Chapter 797 The Sea Lord’s Thoughts

Chapter 792 The Sea Lord’s Thoughts

The general election a month ago scared the Labor Party, which had been in power for nearly ten years, into a cold sweat, but it was finally over.

Attlee set a record for the Labor Party's winning streak against the Conservative Party. It was certainly a huge achievement for a party that was much younger than the Conservative Party. But no one expected that Attlee's first order was to let Mon Patton became First Sea Lord.

In terms of status, it is natural for Mountbatten to become the First Sea Lord. Attlee is also willing to fulfill Mountbatten's dream, but at the same time he is also helpless with the stubbornness of the old-school generals in the Navy and wants to find someone to suppress the Navy. general. Mountbatten is the most suitable.

Attlee is actually ten years younger than Churchill, and is already 71 years old this year. Britain is currently facing problems about the future. In fact, the Labor Party cannot be called peaceful. The early grievances between Prime Minister Attlee and Foreign Secretary Morrison. It is almost an open secret in the Labor Party that Attlee can accept anyone as the future leader of the Labor Party, but not Morrison.

But in front of Mountbatten, Attlee did not show such worries and encouraged the new First Sea Lord, "Louis, do you have any views on the future development of the navy? Let me put it bluntly, in the future of nuclear war, Under the threat, many people have made some controversial remarks about the existence of the Grand Fleet."

"Is that so?" Mountbatten pretended to be suddenly enlightened and said in a cautious tone, "Then...what is it specifically?"

Attlee told Mountbatten: "I think the Treasury is no longer interested in the navy. The navy is the third largest service. And there is always doubt about the navy's ability to function in an age of nuclear war. Even the other services The generals of the military services also share this view.”

Even Field Marshal Montgomery said in a speech at the Royal United Military College, "The navy could only play a small role in the world war. In other periods, the navy did almost nothing."

Mountbatten remembered his frequent communication with his son-in-law who was far away in Kuala Lumpur, and had discussed the status of the navy more than once. He pondered for a moment and said, "The status of the navy is a macro issue. In terms of status, it depends on the United Kingdom." Is it a global power or an insignificant role that only exists in Europe? If it is the former, the importance of the navy can be solved through structural optimization and can play a role together with other services. If it is the latter, the navy is indeed useless. "

"As for the optimized development of the navy, of course we must find ways to build a navy that is sufficiently threatening but not bloated. Among other things, the overseas assets of 3.5 billion pounds also require global naval protection. "

"I almost forgot, your son-in-law is the deputy secretary-general of the Overseas Assets Management Committee." Prime Minister Attlee nodded. How many state-owned overseas assets the UK currently has cannot be hidden from Mountbatten.

"The navy can also become a more covert launch platform. I am referring to the role of nuclear submarines." Mountbatten seemed to have been thinking about this issue for a long time and proposed two cornerstones of the navy's positioning.

The Navy has to first let others admit that Royal Navy ships can become carriers of large-scale traveling rockets in the future.

Then other matters can be put on the agenda.

The second cornerstone is the assurance of support for amphibious strike forces operating around the world to protect British interests.

Regardless of whether it is any of the three joint combat commands in the Near East, the Middle East or the Far East, the navy needs to play a role.

"So the first thing I did when I took office as First Sea Lord was to visit the United States to talk about the issue of nuclear submarines." General Mountbatten added, "Only when we have a reliable counterattack force can we calmly reduce the number of surface fleets. Scale. The best way to deal with submarines is to develop submarines."

The submarine threat Mountbatten mentioned refers to Soviet nuclear submarines. The Soviet Union's nuclear submarine has started construction. It is the second nuclear submarine to start construction after the United States' Nautilus nuclear submarine. The intelligence has been mastered by the United Kingdom.

The first-generation Soviet attack nuclear submarine, called the Red October class by NATO, or N-class for short, was developed by the Soviet Malachite Design Bureau and built by the Severodvinsk Shipyard. This intelligence was certified, and the UK was the first country to feel the pressure. After all, the United States is on the other side of the Atlantic, so how could the UK feel the same way.

As the commander of the Grand Fleet of the Royal Navy, Mountbatten was of course fully aware of the development of the navies of various countries. After all, this was his beloved profession and he would not mess with it like other aspects.

"Then, of course, it couldn't be better. But in the United States, success is the best, but you must also be mentally prepared for failure." As soon as Attlee heard that Mountbatten's first thing in taking office was to fight with the Americans. When we talk about cooperation on nuclear submarines, I still feel a drumbeat in my heart.

He was unwilling to say that the Americans had betrayed their trust, but in fact, the fact was that they tore up the agreement after the successful nuclear weapons test.

But when he thought that if Mountbatten was still rejected by the Americans because of his good connections, it would also be a good thing to give up on the British's own research as soon as possible, so he did not stop him.

Nuclear submarines are indeed very important to Britain, especially after the Soviet Union's nuclear submarine intelligence was certified, the cabinet's support for the nuclear submarine project increased again. Attlee also hoped that Mountbatten would make progress.

"The international situation is very chaotic. France is retreating from Asia, and India is pushing for an international conference that excludes the free world. Louis, you are the last British-Indian Governor-General. What do you think Nehru is thinking?" Attlee scratched the light bulb. The bright forehead shows a typical British hairstyle.

Having thick hair like Mountbatten is a dream for many people, not to mention that Mountbatten had more than that.

The word wealth means wealth to most people! But for Mountbatten, wealth and nobility were his embodiment.

"What about Nehru? That's right. We look for the answer from history." Mountbatten was also a master of conversational skills. While answering, he was thinking about his son-in-law who really expressed concern for India.

He, the British-Indian Governor-General, was also in trouble. After taking office, the most he did was to hold banquets at the Governor-General's Palace and became familiar with the upper class people in India. His son-in-law was the one who had a deep understanding of India.

"Nehru enjoyed almost complete freedom in India's foreign affairs. There are five main core ideas formed in practice, namely independence, nationalism, anti-colonialism, internationalism and neutralism or non-alignment. They became India's Guiding principles of foreign affairs. He is also wary of the United States because the United States believes that Kashmir should be independent."

Nehru visited the United States in 1949, but this visit did not intensify the friendship between the United States and India. On the contrary, after Nehru returned to the United States, he led the nationalization and took back the Mysore Iron and Steel Company owned by the United States Steel Company. mine.

Of course, Mountbatten knew the ins and outs of this, because the Mysore iron ore was sold to the United States Steel Company by his son-in-law at the time. But the fundamental reason lies in the United States' attitude towards Kashmir when Nehru visited the United States.

When India and Pakistan disputed the ownership of Kashmir, the United States advocated for Kashmir's independence and became the Switzerland of the East. It is believed that Kashmir belongs to the heart of Asia and has an important strategic position. This made Nehru very angry.

Attlee nodded and approved Mountbatten's judgment. He believed that Mountbatten, as the Governor-General of Britain and India, should have such an understanding.

Little did he know that there was another person who had such an acquaintance, but he always used telegrams to communicate with his father-in-law.

After a while, Mountbatten left No. 10 Downing Street, but he did not go home. Instead, he couldn't wait to rush to the Admiralty Headquarters. The eagerness in his heart was evident.

It wouldn't be a dream come true if I didn't sit in the office where my father once lived.

Although there is now a yellow-brown building in front of the window of Prince Louis' office, blocking the sunlight from outside, this did not damage Mountbatten's good mood. This was a position he had dreamed of for many years and dreamed of countless times while dreaming. been.

Some people now question the status of the Royal Navy, but Mountbatten still forgot the small unpleasantness and devoted himself to his first day of work as Lord of the Admiralty.

"Mrs. Wilson, congratulations on your father becoming the First Sea Lord." York Schweizer expressed congratulations to the woman in front of him. After several meetings, he also knew Pamela Mountbatten and hoped that others would call her Mrs. Wilson. .

Ike Keswick expressed less clearly, "Today's newspaper said that ethnic conflicts broke out in East Malaysia and hundreds of people died. Commissioner Wilson should be busy."

"If he is not busy, he will expose this fake news in a few days, and attribute the emergence of fake news to Indonesia or some other country, a conspiracy to disrupt British Malaya and sow harmonious ethnic relations." Pamela Mountbatten maintained his ladylike posture and said casually, "The fake news was also released by the Administrative Office."

"Why do you do this?" York Schweizer asked in confusion. "It also shocked us. All the major newspapers are talking about it. Who will believe the newspapers in the future?"

"Freedom of speech, instigating ethnic conflicts, it is better for the two major ethnic groups in Malaya not to be too harmonious." Pamela Mountbatten chuckled, "By the way, expose the fake news to throw dirty water on Indonesia."

At this moment, the door was pushed open, and the man behind the instigation of ethnic conflicts appeared, followed by a Chinese face.

The two were talking and laughing, and glanced at the two guests from the Schweizer family and the Keswick family. Alan Wilson took out the telegram from his pocket and said, "The telegram my father gave you is about sharing the joy."

"Father obviously talks to you more than he talks to me." Pamela Mountbatten said with a hint of complaint. Then she watched her husband and the guest go on their way, then focused on his guest again, and continued one after another. Test.

She felt that the two of them were ready to compromise if they came to visit her again after her father was promoted.