On August 12, after an almost endless wait, Churchill finally waited for the long-awaited official U.S. delegation, led by Secretary of State Hull himself. When Hull, on behalf www.biquge.info of the U.S. government, expressed his hope for political stability and internal unity in Britain during the meeting, Churchill frowned slightly, looking a little disappointed; Aiden and others, on the other hand, were thoughtful -- the US side obviously had something to say.

But they were soon drawn to another topic: "In order to change the present predicament of Britain and reverse the unfavorable situation of the war, the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have decided to launch a major campaign with the aim of seizing the Azores as soon as possible and ensuring the smooth passage of the Atlantic Ocean." ”

There was a lot of debate in the Joint Chiefs of Staff about whether or not to inform the British side about Plan C, and many people believed that this might lead British dissidents to sell information to the German side, but many more people held that Plan C was originally implemented to boost the morale of the British side, and that if it was not reported, it would not achieve the desired results. What's more, the plan also plans to use a variety of resources such as the British army and pilots, and the understanding of the British side must be obtained. ”

In fact, there are more than 100 experienced counterintelligence personnel in the United States, and most of them are also responsible for domestic counterintelligence work, and there are only about 10 people who can be transferred to Britain, and most of the more than 200 personnel are "special task forces" under his control. ”

President Roosevelt was so impressed by this idea that he offered Donovan's plan to "lure the snake out of the hole" as an alternative, but told him that it should only be communicated to Churchill.

Although the 200-strong contingent seems to be a bit larger, the cabinet did not take it seriously: the US military has tens of thousands of troops stationed in it alone, and 200 more people are not trivial.

"In order to ensure the smooth progress of the plan, we have formulated a complete and huge plan and passed the preliminary review of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and are ready to deploy unprecedented forces, including 2,000 heavy bombers, 50 aircraft carriers, and 8 army divisions."

The Britons in the conference room finally changed their faces, and although they knew that most of these carriers were escort carriers, the figure of 50 was too frightening.

Pound stammered and asked, "Your country now has so many warships available?" ”

"At present, there are about 30 aircraft carriers available, and nearly 20 need to be replenished in the next three months, thanks to the support of your country's shipbuilders, we are confident that we can complete the construction of the remaining warships by rushing to work, but there is currently a shortage of sufficient manpower, and the President hopes that the Royal Navy can send competent personnel to the east coast to take over, and take over as many as they can." Last time, His Excellency the Prime Minister proposed to support 8-10 escort aircraft carriers, which was taken into account. After this battle, all the warships that the Royal Navy has taken over, including the equipment and aircraft on them, will be allocated to you. Hel paused, "The same is true for the army and the pilots, the equipment and materials used by the British officers and soldiers who participated in this campaign are all allocated to you after the battle, we must use the best equipment, the most adequate material support, the best officers and soldiers, the most perfect plan to fight with the Germans, we urgently need your support." ”

Since the British were asked to work hard, it was impossible not to give them favorable conditions, and the cunning Hull proposed this strategy, and the British could eat as much as they could -- let them use their last strength.

"The battle plan mission landing campaign requires close fire support, and from the combat experience of the Battle of Tarawa, the battleship beaching has great benefits, and we intend to use the old battleships, including 2 Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, to carry out the beaching mission, and the relevant losses will be compensated to your country in the future." Hull said a bunch of things, in a word, the funds, materials, equipment, and transportation were all covered by the wealthy American bosses, and Britain was only responsible for part of the manpower.

Compared with defending distant South Africa, attacking the Azores is very attractive to the British, because everyone knows that the Azores are the shackles of Britain, a rope tightly around the neck, and the United States actually does not care about the Azores, and they can save a lot of money if they do not provide support to the British.

In their view, the US plan is very sincere, and it is mainly considered from the interests of Britain, fully affirming the value of the Anglo-American alliance. On the other hand, if the Azores campaign fails again, it is estimated that the Prime Minister will not have to struggle uselessly.

Brooke, Pound and others, who were in charge of the military, decided to agree after a little discussion, but the British and American Joint Chiefs of Staff needed to approve the final plan, and Aiden, Attlee and others had nothing to say, and they had a green light all the way.

As for the betrayal of intelligence, it was Hull and others who were too worried, and these elites of Great Britain did not want to follow the path of Petain when they were desperate, since the Americans swore that they would give an explanation within three months, and the details and contents were so serious, they were also not stingy to give another three months -- it just so happened that the negotiations between the Duke of Windsor and Germany had also encountered some troubles, and they needed to negotiate slowly.

Other negotiations between the Duke of Windsor and the German side went smoothly and went well: Berlin agreed to the demands of supporting the restoration of the Duke of Windsor, maintaining the integrity of Great Britain proper, releasing British officers and soldiers captured by Germany to form the Imperial Guard on the spot after swearing allegiance to the Duke of Windsor, and Germany not treating Britain as a defeated country and not demanding reparations from Britain.

With regard to the four Dominions, the two sides also readily reached an agreement: those who were willing to follow the British mainland to stop fighting against the Axis would be treated by Germany according to the regulations of the British mainland; Those who were willing to follow Churchill to Canada also expressed their understanding, and said that as long as they did not destroy the relevant infrastructure of Britain itself, they could pack up and take away everything they wanted, and there was a tacit understanding between the two sides to maintain a stable and peaceful Great Britain.

On the issue of the cessation of American aid after the British armistice was declared, the German side also made unilateral assurances: to lift the blockade of Great Britain and to provide relevant supplies, including food and oil, which were vital to Britain; The Duke of Windsor, for his part, unilaterally promised to reduce the total number of troops at home to less than 1 million, and that the total tonnage of the Royal Navy in the future would not exceed the level of the Germans and that it would join the Axis operations, and that during the transition period Germany could garrison troops in two or three areas, and the total number of troops should not exceed 100,000 - but not as an occupation force.

On the post-war issue, the British delegates pledged to join the German-dominated EU system, accepting in principle Hoffmann's idea of the "three pillars" of the EU, with some reservations, and Germany guaranteeing that Britain would remain one of the great powers, at least alongside France and Italy.

But the negotiations between the two sides got stuck in two things, some stalemate, and the negotiations reached an impasse.

The first was India, which the Duke of Windsor considered to be vital to the British Empire and wanted to retain and become a British Territory, although he reluctantly offered to cede a small part of the south and the island of Ceylon to RB The second was the industrial problem of the British capitalists in the Middle East and Africa, and the Duke of Windsor proposed that the confiscated British property should be returned, not in full, of course, at least the property of the supporters of the new government demanded return.

These two questions stumped Ribbentrop, who was in charge of the negotiations, and even Hoffmann was deeply troubled.

India is now RB as the main force fighting, for India, the Japanese army not only gradually withdrew from China but also sent a fleet to carry out joint operations, and now want RB to give up and continue to expand the Indian occupation zone, not to mention that Germany is not so capable of dissuading, even if there is, it can't speak: this may directly lead to the collapse of the RB cabinet and the existing ruling faction in the military department, who knows what kind of brains will come up?

The dividing line of India drawn by the Duke of Windsor is 13 degrees north latitude, and the north continues to be left to the British, and the south is returned to RB The problem is that now that Yamashita has even beaten the 14th parallel, is it possible to spit out the meat that has been eaten? Considering that southern India is cone-shaped, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, and only retreating one latitude on the surface, the actual territory will be reduced by almost half, and no one will agree to it. What's more, Mountbatten, who rules northern India, is not necessarily loyal to the Duke of Windsor. So Hoffman thought it was a completely bad idea, and he couldn't do that.

The second relates to the relations between Germany and the countries of the Middle East, these British industries have long been nationalized by the independent Middle East and Africa and then auctioned at a low price, and the money from the sale has traded arms and equipment with Germany. The two most important parts of these possessions were also inalienable to Hoffman, the Suez Canal and the oil fields in the Middle East.

Why did Germany control the Middle East, wasn't it just for this bit of oil? Even the French invested real money to take some shares, and now the British want to take it back? It was a bit wishful thinking, so the scene was deadlocked.

Hoffman's meaning to Ribbentrop was to delay, wait, to see how the Japanese army was advancing, and then to let the British rethink, and it happened that the British side also had the meaning of delay, and everyone tacitly continued.

Ribbentrop knew the Duke of Windsor well, and he said to the Duke of Windsor, half-jokingly, half-seriously: "You want the RB people to stop at 13 degrees north latitude? It's not impossible, but it's not enough to rely on the Führer's persuasion alone, you have to let Sir Mountbatten get out of this situation, otherwise with the temperament of the RB people, signing this treaty is also tantamount to a hundred things, and they only recognize power. ”

"I'll send him a telegram that he must hold North India." The Duke of Windsor looked at Ribbentrop, "You won't have any more troops, will you?" ”

"No, no, you can rest assured." Ribbentrop thought to himself: at most sell some more weapons.

"I'll take care of him." The Duke of Windsor smiled, "He turned out to be my lieutenant, and he has a good relationship with me, and he has to play with the spirit of the British Empire." (To be continued.) )