De Gaulle not only made up his mind to choose the first generation of European tanks, but also issued an official conclusion: "In view of the fact that the first generation of European tanks is stronger than other options in terms of performance, price and cooperation within Europe, the French government officially announces its participation in the European tank program." Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info expects to receive the first batch of fifty to one hundred first-generation European tanks in the next three years! ”

This conclusion is quite a slap in the face, especially embarrassing to the Americans, because the French mean that the first-generation European tanks are better than the American M47/M48, and the price is even cheaper. This is simply spitting on the high quality and low price of American tanks!

And it is known that this so-called first-generation European tank is actually the European version of the Soviet T-55. It is equivalent to saying that the performance of the T-55 is stronger than that of the M47/M48, isn't it a blatant slap in the face!

Therefore, the United States categorically had no way to accept it, and the spokesman of the US Department of Defense soon announced: "The so-called first-generation European tanks are nothing but crude imitations of the inferior and cheap tanks of the Soviet Union, and cannot be compared with the sophisticated American tanks." As for the choice of the French government, we can only say that it is absolutely wrong, it not only betrays its allies, but also tries to deceive the French people with inferior imitation weapons, which cannot protect France's security. As far as we know, this is the result of the infiltration of the French government by Soviet spies, and this result is incomparably absurd! ”

The French Ministry of Defense quickly responded to the U.S. counterattack, with the spokesman confidently and sarcastically saying, "The Americans are in a hurry and are starting to get angry." Because the French did not succumb to their hegemony and made their own choice, they attacked our tanks with poor performance, this is a big joke, we have used the M47, this huge lame monster is a nightmare for the armored troops, fortunately our leaders wisely rejected the 'good intentions' of the United States, if we continue to let our boys use this waste wood, I am afraid they will all refuse to serve in the military. The first generation of European tanks was better than the M47 in any of its performance, and the Americans had better check their designs and stop trying to use hegemony to sell their inferior goods! ”

This paragraph about the performance of the tank has been fought for more than a month, and the result is naturally inconclusive, and the performance of the tank is only known on the battlefield. In fact, only Jews and Arabs used the M47 and T-55 on the battlefield. The former doesn't have much of a voice in the mainstream international community, while the boss behind the latter is the Americans, and they don't want to mix up if they say bad things about the Americans, right? What's more, armed conflicts in the Middle East are generally considered by European circles to be unrepresentative in terms of technology and grade.

That is to say, the Americans said that their tanks were good, while the French insisted that their choice was correct. It is the public who says that the public is reasonable, and the mother says that the mother is reasonable, and no one can convince anyone anyway. Of course, this is still not the point, the point is that the Americans, although they pay lip service to the option of attacking France, are still making a last-ditch effort to persuade the French to abandon Soviet-made tanks.

For this reason, Eisenhower also had to hold back his anger and order Dulles to give France certain new preferential terms. What are the preferential conditions? The first is to resume the economic and military aid to France that had been interrupted, and even increase the extent of the aid as appropriate; The second is to authorize France to produce M47 tanks under license.

From Eisenhower's point of view, such preferential conditions were already very good, but de Gaulle was still not interested. The reason for this is clearly stated in de Gaulle's diary: "Eisenhower's relenting relenting makes it clear that France was right to insist on independence." Only by insisting on independence can we win the initiative, and we can fully navigate against the backdrop of the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. ”

Therefore, the French government once again rejected the "good intentions" of the United States, thanked the United States for its "generosity", but at the same time said that France had already made a decision and was not prepared to change.

The stubbornness of the French made the United States furious, and at the new NATO summit, Eisenhower violently attacked France in front of de Gaulle, portraying France as rat within the allies, and almost spat in De Gaulle's face.

But what is more peculiar is that de Gaulle behaved very rationally in the face of Eisenhower's attacks and abuses, and did not scold back, but refuted them one by one in a reasonable, polite and courteous manner, and said: "The French government thanks the US government for its contribution to the liberation of France in World War II, which we will always remember, but this does not mean that the French government will go along with all the decisions of the US government, and it is always the French people who decide French affairs!" ”

In fact, De Gaulle still had a sentence that he did not say at that time, and originally he wanted to add a sentence "It is always the European people who decide European affairs", but later he thought that the provocation of this sentence was too heavy, and it was easy to arouse a high degree of vigilance in the United States, and even trigger the United States to comprehensively suppress France, so when the words came to his lips, De Gaulle also gave up, because he knew that now was not the time.

What is more interesting is Churchill's attitude at this NATO summit, on the surface, Churchill completely stood on the side of the United States, and also attacked de Gaulle a few words, but this attack is actually not lethal enough, more like a symbolic perfunctory, why did Churchill, who is committed to the special friendship between Britain and the United States, not follow the United States closely?

The reason is also very simple, because at the time of this summit, Britain's first nuclear test was ready, and Churchill's mind was not on the summit at all, but nervously looking forward to the success of the first atomic bomb test, and if he moved fast enough, he could announce the good news at this summit.

Churchill's hopes came true, and just as Eisenhower was violently attacking de Gaulle, a loud bang was heard in Australia and Britain's first nuclear test was a success. When the good news reached Churchill's ears, the old smoker jumped up for joy and danced like a child. And immediately ordered the press officer to immediately hold a press conference, and he was to announce the good news himself!

“…… I am pleased to announce that just a few hours ago, our country tested its first atomic bomb in Australia, which was a complete success, and I would like to formally announce to you that Britain has become the third country after the United States and the Soviet Union to master the technology of the atomic bomb...... Britain has its own nuclear force, and we will use this power very carefully to maintain the security of the country! ”

The success of the British nuclear test made de Gaulle have mixed feelings, although he had been mentally prepared before, but after the incident really happened, he could not help but be a little excited, and even a little jealous, how good it would be if France also had nuclear weapons!

The success of the British nuclear test directly changed the focus of this NATO summit, before France and the first generation of European tanks were the focus of attention, and now the British atomic bomb is the most attention, and the success of the United Kingdom has made NATO, or the world, realize that international relations need to be fine-tuned again. The weight of the UK will be improved.

The Americans, in particular, must redefine the essence of the special friendship between Britain and the United States, and although the success of the British in conducting the first nuclear test does not mean that Britain has real nuclear weapons, it is a good start, and in time Britain will inevitably have a real nuclear strike capability. And this means that Britain is less dependent on the United States, so it is necessary to pay attention to the attitude of Britain and be a little nicer to the British.

Especially now, when the French are jumping to make trouble, the United States must win over Britain, because this is the main fulcrum and supporter of the United States in Europe, and once Britain follows the bad example of France, then things will be in trouble.

In fact, Churchill was so happy because he realized that the era of Britain's total passivity in the special Anglo-American friendship was over, and although Britain would continue to be a follower, the leader could not completely ignore Britain. This means that the UK can get more benefits from the US.

Civilian analysts and non-governmental politicians generally believe that Britain's successful nuclear test means that the liberal democratic camp has fully caught up with and surpassed the Soviet Union, and that Britain and the United States possess nuclear weapons at the same time means absolute superiority over the Soviet Union, and under the condition of such absolute superiority, the Soviet Union's "aggressive expansion" will be stopped, and the world will return to normal order.

In particular, those civil politicians who uphold the superiority of Europe believe that the success of Britain's nuclear test means that the old Europe is re-emerging, that the British have broken the nuclear monopoly of the United States and the Soviet Union, that Europe will gradually regain its position, and that the center of the world will still be in Europe in the future.

It has to be said that this kind of thinking is too naïve, and some petty naivety on the European continent wishfully believe that Britain and Europe are of the same mind, and that the success of the British is equal to the success of Europe. But in reality real politicians will tell them: "Wake up early!" ”

The British probably never considered themselves to be part of Europe, let alone Europeans, and it was Britain's ultimate goal to break into Europe as a-stirring stick, so Britain's success does not mean Europe's success. The British, who succeeded, were afraid that they would distance themselves from Europe in order to protect their own interests.

So Britain's success doesn't mean anything to Europe, but Britain's success will make Europe even more embarrassing, because it means that Britain and the United States will be more closely integrated, and the closeness of Britain and the United States means estrangement from Europe.

In fact, on the last day of the NATO summit, Churchill's attitude changed, and he changed his previous innocuous attack on France, and became a little sharp, rather domineering, as if they were already the leader of Europe.

After the summit, de Gaulle's face was iron-blue, and it is said that after returning to Paris, he immediately called the person in charge of the nuclear weapons program and reprimanded him for half an hour. It was from this point on that de Gaulle began to increase his investment in the research and development of nuclear weapons, striving to obtain nuclear weapons as quickly as possible, which is not only about face, but also about the right to speak in the world.

It's just that the French did it really averagely, and the first atomic bomb was not exploded until 1960, only four years earlier than the Great Celestial Empire, and later when playing the hydrogen bomb, it was overtaken by the Great Celestial Empire. You must know that according to cutting-edge technology and industrial capacity, France was a lot stronger than the Celestial Empire, but in the end it was overtaken by the Celestial Empire, I have to say that the scientific researchers of the Celestial Empire were really open-minded, of course, it can also reflect from another aspect how ineffective the French were, and they will be surpassed under such good conditions, what else can be said?

However, from the perspective of international relations, it should be the Soviet Union that is more sensitive to Britain's explosion of the first atomic bomb, after all, the United States and Britain are the number one enemies of the Soviet Union, and now that the enemy has grown by leaps and bounds, the Soviet Union should be nervous.

It's just that the Soviet Union is actually not nervous, their mentality is very good, and the atomic bomb is not very high-tech, and the reason is basically no secret at all. The only test of people is actually industrial capacity, enriched uranium is one, high-explosive ZHA medicine is another, especially the first one, as long as it can be solved, it will be most successful.

Li Xiaofeng has long known that it is only a matter of time before Britain's industrial capacity can overcome these barriers, and in fact, for any country in the world that intends to acquire an atomic bomb, as long as it has the determination, money, and will, and is not afraid of international interference, it can basically succeed.

Li Xiaofeng has long been prepared for the fact that more and more countries will possess atomic bombs, not to mention that the British have only now taken the first step, and having a nuclear device does not mean that they have nuclear weapons that can be used in actual combat, unless Britain is still prepared to fly to the Soviet Union with large bombers carrying atomic bombs weighing several tons like World War II did, if this is the case, the Soviet Air Force will teach the British to behave in minutes.

Next, if Britain wants to have an atomic bomb that can really be used in actual combat, it will also have to solve the difficulty of miniaturizing the atomic bomb, and it will also need a combination of missile and atomic bomb tests, which will take two or three years to say the least. In other words, Britain's nuclear power is still blank in the near future, so what is there to be afraid of.

Not to mention the fact that the USSR had already solved these problems in 1945 and was already ten years ahead of Britain to put it mildly. Moreover, the Soviet Union has already mastered the hydrogen bomb and has entered another level, so it is naturally even more afraid of the British nuclear threat.

The British were counting on scaring the USSR with nuclear weapons and making concessions on certain international issues, and this is a joke. At most, Britain now has a certain amount of self-preservation or dignity, and as for the ability to compete with the Soviet Union, I am afraid that Churchill will not be so naïve. For Churchill, the atomic bomb was in a sense not used to scare the Soviet Union, but to extort benefits from the United States...... (To be continued.) )