hall walked in, greeted everyone, and reported his purpose to Roosevelt. "Mr. President, Ambassador Lucas in Madrid just sent a message, talking about the intelligence about the Germans' flying bombs."

"Oh? Listen carefully."

In recent months, the German army has used a "flying bomb" to bomb London, which inevitably attracted the attention of the US military's top brass. Unfortunately, this "flying bomb" has always been launched at night, and there is no useful information except that it looks like an airplane. Moreover, this "flying bomb" seems to have multiple safety devices installed, so even if it fails and crashes halfway, it will definitely explode.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him, Caudle coughed lightly and spoke carefully. "It's like this. The information about this 'flying bomb' was originally discussed secretly by the Spanish Vice President Salazar and the British Ambassador to Madrid Samuel Hall. But now the German army has launched a landing war, even if the British get the relevant information, it will be of little use, so Samuel Hall introduced our Lucas to the Vice President Salazar; Salazar said that he could provide a full set of design drawings."

"That's good news." But Marshall was a little puzzled. "But how could President Salazar get the design drawings of this bomb? This is the secret weapon of the German army."

Caudle shrugged. "I heard that several Spanish engineers participated in the design and production of this 'flying bomb'."

Marshall nodded silently after hearing this, which made sense. "But the Spanish will not provide this design drawing for nothing, right?"

"That's right, the Spanish want to do business. But their asking price is too outrageous. The British have been discussing for several months, but have not reached an agreement until now."

"How outrageous can it be? What price did the Spanish offer?"

Caudle held up five fingers. "500 tons of gold."

"Hiss!" Everyone took a deep breath. 500 tons of gold? The Spaniards really want a lot! At this time, the price of a ton of gold is about 1.2 million US dollars. 500 tons means 60 million US dollars. No, it's 600 million US dollars! ! Enough to build five or six super-large battleships! !

President Roosevelt laughed in anger. "Are these Spaniards crazy for money?! The British ambassador named Samuel Hall wants us to pay? Is he crazy too?! Does he think we are a gold mine?!"

Caudle explained. "Ambassador Samuel means that he is worried that the Germans will use it to attack the United States in the future. With this design, we can prepare as soon as possible."

Marshall disagreed. "The German 'flying bomb' looks powerful, but its range is no more than 200 kilometers. How can it threaten us?"

Caudle said very seriously. "Vice President Salazar said that it was just a German trick. The real range of this 'flying bomb' can exceed 1,200 kilometers, and it can be launched not only on land, but also on warships and even mounted bombers. The maximum flight speed can reach 750 kilometers per hour."

"What?!" Everyone was shocked.

If the range exceeds 1,200 kilometers, then in the future, if there is a conflict between the United States and Germany, the Germans can completely launch flying bombs outside the defense circle of the US mainland. And the flight speed of 750 kilometers per hour is almost impossible to intercept.

"These insidious Germans!" Roosevelt gritted his teeth and slapped the table, cursing. If he had known that Germany had this super weapon that could threaten the US mainland, he should have supported Britain at all costs, even if he went to war with Germany.

Unfortunately, it was too late now. Not to mention the isolationist sentiment prevalent in the country, even if the whole nation supported the war against Germany, it would not be in time. It would take a long time just to expand and prepare for mobilization. By the time the United States was ready, Britain would have already fallen.