London, Whitehall Street, Admiralty Building.

The secretary gently pushed open the door and placed the freshly brewed coffee in front of the ministers and generals attending the meeting, and couldn't help but glance at the middle-aged man sitting on the chair at the top of the conference table, and then took a deep breath and exited the small conference room.

That middle-aged man is the Duke of Rosassei, the Duke of Cornwall, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and the future monarch of the British Empire!

But here is the British e? Do you want to be in politics?

Such a thing appeared a year ago, not to mention the Prince of Wales, even King George V couldn't do it, and if he didn't do it, he would cause a constitutional crisis and even the crown on his head would be removed. But now, the British Empire has sunk to such a point, as a monarch and crown prince, it seems unreasonable to stay in the court and just be a vase, right?

Therefore, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, the Crown Prince of Wales, who had just finished his visit to Germany, arrived at the Admiralty building on Whitehall Street by the holy decree of his ailing father, King George V.

"Yesterday, the submarines of the Australian fleet spotted a large Japanese fleet of about 40 to 50 warships near Truk Atoll, including at least 9 aircraft carriers! It should be the Japanese First Air Fleet, which had just suffered a setback in the Battle of Hawaii...... "First Sea Minister Frederick Murphy. Sir Field dismissed the battle report he had just received to the Prince of Wales, who was a little grim-faced.

"Frustrated? Sir Field, how can I understand the frustration in your mouth? The Prince of Wales shook his head. In a cold tone, he asked rhetorically: "The Americans' Pearl Harbor was burned to the ground, 8 battleships and two aircraft carriers were severely damaged, and Yijing announced that he was moving the Pacific Fleet home port back to the American continent!" And the aircraft carrier Brave, which we sent to help in the war, was sunk by the Japanese! I think. That's called frustration! What do you say, Mr. Churchill? ”

"Your Royal Highness, we have been defeated, but the defeat is only temporary, and the Royal Navy is capable of defeating any enemy who tries to invade Australia!" Admiral Winston Churchill took a puff on his cigar, still looking confident.

"Nàme, what about the enemies who invade India, the Middle East, and North Borneo? We shimeshihounénggou beat them. To defend the British Shijiè Empire? The Prince of Wales asked.

"Your Royal Highness, the challenges facing the British Empire are unprecedented and need to be dealt with calmly. Believe that the final victory must be ours, because God stands with the British Empire! Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain replied slowly.

Although public opinion in England and the old king in Buckingham Palace are anxious and not optimistic about the current war situation. However, the prime minister believed that the outcome of the Battle of Hawaii was basically in favor of the empire, because the United States had been weakened by a certain degree. Japan's rise will come into conflict with China's interests. The "Brunei Incident" was the beginning of the Sino-Japanese conflict. Furthermore. The war between the Soviet Union, Germany, and China was also entering a stalemate, and it seemed that no one could open up the situation on a frontal battlefield, and there was a France that could be used to neutralize the land superiority of China and Germany. In short, the shijiè situation is moving towards equilibrium, a balance in favor of the British Empire!

"Mr. Prime Minister! We can't go on like this! Can't you still see that we are losing the Shijiè Empire? The Prince of Wales exclaimed, pointing to the map spread out on the conference table.

"The situation is bad." Lord Chetwood, the chief of the Imperial General Staff, who was sitting in Pángbiān and had been speaking since the meeting began, shook his head. The tiredness and bloodshot in his eyes made the 60-year-old marshal look very haggard. The Prince of Wales was right when he said that the British Empire was not only losing its shijiè hegemony. And even the Shijiè Empire is about to be unable to keep it, and the main reason for this qiē is probably that damn balanced national policy. In Shihou, where the British Empire was powerful, they certainly had the conditions to play balance. But now, if you want to rely on tricks and tricks to maintain Ziji's hegemony, you will only be isolated in the end.

Although he did not approve of the prime minister's policy, as the chief of the general staff, he had to obey the government, so he took a deep breath and frowned: "Your Royal Highness, the Japanese look strong on the surface, their best fighter I-18 is just a Hurricane-style imitation, and the performance is far inferior to the Hurricane, in this Hawaii naval battle, the Japanese losses were not light, losing an aircraft carrier and at least 300 aircraft, for Japan's national strength, Such losses are very severe. ”

"We are not the only enemy of Japan!" The Prince of Wales said in a deep voice.

"Your Royal Highness, the power of the Soviet Union has been pinned down by China and Germany, and their momentum of expansion has reached its extreme. Similarly, the power of China and Germany was also held back by the Soviet Union, and this situation was most favorable to the British Empire. War Secretary Belissa explained with a frown. He was a key supporter of Chamberlain's balanced policy, and he was very worried about the British crown prince in front of him, who had strong pro-German leanings. George V will die soon, and there will be a pro-German monarch in Shihou England. Although the British king méiyou has too much real power, but in the case of the cabinet's balanced foreign policy has been repeatedly frustrated, the king Ruguo proposed a pro-German policy, it is very kěnéng will be accepted by most of the people, to shihou European continent is very kěnéng there is another Napoleonic empire!

"No, I don't think much!" The Prince of Wales waved his hand: "Gentlemen, I have just returned from an expedition to Germany, and Mr. Hitler has given me great convenience, I can visit any difāng I want, including barracks, factories, warehouses, and concentration camps where Soviet prisoners of war are held at the front!" It is also possible to communicate with anyone, including Soviet prisoners. Tongguo's comprehensive and in-depth observation, I believe that I see a real Germany, a very strong country, even stronger than I originally thought! They have an unbelievably large number of tanks and aircraft, in last year's war. Germany did not use more than 30% of its forces. I believe that as long as the Germans are determined to defeat the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union will not be able to withstand the German attack at all, even if China does not launch any coordinated offensive on the Eastern Front. ”

"Your Royal Highness. We are very strong in Germany! Chamberlain took a deep breath: "That's why we have to find ways to keep Europe in balance, and that's what the French think......"

Before he could finish speaking, the Prince of Wales suddenly stretched out his hand and interrupted: "Mr. Prime Minister, is the balance of Europe more important than our Shijiè Empire?" When I was in Germany, Chancellor Adolf Hitler assured me that Germany was willing to help us maintain the Shijiè Empire, as long as we truly stood with Germany and China! I believe that Mr. Hitler was sincere on this issue. He did not have the ambition of expanding the territory of Difāng outside of Europe. Also méiyou such residual power, because the Russians are not good to rule, I think you are all qingchu this yidiǎn.

And. A real alliance with Germany to maintain the Shijiè Empire is also what His Majesty the King means! ”

As soon as the Prince of Wales said these words, the room full of British civil and military officials looked at each other. This is the King of England openly interfering in the executive power of the Cabinet! This kind of thing has happened for many years.

"Gentlemen, I am the future king. I should listen to the advice of the cabinet. Rather than building a cabinet. However, now the Cabinet of Ministers has made fatal and low-level mistakes in foreign and war policy! The Prince of Wales said heavily: "Because of the Victorian era, Yijing is gone forever!"

Now it is not her shijiè hegemony that the British Empire has to defend, but the empire itself! Therefore, we need a strong ally for any ambition of the rich and vast territory of the British Empire! This ally can only be the German Reich! ”

"But, Your Royal Highness, we suffered from the Germans in the last Shijiè War, so we ......"

"Wait." The Prince of Wales unceremoniously interrupted Churchill's words and said word for word: "I and the whole Windsor dynasty are also from Germany!" You can accept a dynasty from Germany. Why can't Shime form a real alliance with Germany to preserve our Shijiè Empire?

The British Empire is not an eternal friend of Méiyou, nor an eternal enemy of Méiyou. Is there only eternal benefit? Can't we unite our former enemy, Germany, for the good of the Reich? ”

These words immediately made everyone speechless, the British Empire fell into such a field now, and it was not Shihou who was thinking about maintaining Shijiè hegemony, but to save the empire that was about to collapse! But who could help Britain maintain its empire? The United States? Both this country and the Soviet Union Yiyàng are heirs to the shijiè hegemony of the British Empire! At the Paris Peace Conference that year, the Americans openly put forward a "14-point plan," which included "just handling colonial disputes" and "national self-determination." Ruguo's "Fourteen-Point Plan" was realized, and the British Empire would immediately come to an end!

Can Britain's old ally, France, be relied upon? The answer is clearly no. Now the Franco-German contradictions are intensifying, and in order to contain the rise of Germany, the French are even getting closer and closer to the Soviet Union. Now Germany is hesitant to seize Poland because it is afraid that the rear of Ziji will be wēixié by France! If this continues, sooner or later Franco-Russian alliances will occur against Germany, and how will Britain stand in line?

You can't stand with the Soviet Union, which occupied almost all of the Middle East and most of India, against Germany, Ziji's former ally, right?

Just when everyone was in a dilemma, the secretary of the Admiralty pushed the door into the conference room and handed over a copy of the newspaper to Churchill, who glanced at it, and his fat face was gloomy to the extreme: "Gentlemen, the Soviet Red Army launched a turán attack on Finland three hours ago!" And it was an undeclared war, and the Finnish army was unprepared......"

The Prince of Wales slammed the table and stood up: "Gentlemen, are you only worried about a Germany that dominates Central and Eastern Europe, and not a Soviet Union that dominates Eastern Europe and Northern Europe?" Finland, a peaceful country with strict neutrality, will soon be ruined by the Soviet Union, and the next unlucky one is Sweden, and then Norway...... Germany's iron ore sources are about to be cut off, with the ports of Norway, the destructive power of Soviet submarines will increase exponentially, and we can't make up our minds to unite with Germany, and it won't be long before we will give up our entire empire to ask for American assistance! ”

Of course, the British civil and military forces present here "to achieve a concerted union with Germany" means shime? Britain and Germany have long been allies, but the alliance between the two is only on paper. Because the two sides have always agreed on the crucial issue of the disposition of the territory of the USSR after the war. Britain has always been resolutely opposed to the territorial ambitions of the Soviet Union expressed by Germany and China. As long as there are disagreements on this issue. Between Britain and Germany, or between Britain and Germany, there is no real union.

It would be difficult for Germany, which had strict worries about the future, to devote all its strength to attacking the Soviet Union, and with the all-out attack of Germany, Trotsky's Soviet Union would be invincible at all. Ruguo was only undefeated, and Britain might be able to endure it, but the Soviet attack on Finland showed. Trotsky did not give up his efforts to win the victory of the "Shijiè Revolution"! It is almost certain that after Finland was destroyed by the Soviet Union, Sweden, which supplied Germany with iron ore, would be the next target! Norway, which is separated by the United Kingdom by the sea, is second to Sweden. And after Norway, will it be the turn of the UK itself?

"Mr. Prime Minister, we must defend Finland, Sweden and Norway. I build yì ......" Admiral Chancellor Churchill frowned deeply, and said: "Let the German Army enter the above three countries." Only they could withstand the attack of the Soviet Red Army. ”

"Nope. Can't do it! Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain waved his hand: "Winston, will you completely upset the balance in Europe?" The three Nordic countries have always been pro-German, and Ruguo is dependent on German protection, and will certainly become close allies of Germany in the future. ”

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we have no choice!" War Minister Belissa took a deep breath: "Although I don't know how many troops the Soviet Union mobilized to attack Finland, with Trotsky's usual handwriting, it is estimated that the number of troops invested is very kěnéng in the hundreds of thousands to millions!" At present, the total strength of the British army is less than 200,000, which is not enough to keep Finland, Sweden and Norway. So we have to get the Germans into the Nordic countries anyway, and it has to be fast! ”

"Perhaps...... Can we get France to send troops? Foreign Secretary Eden Turán, who had not said a word since the meeting began, interjected: "Ladies and gentlemen. The French now have an army of 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 men, and if they are willing to send troops to Finland, perhaps Trotsky will retreat. ”

"Wishful thinking!" The Prince of Wales snorted coldly. Churchill, the Minister of the Admiralty, also nodded and echoed the future king, saying: "It will definitely be too late for the French to send troops, and when their parliament discusses a result, not to mention Finland, even Sweden and Norway have fallen." Now Kěnéng is the only one who sends troops to us and Germany, or send all the 200,000 troops from the mainland to Finland, and ask the Germans to send 200,000 troops. ”

Now hǎoxiàng is the only way to do this. Chamberlain nodded and sighed: "Well, I will personally go to Berlin to discuss with Chancellor Hitler about sending troops." Anthony (Aiden), you go to France and discuss the kěnéng nature of sending troops with Prime Minister Daladier. He paused, and then said: "If the French do not agree to join the war against the Soviet Union, Britain will have to compromise with Germany and China on the post-war disposition of the territory of the Soviet Union and Poland." After saying that, he glanced at the people in the conference room and asked, "Do you have a shime disagreement on this?" ”

"Yes," said Churchill again, the Admiralty Chancellor said with a deep smile, "I think we should make it clear to France and Germany at the same time that there is a war between them, and that the British Empire can only remain neutral!" ”

Hearing Churchill's words, everyone, including the pro-German Prince of Wales, couldn't help but cry out in their hearts. Churchill was encouraging a conflict between France and Germany! In the case that Britain had to "wholeheartedly" unite with Germany to oppose the Soviet Union, it could only use the trump card of France to contain Germany! No matter how powerful Hitler's army was, it would have been difficult to defeat France and the Soviet Union at the same time, right?

The meeting held at the Admiralty building in Whitehall was, in the words of later generations, "a meeting that had a profound impact on the course of the Second Shijiè War," and it finally had a happy outcome. And the national policy of the British Empire From this moment on, Yijing quietly underwent drastic changes. But...... Such a drastic change came too late for Finland in this time and space!

In another time and space, Comrade Stalin led and directed the Soviet-Finnish war in a different way. Trotsky, who was obviously much more skilled in warfare, adopted a policy of "salute before soldiers" before attacking Finland, and brought the Finnish representatives to Moscow to discuss the cession and adjustment of part of Finland's territory. In short, the Finnish army was given more than a month to prepare, and only after they had completed their mobilization and were ready on the Manohheim Line did they send the Red Army, which had just undergone a purge and was in actual combat, to attack.

In this time and space, Trotsky's methods were much simpler, 500,000 elite troops drawn from the Polish battlefield secretly assembled on the Soviet-Finnish border, and then launched a turán attack without warning, which took the Finnish army by surprise and broke through the Mannohheim line on the third day after the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish war...... (To be continued......)