Beiyang reactionaries

From a strategic point of view, neither should agree easily.

Southern Tibet is the largest and relatively affluent area, and is currently an important tea producing area.But in fact, in terms of strategic location, it is not as good as the Aksai Chin and Ladakh regions.The Aksai Chin region is the only place that China's Xinjiang and Tibet must pass through, and it is the center of the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway laid by China.Moreover, the average altitude of Aksai Chin is more than 4000 meters. Aksai Chin is the commanding height of Central Asia, overlooking the Central Asian countries.

It can be said that it has taken advantage of the geographical advantage.

And the Ladakh region.

This is China's gateway to Central Asia and South Asia. It occupies one-third of the Kashmir region in the southeast of the later Kashmir region.Back then, the reason why Britain drew the line and controlled the Dalac region was to prevent Russia from spying on Tibet and Russia from threatening India.It is also to compete with Russia for control of Central Asia.Once you control the Dalark region, you will have the gateway to Central Asia.

If China controls Aksai Chin and Ladakh, then China has a direct gateway to Central and South Asia and can extend its influence to Central and South Asia.More importantly, China controls the Aksai Chin and Dalak regions, so the direct threat is India.

India is the jewel of Britain.

So Chamberlain looked at the area, frowning more and more tightly.China's appetite is too great.For the southern Tibet region and the Dalak region, Britain has worked hard for 100 years and slowly swallowed these regions.But China is going to completely solve these problems once and for all.

"Is there any military mobilization in China?"

This is what Chamberlain is most concerned about.

At present, it is at war with Germany, and Britain is already deeply involved.Germany is the world's top industrial power. In terms of industrial output, Germany currently surpasses the United Kingdom.In terms of military industry, Germany is the sum of Britain and France.

Germany used more than 100 million troops to attack Poland, and now it uses millions of troops to attack Norway and Denmark.Thousands of tanks, thousands of cannons, thousands of planes.

It will be difficult for Britain to withdraw from Europe if it goes to war with such a country.Besides, Japan in the Nanyang region has been eyeing it. During this period of time, Japan has been strengthening the strength of Nanyang.A large number of warships went south, and there were non-stop transportation of army troops.It is a headache just to deal with Japan. If China wants to go to war, it is really not good news for Britain.

For China, Chamberlain could not fully trust.

After all, China also signed the "Anti-Comintern Pact", and Germany, Japan, and China were allies in the early years.Even now, China is still Germany's largest supplier of raw materials.

In 1938, a large amount of resources from China flowed into Germany, and a large amount of machinery and equipment from Germany also went to China.This is impossible to hide.After all, with so many merchant ships coming and going, how can we hide it from others.

It can be said that more than half of the war materials hoarded by Germany for the war were provided by China.Such a China will never reassure Britain.

"Have."

Halifax nodded.

He also said with a serious face: "The information we got is that China has mobilized two divisions from Sichuan to Lhasa, Tibet, and another two divisions to Qamdo, Tibet. Moreover, Sichuan and Yunnan are vigorously raising various supplies. , and it was a public fundraising. The Chinese military recruited 8 civilians and 12000 mules and horses. Not only a large number of civilians were recruited from the people, but the Chinese army itself had a large number of trucks. In addition to the original three in Tibet Division troops, China will soon deploy seven divisions of army troops in Tibet, about 10 people."

Halifax pointed at the map.

"10 people?"

"Yes."

Halifax continued: "In addition to increasing troops in Tibet, China has also begun to increase troops in the border area between China and Myanmar. At present, China has deployed 14 divisions and 20 troops in Yunnan. Tibet and Yunnan Sichuan, the rear of the country, has 10 divisions and 15 troops. The general situation is like this. However, the composition of China’s troops is somewhat complicated, and our intelligence agencies cannot obtain the most accurate data, but rough data There should be no mistakes. China’s Tibet, Yunnan, and Sichuan have field troops of about 50. In addition to Guangxi, Guizhou, and Hunan not far away, China has nearly 80 troops in this area. And China has built Qinghai-Tibet Highway, Xinjiang-Tibet Highway, and troops can be transferred from Xinjiang and Qinghai. There are more troops in Xinjiang.”

"So many troops?"

Chamberlain couldn't help taking a breath.

Why does China, a "brute" country, have so many troops?Nearly 80 troops, so many troops are several times the total number of British troops in India.Although Britain has begun to recruit and train troops in India, the current number is still limited.Britain still needs time, it needs time to arm its forces.

"How many troops does China currently have?"

"This is not very clear, because the Chinese army has been expanding its army every year, and their organization is different from ours. Five years ago, the number of troops announced by China itself was nearly 5 million. In recent years, China It has been expanding its army. In the past two years, China reorganized its troops and came up with a corps organization. The entire Chinese army was organized into 200 corps. However, the organization of the Chinese army’s corps is different, and the number of people is also different. The same. After reorganizing 25 corps, China has not stopped expanding its military in recent years. Therefore, according to the analysis of our intelligence agency, the current number of Chinese field troops should exceed 25 million. And China, like the Soviet Union, has formed a half-army and half-civilian The organization is called the Construction Corps. This large-scale Corps usually grows food, but also conducts military training. According to the information we have, the number of China's Construction Corps exceeds 400 million. "

"So many troops?"

"Yes."

"Where are their weapons and equipment?"

"It's not bad. Judging from the current Chinese weapons, most of the planes, tanks, cannons, machine guns, and even ordinary rifles have German technology. China is already a country with self-sufficient weapons and equipment. The number is second only to the Soviet Union. The Chinese military announced that it has 20 planes and 7000 tanks. Not long ago, China also opened up one of their tank production bases for journalists from all over the world to see. Our People also went there. It used to be a tractor factory, the largest tractor factory in China. Now it has become a tank production base in China. Although only one production line has been opened, the daily production capacity is more than [-] vehicles, and the annual production capacity exceeds [-]."

Chamberlain was silent.

The number of Chinese troops is too large, and the weapons and equipment are too amazing.The Chinese army even announced that China has 7000 aircraft and [-] tanks.What's even more powerful is that the annual production capacity of a tank production line turns out to be more than [-] vehicles.

How many tanks does the UK have now?

Just under 2000.

"Three months, three months."

Chamberlain frowned, and said to Halifax, "What do you think should be done?"

"talk."

Halifax said directly: "In the current situation, a military conflict with China is not a good thing. Once the two sides do have a military conflict, the Chinese army can invade India from Tibet, or invade Myanmar from Yunnan. This is to threaten India. At this stage, we have not completely reorganized the Indian army, and there is not much confidence in a war with China. And once we have a military conflict with China, Japan will inevitably attack Malaya and control Malacca. After that, Japan can start from Malacca is attacking India. If it is flanked by China and Japan, India may not be able to keep it. We cannot lose India."

"Well. Let's talk. Let's delay for a while and see how the situation develops."

"Shit, can you do it? If you can't do it, just give up the position. There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers waiting on the front line, and you tell me that there are only 300 ships? Can you fucking do things? Is this the only thing in my British Empire Ships? You idiots, at least you need to raise more than a thousand ships for me. Don’t tell me it’s difficult.

With a thick cigar in his hand, messy hair, and a phone in his hand, he kept swearing.

After scolding, he slammed the phone on the table with a grim expression.Then he half-lyed on the chair, with one foot still on the table.With a cigar in his mouth, he continued: "This group of damned idiots only managed to raise [-] ships in a few days. These people should be court-martialed, and then they should all be dragged out and shot."

This foul-mouthed and unkempt man is Churchill, the British Prime Minister who just took office and one of the three giants in World War II history.

The Norwegian campaign was lost.

The British and French allied forces were swept by the German army. Within a month, the British and French allied forces retreated steadily and withdrew from Norway.After Germany captured Denmark, it took Norway.However, after the defeat of the Norwegian Battle, the British and French allied forces, plus the armies of Belgium and the Netherlands, had a total of about 300 million troops.

Although the situation is difficult, its strength is still no less than that of the German army.

However, these coalition forces nestled in the Maginot Line, waiting to fight a good battle with the German army on the Maginot Line.It's a pity that Germany is not so stupid, fighting with the British and French forces on the Maginot Line.France's belief that the Maginot Line was impregnable was not entirely bragging.Because the Maginot Line is indeed well repaired, it is not easy to break through head-on.

So Germany chose a detour.

Invaded Belgium, crossed the Ardennes forest and mountains that the French thought was impossible to pass, broke through the strategically important Sedan defenses, and went straight to Paris, France.The two German armies, Army A and Army B, attacked France in two directions.The main direction of attack is placed on the side of Army Group A.Commanding a powerful armored force, launching an offensive at the northern end of the Maginot Line-the rugged and forested Ardennes that were once considered impenetrable to tanks, completely surprised the British and French forces defending Army Group B.

Soon the Belgian army couldn't stop it and could only surrender to Germany.The British and French allied forces were beaten by the German blitzkrieg, resulting in 40 British and French allied forces in Dunkirk, waiting for British rescue.

Public opinion in the UK is mixed.

Chamberlain couldn't stand it anymore.Chamberlain is criticized in the UK, who believes that it is his appeasement policy that has led to the current situation.Under this pressure, Chamberlain could only choose to resign.

After Chamberlain's resignation, according to the rules, Halifax, the British Foreign Secretary, took over Chamberlain's position.Halifax is a British aristocrat and a veteran political official. Therefore, Chamberlain, who resigned, and the British royal family all support Halifax as the British Prime Minister.

But Halifax is smart.

I understand that domestic public opinion is raging now. As the pillar of Chamberlain's appeasement policy, he is also known as the "first mate", and he is also criticized by others.Regarding his critical voice, how can he take over the position of prime minister under such circumstances only under Chamberlain.Moreover, the Anglo-French coalition forces were already in a critical situation of annihilation. Halifax believed that he was incapable of recovering from the defeat, so Halifax rejected the appointment.

Therefore, it was the turn of Churchill, who had always opposed the "appeasement policy" and had always appeared in front of everyone with a tough posture, to take over the position of British Prime Minister.It is precisely because Churchill has always opposed the "appeasement policy" that people feel that Churchill is very wise, so this result came about.

But Churchill was even more stressed.