A car stopped in front of the Prime Minister's Office on Downing Street.

Churchill got out of the car in a rage, and it was not a good thing for anyone to be accused of being an idiot and to be nakedly humiliated. And it's not just a personal humiliation, it's also the results of this inspection of the army that made him very frustrated.

Along the way, everyone saw Churchill's look of wanting to kill, and the staff were like hiding from the plague.

Churchill came to the Prime Minister's office, and when he saw Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, he exclaimed: "What the hell, those stupid and savage Army, they are not even worthy to be soldiers of the British Empire, they are a bunch of cowards!" Coward!!! ”

Baldwin laughed, "Churchill, please don't be so angry. Actually, we expected this result for a long time, didn't we? Now we in the British Empire are casually walking down the streets, pulling in a young man, nine out of ten of whom have fought in world wars, and more than half of them have been wounded and bloodied. "Don't be stupid, in this case, few people will support ocean-going warfare." The consequence of our insistence on going our own way is the collapse of the government and the formation of a government by a hostile party. ”

Churchill shouted dissatisfiedly: "Your Excellency, it is not that we want war, but that the Chinese guns are almost in our chests." In my communication with General Hagrid, in fact, he has realized that the Chinese are ready to provoke war, but they just don't want to war, those cowards who are frightened by the world war. Then he briefly repeated his conversation with Hagrid, exclaiming, "You see, they know very well what the Chinese want to do." ”

Baldwin smiled bitterly: "Churchill, I think that in the event of a war with the Chinese, no one will object to the fact that our navy will have a comprehensive advantage." But what about the Army? Fighting in that kind of mountainous terrain, coupled with poor traffic, do you think it is possible to be sure of a quick end to the war? ”

Churchill thought for a moment and said: "Traffic restrictions and it is not so easy to end the war quickly. However, I am sure that victory will be ours. ”

Baldwin nodded and said, "Churchill, you will always have full confidence in the Empire, and I appreciate that very much. However, there are some situations that you may not know well, China declared war on Japan, announced a 5 million army expansion, although they quickly defeated Japan, but the expansion plan did not stop because of this, that is, the Chinese army did not need to mobilize, they can put in 5 million combat troops. With the lowest training requirements in wartime, and new recruits only need to go through three months of training to be pulled into battle, how long do you think it will take for the Empire and France, as well as the troops of other countries to fight thousands of miles on the oceans, to wipe out the five million Chinese troops? Three months, six months, or more? ”

"This" Churchill was really stunned, but quickly said: "We can crush them, break their morale and fighting spirit, and no matter how many sheep there are, they will still be sheep." ”

Baldwin said with a straight face: "But the Chinese are no longer sheep, and I believe you know about the riots of Li Bufan's East China government back then, right?" In this great rebellion, everyone in Li Bufan's line of generals chose to fight, and if they did not win, they would die, and all the failed suppressions, Li Bufan's officers all chose to die in battle. Is it really so easy for such a force to be crushed? If it is not possible to win quickly and fight a war of attrition, then how many people will die in this war? China has a population of 500 million, and they have an almost unlimited number of soldiers, while the empire has a population of less than 40 million, and the empire cannot afford to spend it. In addition, the cost of supply for ocean-going operations will be several times that of the usual, and once the war drags on, the cost will be astronomical. ”

Churchill exclaimed: "As long as there is victory, everything will be compensated." ”

Baldwin also said loudly, "Don't you understand? Now there are fears that the ring will not be victorious, and the empire will no longer be able to continue the war. Churchill, wars need people to fight. Moreover, the empire is a world power, and we should focus on the interests of the whole world, rather than fighting them for the sake of China's little interests. Especially now that the United States has begun to challenge the maritime hegemony of the empire on a naval scale, how many countries want to replace the empire's international status, you know? I hope that you will not think about the politics of the Reich with the thinking of a Navy Minister, and that you will always remember that you are not a Navy Minister now, but a politician. ”

Churchill was stunned for a while, and said bitterly: "Just give away huge interests?" ”

Baldwin said bitterly: "MI6 shows that the Rockefeller and Morgan consortium on the American side have reached a consensus, at least the United States will not participate in this war, their idea is to give up their interests in China, induce the Chinese to target the north, let the Chinese and the Red Empire Soviet Union fall into cannibalism because of territorial disputes, and achieve the goal of weakening both sides at the same time." Of course, they wouldn't mind if the Empire and France led the war against China, so they could still continue to do what they did in the world war, export supplies to both sides, make war windfalls, and end the economic crisis caused by overcapacity. If both the Empire and China were to lose, they could easily take the Empire's place in the international arena, not forgetting that they had a navy as large as the Empire. Hearing this, Churchill's face turned pale, Britain is the world's number one power, with huge overseas and international interests, who doesn't want to replace it?

Baldwin sighed and said, "In the international game, we not only need strength, but also wisdom. And from a purely military point of view, now is not the best time to turn the other cheek with the Chinese. If we have to fight, then we need at least advanced aircraft that can deal with the Chinese Air Force, their aircraft can sink battleships, if they can't suppress the opponent's aircraft, then the imperial fleet will not dare to approach China's coastal aircraft within the combat radius, especially ground operations, in the complex terrain of the Indochina Peninsula, the bombardment of aircraft in the air ignoring the terrain is far more useful than heavy artillery groups. ”

Churchill said bitterly: "Your Excellency, I understand what you said. But what I want to say is that although the Chinese can now build aircraft, their current industrial scale is not large, and although our aircraft are quite backward, they can win by virtue of numerical superiority. But if we give the Chinese time to develop, their industrial capacity will continue to increase, and the consequences will be even more terrible. He took a long breath and said with some hesitation, "Your Excellency, our navy has received a piece of news that has not yet been confirmed. ”

Baldwin was surprised, "What's the news?" ”

Churchill said solemnly: "Although I have left the Navy, I still have many friends in the Admiralty. The navy has received information that China's top brass seems to have decided to expand the size of the Chinese navy to 300,000 troops. ”

"What !!" Baldwin's eyes bulged out in shock. He was really frightened this time, and it took him a long time to stretch out three fingers and ask tremblingly, "Are you talking about three or three hundred thousand?" ”

Churchill nodded affirmatively, and he was just as shocked when he heard the news. You must know that this is 300,000 navy, navy and army are completely different concepts, 300,000 navy? Even the British Empire is less than half that number, so what does China want to do with such a frenzied expansion of its navy?

Baldwin said bitterly: "The Chinese are preparing for war. And our war! ”

There is no doubt about this, the Japanese navy has been crippled, and the Chinese can completely crush the existing warships of the Soviet and Russian Far East. Such a large-scale expansion of the navy can only be planned to fight in the south, and only in the south can such a large number of naval officers and men be needed. Baldwin can imagine that if the training of naval officers and sailors is expanded, then the Chinese side will have a super-large-scale shipbuilding program.

Churchill said with difficulty: "The Shaozhuang faction headed by Li Bufan is determined to go south, while the old Beiyang headed by Duan Qirui thinks that it is time to go north, and the old Beiyang thinks that it can be done with the current Chinese national strength to deal with Soviet Russia. However, the reasons for the Shaozhuang faction are also very sufficient, the provinces of East China are Li Bufan's birthplace, but the empire and Western countries have a lot of interests here, and even have the freedom of navigation of warships, which seriously threatens their security. They believed that Soviet Russia, having experienced a world war and a long civil war, urgently needed to recuperate, and would not start a war easily. And they can take the opportunity to concentrate all their forces at this time, fight a decisive battle with the empire and other countries at any cost, defend the country's sovereignty and interests, and obtain the strategic security of China's elite region. ”

Baldwin smiled wryly, "It's conceivable. China's strong rise will inevitably have interests in this regard, which is the respect that a strong country deserves. ”

Churchill sighed: "Originally, they were not unprepared for a temporary compromise, but they seemed to have received the news that once the Nanking government was formally elected and a formal government was formed, the revolutionary party and even Japan would push China to abolish the process of abolishing the unequal treaties, stirring up public opinion, and forcing the government to take a tough stance on the issue." In the words of China Fever, this is a conspiracy, and if they don't want to suppress this wave and destroy the government's image in the hearts of the people, then they can only be tough. But if they suppress the people, then they will lose the support of the people, then the revolutionary party will take the opportunity to make a revolution, the government will fall into passivity, and even China will fall into civil strife. ”

Baldwin gritted his teeth and said, "Damn the Chinese Revolutionary Party, damn Little Japan." I understand that it is they who really want to provoke a war, and only with war will they have a chance. Japan had the opportunity to rise, and the Chinese Revolutionary Party had the opportunity to launch a revolution and seize power after China's defeat. Damn" In the end, he was already gritting his teeth.

Churchill could only smile wryly, the political struggle was far more complicated than the war. They need the Chinese Revolutionary Party, because it is a hidden danger of civil strife in China; They also need Japan's presence, because Japan's presence can contain China's power to a certain extent. But while they are doing this, why are the Japanese and Chinese Revolutionary Party not using them?

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