Russia's surrender and the peace treaty it signed with Germany had a tremendous impact on every nation. America's allies in particular were deeply worried. With Russia defeated and fallen, the German homeland no longer faced any threat. From here on, it would be exceedingly difficult for other countries to threaten Europe or Germany itself. After all, Germany possessed the world's foremost navy. Unless the German Navy was defeated, no other nation could threaten the European continent.
Washington, White House, President Roosevelt's office.
President Roosevelt was discussing the current situation with Advisor Hopkins, General Marshall, and Admiral Harold Stark.
"The Germans have just dispatched a massive air fleet to bomb Chelyabinsk. More than two thousand aircraft were deployed. The entire city of Chelyabinsk has been bombed into ruins by the Germans. It was precisely under those circumstances that the Russians chose to yield to Germany," General Marshall said.
"This is the strategic bombing the Germans speak of. During their war against Russia, they repeatedly used this method of attack, destroying one Russian city after another deep in the rear. Not only did it deal a severe blow to Russian civilian morale, it also drastically weakened Russia's industrial strength and war potential, allowing Germany to crush Russia in the shortest possible time!" Admiral Harold Stark said as well.
"Can our Army Air Force carry out strategic bombing on such a scale?" President Roosevelt asked.
"Mr. President, we have produced more than a thousand B-17 bombers so far. Although the B-17 heavy bomber lags somewhat behind the German Air Force's H-21 heavy bomber in performance, the gap is very limited. Furthermore, our B-24 heavy bomber is about to enter mass production. This means that our Army Air Corps is fully capable of launching strategic bombing. However, we are simply too far from Europe.