Iron Cross

Ps: An author friend in the history group wrote "I Played Live Broadcast in the Three Kingdoms", which is a combination of live streaming and the Three Kingdoms. If you are interested, you can take a look...

Hearing that the United States would directly compensate for the new warships, the congressmen looked much better. The British Empire was now extremely poor and could not afford the high cost of building warships. Most of the warships on the slipway were not expected to be completed until 1947 according to schedule. , now with financial support from American tycoons, we can finally get through the difficulties. This kind of drama has been played out many times in the past few hundred years. When desperate wealthy families were forced to give up everything they valued in exchange for funding to meet their urgent needs, they did not expect that now it was the turn of the British Empire itself.

However, some people are curious to know where the confidence that the Prime Minister said "may get more warships" comes from - America is rich, but it is not stupid, so why should it promise to give more in the future?

Churchill showed sad eyes: "After consecutive failures, the U.S. Navy has suffered heavy losses in experienced officers and soldiers. It cannot be called a navy with just ships and no people..."

The faces of all the congressmen in the circle were filled with sadness, and there was no trace of schadenfreude. The U.S. Navy had suffered a great loss, and the Royal Navy had suffered a considerable loss. When they thought that the overlord of the world was in such decline, everyone was even more saddened, and they just wanted to cry bitterly.

The situation of having ships but no one also happened to the German Navy. After receiving a large number of French warships, the number of experienced German naval officers and soldiers was reduced to a minimum, and there were novice sailors everywhere. The German Navy’s luck lies in having the opportunity to sail in the Black Sea Having fought a low-intensity war, I had a better chance of winning the battle with the combined fleet. I had developed my experience and abilities all at once, and now I have passed the most dangerous period.

"As for the workers themselves, the government will screen and organize immigration on the basis of voluntariness and feasibility, but it will not hand over the best designers, engineers and workers. That is not in the long-term interest of the British Empire." Churchill paused. "To put it bluntly, if we can transfer 300,000 to 400,000 people to the Dominion of the United States and Canada as soon as possible, it would be a good thing for now. It would help reduce the pressure on local material supply. Now the food ration standards have been lowered again and again. It has reached a very dangerous edge..."

When talking about this, everyone sighed: Even though the Americans tried their best to protect it, after the supply from the colonies was cut off, even canned Spam meat was regarded as a rare delicacy at the banquet, and how could there be any rich Japanese? Shadow of a fallen empire? What's more, American supplies will all be counted as money in the future. Even if Americans don't mention debt now, can they still pretend it doesn't exist? It can be seen from the Treasury Bond Index that the price is falling again and again. The market is obviously not optimistic about the future prospects of the pound, but this war must be fought hard.

Everyone knew that the large-scale immigration of shipbuilding workers was just the beginning, and that there would definitely be more waves of industrial immigration - even if they chose the Dominion of Canada, it would mean the helpless decline of the British mainland. It is a very risky behavior to stop it. Now that the life in the country is so difficult, can we still stop the people from seeking a better place? As long as the Americans put up signs at the docks to recruit skilled workers, they will definitely be lined up on three levels. Rather than doing this, it is better to exchange for benefits.

Seeing that everyone was in a low mood, Churchill deceived himself and added: "After the war, some of these workers may come back, because the United States will have excess shipbuilding capacity by then. Americans have always valued jobs. Look, they will choose to return..."

Everyone was silent: Even so, only a part of the people will return, those who cannot stand. The real elites and technicians will not return.

"Prime Minister..." The secretary suddenly walked in and whispered a few words in Churchill's ear. The latter's face turned ugly, but he still waved, "Keep paying close attention and report any other news in a timely manner."

"The New York stock market has opened... the situation is not ideal. The Dow Jones index fell 9.4% at the opening, which is greater than the decline after Pearl Harbor." Churchill's tone was very low, "The enemy's air attack on New York had a great impact on the American people. At one point, I have to say with regret that the American people have lived a good life for too long and cannot bear even a little bit of trauma. The bombing we endured was a thousand times worse than that of New York. Can you still see it now? To drop bombs on German bombers?”

Only when they talked about this, everyone's faces showed light - this is one of the most proud things of Britain. When the whole of Europe was lying at the feet of Germany, the British Isles withstood the test until a bigger test came.

"So we must strengthen our confidence and continue to fight against the Germans. We are far from a desperate moment, and the final victory must belong to us."

"We...we...why don't we try to make peace with the Germans?" One congressman stammered.

Everyone's eyes flicked over. Unexpectedly, Churchill, who had repeatedly declared that he would fight to the end, did not get angry as expected. Instead, he calmly asked: "Peace? This is not a topic that cannot be discussed. Suppose You are Hitler, what terms do you think peace should be on?"

"This... this..." Councilor Qi Qi Ai Ai couldn't say it. The conditions he imagined in his mind were very harsh.

"The enemy cannot give up the current advantage and let us off lightly - all they want to do is to establish world hegemony on the corpse of the British Empire, unless you are willing to do what the French did..." Churchill stood up and waved his hands excitedly, " There are German soldiers acting at will on the territory. The best workers and factories in France are forced to produce military supplies for Germany. The national defense forces are under the surveillance of the enemy and have surrendered all fleets... Gentlemen, is peace so precious and life so important? , so that we have to accept it even if we are slaves? As a prime minister and a noble, I would rather die in battle than live in humility. "

The congressmen did not realize that Churchill had secretly changed the concept: northern France was originally directly occupied, and now most of the occupied territories are directly ruled by the Pétain government, which exchanged this for the right of the German army to move freely; and France, as a traditional For continental countries, the meaning of handing over the fleet is completely different from that of Britain handing over the fleet.

"But...but...what will we do in the future?" One of the congressmen said, suddenly covering his face and crying, "I know I should persist, but I really don't see any hope."

"Persistence is hope. The victory of the Battle of Britain has told us." Churchill suddenly roared, "We must not only fight on land, sea and air, but also try our best to fight all over the world, no matter what the road ahead is. No matter how long and difficult it is, we can never give up. History has proven that only by persisting to the end will we win. The turning point must be not far away. More than 100 years ago, we were able to organize five, six, and seven anti-French alliances and finally win. , we can also organize 10 or 20 anti-fascist alliances to fight... We will fight on the mainland and in the Dominion, and we can fight in Canada in the future!"

This fierce questioning meeting finally turned into a complaining meeting filled with sighs and irritations. Attlee knew Churchill's strategy today - lie down and pretend to be dead! The situation has deteriorated to the point where it is now. Just using bold words and solemn promises will no longer work - no matter how high-level the Prime Minister's speech is, it won't work after the MPs have listened to it many times. Different strategies and support must be provided. Fortunately, the Americans kept their promise and gritted their teeth when they promised to deliver refined oil. Otherwise, the topic of the meeting now would have been to discuss how to negotiate an armistice.

It was impossible for Churchill to surrender. He would rather go to the United States and become Prime Minister of the government-in-exile than surrender. Someone else may not have the ability to turn the tide. At least in Attlee's opinion, not many people in the cabinet currently have this ability. Or we should follow Churchill's idea and prepare for the worst, taking advantage of this transfer of industrial workers to transfer the royal family, elites and important figures to Canada - we must continue to resist in Canada even if the country is lightened. But this matter can only be done secretly, taking advantage of the transfer of industrial workers to stuff some "private goods" instead of doing it openly, otherwise the British people will explode.

All sane people can see that now is not the time to surrender and lose half the battle. During the Battle of Britain, Germany had not yet clearly gained the upper hand, and was still in urgent need of the Royal Navy fleet. If peace conditions were accepted at that time, the British Empire could still maintain a decent outcome. Even if Germany was the number one leader, the British Empire would be fine as the second number one. Comfortable - the Germans control the continent and the British control the ocean. Unexpectedly, after Germany introduced the Japanese fleet, the balance was suddenly broken. Now, in addition to having some naval background, how can it be seen that the fleet is stronger than Germany?

Jan Mayen Island has been unable to be recovered for a long time, and even a warship like the Gneisenau could not intercept it when it single-handedly broke through the North Sea and entered the Atlantic Ocean. The Royal Navy could not come up with a ship to deal with this ship, which was equipped with a giant gun and had 30 guns. A fast battleship that saves speed.

Although Attlee really wanted to be prime minister, in the face of this mess, he did not dare to say that he would be able to do better than Churchill if he took power. The key issue is not landing - the homeland will not be threatened in the short term. The key issue is war: Not to mention Britain's already scumbag army, it lost so much that even its pants fell off, and even its long-prestigious navy became vulnerable. The Prime Minister cited the example of the Anti-French Alliance, but where can we find the Duke of Wellington in the new era?

Attlee took stock of the senior generals he could think of one by one, and finally slumped in his chair like a deflated rubber ball - he didn't think anyone had the potential of the Duke of Wellington.

"As for South Africa, I will communicate with President Roosevelt and keep it there..." Churchill reluctantly showed a smile, "The German front is gradually lengthening, and their power is not unlimited. Hitler will definitely repeat the mistakes of Emperor Napoleon. !”