Chapter 200 Volume 6, Chapter 10, The Second Quebec Conference

I set sail from Clyde on September 5th British war plans against Japan Will Germany be defeated in 1944?We must get into Central Europe ahead of the Russians On September 10th we disembark at Halifax On September 13th we hold our first general meeting at the Château de Quebec My review of the progress of the campaign in Burma I recommend sending the British fleet To the Pacific, under the command of the US High Command US operations in the Pacific Sir Porter's plans for the Royal Air Force My telegram to this country on September 13 Warm and friendly atmosphere Morgenthaukes September 16 Joint Chiefs of Staff Report of the Long Committee The benefits of the Northern Intrusion into Germany The Battle of Italy The Balkan Plans Defeat Japan Farewell to Hyde Park Return home.

On Tuesday, September 5th, we sailed again from Clyde on board the Queen Mary.All the chiefs of staff followed me.During the six-day voyage, we met every day, sometimes twice a day.Before meeting with our American friends, I want to coordinate and master our many current plans and plans. In Europe, we not only executed Operation Overlord, we won it.When, where, and by what means can we strike Japan to secure Britain's honorable place there in the eventual victory?Our losses are not less than those of the United States, if not more.More than 160,000 British prisoners of war and civilian internees fell into the hands of the Japanese.Singapore must be recovered and Malaya must be liberated.For nearly three years, we have adhered to the strategy of attacking Germany first.Now is the time to liberate Asia, which is why I have decided that we should play a full and equal role in the war.At this stage of the war, my greatest fear is that the United States will say in the postwar years: We helped you in Europe, and you left us alone to deal with Japan.We must recover our legitimate possessions in the Far East on the battlefield, and they should not be returned to us at the peace conference table.

Clearly, our main contribution must be both at sea and in the air.Most of our fleet is now at liberty to turn eastward.I decided that we should first ask the American allies to allow our fleet to fully participate in the main attack on Japan.After the defeat of Germany, the Royal Air Force should immediately follow in the war against Japan. Army operations are even more complex.Things are getting worse in China.General Mountbatten was urged to move quickly into central Burma to break through the Burma Road, the capital city of this operation, and to increase airlift supplies over the Himalayas.Another plan, which could be expected to be more immediate, was the use of an amphibious expedition across the Bay of Bengal to capture Rangoon and advance some miles inland to cut off the Japanese from their bases and lines of communication in Thailand.This is called Operation Vampire Combat.At the same time, our troops in central Burma will go straight down to join the troops landing in Rangoon.This can be expected to sweep across Burma, allowing us to launch an amphibious assault on Sumatra.

But all these missions require personnel and supplies, and Southeast Asia is not enough. Europe is the only place to provide personnel and supplies.Landing craft must be transferred from the Mediterranean or Operation Overlord, and troops must be transferred from Italy or elsewhere.These personnel and supplies must be dispatched quickly.It's September now.Rangoon lies forty miles above a curved estuary whose backwaters and muddy banks complicate the situation.The rainy season started in early May, so we had to launch the offensive by April 1945 at the latest.Is it safe for us to start reducing our power in Europe?

I am by no means certain that Germany will be defeated in 1944.It is a fact that we have achieved consecutive military victories for almost seven weeks.Paris has been liberated, and large swaths of France have been cleared of the enemy.We continue to push forward in Italy.Although the Soviet offensive has temporarily stopped, it may rush forward at any time, and Greece will soon be free.Hitler's secret weapon was all but subdued; there is no evidence that he ever learned how to make an atomic bomb.All these and many other factors lead us in the military to believe that the Nazis are about to collapse, but I don't believe it.I still remember the German onslaught in March 1918.Therefore, at the Chiefs of Staff Committee which I chaired on September 8, I warned them not to base their plans on the imminent collapse of Germany.I pointed out that the German resistance in the west had been strengthened, that the American forces had been suddenly blocked in Nancy, and that the German garrisons in most ports were making vigorous resistance; that the American forces had not captured Saint-Nazaire; The enemy fought desperately on both sides of the Scheldt estuary leading to the port.

There is one other thing I'm mentally adamant about.I was eager to get into some parts of central Europe before the Russians, for example the Hungarians had expressed their readiness to stop the Soviet advance but were willing to surrender to the British if a British force arrived in time.If the Germans leave Italy or retreat to the Alps, I very much hope that Alexander will launch an amphibious assault across the Adriatic, take Istria, and beat the Russians to Vienna.It seemed premature to send Alexander's troops to Southeast Asia.The Chief of the Imperial General Staff agreed not to mobilize any of Alexander's troops until Kesselring had been driven across the Piave.Our front will then be more than half shorter than it is now.Several Indian divisions under Alexander's jurisdiction are needed to attack Yangon, and we can only call out one of them for the time being.I'm not even happy with the prospect.As for the landing on the Istrian peninsula, it was said that we would have to borrow the American landing craft that were to be sent to the Pacific, or reduce the campaign in France.The rest of our landing craft are required for the capture of Rangoon.Landing operations must be carried out before the rainy season in May.If we use these landing craft in the Adriatic, then they won't be able to reach Rangoon in time.

We had many long conversations during the voyage, and the result was a unanimous agreement on what we had to say about our great ally. On September 10th we disembarked at the port of Halifax, and next morning we reached Quebec.Our guests, President and Mrs. Roosevelt, were one step ahead of us.The President greeted me at the station.The Château de Québec was once again our home, and the Villa Frontenac was once again dedicated to the staff. On September 13th (Wednesday, morning), we held our first plenary meeting. I had Brooke, Porter, Cunningham, Deal, Ismay, and Major General Laycock, who succeeded Mountbatten as Chief of Joint Operations.The president brought Lehi, Marshall, King, and Arnold.well!But this time there was no Harry Hopkins.Just before I left England he sent me a telegram: Although I am now in much better health, I must avoid being too nervous, and therefore I do not think that I should risk my health by trying to throw Quebec on the Plains of Abraham. battle.Men better than I have died on this plain.I did not know at the time that there had been a change in the nature of his relationship with the President, but I believe he was greatly missed.

Mr. Roosevelt asked me to moderate the discussion.I then offered the general view of the war which I had prepared during my travels.Since our meeting in Cairo, the affairs of the United Nations have changed considerably for the better.All our wishes come true.Militarily, we have won seven consecutive weeks of victories.Developments since Tehran have shown that our vision was brilliant and executed with precision.First, the landing at Anzio, and second, the capture of Rome on the eve of Operation Overlord.It was true.I congratulate the U.S. Army Staff on the successful completion of Operation Dragoon.The number of prisoners seems to have reached 80,000 to 90,000.The enemy in the south and west of France is being wiped out as planned.Future historians will surely say that our allies' war-fighting apparatus played a fruitful role after Tehran.

Although the British Empire is now in its sixth year at war, it still maintains its status despite the fact that its total population (including the dominions and colonies) is only 70 million whites.I was also happy when this was reported.Calculated by the number of divisions on the battlefield, our strength in Europe is about equal to that of the United States.This is a matter of course.I'm proud that we stand on equal footing with our great allies.Our strength is now at its peak, and the strength of our allies is growing.General Eisenhower commanded total confidence, and he was on perfect harmony with General Montgomery, and the same was true of General Montgomery with General Bradley.General Bedell Smith demonstrated great ability in leading and uniting the staff.An effectively integrated US-British joint staff had been created and the battle was fought fairly well.

In Italy, General Alexander resumed his offensive at the end of August.Since the end of August, the Eighth Army has suffered about 8,000 casualties, and the Fifth Army has suffered about 1,000 casualties.The Fifth Army had never fought with such a cane, but it was expected that they would one day.On this battlefield, there has never been the most representative army of the British Empire.This army has a total of sixteen divisions, namely eight British divisions, two Canadian divisions, one New Zealand division, one South African division, and four British and Indian divisions.I explained that I had feared that General Alexander might not be able to carry out such an intense campaign because of certain basic conditions, but I now learned that the Joint Staff Committee had agreed to flee before Kesselring's forces were destroyed, or at Kesselring. Before Italy, Alexander's army was no longer drawn.

General Marshall confirmed this assurance.I then emphasized that, under the above circumstances, we must find new venues for our activities.Our military must never sit idle.I said I had always been interested in waging a campaign of movement to the right, stabbing Germany in the armpit in the Adriatic.Our goal should be Vienna.If the German resistance breaks down, we can of course reach the city relatively quickly and smoothly; if the German army still resists, I have fully considered the method of helping this mobile war, that is, the capture of Istria and the occupation of Riley. Astor and Fiume.The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff said that if this action was desirable and necessary, they could leave in the Mediterranean the landing craft now engaged in attacking part of southern France for this amphibious operation.This made me feel relieved.Another reason for this rightward strike was the rapid Russian invasion of the Balkans, where Soviet expansion had become a danger. I then review the Burma campaign.The scale of this battle is quite large.250,000 people participated in the battle.The fighting at Imphal and Kohima was fierce.General Stilwell deserves congratulations for successfully capturing Myitkyina.The casualties of our army have reached 40,000, and the sickness has reached 288,000.Fortunately, most of the patients have recovered and returned to the team.The result of this campaign was to keep the air line to China and save India from attack.It is estimated that the Japanese lost 100,000 people.The Burma campaign was the largest engagement ever fought on land between us and the Japanese. I went on to say that, notwithstanding these achievements, it would be extremely disadvantageous to continue fighting indefinitely in the Burmese forests.To this end, the British Chiefs of Staff Committee has recommended the adoption of Operation Vampire, the plan to capture Rangoon.Difficulties are currently being encountered in concentrating the necessary forces and moving them to Southeast Asia in time to capture Rangoon before the 1945 rains.Although the situation in Europe is in our favour, it does not yet allow us to make the decision to withdraw some troops from the field.All we want is to preserve as much freedom of choice as possible.We will go all out for this goal. Some of the troublemakers say we won't go to war against Japan after defeating Germany.In fact, not only will the British Empire never shirk this responsibility, but it is also eager to play the largest possible role in the war against Japan.We do this for good reason.Japan was a sworn enemy to both the British Empire and the United States.Britain lost territory in the war and suffered heavy losses.My suggestion now is that the main British fleet should participate in the main battle against Japan under the leadership of the US Supreme Command.We should be able to provide a strong and well-equipped force.We hope that by the end of 1945 this force will consist of some of the latest battleships and a fleet of supply ships of such size that the battleships will for a considerable period be independent of shore bases for supplies. The President interjected that the British fleet could be accepted immediately.On this point, although he did not mention the facts, he overturned Admiral Kim's opinion. I went on to say that our fleet in the Central Pacific could send a squadron to the Southwest Pacific under the command of General MacArthur, if we wished.Of course, we have absolutely no intention of interfering with his command.The Royal Air Force is willing to participate in the big bombing of Japan and make a further contribution to defeating the enemy.We can send a large bomber fleet and take the honorable risk of bombing the heart of the enemy with our American colleagues.On the Army side, after defeating Germany, we could probably send six divisions from Europe to the East, and maybe six more divisions later.We have sixteen divisions in Southeast Asia.These sixteen divisions may eventually be transferred.I have always advocated fighting across the Bay of Bengal to recover Singapore, because the fall of Singapore was a severe and humiliating blow to British prestige and must be avenged.The above ideas are not set in stone.We should capture Rangoon first, and then look at the overall situation.Of course, in the future, if someone comes up with a better plan as the situation develops, we will never rule it out.Our aim should be to use the greatest number of our forces against the greatest number of the enemy at the earliest possible moment. The President thanked me for my review.He said that in successive meetings between the United States and the United Kingdom, the views and basic views have become more consistent each time, which is a matter of great satisfaction.In addition, the two sides have always maintained a sincere and friendly atmosphere.Our business has prospered, but we are not yet likely to foresee the end of the war against Germany.It is clear that the Germans are retreating from the Balkans; in Italy they may be retreating into the Alps.The Russians are on the edge of Hungary.The Germans proved to be adept at organizing the retreat, and were therefore able to save many men, although they lost much material.If Alexander's campaign goes well, we shall reach the Piave fairly quickly.All our troops in Italy should fight with all their might.In the west, the Germans seemed likely to retreat behind the Rhine.The right bank of the river would become the western barrier of their line of defense, an impenetrable obstacle.We must attack them from the east or the west, so our plans must be flexible. The strength of the Germans cannot be ignored just yet.There was a bigger battle to be fought.Therefore, our war against Japan depends more or less on the situation in Europe. The President agreed that we should move our troops immediately after we cleared the Burmese battlefield of Japanese troops.The U.S. plan was to recover the Philippines, and to gain control of the Japanese mainland from the Philippines or Taiwan [1], or from any bridgehead we could capture in China.If our military can gain a foothold in mainland China, China can be saved.The experience of the United States is to use the method of roundabout dribbling left and right, which has achieved remarkable results.Rabaul is an example of the use of this devious tactic, which resulted in major success at the expense of a few.The President asked whether it was possible to detour Singapore and capture areas like Bangkok to the north or east of it?He said that he had not paid enough attention to the Sumatra plan so far, but the fighting there has now achieved greater results. 【1】The original text is Formosa, the same below.translator I said that all the plans are under review, and then arrange the sequence.We can only make a decision after Rangoon is taken.The Soviet Union's participation in the war against Japan after the defeat of Hitler was a serious task undertaken by Stalin in Tehran, and we cannot underestimate it.We have no reason to suspect that Stalin's words and deeds were inconsistent.The Russians undoubtedly have great ambitions for the East.Assuming that Hitler was defeated by January, and Japan faced the three most powerful countries in the world, she would of course have to think twice about continuing to fight. I go on to repeat the words, in order to make clear our position, which requires a definite assurance of the participation of the British Fleet in the main campaign against Japan. The President said: I would like to see the British Fleet anywhere and anytime. Admiral Kim said a document has been prepared for submission to the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the issue is being actively studied. We have made a proposal for the British fleet to take part in the operation, I repeated, have you accepted it? Accepted.Mr. Roosevelt said. Do you also have the RAF in major campaigns? This time it was much harder to get a direct answer.Marshall said General Arnold and he were trying to figure out how to get as many planes as possible into the fight.Not too long ago, he explained: We were crying out for not enough planes, now there are too many planes. Wouldn't you need most of your air force if you wanted to put a lot of troops in Southeast Asia and Malaya?Was Portle's plan to bomb Japan something else entirely? It's another matter entirely.Potter replied.If our Lancasters could be refueled in the air, they could go about as far as your B|29s. I said that our future depends mainly on good relations between the two sides, and therefore Britain should play its due role in the main battle against Japan.this point is very important. The United States has given us extremely generous aid in the war against Germany.Of course, in return for this kindness, the British Empire should do everything in its power to help the United States defeat Japan. After the meeting, I sent the following telegram back home. Prime Minister to Deputy Prime Minister and War Cabinet September 13, 1944 The meeting has been held in a warm and friendly atmosphere.The opinions of the staff officers of the two sides were almost identical.Alexander's army would not be weakened until Kesselring fled across the Alps or was wiped out.We intend to use all landing craft in the Mediterranean for any amphibious operations in the northern Adriatic, which may be Istria, Trieste, etc. 2. If the war is unresolved and the others have not arrived in Vienna, we will enter the city.This opinion is fully accepted here. 3. After the landing craft is used in the Adriatic Sea, it can be transferred to the Bay of Bengal or further away, depending on the needs of the situation. I can also reassure our commanders in the Mediterranean. Prime Minister to General Wilson and General Alexander September 13, 1944 Everything that concerns you has been fully discussed here.Alexander's army should not be weakened until Kesselring is destroyed (as our intelligence suggests is likely). 2. In addition, Admiral Kim made no request for landing craft in the Mediterranean.The Americans were more than willing to provide all the landing craft necessary to support any practicable amphibious operation in the northern Adriatic. 3. Therefore, I hope that you will seize this greatly improved situation and act in a bold and enterprising spirit.The Americans expressed no hesitation in their conversations about our plans to push all the way to Vienna, if the war lasted very long.Our opinions are hereby accepted.I am very relieved.We must take full advantage of these favorable conditions. In the days that followed, I had many meetings with the President and his advisers.To my surprise, when I arrived in Quebec, although neither the Secretary of State nor Harry Hopkins was present, Mr. Morgenthau, the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, accompanied the President.But I was glad to see Morgenthau, because we were anxious to discuss the financial problems of both countries during the period from the conquest of Germany to the defeat of Japan.But the president and his treasury minister were more concerned with dealing with Germany after the war.They feel that military power depends on industrial power.They say that in the 1930s we all saw how easily a highly industrialized Germany could arm itself and threaten its neighbors, so they assert that a country the size of Germany doesn't need as much manufacturing industry because It is possible for Germany to support itself in every sense of the word.The United Kingdom has lost so much foreign investment that, once peace has come, she will be able to maintain her balance of payments only by greatly increasing her exports; therefore, for economic and military reasons, we should restrict German industry and encourage her agriculture.I strongly disagreed with this idea at first.But the President and Mr. Morgenthau, a man to whom we had several appeals, insisted on this view, so we finally agreed to consider it. This so-called Morgenthau project (which I have not had time to study in detail) seems to have brought these views to an ulterior logical conclusion.Even if it were feasible, I still think it would be wrong to lower the standard of living in Germany like this; But at a time when industrial-based militarism had horribly scarred Europe, it wouldn't have been unreasonable if we agreed that Germany's standard of living would remain equal to that of its neighbours, while its industrial productivity was only allowed to recover to that level of.So of course all this must be brought to the full consideration of the War Cabinet.The idea of ​​idyllicizing the German economy did not survive the final meeting of the War Cabinet, which was decided with my full agreement. On Saturday, September 16, at noon, we held our last meeting.The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee has now written its report to the President and myself.At Mr. Roosevelt's request, Admiral Lehai read the report to us paragraph by paragraph.The main paragraphs are as follows: 9. The general intention of the Supreme Commander is to advance at full speed, destroy the German armed forces, and occupy the heart of Germany.He believed that the best chance of defeating the enemy on the Western Front lay in an attack on the Ruhr and Saar, since he believed that the enemy would concentrate all its unused forces in defense of these key areas.The first combat operation was to break through the Siegfried Line and capture the Rhine crossings.During the process, the main force should be placed on the left flank.At this time he would make logistical and other preparations for the penetration into the depths of Germany. 10. We have endorsed General Eisenhower's proposal and draw his attention to: (1) It is advantageous to enter northern Germany as opposed to southern Germany; (2) Before the arrival of bad weather, the ports in the northwest must be opened, especially Antwerp and Rotterdam. I don't dispute these general intentions, but I once said to the British Chiefs of Staff as we were crossing the Atlantic that I doubted that Germany would be routed quickly.Readers will remember this, and I have also written a document in this sense, which will be published in another chapter.Rundstedt's counterattack is still to come, and it will take more than half a year to cross the Rhine. The operational proposals for Italy are as follows: Eleven. We have reviewed a report by General Wilson on the operations in his theater.Judging by the present state of affairs in Italy, he believed that the war would proceed in one of two ways: (1) Kesselring's troops were routed.In this case it is possible for us to quickly regroup and pursue the Ljubljana Straits (and across the Alps by the Brenner Pass), leaving a small force to sweep through Northwest Italy; or (2) Kesselring's army retreated successfully in an orderly manner.Under the circumstances, it seems that we can only clear the Lombardy plain within this year.Before the spring of 1945, the rugged terrain of the Alps and the severe winter weather made it impossible to launch another major offensive. The Joint Staff report continues as follows: 12. We have agreed to: (1) The main force should not be drawn from Italy until the outcome of General Alexander's present offensive is known. (2) With regard to the withdrawal of elements of the U.S. Fifth Army, the propriety of the matter must be reconsidered in the light of the results of the present phase of General Alexander's offensive and the situation of the German retreat in northern Italy; . (3) Inform General Wilson that if he intends to use the present Mediterranean amphibious vessels and equipment on the Istrian peninsula, he should submit this plan to the Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as soon as possible and no later than October 10 .We have notified the Supreme Allied Commander accordingly. In this matter, I have to pay attention to the conditions.It has always been good to say that the main force should not be removed until we know the result of Alexander's attack.But how far is the offensive going?For example, Alexander is only allowed to advance to the Rimini defense line, then this suggestion is completely unacceptable.Therefore, I said that I thought he could attack and control the valley of the Po.Marshall and Lehi agreed that this was exactly what they had in mind.Only then did I feel relieved. I then thanked Admiral King for agreeing to lend us his landing craft for the attack on Istria.The admiral emphasized that these landing craft will also be used to attack Rangoon, so we must make up our minds to attack Istria before October 15th. The next paragraph of the Joint Chiefs of Staff report sets out our common recommendations for operations in the Balkans.The original text is as follows: General Thirteen Wilson believed that such a situation could be foreseen, that is, most of the German troops in Trieste | Ljubljana | Zagreb | south of the Danube line would be immobilized until they ran out of food and ammunition .In this case, they will surrender to us, or they will be wiped out by the partisans or the Russian army.We have already noticed that as long as the Italian war is going on, it is not possible to transfer troops from the Mediterranean to the Balkans, with the exception of the following two troops: (1) A small number of troops, two brigades, were transferred from Egypt.This team is now on standby to occupy the Athens area, prepare to start relief work, establish a Greek government, and maintain law and order. (2) A small army of troops in the Adriatic.This force is now primarily used for active commando-style combat operations. We have all accepted the above comments without modification or discussion. The Pacific Warfare discusses in detail the importance of maneuver and shortcuts.Allied naval and air superiority should enable us to avoid costly land campaigns wherever possible.On the Southeast Asian side, we agree that the overland advance in northern Burma should be combined with the amphibious assault on Rangoon.I said that although I accepted the British obligation to secure air routes to China and obtain land communications with China, any tendency to overdo this obligation would crowd out our attack on Rangoon, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and I But they were trying to take it down before the rainy season in 1945. Other parts of the report were agreed without much discussion.The expected period for ending the war with Japan was tentatively set at eighteen months after the defeat of Germany. The following passages are quoted verbatim from the original text. 33. After the collapse of the organized resistance of the German army, the Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed, from a military point of view, to divide that part of German territory which was not subject to the disarmament, jurisdiction and maintenance of order by the Soviet Government, into the following divisions . 34. In order to disarm the enemy, govern and maintain order: (1) British troops under the command of a British commander are to occupy the area of ​​Germany on the Rhine and the eastern part of the Rhine north of the line from Koblenz along the northern border of Hessian to the Soviet-occupied border . (2) U.S. forces under a U.S. commander will occupy the eastern part of the Rhine south of the northern limit of Koblenz in Hesse-Nassau and west of the Soviet occupation zone. (3) The commander of the U.S. military-occupied zone has the right to control the two ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven and set up military transportation bases in their immediate areas. (4) The American-occupied area can also have roads leading to the seaports in the west and northwest, and can pass through the British-occupied area. (5) The Anglo-American control area roughly defined above can be accurately demarcated at a later date. On Sunday, September 17, my wife and daughter Marie and I left Quebec by train to visit the President in Hyde Park and bid him farewell. On September 19th I had lunch in Hyde Park with Harry Hopkins in attendance.He was obviously asked to come out to please me.He explained to me that his status had changed.He has fallen out of the President's favor.He was a few minutes late for dinner and the president didn't even say hello.This is an unexpected oddity.While Hopkins seemed to be beginning to regain the influence of the day, it was indeed remarkable that my relationship with the president was clearly better and our work was moving faster.In two days, we seem to have returned to the old days.Hopkins said to me: You know, I'm not what I used to be.He wanted to do too many things at once.Even his buoyant energies were slackened under the weight of his varied work. I set off for New York after dinner, and next morning boarded the Queen Mary for my homeland, without incident.On September 25th, as soon as we entered the Clyde, we took the train back to London.