"Look at these. "The new Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain threw a stack of photographs to Winston Churchill, Secretary of the Admiralty. Photographs were scattered on the table, but Churchill knew at a glance that they were of the U-211 submarine after it had returned home.

There was a group photo of a group of submariners, frontal photos of several major officers and playful photos of the dinner, as well as two close-ups of the U-211 submarine, some newspaper and text analysis, and, of course, a copy of the text that gave Churchill the most headache.

Churchill also read this article before coming to the Prime Minister's Mansion today, and it is a summary of the nature of a report. In the space of five days, Britain lost nine transport ships, and the loss of more than 70,000 tonnage made him, the admiralty, almost vomit blood and faint to death. On the long lines of British sea transport, there always seemed to be German submarines ambushing British transports, and this loss was even more chilling than that of battleships, because if Britain were to be compared to a man, the damage of cutting an artery was greater for a person than chopping off a finger.

"Truth be told, Mr. Chancellor, we seem to have been suppressed by the Germans all this time. Our navy suffered heavy losses from the German attack, almost losing the sea supremacy on which it depended, our air force was so badly damaged that it could no longer maintain the security of the skies over Europe, and now our transport fleet was also lost, and the rate of loss was staggering...... This qiē makes it impossible for us to see the hope of winning. Churchill weighed for a long time and said with a frown. As he spoke, he glanced at the secretary-like man standing behind Chamberlain, and Churchill, who had been on the battlefield, sensed that this man was dangerous.

But what he went on to say was what he really thought: "But the most intolerable thing is that the sea power and hegemony of our British Empire have been provoked, and we have to choose whether to bow our heads to death or continue to be the masters of the world -- I think it is not difficult to choose, we must fight to the end! Give the Germans a heavy blow, and let them know how naïve they are." ”

Churchill was one of the core members of the main war faction, and this prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, was clearly not keen on fighting the Germans to the end, preferring to conclude a peace treaty with a single victory, and then limit the development of the German army, as he did after the First World War. So he brought Churchill here just to put pressure on the hardliners so that the soldiers on the front line could hurry up and win a decent victory to force the Germans back to the negotiating table.

"Just this month, we lost tens of thousands of tons of steel raw materials, and even ships full of agricultural products from Canada were sunk, which is not good news for our island nation. On the other hand, just after you took over the Royal Navy, we had more than 70,000 tons of warships sunk, and His Majesty the King was already very uneasy about this war, so I called you here to hear you tell the truth, not to hear you shout slogans at me. Chamberlain's face was very unfriendly, his eyebrows moved, and he said with anger suppressed.

He pointed to the map behind him, stared at Churchill and continued: "Just a few days ago, Japan invaded Shanghai, China, and this terrible war destroyed our financial investment in Shanghai, and destroyed our concession there, hundreds of British people were killed, and we couldn't even mobilize troops to put pressure on Japan, and they haven't even given me an apology so far!"

"Mr. Prime Minister! The Far East question is only a matter of interests! We have indeed suffered losses, but this will not affect our international standing in the slightest! But on the European continent, Germany is destroying the European order that we have established! Britain cannot bear this kind of degrading blow, and you naturally understand which is more important, so you don't need me to say anything more, right?" Churchill said helplessly.

"So let's talk about something that really concerns the fate of the country. Chamberlain tapped his finger on the table and said with some annoyance: "Mr. Churchill, will you tell me when your naval fleet will be able to destroy the German navy, as in the First World War, and block them in the harbor so that they can no longer pose a threat to our supply lines?"

Churchill knew that this question was impossible for him to answer, and that Chamberlain would have asked this very embarrassing question in order to leave him speechless. But he had to answer, so Churchill had to carefully consider his words, and replied: "Mr. Prime Minister, the fighting strength of the Royal Navy has not recovered at present, and we cannot ensure that the offensive operation can be victorious, so I suggest that we should shift our focus to the question of convoy." ”

"Yes! You allocated a whole £3,000,000, enough money to build a new battleship, to rebuild the existing ones, and you actually added some small-caliber guns to these ships! You even took the initiative to suspend the construction of four new cruisers for the sake of this renovation plan. Chamberlain said indignantly: "Is the German aircraft carrier fleet more terrible than their submarines?"

"Mr. Chancellor, if I have no way to ensure the air safety of the entire fleet, then I will not be able to make up my mind to have a decisive battle of the fleet, which makes it possible for the German naval fleet, that is, the aircraft carrier fleet, to go out to sea to attack our transport lines, and this risk is very great, as soon as the opposing aircraft carriers appear on the North Atlantic route, our transport lines will collapse. "Churchill clearly knew more about war than someone like Chamberlain, who had never fought in the war, especially when he became Lord of the Navy, and knew better about the problems of the navy.

"And how long do you expect your renovation plan to be completed?" Chamberlain, knowing that he would not take advantage of professional matters, immediately changed the subject and asked about other aspects.

"Most of the Navy's anti-aircraft weapons are very old, because to keep the home waters safe, I can only arrange for a few warships to be refitted at a time, so the progress will take at least six months, or nine months. Churchill had already increased the guaranteed speed by a year, but he still felt a little weak.

Sure enough, even Chamberlain, a military idiot, knew that time waits for no one, and in half a year he will almost lose millions of tons of transport ships, and this kind of disaster is enough to completely collapse Britain.

"We can't wait that long, we must fight back immediately! If the navy can't! Then we can only rely on the army, and you must already know the loss report of the air force, they are even more humiliating to me than the navy, and they actually lost 410 fighters on the continent in one go. Chamberlain's mention of these losses seemed to have turned a little bit of a whirlwind, and he now had a feeling of wanting to cry without tears.

Why did others become prime ministers of the British Empire, the four seas were peaceful, and there was good news of successful expansion everywhere, and after he became prime minister, he received news every day that he was defeated here and lost there, and these bad news simply pushed him to the throne of the most unlucky British prime minister in a hundred years.

"What kind of head of state is Germany, is it really a gift from God to Germany? How is it that in just a few years, weak Germany has become so tricky?" Chamberlain said with a slap on the table when he thought of this. Hearing this, the eyes of the man standing behind him focused, but he still didn't make any other movements.

"I don't believe this bullshit Accardor has anything to do with God, he's just an opportunist running errands for that old guy in Sickt!" Churchill was arguably one of the most knowledgeable people in Britain about Accardo, because the intelligence from Smith gave him a deeper understanding of Germany's preparations for war.

So he opened his mouth and said to Chamberlain: "They did not rise in a few short years, under the auspices of Sickert, Accardo participated in the plans of the German army for a long time, and the copy we got was half-truthed and half-false, lacking a lot of core content, which made us give up our guard against German ambitions." ”

If Colonel Smith's analysis is correct, the Germans began to secretly rearm themselves in late 1919, and in 1925 they increased their speed because of our blind support, and by 1930 their armed forces had surpassed the First World War. Churchill narrowed his eyes and said, "So they give the illusion of a rapid rise is actually a ridiculous trick." ”

Hearing Churchill say this, the man standing behind Chamberlain raised an eyebrow, glanced at Churchill, and then stood there silently. It seems that none of the Prime Minister's conversations with the Minister of the Navy have anything to do with him.

"It's useless to say anything now. Chamberlain sighed and said, "Either we can only count on the Army to win the war, or we will be forced to accept the Germans' terms and turn ourselves into lackeys of the Germans." ”

"There's another way!, Mr. Prime Minister. Churchill thought for a moment, and then said in a tone full of sorrow: "We sold some of our overseas interests and got some warships from the Americans to enrich our navy." ”

"Are you sure you can do it?" asked Chamberlain, who seemed intrigued by the mention.

"It depends on how many chips we have. Churchill said helplessly.

In this way, the plan cannot be implemented lightly. Chamberlain shook his head and said, "If you give up too many interests, Your Majesty the King and the cabinet will not agree." We'll have to think of something else. ”

"If, I mean if, Mr. Prime Minister, it seems like we can use some extraordinary means to change our passive situation. The man behind Chamberlain, who had not spoken all this time, finally spoke.

"Are you sure?" Chamberlain asked, looking at the man.

"I'm going to use my people, and even if it fails, Britain has nothing to lose. The man said angrily.

Chamberlain stared at the man for a few seconds, then nodded with satisfaction: "Okay! I approve this operation! The Admiralty will fully assist you." ”