Chapter 12: The Sunset of the Empire I

"What? The Russians surrendered? "If a 2,000-pound bomb landed in the basement of Downing Street and blew everyone up, Qiu Fat's hands trembled, and he couldn't even pinch his cigar steadily, and his forehead was already sweating profusely in the weather just June. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. biquge。 info

"Yes." Aiden said with a blank face, "Hess triumphantly sent the Soviet-German armistice terms to the Duke of Hamilton, and Stalingrad has withdrawn its troops - the place has been against the Germans for two years!" ”

"Is the information reliable?"

"Reliable!"

Churchill did not dare to say anything, sat down in a daze, and soon the phone rang.

"I'm Menzies, and I have important information to report to His Excellency the Prime Minister."

"I'm Churchill, you say."

"Our informants in the Russian Liberation Army told us that there was a Soviet-German truce and that the Red Army was withdrawing from Stalingrad! In order to pass on the message, we killed 2 informants. ”

"I see, I'm debating what to do."

"The news has been confirmed." Churchill sneered, "I didn't expect Stalin to fall in front of us, and he was still able to sit firmly in his position when he turned around." ”

"Prime Minister, today we are not here to gloat about Stalin, we want to talk about the British Empire."

"Let's talk." Now, Churchill calmed down and sat down in his chair, "When are you going to arrest me and hand me over to Hitler?" What are the specific conditions for peace talks? ”

Aiden, Attlee, and the three military leaders looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.

"Prime Minister, you misunderstood, we have no intention of doing so, you can still be your prime minister. The difference is whether to call the shots in London or as in Ottawa. ”

"Okay......" Churchill sighed, "that's not the point, the point is the terms of the peace talks, what do you say?" ”

"The basic conditions are similar to what was said before, the Royal Navy fleet is handed over, the army is controlled at 500,000, the German garrison is 300,000, all the surplus weapons and equipment are given to Germany, and economic and industrial cooperation is ......," Aiden said expressionlessly, "The conditions for us and for the black cat are almost the same, nothing more than 2 black cats, join the axis and declare war on the United States, in return, Germany agreed to expand the territory of British Guiana in the direction of Venezuela and hand over the Panama Canal to us." ”

"This is not good, I don't agree, Germany and the United States will win and who will lose, it is far from the time to see the difference, even if Germany wins, the United States is forced to cease the war, if we are stationed in Panama, do you think the Americans will not fight?" Churchill waved his hand, "Maybe it will come in the name of Canada, and then it will become a war between the two Britain." ”

"One country, one country, one Britain, each with its own expression" on both sides of the Atlantic is a political principle that everyone acquiesces in.

"So, we were the only ones who signed with Hitler?" Attlee sighed, "Or you come and sign this contract, and I go to Canada?" ”

"No, I'm going to Canada, you are not Roosevelt and Truman's opponents, they are all ruthless people, only a strong-willed and indomitable person like me can do it."

Everyone didn't laugh, and no one thought that the prime minister was putting gold on his face, and no one could compare to Churchill in terms of political methods and black skills. The prime minister is not defeated by politics, the prime minister is defeated by the military.

"In addition, I will take with me those who are not willing to stay and cooperate with the Germans, whether they are technicians, officers or other high-ranking people, and I will also take away 2 armored aircraft carriers." Churchill frowned and asked Pound, "How many days are left before they can serve?" ”

"In another 2 weeks it will do. However, I'm afraid you can't take the warship with you. ”

"Why?"

"The Germans asked for these warships by name. They even said that if we had not sent planes to bomb the German fleet, they would have considered letting you take one, but we had sunk 2 of their fleet aircraft carriers and 2 light aircraft carriers, and the German Navy was angry and resolutely disagreed! ”

"Bastard, I'm going to take it!" Churchill was a little annoyed

"They don't guarantee the safety of any warships, the attack planes taking off from Iceland will sink all the planes, and ......," Aiden sighed, "The Germans gave us three days to think about it, and if they didn't agree after three days, they would resume bombing and land in Ireland, and then it would not be that condition." ”

Because of the Icelandic campaign, Germany put forward additional conditions: the garrison was extended by five years, and Britain was required to provide Germany with 3,000 aero engines and build 150,000 tons of military ships. If they land in Ireland again, the conditions for subsequent peace talks will be even more stringent. The fight against Iceland consumed a lot of fuel and pilots of the Royal Air Force, and the fight against Ireland was even more inadequate. Edward VIII was already very dissatisfied with London's stupidity, and the "deception" of the fleet section made it even more divisive, but he would not have been able to take over London without the support of the mainstream neutrals - this is something that the black cat himself is unusually sober.

"We can resist to the end without accepting the peace treaty and force Hitler to pay a higher price."

Brooke said coldly: "Your idea has no future and is even more irrational - the Soviet-German armistice is about to cease, and the vast majority of German troops on the Eastern Front will be withdrawn, not only the German army in Western Europe has obtained more than 10,000 aircraft and 300-4 million troops, which means that the industrial power and industrial resources of the whole of Europe will be pressed on the head of the British Empire, and the last time the British Empire can compete with the whole of Europe can be traced back to the Napoleonic Wars, even if there was still the power to support us in Europe at that time, and now it is ......"

Churchill was dumbfounded by his refutation, and he wanted to shirk the responsibility for the defeat, but the problem was that the crowd did not let him take responsibility for the defeat, only made him admit the fact of defeat.

"Well, if there is no warship, there is no warship, how can so many people go?"

"The Germans agreed to give 2 cruisers, some of them went on cruisers, some of them went by heavy bombers and transport planes, and we also had nearly 200 more than 4-engine transport planes, which could be used to retreat." Aiden said with a blank face, "You can arrange for reliable people to go to Newfoundland to fight the front station, and the Germans will give us this window of time, just as they gave the Russians a window of time to withdraw their troops from Stalingrad." ”

Churchill glanced at the crowd and asked, "Do any of you go with me?" ”

Including the three major army leaders, everyone was silent, and no one responded.

Churchill was a little angry, but he couldn't get angry, so he could only grit his teeth and say, "Isn't there a single person in the military?" I rely on the Americans to fight? The British Empire has fallen to this point? ”

"Admiral Alexander is willing to go with you, Admiral Tovey on behalf of the Navy, Vice Admiral Ted on behalf of the Air Force, and the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who remain in Washington, including Marshal Deere and Admiral Somerville, will be under your command." Attlee said slowly, "Don't worry, military commander, from generals to ensigns, we will all have a proportional allocation, and all major families will send their children there, and the list is constantly being updated." ”

Hearing the name of Alexander, the runaway general, Churchill was a little annoyed, but it was impossible for other army generals, Slim, Wilson and even Auchinleck were all fighting in India and would definitely not return, and many of them had a bad relationship with Churchill, like Wavell directly said that "a fool only went to Canada with him".

Moreover, Attlee had just spoken on behalf of the crowd and said that the list was already on the list, and Churchill was even more surprised: this only shows the fact that these people have been connected, and even the major families have communicated in place - what have they done in the past few days?

As for the list of the major families, Churchill didn't need to look at it to know that half of the core force must have gone to Canada, and half stayed on home - the routine is exactly the same as the allegiance during the War of the Red and White Roses.

"Clement, will you be prime minister after I'm gone?" He asked, looking at Attlee.

"Perhaps, but it depends on the outcome of the vote of the councillors." Attlee was a little hairy by his staring, although everyone had discussed it before the meeting, if the fat man still refused to give in today, then he had to take drastic measures to remove him from his post and announce the final result, otherwise the black cat would not be able to wait, but now that Churchill is so straightforward, he still feels a little tricky.

"So, what are you going to do with the more than 100,000 US troops stationed in the UK?" Churchill sneered, "You can't have hidden so many people without knowing it. ”

"That's one of the issues we're going to discuss." Attlee regained a little calm, "The Germans are asking us to collect the weapons of these Americans and ask them to surrender, and if we can't do it, they will come on their own, which is a very difficult request. First, it is difficult for us to explain to the troops why we are attacking U.S. friendly forces; Second, we cannot resort to force, and any resort to force could trigger a Anglo-American war, which, regardless of the outcome, will affect each other and even the US-Canada relationship; Thirdly, we must not allow the Germans to collect it; Fourth, the Germans also did not agree to let them go back to the United States......"

"Do they know it themselves?"

"Knowing the situation, it's very tense right now, the fall of Iceland has exacerbated mutual distrust, and the Americans are on high alert at the moment."

"What kind of high law?"

"It's about the same level as the British ships." Pound added, "There were also American freighters and other civilians who were faced with this difficult situation, but the Germans did not enforce it, but only demanded the seizure of American warships and ships, and the rest of the Americans were not treated as prisoners - either to remain in England to fend for themselves, or to be repatriated through a third country." ”

Churchill closed his eyes and thought for a moment: "I have an idea to deal with your difficulties, but the risk is great......"

"Tell me about it?"

Churchill immediately gave his opinion, and the eyes of the crowd widened after listening to it, is this okay? Prime Minister is really ...... Is!

"I'm afraid there will be ...... in this way"

Churchill sneered: "I gave you the plan, you can discuss it for 2 days, and I will listen to the answer in 2 days, okay, no, I will go to Canada......"

ps: There is a change later......