Chapter 44 The Black Cat (Part 2)
ps: I'm very busy today and I'm going home very late. I only have one update. Sorry, I'll make up for it in a few days...
"What do you think of Your Majesty's words these two days?" After the cabinet meeting ended, Attley, who had officially taken over Churchill's position (who was also the Minister of Defense), frowned and asked Aiden (Deputy Minister and Foreign Minister).??
After the "coup" on the day, the British cabinet made a certain degree of adjustment, and most people remained unchanged. Fraser took over Pound's position and became the chief of staff of the Navy. Lieutenant General Brent Ramsey replaced Fraser as the commander of the local fleet (after handing over two armored aircraft carriers, the Royal Navy has now weakened to the point where there is no main battleship, so it is considered a high-end one for the lieutenant general to take office).
"You mean the terms he negotiated with Germans and Italians?" Aiden nodded, "I feel that he is a little too hasty, but in fact he can still keep the price down."
"No, I'm not referring to this." Attlee shook his head, "The conditions for the armistice negotiations are basically like this. Handing over a few more tanks and a fewer planes is not a major issue of principle. I mean that he has been speaking more and speaking more recently, and everything is ahead..."
"Isn't this a countermeasure we discussed?" Aiden was a little surprised. He looked around and saw that no one was paying attention. He lowered his voice, "We can't control him for the time being, so letting him rush forward to attract firepower for us is the ideal choice. Whether it is handing over the warship or the axis peace talks, does not seem to be the one who takes the lead? Not to mention, he is still thinking about confiscating those assets to obtain funds for the government? Such offending, unpleasant things, and harming the image and sovereignty of the country, are you going to do it?"
At the beginning, the cabinet had expectations for Edward VIII to welcome Edward VIII, hoping that he could "seriously" act as a puppet. Later, the Black Cat did not return and spoke on the other side of the strait. The cabinet quickly formed a consensus and let him act as the "burden". Now that Attlee's old words are reiterated, Aiden expressed surprise.
"I mean..." Attley gritted his teeth, "I reported to me yesterday, and His Majesty contacted Mosley."
"This..." Arden was a little surprised.
"This is a dangerous signal. Your Majesty will not appoint him to form a cabinet in the future, right?"
Aiden smiled and said, "I think you are extreme. The people have just been deeply affected by fascism. How could they support fascism? Mosley has no votes and no reliable political party, how could he come to power? Will he rely on the military coup? Who else will follow him?"
"I'm not as optimistic as you," said Attlee. "As far as I know, His Majesty's attitude has always been pro-national society. We originally hoped to use this attitude and external manifestations to gain some wiggle room for us, rather than watching him bring the fascism to Britain."
"Now the cabinet is in your hands, the parliament is in your hands, and the army is in your hands. Are you afraid of a king without real power?" Aiden felt a little incredible. "Yes, there are a few Germans around him, but if he wants to rely on a few Germans to coup, I think there is no possibility except to make the people more disgusted with Germany and destroy his throne."
"Okay, I hope I'm over-the-scenes."
Aiden smiled slightly: "Tomorrow I will go to The Hague to negotiate with Germany, France and Italy, and officially sign the armistice agreement. I also expect the Black Cat to attract firepower for us. You can make him jump more. When he is tired of jumping, he will naturally shrink back when he hits a wall. You know that he is not a person with a strong desire for power, otherwise he would not have given up the throne at the beginning. He is a pathetic and overconfident stubborn person."
Attlee and Aiden guessed the truth of the matter. Black Cat, inspired by Hoffman, was indeed discussing future political system reform with Mosley.
"Your Majesty, you have just returned to your country and have no control over the army, and there are no sympathizers or supporters in the army. The failure of the Winston coup proves that no politician can firmly control over the army at present."
"Can you achieve this wish through military demobilization and streamlining?"
"This is impossible. No matter how the officers and soldiers understand our peace agreement with Germany, one thing is that the scale of the army has been greatly reduced, and military expenditure will be suppressed and weakened in the future period. This cannot make the army have a good impression of national socialism. It would be good that they can be neutral. With the decrease in personnel, the army will become increasingly professional and elite, and the distance and mental barrier will become larger and bigger." Mosley pondered, "The only way to get unconditional support for the army is to expand the army and oppose Germany, and prepare for World War III!"
"This is impossible." Black Cat shook his head, "Britain after the war is in a different situation than Germany after the war, and it is not comparable; and the national character is also different. Those hard-working and diehards flew to Canada."
There are always similarities in history. Britain, which failed the World War, faced almost the same situation as Germany, which failed the World War, had military failures, lack of materials, and had no way to do politically. But the difference is that the two were treated differently: Germany was cut off a large area of territory after World War I, faced huge compensation, and the colonies were all lost. The military limit was only 10,000 yuan, and no heavy weapon was allowed to be displayed. However, Hoffmann's treatment to Britain seemed to be sloppy. Northern Ireland voted for the colonies, and the colonies found ways to retain part of the military restrictions. The military restrictions were less than 50,000 yuan. After handing over excess weapons and equipment as compensation, there was no need to pay another one mark. The British team could update the equipment normally and display any weapons he wanted to display except weapons of mass destruction.
This generous condition surprised the three military giants so much that they couldn't speak. They even thought that the conditions for the Germans had been wrong, but after repeated verification, it was correct. Although Britain now has more than 40,000 armed forces, before the war, the size of the British armed forces was about 50,000, which was about 50,000. The parliament often wanted to balance the budget and reduce it. Therefore, Germany said that after the war, Britain could achieve a 50,000 organization, which was equivalent to allowing British affairs to normalize.
As for the lack of compensation, the British side was overjoyed. This means that Britain will soon be able to carry out post-war reconstruction without carrying heavy burdens. There is another benefit to the United States' intervention in the coup. Britain can justify its restitution. The United States will not return the debts and leased bill materials. Although the United States did not expect the British to return it. It is not a big deal to hand over the excess equipment. Anyway, the army will have to recover. The equipment is originally aid provided by the American Kaizi, and it will be handed over. For the convenience of maintenance, the British only retained domestic heavy equipment, such as fireflies, fireflies, Lancaster and other aircraft, comets, Churchill, Cromwell and other tanks, and handed over the P-51 and Sherman tanks. As for the b-17b-29, American pilots were basically driven away as early as the coup, and there were very few left.
So after weighing the pros and cons, Attley and the military agreed to accept Germany's conditions and handed over the two aircraft carriers to Germany as soon as possible. They also carried the first batch of German pilots captured in the Battle of Britain and the subsequent British Battle.
These contents have been interpreted by British newspapers. Except for the unpleasant referendum in Northern Ireland, everyone believes that other conditions are acceptable. This is what Mosley mentioned, and there is no basis for "crazy revenge".
Hoffmann proposed such conditions, of course, was under great internal pressure, but he believed: "From Germany's experience and lessons, excessive bullying and exploiting defeated countries will have no other benefits except to prepare conditions for the next war and bury unstable factors. After the end of the last war, did Britain and France achieve compensation through Germany's reparations? Did they destroy our military system by suppressing the German army organization? No! In this case, why not give the enemy some relaxed conditions? When the British have 40,000 troops, are we still afraid that they have 50,000 troops?"
Moreover, there is a vague idea in his heart: since Germany is facing the challenges of the United States in the upcoming Cold War stage, it cannot be afraid of France and Britain's challenges, and even the weaker challenges are not dared to face them. How can we talk about dealing with stronger challenges?
On a very small number of occasions, he would confide with Sperer: "The European Union is an unprecedented cause. Although I have set a good system and a series of institutional guarantees for it, it is ultimately due to the strength of Germany's own strength. Germany's European leader cannot rely solely on the prestige brought by the victory of this war. We must achieve continuous development and innovation, always stay energetic, and always run faster than others, so that we will always have followers. The decline of an empire often means the beginning of a new round of war."
It is precisely based on this idea that Black Cat believes that there is no way out to confront Germany, and there is no value.
"Your Majesty, please recall carefully that before Hitler came to power, there was a failed coup in imitating the Italians' march towards Rome, and he ended up in prison." Mosley said, "In the end, he was able to go to power by relying on the one votes of the working class, so I will insist on the path of legal struggle and use votes and speeches to justify this route."
"So, what about me?"
“You can unite and inspire as much as you can as you think.” Mosley smiled, “If I could join the cabinet, I would promote the reforms you are looking forward to.”
After Mosley left, the black cat asked Scorzne's opinion on the other side of the eavesdropping: "David, what do you think?"
"Your Majesty..." Scottezne scratched his scalp awkwardly, "My political ability is very poor. As far as the information I heard, I think this gentleman and Attlee are no different. They all want you to be a mascot. The difference is through which path Mr. Mosley is probably national socialism, and Mr. Attlee is probably coordinating."
The black cat smiled charmingly: "David, your judgment is very accurate. This is a politician, but I have a way."
"What's the solution?"
"I can lock them in a cabinet!"
Chapter completed!