Chapter 690 Top Secret Meeting (24 more)

1The official residence of the Prime Minister, No. 10 Downing Street, London, British Empire.

In the mansion representing the center of power of the British Empire, a discussion about the British Empire's biggest competitor, the United States, is taking place.

The meeting was attended by all senior officials of the British Empire, and even a representative of King George V participated.

The purpose of the discussion at this meeting was only one, and that was whether to take advantage of the economic crisis to directly kill Britain's biggest competitor, the United States.

In normal times, this might be a crazy idea that would never come to fruition.

But the economic crisis has left the United States riddled with holes, and the internal conflicts in the United States alone are enough to collapse the country.

If Britain takes action again, the United States will be divided at best, and may even be annexed by multiple countries.

However, wanting to eliminate the United States also means that Britain has to pay a huge price, which is something Prime Minister Baldwin, the more moderate conservative in power, is not willing to see.

Because of this, there were heated conversations and debates among the British cabinet, with conservatives and radicals bickering.

Not only among the cabinets, but also 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.

Human thoughts are ever-changing, and it is impossible for people to have the same thoughts. In the British government, the two largest factions are currently 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 (acquiring Central American countries), and the current political trend is also more radical and endorses the method of fighting the United States.

This also made Prime Minister Baldwin tend to be passive. After all, for the British Empire at this time, the United States was just a rich and weak man, not as powerful as Germany at all.

Yes, because the United States participated very little in World War I. To the British today, the United States has only become richer than it was a hundred years ago, and nothing else has changed much. new

The United Kingdom was still the suzerain state of the United States before, which also made many British people look down on the United States even more. They subconsciously believed that the United States was just an upstart, and its heritage was not as good as that of European countries, and even slightly inferior to countries like Australasia.

In the conference room of the mansion, Prime Minister Baldwin looked grave, looked at everyone, and asked seriously: "Everyone, do we really want to start a war during an economic crisis? If we enter a war of attrition, will our finances be affected?" Can it hold up?"

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

Just looking at the industrial data of the United States, you can see that it has grown into the world's largest industrial country, surpassing the British Empire with its huge India.

Even if it suffers the impact of the economic crisis, if the United States resists with all its strength, it is completely okay to forcefully delay it for a period of time.

Especially when fighting in the United States and the British Empire fighting across the ocean, the logistical pressures are extremely different.

Although it is difficult for Americans to win the war, it is no problem to delay it for a few years. This is also what Prime Minister Baldwin is most worried about.

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

If it hadn't transferred most of the crisis to Germany, I'm afraid Britain wouldn't be in the mood to discuss whether to go to war with the United States now, because Britain's internal chaos would be no less than that of the United States.

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

In addition to being the largest radical within the British government, Churchill also controlled the financial department. Only he knew whether the British finances could support the entire war.

"If we are the only ones to take action against the Americans, then the issue of military expenditures will indeed be difficult to solve." Chancellor of the Exchequer Churchill said with a smile: "But everyone, we can win over the entire world alliance, and no matter what happens, we still have the support of Australasia.

As for the issue of military expenditure, we can issue national bonds to obtain support from some consortiums.

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

If you pay, you will gain, which is why Churchill did not worry about finances at all. The huge market in the United States is enough to keep Britain away from the economic crisis, and it is also enough to make a feast for those consortiums with other ambitions.

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 piece of the pie to exploit the Americans.

Anyway, there are many black people in the United States. It is difficult for white Americans to exploit them, so why shouldn’t these black people be exploited?

For Europe where racism is rampant, even black people who have been recognized as American citizens are just targets for these white people to exploit at will.

“As long as we can defeat them quickly, all war expenses can be paid for by Americans.

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

Our navy and the Australasian navy combined can easily defeat the US Navy.

By the time we land in the United States, the U.S. military will no longer be able to stop our offensive. We can even celebrate the victory of this war in the White House before Christmas. "Seeing that everyone was already interested, Churchill continued to confuse him.

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

Preparation for war would take at least a month, and coupled with the time it took to travel from Britain to the United States, the time that could be used for combat was only three months at most.

This means that Churchill is confident that the entire United States can be solved within three months. A three-month war is not unaffordable for the current United Kingdom.

Seeing no reaction from everyone, Prime Minister Baldwin said: "Since everyone does not have a unified opinion, it is better to vote now on whether to fight against the United States."

After hearing what Prime Minister Baldwin said, Churchill quickly said: "I think it is better to leave this issue to Parliament and let Parliament decide whether to go to war with the United States.

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

Churchill was not stupid. After all, Prime Minister Baldwin was the supreme leader of the government. It was impossible for most cabinet government officials to openly oppose Prime Minister Baldwin's ideas.

This also means that if there is a vote on the spot, with Prime Minister Baldwin sitting in charge, there is a high probability that he will refuse to fight the United States.

This is completely opposite to Churchill's plan, and it is also something that Churchill, as the main militant, does not want to see.

Taking the issue to Parliament is quite different. The composition of the parliament is very complicated, and voting has more uncertainties.

More importantly, some seats in the Congress are controlled by bankers and capitalists, and these capitalists do not have much favorable impression of 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 was basically out of Europe's control.

Among them, the British capitalists suffered the greatest losses. Especially after Britain and the United States gradually turned against each other, British capitalists lost a considerable part of their property in the United States, which also made many capitalists hate the United States.

As for those civilian MPs, there is no need to say more. You know, just a few years after the American influenza pandemic ended, which killed tens of millions of people around the world, people all over the world are still remembering the harm this influenza caused them.

Many members of Parliament have had relatives die from the flu. With such a good opportunity to add insult to injury, will these members give up?

Looking at the UK as a whole, there are too many people dying from the flu. Even if some congressmen’s relatives have not died from the flu, they will most likely not oppose war against the United States.

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

Hearing what Churchill said, Prime Minister Baldwin's face darkened, but he could not utter a word of objection.

After all, leaving the issue to a vote in Parliament seems to be the fairest decision. What reason does Prime Minister Baldwin have to refute?

And this matter is indeed very difficult. One mistake may cause the anger of the entire UK.

Prime Minister Baldwin still has the dream of being re-elected, so it is naturally impossible for his reputation to be stained.

By remaining silent, Prime Minister Baldwin acquiesced to Churchill's plan to put the issue to a vote in Parliament.

In this regard, everyone in the cabinet has different moods. Because compared to voting within the cabinet, letting the parliament vote already means that there is a high probability that war will break out with the United States.

Looking at the speechless royal representatives, Prime Minister Baldwin also understood that George V also supported the war.

In this case, no matter how much he opposes, he will not be able to stop the government's actions, unless there is a huge power gap between the United States and Britain, making the outcome of this war likely to become a failure.

But is it possible? Even without the support of other countries, the current United States will not be a rival to the British.

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

However, in order to ensure safety, this meeting was designated as absolutely confidential by Prime Minister Baldwin and was prohibited from being disclosed to the outside world.

In order to improve efficiency and prevent the Americans from being fully prepared and incurring casualties, just after the meeting, under the order of Prime Minister Baldwin, the British diplomatic ambassadors to various countries have contacted Australasia, Greece, and France respectively. , Netherlands, Belgium, Romania and other countries.

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