Not Dead Yet
Colonel Markson adjusted his uniform for what must have been the fifteenth time in the last thirty minutes. He had reason to be nervous. Here he was sitting with the heads of the Marines, Army Air-core, Army, and the Navy. Not to mention President Roosevelt, and several Generals and Admirals that had been called in to advise. They had already been briefed on the startling developments, so that was out of the way. What worried him the most was that now, they all had questions for him.
Henry Arnold, the recently appointed head of the Army Air-core was talking, "All in all Mister President. What the letter says in quite fascinating. It appears that between now and 1941, Germany and Japan will launch strikes all across Europe and the Pacific, aided in part by almost complete control of the air. Apparently the attack that destroyed the US Pacific fleet was conducted almost entirely from the Air."
Admiral Halsey, one of the observers nodded, "Yes. From all appearances the attack was carried out with complete surprise. Our forces were caught completely unaware. Many of the fighters were on the ground. The carriers didn't have time to launch their aircraft before they were sunk. it appears that they were the target of the attack."
President Roosevelt leaned forward a little in his wheel-chair, "What does that tell us?"
Admiral Halsey continued, "From all appearances, the Japanese believed that our carriers were the greater threat. According to the letter, they were the first ships hit. And judging by the efficiency of the Japanese aircraft carriers, there appears to be good reason for the Japanese to have been afraid of our carriers."
Roosevelt nodded, listening intently as Halsey continued, "It appears that much of this war will be fought in the air, even the Navy will need to deploy a trained wing of airmen, General Arnold?"
Arnold took up where Halsey left off, "It also appears that a good deal of this war involves aircraft being used to support infantry and armor quite closely."
An Army officer spoke up, "Mister President."
Roosevelt turned, "Ah, yes, Colonel Patton. The Secretary tells me that you are our premiere proponent of armored warfare."
Patton nodded, "Yes Mister President. I've read over the letter, and from what it looks like, the Germans developed several highly successful tank designs, focusing on firepower and armor." Patton paused, then continued, "According to armored doctrine, a tank has three areas of specialization. Armor, firepower, and speed. A tank can perform well in two of those areas, but must sacrifice performance in the last. The German tanks had very heavy firepower and armor, but speed was lacking. Our own tanks appear to have been based on speed, and were unable to fight the German tanks effectively. My staff has already prepared several designs for us to consider. I must stress, however, that we must rethink our armored doctrine in its totality. Up until this point, armor has been used to support the infantry. Looking at the information that our mysterious future benefactor has given us, it is must more effective to use infantry to support the armor. Armor units form "spearheads" and breach enemy lines, then the infantry moves in to hold the area."
Nodding his head, George C. Marshall spoke, "I understand, Colonel Patton, that you have have a talent for armored warfare, but how do these "spearheads" perform if they must wait for the infantry to catch up?"
The Colonel seemed to ignore Marshall's question, and continued without turning away from the President, "The infantry will need to be mechanized. Looking at these pictures," he gestured at the photographs, "it seems that the Germans had developed armored vehicles to carry personnel to battle, while providing protecting for the troops. If we can replicate these designs, or create some of our own, the issue of the infantry falling behind the armored units is no longer an issue. The tank is a highly important weapon. As well, our industry would have little issue adapting to produce tanks during a time of war; we already have the factories for producing trucks and tractors for agriculture. The basic mechanics are very similar."
Marshall, an advocate of armored warfare himself, seemed pleased, and the President picked up, "Very well. I'll have funding allocated to both air research, as well as whatever we need to make these armored units work. The remaining issue is how we hide preparations for war from the Congress. Many in Congress are isolationists and won't approve of millions of dollars being funneled into what they think is a useless apparatus."
Markson leaned forward, "May I speak, Mister President?"
"Of course Colonel."
"What if we disguise the preparations for war as part of the New Deal. What better way to get Americans employed than to employ them directly for the government. Business won't mind. Their factories will be working again; maybe not for passenger cars, but it will still provide money and jobs. We bill it to Congress using Germany as an example. They are already moving to expand their military, and their economy is doing well. That should convince the doves in Congress to sign onto this. As for the money, we borrow. If we win the war, we can extract the money as war reparations, if we loose, debt will be our last worry."
Roosevelt nodded, "Very well. This meeting is adjourned. Gentlemen, we have three years."
"Six, Mister President." Markson said.
"But the letter states that Germany invaded France in 1939, Colonel." The President responded, obviously a little confused.
"Yes Sir, but the United States did not enter the war until were attacked in 1942."
"Then the question is," said Admiral Halsey, "do we stand with our soon-to-be allies, or do we wait until we are attacked directly."
Markson shook his head, "To be frank, Mister President, the citizens of the United States will not react strongly to an attack on France. It will take an attack on the United States to rile the population to war."
"Right. But what if the Japanese attack before then?" Halsey asked.
"Then let's say that we must be ready for war by January 1941." Colonel Markson responded.
"January 1941 it is. Colonel, glad to have you with us."
"Thank you, Mister President."
[OOC]
Alright, first, I understand that things look a bit weird in terms of what rank people are, but bear with me you historians. This is an alternate universe, based on another alternate universe, so things are a little out-of-order compared to our current time-line. You'll find out more as time goes on. Sorry for the lack of an update, but my laptop's HD died, again. I'm continuing on my desktop now; I lost the old save, hence the lack of any actual in game related events. Yes, I have bad luck with my laptop hard disks.
[/OOC]