Chapter 965 Black Cat (Part 2)

"What do you think of His Majesty's speech these past two days?" After the cabinet meeting, Attlee, who had officially taken over Churchill's position (Prime Minister and Defense Minister), frowned and asked Eden (Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister).

After the D-Day "coup", the British cabinet made some adjustments, and most people remained unchanged. Fraser replaced Pound's position as Chief of Naval Staff, and Vice Admiral Berent-Ramsay replaced Fraser as Commander of the Home Fleet (after handing over two armored aircraft carriers, the Royal Navy has now weakened to the point where it does not have a single battleship, so letting a vice admiral take over is considered a high-profile position)

"Are you referring to the conditions he negotiated with the Germans and Italians?" Eden nodded, "I feel like he's a little too hasty, and he can actually lower the price."

"No, I'm not referring to that." Attlee shook his head and said, "The conditions for the armistice negotiations are basically like this. Whether to hand over a few more tanks and a few planes or a few less is not a big issue of principle. I'm referring to his recent high-profile speeches and remarks, and his rushing into everything. In front..."

"Isn't this the countermeasure we have discussed?" Aiden was a little surprised. He looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, so he lowered his voice and said, "For the time being, we can't control him, so it's an ideal choice to let him rush to the front to attract firepower for us. Whether it's handing over warships or negotiating with the Axis, doesn't it seem that he is the one taking the lead? Not to mention, is he still thinking about confiscating those assets to obtain funds for the government? This kind of offending, unpleasant, and damaging to the country's image and sovereignty is not allowed to be done by him, so you do it? "

At the beginning, the cabinet welcomed Edward VIII back with expectations, hoping that he could "seriously" act as a puppet. Later, Black Cat did not return first and spoke on the other side of the Channel. The cabinet quickly reached a consensus and let him act as a "scapegoat". Now Attlee brought up the old words again, and Aiden was surprised.

"I mean..." Attlee gritted his teeth, "Someone reported to me yesterday that His Majesty contacted Mosley. "

"This..." Aiden was slightly surprised.

"This is a dangerous signal. Your Majesty will not appoint him to form a cabinet in the future, right?"

Eden laughed and said, "I think you are too extreme. The people have suffered greatly from fascism. How can they support fascism? How can Mosley come to power without votes and a reliable political party? Will he rely on a military coup? Who will follow him?"

"I am not as optimistic as you." Attlee said, "As far as I know, your Majesty's attitude has always been pro-National Socialist. We originally just hoped to use this attitude and external performance to win us some room for maneuver, rather than watching him bring fascism to Britain."

"Now the cabinet is controlled by you, the parliament is controlled by you, and the army is also controlled by you. Are you afraid of a king who has no real power?" Eden felt a little incredible, "Yes , there are a few Germans around him, but if he wants to rely on a few Germans to launch a coup, I think there is no possibility except to make the people more disgusted with Germany and destroy his throne. "

"Well, I hope I am overthinking."

Eden smiled slightly: "Tomorrow I will go to The Hague to negotiate with Germany, France and Italy to formally sign the armistice agreement - I still hope that Black Cat can attract firepower for us. You can let him jump more. When he is tired and hits a wall, he will naturally shrink back. You know he is not a person with a strong desire for power, otherwise he would not have given up the throne in the first place. He is a pathetic and overconfident stubborn person. "

Attlee and Eden guessed the truth of the matter. Inspired by Hoffman, Black Cat was indeed discussing the future political system reform with Mosley.

"Your Majesty, you have just returned to the country. You do not control the army, and you have no sympathizers or supporters in the army. The failure of Winston's coup has further proved that no politician can firmly control the army at present." "Can this wish be achieved by demobilizing and streamlining the army?" "This is impossible. No matter how the officers and soldiers understand our peace agreement with Germany, one thing is certain - the size of the army has been greatly reduced, and military spending will be suppressed and weakened in the future. This will not make the army feel good about national socialism. It is good for them to be neutral. As the number of personnel decreases, the army will become increasingly professional and elitist, and the distance and psychological gap between us will become larger and larger." Mosley pondered, "The only thing that can make There is only one way for you to get the unconditional support of the army - expand the army and oppose Germany, and prepare for the Third World War! "

"This is impossible." Black Cat shook his head, "The situation of Great Britain after the war is different from that of Germany after World War I. There is no comparison; moreover, the national character is also different. Those diehards and stubborn people have all flown to Canada."

History always has similarities. Britain, which failed in the world war, faced almost the same situation as Germany, which failed in World War I, with military failure, shortage of materials, and political desperation. But the difference is that the two were treated differently: Germany after World War I was cut off from a large area of ​​territory, faced huge reparations, lost all colonies, and had a military limit of only 100,000, and was not allowed to develop any heavy weapons. But Hoffman's treatment of Britain seemed to be so-so. In the Northern Ireland referendum, Britain tried to keep some of its colonies, and there were fewer military restrictions - 500,000 standing troops were given, and after handing over excess weapons and equipment as reparations, there was no need to pay 1 mark in reparations. The British army could update its equipment normally and develop any weapons it wanted to develop - except weapons of mass destruction.

This generous condition made the three military leaders so surprised that they were speechless. They even thought that the conditions sent by the Germans were wrong, but they were correct after repeated checks. Even though the UK now has more than 4 million armed forces, before the war, the size of the British armed forces was only about 500,000. At this scale, Parliament often wanted to balance the budget and reduce it, so Germany said that the UK could achieve it after the war. An establishment of 500,000 is equivalent to allowing the British military to normalize.

As for the lack of reparations, the British side was overjoyed - this meant that the UK could quickly carry out post-war reconstruction without having to carry a heavy burden. Another benefit of the United States' intervention in the coup was that Britain could justifiably stop repaying the United States' debt and Lend-Lease materials - although the United States did not expect the British to repay it. It's not a big deal to hand over excess equipment. The army has to be restored anyway, and the equipment is originally provided by American Kaizi, so just hand it over. For the convenience of maintenance, the British only retained domestically produced heavy equipment, such as Spitfire, Firefly, Lancaster and other aircraft, and tanks such as Comet, Churchill and Cromwell, and handed over P-51 and Sherman tanks. As for the B-17\B-29, American pilots were basically allowed to fly away during the coup, and there were very few left.

So after weighing the pros and cons, Attlee and the military agreed to accept Germany's conditions and immediately handed over two aircraft carriers to Germany - which also carried the first batch of more than 300 aircraft carriers that were used in the Battle of Britain and the subsequent Battle of Britain. Captured German pilot.

These contents have been interpreted by British newspapers. Except for the Northern Ireland referendum, which is unpleasant, everyone thinks that other conditions are acceptable. This is what Mosley mentioned, and there is no basis for "crazy revenge".

Of course, Hoffman put forward such conditions under great internal pressure, but he believed: "Judging from Germany's experience and lessons, excessive bullying and squeezing of defeated countries can only prepare conditions for the next war and bury unstable factors. Apart from that, there are no other benefits. Did Britain and France become prosperous by relying on Germany's reparations? What? We were not afraid of the British when they had 4 million troops. Are we still afraid of 500,000 troops?”

Moreover, there is still a vague idea deep in his heart: Since Germany will face challenges from the United States in the upcoming Cold War stage, it cannot be afraid of challenges from France and the United Kingdom, and dare not even face weaker challenges. How to deal with more powerful challenges.

On rare occasions, he would confide in Speer: "The European Union is an unprecedented undertaking. Although I have provided a good system and a series of institutional guarantees for it, in the final analysis it still lies with Germany." The strength of its own strength. Germany cannot become the leader of Europe only by relying on the prestige brought by victory in this war. We must achieve continuous development and innovation, always remain dynamic, and always run faster than others, so that we will always have followers- The decline of an empire often means the beginning of a new round of war."

It is precisely based on this idea that the Black Cat believes that confrontation with Germany has no way out and is worthless.

"Your Majesty, please carefully recall that before Hitler came to power, he had a failed coup imitating the Italians' march to Rome. In the end, he went to jail." Mosley said, "In the end, he was able to come to power because of the working class. Therefore, I will stick to the path of legal struggle and use my votes and speeches to prove the legitimacy of this line.”

"So, what about me?"

"You can unite and inspire as many British people as you want." Mosley smiled. "If I can join the cabinet, I will promote the reforms you are looking forward to."

After Mosley left, Black Cat asked Skorzeny, who was eavesdropping on the other side, his opinion: "David, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty..." Skorzeny scratched his scalp in embarrassment, "My political skills are very poor. From the information I heard, I think this gentleman is no different from Prime Minister Attlee. They both just hope You are just a mascot, the difference is in which way - Mr. Mosley is probably National Socialist, Mr. Attlee is probably Coordinationist."

The black cat showed a charming smile: "David, your judgment is very accurate. This is a politician, but I also have a way."

"What can I do?"

"I could lock them up in a cabinet!"

"Oh, God, this is such a wonderful idea."