816 Heroes Conference a Vision

"Gentlemen," Churchill decided to strike while the iron was hot and offer his own proposal, seeing that the oppressive atmosphere in the room had been eased by his optimistic rhetoric. "We should publish a victorious report to tell the world that we annihilated the German aircraft carrier fleet and inflicted heavy damage on the German battleship forces in the Battle of the North Sea! Hokkaido's sea control is still firmly in the hands of the British Empire! After Churchill finished speaking, he stood up with his hands on the table, and said in a solemn and confident voice:

"Although our home Grand Fleet and Royal Air Force won a great victory in the Great Battle of the North Sea, this does not mean that the war will be won anytime soon. On the contrary, the German fascists also had a very powerful army and air force, while China's Nanyang Fleet and Japan's Combined Fleet would also have control of the Pacific Ocean for a long time. In the next six months to one year, the world's anti-fascist forces will remain on the defensive, and the evil Chinese, Japanese, and German fascists may launch new powerful offensives in Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and other regions.

In order to defeat the imminent frenzied offensive of the fascists in China, Japan and Germany, all countries in the world that believe in justice and are willing to fight for it should unite and form a solid anti-fascist alliance. The British Empire, the United States of America, and the French Empire should be the nucleus of this alliance. To this end, I propose to convene a conference attended by US President Roosevelt, French Prime Minister Daladier and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to unify and coordinate the positions of the three great powers in wartime and the new world order after the victory in the war! ”

"Winston, what do you mean......" Neville, who has recently become a little dull due to stress. Prime Minister Chamberlain thought for a long time and did not understand what was the need to convene such a meeting in the current situation.

A sly smile flashed on Churchill's fat face, and he smiled: "Mr. Prime Minister, at this meeting, we in the British Empire want to discuss with the United States the situation in the Pacific theater, especially how the powerful British Navy can help the United States tide over the difficulties. ”

He paused, winking at the Prime Minister. "Your Excellency, there are now 10 aircraft carriers in Britain and 3 aircraft carriers in France (Béarne, Belvi, Charphey). And the United States has only 2 aircraft carriers, but they have to face the threat of 8 Japanese aircraft carriers and 6 Chinese aircraft carriers! Therefore, after blocking the Germans back into the Baltic Sea, Britain and France, out of their obligations as allies, should help the United States resist the aggression of Asian fascism. Just as the United States, out of its obligations as allies, supplied weapons and equipment to Britain and France. ”

Chamberlain finally understood the meaning of Churchill's words. Although after the Battle of the North Sea, Britain was weaker than ever and more desperate for American assistance. But there is no such thing as a free lunch, and there is no selfless assistance even between allies. And the United States is not necessarily unreckless about the vast and rich colonies of the British Empire.

Fortunately, it is not only Britain and France that have a request for the United States at this time, but also the United States because of the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Hawaii - the United States needs Britain and France to send aircraft carriers to help the Pacific theater. The US ambassador to Britain has met frequently with British Foreign Secretary Aiden in the past two days, and has also told Aiden that the United States hopes to fight side by side with the British Navy in the South Pacific...... What Churchill meant was to send aircraft carriers to the Pacific theater in exchange for US weaponry and strategic resources, and this kind of "exchange" would be much more beneficial to Britain than simply asking the United States for help.

(Historically, Britain has paid a heavy price in obtaining aid from the United States to sustain the war, not only by repaying all aid after the war, but also by signing the Atlantic Charter, which was extremely unfavorable to Britain in August 1941.) Article 3 of the Charter stipulates that they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government in which they wish to live; They want to see peoples who have been deprived of their sovereignty and autonomy by force regain their sovereignty and autonomy. If this is applied to the British Empire and the French Empire, it will naturally be the independence and freedom of the colonies. ）

"Mr. Prime Minister," Churchill saw Chamberlain's expression, knowing that he understood his plans, and further proposed: "The British Empire and the French Empire would be preceded by a meeting of leaders to agree on certain important issues, and at the same time prepare a 'declaration' or 'charter' or the like to serve as the basis for a common programme of the three countries...... This charter or declaration should fully reflect the interests of the British Empire, and at the same time give some hope for independence and freedom for those peoples who had been enslaved by the fascist countries such as China, Germany, and Japan. ”

Hearing what about national independence, British Prime Minister Chamberlain's eyebrows that had just stretched a little were twisted again, he glanced at the chubby Admiral, and said: "Winston, if we support the independence of the nations enslaved by China, Germany, and Japan, will it have an impact on the colonial system of the empire?" ”

Churchill frowned, thought for a while, nodded and said: "There must be an impact, but if the empire wants to win the war, it must enlist more support, including the support of the people of the colonies that have been or will be occupied by China, Germany, and Japan." In addition, the empire should also take effective measures to stabilize the situation in India, win the support of the Indian leaders for the anti-fascist war, and must not allow the Chinese to win them over. To this end, the empire may wish to make some promises, such as granting the status of a dominion to India after the war. At this, Churchill's tone suddenly lowered. In addition, the Empire should consider the possibility of helping the people of Burma and Malaya to form an independent state, and preferably persuade the French government to agree to the restoration of the independence of the three countries of French Indochina, and the American Philippines ...... preferably "

"Prime Minister." Before Churchill's plan was finished, Prime Minister Chamberlain's adjutant in the Army had already pushed the door open and walked in.

"What's the matter?" Seeing the miserable face of the lieutenant colonel of the army, everyone had a burst of heart palpitations, and they didn't know which battlefield had bad news coming again.

"Your Excellency!" The adjutant gave a military salute to the prime minister and said with a stern expression: "A telegram from Admiral Wavell of Singapore, in the early hours of this morning, the squadron suddenly attacked Songkhla Port in Siam's Pattanii Province and Godta Bharu in northern Malaya, both of which have now been captured by the squadron!" ”

"Oh!" When Admiral Verrick, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, heard the news, he just smiled coldly and said, "These Chinese are really slow to react, and they have only started to attack until now." ”

Chamberlain glanced at Verrick and asked, "John (Verrick), there is no problem with Singapore's defense, right?" ”

"Rest assured, there is absolutely no problem in Singapore!" Admiral Verrick smiled slightly, "If the Chinese had made a move on November 6, perhaps Wavell would have been caught off guard." But now, 50,000 Anglo-Indian troops stationed in the Malay Peninsula have entered Singapore, where 80,000 troops are already on standby, and there is also an Anglo-Indian army that will be transferred from Burma to Singapore in three days. ”

"Then the Malay Peninsula and Burma are going to be abandoned?" Chamberlain asked with a frown.

"This ...... This is only a strategic need, and the Empire is short on troops, and now it can only focus on defending the mainland, the Middle East, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. In addition, an expeditionary force was to be sent to support France in defending itself against the German attack. Verrick spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "So the unimportant places can only be given up for the time being." ”

"So the entire Indochina Peninsula was lost to the Chinese?" Chamberlain's tone was full of sadness.

"Well, not exactly." Verrick paused and reminded: "Mr. Prime Minister, there are still 50,000 French troops, 100,000 British and Indian troops, and 200,000 Annam troops in French Indochina. Of these, 100,000 Anglo-Indian troops were drawn from Malaya under our agreement with France. So now the focus of the Allied defense in Southeast Asia is Singapore and French Indochina, and the Burmese troops have all retreated to the Imphal fortress except for the transfer to Singapore to block the entry of the squadron into India. ”

Chamberlain nodded, and instructed Verrick: "Prime Minister Daladier and I may soon have to meet with US President Roosevelt, and before that we can ensure the security of India and Australia." By the way, what is the security situation in the Middle East? Will the Chinese Expeditionary Force attack Iran from the Transcaucasus? Will the Bolsheviks incite revolution in the Middle East? Asked this, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain suddenly had a feeling of powerlessness, that the British Empire had too many colonies to defend, and too few forces.

"Mr. Prime Minister, our forces in the Middle East are now overstretched against four opponents: China, Russia, the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), and Italy." Foreign Secretary Aiden reminded: "We can consider withdrawing troops from southern Iran and giving them over there to Bolshevik rule." At the same time, a fleet should be sent to the Mediterranean to prevent Italy from threatening the security of Egypt and the Suez Canal after joining the side of China and Germany. ”

"Well, well, just give Iran to Stalin. As for Mussolini, Robert (Aiden), you can personally go and see if you can invite him to a meeting of the leaders of Britain, the United States, and France? ”

"Mr. Prime Minister," Churchill on the side gave Chamberlain another idea at this time, "we may be able to promise to support Mussolini's freedom of movement in the Balkans in exchange for his neutrality." ”

……

"Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Fleet, the Battle of the North Sea has ended yesterday afternoon. In this battle, our expeditionary fleet and the German Imperial High Seas Fleet fought side by side to defeat the strong enemy! In total, 10 British battleships, 2 battlecruisers, 7 heavy cruisers, 9 light cruisers, and 22 destroyers were sunk...... and lost 2 battleships, namely the battleship Ningyuan (abandoned after withdrawing from the battle) and the battleship Mackensen; two armored ships, namely the Deutschland and the Earl Sby; the heavy cruiser Lützov (1 ship less than the British reported success); 2 aircraft carriers (1 less than the British reported results), namely the Elbe, Peter. Strasser. 8 light cruisers were lost, namely Königsberg and Chongqing...... 12 destroyers. In addition, the battleships Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Zhenyuan were heavily damaged, and Ningyuan was hit; The aircraft carrier Zeppelin was heavily damaged, the Seydlitz was hit, and Frederick the Great was slightly damaged......"

Natalie's sweet and greasy voice echoed in the back garden of the Moshan Presidential Palace, and when she heard the report of the Beihai War reported by the beauty, Luo Yaoguo's mouth couldn't help but smile, and even Luo Yiqun, the president of the bad people's congress, looked gloating.

Looking at the losses of both sides, it seems that the battle was a complete victory for Germany, but considering the huge disparity in naval strength between Britain and Germany, this battle was actually a lose-lose situation. Because the British, despite their heavy losses, retained the integrity of the aircraft carrier formation, and at least four battleships/battlecruisers remained unscathed, and could also send fleets outside Europe. However, because of the mistakes of the air force, Germany made almost the entire aircraft carrier force lie on its stomach, and there was no 6 months of maintenance, and the entire German high seas fleet could not think of getting out.

In this way, the war in Europe will not end in a short time, and the security of Britain itself will be guaranteed for the time being...... In addition, Britain's retention of a relatively strong fleet would only be beneficial to China's position in the Pacific theater. At present, the US Pacific Fleet has also been taken down by Japan, and there is no two years to recover. If the British fleet could not join, then Japan would have been at ease in the Pacific for two years! But now, thanks to the British aircraft carriers, Japan will have to move closer to China in order to obtain Chinese assistance, and as a result, Japan will have to make more concessions in the distribution of future spoils.

In addition, Luo Yaoguo suddenly had a somewhat amazing idea. If the United States wants to rely on British aircraft carriers to maintain the situation of the Pacific War, then they will inevitably take Australia as the focus of defense, after all, it is the British aircraft carriers that are taking the lead! Moreover, Japan has long revealed its ambitions for Australia, so the focus of the next phase of the Pacific War should be on the South Pacific. But will there be a gap in the United States? In the Pacific War of this time and space, the United States lost Hawaii at the beginning, and its mainland can be said to be the gateway hole. If Japan can draw the attention of the United States to the South Pacific, and then make a surprise landing on the west coast of the United States...... Even if the landing operation fails in the end, the shock to the United States will not be the slightest! Although Luo Yaoguo was not in favor of dragging the United States into the war, now that this is the case, he can naturally only try his best to use Japan to weaken the strength of the United States.

Natalie had already finished reading the battle report sent back by Long Tenghui, and then took out the battle report sent back by Sun Liren, commander of the Nanyang Front, and read it: "At 3 o'clock in the morning on November 21, the 1st Marine Brigade successfully landed at the port of Godta Baru in British Malaya, with the support of the 3rd Fleet of the Nanyang Fleet. The defenders, a small number of Indian riflemen, surrendered with only a slight resistance, and by 8 a.m. the port of Godtabaru had been completely occupied by the 1st Marine Brigade. Moreover, the infrastructure of the port is well preserved, including the port, roads, and airstrips. At present, the headquarters of the 15th Group Army of Lieutenant General Guo Shuqi has landed in the port of Godta Baru. At 6 a.m. on the morning of the 21st, the 42nd Army of the 15th Army, Vice Admiral Luo Shun, with the support of the 4th Fleet of the South Ocean Fleet, landed at the port of Pattani, south of Siam. The Siamese defenders of Pattani had about 1 division, which surrendered under a white flag after half an hour of artillery bombardment by the 4th Fleet of the South Ocean Fleet. As of 4 p.m. on the 21st, about 6,500 men of the 373rd and 374th regiments of the 125th Division had landed in Pattani, and about 5,000 men of the 12th Division of the Royal Siam Army had surrendered. At 6:20 a.m. on the 21st, the 43rd Army of Vice Admiral Wang Yaowu of the 15th Group Army, with the support of the 5th Fleet of the Nanyang Fleet, landed in Brunei......"

"Okay, don't read it." Luo Yaoguo smiled and waved his hand: "With Sun Zhongneng in command, how can the 500,000 troops of my Nanyang Front Army defeat the battle?" He took a sip of coffee on the coffee table, and said: "Tell General Zhongneng (Sun Liren) that the battle to the south will take Malaya, Siam, and Burma first, French Indochina can be saved to the end, and Singapore must be captured as soon as possible!" ”

Natalie wrote down the order dictated by Luo Yaoguo, and then asked him to sign it, and then went to the telegraph room of the presidential palace to send a telegram. But Luo Yaoguo frowned slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

"Fuwen, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with the current war situation? Luo Yiqun asked.

Luo Yaoguo smiled and said, "Uncle, our situation is good at the moment, but this war is not trivial after all, and some small setbacks are inevitable." Especially after the United States entered the war......"

"The United States?" Luo Yiqun was stunned when he heard this, looked at his nephew and said, "Our relations with the United States have always been good, and now they have not declared war on us. His face became a little more solemn, and he said, "Could it be that you still want to start a war against the United States?" ”

"I don't want to, but does the United States want to?" Luo Yaoguo smiled coldly, "We and Hitler have expressed our willingness to carve up the world to the United States more than once, but US President Roosevelt has not responded!" Even after Hawaii was occupied by Japan, it was unwilling to share the world equally with China and Germany. It is clear that this United States now has the ambition to lead the world! ”

"But isolationist sentiment in the United States has been on the rise." Luo Yiqun hesitated and said, "I wonder if this isolationist sentiment will change after the outbreak of the Pacific War?" ”

Luo Yaoguo shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Of course it will change, this slap in Japan has woken up the United States!" And once the United States defeats Japan, it will be us and Germany next! ”

"Isn't that right?" Luo Yiqun smiled disdainfully and said, "We are not Japan!" ”

Luo Yaoguo snorted lightly: "In addition to fighting, I'm afraid that other means will be used!" After all, the United States is much stronger than us, and we must find a way to weaken it. Speaking of this, he said in a deep voice: "Uncle, Japanese War Minister Nagata Tetsuyama wants to come to Wuhan, I think we can invite him to come, and at the same time, let's invite German War Minister Goering, Italian Foreign Minister Ziano, and Russian Empress Anastasia to visit China together." ”