"Are the Americans really going to counterattack Hawaii this year? Where on earth did they come from? ”

The Prime Minister did not wait for Churchill to finish his explanation before throwing out new questions.

Churchill spread his hands: "They weren't sure, but they wanted to know how hard it was." ”

Lloyd-George narrowed his eyes: "Such an adventure threatens to ruin an entire fleet, or even a whole war." ”

"This is not an adventure, it is a temptation, and only in this way can we ensure that the main forces of the East Asian Combined Fleet are diverted away from the Indian Ocean and give us a chance to take a breather on the African and Middle Eastern fronts."

For the sake of those precious U.S. infantry divisions, Churchill was determined to defend the Americans to the end.

Lloyd George is still not at ease: "If you transfer the main force of the Mediterranean Fleet, what will you do with your Balkan plan?" ”

Churchill had already calculated: "The Austro-Hungarian navy was pinned down by the superior Italian navy, and the navies of Bulgaria and Romania were not worth mentioning." Even if the Mediterranean Fleet transfers all the dreadnought capital battleships and fleet aircraft carriers, and uses the remaining old dreadnought battleships, shallow water heavy gunboats, converted aircraft carriers, and seaplane carriers as the backbone, plus the strength of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, it will be fully able to ensure the maritime superiority required for the Balkan plan. ”

Lloyd-George refilled his rhinoceros horn pipe with some tobacco, struck a match and lit it, and after two puffs of cigarette, he reluctantly said: "You are the Minister of the Navy, and the Balkan plan is also your plan, as Prime Minister I will do everything I can to support you, but no matter what the consequences, you must bear the corresponding responsibility, understand?" ”

Churchill clenched his fists and slapped his chest: "I will always remember your trust in me, and as for the responsibility I should bear, even if it is a commandment, I will never shirk it." ”

Lloyd-George took a long breath of smoke and nodded slowly, "I hope you will keep in mind what you said today in any future situation...... Actually, I came to you today mainly to find out what your position is on the issue of dealing with Turkey. How determined? After all, it's all your plan from start to finish. ”

Churchill smiled bitterly in his heart: Very good, everything is my plan, and if something goes wrong, everything is my responsibility. As a Prime Minister, he thought too much about it.

He still responded honestly: "The squadron that landed from the Persian Gulf has advanced to the area of Mosul, and at any time it may enter Syria westward with a large force, pass through the hinterland of Asia Minor along the railway, and march towards the strait and Constantinople - of course, such an operation will inevitably be stubbornly resisted by the Syrian side of our Cyprus expeditionary force." ”

"At the same time, the other side may also cross the southeast Taurus Mountain in small forces to the north. The establishment of a system for the delivery of military supplies, including planes, mules and horses, prompted pro-Chinese hardliners in Turkey to tear up the armistice agreement – since the Russian forces in the Caucasus have long since suspended their offensive due to civil unrest, and our army is temporarily unable to block the many trails in the mountains of South Torus, such an attempt is not difficult to achieve. ”

"In order to prevent the Turks from becoming our enemies again, and to prevent the Chinese army from seizing the straits and then joining the German army through the Balkans, my basic position is to offer Turkey the most lenient terms of peace as soon as possible, and if possible, to urge it to join our camp. Turn around and go to war against the Allies – especially against the Allies. ”

Hearing this, Lloyd George put his pipe next to the ashtray and winked disapprehantly: "As far as I know. The Turkish troops on the Ankara front line have withdrawn from their positions and are assembling in the various resettlement camps designated by us, and our troops are also moving along the railway line in accordance with the armistice agreement - how can the Turkish zhèngfǔ be so eager to seek a truce if the hardliners you are talking about still have enough influence? ”

Churchill lowered his head and drew letters in the palm of his hand: "Mustapha Kemal, have you heard of this name?" ”

"No, what's wrong?"

"He was a war hero for Turkey, famous for stomping on the corpses of Italians in Libya five years ago, and his name was repeatedly reported in the next two Balkan wars. And he is best known for his deeds. Still in the Battle of the Strait at the beginning of the year, he led his 19th Division to defend the position of Polayel at the root of the Gallipoli Peninsula, and successfully covered the withdrawal of the main force of the Turkish 3rd Army from the peninsula. And in the battle to defend the capital Istanbul, only his division of the entire 3rd Army was not routed and was able to cross the Bosphorus and withdraw to Asia Minor. Immediately he was promoted to army commander and led his troops to repel several attacks of our army on the Ankara front......"

Lloyd-George smiled indifferently: "Since he is on the Ankara front, then he should have been lying in the resettlement camp by now, waiting to go home and farm." ”

Churchill smiled bitterly: "The problem is this—before the surrender of Turkey, this Kemal general had been transferred to the post of commander-in-chief of the Caucasian Front. As far as I know, the Turkish troops of the Caucasian Front have not surrendered to the Russian army in front of them, and the Southeast Torus Mountain, which I just mentioned, is part of the Caucasian Front. ”

"In this case, let the Liaison Office of the Entente put pressure on the Turkish army on the Caucasian front and order the Turkish army on the Caucasian front to immediately disarm, otherwise it will be regarded as a violation of the armistice agreement, and our army will immediately resume the offensive and no longer recognize the authority of the Turkish army."

The Prime Minister apparently did not think the problem Churchill had mentioned was serious, and Churchill had to continue to patiently explain: "I am afraid that this is exactly what Kemal wanted, and there is credible information that he is trying to gather prominent people from the provinces of Turkey to prepare for a new Loya National Assembly outside the Ottoman Parliament, and to form a Turkic nationalist and republican Turkish national zhèngfǔ to replace the now constitutional Ottoman Sultan zhèngfǔ." ”

"The Ottoman Sultan has always served as the pope of Islam, the caliphate, and the abolition of the Sultan is tantamount to automatically giving up the religious authority of the entire Islamic world, and it is also equivalent to giving up the jurisprudence of the rule of the vast Arab provinces, which has been the only remaining political legacy of the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years, how can the Turks give it up easily?"

The Prime Minister's rhetorical question did not put any pressure on Churchill, who had anticipated that it would not be easy to convince the chancellor-turned-miser.

"Since their success in 1907, the Young Turks who have been in power in power have been no longer satisfied with mending up a medieval Oriental theocratic empire, but are more eager to reconstruct a modern Western-style nation-state on the basis of Pan-Turkism, and the religious authority of Islam and the feudal jurisprudence of the Arab provinces are for these far-reaching people. It's more of a burden than a legacy to be cherished. ”

"The fundamental impetus for the Turks to enter this war was the Pan-Turkist ambition of the Young Turks, namely, to unify all Turkic peoples. Establish a large Turkic empire that stretched from the Dardanelles to the Altai Mountains and even from the Mediterranean to the Pacific, including large territories in the northwest and north of the country. ”

Lloyd-George squinted slightly in confusion and said, "According to you, we can use the Pan-Turkist ideals of the Turks to drive them to war against the country in order to seize the territory of their ideal Great Turkic Empire." ”

But there is an insurmountable abyss: the Russian Caucasus and Central Asia, and northern Persia, which is the sphere of Russian power. It was obviously the core of their Great Turkic Empire, and it was the only place to go to the northwest and north of the country. ”

"In this way, if we make any promises to the Turks related to the ideals of pan-Turkism, it will inevitably harm our most critical ally at the moment, the Russian Empire."

Churchill spread his hands and reminded the Prime Minister: "Russia is no longer an empire, at least not now." ”

"What do you mean......"

The prime minister was puzzled.

Churchill's eyes suddenly flashed with an indescribable sense of murder.

"I mean, we have to plan ahead for the aftermath of the Russian Empire......"

This time it was Lloyd's turn George smiled bitterly: "But now we can't do anything, Winston." I know what you're worried about, but we've made too many promises to bring down the Ottoman Empire with as much force as possible. These unavoidable promises have bound our hands and feet. ”

"We have promised Russia the region of Eastern Sères, including Istanbul, and the right of passage of the Turkish Straits to the east of Erzurum and the whole of Armenia north of Lake Van ; Greece was promised the surrounding area of Izmir as well as the West Sères; Syria and Lebanon were promised to France; The East Aegean Islands were promised to Italy......"

"In fact, we have little to leave to the poor Turks, and it would be a blessing in misfortune for them to be able to keep most of the Anatolian plateau between the Sea of Marmara and Lake Van Lake."

Churchill looked down and thought for a moment, then pinched his fingers and said, "The Italians and the French are easy to dismiss, and as for Greece, given that its navy is already in our hands, the army is dependent on our arms supply." We have the right to make the Greeks reconsider the distribution of the spoils of war. For example, after the defeat of Bulgaria, in exchange for Bulgarian territory, it was persuaded to abandon Sisères and keep Izmir as a municipality under Turkish sovereignty. ”

"The crux of the matter is Russia, the Russia it is today. Not only was the situation on the battlefield extremely bad, but the country was in turmoil, and once Russia could no longer support it, and finally made peace with the Allied bloc alone, then all our obligations to that united Russia would naturally be lifted......"

Lloyd-George interrupted him mercilessly: "But Russia is still insisting, and we still have to fulfill all our obligations under the secret treaty with Russia." Winston, admit it, we can't do anything right now. My fear is that the few American divisions you have exchanged for the Mediterranean Fleet will probably only be enough to maintain the defenses in the direction of Turkey and Egypt under the threat of the approaching Nationalist forces, and will not help you in your great plan to counterattack the Balkans. ”

Churchill secretly clenched his fists: "Are we just watching Turkey plunge into division and civil war, but we are reluctant to give it a chance to turn from our enemy into our ally?" ”

Lloyd-George groaned for a long time, grabbed his pipe and took a big puff.

"Unless, we can confirm that Russia is hopeless. But the problem is that once Russia is hopeless, we may not get enough from this crippled old man in Turkey to make up for the ...... we have lost from the Russian giants."

…… (To be continued.)