Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the French problem is only a fuse, and the key lies in the situation of the Great War, especially the crisis in India. For the British Empire www.biquge.info the Middle East was far more important than the African colonies, and the fact that Churchill could continue to sit on the prime minister's throne after losing the Middle East revealed only one message: the British elite was mentally prepared to lose the Middle East and Africa.

In the same way, the elite was expected to be aware of the possible reaction of Vichy France when the Royal Navy bombarded the French fleet, when England accepted de Gaulle as a representative of the French government-in-exile, and when the Free France cooperated with the British occupation of the French colonies. According to London's wishful thinking, Vichy France, with the-for-tat confrontation of De Gaulle's Free France outside and the national oppression of Germany inside, must be difficult to maintain, and in the end it must have completely collapsed.

This strategy is almost successful. But the plot suddenly took a big turn: first Britain and the United States lost the war and lost North Africa and the Middle East, then there was a Franco-German compromise and détente (if not a reconciliation), and Germany released the prisoners early and returned most of the occupied territories in exchange for the approval of the Vichy authorities, and obtained the essence of the remnants of French warships. When the German order was settled, real money flowed into France, and the Pétain government moved back to Paris, the hearts and minds of the French people immediately changed dramatically.

But this was not enough to decide on a change of policy in Britain, and in the end, no one cared what the French thought, and the fact that France had not yet fallen to Britain had done something to withhold support planes had already been internalized into the political instinct of Great Britain.

The key issue is India, the most dazzling jewel in the crown of the British Empire, and if India is lost, Britain will immediately become a second-rate country, so all sides are extremely concerned about this. However, Churchill's decision on the Indian side is very uneasy. He was stubborn and chose Mountbatten, whom many opposed, as the supreme head of India, while failing to convince the United States to devote its forces to the defense of India.

The loss of Ceylon had been a wake-up call for Churchill, and before he could react, the Japanese landing at Madras dealt another heavy blow, and the third key blow was the observation of the passage of a large number of Axis reinforcements in the Canal Zone, and everyone was keenly aware that this could be the beginning of the next phase of the general offensive against India. Even though India still has nearly 300,000 troops and horses, and the United States has promised that it will lobby China to send troops into the battlefield, both military and political dignitaries have expressed extreme pessimism about the prospects, especially the extremely pessimistic war report sent by Giffard, which makes people think that the sky is about to fall.

Giffard described the strength of the Japanese and German forces, the overwhelming superiority of the navy, and even said that the Japanese had more tanks than him. The telegram caused an uproar in London, with Marshal Brooke and others inclined to dismiss it as true, perhaps with some exaggeration, while Churchill dismissed it as entirely fictional, a testament to Gifard's usual "cowardice, timidity, and vacillation." He eloquently defended: even if the Japanese-German coalition army really had 5-60,000 troops, how could the 11th Army alone have 8-90,000 troops, how could it fail so quickly?

Until now, he had refused to admit that India would be lost, and though he no longer insisted on a turning point, he still believed that the British Empire would be able to hold India, which would eventually become the graveyard where the Japanese Empire would be buried, and no one else knew where his confidence came from. Although the territory lost so far is not fatal to India, and the advance of the Japanese-German forces in India has not reached the heart of India, many believe that he has gone too fast and too far on the path of paranoia. The British Empire needs a strong-willed, indomitable prime minister, not an opinionated, blindly optimistic leader, and not a fat old man who bangs his head against the southern wall and still dies without repentance.

Therefore, after the last contact between Aiden and Attlee, some people in the two parties have germinated other ideas, Attlee can represent the mainstream of the Labour Party, and Aydne represents a large part of the Conservative Party, and it stands to reason that the two companies together are enough to oust Churchill from power, and there is no need to engage in such secret work and covert contacts. But the problem is that the replacement of the prime minister of the British Empire has never been a simple domestic affair, and it is subject to many constraints, the most important of which is the American factor.

The United States has always had the courage and hope to support Great Britain to continue to resist, and Churchill is obviously the key figure connecting the two sides, not only won Roosevelt's strong support, but also himself has been a long-term and unsparing promotion of Anglo-American cooperation, replacing and attacking Churchill will give Washington the impression that Britain seems to be going to turn its back on the Anglo-American alliance, and this price is too great for Great Britain to accept. Regardless of who wins or loses in the end, Great Britain, which has lost its friendship with the United States, is destined to be unable to call the tide on this earth, so the opinion of the United States is especially important.

The support of the United States can indeed be called exhaustive -- even the strategic transportation of a formation of 1,000 transport planes has been carried out, and all the daily expenses that need to be imported are all covered by the United States, and the only means of payment for Great Britain is to make all the blank slips. If the United States does not support or does not support Britain enough, then no one will feel very sorry not to go.

It's a pity that the rich and generous Americans are really not very good at fighting wars, and they have lost all the way from the beginning of the African campaign. Although the scene was ugly, it actually had little impact on the United States, and the casualties were only 500,000, but the situation deteriorated too quickly, and it may only be a few bleeding wounds for the United States, which had nothing to do with life, but it was a fatal wound for Britain. Now that the Japanese Combined Fleet is desperately attacking Australia and New Zealand, Great Britain, as the traditional suzerain, has no way to do it, and even after the news was transmitted to Washington, even Washington could not command the Pacific Fleet.

The only hope for the United States is to delay, wait, wait for the US domestic arms production to explode, and wait for a large number of warships, especially aircraft carriers, to form an army -- the United States is still holding back nearly 10 million troops and cannot get out. But will Great Britain survive until this point?

"Our unanimous opinion is that, in view of the close proximity of France and Germany and the close relations between Italy and Germany, Great Britain cannot be reduced to a second-rate country in the future, and there is a conservative force in the party that is more hostile to Germany, so ......" Aiden glanced at Attlee with a complicated expression, "change horses, but not fall hills." ”

"Have the terms been negotiated over there?" Attlee shrugged, "You make me feel as if we're pandering to the Germans, and I can tell you that we can still fight the Germans with a different person, we just don't want to see a fool, a man who only uses speeches and empty rhetoric to fool the people and continues to be on stage." ”

"Great Britain needs a Pétain, who is highly respected and who thinks about the fundamental interests of the people, and the key is that he never cares about personal gain or loss." Aiden didn't care about Attlee's attitude, "Does your party have such a candidate?" ”

"Of course not, not everyone wants to be a petain, and it's not easy to do, at least I'm not suitable." Attlee looked a little anxious, "I have no objection to the person proposed by your party, he can be accepted, the key is whether the Germans can accept it, and what conditions can be achieved." ”

As soon as the word "conditions" was mentioned, Aiden was like a deflated ball: "Things are bad here, the conditions are difficult to negotiate, Madrid has tried its best to match, but the key points have always been uneven." ”

"Where are the people?"

"In Portugal, a safe place, someone to protect him, and Germany sent people."

"Won't you force him to sign something?" Attlee frowned, "That would be too passive." ”

"Without our commitment and recognition, it doesn't work for him to sign anything, Hitler is not so stupid." Aiden shook his head, "What I'm worried about now is that Hitler's asking price will not be low, at least not on the same favorable terms as France." ”

Attlee thought to herself: Do you need to ask? France has long been lying down and pretending to be dead, and after Petain and Reival have befriended Germany, the conditions of the axis are of course a little more generous, how can it attract people if it is not generous? Britain and Germany have been fighting for so many years, starting with Poland, and Germany refused to accept the idea of peaceful division of the world, and the Royal Navy still had a little scrap left, and it is estimated that the Germans will not look down on it. Britain's only value now is to quickly destroy the American will to resist after surrendering, and to determine Germany's global superiority, except for the role of this stepping stone, he does not understand what the Germans will look at, he could have counted on Britain to continue to build ships for Germany, and when these shipyard workers go to North America, they will obviously lose this value.

He was a little irritated: "I have read Hitler's vision and programmatic document on the European Union, and the relevant provisions in it are not particularly harsh for France, but they are different for us. There is no problem for Great Britain to survive, and it is probably no problem as a great power, but it cannot be a first-class power. ”

"Now we're betting that the U.S. will decide to fight after we know we're giving up on our homeland. If this is the case, it is not a big deal to agree to some conditions to Germany, and it is a big deal to break the treaty in the future, but if the United States does not do so, we cannot agree to the relevant conditions to Germany at will now, and that will be a fatal result. Aiden sighed, "This is also the fundamental reason why the 'transformation' plan has been delayed for a long time. ”

"Because there are no politicians available who take responsibility, endure the consequences, and are willing to bear the notoriety." Attlee saw all the problems at a glance, "You just want to explain to the people with vague slogans like bipartisan, and easily clear yourself of responsibility, as if this war was also a bipartisan agreement." In other words, we don't have a share when we enjoy glory and impassionedness, and want us to participate when we are infamous, don't we? ”

"What do you think?" Aiden didn't answer the stubble, but just asked vigorously.

"I agree with the 'transformation' plan, but the rest will be discussed, and I am not alone in the Labour Party." He pondered for a moment and then said, "Can we send someone to Lisbon, we need to talk to Your Highness." ”

"I'll get back to you next week." (To be continued.) )