Chapter 782: Churchill's Death 13

Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell was not an incompetent military commander, but a very professional senior general who had a very in-depth study of warfare in the mechanized era, and he had been emphasizing this point for several years after the war. In his view and that of his good friend Admiral Marshall, the disaster that the US military encountered in England on January 16-17, 1943 was not caused by Stilwell's mistakes, and Stilwell had done his best to save the lives of 30,000 American officers and soldiers. Therefore, he is an American hero worthy of respect.

However, Bradley, who broke through the siege with several guards in civilian clothes on the evening of the 18th, insisted that Stilwell had entered the wrong profession and should not have joined the army at all. His performance on the battlefield was that of an absolute fool.

Although this comment was a bit harsh, when the US 2nd Armored Division and the 28th Division were attacked by the German army from the 16th to the 18th, Stilwell's performance was indeed not much different from that of a fool.

In fact, on the evening of the 16th, Stilwell and Bradley had already learned that some British troops had begun to withdraw. At this time, the German army did not launch an attack on the US troops who were defending the plains near Stoddonk, but only sent some armored vehicles and No. 3 tanks (belonging to the 2nd German Marine Division) to monitor nearby - the German army's two heavy battalions and one tank destroyer battalion were chasing the retreating British army at this time.

Bradley, who found that something was wrong, immediately suggested to Stilwell that the troops break out, but Stilwell believed that breaking out at this time would likely cause the troops to suffer heavy losses, and he would rather hold on and wait for help - after all, on the British Isles, the number of British and American troops was far greater than that of the German army!

So when the German army could not temporarily spare troops to encircle and annihilate the two divisions of the US army, Stilwell asked them to dig trenches on the snowy plains with biting cold winds, and prepare to hold on for at least 72 hours - the optimistic Stilwell believed that the British were unlikely to organize a counterattack within 48 hours, but 72 hours should be enough for the British to organize a counterattack.

To be fair, Stilwell's view was not wrong from a purely military perspective. If the battlefield is transferred from the British Isles to the east coast of the United States, it is the most correct option to hold on and wait for help. But in the UK in mid-January, there is no problem that can be considered from a purely military perspective.

Although the country still has millions of soldiers in uniform, the shortage caused by the long-term blockade, the shock brought by the German landing, and the inducement to surrender of the Cairo Declaration and other factors have made most people believe that Britain's defeat is inevitable!

So at this time, the British bigwigs who have considerable power or strength in their hands almost no longer care about the 30,000 American troops on the Hartlepool-Middlesbrough battlefield. Now they only have to wait for the return of the Wink Group that is chasing the retreating British army, and the end of these 30,000 American troops will come.

…

"Comrades, the incompetent reactionary army suffered a disastrous defeat in Hartlepool-Middlesbrough, and the end of the reactionary Windsor dynasty is coming!"

Somewhere in the East End of London, in the secret headquarters of the British Bolshevik Party, someone suddenly shouted loudly.

Harry Pollitt, who was discussing something in a low voice with several elderly men in inferior suits, stood up suddenly and looked at Ivan Maisky, the general representative of the Third International, who walked in excitedly.

"Comrade Maisky, is the news reliable?" Pollitt asked.

"Reliable!" Maisky nodded heavily and said, "We have an insider in the British War Department, and the United States has also informed the Soviet Union of the relevant situation. There is no doubt that the British reactionary government has lost the war, thus proving its incompetence. Now is the time for our Bolshevik Party to stand up and lead the British people to resist the German invaders.

In addition, we must also overthrow the reactionary Windsor dynasty and the greedy and corrupt British aristocratic bourgeoisie!"

"We must also overthrow the Windsor dynasty and the British bourgeoisie?" Pollitt frowned slightly. It seems that there was no such content in the previous plan?

"Of course!" Maisky said, "This is necessary. If the Windsor dynasty is not overthrown, do we have to ask the leaders of the Bolshevik Party to swear allegiance to the king? As for the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy, they monopolize most of the land and wealth in Britain. If they are not overthrown, the revolution will not succeed!"

Polit exchanged glances with several members of the Political Bureau of the British Bolshevik Party (the newly established Political Bureau), and then asked: "Comrade Maisky, is this the instruction of the Third International?"

"Yes! This is the latest instruction of the Third International!"

In fact, Stalin did not want to overthrow the Windsor dynasty immediately at the beginning, nor did he think about overthrowing the bourgeoisie immediately.

But after several days of investigation, research and probing (probing the position of George VI), Stalin was convinced that the Windsor dynasty and the British aristocratic bourgeoisie would not cooperate with the British Bolshevik Party, and had no determination to resist to the end.

So Stalin was determined to mobilize the masses and make a big move in London-even if the British revolution could not succeed, it must severely damage the ruling foundation and social stability of Britain.

The future political foundation of Britain must not be the same as France-based on the people's votes-but must be based on military suppression.

Only in this way can the British government be like a reactionary regime, rather than a legal regime like the French government. This will be of great significance to the future resistance movement in Britain!

Polit took a breath and asked, "Comrade representative, when do we start?"

"Now!" Ivan Maisky said, "We must catch our opponent by surprise!"

Pollitt said: "Then we immediately mobilize the crowd to surround Downing Street, Whitehall Street and King Charles Street."

"And Buckingham Palace!" Ivan Maisky said, "The collapse of Churchill's government is inevitable, and after Churchill's collapse, Princess Elizabeth will become the object of allegiance to the British reactionary forces! We must control her as much as possible ! If necessary... we can send her to the guillotine!"

…

"Mr. Prime Minister," Viscount Brooke jogged into Churchill's office. "The people in the East End are taking to the streets again. They must know the situation of the Battle of Hartlepool-Middlesbrough!"

"Damn Bolsheviks!" Churchill slammed the table. "I made a mistake. I should have resigned instead of dissolving Parliament!"

This is a big mistake! At least this is the case in Britain, which is particularly particular about democratic procedures.

Because once the Battle of Hartlepool-Middlesbrough was defeated, the British mainland was equivalent to defeat, and now there was no force that could prevent the Germans from landing.

The British people will definitely feel angry because of the defeat. There is only one outlet for all their anger, which is the war cabinet.

The best option for the War Cabinet at this juncture was to step down and hand over power to the Labor Party. But...Churchill chose to dissolve Parliament after the London protests!

This made the Churchill government a caretaker cabinet that could not step down immediately - because Parliament had been dissolved by Fatty Churchill, there was no way for the Labor Party to come out to form a new government.

"Prime Minister," Viscount Brooke suggested at this time, "Now we can only ask Her Royal Highness the Princess to step forward as regent, and then Her Royal Highness the Princess will appoint Mr. Attlee to form a temporary cabinet."

Fatty Qiu slapped his forehead. He was really confused. How could he forget this problem? After all, Britain is a kingdom, and the king still has the right to appoint a prime minister in a state of emergency.

Moreover... Princess Elizabeth still has 12,000 Royal Guards in her hands. As long as the Royal Guards are dispatched, the situation in London should be stable.

Churchill held the chair with both hands and stood up, "Viscount, I'm going to Buckingham Palace now. You go to the Southern Military District immediately to see if you can mobilize some troops back to London... I'm worried that the 12,000 Royal Guards are not enough. ”

"Okay, I'll go to the Southern Military District right away." Viscount Brooke nodded and immediately left the wartime cabinet headquarters underground on King Charles Street.

The current British ground forces are mainly concentrated in the southern theater and the Irish theater. The Irish theater is around Belfast, where dozens of divisions are stationed. The southern theater is responsible for defending the English Channel coast, and there are also dozens of divisions. As long as Viscount Brooke can pull some troops back to London, the Bolshevik conspiracy will be crushed!

Just as Churchill was about to leave the headquarters underground on King Charles Street and head to Buckingham Palace, Foreign Secretary Eden, who was guarding the cabinet, suddenly walked quickly, holding what seemed to be a copy of a telegram in his hand.

"Mr. Prime Minister," Aiden saw Fatty Qiu slowly moving out of the office on crutches, and quickly went to meet him and said, "President Roosevelt's telegram."

"Roosevelt?" Churchill stopped. "What did he say?"

"Roosevelt said that he hopes that you can visit the United States after leaving office to discuss with him the issue of peace negotiations with the Axis powers... President Roosevelt hopes that the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom can unify their positions on the issue of peace negotiations."

"Negotiating peace? Unifying positions?" Churchill snorted coldly, "You still want to lie!"

"Prime Minister, Roosevelt is lying to us?" Aiden was a little unconvinced.

"Of course it's a lie!" Churchill said bitterly, "He wants to delay our resistance with the unification of peace. But how can we delay it? If we delay, Britain in 1943 will be Russia in 1917."

"So...how do we respond?" Aiden asked.

Churchill thought for a moment and said, "Just say I agree."

"agree?"

"Yes!" Churchill finished his instructions and prepared to go out. As soon as he walked up the stairs under the protection of several entourage and guards, he heard a dull roar coming from above his head.

Then I saw several soldiers in military uniforms running down the stairs. When they saw Churchill, they loudly reported: "Mr. Prime Minister, there was a violent explosion on King Charles Street! There are still people shooting at the crowd. You can't go out now."