Chapter 614: Choice (1)

On August 12, after an almost endless wait, Churchill finally waited for the long-awaited official American delegation, led by Secretary of State Hull himself. When Churchill heard Hull, on behalf of the US government, express the hope that Britain's political situation would be stable and internally united, he frowned slightly and seemed a little disappointed; while Eden and others were thoughtful - the US side obviously had something to say.

However, they were soon attracted to another topic: "In order to change Britain's current predicament and reverse the unfavorable situation of the war, the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have discussed and decided to launch a major campaign operation, with the goal of seizing the Azores as soon as possible and ensuring the smooth flow of the Atlantic route."

There was a lot of debate in the Joint Chiefs of Staff about whether to inform the British side of Plan C. Many people believed that this might lead to British dissidents selling intelligence to the German side, but more people believed that Plan C was originally implemented to inspire the fighting spirit of the British side, and if it was not reported, it would not achieve the expected effect. Moreover, the plan also intends to use a variety of resources such as the British Army and pilots, and the British side must be understood. Regarding the possible leaks, Donovan finally added: "This time I brought more than 200 counterintelligence personnel, the focus is to track down the intelligence leaks that have been suspected before, and also responsible for keeping this campaign confidential."

This is a high-sounding statement. In fact, there are only more than 100 experienced counterintelligence personnel in the United States, most of whom are responsible for domestic counterintelligence work. Only more than a dozen can be transferred to the UK. Most of the more than 200 personnel are "special operations teams" under his control. When reporting to Roosevelt, he said: "If they are really involved in leaking secrets, this will be a good excuse when they take action."

This idea impressed President Roosevelt. He took Donovan's plan of "luring the snake out of the hole" as an alternative, but instructed that the content could only be reported to Churchill.

Although the team of 200 people seemed a bit large, the cabinet did not take it seriously: the US military had tens of thousands of troops stationed alone, and 200 more people would be a small matter.

"To ensure the smooth implementation of the plan, we have developed a complete and large plan and passed the preliminary review of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We are ready to deploy unprecedented forces including 2,000 heavy bombers, 50 aircraft carriers, and 8 army divisions."

The British in the conference room finally changed their faces. Although they knew that most of these aircraft carriers were escort aircraft carriers, the number of 50 was too shocking.

Pound stuttered, "Does your country have so many warships available now?"

"There are about 30 aircraft carriers available at present, and nearly 20 will be added in the next three months. Thanks to the support of your shipbuilders, we are confident that we can complete the construction of the remaining warships by rushing to work, but we are currently short of sufficient manpower. The President hopes that the Royal Navy can transfer capable personnel to the East Coast to take over as many as they can. The Prime Minister's last proposal to support 8-10 escort aircraft carriers will be taken into consideration. After this battle, all the warships taken over by the Royal Navy, including the equipment and aircraft on them, will be allocated to you." Heldon paused, "The same is true for the army and pilots. The equipment and supplies used by the British officers and soldiers participating in this battle will be allocated to you after the battle. We want to fight the Germans with the best equipment, the most sufficient material support, the best officers and soldiers, and the most complete plan. We urgently need your support."

Since Britain is required to fight for its life, it is impossible not to give favorable conditions. The cunning Hull proposed this strategy. Give the British as much as they can eat-let them use their last strength.

"The combat plan mission landing campaign requires close-range fire support. From the combat experience of the Battle of Tarawa, battleships have great benefits in beaching. We plan to use old battleships including two Queen Elizabeth-class battleships to carry out the beaching mission. The relevant losses will be compensated to your country in the future." Hull said a lot of things. In a word, the funds, materials, equipment, and transportation are all covered by the wealthy American boss, and the UK is only responsible for part of the manpower.

Compared with defending distant South Africa, attacking the Azores is very attractive to the British, because everyone knows that the Azores is the shackles of the UK and the rope tightly tied around the neck. The United States actually doesn't care about the Azores. If they don't provide support to the UK, they can save a lot of money.

Cabinet senior officials including Eden, Attlee and others nodded frequently. In their view, the US plan is very sincere, and it is mainly based on the interests of the UK, fully affirming the value of the Anglo-American alliance. On the other hand, if the Azores Campaign fails again, it is estimated that the Prime Minister will not have to struggle in vain.

Brooke, Pound and others in charge of military affairs discussed it briefly and decided to agree, but the final plan needed to be approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Britain and the United States. Eden, Attlee and others had nothing to say and gave the green light all the way.

As for selling intelligence, Hull and others were overthinking it. These British elites did not want to follow Pétain's path until they were desperate. Since the Americans vowed to give an explanation within three months, and the details and content were so serious, they were also willing to give another three months - it just so happened that the Duke of Windsor had encountered some troubles in the negotiations with Germany and needed to talk slowly.

The other negotiations between the Duke of Windsor and the German side went smoothly and progressed smoothly: including supporting the restoration of the Duke of Windsor, maintaining the integrity of Great Britain, releasing the British officers and soldiers captured by Germany to form the Imperial Guards after swearing allegiance to the Duke of Windsor, and Germany not treating Britain as a defeated country and not demanding compensation from Britain. These requirements were all agreed by Berlin.

Regarding the four major dominions, the two sides also reached a consensus very quickly: those who were willing to follow Great Britain to stop fighting the Axis would be treated by Germany in accordance with the regulations of the British mainland; those who were willing to follow Churchill to Canada were also understood by the German side, and proposed that as long as they did not damage the relevant infrastructure of the British mainland, they could take away whatever they wanted to take away. Both sides had a tacit understanding of maintaining a stable and peaceful Great Britain.

Regarding the issue of the cessation of US aid after the UK announced the armistice, Germany also made unilateral guarantees: lifting the blockade of Great Britain and providing relevant materials, including food and oil that are vital to Britain; the Duke of Windsor unilaterally promised to reduce the total domestic force to less than 1 million, the future total tonnage of the Royal Navy will not exceed the German level and join the Axis war, and Germany can station troops in 2-3 regions during the transition period, and the total force should not exceed 100,000 - but it will not be treated as an occupation force.

Regarding post-war issues, the British representative promised to join the German-led EU system. In principle, except for some reservations, Hoffman's idea of ​​the "three pillars" of the EU was accepted. Germany guaranteed that Britain would still be one of the powers, at least a power on par with France and Italy.

However, the negotiations between the two sides were stuck on two issues, and there was a stalemate, and the negotiations fell into a deadlock.

The first is India. The Duke of Windsor believes that India is vital to the British Empire and hopes to keep it and make it a direct territory of Great Britain, although he is very reluctant to give a small piece of the south and Ceylon to RB. The second is the industry of British capitalists in the Middle East and Africa. The Duke of Windsor proposed that the confiscated British industries need to be returned, of course not all of them, at least the industries of the supporters of the new government require to be returned.

These two issues stumped Ribbentrop, who was in charge of the negotiations, and even Hoffman found them difficult.

India is now being fought by RB as the main force. For India, the Japanese army not only gradually withdrew from China but also sent fleets to conduct joint operations. Now RB is asked to give up the expansion of the Indian occupation zone. Not to mention that Germany does not have such great ability to dissuade it, even if it has, it cannot speak up: this may directly lead to the downfall of the current power faction in the RB cabinet and the military. Who knows what kind of idiots will come up?

The demarcation line of India drawn by the Duke of Windsor is 13 degrees north latitude. The north will continue to be left to Britain, and the south will belong to RB. The problem is that Yamashita Tomoyuki has even crossed the 14th parallel. Is it possible to spit out the meat that has been eaten? Considering that the southern part of India is a cone, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, it only retreats one degree of latitude on the surface, and the actual territory will be reduced by nearly half. No one would agree to it. What's more, Mountbatten, who rules the northern part of India, may not be loyal to the Duke of Windsor. So Hoffman thought this was a completely bad idea and he couldn't do it.

Second, it involves the relationship between Germany and the Middle East countries. These British industries have long been nationalized by the independent Middle East and Africa and then auctioned at a low price. The money from the sale was used to trade arms and equipment with Germany. Not to mention taking them back for free, even if they were paid, it would not work, and it would immediately affect the relationship between various countries and Germany. The two most important parts of these properties are also what Hoffman cannot give away, one is the Suez Canal, and the other is the oil field in the Middle East.

Why does Germany want to control the Middle East? Isn't it just for this little bit of oil? The French invested real money to get some shares, and now the British want to take them back with just a few words? It was just wishful thinking, so the situation was deadlocked.

Hoffman meant to Ribbentrop to delay and wait for a while to see how the Japanese army advanced, and then let the British reconsider. It happened that the British also wanted to delay, so everyone tacitly continued.

Ribbentrop was very familiar with the Duke of Windsor. He said to the Duke of Windsor half-jokingly and half-seriously: "You want the Japanese to stop at 13 degrees north latitude? This is not impossible, but it can't be persuaded by the head of state alone. You have to let Lord Mountbatten create this situation. Otherwise, with the temperament of the Japanese, signing this treaty is equivalent to a hundred percent. They only recognize power."

"I will send a telegram to him. He must defend North India." The Duke of Windsor looked at Ribbentrop, "You won't send more troops?"

"No, no, you can rest assured." Ribbentrop thought: at most, sell some more weapons.

"I will take care of him." The Duke of Windsor smiled. "He used to be my adjutant and we have a good relationship. He must show the spirit of the British Empire."