Chapter 309: Scare Jinnah

Lower-level civil servants are not so strict on partisan issues, but senior civil servants have strictly avoided appearing at any party gatherings, let alone taking a stand.

It's just that Edward Bridges has already found a successor and will help Prime Minister Attlee before leaving office, which will complete the smooth handover of the head of the civil service.

Obviously, Attlee himself accurately received Edward Bridges's goodwill and said, "The opposition parties are also an important force in British politics, just as important as the smooth handover of civil servants."

"The words of a great prime minister are always impressive." A smile appeared on Edward Bridges' lips, and he sincerely complimented the prime minister's great decision-making.

"What should we do specifically? It's best not to act like I'm begging that arrogant man." Winston, who has authority, just had fun. In Attlee's eyes, Churchill was still the same arrogant man.

Similarly, in Churchill's eyes, the current Prime Minister Attlee is still the mediocre person who does nothing. Even if the British choose mediocrity, they will not choose him.

"Before the drought occurred in the subcontinent, Gandhi once wrote to Senator Churchill. Although the time is a little further away, it can still be used. It is necessary to let the people know about it." Edward Bridges remembered something , this letter does exist and is not a forgery.

Gandhi did write to Churchill last year, hoping that Churchill could moderate the increasingly obvious hostility between the Congress and the Muslim League.

When Prime Minister Attlee heard this, he understood it in his heart and said sincerely, "The people's right to know is so necessary."

If Churchill, a backbencher, only chatted in Parliament every day and pointed fingers at the ruling party on the issue of British India, but turned a deaf ear to Gandhi's request, this would be a destructive thing.

Everyone knows that Churchill kept saying that he wanted to safeguard the interests of the British Empire. Now when the interests of the British Empire need to be safeguarded, he hid aside and pretended not to see it? This seems difficult to associate with the image of a leader in Congress.

Gandhi's letter to Churchill was published as an exclusive in the Daily Telegraph. The sincere request for help in the letter appeared in front of the citizens of London in this way.

Just when Churchill learned the news and asked the government to launch a leak investigation, Prime Minister Attlee first rushed to express his position in front of Churchill. On the one hand, he affirmed Churchill's achievements in leading the British Empire during the war and its international prestige was indeed that of the British Empire. valuable treasure, and is considering whether to let Congressman Churchill shoulder a more arduous task to completely solve the problem of British India.

During this period, Prime Minister Attlee also used this incident as a reason to formally reject the United States' request for Britain to send more troops to Greece. It said that there was nothing more important to the British Empire than British India.

And the Near East is so important as it is the bridgehead to contain the Soviet Union. The United States shoulders the responsibility of leading the free world, and so on.

To be fair, the Labor Party was as dissatisfied with the Soviet Union as the Conservative Party, but the Labor Party preferred that the United States bear the main firepower, rather than like the Conservative Party, where the United Kingdom would provide as much power as the United States provided.

The Labor government believed that the report submitted by Edward Bridges, actually submitted by Alan Wilson, stated that the only threat to the colonies of the British Empire in a short period of time was the superior U.S. Navy, not the It was the Soviet Red Navy that was better than nothing.

Europe is of course important to Britain, but this does not mean that the colonies are not important. Specific matters must be analyzed in detail.

At this time, in New Delhi, the capital of British India, gentlemen were enjoying afternoon tea. In the Governor's Office, Mountbatten, the Governor of British India, accompanied by his wife, was discussing the future of British India with Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League. .

"I wonder if our governor is happy with this meeting?" Sir Barron held the tea cup with a relaxed look on his face, which seemed to have reached another level. Although it may not be described correctly, this is probably the feeling.

"Who knows, but...it should not be optimistic." Alan Wilson took a big breath and turned a big corner. He had met Ali Jinnah and knew that the leader of the Muslim League was not an easy person to convince.

Governor Mountbatten was good at sociability, able to become friends with many people, and had an impressive charisma. But this also depends on who is right. Not everyone is like this, especially Ali Jinnah, who was not long dead. How could he be in principle? Compromise on issues.

This is exactly what happened. Although the talks were not over yet, Mountbatten had already realized this problem. There was never anything pleasant in his talks with Jinnah, because apart from fighting for the establishment of an independent Pakistan, Ali Jinnah Apart from the dispute, any other alternatives are unwilling to be accepted.

Ali Jinnah also opposed even the tripartite plan for the retention of princely states. Because the Peace Christians are a minority compared to the Hindus, both in terms of population and land.

There are also princely states in the areas controlled by the Peace Christians. In terms of the proportion of land they occupy, they are no easier to deal with than the Hindu princely states. If they are weakened by the same proportion based on the current basis. The Hindus have a strong foundation and can withstand it, but Pakistan will be more obviously weakened by the princely states. The foundations of the two sides are not of the same level.

If these independent princely states were in places occupied by Hindus, Ali Jinnah would not have objected.

But the problem is that except for Hyderabad, Mysore, Indore, Jammu and Kashmir, Travancore, and Junagadh, the remaining big states are actually in Pakistan.

But regarding the issue of princely states, Ali Jinnah only expressed his opposition, but did not have any fierce words. Because he believed that Nehru was on the same page as him and refuted the work of the new Governor-General, Ali Jinnah decided to leave it to Nehru.

It is not that there are no leaders who support the retention of princely states. For example, Gandhi, who has not yet met Governor Mountbatten, is actually not particularly tough on the existence of princely states, but Gandhi means that the entire political system of British India can be retained. Only in this way can Allowing the existence of a princely state means that Pakistan cannot be independent.

Nehru's attitude is a fact that everyone knows. He must have believed that the feudal states were remnants of feudalism and must be eliminated, otherwise India after independence would be nothing more than a fragmented country. But Nehru would not say it publicly now.

As for Ali Jinnah, he definitely still strives for independence. On this point, Alan Wilson can even communicate with Ali Jinnah and help the other party come up with ideas.

While he was thinking this, Ali Jinnah had already come out of the Governor's office, his face looking the same as usual.

When the door of the Governor's office was opened, a puff of white smoke immediately floated out from the office. People who didn't know better thought there was a fire in the office, but for Ali Jinnah, who smoked fifty cigarettes a day, this was all a small scene. .

The tall figure of Governor Mountbatten also appeared with a stern face. Sir Barron and Alan Wilson looked at each other and understood each other. Their previous guesses were correct. The sociable Governor was not sociable in front of Ali Jinnah this time.

"Mr. Jinnah is a very gentlemanly man and knows the local customs of London very well." Mountbatten said dryly, "I have kept him for the dinner."

"A very correct decision." Sir Barron agreed happily. It seems that the so-called gentleman's demeanor and London's customs are all gained from this meeting between the Governor and the leader of the Muslim League.

It was natural to organize a dinner to welcome Ali Jinnah, and the civil servants in the Governor's House were convinced of this. Look at Ali Jinnah's graceful demeanor, which is much more pleasing to the eye than that weirdly dressed Gandhi.

Ali Jinnah was no stranger to the British-style Government House. In fact, for most of his life, he was far more pro-London than the leaders of the Congress Party. He led the Muslim League to emphasize peaceful believers. His identity was after he fell out with Gandhi.

"Mr. Jinnah, although smoking is not a big problem, you must pay attention to your health." Alan Wilson, who was walking around with Pamela Mountbatten with a wine glass, happened to see this when he walked to Ali Jinnah. A leader of the Muslim League stood by the window and took his time to light one.

"This is a personal hobby of mine." Ali Jinnah turned around and saw Alan Wilson and Pamela Mountbatten, and praised, "What a beautiful scene, a young man and woman, immersed in sweet love. In love.”

"Not really." Pamela Mountbatten said with a blush on her face after hearing this, "How can the leader of a political party be like this?"

"I was also young and studied in London. My first wife died of illness while I was studying in London. The health level of the subcontinent is far behind that of London."

Ali Jinnah was full of emotions. At that time, Jinnah was sixteen years old. Jinnah married a fourteen-year-old girl according to tradition. But as soon as he arrived in England, he received news that his mother and his newly married wife had died. cholera.

"Health is indeed the top priority." Alan Wilson paused for a moment, tilted his head and said to Pamela Mountbatten, "Pamela, go over there and wait for me. I have something to discuss with Mr. Jinnah. OK?"

"I know." Pamela Mountbatten rolled her eyes, but still walked aside very obediently, leaving personal space for Alan Wilson and Ali Jinnah.

Seeing this scene, Ali Jinnah waited until Pamela Mountbatten left and said directly, "Alan, do you want to see me?"

"A kind of streptomycin was discovered in the United States, which can be used to treat tuberculosis." Alan Wilson put his hands in his trouser pockets, looked up to the sky, and spoke nonsensically.

This shocked Ali Jinnah, who had very serious tuberculosis, but it was a secret. Almost no one knows!