Chapter 325: April 12 Coup
The capture of the Strait of Gibraltar was welcome, but the British coup d'état of April 12 also caused great repercussions throughout Europe.
The British Army rebelled again after the new Model Army led by Cromwell defeated the royal army in the 17th century, capturing and killing Charles I.
The royal army, led by Paresi Hobert, confronted the Parliamentarian forces near Westminster Abbey for several days, and after the Mediterranean Corps declared allegiance to the British Crown, the balance of military power between the two sides changed. The number of troops loyal to the crown is already equal to that of the parliamentary forces that support the cabinet.
Churchill and Montgomery feared that when the British troops returned home, the situation would be even more unfavorable to Congress. So a coup d'état was staged ahead of schedule.
The LRDG, which was in the hands of the Ministry of Defense, was selected as the unit to perform this special task. Its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Stanning, was an absolute Churchill supporter and was impressed by Montgomery's command during the North African war.
Above all, Stannin was a staunch supporter of the British Army's idea of "non-private forces".
"The British army is the army of the British people, not the army of the royal family!"
Such an idea also had a strong market in the British army, which was the main reason for the rapid division of the British army after the conflict between the royal family and Parliament erupted.
After careful planning and deployment, Stannin selected forty-eight soldiers from the 1st British Regiment of the LRDG Special Forces to form a commando team.
And in the early morning of April 12, with the help of two CH-46 "Sea Knight" transport helicopters aided by the United States, the Stanning commando team ventured to take off in the night.
Since direct flights were still a novelty in the British army, the army commanders loyal to the royal family did not expect anyone to break through in the dark air. To be more precise, they did not expect that the Congress would dare to attack the royal family and launch a coup d'état when the Mediterranean Front had already declared its allegiance to the royal family.
This is also ...... in British history Only once!
The "Sea Knights" in the shape of a twin-propeller bus, each with 25 heavily armed warriors, are veritable skybuses. Its carrying capacity even exceeds that of most Han military helicopter transport aircraft.
However, due to its technical immaturity and design defects, the "Sea Knight" has been in service since it was officially put into service six months ago, and its stability has been criticized by US soldiers.
The two "Sea Knights" given to Britain were only a bonus for the introduction of British "Lightning" fighter technology.
Churchill treated it like a toy, parked in the Ministry of Defence's hangar.
Unexpectedly, these two expensive big "toys" played a big role in a special period.
What Stanning did not expect was that although the mechanics of the US military were specially invited to do a comprehensive inspection of the two helicopters before the operation, the poor performance of the "Sea Knight" was as bad as ever. In just a dozen kilometers of raids, one of them suffered a mechanical failure and was forced to land early in the area controlled by the royal army.
Fortunately, the commander of the commando, Stanning, was not on this helicopter. And the sudden landing of this malfunctioning sea knight also caused great confusion in the royal army. The attention of many of the commanders of the guard units was drawn to the front of Westminster Abbey.
Unexpectedly, another "Sea Knight" that was still flying in the sky was ignored by everyone. Stannin landed smoothly on the roof of the square building of Buckingham Palace with half of his men. Under the command of Stannin, the commandos armed with the Stern Mark 2S silencer submachine gun then used the rope to descend from the roof to the third floor through the window, and immediately controlled George VI and the queen who were still in bed.
Although there were only about two dozen members of the British Army's LRDG special forces commando on duty, because the British king was captured, the Royal Guard's counterattack appeared to be restricted, and the commando team's fully automatic fire hit suffered heavy casualties. Soon, the two princesses in their pajamas were also controlled in the room.
Twenty minutes later, when the royal army stationed around Buckingham Palace rose up one after another, the sea knights on the roof of the building had already taken off again. Only a few dozen royal guards who were killed and wounded and six commandos who were wounded and broken were left in the square building.
LRDG, who had a reputation in North Africa, once again made a miraculous achievement, only this time, they staged a two-faced man of demons and angels. Because they are kidnapping their own kings, queens, and princesses.
Churchill demanded that the British king immediately issue an edict ordering all British troops who had declared allegiance to the crown to submit to the command of the cabinet and jointly resist the invasion of the fascist army.
But George VI refused, and the stammering king at this moment did not seem to stutter at all. "In the history of England, a rebellious courtier never ended well. You can guillotine, like the traitor Cromwell. But the descendants of the Anglo-Saxon family won the world with their spears and swords, and bloodshed and sacrifice never changed the courage and determination of the Rose family! ”
"Don't think that if you catch me, you can do whatever you want, I have already left a book for Brother Wang. Even if you kill me, Brother Wang, with the support of the royal army loyal to the royal family, will return to England and London! ”
……
That's right, the royal brother in George VI's mouth is none other than Edward VIII, who was renamed Archduke of Windsor after abdication. The day after Churchill and Montgomery staged the April 12 coup d'état and imprisoned the British Queen, the Duke of Windsor flew to Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea on a special plane of the Royal Han Air Force, and then arrived in Gibraltar on the cruiser Xingba of the Northern Fleet of the Royal Han Navy.
In the rubble of the Governor's House of Gibraltar, the Duke of Windsor assumed the position of royal brother as supreme commander of the royal rebel army, and declared Churchill's cabinet and army generals such as Montgomery to be rebels.
Admiral Alexander, commander of the Mediterranean Front, and Baron Bruce Fraser, commander of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, immediately expressed obedience to the command of the Grand Duke of Windsor and demanded that Churchill and Montgomery release the British King and other members of the royal family.
In the weeks that followed, there was a war of words between Gibraltar and London, with each side calling the other a British sinner and a traitor.
Surprisingly, major powers such as China, Germany, and the United States remained silent during this period. It seems that this is really a family affair within the United Kingdom, and everyone tacitly pursues the diplomatic principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
But the emperor was not in a hurry, the eunuchs were in a hurry, they were arguing, the British felt that something was wrong, and both sides didn't care about scolding, and went to the backstage one after another.
The reply to the Duke of Windsor from the Weiyang Palace was that both the Imperial and Allied armies were in the recuperation phase after the Mediterranean and African campaigns. The campaign for the landing in Britain is being worked out in an accelerated manner, so please do not hurry.
The White House ignored Churchill's rant on the phone, and the female secretary who answered the phone pouted while keeping the phone microphone away from her headset, "Do you still think you are a big giant?" ”
Germany...... The German Führer had long instructed Rommel to strive to gain more negotiating capital after landing in Britain, and as for the delay in the landing of the Allies in Britain...... "Don't mess with me, I'm annoying!" If you don't do it/die Stalin, this dog/mother, Lao Tzu vows not to collect troops. ”
Honolulu, Hawaii.
Admiral Long Zhou, deputy commander of the Royal Navy and commander-in-chief of the two ocean fleets, has been in a very unhappy mood recently. It's just that he didn't get a marshal, who made the Air Force only have one marshal! But the arrival of a group of Americans has disrupted the life of the dragon fat man who is accompanied by wine and lobster every day, and his uncle/mother can't bear it, and his aunt can't bear it.
The U.S. delegation was headed by Secretary of State James Bernillon and included representatives of the White House and the military.
After receiving a request from the United States for negotiations, His Majesty called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked coolly: "Wilson, are you interested in going to Hawaii for a vacation?" ”
The Foreign Minister was a little flattered by the call from His Majesty personally, but when he heard that he was going on vacation, he immediately smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, don't make trouble, I have a lot of things, how can I have time to take a vacation?" Thank you, Your Majesty, for thinking about me, and when I'm done with the aid to build Xinhua, I'll go again! ”
Yes, aiding the construction of Xinhua is a major event and cannot be delayed. Zhong Yi gave the Foreign Minister a few words of encouragement, and then called the Chancellor of the Exchequer Hebar. After answering the phone, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Timor Kingdom thought that there was a wine bureau in the Jinhua Palace, and when he heard that he was going to Hawaii, he didn't care whether His Majesty could see it or not, and waved his hand again and again! "Your Majesty, it's not that my buddies don't want to go, it's just that I recently went to Japan, and I was pulled by the whole university to visit the film academy, and I don't know who leaked the news, and the family is checking tightly! At this time, when you are on a business trip, it is still so far away, and the designation will be even more suspicious! ”
"Rub, you're a thing, just that one daughter-in-law is still ...... Uh, well, we'll talk later! ”
Qin Yingxue smiled and walked in with a plate of pears, "Your Majesty, I heard that Sister Ying Fei has a film academy there, and many people are running there!" When will we go to see it, and by the way, you can also visit Sister Sakura, do you think it? ”
"Good...... Fart! "As soon as I took a bite of a pear, I almost choked!" Woman's home, what film school to go to! If you are willing to go, isn't there Nanyang University in Qian Zhihao's place? ”
"Haven't we never been to Japan, and we miss Sister Sakura a little? If you don't go, you won't go, what is your attitude? ”
"If I say no, I can't! Warning, it's okay to go to Japan, but it's definitely not allowed to go to Japanese film schools! It's not just you, you go and call Concubine Sakura, and don't let her get any closer to the film school! Nima, this big horn is getting more and more unpleasant! "It seems that Your Majesty really hasn't had such a big temper with Qin Yingxue.
Unexpectedly, Concubine Xue smiled even brighter, "Hmph, hum, it turns out that film school is really not a good place!" Oh yes! I'll go tell Madame Smolgon to go now! ”
"I ......" Zhong Yi was speechless for a moment, and he was pecked by geese all day long. Take care of yourself, Hebal. It's not that the buddies want to betray you, it's really that these women are too cunning! ”