But it was said that after John Clark ended the call with Fang Lang, he went directly to his father, Rear Admiral Joseph Clark, commander of the U.S. Fifth Aircraft Carrier Fleet, and told his father what Fang Lang had said.
After hearing what John said, General Clark fell into deep thought. After all officers reach the position of general, they can no longer look at problems purely from a military perspective.
He must have his own political vision, otherwise he will not be able to go far. And General Clark can become a powerful general of the U.S. Navy in an environment full of racial discrimination, and he will definitely not be a mediocre person.
Therefore, he saw the essence of this matter at a glance. Brazilian warships joined the British Pacific Fleet to participate in the Pacific War. This was not a simple matter of increasing the military strength of the British Navy's Pacific Fleet.
Rather, it was something that Britain would use as an opportunity to exert political influence in America's back garden. Clark could almost predict that the British would never let go of such a good opportunity.
Then, if Brazilian warships join the British Pacific Fleet, the impact on the United States in Latin America will be very bad and unacceptable. Compared with this political impact, the cost of providing the Brazilian Navy with a small fleet pales into insignificance.
After seeing this clearly, Clark directly contacted General Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Theater, without hesitation. I want to explain to everyone here that General Nimitz is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Theater, and MacArthur is the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in the Pacific Theater.
That is to say, General Nimitz was only responsible for managing the US military, while MacArthur was responsible for coordinating and managing all Allied armies. Of course, Nimitz later also served as commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in the Pacific Theater.
"Your Majesty General, I just received a message, and I think I should report it to you. I wonder if you are free."
After receiving a positive answer, General Clark put down the phone and went directly to Nimitz's office.
"You mean the British want Brazilians to join their Pacific Fleet and fight in the Pacific theater?"
General Nimitz's questioning voice came from General Nimitz's office. His voice was not loud and his tone was very calm. As a general who holds the power of life and death for hundreds of thousands and millions of people, this little thing cannot cause him to have emotional fluctuations.
"Yes, my son and the Brazilian naval officer are good friends. I don't know whether the other party revealed the news intentionally or unintentionally."
General Clark gave a detailed report to General Nimitz on what happened.
"Is the news true?"
"I confirmed on the way here that Brazilian government diplomats are indeed communicating with the British government on this matter. The specific details are still being discussed."
Of course, General Clark would not report directly to his superiors without conducting an investigation. He had arranged for personnel to conduct a detailed investigation before going to General Nimitz's office, and the results were obviously true.
After hearing General Clark's report, General Nimitz thought for a moment and continued calmly:
“Aren’t our governments involved?”
"The two parties probably contacted each other privately and did not notify us. Therefore, they only found out about this after I asked."
General Nimitz, who had always been very calm, learned that the two allies were actually colluding behind the United States' back. The tone finally started to sound bad.
"These British people have not yet put down their dignity as the so-called empire on which the sun never sets, and they are still reaching out to us in America. It is really abominable.
So what do these Brazilians want to do? Does their so-called navy also want to come to Asia to get a piece of the pie? Are you overestimating your capabilities? "
After hearing General Nimitz's question, General Clark still told what he knew.
"As far as I know, the purpose of the Brazilian Navy's original application to us to join the Pacific Theater was to build a modern naval fleet. The size of the fleet is unknown."
General Nimitz showed a disdainful smile and said:
"Do they still want to have an aircraft carrier fleet? Can they afford it?"
"This is not clear yet. We may need our people to step in and communicate with them to know their thoughts."
During the questions and answers between the two, Nimitz had a clear understanding of the entire incident. As a commander, he had to think about problems at a more complex level.
"Is it possible that after the British government got the news that we refused the Brazilian navy to join the Pacific battlefield, it would take the initiative to extend an olive branch to Brazil?"
In fact, General Clark has also considered this issue. After all, considering the time when the Brazilian army participated in the war, and Brazil's views on the war, it is unlikely that they would actively want to join a battlefield that has nothing to do with them.
"This possibility cannot be ruled out."
Now that this has become an established fact, we need to consider how to deal with it. General Nimitz looked at General Clark. He believed that he must have had a complete idea of his own when he came to report this matter.
So I asked directly:
"What is your opinion?"
Clark didn't hesitate and directly stated his thoughts.
"General, I think we cannot allow the Brazilian Navy to join the British Pacific Fleet. This will do great harm to our international prestige, especially our American strategy. We should come forward to dissuade the Brazilian Navy from this dangerous idea."
Although Clark did not explain clearly how to dissuade the Brazilians, the meaning was actually very obvious.
"You mean we support one of their fleets?"
"The war is about to end. It is the lowest cost solution for us to sell a few redundant warships to them. As long as they agree not to join the British Pacific Fleet."
Clark was not surprised that General Nimitz saw through his plans at a glance. However, the specific method of support depends on General Nimitz's own considerations.
In fact, Clark's idea is indeed the lowest-cost solution to the matter, as long as the Brazilians get what they want. It will be difficult for the British to persuade them.
However, if Brazil is really allowed to achieve its wish, it will create uncontrollable risks for the US strategy in the Americas. Therefore, General Nimitz said cautiously:
"But having such a powerful navy in South America will affect the regional balance. We must be cautious about this matter."
Brazil and Argentina have always been the biggest competitors in South America. Therefore, General Clark has already considered General Nimitz's concerns about disrupting the regional balance.
"Perhaps selling a few warships to Argentina can maintain this balance."
Seeing that General Clark had already considered these issues, it was obviously a matter of careful consideration. General Nimitz no longer hesitated and let go:
"That makes sense, then just do what you want!"
The Brazilian government's ideas on how to solve the problem can be solved directly from the political level. However, this problem was revealed to John by Fang Lang, who was also John's savior and good friend.
Since Fang Lang himself was indeed willing to participate in the Pacific War, General Clark also wanted to help him achieve his wish, so he said:
"I heard what John said. The Brazilian navy who revealed the news to him is of Chinese descent. He himself hopes to join the Pacific Theater to fight against Japan. What if they are indeed very willing to fight?"
General Clark's words made Nimitz put the coffee cup he had just picked up on the table again, looked at General Clark and said:
"Oh! And in this case, does he have great influence in the Brazilian Navy?"
General Clark must know about Fang Lang's situation. After all, he is his son's savior. He was transferred from the army to the navy and he even helped!
"It should be said that he is a pro-American faction supported by us in the Brazilian Navy. He is only twenty years old. General Chambers arranged for him to participate in our destroyer captain training course.
After graduation, he escorted the Atlantic Transport Fleet for the first time and sank four German submarines. Chambers said that he might be a naval genius, at least with extraordinary talent in anti-submarine warfare.
He is currently the only naval captain in the Brazilian Navy with an actual combat sinking record, and he should be a figure with certain influence in the Brazilian Navy. "
General Clark's words aroused the interest of General Nimitz. Nimitz himself was only 22 years old when he first served as the commander of a destroyer, making him the youngest destroyer captain in the US military.
Now he actually met a guy who was even more powerful than he was when he was young. He had a record of actual combat sinkings when he was younger than himself. He couldn't help but look at him in a new light.
"There is also this situation. He is so young and has such a resume. When you say this, I am a little interested in this guy. Since we are all going to provide warships to the Brazilian Navy, we will incorporate this guy into your fleet. , contribute to us on the Pacific battlefield! Let’s see if he is really that powerful.”
With Nimitz's permission, Clark accepted the order without any nonsense.
"Understood General, I will communicate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a timely manner."
