Chapter 1554: Stormy, I, Great Britain (Second update, please subscribe)
In war, casualties are inevitable.
In fact, in war, the least worth mentioning thing is life, and at the same time, the most valuable thing is life. For politicians and generals, the lives of soldiers are always one of many numbers. They only see victory or defeat.
Apart from victory, everything else is not worth mentioning! In fact, war is like this. War itself is a story of people's lives at stake. The winner will have everything, and the loser will lose everything.
Who will be the ultimate winner of this war?
Is it the Allied Powers led by Britain, the United States and Germany? Or is it the Central Powers led by Ming, France and Russia?
In the middle of 1996, no one knew the answer, but one thing was certain: the situation of Britain and the United States was not very good. They were facing an incredibly powerful enemy and were surrounded by enemies. They even lacked the supply of many war resources. However, even so, they were still fearless and fought tenaciously.
But no one knows how long they can hold on.
"Italy, Britain's last ally, once again refuses to join the war."
This is a headline in the newspaper.
"The Anglo-German offensive was thwarted at Verdun."
This is another headline in the newspaper. Headlines like this were everywhere: "Britain is defeated in Persia!", "France occupies Cairo!", "General Alekseyev is advancing towards Pakistan!", "The Tang Empire - the next member of the Allied Powers!", "The Tang - Targeting Southeast Asia?", "The Imperial Army Achieves Great Success in North America", "The Sun and Moon Flag Covers California", "The Imperial Alliance Has Once Again Shaken the Rule of the Anglo-Saxons!"
…
In this way, serial maps published in daily newspapers around the world continued to show how the three countries of France, Russia and the Ming Dynasty crossed one border and then expanded to another.
In May 1996, with the complete defeat of the British Indian Army in Persia and the stalemate on the French battlefield, at this moment, Great Britain's war resources have been almost exhausted, and the will to survive is undergoing the greatest test. Britain is seeking a breakthrough.
"Now, our war resources are running out. If we cannot end the war with Ming this year, then next year, we are likely to lose the war completely."
In the Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street, War Secretary Richard Haldane looked at the Prime Minister and spoke directly.
"At present, our saltpeter reserves are less than 20,000 tons, but the explosives and gunpowder needed on the front line all require nitric acid, which can only be extracted from saltpeter, and most of the saltpeter in the world can only be obtained from Ming Dynasty. In order to continue this war, we have to spend a high price to buy Chilean saltpeter from Spain, Portugal and other countries. We even need to collect urine to make saltpeter like in the 17th century, but this is simply a drop in the bucket. Once the empire stops exporting saltpeter, our army will be in a state of no explosives available. In fact, the empire is discussing the implementation of an embargo."
In fact, it is no longer a topic of discussion. At the request of France and Rome, the Empire has begun to implement export controls on saltpeter.
"If we don't force the Empire to stand at the negotiation table this year, how can we continue this war next year when the Empire stops exporting saltpeter and we lose our explosives and gunpowder? The fact is, without enough shells and bullets on the front line, they will not only defeat our army, but will also inevitably impose their will on us!"
The Secretary of War's warning made Prime Minister Cecil frown, then he silently took a puff of his cigar and said.
"It seems that we must implement the "South Atlantic Plan"..."
The "South Atlantic Plan" was proposed to give full play to the British naval advantage to break the current deadlock and create opportunities to destroy the Imperial Fleet. The implementation of this plan requires mobilizing the maritime forces of the British and American navies.
"Yes, sir. Although it is a bit risky, if successful, victory at sea will force the Empire to come to the negotiation table and end the war through negotiations."
In fact, after the war had been going on for more than a year, what the politicians in London wanted was definitely not to win the final victory, but to end the war in a dignified manner. The only problem was... sometimes, the course of the war would not change according to their will.
On the day when No. 10 Downing Street approved the Navy's "South Atlantic Operation Plan", in a park in London, James Bond was playing chess with others. It was just chess, which was a pastime that Bond had found recently. However, the people who played chess with him often did so to get some ration coupons - the war changed a lot of things, what was the biggest change?
It is the rationing of daily necessities. Starting from May 8 last year, the British had to use the ration book to go to the store to buy butter, sugar and bacon or raw ham. The British almost immediately felt the shortage of food rationing. Each adult can get 2 ounces of butter, 5 ounces of sugar and 3 ounces of bacon or raw ham per week.
Not to mention ordinary people who were used to spending lavishly, even the poor could barely make ends meet with this little food. When the black market came into being, ration coupons trading was also a very common thing. Sometimes, ration coupons were even more useful than pounds.
People playing chess in the corner of the park were also more willing to use ration coupons as bets. After all, at this time, food was the most important thing.
As for the British pound...
Having money doesn't necessarily mean you can buy what you need.
Here, many people are willing to play chess with Bond because he always brings a few butter biscuits. In this period of scarcity, butter biscuits are a very rare luxury, and this... this is not just the afternoon tea he brought from the office.
Most of them were elderly people over 50 years old who had not yet been drafted. While playing chess, some of them would inevitably talk about the war in France. Bond never expressed any opinion on this, and at most he would offer them a biscuit.
After playing two games of chess, Bond left again. People in the park had gotten used to him coming here to play chess every few days and eating the biscuits he brought. Of course, some people would guess what he did. Many people thought he was a wealthy businessman, but no one knew that he was one of the real masters of the British Empire - the top civil servant in the empire. Even the rationing system that they cursed was designed by him. After the outbreak of the war, Bond had been working hard to maintain the existence of the British Empire, from designing the rationing system to increasing income tax. In the upper class, this reform was called "confiscation of property". After all, the highest tax rate of personal income tax could reach 80%, which was indeed similar to "confiscation of property".
High taxes were also the fundamental reason why Britain was able to wage the war. However, no one knew that this tax rate, which was almost equivalent to confiscation of property, was set by this elegant gentleman.
After leaving the park, Bond, as usual, bought a newspaper and stood at the bus stop, reading the newspaper while waiting for the bus. When the bus arrived at the station, he had finished reading the newspaper. He put the newspaper on the mailbox next to him and got on the bus.
No one noticed that when he put the newspaper in, a letter was stuffed into the mailbox. Soon the letter would be sent to where it was supposed to go, and then the content of the letter would be sent via telegram. Finally, after several twists and turns, it would arrive at where it was supposed to go.
Everything that happened next had nothing to do with Bond. After sending the information, he sat on the bus and looked outside silently. Just at this moment, the air raid alarm sounded again.
The French bombing of London continues...
(End of this chapter)
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