The US Army had only a little over five million troops with real combat capability. Most of these units had been formed before the United States entered the war. They had trained longer and were relatively well equipped. To a certain extent, although these troops were still far from comparable to the German military's elite forces, they nonetheless possessed considerable fighting strength.
The remaining units had been hastily formed later on. Their combat effectiveness was relatively poor. Especially after the German Air Force carried out strategic bombing against the industrial regions of the northeastern United States, America's heavy industry—particularly its military industry—suffered an almost devastating blow. Many weapons and pieces of equipment could no longer be produced, such as aircraft, tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery. Ammunition could still be manufactured, but output had fallen far behind what it once was. As a result, the US military's war potential had likewise been severely affected. This further widened the gap in strength between the US military and the German military.
It was precisely for these reasons that the American generals believed their chances of victory were slim. But President Roosevelt did not want to give up just like that. He wanted to make one more gamble. President Roosevelt believed that if they sought peace with the Germans now, the Germans would surely treat them as a defeated nation and carve them up as they pleased. The Germans might even refuse to accept their peace offer and stubbornly insist on destroying the United States. Only by giving the Germans a brutal lesson on the battlefield and showing them America's strength could they succeed. The United States might be unable to defeat Germany, but it still had the ability to make Germany pay a grievous price. Only then might they secure a dignified