Chapter 484 The Final Deadline
After talking with Colonel Donovan, the special envoy of the US President, for two hours, Winston Churchill left 10 Downing Street in a depressed mood. It is July now, and the weather in London is a little hot, but not stuffy at all. The sky is full of blue sky and white clouds, and even the smog that was popular during the war and could be used for air defense has disappeared.
Fortunately, the Germans did not want to take advantage of such good weather to send planes to London to drop bombs. Even the Italians who once clamored for revenge for the Pope are no longer interested in bombing London. Now not only has the bombing stopped completely during the day, but there are no Italian planes dropping bombs at night. Because those Italian planes are now sent to Spain to deal with the British fleet that attempts to approach the Strait of Gibraltar...
It must be said that the Italians, who were originally careless, have now become serious and difficult. According to the report of Admiral Somerville, the new commander of the Home Fleet (Admiral Tovey retired for "merit"), the fighters of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy stationed in the Madeira Islands are now no match for the Italian Fokker Zero, and the exchange ratio is usually around 3:1... 3 British P51, P40, Hurricane or Sea Spitfire can be exchanged for 1 Italian Fokker Zero!
The reason for this is not that the performance of the Fokker Zero has suddenly improved significantly, but that the skills of the rookie pilots newly added to the fighter unit are getting worse and worse, and it is already difficult to bear the combat mission.
Therefore, the Gibraltar operation was very difficult. The Grand Fleet did not dare to enter the 600-kilometer range around the Gibraltar Peninsula during the day, and the fleet could not rush 600 kilometers in one night to fire near Gibraltar, and then run 600 kilometers to escape.
Therefore, the plan to bombard the German railgun positions with naval guns before the start of the battle is now impossible to implement. All the Royal Navy could do was to send camouflaged cruisers (Britain began to modify camouflaged cruisers after the failure of the Mediterranean Campaign) to lay mines in the Strait area west of the Gibraltar Peninsula, hoping to lay 10,000 to 15,000 mines in the Strait before the fall of the Gibraltar Peninsula. Use these mines to slightly block the Italian and French fleets from rushing out of the Strait.
In addition, the main force of the Home Fleet commanded by Somerville was still attacking the Canary Islands, about 1,000 kilometers from the Gibraltar Peninsula. This archipelago is about 100 kilometers away from Africa and is theoretically a springboard for the British and American forces to counterattack the Mediterranean in the future. But in fact, Churchill only ordered the capture of the Canary Islands in order to get a seemingly good victory in order to boost the morale that was depressed due to the fall of the Gibraltar Fortress.
However, the process of capturing the islands was not as smooth as expected. The Spanish Air Force stationed on the islands was also very combat-capable. Almost all of their pilots had participated in the Spanish Civil War. They also had the BF-117 provided by Germany, and two types of He-112 and Fokker D.31 that were not equipped in large quantities by the German Air Force and Naval Aviation.
In particular, Fokker's D.31 aircraft played a great role in the Canary Islands. The air combat performance of this aircraft is not satisfactory, but it can be used as a fighter-bomber and can carry 250 kg of aerial bombs for shallow dive bombing. Although the bombing accuracy is not as good as Ju88, this aircraft can engage in air combat after dropping the bomb, and it is also very strong and not easy to be shot down. Therefore, it caused great trouble to the British rookie pilots! The deck of the British "Hundred-eyed Giant" aircraft carrier was also damaged by the bombs dropped by this aircraft. In addition, a 10,000-ton troop transport ship was sunk by the bombs dropped by D.31, causing thousands of British officers and soldiers to fall into the water and disappear!
However, the British Empire's Royal Navy finally overcame all difficulties and defeated the ferocious Spanish Air Force - destroying the airport with naval guns! Now that the landing operation has begun, it is estimated that a great and crucial victory will be achieved soon.
Churchill's car arrived at Buckingham Palace, and King George VI, who had a severe stutter, met him in his office. The king looked very depressed. He had just met with the Russian Empress Olga who was visiting Britain and learned about the "harsh" peace conditions proposed by the Germans.
"They... they want... want a lot!" The king said with difficulty.
"Mr. Prime Minister, the Germans want all our African territories, as well as Madeira, Socotra, Bermuda, the Bahamas, British Honduras, 3 Glorious-class aircraft carriers, and also want... want me!"
A beautiful girl of fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed like a princess, stood beside the king and helped King George VI to state the Germans' conditions in a very angry tone.
She was the king's eldest daughter, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen of the British Empire... if the British Empire still has a future.
Princess Elizabeth looked very angry because she and her father also met with the visiting Queen Olga (they were relatives). As a result, Olga actually made a very embarrassing peace condition in front of her...to marry her to a very fierce German Nazi!
"Your Highness, this is a conspiracy of the German Nazis to rule the world!" Churchill pointed out very angrily - this was actually a bad idea of Princess Elizabeth's uncle, the Duke of Windsor.
George VI felt that his daughter should not be too involved in politics that she could not understand, so he waved his hand and let the angry Princess Elizabeth leave the office.
"Conspiracy?" George VI frowned. Of course he knew that his brother wanted to find Elizabeth a German husband named Hohenzollern. In fact, this was a well-matched match. Prince Friedrich was the son of the German Emperor Wilhelm III. The German Emperor Wilhelm III is the grandson of Queen Victoria of England, and now rules the most powerful empire in the world.
"Yes," Churchill said, "The Nazis wanted to use dynastic marriages to control Britain, and then use Queen Olga as a puppet to destroy and annex the Soviet Union!"
"Destroy...and annex the Soviet Union?" George VI didn't quite understand.
"Yes!" Churchill nodded, "According to reliable information, Archduchess Kira, the wife of German Crown Prince Ferdinand, is the heir to Empress Olga and the future Empress of Russia. If the Russian Empire is restored with the military support of Germany, then in the future The German Emperor will be able to concurrently serve as the Russian Tsar...Russia and Germany will eventually merge into one!"
King George VI was stunned again and again. This thing sounded like a routine from two hundred years ago.
"Should we...should we refuse peace talks?" asked George VI.
"No," Churchill shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, we should negotiate with the Germans!"
"What?" George VI looked at Churchill, "Is it difficult? Could it be that... we can no longer fight?"
"Your Majesty, the current situation is very difficult, but the Americans will eventually join." Churchill said, "However, it will take time for the United States to join. They are still preparing for war, which may take several months. Before that, we should use peace talks Delay for a while... As long as we can delay the autumnal equinox, Germany will not be able to attack our homeland for the time being. "
Once the autumnal equinox passes, the climate in the English Channel is no longer suitable for forced crossing. Moreover, the nighttime conditions in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Denmark Strait will become very poor, and the sea conditions will be very bad, making them no longer suitable for aircraft carriers and aircraft activities.
"If you delay...after the autumnal equinox...will things turn around?"
Churchill nodded and promised: "Your Majesty, there will definitely be a turn for the better!"
King George VI thought for a while and said: "Okay... okay, I... we will talk to them."
Churchill immediately said: "Your Majesty, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs should be responsible for peace negotiations."
King George VI nodded and agreed to Churchill's request. Now the British constitutional system is very mature. As King George VI, he nominally has full power (in wartime according to the Defense Act), but the actual power still has to be handed over to the cabinet.
Churchill was relieved. After all, the Defense Bill was authorized to the king. If George VI wanted to participate in the peace talks, the cabinet would be unstoppable. Who knows whether the king would be persuaded in the end? After all, his brother, the Duke of Windsor, advocates peace...
…
On the British side, Churchill took control of the negotiations in a few words. On the German side, Reich Marshal Hersmann was also stepping up his efforts to undermine the peace movement.
Three days after he attended the Kaiser's coronation ceremony, he met with Oshima Hiroshi and Genda Minoru again at the General Staff Headquarters in Zosen. They also gave them the final timetable for the start of the war!
"We are negotiating with Britain now!" Hessmann told the two men straight to the point. "Peace is possible. If you don't hurry up, you will miss the opportunity! Once His Majesty the Emperor decides to armistice with Britain, you will There is no chance to go south to expand the sphere of influence.
Because once we have an armistice with Britain, you will not be allowed to occupy the Dutch East Indies again! Because we are very close friends with the Netherlands. And our relationship with the United Kingdom is likely to transform into an alliance. If you choose to go south after an armistice is achieved in Europe, then you will likely fight the British and German combined fleets! "
Hersman looked at the two stunned Japanese with a very cold look and said: "You must make a decision before October whether to go south, and the time to launch the war cannot be later than December 31, 1941. Otherwise, you must make a decision before October. Everything will change! If you decide to go to war before October, we will provide you with assistance as much as possible and persuade the Netherlands to hand over the Dutch East Indies (will use South Africa as compensation)."