"It's raining heavily." Stryker. Sir Fay peered downstairs into the street, where the City Defense Command seemed to be preparing to construct a barricade in front of the hotel, where several Army soldiers in tawny uniforms were now unloading a wooden barricade from a truck.

Looking up, across the road, on the open lawn of Hyde Park, a row of tents had now been erected, a group of sappers were waving shovels in the rain, and a long truck was parked next to the originally leisure trail, and the canvas shed on the car was tightly covered, and I don't know what it contained.

"That's true, sir. The forecasts of the Royal Naval Meteorological Office could not be wrong, and the British Empire was still ahead of the rest of the world in scientific and technological capabilities. On the sofa in the parlor sat a young man, languidly reclining on a thick backrest covered in green velvet, holding a copy of the day's Times.

"The National Guard is a rabble, 3.7 million pounds thrown into the water in vain, and they are still asking for more investment, this group of incompetent wastes only knows how to stare at the wealth in the imperial treasury, and they don't care about the future of the empire at all." Sir Fay closed the window and drew the curtains with force.

"Have you read today's paper? 50,000 Canadian troops are embarking in Halifax, and the Canadians say that this is only the first wave of reinforcements, and that the people of the empire have united and are ready to fight to defend the empire against the king. The young man threw the newspaper in his hand onto the coffee table.

"Ignore the stuff in the newspapers, it's for the general British public, and now you need to stabilize people's minds." Fay walked to the door and turned on the light, which illuminated the room at once.

"The Canadians were just assembling at the docks and making a gesture for the people back home. The Canadians demanded that the Empire return the five destroyers and two light cruisers they had requisitioned, citing the lack of escort ships, half of which they had known had already been lost in previous naval battles. These greedy Canadians took a fancy to the empire's assets in North America. The Cabinet saw through the tricks of these Canadians. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to categorically reject their request and has indicated that the Royal Navy will send an escort fleet to ensure their safety. Fay walked over to the desk in the corner of the living room and picked up the receiver for the phone on the desk.

"I'm Fay, bring me a pot of black tea, what's the snack today? Okay, please send one for each. Putting down the phone, Jazz picked up three or four envelopes from his desk, placed them on the coffee table, and sat down on the single sofa opposite the young man.

"Here's your list, it's Lord Harrison's order. And Sir Geerz's, who is now busy taking over an infantry regiment in the Birmingham barracks, and you'd better give him an answer as soon as possible, this Scotsman is in trouble. Sir Fay opened the humidor on the small table beside him and took out two cigars.

"I know you're having a hard time right now, but I also need to maintain my own relationships, and these people are very useful, although they don't have a lot of power." Fay handed the cigar in his hand to the young man.

"Well, you know I'm going to take a big risk. If we let some people in the Home Office know, we will be in big trouble. The young man opened an envelope, pulled out the documents inside, and read them carefully.

"I know you'll have a way, Bruce." Sir Fay picked up the delicate lighter on the table and lit a cigar for himself.

"Today at noon you went to an emergency meeting of the wartime cabinet. What exactly has been the outcome of the discussions, and what are your new plans for the current situation? "Ian. Bruce placed the papers on the table, took the lighter Fay handed over, and lit a cigar.

"What else can I do? The man had gone completely insane. He lives in his own imaginary world. Fay spat out a ball of smoke and waved it away.

"Be careful, sir. You're talking about the Prime Minister of the British Empire. Ian lit his cigar and smiled as he put the lighter on the coffee table.

"I'm still a member of the House of Lords." Fay smiled and pointed to the papers on the table with his cigar. "How do you feel after reading it, is there any difficulty?"

"There should be no problem, I have a very reliable channel and I won't let you down, I promise." Ian bit the cigar to the corner of his mouth and opened another envelope.

"By the way, how did the noon meeting go?"

"At this time, those guys have been busy shirking their responsibilities. No one is willing to take responsibility for previous mistakes. The Germans had already landed for a day and a night, and the wartime cabinet did not know anything about it, which was simply a big scandal that had never been heard of. If the public were to know about it, someone would lose their heads, and the wartime cabinet could even fall as a result, and it would be difficult for the prime minister to continue to sit in his position if at least one or two people stepped forward to take responsibility. Sir Fay rested his elbows on the armrests, his fingers running through the gray hair of his sideburns.

"There's no way he's going to resign, so what?" Ian looked up at Jazz.

"So the wartime cabinet decided that the truth of the matter had to be covered up, and they issued a gag order to all those who knew the inside story, forbidding anyone to disclose the relevant information to the outside world, and forbidding anyone to talk about it, otherwise it would be treated as treason. They were going to make a scapegoat and put all the blame on that man, but they chose the hapless Mason at the beginning, but halfway through the process, the vice admiral made a trick to surrender, I don't know if it's true, anyway, Dover was sure that it had fallen, and only the Germans knew what was going on there. Now the wartime cabinet is very passive, and they are going to hold another cabinet meeting in the evening, and they don't know what the outcome will be. ”

"Then leave those Germans alone, and they didn't come up with a battle plan?" Ian flipped through a piece of paper and began to read the second page.

"So I said Churchill was crazy, and he thought he could win the war. You know ......" There was a knock on the door outside the living room, and Fay froze for a moment, then stood up.

"Maybe the black tea I ordered has arrived, wait a minute." Fay walked out of the parlor to open the door, and in a few moments he led a waiter from a hotel back.

"Put the car here and ask the restaurant to leave me a table at 8 p.m." Fay took a note from his pocket and handed it to the waiter.

"Understood, 8 p.m. It's a pleasure to serve you, sir. The waiter pushed the cart to the coffee table and put the refreshments and tea sets on the table. He then greeted Fay and Ian respectfully, turned around and quickly left the reception room.

"Oh, where did you go? That's right, the Prime Minister's plan. Fay picked up the teapot from the dining car, opened the lid and looked at it.

"The service at the Dorchester Hotel has always been good, but the price is a little expensive." Fay poured Ian a cup of black tea and handed it to him.

"When this business is closed, you won't have to worry about financial things anymore, you'll become a monopoly, and it doesn't matter if you stay at the Ritz every day." Ian took the teacup and placed it on the coffee table in front of him. He picked up the sugar jar and put a sugar cube in the black tea.

"The last gratuity has been transferred to your account in Switzerland, and I think you've checked it out."

"Yes, yes. My dear friend, I am very satisfied. So I will choose to continue to work with you, after all, at this time, no one knows what tomorrow will bring, so we must be prepared for the days to come, especially in terms of wealth. I've served the British Empire long enough, and now it's time to plan for the rest of my life. Sir Fay poured himself a cup of tea. Pick up the milk jug and add a little condensed milk to the quilt, then pick up the teaspoon and start stirring.

"I have another deal here, which has been settled by the navy, fifty-five thousand sets of leather equipment. Armed belts, harnesses, leather shoes and tall boots. The transport ship has just rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and all of them are first-class leather goods made in Calgotta, India, and the quality is absolutely reliable. I hope your buyer in Spain will give a good price. With that, Jazz raised an eyebrow at Ian.

"Or the old way?"

"Yes, it's all because German submarines are too rampant, aren't they?" Fay picked up a piece of shortbread and put it in his mouth. Said triumphantly to Ian.

"Damage to one or two cabins can't sink the ship, anyway, the empire has already paid the full amount for this shipment, I will contact that side." Give me a day to get back to you, and I don't think it should be a problem. Ian slipped the letter into the envelope and picked up the third letter on the coffee table.

"I like to work with people like you, if it weren't for the war, you would definitely be prosperous."

"If it weren't for this war, I wouldn't have started these businesses, and I wouldn't have had a chance to get to know you, Sir." Ian replied with a smile.

"That's right, that's right, Churchill. Do you know what nonsense he said at the meeting? Fay picked up the teacup and took a sip.

"As I said, Sir, he is the Prime Minister of the British Empire, a leader with perseverance and ability." Ian crossed Erlang's legs and continued to flip through the letter in his hand.

"I didn't expect you to be an admirer of him, I really can't see it. Yes, Churchill was once strong and powerful, and possessed admirable wisdom and means, but these are long gone. Now our Prime Minister is an incorrigible fanatic, and he still thinks that he has the British Empire in his hands. He didn't know that in fact, most of the people in the House of Lords were playing their own petty calculations, and no one was an idiot and would not see this situation.

Ian, I'm sure you're a smart guy too, otherwise you wouldn't have started this kind of business. You should be able to tell that Britain has actually lost the war. Now my friends and I are discussing how to end this war with dignity. Sir Fay put down his teacup.

"I also love this country, and I have fought for it for half my life. I have devoted the most precious time of my life to the empire and the king. But right now, I really don't see any reason for us to keep fighting. The strength of the Germans is obvious to all, the army and navy will only continue to go from one defeat to another, and the Dowding of the Air Force is an idiot, and sooner or later someone will settle the score with him. The wartime cabinet guys couldn't do anything at all, and they just kept covering up one lie with another. We do have thousands of troops, but they are far away in the colonies, and now there are only a bunch of rookies who have just learned to shoot and the old and sick who can't even read words. They will only lose their lives in vain, and they will not be able to reverse the situation at all.

Churchill ordered the two Scotland infantry divisions to move closer to London, but the other side had not yet given a reply. The Scots were already starting to lose their trust, and it was said that they were making contact with the Germans in private. This may be some nonsense, but I don't think it's impossible. Sir Fay picked up the teapot and refilled the cup of black tea, then vented and poured several sugar cubes into the teacup.

"You can see it, too, the guys are digging trenches in Hyde Park, preparing to build an artillery position there. It's Hyde Park, not anyone's backyard! The British Empire had fallen to such a point. Churchill was still delusional about getting aid from the Americans, who, as they had done in the last war, would once again save the British Empire. Did he think Americans were merciful saints? They want so much more than we think. Tell you Ian, Churchill is going to use the territory of the British Empire to exchange weapons with the Americans, this is a secret, don't get it out. Sir Fay leaned down and lowered his voice to Ian.

"Really? I've heard this before, and I've always thought it was a rumor made up by the Liberal Party. Is this really the case? Ian looked at Fay with wide eyes.

"Of course, he was ready to use the British islands in the Atlantic to exchange warships for the Americans, and this was what Lord Lloyd himself told me, he was the Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, and Churchill had personally consulted him for advice." Sir Fay said in a low voice.

"This is really unacceptable, this is a betrayal of the Empire, didn't the other ministers in the wartime cabinet object to this?" Ian put down the letter, and he asked Jazz angrily.

"Does it work? It was Churchill, and no one could change his decision, not even God. Fay knocked the coffee table. Those people were originally his followers, who dared to express their objections. They didn't dare to announce the matter to the House of Lords, let alone the members of the House of Commons, and Churchill wanted to announce the news after the deal was completed, and by then the raw rice had been cooked, and Churchill had a solution. ”

"And how many warships did the Americans promise to exchange?" Ian asked, frowning.

"I don't know about this, I have to ask Churchill himself, Foreign Secretary Halifax should know, but his mouth is very tight, and it is difficult to get any news from him."

"Their tone was really tight, and the newspapers in London did not publish the news of the German landing at all, and the citizens of London still knew nothing about it." Ian pouted and said with a sneer.

"It's useless, the news will spread soon, the Scottish brigade has begun to move to the outer line of defense, this kind of news can't be hidden for long, if I find a way to leave the city as soon as possible, at most two days or even a day, this place will become a mess." Fay stood up, walked over to his desk, and opened the drawer to pull out a wooden box.

"There's a letter of appointment here. Signed by Attlee himself, I am appointed Special Envoy to the Straits Settlements to inspect the Southeast Asian colonies on behalf of His Majesty the King when required. ”

"You're leaving? At this time? ”

"No, no, no, it's a talisman, and with this thing, I can get out of this mess at any time." Fay put the box back in the drawer and sat back down on the couch. (To be continued......)