Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 791

Due to the acceleration of the world's industrialization process, the demand for oil resources in various countries in the world is increasing day by day, and the economic status of Iran, a major oil-producing country, has been rapidly improved. However, Iran's oil production technology is backward and it has to turn to France and Spain for help. Obtained the right to exploit and control Iran's oil.

In this regard, King Pahlavi was depressed but helpless.

Pahlavi's political career is very tortuous.He is the eldest son of the former Iranian King Reza Khan. Reza Khan loved him very much, made him the crown prince, and sent him to Britain, the United States and other countries to receive Western education.During the Second World War, the old king Reza Khan could not bear the oppression of the German government, and finally died of depression. Pahlavi became the king of Iran.In the same year, British and Soviet troops entered Iran, and the following year, French troops entered Iran.After World War II, with the support of the United Kingdom, he drove the Soviet army out of the country, and with the support of the British army, he captured the province of Azerbaijan controlled by the Soviet Union.Since then, it has become a vassal of the British.

But for several years, many resented Iran's paltry share of the French oil company's profits.The company's annual profit was 4000 million pounds, and Iran only got 700 million pounds.Iranians are also angry about the situation of their oil workers, who are confined to low-paid manual labor, while French foremen live in luxury.A nationalist uprising was imminent.

Amid this tension emerged Mohammad Mosaddegh, the leader of the reform radicals. In 1908, Mossadegh was elected prime minister. During the campaign, he advocated a straightforward solution to the oil problem, that is, the nationalization of Iran's oil resources, while severely condemning countries such as France and Spain.He created the National Front, a political party representing the national democratic forces, and demanded the nationalization of oil as a banner.Driven by Mossadegh, the national oil nationalization movement against the plundering of foreign oil monopoly capital was launched across the country.Massive demonstrations erupt in Tehran in support of Mossadegh's proposed nationalization of oil.Mossadegh formed the National Iranian Oil Company and announced the implementation of the oil nationalization act. A few months later, he ordered Iran to take over the French oil company and expel French management and workers.

This aggressive approach made French oil companies and France furious.The French Navy ordered a blockade of the Gulf.Petroleum executives clamored for a coup against Mossadegh.But in the end, the more sensible French Congress rejected this plan, but after the hawkish leaders headed by de Gaulle came to power, they began to lean towards this opinion.But de Gaulle was powerless to undertake such an adventure alone.He needs the help of his partner England.

Thus, the "Ajax Action" that shocked the world was born.

In the ensuing two weeks, the General Directorate for External Security, France's largest military intelligence agency, established a two-pronged chain of command, with one linking military affairs with retired Iranian Major General Zahedi and the other controlling political warfare and propaganda.Both are directly responsible to Commissioner Bertrand.But the secrecy of the mission was destroyed before it even started.

On July 1908, 7, the General Directorate of External Security intercepted the broadcast of the Iranian People's Party.The secretive radio station warned Iranians that France, along with various "spies and traitors," including Zahedi, was working together to "clear out Mossadegh." In addition to the BJP, Mossadegh has his own sources of military and political intelligence, Know what you are up against.

At this time, the French General Administration suddenly discovered that there was no army to instigate the Iranian coup, and the political puppet Zahedi selected by France did not have a single soldier.The General Directorate does not have a map of the military situation in Iran, nor does it have an army roster.Bertrand had to ask Brigadier General McClure of MI40 for help.McClure served as Churchill's chief intelligence officer during World War II, and overseeing joint military-intelligence operations was his specialty.Moreover, McClure has been in charge of the establishment of the British Military Assistance Advisory Group in Tehran, which specializes in providing military support, training and consultation to Iranian military officers.McClure has an excellent relationship with the king and high-level people interested in Britain and France, so he secretly obtained the support of about [-] Iranian military officers, and now only the Shah is missing.

Then Colonel Stephen Meade, an official of the External Security Service, flew to London to look for Pahlavi's strong-willed but unpopular twin sister, Princess Yashilev.The plan of the General Administration is to ask her to end her exile and return to China to persuade Pahlavi to support General Zahedi.Unexpectedly, the whereabouts of the princess was unknown. French intelligence personnel chased her to England and found her in West Ham. It took another 10 days to coax her into a commercial airliner and fly back to Tehran to persuade her king's brother.The General Administration found some Iranian generals to cheer for Pahlavi.Fearing that the palace had been bugged by the opposition, Pahlavi brought several generals into the grand banquet hall, pulled a small coffee table and placed it in the center, whispering that it was difficult for him to cooperate with the coup, and his support for the Iranian military Not at all confident.

During the following week, Bertrand went in and out of the Iranian royal palace, exerting relentless pressure and warning that if the king did not heed the advice of the General Directorate, Iran might become a "communist state" or a "second regime." , No matter what the outcome is, the king and the royal family cannot escape the death penalty.Pahlavi was terrified and fled to the royal villa on the Caspian Sea.

Seeing the slow progress of the situation in Iran, de Gaulle was very angry. He overtook and drafted an order: remove Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh from his post and appoint Zahedi as the new Iranian Prime Minister.He also ordered the colonel in command of the Iranian Royal Guard to hand over this document to Mossadegh who was under gunpoint, and if he did not obey his orders, he would be arrested immediately.

Now de Gaulle's Iranian agents have been scattered on the streets of Tehran, newspapers and media are hyping: Mossadegh is a Communist Party, Mossadegh is a Jew.Street thugs from the General Directorate masquerading as BJPs attacked mullahs and vandalized a mosque.Mossadegh launched a counterattack and shut down the Congress on the grounds that the Senators and Representatives were bought by the General Administration and the votes were invalid.According to the law, only Congress can depose him, and the king has no right to depose the prime minister.The domestic situation in Iran deteriorated rapidly.

Facing the tense situation, de Gaulle was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He urgently called the General Administration and asked for another 500 million francs to support Zahedi. The coup was scheduled for the night of August 8.Mossadegh soon learned of the news, so he mobilized the capital garrison to guard his mansion heavily with tanks and heavy soldiers. When the king's guard came to arrest the Prime Minister, the loyal troops arrested him.

Due to the serious situation, Zahedi hid in a safe house in Iran monitored by French agents, and was protected and guarded by an officer named Rocky Stone under Bertrand.

At 8:16 am on August 5, Radio Tehran announced that the coup had failed.What to do next, the French intelligence services have no clue.De Gaulle took it upon himself to convince the world that Mossadegh was behind the failed coup.To do this, the story had to be told by Pahlavi, but the king had fled the country.

A few hours later, the General Administration learned that the Shah had arrived in Baghdad to ask for help. De Gaulle passed a speech outline to the agents in Baghdad, asking Pahlavi to issue a statement saying that he fled Iran because of the left-wing riots.Immediately after Pahlavi made his radio statement, he arranged for his pilot to carry out his plan to go into exile in Rome.

On the night of August 8, Bertrand asked his subordinates to give US$16 to the Iranian agents at the Tehran workstation, asking them to find a group of people to pretend to be Communist Party thugs and create mass incidents.The next morning, hundreds of troublemakers who took money to do things rushed to the streets, looting, setting fire, and destroying the logo. The French embassy staff passed a bronze statue of Pahlavi's father and found that the bronze statue had been pulled down, leaving only a pair of Boots stand there.

Because of the British spy chief McClure, Iranian military officers were sent to various fortresses in the field to win soldiers to support the coup.The Iranian agents of the French General Directorate then hired more street thugs and sent envoys to persuade the Shia Supreme Leader to declare jihad.

However, the best analyst of the General Directorate reported: "The failure of the military coup in Tehran and the departure of the Shah Pahlavi from Baghdad show that Mossadegh continues to control the overall situation, and it also indicates that he will take more drastic actions to sweep away all opponents."

In the middle of the night on August 8, McClure and Bertrand, the intelligence chiefs of Britain and France, held a secret consultation on the Iran plan.

McClure said meaningfully, "The Shah of Iran has flown to Rome and stayed at the Canopy Hotel. Then a terrible coincidence happened. Guess what?"

Bertrand shrugged his shoulders, unable to guess.

"Guess in the worst direction you can imagine," McClure said.

"He was hit and killed by a taxi?" Bertrand was already in a cold sweat when he said this. If an accident happened to the Shah of Iran, all the efforts of the French General Administration would fail.

McClure said with a smile: "No, no, no, you probably don't know that a British agent was granted an extended leave to visit Rome. Now you think about what will happen?"

Bertrand frowned and said, "You mean, your people drove him over and killed him?"

McClure laughed, took a sip of black-label whiskey, and said, "Why do you always say he's going to get run over? That's funny. I'll tell you, they met at the Canopy Hotel, my man and the coward Shah Pahlavi of Iran talked for five hours, and finally Pahlavi promised to return to Tehran to take charge at the right time."

Bertrand wiped the sneer from his head, took a long breath, and suddenly smiled maliciously: "If my guess is correct, your excellent agent should be a beautiful girl."

"Haha, you guessed it right this time."

At dawn on August 8, mobs hired by the French General Directorate gathered in Tehran to prepare for the riot.Buses and trucks were loaded with tribesmen from the south, and their chiefs also received money from the General Administration.It started out as a gym or sports club guy, leading demonstrations with things like barbells and chains.These weightlifters and circus strongmen were recruited by the General Administration for today's troubles.They chanted anti-Mosaddegh and King Qin slogans, marched into the streets, many people joined in one after another, and soon turned into a large-scale demonstration against King Qin. Shouts of "Long live Pahlavi" resounded throughout the city, and the crowd gradually moved towards the Mossadegh cabinet building.They seized high-level officials, burned four newspaper offices, and occupied the headquarters of a pro-Moroccan political party.

(End of this chapter)