Chapter 690 Top Secret Meeting (24 Updates)

June 3, 1928, the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street, London, the British Empire.

In the residence representing the power center of the British Empire, a discussion about the United States, the biggest rival of the British Empire, is unfolding.

All the participants in this meeting are high-ranking officials of the British Empire, and even representatives of King George V participated.

And the purpose of this meeting is only one, that is, whether to take advantage of the economic crisis to directly kill the United Kingdom's biggest rival, the United States.

If it were in normal times, this might be a crazy idea that would never be achieved.

But the economic crisis has left the United States riddled with holes, and the contradictions within the United States alone are enough to cause the country to collapse.

If Britain takes action again, the best outcome for the United States will be division, and it may almost be annexed by multiple countries.

However, wanting to eliminate the United States also means that Britain will have to pay a huge price, which is something that Prime Minister Baldwin, a more moderate Conservative Party member in power, does not want to see.

It is precisely because of this that there were fierce conversations and debates between the British cabinet, and the conservatives and radicals quarreled endlessly.

Even not just within the cabinet, from the British royal family and government to ordinary citizens in London, there are differences between those who advocate war and those who advocate peace.

People's thoughts are ever-changing, and it is impossible for people to have the same thoughts. In the British government, the two largest factions at present are the Conservatives and the Radicals, corresponding to Prime Minister Baldwin and Chancellor of the Exchequer Churchill respectively.

It is worth mentioning that George V saw the benefits of targeting the United States (gaining Central American countries), and the current political trend is also radical, recognizing the method of fighting against the United States.

This also made Prime Minister Baldwin passive. After all, for the British Empire at this time, the United States was just a weak country with a lot of money, not as strong as Germany at all.

Yes, because the United States participated very little in World War I, for the British now, the United States has only become richer than hundreds of years ago, and there is no big change in other things.

Britain was the sovereign of the United States before, which made many British people look down on the United States even more, subconsciously thinking that the United States was just a nouveau riche, and its foundation was not as good as that of European countries, and even slightly inferior to countries like Australasia.

In the meeting room of the mansion, Prime Minister Baldwin looked heavy-hearted, looked at everyone, and asked seriously: "Everyone, do we really want to start a war during the economic crisis? If we enter a war of attrition, can our finances support it?"

Although the British people generally look down on the United States, this does not mean that the United States is so weak that it can be bullied at will.

Just looking at the industrial data of the United States, it is clear that it has grown into the world's largest industrial country, surpassing the British Empire with its vast India.

Even if it is hit by the economic crisis, if the United States resists with all its strength, it is completely fine to force it to delay for a while.

Especially when the United States fights on its own and the British Empire fights across the ocean, the pressure on logistics is very different.

Although it is difficult for Americans to win the war, it is completely fine to delay for a few years, which is also what Prime Minister Baldwin is most worried about.

You know, it is not only Americans who are deeply affected by the economic crisis, but Britain's losses in the economic crisis are not much different.

If most of the crisis had not been transferred to Germany, I am afraid that Britain would not have the mind to discuss whether to go to war with the United States, because the chaos in Britain would not be less than that in the United States.

Hearing Prime Minister Baldwin's question, all officials turned their eyes to Chancellor of the Exchequer Churchill.

In addition to Churchill being the biggest radical in the British government, Churchill also controls the financial department. Only he knows whether Britain's finances can support the entire war.

"If only we take action against the Americans, then the problem of military expenditure is indeed difficult to solve." Chancellor of the Exchequer Churchill said with a smile: "But everyone, we can win over the entire world alliance, and at worst we have the support of Australasia.

As for the issue of military expenditure, we can issue national debt to obtain the support of some financial groups.

I believe that the interests of the United States will satisfy these financial groups, and we can also gain huge benefits for this, using the American market to make up for our losses in the economic crisis."

There is a reward for every effort, which is why Churchill is not worried about finances at all. The huge market of the United States is enough to keep Britain away from the economic crisis directly, and it is also enough for those ambitious financial groups to have a good meal.

I believe that as long as the plan to fight against the United States is revealed, many financial groups will be interested in it and take a share of the pie and squeeze the Americans.

Anyway, there are many black people in the United States. It is not easy to squeeze white Americans, so can't these black people be squeezed?

For Europe, where racism is rampant, even black people who have been recognized as American citizens are just targets that can be squeezed at will by these white people.

"As long as we can defeat the Americans quickly, all the expenses of the war can be borne by the Americans.

Judging from the current number of American troops, as long as we act quickly, it is almost impossible to evolve into a protracted war.

Our navy and the navy of Australasia can easily defeat the US Navy when they join forces.

When we land in the United States, the US army will no longer be able to stop our offensive, and we can even celebrate the victory of this war in the White House before Christmas." Seeing that everyone was already tempted, Churchill continued to persuade.

You know, it's already June, and it's only half a year away from Christmas.

It takes at least one month to prepare for war, plus the time it takes for Britain to travel to the United States, so the time available for fighting is only three months at most.

This means that Churchill is confident that he can solve the entire United States within three months, and a three-month war is not unaffordable for Britain at present.

Seeing that no one responded, Prime Minister Baldwin said: "Since everyone has no unified opinion, why not vote now to decide whether to fight the United States."

Hearing what Prime Minister Baldwin said, Churchill hurriedly said: "I think it's better to hand this issue over to Parliament and let Parliament decide whether to fight the United States.

On such a major issue, I think we should also listen to the opinions of the people, which is also an important factor in whether we can win the war."

Churchill is not stupid. Prime Minister Baldwin is the highest leader of the government after all, and most cabinet government officials cannot openly oppose Prime Minister Baldwin's proposal.

This also means that if a vote is held on the spot, with Prime Minister Baldwin in charge, it is likely that they will refuse to fight the United States.

This is completely opposite to Churchill's plan, and it is also what Churchill, as a war advocate, does not want to see.

It is completely different to hand the problem over to Parliament. The composition of Parliament is very complicated, and voting has more uncertainty.

More importantly, some seats in Parliament are controlled by bankers and capitalists, who do not have much good feelings towards the United States.

Although the United States did not participate much in World War I, it still got rid of part of Europe's debt after World War I and basically got rid of Europe's control.

Among them, the biggest losses were British capitalists. Especially after Britain and the United States gradually became antagonistic, British capitalists lost a considerable part of their property in the United States, which also made many capitalists hate the United States very much.

As for those civilian MPs, there is no need to say more. You know, it was only a few years after the end of the American flu that killed tens of millions of people around the world, and people all over the world remembered the harm that the flu brought to them.

Many relatives of MPs in Parliament died in the flu. With such a good opportunity to add insult to injury, will these MPs give up?

Looking at the whole of Britain, the number of deaths due to influenza is too high. Even if some MPs' relatives did not die in the flu, they would probably not oppose fighting against the United States.

Because the British hate the United States, facing the culprit who caused the death of their loved ones, which British person would not be impulsive?

Hearing Churchill say this, Prime Minister Baldwin's face sank, but he could not say anything against it.

After all, it seems to be the fairest decision to let the parliament vote on the issue. What reason does Prime Minister Baldwin have to refute it?

And this matter is indeed very tricky. If you are not careful, it may cause the anger of the whole of Britain.

Prime Minister Baldwin still has a dream of re-election, so it is naturally impossible to let his reputation be tarnished.

Prime Minister Baldwin remained silent and acquiesced to Churchill's plan to submit this issue to the parliament for a vote.

In this regard, everyone in the cabinet had different feelings. Because compared with the internal vote of the cabinet, letting the parliament vote means that there is a high probability of a war with the United States.

Looking at the royal representatives who did not say anything, Prime Minister Baldwin also understood that George V also supported the war.

In this case, no matter how much he opposed, he could not stop the government's actions, unless there was a huge gap in strength between the United States and Britain, making the outcome of this war very likely to be a failure.

But is it possible? Even without the support of other countries, the current United States would not be a match for the British.

Not to mention that there is a high probability that a large number of countries will participate in this war, in which case it is basically a sure thing.

However, in order to ensure that there is no risk of error, this meeting was still set by Prime Minister Baldwin as an absolutely confidential meeting and was prohibited from being disclosed to the outside world.

In order to improve efficiency and avoid the Americans making full preparations and causing themselves casualties, just after the meeting ended, under the order of Prime Minister Baldwin, British ambassadors to various countries have contacted Australasia, Greece, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Romania and other countries.

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