Iron Cross

Although Roosevelt tried to downplay the impact of France's choice of side, the ultimatum still exploded in London. It was the scorching summer season, and the Prime Minister's official residence in Downing Street was crowded with many cabinet bureaucrats who were sweating profusely.

Churchill's face remained frightened, but his heart was in turmoil, and his fat face was shiny with cold sweat. At an urgent cabinet meeting, he pretended to be calm and stated: "I have only one answer to the French authorities' taking advantage of the situation - bah! From now on, the Royal Government will not use the Pétain regime as an opponent! General de Gaulle and his leadership The Free French Movement is the truly legitimate government that represents the interests of the French people!”

"Does he need to make a statement and sentence Petain to death?" someone suggested.

"This makes no sense. The key is, what will France's declaration of war bring us?"

"It won't change anything, except that they will have closer ties with Germany and then try to seize our colonies in Africa." Churchill shrugged. "President Roosevelt promised me that he would defend South Africa at all costs."

"At any cost" has now become Churchill's mantra: maintain the supply of supplies to the British Isles at all costs, defend India at all costs, defend South Africa at all costs... Careful people can find that what was on the Prime Minister's lips some time ago The word "turning point" is missing, and the siege of India was an extremely bad reverse turning point.

"The threat from Australia and New Zealand has not been eliminated. Does the United States have this capability?" Marshal Brooke expressed deep doubts. "Their troops in South Africa are only more than 100,000, which is not enough to fight Guderian's armored group."

"The Joint Chiefs of Staff has made it clear that the 7th Air Force will repel the invading Japanese fleet at all costs..."

Everyone thought: Yes! Another sentence of "at all costs", why does it sound so cheap?

Someone interjected: "Are Americans willing to support India at all costs?"

"India? Yes, of course, we must also pay some price." Churchill said hesitantly, "such as granting independence to the Indian nation."

"Is this your true idea or a temporary measure?" Attlee, who had been silent until now, suddenly interjected.

"Of course it is?..." Churchill was about to say it without hesitation, but suddenly glanced sideways at the other party, "What do you mean by asking this?"

The other party doesn't respond.

"Let's discuss the India matter again. I personally agree with returning Hong Kong to China." Churchill glared at the person who was trying to dig a hole for him, waved his hand and said, "In times of crisis, everyone's will must be unified. , unite all forces that can be united.”

"Your Excellency, I think we should be prepared for both." Aiden, who had been watching with a cold eye, suddenly said, "The US military has established an air transportation line. When they return, they can take away some of the people. I suggest that this aspect should be taken into consideration."

"Haven't we been transporting shipyard workers? Figures show that more than half of them have successfully arrived in the North American continent." Churchill knew that today's meeting might not go well, and said excitedly, "I know what you want to say, but among 100,000 people The responsibility for some fraud or wrongdoing should not be my responsibility. I am the Prime Minister and responsible for the strategy of the entire United Kingdom. I..."

"Yes, you are not responsible for this matter, but they want to know, who is responsible for causing France to declare war?" Ayden sighed, "The MPs will question the cabinet about this matter and specify the requirements for you. In order to participate, they need to know the decision-making process of the "Ballista" campaign, and they want to know more about the process of attacking Dakar, seizing Syria, and occupying Madagascar. In other words, they believe that we have some wrong behaviors and actions in diplomacy. ”

When it came to destroying the French fleet, Churchill initially bypassed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and did not even deploy the latest fighter jets to France. This was a topic he talked about a lot. However, judging from the current attitude of everyone, it seems that they want him to be burdened with "losing France". "crime.

He was angry and anxious, and said angrily: "France did not declare war on us because of what we did to him. It was purely Pétain who was betraying the fundamental interests of the French people."

"No, there is a saying outside that it was the Gaullists who manipulated, influenced, and exacerbated the deterioration of British-French relations."

"If I don't support de Gaulle, how can I support Pétain or Darlan and his gang?"

"These are two different things." Aiden couldn't stand listening anymore and stopped Churchill's nonsense. "The top priority is to convince Parliament that it is not a big deal even if France declares war on us, rather than simply telling Parliament that France's declaration of war was not caused by our actions. ——This will only arouse the resentment of the majority of members, and they are not stupid.”

"Okay..." Churchill turned his head to Marshal Brooke, "Tell me, what impact will France's declaration of war have on us?"

"France's military strength is insufficient, and the declaration of war is a bluff at best, but one thing cannot be ignored. I have heard rumors that Germany is trying to gather European countries to jointly seize our remaining colonies on the African continent-such as Rhodesia."

"What do you think I should do? There are now 3 million troops in the country, but I can't deploy to Africa. Even if people are transferred by plane, the speed is too slow."

Airlift crew? Everyone looked at each other, what does this mean?

"President Roosevelt told me that he could use strategic transport aircraft to transport our troops to the United States, arm them with American weapons, and send them to Africa to fight..." Churchill pondered, "The United States lacks experienced officers and soldiers, and has a lot of weapons and equipment. Instead of trying hard to transport them to the British Isles, it is better for us to transport people out. The Royal Air Force has calculated that based on 16 people per plane, we can directly transport a division at a time."

Attlee pointed out incisively: "The Americans are deliberately sending us to die! Does the United States lack a few or ten divisions?"

Churchill was speechless.

Eden sighed and finally said: "Your Excellency, I would like to remind you that this questioning about French policy is a rehearsal. If the situation in India continues to deteriorate, there may be further questioning, which will lead to an even uglier scene."

The meeting ended in an awkward atmosphere. Although Churchill showed his usual confidence, this confidence obviously could not convince more people.

After the meeting, Eden and Attlee met and briefly exchanged views: the policy must be changed and a change of horses is imperative. The only difference is - whether to overturn the hill or not?