Chapter 2: A Different World War II (Part 2)
Late night on September 15, 1945, London, England
During the war years, the capital of the British Empire was in depression and dilapidation. Due to lack of fuel and electricity, most of the once bright street lights had been extinguished, and shops had closed early. Also due to the restriction of gasoline rationing, there were very few cars on the street. The occasional cars, trucks and red double-decker buses were mostly carrying soldiers, and all of them were equipped with ugly gas generators. There aren't even many bicycles on the streets - it would be too dangerous to ride a bicycle in the dark under the dark lights. Occasionally there are a few pedestrians walking in a hurry, rarely saying hello to each other.
This was London, the imperial capital during the war. Even though it was far away from the bombs of the Luftwaffe, it was still suffocatingly cold.
This was a difficult era for all British people. The brutal war lasted for six years and drained almost all the wealth of the British Empire. The last bit of good stuff that could be scavenged was given to the army by Churchill's war cabinet, leaving only rags for the common people.
Everything disappeared from the market except the rations of flour, salt, and turnips. There is no gasoline, no fruit, no cloth, no tea, no candy, no chicken, no toilet paper, no soap and shampoo. In order to cover up dirty hair, people wear hats even in summer. Cosmetics favored by women are nowhere to be found, and red lipstick can only be replaced with beetroot juice. Then use anything from suntan lotion to onion peels to color your legs and draw seams with an eyebrow pencil in place of impossible-to-buy nylon stockings — better than nothing at all.
What was even more affected was the stomach of the British. The food supply during the war was very short, and even vegetables were not enough to eat, because the food produced by British farmers could only meet 30% of the country's needs, and the shipping lifeline was always at the mercy of German submarines. under threat. The rations of tea and coffee were almost zero, forcing the British to drink afternoon tea without tea. An entire generation of British children born between 1940 and 1945 had never seen a banana.
In fact, during the war, the British were not only lacking bread, tea and fruits, but also meat. Steaks and pork chops had become unattainable luxuries. Pigeons, rabbits, and even former pets guinea pigs and cats Dogs are being put on the table because the people are too hungry, the trade in cat and rat meat is getting more and more popular, the ingredients of sausages are becoming more and more questionable, and more and more people are becoming vegetarians. In order to set an example, or at least to show off, the British royal family had to treat their stomachs badly, serving Spam luncheon meat in those luxurious gold and silver tableware...
However, many Londoners couldn't even eat luncheon meat, so they had to turn their gardens into vegetable gardens, pull out roses and tulips, plant onions and cabbages, and start raising rabbits, chickens and even rabbits in their homes. pigs as a way to slightly increase their own food supply.
However, there is not only a shortage of ingredients in the kitchen, but also a shortage of fuel. During the war, the use of coal, kerosene, gas and electricity was limited, and in many cases, even if you hold a ration ticket, you may not be able to buy something. This has forced many people to take the wrong path: every night, there are always thieves stealing trees in various parks in London, forcing the government to urgently organize night tree patrols...
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Therefore, in order to ensure the fuel in the kitchen and allow themselves to eat cooked food at least, instead of eating hair and drinking blood like savages, the whole family can only bite the bullet and take cold showers in winter, or huddle together in the cold wind to keep warm... … In addition to this, even people’s kitchen utensils were taken away by this cruel war, because the government called on people to donate aluminum pots so that they could be melted down to make aircraft parts. Next, paper was also a ration in wartime Britain, and the limit was very low. Many people who received letters had to write replies directly on the back of the letter in order to save paper.
In short, all factories are producing arms, all ships are transporting military supplies, and everything is being used for war. Even the people on the streets are deserted because young people are being drafted to Africa, West Asia, and other countries. Going to India, Southeast Asia, and Europe to fight, middle-aged people and women worked overtime in factories, and even underage students were put into a lot of voluntary labor...
Day after day, year after year, facing the snow of death notices and ubiquitous shortages, these proud imperial subjects on the island of Great Britain have cooled down from the patriotic fervor in the early days of the war. Understand what a protracted total war really means ——This is not a legendary story described in operas and epics at all, but a horrific ordeal like hell, a cruel gamble with countless flesh and souls as chips, and everyone's family, happiness and life are being affected by it. Gradually swallowed up, and finally turned into a few meaningless cold numbers.
But now, it is too late to regret it. The tragic end of the last world war, after the defeat of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is still vivid in the minds of the British at this time. In order to avoid such a misfortune, they can only grit their teeth, resign themselves to fate, and work hard until the last moment.
It was hard to survive until Berlin fell, Hitler committed suicide, and Mussolini became a prisoner. Although there was still a Japanese dwarf dancing in the east, it was half a world away after all, and the islanders of Great Britain generally didn't care about it. I feel like - let the Yankees deal with the Pacific!
Great Britain has been at war for six years. The subjects of the empire are really suffering and tired, and they can no longer bear the torture of more wars.
Unexpectedly, after the demise of Nazi Germany, the dawn of peace was still far away. Churchill, a hysterical war madman, had just finished fighting the Nazis' "Brown Plague", and before everyone could take a breath, he was about to fight the Bolsheviks' "Red Plague" "Start the contest, hastily Hundreds of thousands of British young men were sent to the European continent in an attempt to seize territory from the Soviets... I thought that due to the relationship with the "anti-fascist allies", the Russians would not dare to directly fight against each other, but who knew that Stalin's big beard would be more Crazy, brazenly attacking allies without giving them any face!
From summer to autumn, several major battles were fought in succession. The ill-prepared British army retreated on the battlefields of the Netherlands, Belgium and France. More than 100,000 young men were crammed into Soviet prisoner-of-war camps to peel potatoes. Even the great fleet that the British were proud of suffered a devastating blow in Dutch waters!
Although Britain implemented very strict news controls during the war, as the ruling center of the British Empire, London citizens were still able to learn a lot of increasingly unfavorable bad news through various channels: for example, the Grand Fleet had returned from the Netherlands with a disastrous defeat; The Empire's European Expeditionary Force was undergoing the second Dunkirk evacuation. The Soviets brazenly dropped nuclear weapons on the Grand Fleet on the Frisian Islands off the coast of the Netherlands...
A series of bad news that can be described as landslides has made the British who have been tortured for six years in the war infinitely depressed. The mountains of corpses and seas of blood that seem to have no end in sight have made even the bravest British gentlemen feel timid. I thought, and quietly retreated deep in my heart.
However, the bellicose fat man sitting in No. 10 Downing Street has a mind like granite and remains as stubborn as ever...
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No. 10 Downing Street, official residence of the Prime Minister of the British Empire
After listening to General Montgomery's report and sending him back to rest, Winston Churchill suddenly collapsed on the sofa with a black face. Compared with the beginning of the war, he now had white hair, wrinkles were deeply carved into his forehead, and veins appeared on the back of his hands. Doctors had already warned him about his health... but the tenacious Churchill still Reluctant to leave his post, insisting on holding on until the final victory.
So, he coughed violently several times, spit out a mouthful of old phlegm, covered his aching heart, and turned to look at the map of Europe hanging on the wall.
Although the "Second Dynamo Operation" is currently unfolding very smoothly, the 50,000 British Expeditionary Forces that have withdrawn from the battlefields of Belgium and Paris are embarking on ships at the port of Dunkirk to return home, and have not been attacked by the Soviet Red Army and the French Red Guards. Further attacks did nothing to improve Mr Prime Minister's mood.
For Churchill, the guy most hostile to the Bolsheviks, the situation in Europe shown on the map today is really like hell coming!
——From Paris, Berlin, Rome to Athens, dazzling red flags are rising one after another in famous cities and ancient capitals in Europe.
That red demonic flame started from Moscow in the east and swept across most of Europe, completely shattering the old order of the continent. The once arrogant Nazi German army had lost the vigor with which it had previously attacked France since the beginning of the war between the Soviet Union and Germany. The aggressive "Plan Barbarossa" hit a wall as far east as Minsk and Leningrad. The useless German Navy was completely defeated by the Red Navy, which was very weak on paper, in several battles in the Baltic Sea. Even the route between Germany and Sweden was cut off.
Next, in the long tug-of-war, millions of Nazi German troops were forced back by the Bolsheviks and burned to ashes bit by bit. The red plague also broke through the restrictions of national borders, crossed the chasm of the Carpathian Mountains, and spread crazily throughout Europe.
By the early spring of this year, when Hitler, the arrogant mustache, was surrounded in a Berlin bunker, cursing and waiting to die, the Soviet Red Army had swept through the entire Eastern and Southeastern Europe, as well as part of Northern Europe, swallowing up Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia arrived in Venice and knocked on Italy's northern gate. The vanguard of the Red Army in the far west has planted its battle flag in Hamburg on the shores of the North Sea, while the Red Army in the far south has been drinking horses in Athens and washing its military boots in the warm Aegean waters.
The French Red elements in Paris also launched a riot in early February, expelled the German troops stationed in France that had been reduced to empty shells, established the second Paris Commune, and rapidly expanded in all directions. Even in the three low-lying countries of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands, many red elements emerged. Taking advantage of the political vacuum created by the collapse of Nazi Germany, they organized armed riots in major cities in an attempt to establish Soviet power.
Seeing that the whole of Europe is in danger of being instantly dyed red by the Bolsheviks, and the traditional "continental balance of power" policy of Whitehall in London is about to come to nothing, Churchill, a die-hard anti-communist, can no longer sit still, even though U.S. allies are still hesitating. Unsure, Britain hastily gathered 200,000 troops on its own, and mobilized de Gaulle's "Free French Movement" organization to send out separate troops to launch multi-channel cross-sea assaults on the coastal areas of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
When the first batch of British troops landed in Calais and other places, Berlin had already fallen, and the news of Hitler's suicide spread quickly. The various Lutheran armies in a state of collapse basically did nothing in the face of the massive landing of British troops. Effective resistance will either break up or surrender. Then, out of fear of the French Red elements entrenched in Paris, the Vichy French government led by Marshal Pétain also expressed its willingness to cooperate.
But the problem is that although the remaining Nazi German troops are vulnerable, the red thugs swarming across France and the Low Countries have made the British army with limited troops feel stretched. After being rushed to the hospital due to illness, Churchill actually ordered the re-arming of some of the dispersed Nazi German troops, and ordered them to cooperate with the British and French troops to brutally suppress the Red elements, and massacred Amiens, Le Havre and Nantes... This short-sighted and stupid approach made the British army and de Gaulle The image in the minds of a considerable part of the French people was very bad, but at the beginning, the above strategy seemed to be quite successful - under the guidance of Churchill, de Gaulle and Pétain were finally able to reluctantly stand together and form an encirclement and suppression campaign. "Red Plague" counter-revolutionary alliance.
Then, Montgomery's British Expeditionary Force, de Gaulle's Free French Movement and Pétain's Vichy French government, plus a small number of Nazi German troops incorporated by the British army, launched a joint siege on the newly born French Red Guard, and gradually compressed it. The living space of these French red elements was finally surrounded in the city of Paris. They were trapped in the city and dying, relying on a small amount of air-dropped supplies from the Soviet army to barely survive.
But the real fatal problem was that Churchill seriously underestimated the Soviets' determination to defend the French red regime. After defeating Nazi Germany, Stalin, the madman, seemed to have raised his sword against the British troops stationed in the Low Countries without much hesitation. Facing hundreds of thousands of red steel torrents, the unsteady British army collapsed in the Netherlands. Churchill, who was in a hurry, had no choice but to ask for help from the United States, and at the same time quickly ordered the large fleet assembled in Scapa Flow to go to sea, cover the convoy carrying army reinforcements and rush to the Netherlands, and then defeated them in an encounter off the coast of the Netherlands. The Soviet fleet rushed out of the Baltic Sea. But then they were bombarded by atomic bombs dropped by the Soviet Air Force! And it was the bombardment of two atomic bombs one after another!
——The United States just successfully tested a nuclear weapon in July this year, but the Soviets put it into actual combat in August!
Moreover, the first victim of the Soviet atomic bomb was not the fascist axis of Germany, Italy and Japan, but the British who were anti-fascist allies with the Soviet Union... When the news spread in Germany and Italy, almost everyone Everyone has a sense of insanity and speechlessness...
But in any case, under the mushroom cloud of the Soviet atomic bomb, the British army in the Netherlands and Belgium battlefields inevitably collapsed. The encirclement and suppression of the Second Paris Commune was torn into pieces by the Soviet Red Army that drove in, and it completely collapsed.
After the second Dunkirk evacuation, there were less than 30,000 British Expeditionary Forces remaining in France, and they were scattered and trapped in a few seaport strongholds such as Bordeaux, Le Havre, and Brest. The general morale was low and people were in constant panic. Even the local French Red guerrillas were reluctant to suppress it. If the Soviet Red Army kills them, only God knows how many hours they can hold on...
Looking at Europe that was almost turning into red on the map, Churchill really felt a splitting headache and full of sorrow. Now this fat man is not only worried about the future and destiny of the British Empire, but also worried about his posthumous reputation and political life.
——What many people don’t know is that from a legal and factual perspective, among the giants of World War II, Churchill was actually the most powerful.
After the outbreak of World War II, in order to cope with the unprecedented war crisis, with the formulation and passage of the Imperial Defense Act, Churchill's British government reasonably and legally obtained huge powers that had never been seen in British history, and could exercise authority over any British citizen. And foreigners living on British territory can ask for anything, and even decide their life and death at will - because every British citizen swears unconditional allegiance to the king!
Therefore, this defense law clearly stipulates that when His Majesty the British Majesty in order to maintain public security, defend the homeland, maintain public order, or effectively conduct any war in which His Majesty the British Majesty may participate, or in order to maintain indispensable supplies or supplies for public life, His Majesty's subjects shall place themselves, their services, and their property at the disposal of His Majesty. The British king was given the freedom to requisition any personnel, material, industrial, mining, and enterprise within the British territory and control the property of every subject. and the power of life and death over every Englishman. As the king's chief minister and de facto national leader, British Prime Minister Churchill also gained the same power. As long as he and his war cabinet pass a resolution, any order issued from Downing Street and the War Department must be implemented without compromise, no matter how ridiculous and unreasonable the order is.
What is dictatorship? Is this true dictatorship? While Hitler was still fighting with the Junkers and the plutocrats, and Mussolini was still busy wrangling with a bunch of royalists and aristocrats, Tojo was Yingji is still scratching his bald head trying to balance the young faction and the Yuan faction. Amidst the various conflicts between the old school, the army and the navy, the emperor and the plutocrats, Churchill, the dignified Prime Minister of the British Empire, who is known as the model of democratic politics and the cornerstone of the free world, has become a more deserving fascist leader than the above. dictator.
As a result, throughout World War II, Churchill was truly the most powerful and arrogant person in the country, and his power was comparable to that of the former Lord Protector Cromwell. He can arbitrarily intervene in any work that he thinks is beneficial to the war, arbitrarily expropriate land, factories and mineral materials, arbitrarily mobilize funds, recruit personnel, and order factories to produce the equipment he wants. Ordering the police to arrest anyone he considered dangerous, pardoning criminals at will, and issuing execution orders at will, no one except the King of England could stop it, and in most cases, the King had no power to interfere.
However, Churchill was not a true saint after all. During the war, he did not forget to use power for personal gain and made many stupid and absurd decisions. Each decision caused horrific losses to the country and cost the subjects of the British Empire countless lives. blood. Every British person saw these things, but they didn't dare to speak out, but kept them silently in their hearts. Once the war is over and the relevant provisions of the National Defense Act become invalid, Churchill, who has accumulated countless grievances and hatreds, is likely to be immediately thrown off the altar, kicked out of the government, or even kicked out of the political arena. It is not that the British are too ungrateful. But what is frozen three feet is not as cold as a day. Whatever causes Churchill planted in the past, he will eventually reap the fruits.
Perhaps it was also because of this vague premonition that after the fall of Nazi Germany, Churchill insisted on being an enemy of the Soviet Union at all costs and continued to maintain the country's wartime state... and then brought an even more terrifying and devastating disaster to Britain.
At this time, although the wartime situation was not over yet, Churchill had fully felt the fire burning under his butt - "...You have been sitting here for too long and have done nothing good. Hey! Get out of here, let's go I don't want you anymore." This is Cromwell's famous saying. This is what he said when he was talking about those bureaucrats who were doing nothing. It was Churchill who sent these words to former Prime Minister Mr Chamberlain a few years ago. And in today's newspapers, some damn reporters actually slapped these words back to him intact, making Churchill's heart feel as painful as being pricked by needles.
Churchill felt very aggrieved by such scolding. Since he became the Prime Minister of the British Empire, facing the complex domestic and international situations, and facing this cruel war-torn world, he has definitely spent no less effort and effort to save the century-old colonial store of "the Empire on which the sun never sets". Running back and forth, I think it is not an exaggeration to describe it as "working hard to manage everything, taking care of everything every day". Is there anything blameworthy in what he has done?
——Although the effect of all these efforts does not look very good: first of all. During his tenure, the traditional continental balance of power policy of the British Empire was completely bankrupt. The European continent first fell into the clutches of the German Nazis and was about to be dyed red by the even more damning Russian Bolsheviks. The United States, the former little buddy, turned into its boss. Although it killed Germany, which was considered a top threat by the British Empire, the result of such efforts was to replace its neighbor with a more terrifying and powerful Soviet Union. No matter how you look at it, it looks like a loss that outweighs the gain.
Then, war broke out in various overseas colonies of the British Empire during his tenure. In the first year after Japan declared war on Britain, the Sun Flag was raised in Hong Kong, Burma and Malaya, and the Singapore Fortress, which cost hundreds of millions to build, failed to hold for a few months. As of today, almost all of the Australian mainland and a handful of Pacific islands have been lost, and the remaining territory is solely defended by the US military.
New Zealand and Canada are still British colonies in name, but in fact they have long become the sphere of influence of the Americans. A group of rebels in the South African colony even colluded with the Boers, obeyed London's orders, and refused to contribute to the British Empire. However, the British Empire, which was extremely weak, had no choice but to watch the South African authorities start to dominate. The dream of black Africa.
Even the most shining jewel in the crown of the British Empire, the colonies of the Indian subcontinent, are now rife with war. Under the temptation and funding of the Japanese, the radicals of the National Congress Party and the princes of various local states have successively raised their flags of rebellion. Even poor settlements such as Afghanistan and Nepal have extended their greedy black hands to the rich India. The territory that the British army can still control in India is only a small and narrow area from Delhi to Bombay. Moreover, the port of Bombay has been attacked and blocked by the Japanese fleet from time to time, and may be wiped out at any time.
Only the few colonies in black Africa with Union Jack flags flying are still relatively stable for the time being. Unfortunately, those black uncles are generally very poor and cannot generate much oil and water. It is difficult to provide much support to the British Empire's war cause, and the government has also There are not many cargo ships available to ship the bananas they produce...
——The colonial empire established over centuries is rapidly falling apart, and the huge wealth accumulated through years of looting is also being consumed by war. Faced with such a situation where the building is about to collapse, every subject of the British Empire is naturally heartbroken and resentful of the incompetent Prime Minister... But Churchill still feels that all this mess is not his fault: If you don't believe it, try someone else. ? It's definitely much worse than what I did!
What alarmed Churchill even more was that this kind of speech against him had actually broken through the strict press controls during the war and began to be openly popular in the market. Although the laws of the empire gave him unprecedented and huge power, no matter what, Such laws also rely on people to enforce them. If everyone adopts an attitude of indifference and non-cooperation, no matter how stringent the laws and regulations are, they will become nothing more than a piece of paper.
Obviously, there are already such bad signs within today's British political circles.
Churchill also knew very well that His Majesty the King's dissatisfaction with the recent series of failures was about to reach a certain limit.
However, even though he was about to be drowned in the saliva of the people, Churchill was still determined to continue to perform his duties and strive to maintain the crumbling imperial hegemony... Of course, he was also determined not to give up the huge power that he had held in his hands for more than five years. ……
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After taking a breather, Prime Minister Churchill cheered up, called his female secretary, called his chief of staff and most trusted military adviser, General Hastings Ismay, and began to discuss the latest European affairs. The battlefield situation and the Soviet nuclear weapons.
"...the remaining warships of the Grand Fleet after withstanding the nuclear explosion, as well as the few surviving merchant ships carrying army reinforcements, have now successfully returned to the Scapa Flow anchorage. However, according to on-site inspections after experts boarded the ship, except for Except for a few destroyers that were far away from the core of the explosion, the remaining Almost all surviving ships have been severely radioactively contaminated and require at least three months of decontamination operations before they can be returned to active service. Some of the severely polluted ships have been judged to be abandoned or even impossible. Dismantled and refurbished...
Moreover, the crew members of various ships, whether in the navy or the army, have suffered from large-scale radiation sickness symptoms, and their pathological manifestations are basically consistent with the top-secret information urgently sent by the United States. Our medical system is doing its best to treat these unfortunate young men, but the cure rate cannot be guaranteed..."
"...This is really a nightmare. Isn't it? A super weapon that none of us have mastered has fallen into the hands of the evil Bolsheviks!"
Churchill held a cigar in his mouth and blew out a smoke ring, "...it seems that the Royal Navy has no hope for the time being. What about the ground battlefield? In addition to the smooth progress of the second Dunkirk evacuation, in France Is there any good news from the front? ”
"...I'm afraid it's all bad news, Your Excellency. First of all, Marshal Zhukov of the Soviet Union held an entry ceremony in Paris today to show off his victory to the world. Then, the latest information from two hours ago is that Orleans has just been captured by the Soviet army. The door to southern France has been opened. Next, French workers in Lyon rioted this morning, expelling the local police and army and basically taking control of the city."
General Ismay replied, "...the French sailors in the Toulon naval port rioted and were fighting fiercely with the repressive military police. Marshal Pétain could hardly control his soldiers. Prime Minister Laval moved the government When we arrived in Toulouse, near the Spanish border, we were ready to cross the Pyrenees Mountains and flee into exile. Mutiny and riots also occurred in Vichy City, where the government was originally stationed. The specific situation is still unclear.”
"...It is indeed all bad news. Where is De Gaulle? Where is this guy now?" Churchill continued to ask.
"...After the Paris siege collapsed, General de Gaulle abandoned his troops and fled to Bordeaux on a train. This guy just sent us a telegram, begging for more support, preferably to send 'The Dark One' planes' coming over, his troops seemed to have been badly bombed by the Soviet air force. Moreover, General Pétain's men were reluctant to supply them..."
"...Not to mention that we currently don't have any 'aircraft that can cover the sky and the sun.' Even if we do have so many aircraft, what use would they have in the face of the Soviet atomic bomb?" Churchill extinguished his cigar impatiently. Yan, "... Regarding how to defend against the Soviet Union's nuclear bomb attack on the British mainland, has the General Staff studied any countermeasures? Both Parliament and the King are very concerned about this."
"...Your Excellency, nuclear weapons are a new thing that the Empire is completely unfamiliar with before. Apart from on-site sightings in the Dutch waters, we only have a small amount of information provided by the Americans for reference, and the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. …”
General Ismay did not answer the question directly, but hesitantly defended his colleagues on the staff. It was not until Churchill glared hard that he embarrassingly told the truth, "...well, according to expert opinion, as long as If we can shoot down every Soviet aircraft flying over Britain, well, and the German missiles that may be captured and modified by the Soviets, we can protect the sacred land of the Empire from the threat of Soviet nuclear weapons."
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"...Isn't this nonsense?" Churchill suddenly became very angry, but he actually knew that such a thing was simply forcing others to do something difficult, so he just laughed and cursed and changed the subject, "...Except for the French front line, What’s new on other battlefields? ”
"...The situation on the Norwegian battlefield is as bad as the French front line. The paratroopers we airdropped to Oslo, the capital of Norway, have lost contact. They are probably either annihilated or surrendered. A battalion was ordered to enter Bergen. The Red Army had just landed Expelled from the city and now in the wilderness Wandering around, they may not be able to hold on for a few days. Only the troops stationed in the port of Narvik in northern Norway have not found any enemies yet, but they are not welcomed by the local Norwegian residents. If the Soviet Red Army comes over, they are expected to be able to do so at most. Stick to it for a week..."
"... Alas, with the Grand Fleet paralyzed, Norway is destined to be unable to survive... What about the situation in the Mediterranean?"
"...The Greek government-in-exile has returned to Crete, which we took over, and has raised three battalions of armed forces. It is currently engaged in low-intensity combat with the Greek Red guerrillas on various islands in the Aegean Sea. Today Just took control of Rhode Island..."
"...Enough! You should know that I am not talking about Greece's petty quarrel. As long as the Russian Black Sea Fleet cannot break out of the Dardanelles Strait, we will definitely have the upper hand there! But in a place like Greece , even if we gain the upper hand, it doesn’t make much sense! I’m asking about the situation in Italy! Is it possible to open up a second front to contain the red plague and drag our less motivated American allies into the water?”
"...It's very difficult, Your Excellency. In order to support the French battlefield, we only had one brigade left in southern Italy. Moreover, they have been forcibly transferred by Eisenhower to Naples, far away from the confrontation front in Rome. It is said that they are also closely monitored by the US military. .
Then, in North Africa, we do have more troops, but it is basically impossible to cross the Mediterranean without concealing the US military, and the Arabs there are not very peaceful... Your Excellency, Prime Minister, with all due respect, unless we can We must obtain Washington's accurate stance and practical support, otherwise we will not be able to drag the US military onto the tank just by relying on some small tricks. "General Ismay concluded.
"... Washington's clear support... is easier said than done!" Churchill said with a wry smile, "... If it is military supplies, the Americans have been providing them to us. But they are asked to send troops to go to war with the Soviets, and they still failed to defeat Japan. Under the circumstances... this is too difficult! ”
Looking up at the European map full of red flags on the wall, Churchill's eyes once again showed infinite helplessness and bitterness, "...the empire's military cards are almost exhausted. Next is the work of politicians and diplomats... Aiden should be coming back from Russia soon? I wonder what conditions Stalin will offer him? I hope the Bolsheviks will not be more greedy than the Nazis..."
——At this moment, Churchill seemed to have forgotten an old saying: If you can’t get something on the battlefield, don’t try to get it at the negotiation table...
So, the next morning, when reading the Soviet terms brought back from Moscow by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, Churchill was furious again. "...This...this...what exactly does Stalin want to do? Does he regard himself as the Roman emperor?"