Chapter 66: The Medal of Victory
For Patton's subordinate, it is fair to say that General Eisenhower did not like it. In fact, not only him, but few of the current US military generals in Europe like General Patton, who is always making a lot of nonsense.
It's just that General Patton is very old, he was once the adjutant of Special General Pershing, the commander-in-chief of the United States Expeditionary Force, during World War I, and before Pershing participated in World War I, he and Patton's sister were in love, and they were already engaged, and the two agreed to get married as soon as the war ended.
That is to say, if they get married, then the relationship between Pershing and Button will change, and Barton will regard Pershing as his brother-in-law in the future.
At the outbreak of World War I, Pershing rushed to Europe and was separated from Patton's sister. Pershing has many subordinates in the current American army, and he is still a living stunt general, so he must be considered.
Coupled with the extraordinary bravery shown by Patton himself in the war, which was unique among the American army, General Eisenhower turned a blind eye.
As soon as he heard Marshal Zhukov mention Patton, General Eisenhower casually diverted the topic. Apparently reluctant to talk much about General Patton, who was not yet known in Berlin, he would soon have the opportunity to get his pesky subordinates aside.
The military parade is still going on, and as a military parade that shows the military might of the British Empire, Britain cannot be said to be serious. Alan Wilson, who had only seen military parades in some countries with the Soviet system, was really not interested.
He didn't even have the strength to step forward, so he could only tilt his head and say to Ivor next to him, "I haven't seen it for long, and the troops of the four countries that occupied Berlin may rush to be the first to come once." ”
"Well, of course, there is nothing more joyful than holding a military parade in the capital of the enemy." Ivor replied with a smile, and then changed the conversation, "Except for the French!" ”
Forehead! Alan Wilson opened his mouth to cry and laugh, and added, "Even the French." ”
Alan Wilson, who watched the military parade, even thought of Patton, the American general, to say that the first tough battle of General Patton in the World War was as the commander of the Western Task Force of the North African Expeditionary Force, leading his troops to participate in the North African landing campaign, leading his troops to capture French Monaco, and beating the French army! Alan Wilson was very remorseful about France, but France was a British ally in the colonial question.
As the commander-in-chief of the British military parade in Berlin, Field Marshal Montgomery did not leave after the parade. Field Marshal Montgomery, who attended as commander of the British occupation forces, wore what must have been the famous berets.
Marshal Zhukov stepped forward, smiled and turned around and took out the Victory Medal, which had arrived in Berlin from Moscow, and personally wore it for Marshal Montgomery, in which the Kremlin motif was made of gold, the blue sky was a sapphire, the red ground was a ruby, the white edge and the light were made of white gold bars set with diamonds, and the five corners were inlaid with five carats of Russian natural rubies each.
Since the start of the military parade, Alan Wilson has been standing not far from the rostrum, adhering to the professionalism of an imperial civil servant, but when he saw this scene, he could no longer take his eyes off.
Leaving aside the materials used in this medal, the red part in the center represents the Order of Lenin, the highest order of the Soviet Union, the green stripe represents the Order of Suvorov for organizing the attack and pursuit, and the dark blue stripe represents the Order of Kutuzov for the skillful retreat and counterattack.
The crimson stripe represents the Order of Alexander Nevsky in recognition of the resistance to the invaders, the light blue stripe represents the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky in recognition of the regained territories, and the orange stripe with a black line represents the Order of Glory in recognition of bravery.
There are only twenty Victory Medals in the world, and you can imagine the value of this medal, even Brezhnev, who could use the medal as a body armor, dared to award himself only one.
"Alan?" Ivor followed Alan Wilson's gaze and nodded knowingly, "It looks valuable." ”
You can't buy it even if you have money! Alan Wilson reluctantly retracted his gaze, he didn't think about this medal, unless he could pack and sell the British Empire to the Soviet Union, then maybe he could change it.
"You say the Soviets awarded this medal to General Eisenhower, and now to Field Marshal Montgomery. Why didn't you give one to the French, it can be seen that the Soviets did not respect the French. Ivor was still thinking about it.
Alan Wilson sighed, his colleague was really enough, and after Marshal Zhukov officially awarded the medal to Marshal Montgomery, commander of the British occupation forces, the entire rostrum burst into warm applause.
Diplomats who were not on the rostrum, including Alan Wilson, and soldiers from different countries around them, also cheered with indulgence, falling into the eyes of Berlin citizens observing the military parade.
These soldiers, who fought side by side and belonged to different countries, showed unity in the first year of victory over the enemy.
The military parade of the British army, and the process of Marshal Zhukov awarding the Medal of Victory to Marshal Montgomery after the parade, were naturally photographed by British journalists in Berlin.
It seemed that all the newspapers felt that a united Central Powers would be invincible, and that the war would end quickly after the defeat of Germany.
"As diplomats of the British Empire, we are about to face a test, after a while US President Truman and the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union Stalin will come to Berlin, and the British Empire will have a difficult negotiation with these two allies, it can be expected that the negotiations will be very difficult, and we must safeguard the interests of the British Empire."
At the headquarters of British control in Berlin, Alexander Cadogan spoke coldly to the diplomats in the room.
Alexander Cadogan came into an aristocratic family, studied at Eton College and Oxford University, and before the outbreak of World War II, he had become a senior civil servant in the British Foreign Office, taking advantage of the contradiction between the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and the permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, who advocated a preemptive strike against Germany, to become the new permanent secretary for foreign affairs, that is, the secretary of the foreign office.
In other words, he is now the immediate boss of the diplomats here, and naturally he has received a warm response, and the diplomats in the room have said that they must defend the interests of the British Empire to the end, and fight with the Soviets and the Americans on the basis of reason.
"So, let's first understand the goals set by the foreign secretary." Alexander Cadogan nodded, and took out the terms of negotiation offered by the British Foreign Secretary, and asked the diplomats present to discuss the feasibility.