The news of Greece's defeat had a huge impact on Yugoslavia, and the same was true for other countries, but the impact was most enormous on Britain and France.

Churchill, who had been prime minister for less than a month, hurriedly boarded the car, and with a tired face, he still had in mind that he was talking to French Prime Minister Daladier in Paris.

"What's the matter, Your Excellency Prime Minister, are the negotiations with France going well?"

Halifax, the foreign secretary who greeted him in the car, asked.

Churchill rubbed his somewhat sore eyes and replied. "Not so well, the French did not agree to integrate the Syrian region into our Middle East chain of command, they believed that their forces would be enough to hold the coast. It's just that on the issue of Libya, they promised to coordinate the pace of our country. ”

Speaking of which, Churchill couldn't help but complain. "What's the use of that, our forces in the Middle East need to prioritize keeping Egypt rather than attacking Libya, and while the oil there is vital to the Axis powers, we can't do anything right now."

Speaking of which, Churchill skipped here when he thought that Air Secretary Sinclair was preparing a plan. "Now our country needs troops everywhere, but there is a shortage everywhere, if only this damn war could break out three years later."

Churchill said this, and suddenly thought of something and asked Halifax. "By the way, how did the United States reply to my country's request?"

"No, at the moment President Roosevelt is not able to approve the Lend-Lease proposal at all, because there is too much opposition to it, and his Congress will not approve it."

Halifax's words, Churchill did not feel the blow, only he continued. "Then let's continue to talk, we must not let the United States stay out of the matter, they should end sooner. This was not the last big war. There is not so much time to prepare. ”

Yes, after the outbreak of World War II, he had plans to bring the United States in, but at that time he was the Minister of the Navy and had no right to dictate foreign affairs. When he came to power, he became even more eager to enlist U.S. aid. Because the addition of Romania puts more pressure on Britain and France, they also urgently need a weighty ally.

And the fact that the three countries of the Soviet Union divided Poland also told them that it was impossible for the Soviet Union to become an ally to declare war on the Axis, so there was only one option: the United States.

At the same time, the attitude of the United States towards the outside world is also changing, and its foreign policy is gradually changing from isolation to intervention. However, Churchill thought that the change in American policy was too slow, so he planned to speed up the change in American foreign policy.

In fact, Chamberlain was already doing this before. In June, King George and his wife visited the United States and were warmly welcomed by the American people.

US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was also pushing for a shift in foreign policy, because he had long foreseen the changes in the situation in Europe.

In 1935-1937, three neutrality laws were introduced in succession. The main content of the first of these neutrality bills stipulates that an embargo on weapons, ammunition and military supplies shall be imposed on all countries that have been delivered, and the period of validity shall be six months. The bill also shows that the United States is strictly neutral in its foreign policy and pursues a policy of isolation.

Roosevelt was not satisfied, and then he went on to demand greater presidential powers. After a month of discussions, the second neutrality bill was introduced. In addition to the above provisions, a clause prohibiting the granting of loans has been added, while also rejecting the president's right to free disposition of the arms trade.

Roosevelt did not give up, and he later made another request, which was again denied, maintaining the previous terms. It's just that a cash and cash clause has been added.

This was mainly due to the fact that the United States was the major trade rival of the major European powers at that time, and the mainstream idea of the United States at that time was to make a lot of war money against them.

Naturally, Roosevelt was very dissatisfied with this, so he first delivered an anti-epidemic speech, condemning the aggressive acts of certain countries without naming them. At the same time, it warns against the illusion that the United States can stay out of it.

Later, with the annexation of the Czech Republic by Germany, Roosevelt even spoke in Congress. "The current neutrality law may be helpful to the invading country against the victim country."

With Germany's declaration of war on Poland, the attitude of the United States began to change after studying the strength of both sides. In particular, after the Romanian air raid on Alexandria, the United States softened its attitude, and Roosevelt took this opportunity to promote the revision of the Neutrality Act.

In fact, Roosevelt had intervened in arms sales before. After the German annexation of Czechoslovakia, Britain and France also began preparations for war. In early 1939, the French government asked the United States to order 600 planes and requested an urgent order, and President Roosevelt personally approved the order and lowered the loan price, so France placed a second large order.

At the same time, Roosevelt pressured the heads of the military to provide Britain with strategic supplies necessary for the operation so that Britain could confront the Drowe Alliance. He ordered the Army and Admiralty to "dig through the boxes and take stock" and hand over all available weapons and equipment to private companies, which were then resold to the British.

It's just that this kind of assistance did not satisfy Churchill, who now lacks the most large warships. Because of the loss of the Mediterranean Fleet, the detour distance of ships was increased by nearly 70%, reducing the efficiency of transportation between Britain and Asia.

And the current shortage of British and French warships made Churchill particularly want to lease warships from the United States. To this end, he proposed to exchange islands for warships. The plan is to exchange six islands, including the Bahamas and Jamaica, plus $300 million in negotiable bonds and precious metals for four US battleships and two aircraft carriers.

Faced with Churchill's proposal, Roosevelt was stunned. Although the United States has made money in all respects, he is not at all optimistic about selling its own warships, especially the large warships it uses, to Britain.

Although he very much wanted to push for the success of this matter, to help the British compensate for the loss of warships in the Mediterranean. But reason told him that the odds of success in this matter were very low. Because this is too great a stimulus for the current United States, it is simply unbearable, because the American people are not even prepared at all.

Sure enough, after the British proposal was submitted to Parliament, it immediately caused an uproar, and in the face of the British proposal, these parliamentarians rejected it without hesitation.

Because although the isolation has subsided, the majority of the public and public opinion are still not ready to agree to such a proposal. Because the political implications of the sale of warships are too strong, the United States is not ready for the end.

Although he was rejected this time, Churchill would not give up, and he would find other ways to drag the United States into the water.