Chapter Seventy-One: Taking the Lead
Although the British Occupation Zone was not the largest of the Four-Nation Occupation Zone in terms of size, there is no doubt that the British Occupation Zone was the best part of Germany. Otherwise, it would not have been frequently mentioned by the United States that it would replace the occupied areas with Britain, and finally finally fight for an enclave port.
From this point, it can be seen that Britain and the United States in 1945 also had limited trust, but they had more common languages in the face of the Soviet Union.
"Dear Lieutenant General Ronald, it looks like the situation here is even worse than expected." After Alan Wilson arrived at the British headquarters, he stated what he had seen and heard, and to be honest, the mental state of the German citizens here in Hamburg was completely different from that of the city of Greater Berlin, and if you compare it, it was not far from the people of British India.
"As you can see, the work has only been done to clear the port, and the ruins in the city have not been cleaned up at all." Lieutenant General Ronald Weeks did not show contempt for Alan Wilson as a liaison officer.
It should be said that the war has ended for Britain, and a soldier like him naturally does not think about maintaining world peace like Prime Minister Churchill. Now that the war was over, Lieutenant General Ronald Weeks began to work on other issues, and Field Marshal Montgomery ran straight to Berlin to receive flowers and applause, leaving him to deal with the mess.
Then Lieutenant General Ronald Weeks asked Alan Wilson about the purpose of coming from Berlin, to which Alan Wilson had nothing to hide, "The restoration of order in the British occupation zone as soon as possible has made many ministers worried, and I myself am at the same time the liaison officer to British India, and it happens to be in Germany, the permanent secretary of the Foreign Office suggested to the foreign secretary to see if he can think of a way, and it just so happens that I know that a freighter carrying grain has arrived in Europe, so I have come here to deal with this matter." ”
"It's really gratifying." After hearing this, Lieutenant General Ronald Weeks nodded and replied simply, "Order and stability in the British-occupied areas are not only the responsibility of the army, and the British Command very much welcomes the joint efforts of all departments. ”
"It's over, General!" Alan Wilson nodded politely, "If possible, the clean-up of the British occupation area should use the soldiers of the original German army, this is their obligation, isn't it?" ”
"Of course, we're already doing that." Lieutenant General Ronald Weeks pointed outside the office and said, "When you go out, turn left and you will see the German General Staff. But then again, as for the food that arrived in Hamburg, it was really necessary for these German staff officers to distribute it, after all, we are not locals, and there may be omissions in distribution. ”
"General, I'd like to meet the Germans and see if I can help." Alan Wilson took the initiative to speak.
Then it was approved by Lieutenant General Ronald Weeks, Germany had officially surrendered, and the British did not treat these surrendered German soldiers as cruelly as the United States and the Soviet Union.
In fact, when it comes to this issue, Alan Wilson, if he has the opportunity, really wants to go to the Rhine camp to see if the Americans have left any handles, but unfortunately it is very difficult to think so.
At present, more than two million German soldiers surrendered to the British and Canadian forces in the British occupation zone, and the British occupation zone was divided into four military districts responsible for the occupation: in addition to the formation of the Berlin Military District, the remaining British occupation area was divided into three parts, the Schleswig-Holstein Military District, which was under the command of General Buck, commanding the Eighth Army, two divisions and one armored brigade.
Hanover Military District: Under the command of General Holox, commanding the Thirtieth Army, three divisions and one armored brigade. Westphalian Military District: Headed by General Crock, commanding the First Army, four divisions, and one armored brigade.
The rest of the troops were under his own unified management, forming a general reserve, just in case. The purpose of this was to use the military commands of corps, divisions, brigades, and regiments to organize and re-establish local government in the British-occupied areas in an orderly manner.
These commands have jurisdiction over the corresponding counties, towns, townships, and other regions, and everything is carried out through the corresponding civil affairs organizations.
As for where the current commander of the British army, Montgomery, is, according to the British command, Field Marshal Montgomery is in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, to accept the title of honorary citizen of Copenhagen.
"To tell you the truth, the mess in Germany right now should not be cleaned up by our soldiers, it should be cleaned up by German soldiers, and won't these two million soldiers help to rebuild their own homes?" Before preparing to leave the British headquarters, Alan Wilson said in a broken heart, "It is their luck that the German soldiers surrendered to us, and the soldiers who surrendered to the Americans are still locked up in the Rhine camp, and the soldiers captured by the Soviets, digging potatoes in Siberia is their only fate." But we, the British army, with our noble professionalism in the management of the occupied territories, cannot be their nannies, and the Germans themselves should make a little contribution. ”
"The command is also dealing with this." The staff officer who sent Alan Wilson out shrugged his shoulders after hearing this, "Now it is most important to solve the problem of food first, as for the restoration of transportation, it will be a matter of the future, and the Germans will definitely be indispensable." ”
"These are all free labor, it's not bad to treat them as war criminals, you are welcome to use them when they should be used, what about two million people, take out the momentum of building the Siegfried Line in the first place, I believe that the British occupation area will have a new look in half a year." Alan Wilson gave sincere advice, and to be honest, he wanted to write a plan for the British command.
In this way, he will be able to know where the gold is panning in the Ruhr area of Germany in the British-occupied area.
Alim's ship arrived a few hours later than expected, but given the current situation in the port of Hamburg, it was not a delay, and as soon as he got off the ship, he approached Alan Wilson and apologized, saying, "The port is badly damaged, and it took some time to get in safely." ”
"It doesn't matter, food is the most precious thing in Germany now, and it's not just Germany, the gardens in the center of Vienna are now used to grow potatoes, you know what that means." Alan Wilson turned to look at the freighter, "The monarch of Hyderabad, British India, the honorable Lord Ali Khan, is willing to help Europeans in distress with all the kindness and selflessness that has never been seen, and this is something to be written about." Worthy of a front-page headline. Doing so would also give the Viceroy of British India a leading role. ”
Even Ali Khan, who was in a state of de facto independence, was able to help the British Empire in a hurry, and the civil servants of British India had this example first, how could they not work hard to scrape the ground, which played a positive leading role.
The richest man in the world will have a sample first, and the subsequent British Indian civil servants will have to keep up, right?