"Your Majesty, there is an urgent telegram from the command of the Persian Military District.

On Christmas Eve, Afghan government forces took the opportunity to attack the British Warlord's station.

This battle caused at least 5,000 casualties among the British troops, and more than 3,000 people, including the Supreme Commander of the British Army, Admiral Winston, were captured.

The next day, the Afghan National Army launched a full-scale counteroffensive, and due to the paralysis of the command system, the Indian colonial division without the persecution of the overseers quickly collapsed, and the British Afghan Expeditionary Force was almost completely annihilated! Chief of the General Staff Kristof said cautiously

The British will lose the battlefield in Afghanistan, Ferdinand has no doubt that the graveyard of the empire cannot be pacified by just twenty Indian divisions, otherwise wouldn't it seem that the Soviet Union and the United States in later generations are too wasteful?

But the defeat was so crisp and neat, it was a little surprising to Ferdinand, didn't the British army have the upper hand before, how could it be defeated all at once?

Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, and defeat is also defeated, and the great cause of the British Empire has been greatly consumed. Anyway, there are not many things to distinguish between India and the land, that is, there are many people, even if another twenty infantry divisions are formed, it will be easy.

It is estimated that for the London government, even if the consequences of the total annihilation of this Indian colonial army are not as good as the casualties of the thousands of warlords, it is a headache for them!

"Is the message accurate? Britain is so easy to sneak attack? Ferdinand asked incredulously

"Your Majesty, the British let their guard down on Christmas, they thought that Afghanistan, like the European continent, would not attack on this day!" Christophe explained

"It's as simple as that?" Ferdinand asked incredulously

"Your Majesty, judging from the intelligence we have gathered, it is true, the British soldiers are on holiday at Christmas, and the Indian division, which is responsible for guarding the security of the camp, has deserted without anyone supervising it.

When the Afghan army launched an offensive, they simply did not organize effective resistance, and our analysis was that the senior officers of the Indian division were on vacation, and the rest of the people had no authority to command the whole army. Christophe explained

Ferdinand nodded, this weakness is common to all European armies, and it is a European practice to truce on Christmas Eve. Even in a world war, armies of all countries would cease fighting on this day.

Some soldiers even drank too much and ran to the other side in a daze to celebrate Christmas, and were still released the next day.

On the battlefield in the Belgian town of Ipres, the British and German armies also played football together.

Captain Hamilton, commander of the 1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment in Great Britain, also held a historic "meeting" with officers of the same rank as the German troops.

A 48-hour truce was agreed upon, and soldiers walked out of their trenches and sang Christmas carols together.

The Germans brought out Folliz candles, cakes, and cigars, and the British took out Christmas pudding to exchange with each other. The two sides also used tin cans as soccer balls and pickaxes used to dig trenches as goalposts.

This was the case not only on the Western Front, but also on the Eastern Front, where on Christmas Day 1916, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian Cross Regiment, Vitinstein, who was short of supplies, ran to the positions of the Bulgarian army with all the soldiers of the regiment to celebrate Christmas.

There are not many such examples on the European continent, and even Ferdinand could not have changed this tradition.

This time the British were unlucky, they followed the rules, the Afghans on the other side did not follow the rules, cultural differences, the Afghan army did not have to celebrate Christmas.

"Hmm, is there any news from the Southeast Asian battlefield?" Ferdinand asked with concern

"Your Majesty, our intelligence strength in Southeast Asia is too weak, and we haven't passed back the news yet, but the intelligence that the British sent back to London is normal!" Christophe said

"No, the Afghans all know about seizing this opportunity to counterattack, don't the revolutionary parties in Southeast Asia know?

Even if they are idiots, the Japanese know it? If you don't use it, is this still the Japanese way? Ferdinand analyzed

Everyone's faces changed slightly, and there were only two reasons why this happened:

1. Bulgaria's intelligence system in London was exposed, and it was fake news that came back;

2. The British army suffered heavy casualties, and the British officers at the front concealed the truth from home.

Obviously, it can't be the first case, even if the Bulgarian intelligence organization is exposed, even if the British don't arrest people directly, they will take advantage of it, and pass on false news at a critical moment to trap Bulgaria, it is impossible to make them aware of it so simply.

As long as it is not the intelligence system exposed, it does not matter to Bulgaria what happened to the British, who knew it a day earlier or a day later.

"Your Majesty, can we deal with the issue of Mindanao now? The battle above is almost decided, the religious forces have won a great victory, and the revolutionaries are about to be annihilated! Colonial Secretary Donald proposed

Bulgaria's sphere of influence in Southeast Asia is very small, and apart from Mindanao, the remaining islands of Douding are really not worth mentioning.

Now the southeast is in turmoil, and Mindanao is no exception, but elsewhere there is an anti-colonial uprising, and here there is a counter-religious uprising.

The benefits of propping up proxies have emerged, and in the midst of this great chaos, Bulgaria can stand alone, albeit only temporarily.

"Don't worry, maybe you can put a batch of smuggled arms in and let them continue to fight, it's inconvenient for us to come forward now, after all, we sold the local governance to them according to the agreement!" Ferdinand shook his head and said

People cannot stand without faith, industry cannot prosper without faith, and the country will decline without faith!

For a long time to come, it was impossible for Bulgaria to directly rule the colonies in Southeast Asia, and if a few officials were sent to establish a colonial government, it would be better to sell the power and let the locals govern themselves.

At the very least, self-government can help attract hatred, Bulgaria does not directly rule the region, and even if there is a rebellion, it is the self-government that is opposed.

If the revolutionary party really wants to become bigger, it is nothing more than a change of proxy, can they refuse the good intentions of Bulgaria?

For the study of human nature, Ferdinand still read a lot of articles. Perhaps now these revolutionaries are still really throwing their heads and spilling their blood, and once they become rulers, the situation changes.

People's hearts are corrupted by interests, and they will start to weigh the pros and cons. If the territory is large enough, the population is large enough, and the industrial base is laid, then they will definitely become independent statehood.

However, there were no such monsters in the Bulgarian colonies. The island of Mindanao has a population of just over 2 million, industry is equal to 0, and the territory area is only tens of thousands of square kilometers.

Breaking away from Bulgaria's colonial rule and establishing an independent state, such a dream can be imagined, but not done. In the era of imperialism, there was no strength, either occupied by this power or enslaved by that power.

Ferdinand had no worries about bouncing, and for their own sake, these people would make the right choice.

……

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Since the outbreak of the rebellion in Indonesia, the Dutch government has not had a few days of comfort, and they are not happy to see the increasing number of casualties.

Even though the Japanese helped to top the cylinder, the pressure on the country was still increasing. The Baohe marriage diverted the attention of the people, and this was only short-term, and once the front line was defeated, the crisis would still be detonated!

"The Bulgarians are not interested in our proposal, they are now undoubtedly continuing to expand in Southeast Asia!" Dutch Foreign Minister Robinson said with a wry smile

"Well, this is also what we expected, Southeast Asia has long been divided between us and Britain and France, and at this time, even if the Bulgarians intervene, they have no goal of expansion.

The Bulgarians could not have gone to war with Britain and France for the sake of Southeast Asia, and this little benefit was not enough for them to take the risk.

The two royal families have just been married, and the Bulgarian government will not be able to slap their king in the face and do it to us, at least for decades, they will not be able to attack our colonies!

This rebellion was unlike anything else, with the support of the Japanese behind the scenes, it was not so simple to put it down. The price we can pay at the moment is really not enough to tempt them! Dutch Prime Minister Daan said with a sigh (untranslated 😱)

"If the Bulgarians don't want to intervene, then we're going to continue working with the British?

Now that the rebels have begun to unite, then at least half of our colonies need to fight together with the British!

This situation is so bad that I doubt that something incredible will happen in the next battle! War Secretary Dan Goult said depressedly

The most depressing thing in the world is undoubtedly to jump into it knowing that there is a pit in front of you!

"Hey, man, the situation may not be as bad as you think, we have lodged a strong protest with the London government, they have made a public promise that they will never touch an inch of our colony, and I don't think the British will default on this issue!" Foreign Secretary Robinson said

"However, you also know that the promises of the British are like farts, and even if they give up their ambitions for our colonies, we may still be cheated in the next cooperation!

Pit teammates has become a habit for John Bull and I don't think they'll change it for us! War Secretary Dan Goult said depressedly

"All right, Mr. Dan Gott! This is just a speculation on your part, and now we have no choice, and if we do not cooperate with the British, our forces in Southeast Asia will simply not be enough to suppress this rebellion!

Now we have no choice, be optimistic! As long as our officers and soldiers on the front line are vigilant, they will not be so easily trapped!

Do you believe that our officers and soldiers on the front line, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will keep an eye on the British, and now the British still need us, they will not do too much! Prime Minister Daan comforted

That's right, now the British Empire really needs the Dutch to wave the flag. In modern times, the Kingdom of the Netherlands has declined in terms of national strength, and has degenerated into a third-rate country militarily, but it has not degraded diplomatically.

During the First World War, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was able to maintain neutrality between the two camps by their diplomatic means, and at the same time maintained good diplomatic relations with the Central and Allied powers.

Even after the decline of the old colonial powers, the Americans robbed the Philippines of the Spaniards, but did not attack Indonesia; The Japanese also had their eyes on Indonesia and did not dare to do it directly, and it was the Dutch who relied on diplomatic means to obtain the support of European countries to save it.

In this regard, the Portuguese and the Dutch did very well, but Portugal chose to defect to the British directly because of its geographical location. The Dutch, on the other hand, were still under the influence of France and Germany, and it was too dangerous for them to take sides openly.

When the Dutch government made this decision, it did not know that the situation in Southeast Asia had taken a sharp turn for the worse, and the so-called absolute strength advantage of the British no longer existed, so it was necessary to cooperate with them, otherwise the arrogant Mr. Churchill would still choose to go it alone!

You must know that Japan was the first country to westernize, fought with the Russians for two or three years, and sent people to the battlefield on the Western Front, how could they not understand the characteristics of Western armies?

Knowing that the Western armies had a Christmas truce for the holidays, they certainly had to make use of it, and a plan for a major Christmas counteroffensive was released.

However, the Japanese did not think that they could achieve much success, after all, everyone always had to be prepared on the battlefield, so the so-called major counteroffensive was only tentative.

Otherwise, Mr. Churchill would have been taken prisoner, and Singapore would have fallen half of it in this counteroffensive.

These were all minor problems, and the British army, which reacted, immediately launched a counterattack, daring to sabotage their Christmas Eve, and the enraged British soldiers burst out with twelve points of combat effectiveness, defeating the rebels one after another.

Of course, this is only the area with strong troops, and the areas with weak troops were killed by the rebels in the first round, such as the Australian division and the New Zealand division in Borneo, which were almost completely wiped out.

In addition, it was the revolutionaries lurking in the city who took the opportunity to burn a large number of strategic materials of the British army, which directly delayed the counterinsurgency process of the British.

The tide of the war began to tilt in the direction of the British, and Mr. Churchill, who was in a hurry, decisively chose to conceal his losses, and many battles were carried out by stealing beams or making things out of nothing.

Defeat turned into victory, and the annihilation of a hundred enemies turned into the annihilation of a thousand, and through these created "battles", the losses of the troops were successfully amortized. After a series of actions, the loss was simply settled.

To complete this plan, it is certainly not enough for the officials of the colony to cooperate, and it is very easy for the London government to know the truth.

In order to avoid this situation, Mr. Churchill chose to cut first and then play a prelude, and sent out all these so-called "brilliant results", which directly made it difficult for the London government to ride the tiger.

Once the public found out that the war report was fake, Mr. Churchill and the colonial officials would certainly not be able to escape, and the people would not let go of the cabinet, and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was pulled into the water without knowing it.

By the time they found out about the problem, the news had already been sent out, and it was Mr. Churchill in his capacity as a cabinet minister!

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, what now? We've all been cheated by that bastard at Churchill, and if the news leaks, the angry populace will probably tear us apart! Chamberlain asked with a wry smile

"Humph! He's looking for death, don't think he's going to drag us into the water! Even if we help cover up this matter, what about the battle that follows, if the rebellion cannot be quelled for a long time, sooner or later it will be a gang, does he want to provoke a war between Britain and Japan? Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin said angrily

Everyone was shocked that in order to get out of the political crisis, Mr. Churchill could really do such a thing. Don't talk about Churchill, if all of you here change places, you can do the same!

Who made the British Empire strong in this era? Behind the powerful, many crises are covered up, and they, like politicians, are lost in them.

Although the Japanese threat, the French threat, the Bulgarian threat, and the Russian threat are being propagated at home, who really cares about them?

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, this must not be allowed to happen, we must limit Churchill's rights, once the war between the two countries is provoked, it cannot be ended in a short time, and the world situation will become uncontrollable!

We still have many enemies, and although they are not a cause for concern, if we join forces, we will be very uncomfortable as well! Foreign Secretary Attlee said solemnly

"Well, I have decided to re-form the Cabinet, Mr. Churchill will let him stay in Southeast Asia to counter-insurgency first, and the Cabinet can add a new member, what good candidates do you have?" Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin said cautiously

Now that the two sides have torn their faces, Stanley will naturally not be polite, and he will definitely not dare to make trouble by kicking Mr. Churchill out of the cabinet at this time.

Originally, he crossed the line, and it was inevitable that he would be punished, and there were few political struggles that fell to the end, everyone's butts were not clean, and once the lid was lifted, everyone would not be happy.

Of course, Prime Minister Stanley will definitely take revenge for this loss, and even Churchill supporters in the party cannot say anything on this issue.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, how about bringing the Liberal Regina McKenna into the cabinet, now is this time when we need to gather allies and share the pressure together!" Foreign Secretary Attlee proposed

(Note: Regina McKenna Liberal, former Chancellor of the Exchequer)

Will he agree? You must know that we have wooed him before, but he rejected him, and it may not be easy to win him over at this time! Prime Minister Stanley shook his head and said

……