Chapter 556 Not Sending the Army
It has to be said that India has seized a good opportunity. Because a war broke out in the Far East, who has time to pay attention to India?
Alan Wilson could only cheer up his good friend Ali Khan, but could do nothing else.
After returning to London, he is now paying more attention to the situation in Europe. With the current total military strength of the United States, it is far from enough to start a war. The 11 million troops in 1945 have long since disappeared.
The United States, which has lost nearly 10 million troops, cannot fight a major war with its current military strength, so military expansion is definitely imperative.
The U.S. military, including its logistics personnel, is now probably more than one-third of the entire British army. The current total strength of the British army is 800,000, and that of the US military is 1.3 million.
The United States, like the United Kingdom, has a larger proportion of its total military strength due to its national nature. Excluding the Navy and Air Force, the U.S. Army only has 600,000 to 700,000 troops. The proportion in the UK is similar!
Under such a distribution of forces, the most important thing at the moment is not the Far East, but the Soviet Union, which is close at hand and can easily mobilize its troops. Once the Soviet Union increases the number of troops stationed in Germany, the United States and Europe must follow regardless of whether they are willing or not.
He had to use his own less powerful army to confront the Soviet Union's most powerful army.
Whether it is the United States or the Soviet Union, Europe is far more important than other regions. Alan Wilson's report stated that the Soviet Union will definitely increase its troops in Germany, and this is a way for the United Kingdom to defend Europe and try not to send a large number of ground troops. Excuse for the Korean Peninsula.
If given the option, the Cabinet certainly does not want Alan Wilson's report to come true. London would rather the Korean peninsula be bombed into nothingness than to have even one more Soviet soldier on the European side.
But there is no way. Alan Wilson just informed the Foreign Secretary of this possibility. It depends on how Herbert Morrison, Stalin, whom the British people call middle-class people, communicates with Moscow.
Anyway, Alan Wilson is very pessimistic, and the Korean Peninsula is a harmless place for Britain.
Europe is different. He does not have the ability to make London turn a blind eye to the Soviet Union's move to increase troops, unless the Soviet Union does not increase troops, but this cannot be done, so this is a deadlock.
A war broke out in the Far East, and the Soviet Union increased its troops to deter Europe, leaving European countries without the ability to help the United States. But European countries must defend themselves. Even if the confrontation in Europe intensifies, the NATO organization will immediately take a firm step forward.
After several years of hard work, NATO arrived just one year late. It still has little impact on the overall situation. The impact only exists in some local areas and local events.
For example, probably next year and the year after that, two Malta-class aircraft carriers will be ready for service. For example, the Comet airliner has sold 200 aircraft, but historically it did not even receive an order in the same year, and it has just been tested.
The biggest change is in the UK's finances. Historically, the UK has owed a lot of debt to the United States and has always been manipulated by the United States. The most advantageous thing about London now is that all short-term debts have been cleared. As for the Marshall Plan, 90% of it was a free gift. .
After calculating the results of five years of work in his head, Alan Wilson could only lament that he still has to work harder in the future.
The United States' entry into the Korean War is a good opportunity. If Britain is not affected, it can take a breather and rest.
The most important thing is that if there is no problem with the British finances, it will be confident to have face-to-face talks with the Americans. This is the same as having food at home and not panicking.
"Things are universally connected!" Alan Wilson remembered Lenin's words. If Europe continues to play music and dance, Britain will not be able to get through without participating in the war. But the Soviet Union increased its troops in Europe, and Britain also felt uncomfortable.
One of these two results must be chosen. The Soviet Union does not increase its troops for confrontation in Europe, and the United Kingdom has no reason to stall the United States. But the Soviet Union's increase in troops in Europe will definitely make Britain very uncomfortable.
Although this government has accepted the fact that the Soviet Union was severely damaged by the world war, it must be guarded against.
In the end, Alan Wilson could only sigh, in the final analysis, it is a matter of national strength. If the national strength is strong, it can handle things that are in a hurry. If the national strength is not strong enough, even if the national strength is not related to your country, the impact will be greater than that of the countries involved. big.
At this point, Alan Wilson can only take pleasure in the Korean people's situation. When this war breaks out, I believe that the Federal Republic of Germany will not drag it out any longer, and NATO will soon appear.
"I don't believe it anymore. We have nuclear bombs in hand, the economy is so much better than the same period in history, the occupied areas of the three countries have not been merged, and we can't even negotiate a condition not to dispatch the army?" Alan Wilson, who finally completed the European part of the report After thinking about it for a while, he saw who was negotiating on behalf of Britain. With so many favorable conditions in hand, if he could not negotiate more favorable conditions than history, he would go to Philby to investigate whether the person in charge of the negotiations was reliable.
Britain's request for assistance from the United States began to be discussed in the cabinet, and the first official action was the unsealing of the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Warrior. The two battleships will rush to the Far East to strengthen the British Royal Navy's military power in Asia.
Alan Wilson fully agreed and told the respected Sea Secretary Mountbatten that even if we did not talk about the Korean War, now that India is attacking Hyderabad, it would be good to go over and brush up on its presence.
"Alan, you don't think you are the Assistant Commissioner of British India, do you?" General Mountbatten sighed. As for this son-in-law, he basically has nothing to be dissatisfied with, except that he is a little too enthusiastic about India.
Alan Wilson does not deny this. He has 10,000 reasons to express concern for the future super-fast power.
"Portuguese Goa's warning to New Delhi was ignored. This trend is very worrying. Portugal also plays a role in the joint defense of the five Southeast Asian countries. If New Delhi takes care of Ali Khan in the future and threatens Portuguese Goa, What should we do? We still need Portugal’s support for matters in Southeast Asia.”
Alan Wilson sighed sadly and expressed his concern for the country and the people about the current situation.
"The current situation is unstable, and I believe the Portuguese can understand it." General Mountbatten pondered for a moment and said, "Explain Portugal with the war in the Far East and pretend that we are very busy."
"This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does!" Alan Wilson nodded, indicating that everything was as expected by General Mountbatten.
Before he came to see the unsealing of the two battleships, he had just sent a telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, talking about the things that the United States was most concerned about, such as the establishment of NATO and the merger of the occupied areas of the three countries. Then he changed the subject and told the reporter in Washington , Sir Oliver Franks, British Ambassador to the United States, in principle, all of the above issues can be discussed. At present, the war is going on and the Soviet bloc is gaining momentum. Britain can give up some of its previous conditions, but as for sending troops, it is best not to send out the army.
"Sir Oliver Franks, you are considered by your colleagues in Whitehall to be an extremely reliable gentleman."
Sir Oliver Franks of the British Embassy in Washington took this telegram and shook his head with a wry smile. It actually involved the issue of reliability. It seemed that the cabinet had made up its mind to avoid sending ground troops.
This is a prudent decision made after careful consideration by the Cabinet and Whitehall leaders. After all, the U.S. military is now beaten into disgrace. Americans always say that they are invincible, but what European countries see is continuous retreat.
The telegram even stated that European countries generally believed that this was an attempt by the Soviet Union to attack the East and attack the West. The purpose of initiating conflicts in the Far East to divert attention was to make European countries relax their vigilance.
At this point, Sir Oliver Franks could only do his best. Alan Wilson himself also added some personal contacts in the telegram, saying that Sir Oliver Franks could go to Senator McCarthy, and he might get unexpected gains. .
Alan Wilson was an extremely nostalgic man, and of course he kept in touch with McCarthy.
As a friend when the other party was in decline, the current situation of the Korean War and whether the combat effectiveness of American soldiers is worth relying on appeared in recent letters.
He also expressed in a private letter that he hoped McCarthy would not reveal Europe's suspicions about the United States' successive defeats. This is not good for Europe and the solidarity relations between countries.
It was definitely fun to be friends with Alan Wilson. He knew that McCarthy's history ended disastrously because of conflicts with the military, so he helped his friend fill this loophole.
Because based on Alan Wilson's understanding of McCarthy, McCarthy would definitely take the opportunity to criticize the Truman administration for its weakness. This actually plays into the military's plan.
When Sir Oliver Franks discussed with the U.S. government, it should have been very confidential to mention European countries' concerns about the retreat of the U.S. military, but McCarthy still knew about it.
At the hearing, McCarthy, with the support and solidarity of the Republican Party, launched a fierce attack on the situation in Asia that had deteriorated to this point, believing that a domino effect had already occurred, which was all due to Truman's original weakness.
"The United States under the leadership of the Democratic Party has made the Soviet Union look down upon, its allies have doubts, and the frustration of the soldiers who are constantly retreating, and the Americans who have lost their lives, this responsibility should be borne by the Democratic Party."
McCarthy shouted to his supporters at the top of his lungs, "The soldiers who don't know where to retreat now are helpless and have panic-stricken faces for no reason. Even our European allies are at this time They all have doubts about the leadership of the United States, and we should immediately and immediately attack the enemies who challenge the United States."
Across the Atlantic in London, aerial photos of the Soviet Union's troop surge in Soviet-occupied areas were placed in front of cabinet ministers.
"The first thing we have to do is to maintain the prosperity and stability of Europe." Prime Minister Attlee was silent for a long time, which can be regarded as a final conclusion for this matter. The ground troops will remain in Europe and the navy and air force will be sent to support the United States.