Chapter 1284 Only India Was Injured

"Huh? What exactly is it?" John raised his eyebrows. He still didn't understand what it meant, but he came back to his senses immediately, "Oil embargo?"

"Uh-huh! Targeting India alone." Alan Wilson said to his old friend, "Oil is a weapon, especially for India. Are there large oil-producing areas in India? No. If there were, wouldn't we know about it? ? Oil is a major weakness of India, so once the India-Pakistan war starts, letting Middle Eastern countries use it as a weapon can help Pakistan."

"Oil, this is what the Germans lost in the first place." John chuckled, comparing the Germans to India, "Do you think oil is enough to defeat India?"

"We won't do this if we can defeat us, but it can make India quite uncomfortable. But then again, this is not Europe's weakness. Compared with the United States and the Soviet Union, Europe has too many resource shortcomings."

Alan Wilson sighed deeply. Europe, to be precise, Western Europe, is on the same level as India in terms of natural resources. What is better than India is that Europe has good agricultural conditions. At least it has hot and rainy seasons, unlike India where it rains all the time. Focus on two months.

To say that there are not many places with good natural conditions in the world, there are not many good places that favor industry and agriculture, such as the European part of the Soviet Union, a certain big country and the United States.

Comparing the conditions of the agricultural era alone, the United States cannot be ranked. The cold snaps that harvest regularly in North America every few years make the farming community untenable. Otherwise, Spain would have chosen North America instead of Central America as the center. Of course, who was in the industrial era? They all admit that the United States is uniquely endowed with favorable conditions.

Of course, a large country in the industrial era was not bad, and its various mineral reserves were relatively large, but the quality was not very good. No matter how you compare it, not every country is Australia.

As for Western Europe, the agricultural conditions in Western Europe are good, but the two countries are almost crazy about the ownership of the coal and iron on the German-French border. The British only have coal and iron of poor quality and are suppressing Western Europe. You know that Western Europe and India have a lot of natural resources. The reputation of "mountain-side-by-side" is not unfounded.

"You know this, why are you still doing this?" John was very surprised. Europe also lacks oil. Of course, Britain does not. Britain has North Sea oil, but North Sea oil cannot fill the oil gap in Europe. Today, the Middle East countries are facing a shortage of oil. If India does this, if Arab countries get a taste of the benefits, will they use it in Europe in the future?

"In fact, for us, the harm is not big. After the development of the Gulf of Guinea in Africa, the harm of the oil embargo to Europe is controllable. But India does not have the conditions we do not have. Moreover, if such a thing happens, it will provide European countries with Wake up and realize that oil security is also a good thing." Alan Wilson told his friends that the reason for doing this was simply to use India as a touchstone for Europe.

Alan Wilson is the staunchly pro-European Cabinet Secretary-General, and now the situation is much bigger than before. At least Britain will never surrender until the blood of the Indians is drained.

Europe will never surrender.

"Furthermore, the UK has not withdrawn from the Persian Gulf. This can be used to get European countries to support Britain's permanent presence in the Persian Gulf, at least with understanding." Alan Wilson continued to be persuasive, "Let them know that Europe cannot be self-sufficient in energy and energy security problems are serious. . In this case, they are at least implicitly supporting Britain’s presence in the Persian Gulf.”

When playing cards, different timing of playing cards will bring different results. The oil crisis was originally the result of the West's support for Israel during the Fourth Middle East War. That time, the United States and the United States suffered heavy losses, not to mention Europe. At that time, the British military presence had already withdrawn from the Persian Gulf, so it was naturally unable to exert influence.

It is easy to withdraw something like a colony, but it is even more difficult to go back. If an oil crisis breaks out while Britain is still there, and the tragedy becomes known to European countries. Not only does Europe have no objection to Britain's presence in the Persian Gulf, but Britain itself is also aware of this risk and is no longer naive about the so-called decolonization.

As long as Britain stays in the Persian Gulf, it will naturally have solutions to many Middle East problems. Whatever the United States wants to do, it must have Britain's cooperation. As long as the UK doesn't cooperate, it can't be done.

John was silent for a long time, nodded and said, "Will the cabinet agree?"

"Does the cabinet dare to joke about its own approval rating? They don't dare!" Alan Wilson said in a don't joke tone. "The spontaneous actions of Arab countries have nothing to do with the United Kingdom. Since it has nothing to do with the United Kingdom, it is important whether the cabinet agrees. What?"

Anyway, Alan Wilson felt that while Britain still had a military presence in the Persian Gulf, it would be beneficial to have a targeted oil crisis. Use India's plight to serve Britain.

It can also show the unity among the Peace Cults and make Europe aware of the energy issue. There are not many things that can be accomplished with one stone. It is a win-win outcome.

Now that the United States is busy marching northward, it is unlikely to intervene in the war between India and Pakistan. At this time, when will the United Kingdom not take the initiative to shoulder the important responsibility of the special relationship between Britain and the United States?

The importance of the Persian Gulf has been raised. Is it necessary to retain Britain's huge ocean-going fleet? Is it necessary to maintain the shipbuilding industry? This is also good for the Royal Navy.

It must be emphasized here that the United States has never been a strong shipbuilding country. The booming development of American shipbuilding is closely related to the world war. Once the war is over, American shipbuilding will return to its original shape. The largest fleet in the world is still owned by the United Kingdom, and even Japan's fleet is much larger than that of the United States.

The U.S. shipbuilding industry only serves the military field, and it is not a problem that only appeared in the 21st century. It is just that there are still some civilian shipbuildings that are better than nothing. It is not like this will disappear in future generations.

Even the merchant fleet that travels between North America and Europe is mostly British, and the American merchant fleet is very small.

Of course, it is still much better than later generations. In the 21st century, among the more than 40,000 ocean-going merchant ships in the world, the number of merchant ships registered in the United States is less than 200. Although more than $1 trillion in trade is shipped to and from the United States each year, the vast majority of which is transported by sea vessels, only about one percent of that volume is registered in the United States.

The powerful U.S. Navy is protecting the route from a certain major country to the United States to prevent this lifeline, which is extremely important to the United States, from being threatened by a certain major country.

In the past 1964, American civilian shipbuilding only fluctuated around 200,000 tons a year, a fraction of the current British shipbuilding industry. As Alan Wilson targets Japan, the civilian shipbuilding competition between Britain and Japan will only have a negative impact on the U.S. shipbuilding industry, which is already better than nothing.

Of course, it was always a bit unsafe to make moves only in Arab countries. After thinking hard, Alan Wilson still considered the interests of Portugal, a loyal ally for hundreds of years. It was decided to have some exchanges in the field of intelligence cooperation, hoping that the Salazar government could exert its influence and play a positive role in this conflict between India and Pakistan.

Although Portugal has laid mines around Goa, gone back on its word with New Delhi, and is not negotiating on the Goa issue, objectively Goa is still in Portuguese hands. The Salazar government cannot deny this fact and should make its due contribution to regional peace.

If a war between India and Pakistan breaks out and affects the stability of South Asia, Portugal's interests will also be harmed. This is a bad thing for everyone, and Britain is not willing to see this situation happen.

The meeting of colonial commissioners ended in victory. Profitability would give Britain another incentive to continue to maintain the existence of the colony. The major commissioners in the colony still knew the general idea and understood what this meant.

The first batch of Marine Corps to cross the ocean from the United States, a total of 3,500 marines, landed in South Vietnam. It was already March. In the past period, the United States dispatched an average of 3,600 aircraft per month. sorties, carpet bombing North Vietnam.

"In terms of intelligence support, we still need to work closely with Washington. This is also the intention of the Prime Minister." Richard White of General Intelligence 6 was called, and Alan Wilson solemnly ordered, "It is not in the interests of the United Kingdom to join the war. , and we are in a confrontation with Indonesia and cannot escape. But outside the military field, we still firmly support all actions of the United States."

Richard White nodded to express his understanding, "We have always maintained close contact with the United States. There is absolutely no problem with this."

"What else? Pay attention to the brutality of civilians by American soldiers." Now that the trivial matters were over, Alan Wilson began to talk about serious matters, "Don't get me wrong, Americans always say that Britain is a colonizer. During the Nassau Conference, We have produced some evidence of mishandling by U.S. soldiers in Japan and South Korea. Well, we have to keep pace with the times. You and I both know that everyone in the war hopes not to disturb civilians, but in fact it is not It's possible. War itself is life-threatening, and you still expect the soldiers participating in the war to be like angels?"

"Cruelty against civilians will definitely occur. We have some evidence in our hands, which will have a positive effect on the exchanges between Britain and the United States."

"Well, I understand." Richard White accepted this explanation and heard the secretary-general continue, "Secretary work is extremely important. We don't want to delay the actions of the US military. We can even help cover up some incidents, but like As I just said, you have to have the evidence in your hands. Also, be careful. Britain will not nominally participate in any aspect of the war. Agents working abroad should not cause trouble for Britain."

At present, the nine missing agents in Indonesia should have unfortunately died for the country, because the Soviets did not make a fuss about the matter. This also made Alan Wilson breathe a sigh of relief. He can only say that he died a worthy death.