At noon on December 12, 1942, British Prime Minister Winston. Churchill and his cabinet members did not yet know that the NR21 flotilla had suffered another heavy blow. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 But they urgently gathered at the wartime cabinet headquarters on the ground floor of King Charles Street for a sad meeting.

After "picking up" 100 American steamers loaded with wheat and egg meal, he happily returned to Gibraltar, never thinking of how sad the people who had lost those wheat and egg meal would be -- the tens of millions of starving British people in the British Isles had just lost more than 300,000 tons of food that was about to reach their mouths, and at the same time there were 108,000 more American rice buckets with good appetites on British soil.

As the head of the British Empire, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is still as obese as ever and does not look hungry. But he still left a few tears of sadness because of the lost food.

"Mr. Prime Minister, after losing ...... After 300,000 tons of wheat and 35,000 tons of egg meal, our supply became even tighter. "When Sir Woolton, the British Secretary of State for Agriculture, spoke, his old face was almost twisted." I am afraid that from January next year, the food ration will be further reduced. ”

Food rationing in Britain is now scarce! This was not only because the British Isles had been locked down from the spring of 1942, but also because the war on the island of Ireland had prevented Britain from importing agricultural products from Ireland.

At the same time, the extreme shortage of oil has become another important reason for the deterioration of the food supply. This is not because of the number of agricultural machinery in Britain that consumes gasoline and diesel, but because the army that was originally motorized has regressed to mules and horses. However, the British army could not conjure enough horses out of thin air, so they had to requisition them from the people.

The requisitioning of a large number of private horses (British agriculture was very dependent on horse farming at that time) was requisitioned by the army, which led to a significant drop in the sown area in 1942.

In addition, in order to prepare for the decisive battle on home, the Churchill government made every effort to recruit strong men for various war preparations throughout 1942, which made agricultural production even more scarce.

So by the autumn of 1942, Britain's grain harvest was the lowest since the start of the war.

"The difficulties are only temporary," Churchill said, glancing at the dejected cabinet members or senior generals in the conference room, trying to squeeze out some smiles, "The Americans' transportation plan is still half the battle, isn't it?" ”

Half the battle, or half the failure...... Although the former statement can be encouraging, the British bigwigs here still know very well that in the escort and transport operations that have not yet ended, the successful half must belong to the Soviet Union! And most of the lost half belonged to the British.

Britain lost not only the food that was about to arrive, but also 3 valuable King George V-class battleships. Now the British Royal Navy has almost lost the ability to fight alone in the Atlantic.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the question now is that the next transport must be organized as soon as possible." Deputy Prime Minister, Labour Party leader Attlee, frowned and said, "Most of the British people are starving now, and there are already many people who are desperate and dissatisfied with the continuation of the war...... The situation was almost the same as in Germany in 1918. If we don't solve the food supply problem as soon as possible, we are afraid that war-weariness will further intensify and eventually become out of control. ”

It is difficult for people who are hungry to ensure a happy mood, and tens of millions of people who go hungry for a long time are often linked to troubles such as Z and G lives. In the last world war, Germany was not so much defeated by the armies of Britain, France, and the United States as it was tormented by a chronic lack of food.

And now, as if there was karma, the blockade became the navy of the Germans, and the starving became the British people. Although the British were more mature than the Germans in dealing with hunger. But after all, there is a limit to the patience of the British people, and it is impossible to endure it forever.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the French recently declared the provinces of Algeria and Morocco to be French proper." Deputy Prime Minister Attlee said with a bitter face, "And German Chancellor Adolf Hitler also declared that the border between Africa and Europe was ...... in the Sahara Desert."

Churchill snorted heavily, interrupting Attlee's words. Of course, the fat man understood what Attlee's soft words meant—the French seemed to be quite moist with Germany! Algeria and French Morocco have swallowed all the two large plots of land and become native!

German Chancellor Adolf Hitler declared that the borders of Europe and Africa were in the Sahara Desert, apparently in favor of France's complete annexation of Algeria and French Morocco, and possibly Italy's annexation of Egypt and Italian Libya.

And a complete annexation of a colony and a protectorate is not the same thing. The relationship between the colony, the protectorate, and the native was similar to that between the king and the vassals, while the expansion of the native was the expansion of the king's immediate domain.

The current British Empire is like a king with many vassal states, but not a large territory. In the United States and the Soviet Union, there were no princes, but the kings had very large territories. Therefore, the forces that Britain was able to mobilize in this world war could not be compared with the huge United States and the Soviet Union.

Considering that the reactionary regimes in France and Italy now have the fascist nature of dictatorship and disobedience, and with the support of Germany, the great European ally, it seems that there is no difficulty in integrating and annexing the territory of North Africa. And the large swath of North Africa, once it became the native of France and Italy, meant the real expansion of the living space of the French nation and the Italian nation. These two countries will rise from a medium-sized country with a territory of several hundred thousand square kilometers to a large country with two or three million square kilometers in one fell swoop.

And what can the British Empire gain by its stubborn resistance now? It was as if there was only endless hunger and the disintegration of the empire!

Therefore, in the eyes of many British, who had no way to transfer to Canada, their unyielding Prime Minister Churchill was simply the enemy of the people who harmed the empire.

"The French and Italians simply can't keep their land in North Africa, where the people love freedom and follow a different religion than Europe." Churchill took a long puff of his Cuban cigar and said in a very affirmative tone, "And our American friends have sent reinforcements, and now 108,000 very elite troops have arrived in Scapa Bay, and more American troops will arrive soon." So victory will definitely belong to Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union. If France and Italy continue to follow Germany in their struggle against the free world, a miserable future awaits them......"

Before Churchill could finish his sentence, a colonel in a navy uniform hurried into the conference room and slipped a piece of paper to First Sea Lord, Dudley. Bond.

Pound's face was already very ugly, pale without a trace of blood, he unfolded the report paper, and looked at the whole person and shook, as if he was about to faint.

"Sir, what's wrong?" Churchill asked with a frown.

Pound said with a wry smile: "It's the NR21 fleet, they were bombed by German planes repeatedly, and they suffered heavy losses...... More than 90 ships were sunk, and most of the fuel, weapons and ammunition they were carrying were lost. Prime Minister, it seems that our American reinforcements are no longer of use for the time being. ”

Do American GIs without weapons and equipment be used for anything other than food?

"No, they are still ......useful," said Churchill, who was silent for a moment, gritting his teeth, "they can boost the low morale of the British people, and they can arrange for them to come to London." As long as 100,000 heavily armed, beautifully dressed and high-spirited American soldiers march through London's main streets, I believe that the British people will be back in the fight and confident of the victory that will come! ”

"But...... Mr. Prime Minister, how can our counterattack in Ireland proceed without the American army? Admiral Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, asked with a sad face.

The British counterattack on the island of Ireland has been carried out several times, but there has been no breakthrough, but the loss of troops has been lost. But Churchill never gave up, and constantly sent reinforcements to organize new offensives. It was also planned to take advantage of the polar night in the North Atlantic to transport a large number of well-equipped American troops to Britain in order to strengthen the counterattack.

But now that the well-armed US military has become an American rice bucket with bare hands (rifles are still available), can this counterattack still be fought?

"A new round of counterattacks has been postponed for the time being, only for the time being." Churchill thought for a moment and said, "Send a telegram to Viscount Halifax and Sir Deere and ask them to make a request to the American side to send a new convoy as soon as possible." ”

"Mr. Prime Minister, we don't have the right to dominate the North Atlantic right now." British Admiralty Chancellor Alexander reminded Churchill in a whisper. "Even if the Americans were willing to send a fleet, I am afraid it would be difficult to pass the German blockade."

"Didn't the Normandy, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth pass safely?" Churchill asked rhetorically, "Can't there be a convoy of transports made up entirely of fast carriers?" Wouldn't it be possible to easily break through the German blockade? ”

Qiu Fatzi was the Minister of the Navy in the end, and he still knows a lot about maritime affairs. As long as the Germans did not occupy Ireland, Britain's maritime lifeline was not completely broken. And this time the NR21 fleet was bad because the ships were too slow, and if they could run an average speed of 25 knots, then the Germans' large fleet would not have had time to arrive at all, and the fleet would have arrived safely in England. (To be continued.) )