"Mr. President, even if we declared our support for the Portuguese government, the assistance we could actually provide them would still be extremely limited. Therefore, I fear it would be difficult to stop them from selling or leasing the Azores to Germany. After all, the threat Germany posed to them was simply too great. For the sake of their own security, they might have no choice but to yield," Secretary of War Garrison said.
President Woodrow Wilson nodded gravely. He knew that Minister Garrison's concerns were very likely to become reality.
"Gentlemen, then what should we do?" President Wilson asked.
"Mr. President, if the Germans truly occupied the Azores, they would directly pose a major threat to us. Therefore, we should do everything in our power to prevent them from occupying the Azores," Secretary of the Navy Daniels said.
"Mr. President, I believe that if German occupation of the Azores had become inevitable, could we send troops to seize the Azores before the Germans did? I have studied the terrain of the Azores. With only a small force, we could occupy those small islands. Then it would not be so easy for the Germans to take them," Garrison continued.
"God! Minister, are you planning to have us go to war with the Germans? If we sent troops to occupy the Azores, the Germans would certainly dispatch forces to attack. Then we would be dragged into a major war. That would be extremely disadvantageous to us!" Secretary of State Bryan cried out.
"The Germans were now working hard to digest the fruits of victory from the previous World War and the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They might not necessarily go to war with us. If they had wanted war with us, they would have attacked when we sent our fleet