Beiyang reactionaries

"Winston, calm down."

British Foreign Secretary Robert Eden spread his hands.

Churchill snuffed out the cigar in his hand, and then said: "Robert, these Chinese guys who should be hanged have now extended their hands to our islands. Without our consent, they have assigned these islands to Burma without our permission. Shit, these chinks should all be burned."

Churchill was very angry and cursed at China.

Robert Eden just listened because he knew Churchill's character.Churchill was almost scolded by himself, and then said to Aiden: "Robert (Aiden), tell me what to do now."

"I think it's actually a good thing."

Robert Eden was less angry.He said directly to Churchill: "Winston, think about it. When the Japanese occupied those islands, our contact with India was sneaky. Whether we want to support the Indian army or want to get Indian supplies , It is not easy. You have to risk being sunk by the Japanese navy at any time. Even the materials supported by the United States are very difficult to enter India. Now that the Japanese navy has withdrawn, it is the turn of the Chinese navy to station, which is beneficial to us .The Chinese navy will never be the same as the Japanese navy.”

"Is that a consolation?"

Churchill laughed at himself.

Obviously these islands were taken away by the Chinese, but they still want to comfort themselves.But Aiden was right.Japan attacked the British and American transport ships in the Indian Ocean at every turn.

"No, I chose the most sensible solution."

"You mean we don't protest with China?"

"Yes."

Robert Eden nodded and said: "Not only should we not protest with China, we should treat this matter as non-existent, and we should immediately negotiate with China and ask the Chinese navy not to block our connection with India."

"Shame, shame to the British Empire."

"Winston, it is of no benefit to us to have a conflict with China at this stage. Recently, there have been a lot of Chinese transport ships in the Mediterranean area. After our intelligence investigation, we found that most of them are not Chinese transport ships, but German and Italian transport ships." Ships. They disguised themselves as Chinese transport ships to avoid the inspection of our navy and deliver supplies to troops in North Africa. If this problem cannot be solved, our actions in North Africa will always be passive. We still need China’s support on this issue. "

Aiden briefed Churchill on the current situation.

Because Britain has never wanted to offend China, there are many Chinese transport ships in the Mediterranean.Some do business with the anti-fascist alliance countries headed by the United Kingdom, some do business with the Axis camp headed by Germany and Italy, and some do business with neutral countries such as Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Sweden.Anyway, after the outbreak of World War II, trade between China and Europe was very frequent.

Even because of China's special situation, some smuggling activities between the Axis countries and the countries of the Anti-Fascist Alliance will also find Chinese traders.What annoyed the British most was that when Germany and Italy saw the situation of the Chinese transport ship, they paid some money to get the approval from the Chinese embassy, ​​and then hung the Chinese flag to deliver supplies to the front-line troops.

Angry Britain.

Churchill said: "How is the situation with General Montgomery? Still haven't defeated the German army in Alamein?"

"Not much progress. General Montgomery's troops have withdrawn after our failed landing campaign."

Eden is not only the foreign secretary, but also the army secretary.As soon as Churchill took office, he appointed Eden as Secretary of State for War, responsible for mobilizing troops.Aiden did a great job mobilizing a million troops in the country within a few months.

Churchill asked about the situation in North Africa.

The North African battlefield is a relatively small battlefield. Both sides are fighting with hundreds of thousands of troops, but it is a very important battlefield.Because the North African battlefield is related to the Suez Canal and the Middle East battlefield.Once Britain loses Egypt, Germany can control the Suez Canal, and can jump from North Africa to the Middle East, directly threatening the Middle East.

So Churchill attached great importance to the North African battlefield.

"Darlan hasn't made a statement yet?"

"Winston, can we express some kindness to Vichy France? Roosevelt has expressed his goodwill to Vichy France and Darlan several times."

"Ratchet of the same feather."

Churchill said angrily: "Pétain is a traitor. The Yankee flirts with these traitors. They should all be hanged. And Darlan, this damned traitor, the lackey of the German Nazis, has broken our business several times. .”

Churchill's resentment towards Vichy France was very heavy.

The British situation in North Africa is actually not good.

If it weren't for the serious logistical problems in Germany, or the German-Italian coalition led by Rommel must have captured Egypt.It was precisely because of insufficient logistics that the German-Italian coalition forces stopped in the Alamein area.

In the current North African region, the situation in the United Kingdom is much more severe than in history.The Japanese contained all the British, Indian and Australian troops in Asia. As a result, the current British army in North Africa is supported only by Canadian and South African troops.Historically, among the British North African troops, the Indian army and the Australian army accounted for a large proportion.But now they are all held back by Japan, so their strength is much worse than in history.

It was very embarrassing to be beaten by the German and Italian coalition forces.

In order to support Montgomery, Britain prepared to attack on both sides, first defeating the Vichy French colonial army in North Africa.However, the prepared landing operation was pushed down by the Vichy French army, which hurt Britain very much.

In history, the British and American coalition forces landed, and the French army quickly turned their backs.Darlan, the supreme commander of the Vichy French colonies in North Africa, immediately announced that he would join the Anti-Fascist League.That's because Darlan saw Roosevelt's goodwill and the attitude of the United States.But now the United States is deeply trapped in the Pacific battlefield, and its main energy is in the Pacific, and it does not want to send troops to join the European war.At present, the United States only provides a large amount of supplies to Britain and the Soviet Union, and is not prepared to send troops to join the war.As a result, Britain acted alone, and Darlan immediately led troops to counterattack.

Never underestimate the combat effectiveness of the French army.

After all, it was the former overlord of the European continent, and the combat effectiveness of the army is guaranteed.The relationship between Britain and Vichy France was very bad, and Churchill wished to destroy the big guys like Vichy France.So of course Darlan would not let the British army land at will, nor did he want to surrender.As a result, the British army organized a 14-strong army to land, but it was blocked, with more than 3 casualties, and the landing failed.

"Winston, now is not the time to be impulsive."

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"Winston, I think you should calm down. Now is not the time to lose your temper. We have to think about how to restore the current situation. It is difficult for us to defeat the German-Italian coalition forces on the opposite side just by relying on General Montgomery. Once the German The Italian coalition forces have received sufficient logistical supplements, and they will inevitably attack our army again. None of us can afford the loss of Egypt."

The two have worked together for many years, and Aiden is well aware of Churchill's temper.

So I waited until he had finished venting before getting down to business.Although the current North African battlefield is in a state of confrontation, it is not very beneficial to Britain.Not counting the Vichy French army, the German-Italian coalition and the British army had about the same number.In several confrontations, the two sides won and lost each other, but generally speaking, the British army was at a disadvantage.In fact, three years after the outbreak of World War II in history, the British army had already begun a counterattack on the North African battlefield.

But now it's different.

The largest reinforcement force in British history, the U.S. Army, the Indian Army, and the Australian Army were all held back by the Japanese.The result is that the strength of the British army in North Africa is far inferior to that in history. The result is that the Second World War has been fought for three years, but the British army is still at a disadvantage in North Africa.The landing just a month ago was even defeated by the maintenance of France.This makes the current situation in the UK very unfavorable.

Churchill has a bad personality, and many specific things are messed up.Just like his failure to command the frontline army blindly abounds.For Churchill's blind command, front-line army generals criticized a lot.Even many bigwigs in Churchill's cabinet criticized Churchill.If you think that Churchill is a bad politician and a bad military strategist, you will know how to command blindly.

But this person can sit on the position of British Prime Minister and lead the United Kingdom to win the Second World War. He must have his excellence. The biggest point is that he has a very tenacious personality and has abilities.Although when angry, everyone scolds.But after venting, how to deal with him is still very measured.

"Shit. It looks like the way things are now, our main diplomatic work should still be China and the US."

Churchill calmed down.

Has begun to think about how to reverse the current unfavorable situation.After the outbreak of World War II, Britain was really very difficult.Casualties are increasing, and more and more colonies are being lost.In order to maintain this war, Britain's pre-war gold reserves of 5000 tons have basically bottomed out.And in order to raise more supplies, Britain began to sell a large number of overseas assets.

These overseas assets include assets owned by the British government, as well as overseas assets of British nationals, and even British colonies.Anyway, as long as it is a way to raise money, Britain has thought of it all.

Among other things, the UK would have had astonishing properties in the US and China.

But now?

Those fine assets are almost sold.In China alone, Britain has sold a large number of high-quality assets. The famous foreign firms in the Far East will basically disappear after World War II.Because these foreign firms threw out all their assets and bought Chinese arms and supplies.Even the stakes in banks, such as HSBC, which are as lucrative as they are lucrative, have almost been sold in the UK.At present, British businessmen own less than 10% of the shares in HSBC.

Not only were these overseas assets lost, but more importantly, the disposal of these assets was a tearful sale.If it was an ordinary person, it would have been unbearable for a long time.But Churchill was tough.

It should be said that those political strongmen who emerged during the Second World War were all tough in character.Otherwise, they would not have become political strongmen.After Churchill regained his composure, he immediately analyzed the current situation.

Britain's current diplomacy is most important to China and the United States.

"Robert, what do you think should be done about China?"

"We must negotiate with China as soon as possible, and China must cooperate with us. There are two main places to cooperate with us. One is that in the Mediterranean Sea, we must never have contact with the German-Italian coalition forces, and we must never participate in the transportation of logistics materials to the German-Italian coalition forces. China The transport ships must not dock at ports controlled by the German-Italian coalition forces. Tell China that we must strengthen patrols in the Mediterranean Sea and investigate and deal with those transport ships that are in contact with the German-Italian coalition forces."