Chapter 558 Anti-War Britain

It was inevitable that Edward Bridges, the former cabinet secretary and current deputy secretary of the Treasury, would be asked to help. Fortunately, as an expatriate civil servant, Alan Wilson does not have to be involved in the intricate relationships within Whitehall.

Edward Bridges was a man who had a sense of distance from all parties, which was significantly different from Norman Brooke.

Norman Brooke has always maintained a personal relationship with Churchill, the leader of the opposition party. Prime Minister Attlee also knew this. Attlee also agreed that Churchill could use government files to complete his memoirs, on the condition that he would not leak government secrets or seek partisan benefits. , and the review work was done by Norman Brooke.

Norman Brooke was often the first reader of Churchill's works, and Norman Brooke also had to revise them.

Alan Wilson believed that Churchill must have discussed with Norman Brooke in recent months whether the rumored royalty reform should be implemented or not.

Churchill would definitely inquire about something related to his vital interests. Norman Brooke also understood Churchill's style and vulnerabilities very well.

Although the two cabinet secretaries before and after were no longer as close as they were at the beginning, this did not undermine the authority of Edward Bridges. As for what Alan Wilson had to do, everything went smoothly.

The influence of the Cabinet Secretary is indeed greater than that of the Deputy Secretary of Finance and the Civil Service Secretary. This is an undeniable fact. But that doesn’t mean Edward Bridges will lose his influence.

Naturally, Edward Bridges also talked about the recent war, "The Americans will not fail to listen to our suggestions."

"That's not necessarily true. Their way of thinking is different from ours." Alan Wilson shrugged, "It's impossible to estimate."

The UK and the US are different. Although the UK once pursued world hegemony, the UK still prioritizes maintaining stability.

As an isolated island country in Europe, its long-term policy is to unite with the second-largest players on the European continent to beat the boss of the European continent, and never allow a superpower to emerge on the European continent.

But after a fight comes a fight, Britain is often the kindest to the losing side. Because it knows that if it kills the boss completely, the second one behind will immediately become the new boss with a big tail, and it will have to beat it again.

France knows this best. Britain has always chosen a balance between war and allowing the defeated country to preserve its strength.

Britain also seems to put its interests first when it comes to its colonies. Of course, judging from the current results, it was Britain's own choice to be bullied by the Americans. If it were France, the United States would not be able to become independent so easily.

The strategy adopted by the British in the colonies was a high degree of autonomy.

Turn the locals into merchants and squeeze the last penny out of trade.

To this end, we will actively arrange for local people to study in the UK, which will facilitate self-governance. Therefore, the middle and upper classes in British colonies often still have a favorable impression of the British.

Although the United States has a similar environment to the United Kingdom, it is not a real island country. There are still differences in the thinking of the two countries.

Edward Bridges was more in favor of keeping a distance from the United States and strongly agreed to send ground troops to participate in the war as much as possible, just as he had always kept a distance from his cabinet ministers.

However, like Norman Brooke, Edward Bridges also believed that it was not as easy as imagined to completely avoid sending ground troops, but he also said that this matter could be discussed.

Edward Bridges was obviously more concerned about the news of the Soviet Union's reinforcement of troops in Germany, and gave his own opinion. Finally, he said, "Alan, it seems that you will face the situation after returning to Malaya. There may be some changes, do you need any help?"

"Sir Edward, I will definitely speak if necessary." Alan Wilson did not hide anything and said directly, "Although people in many places are just like Indians, they always miss the land they briefly occupied thousands of years ago. But I believe that no matter how confident the Chinese are, they will not have any thoughts about Malaya. I really hope that the other side will do this. Once it does, won’t the Soviet Union be wary?"

Alan Wilson does not object to the mentality of his ancestors who were too generous, as long as it is in moderation. The British also have this mentality. After all, the Industrial Revolution was completed independently by Britain. There is no industrial revolution that happened in the West but not elsewhere. The correct answer is why it didn't happen in other countries but in the UK.

It's just that the UK happens to be in Europe geographically, so European countries benefit from it. Is it true that Oxford University, which was established before the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed, is a lie?

"It is indeed difficult to exert influence on the United States with our current strength. If Canada and Australia can stand on our side, it may be much easier." Edward Bridges knew clearly that to calm the United States, just rely on Britain itself is not enough.

"It is difficult to convince Canada and Australia." Alan Wilson said with a wry smile. "From my understanding of the two countries, Canada does have a common language with us, but Canada is too close to the United States. The mentality of the Australians is different from that of the United States." The United States is almost the same and is very keen to participate in the war, but it used to follow the United Kingdom and now it is following the United States. Of course, I agree. In a candid attitude, we should inform the two countries of our concerns. Once the situation finally gets out of control, it can be regarded as an advance warning for us. pass."

Although Alan Wilson feels that it is of no use, there is still no problem with being honest and reminding him.

If everything goes well and the glory belongs to the United States, if it causes a series of tragic consequences in the end, of course the United States will have to bear it alone.

Although historically, Attlee's cabinet maintained great restraint during the entire war, Britain contributed one-thirtieth of the United States' ground troops to the war with two-thirds of the United States' military strength.

But Alan Wilson still thought it was not enough. If he was asked to tell the truth, it would be best not to participate in the war. The United States does not pay for the British military's military expenditures, so why should it risk the confiscation of British-owned enterprises and the loss of its monopoly on trade channels with China, with Hong Kong as the core, by getting involved.

What is different from history is that now Malaya is dominated by Chinese, and rubber and tin mines have promoted the British economy. Once Malaya falls into a state of instability, the British economy, which has just improved, will have problems again.

Regarding the merger of the occupied areas of the three countries and a positive response to the United States, and the establishment of a transatlantic military alliance in exchange for Britain not sending out its army to participate in the war, the United States has already made a lot of money. In this case, what else does Washington want?

As the North Korean army advanced rapidly and the US military continued to retreat, Alan Wilson, who returned to London, drew on the geographical situation, historical traditions, and the extremely adventurous foreign policy of the Soviet Union in the early days of its establishment, as well as the expectation that British interests would be damaged. .

It is clear to the Labor government that the risks of this war are huge. The reason why Americans think they are invincible is just because Americans think so. This war is not as easy to win as Washington imagines.

At the same time, Canada and Australia were informed of Britain's position in this war through public opinion. Out of traditional feelings, Britain very much wanted to help the United States. But Britain cannot organize a five-nation joint defense to contain Indonesia, confront the Soviet Union in Europe, and at the same time organize an expeditionary force to go to places it has never heard of.

Moreover, the objects of support were still part of Japan only five years ago. Many of the captured Allied soldiers in Southeast Asia were guarded by Koreans.

How to create an anti-war atmosphere does not require Alan Wilson or a Whitehall civil servant to worry about it. As long as politicians want to avoid participating in the war, they will naturally have countermeasures.

For example, in the past few days, there has been a sudden increase in anti-war letters from local Labor Party organizations. Anti-war petitions organized by veterans of World War II, especially in the Asian battlefields, prisoners of war who had been captured and returned by luck were very dissatisfied with helping a place that had been the main source of Japanese soldiers to fight.

Public opinion needs to be guided. For example, after Alan Wilson discovered the unprofessionalism of anti-war public opinion, he said that he could focus on reporting on the fact that Austria and Thailand were punished after the war, while South Korea was safe and sound.

The situation in Austria is known to everyone in Europe. It is occupied by the four-nation partition just like the treatment of Germany itself. As for Thailand's foresight, which relied on a humble social institution, it was immediately settled by Qiu after the war and ceded the Kra Isthmus.

The report focused on World War II, especially veterans who participated in the Southeast Asian war, claiming that Koreans were part of Japan at that time, and the cruel treatment of Allied soldiers in prisoner-of-war camps was indispensable to Koreans.

For a time, Britain's anti-war public opinion was completely aroused. After such an atmosphere, Prime Minister Attlee's Labor government officially opened communication with Washington, saying not to involve Britain on the most difficult issues.

The UK is willing to contribute more to the defense of Europe, but the issue of the Korean Peninsula has nothing to do with the UK.

Moreover, the fact that the US military is currently retreating makes it difficult for the UK to have confidence in its next military operations.

But even so, Britain is still willing to dispatch its navy and air force to assist the United States in stabilizing the situation on the peninsula. This is the maximum that the UK can do at this stage.

This can be regarded as the current British government officially sending a signal to the United States that Britain supports limited intervention. As for other issues, such as sending ground troops, Britain is powerless.

As for Alan Wilson himself, of course he is doing very important things, such as learning ballet with Hepburn. There is also official business. Isn't he running for Malaya to find high-quality breeding pigs from Great White York?

The current fact that the US military is retreating is indeed embarrassing to Washington, but this does not mean that the five-star general, Emperor Mai. Emperor Mai, who was in Tokyo to solve Japan's problems, was obviously not as timid as the British. Even though the American soldiers were retreating, Emperor Mai still believed he could win.