prologue
On February 22, 1942, two and a half months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States invaded and occupied the northeastern part of Brazil. Departing from the Virginia Hampton Anchorage, after a 12-day voyage, the U.S. Navy's Fire Support Fleet, consisting of the battleship TEXAS, the U.S. Navy's 11th Carrier-Based Aircraft Group aboard the AIRCRAFT CARRIER Commando, as well as a convoy-transport ship and transport ships carrying battalions of the 1st Marine Division and the 9th Army Division, appeared in the sea near Natal, Brazil's easternmost "protruding" port city, before dawn.
When the transport ships were anchored 16.5 kilometers off the coast, the Atlantic Amphibious Fleet began to drop the large personnel landing craft "Higgins Elka", and the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 5th Marine Regiment, which served as the first attack wave, began to climb the rope net and disembark.
After the first crew landing craft was fully loaded, while circling the fleet, the ship's guns carefully and planned to bombard 3 narrow beaches scattered with reefs in southern Natal. At 6:30 a.m. in the Eastern Time Zone, the muzzle was raised and 16 Navy Wildcat fighters roared and flew low into presumably coastal artillery positions and other coastal fortifications for strafing.
With the signal of the attack, the "Higgins" landing craft group, which was 3.7 kilometers away from the coast, began to rush straight to the beach. The Marines, who jolted the waves up and down in their long, narrow hulls, would be the pioneers of the first U.S. amphibious landing in World War II, code-named Project Rubber— to capture and occupy the northeastern region of Brazil.
origin
The above realistic scene is fictional, but it is based on a real plan urgently planned by the US military from December 1941 to February 1942. The entire plan of action to invade and occupy the northeastern region of Brazil was named the "Joint Element Plan", and the joint Navy-Marine Amphibious "Attack from the Sea" program was called the "Rubber Plan".
Landings in the Natal region , including Fortaleza and Recife , followed by three other "strategic points" in Brazil: san Salvador (Bahia) region, Belém (Pará) region, and Fernando de Nooronia, 360 km northeast of Natal. With airports and strategic locations that Americans so much in demand, Natal is considered the most "defining area" and therefore the first choice on the landing list.
From 1939 to 1942, the U.S. military believed that ensuring U.S. military control of northeastern Brazil was a key factor in securing U.S. participation in World War II. From the airport in the port cities of Natal and Recife to Freetown in Sierra Leone, West Africa, the distance has been shortened by more than 1,750 nautical miles. U.S. Land Aviation long-haul aircraft flying from these airports can fly across the Atlantic Strait and deliver military supplies, personnel, and even these aircraft to North Africa, the Middle East, India, Burma, China, and the forces of General MacArthur, who is under siege in the Philippines.
But by the time the United States was involved in the war, northeastern Brazil had not yet been placed in a reliable military grip. Commanders of Brazilian troops stationed around the airports in Natal, Recife and Belém were considered pro-Nazi by Washington. Brazil's central government in Rio de Janeiro rejected Washington's request for U.S. ground combat forces to move in to prevent the airfield from being destroyed by the "Fifth Column" of Axis sympathizers in Brazil or seized by German forces from French West Africa under the control of the French Vichy government, less than half the distance from Norfolk, Virginia, to Natal and Recife.
For the United States, Brazil's problems are twofold: (1) Brazil is not a republican neighbor, but is under the dictatorship of President Vargas. In a coup d'état, Vargas seized power and banned parliamentary and party activities. (2) Policymakers in Washington argue that the Brazilian army under Vargas' rule is undoubtedly biased toward the Axis.
In November 1941, as Hitler's army approached Moscow, the Brazilian army and pro-Nazi elements among the 1.5 million descendants of German descent in Brazil began to act recklessly in words and deeds. One of the most influential events was the public announcement by the prominent pro-Nazis, General Montero, chief of the General Staff of the Brazilian Army, that the chief representative of the U.S. military mission, Lehmann M. Brigadier W. Miller will be "undesirable."
Planning
For the U.S. military, the first issue involving Brazil is to get ground forces into Natal to secure the South Atlantic air lanes on the Western Hemisphere. In late 1941, the Joint Army and Navy (the predecessor of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) attempted to secure this goal by urging Vargas through the U.S. State Department to invite U.S. troops in.
The State Department did make this recommendation to Brazil's pro-American foreign minister, Osvaldo Alanya, but was met with the response that Brazil was not aware of any signs of threatening its territory and that the Brazilian military wanted not personnel but equipment from the United States.
Deputy Secretary of State Sumner Wells tried to persuade the military to be patient, "considering the delicateness of the situation (if U.S. troops are introduced into Brazil, it may lead to a mutiny in brazilian forces against Vargas)," he believes that "it would be irrational to force the other side to immediately offer an invitation." "But the military leaders have already lost their patience.
The military's fears of vulnerability to attack in northeastern Brazil were quickly identified at political heights. In a meeting at the White House, President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill expressed "broad agreement" with the military's prediction: "The defeat of the Germans' attempt to achieve a full victory in Russia could strongly incentivize them to invade Spain, Portugal, the French North, and West Africa in order to restore the lost balance." A German base in Dakar, West Africa, would pose a direct threat to Natal and Recife. On December 21, the day after the U.S.-Uk summit, the joint meeting finally approved the Joint Elements Plan, aimed at seizing northeastern Brazil.
Full command of the United Expeditionary Force was given to the Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, Admiral RoyalE. E. Ingersoll. Marine Corps Rear Admiral Holland M. M. Smith commanded the Amphibious Combat Forces of the Atlantic Fleet, including the 1st Marine Division. Brigadier General René M. E. de Hoyle commanded reinforcements from the 9th Infantry Division, who were assigned to take over the defense of the Marine Corps and would be the ground forces of the occupying forces. The Army's 45th Infantry Division served as a reserved reserve.
Enemy
The "Rubber Project" proposal provides a detailed description of the terrain, beaches, hydrology, towns, transportation and communications throughout northeastern Brazil, as well as the deployment of Brazilian troops. The ground defenses expected to encounter in Natal in the report include the 16th Infantry Regiment, the 29th Light Infantry Battalion, and other companies, totaling more than 3,500 people.
This is the most formidable force the U.S. military could encounter at the four main landing sites. Due to its obsolete armament and lack of training, the army was considered "inadequate" to defend important areas. The Better-trained and better-equipped Brazilian army could be reinforced by sea from the southern provinces of Brazil on a large scale, but that would be 8 to 12 days later.
The Base of the Brazilian Navy is largely located in the south, with a force composition estimated at 2 vintage battleships, 2 vintage light cruisers, 9 destroyers completed and under construction, 3 submarines and some small boats. Brazil's naval strength is insufficient to have a serious impact on U.S. military operations. All the Forces of the Brazilian Air Force, which could quickly assemble in northeastern Brazil, are also unsafe.
Exercise
In addition to the 6 narrow crevices, Natal's coastline is guarded by sandstone reefs that hide at high tide and are revealed at low tide. Landing from ships on this reef-ridden coast is impossible.
In January 1942, General Smith commanded U.S. forces in a joint army-navy exercise at Henry Point, Virginia. Two infantry reinforcement regiments of the 1st Marine Division and the 1st Infantry Division of the Army participated in the exercise. On 12 January, with a simulated bombardment of fire support units, the Blue Landing Forces attacked the beach, resulting in only a few troops landing on the designated beach. The transport ships were even moored in a position that staggered with the landing craft channel, and the landing forces ultimately failed to defeat the Red Coastal Defense Forces.
On the island of Fernando de Noronha, the last landing site in the Rubber Project, the U.S. military will face a different type of challenge. Located on the Atlantic Ocean 225 nautical miles northeast of Natal, the island is a place of exile for prisoners in Brazil.
Strategically, the island is of great significance. An Italian airline has an authorized landing field with a cement-paved airslide in the center. Both Army Aviation and Marine Corps planners saw the landing site as a potential air base that could be used not only to direct the South Atlantic Air Route, which is the lifeline of the Philippines, but also to command the sea lanes between the South and North Atlantic Oceans.
Interestingly, there is only one beach on the island, which is only 183 meters wide and narrow. Supplies for the island had to be loaded and unloaded on a pebbled slope on the beach by a local raft. This makes the landing a risky move. On the island, the threat comes from the longitudinal defensive fire of the beach crossing, which can lead to scenes similar to the opening 25 minutes of the film "Saving Private Wren". Perhaps equally fortunate for the Marines and the Brazilians, no part of the program was implemented.
With the exception of San Salvador, landing beaches everywhere present considerable problems, and the end result is likely to be that the casualties on both sides are not proportional at all. In addition, the "Rubber Project" required the Marine Corps to have a certain ammunition base for all weapons and equipment in the initial defense process of seizing positions, clearing the enemy and designating important areas, and if they developed deeper, then more ammunition should be added. But by February 10, 1942, this requirement had not been met at all. Due to purely military factors, the variables of the "rubber project" being shelved as a bad proposal have increased.
mediate
President Roosevelt did not issue an implementation directive in the end for many reasons.
From December 1941 to February 1942, the tireless Deputy Secretary of State Wells worked through his good offices to break the deadlock between the United States and Brazil as much as possible and avoid the "rubber project" from becoming a reality. He first succeeded in convincing President Vargas to allow 150 U.S. Marines to enter the airfields of Natal, Recife and Belém on December 13, 1941, under the cover of aircraft mechanics. Thus, with the consent of the military leadership, 3 temporary companies of "unarmed technicians" flew on 12 requisitioned Douglas DC-3 commercial airliners, and (with Vargas's knowledge) machine guns and other weapons were consigned in boxes in the cargo compartments of the aircraft. They arrived at their respective designated airports on 19 and 20 December.
Company commanders were given written instructions (which were destroyed after reading them) detailing that behind the mission of publicly maintaining and maintaining the aircraft, their "real mission" was to secure airports, facilities, and passing American aircraft.
After the sudden appearance of the Marines in these 3 cities, there were no major incidents, although their presence on the ground still did not dispel the worries of the General Staff Headquarters, but this was a good start after all. Wells was one of the bride's handmaidens at President Roosevelt's wedding, and was able to have a family-style conversation with the president, demanding that as much of america's remaining military supplies as possible be given to brazilians. He was sure that in the near future, the Brazilians would make concessions to meet more U.S. needs for airport defense.
President Roosevelt agreed. He told General Arnold, chief of staff of the Army Aviation Corps, that in the face of resolute resistance from the army, Vargas could not agree to immediately let the American army enter at the size of a division. He agreed with Wells that the way to cooperate with the Brazilians was paved with the provision of munitions.
In this way, the equipment of the US military is shifting to Brazil. These include: artillery, mortars, armor-piercing and high-explosive ammunition, point 50-caliber machine guns and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, light and medium tanks, B-18 bombers, P-36 destroyers, and various trainer aircraft. In return, Wells was promised u.S. ground forces to be stationed in northeastern Brazil.
finale
Wells' "carrot" strategy produced two far-reaching results, one in favor of the United States and the other in Brazil. First, in January 1942, at the Third Meeting of Inter-American Foreign Ministers in Rio de Janeiro, Wells forced Alanya to sign a "recommendation" for severing diplomatic relations between the southern hemisphere countries and the Axis powers, including Brazil. On the last day of the conference, Brazil severed diplomatic relations with the Axis powers.
Second, at the Brazil-U.S. Defense Agreement signed at Rio in May 1942, the U.S. War Department abandoned the goal of sending ground troops into northeastern Brazil and replaced it with "it now appears ... Brazil and the United States will work together on the preparation of defense measures."
In this way, the U.S. military has never been allowed to enter Brazil with the strength of ground troops at the division level, or even at the brigade and regimental levels. However, throughout the war, U.S. air power freely used the three important airfields in Brazil's bulge. From December 21, 1941, when Boeing B-17s first flew over Natal, until the end of the war, Brazil proved to be a loyal ally of allys.
In the end, diplomatic efforts triumphed over force. President Roosevelt's patience proved right. Brazilians have defended their independence and dignity. The 1st Marine Division, which was supposed to be used in the landings, avoided being placed in a dangerous and embarrassing situation. The U.S. military, while compromising with the needs of the Brazilians, won a promise that proved to be serious in Rio, and the three air transit bases in Natal, Recife and Belém were protected.