British civil servant

Frank wasn't as upset as he imagined, apparently getting some promises from Norman Brooke.

Alan Wilson stayed in a small circle with Frank and Maggins, and Frank was teasing Makins's recent pursuit of lifelong events, "Actually, you have a lot of choices, a lady from Oxford University with both temperament and connotation, as a A good match is best."

"Are you going to get married?" Alan Wilson was quite surprised when he heard that, "Your? Hmm..."

When he once carried Fultseva's Soviet delegation, Makins also stuffed an actress in it, doesn't it seem now?Makins shook his head slightly and denied, "Am I going to get married? She is not suitable."

Alan Wilson looked at Maggins' thinning hair and thought to himself that you were 35 before you thought of getting married.

Given a choice, Makins, who has titles and connections, and is now a senior civil servant, would not be in such a hurry to get married, but there is an unwritten rule in Whitehall, which is to evaluate married men more reliable.

Maggins can choose not to marry, but the future development may not be so smooth.

Frank was still chattering about the criteria for finding a spouse, while Maggins said nothing, and Alan Wilson finally couldn't help but said, "What is the connotation, what is the temperament, and what's the use? There are only two things for a man, young, beautiful, and the most important." All good."

Maggins wished he could grab Alan Wilson's hand and call out his bosom friend. When he listened to this friend who didn't come back often, he was much more pleasing to the ear than Frank. Does he need any temperament connotation?Is it not the same?Being young and beautiful is the visible advantage, and he is not looking for a housekeeper.

"Or does Alan have a deeper understanding of this?" Makins agreed unabashedly, "Some women think that their advantages are worthless in our eyes. It's ridiculous that they still don't realize this. .”

"Yes, across religions and nationalities, this is a general consensus among men." Alan Wilson chimed in, how many times he had participated in the banquets of big compradors taking concubines.

"Do the men in Malaya think so too?" Makins asked curiously, "By the way, the colony you manage is home to many people of different nationalities."

"Less than 700 million people." Alan Wilson calculated with his fingers, "Fortunately, there is no big mess."

"Isn't it 1000 or more than two million people?" Frank was very puzzled. He had been to Kuala Lumpur and had some knowledge of the local area.

"The person I'm talking about refers to a person with value, which is limited to men." Alan Wilson explained calmly, "We can use men as livestock, women don't have the physical strength, not to mention that they can't bear children. Doing high-intensity labor usually makes you feel uncomfortable for a few days every month, which is greatly reduced in terms of labor value."

It may be politically incorrect to say it, but from the perspective of a colonist, Alan Wilson, there is nothing wrong with this sentence.

"Let the domestic women's movement leaders know, and you will be in trouble." Frank said with a smirk.

"Conditions are different. There is adultery in the Malaya colonies, but Britain does not have it now. We must respect the traditional cultures of different civilizations." Alan Wilson yawned, "Don't mention it, for Whitehall, marriage is a real crime. It is an important consideration, and I believe that for the lord, as long as it is serious, this matter is quite simple."

With Maggins' title and connections, it is too easy to want a young and beautiful spouse.

During the reception, the small circle of Whitehall was also looming, chatting with each other, and finally Edward Bridges gave a speech, recalling his career in Whitehall, and expressing his praise to the civil servants present, and finally expressed his dialogue with Whitehall deep affection.

On this occasion, Norman Brook also came to the scene to express his farewell to his former boss.

The Whitehall era of Edward Bridges came to an end at this moment. The next day, after the approval of the cabinet, Norman Brooke became the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance. Norman Brooke, meanwhile appointed Frank Second Permanent Undersecretary to the Treasury.

Since then, Whitehall under the leadership of Norman Brooke has come to its peak, and its power has surpassed that of the previous cabinet secretaries.

"When Norman's authority surpassed that of me and Sir Hankey, there was never a cabinet secretary who was concurrently the secretary of the cabinet and the permanent undersecretary of the treasury, but he did."

Edward Bridges also couldn't help sighing. He admitted that this colleague with a complicated relationship had done what the previous cabinet secretaries hadn't done, and led Whitehall to its peak.

"It seems that maintaining a good relationship with politicians is indeed useful." Alan Wilson said after listening.

Edward Bridges has just accepted that the appointment of the director of the Mountbatten Group is not the Mountbatten Petroleum Company or the mining company, but the director of the head office.

Chapter 885 Aden Conference

Edward Bridges, who was successfully persuaded to continue benefiting the society, was in a good mood and asked, "Alan, Norman's adjustment this time has adjusted your rank to Deputy Secretary-General. It can be said that you are also receiving Among the ranks of trust, you are considered to be very reliable, even in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, only the executive deputy minister is higher than you."

"I think it may take time to exercise." Alan Wilson paused when he said this, "There are still many things that need the Jazz's help."

"Like our business, we are content with the status quo and have always followed the cabinet's arrangements. There have never been any secrets."

Edward Bridges has a particularly strong accent on the word secret, "At present, you are facing two routes. Wait until Ismay leaves, and then follow the trend to take over as the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If not. The other way is As private secretary to one of the ministers, the latter may take a while, of course."

"You are a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but what you do is administrative affairs, which is no problem. In fact, the work of the colony itself includes administrative affairs. In order to avoid the expansion of the power of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was divided into several departments. Colonial Ministry, India Office, Commonwealth and Foreign Office. So working relationships don't hold you back."

"There is actually a small problem with age. You have just passed 30 years old. Norman was already regarded as a powerful figure in Whitehall, but he was already 40 years old when he reached the rank of executive undersecretary. If everything goes well, you must faster than him."

Edward Bridges analyzed from the perspective of Allen Wilson, "In terms of connections, with General Mountbatten present, the military is definitely not a problem. Among the business community and the aristocracy, the Mountbatten Group is now generally respected, not to mention It should be mentioned that you are the Deputy Secretary-General of the Overseas Assets Management Committee, and you have huge funds in your hands. The only flaw is that you are in Whitehall, because you have been working abroad for a long time, and you may lack some accumulation, which is very troublesome, but now... "

"I really need someone like Jazz to help me improve all the time." Of course Alan Wilson knew very well, what will happen after now, only Edward Bridges is missing, a former cabinet secretary and civil servant, A veteran civil servant who has retired from the position of deputy secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

"Very well, you are really reliable." Edward Bridges nodded with a smile on his face. "Actually, Oxford University asked me to be the honorary dean, a director of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a director of the Swire Group, and a director of the Jardine Group. It’s not important to me. I mainly want to continue to protect the current interests of the British Empire, so I’m going to look around to see if it can help during the winter.”

"Whether it's Australia or Malaya, the climate is definitely not a problem. The wind is sunny, and the local people should know the customs." Allen Wilson agreed with a full face, "I will definitely not regret it if I go there."

"Of course, my son's project in Australia also needs Pamela's attention." Edward Bridges put forward the last condition, and then said, "I suggest that you deal with all the hidden dangers as much as possible, complete the term of office or directly advance Come back. Of course, this is just a suggestion, and you can consider whether to adopt it yourself."

"I don't quite understand." Alan Wilson directly asked Edward Bridges to clarify.

"There are many competitors in the Ministry of Finance. You are just a latecomer at the level of deputy secretary-general. Frank, Armstrong, and Lawrence in front of you are all senior deputy secretary-generals. But don't worry, they all They hold important positions in the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not happen to have one, so I suggest that you try to seize the position after Ismay, it is like this in everything, there are few positions, but there are many competitors."

"Who is the most likely candidate?" Alan Wilson stretched out his finger and pointed to it, indicating that he was asking about the position of the cabinet secretary.

"Everything is possible, but in my personal opinion, Burke Trend's resume is more complete. In [-], he became the private secretary of Congress, but you don't have to worry about the Ministry of Finance, although I Retired, but with the Treasury, you can turn to Chief Economic Adviser Robert Hall when you need help."

Although Edward Bridges officially retired this time, it is not without making arrangements. The role of chief economic adviser is no less important than that of the standing deputy secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

Edward Bridges, director of the Mountbatten Group, also informed the reliable candidate in his heart of some of his arrangements at this time.

Alan Wilson nodded, and then left Edward Bridges' home, seeing the bustling people again, as if in a dream, but anyway, he had taken an important step in his life and entered the permanent deputy secretary long class.

"You... are getting married. It's not in vain for me to wait so long. I thought you'd have to wait until you go to Aden for a meeting before any good news comes." Alan Wilson, who was holding the microphone between his hands, took a deep breath. In a low tone, he said to Makins on the other side of the microphone with a drawn voice, "Just tell me the time, it's quite late."

"My God, why is your voice so strange." Maggins asked strangely, "But by the way, do you want to watch an opera recently? Mary Martin is touring in London."

"Okay, set a time." Alan Wilson tried his best to breathe steadily, and blinked at Pauline Godd who was sitting upright.

Baolian Gao Dai's face turned red, and she was careful not to speak out, for fear of being heard.

It wasn't until Ellen Wilson put down the phone that Pauline Goddard breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately Ellen Wilson sat up, and she couldn't help exclaiming, and she was brought up directly, "I remember, you also came with Mary Martin Well, let me just say, you don't have a movie to promote, the Royal Casino has already been released."

"It's not that you're always complaining about being lonely. Mary is in London, so I'm here." Pauline Gaudy complained with her arms around the man's neck, "You just answered the phone, which surprised me."

"However, you solved a lot of my troubles." Alan Wilson said frankly that he recently returned to China. If so, don’t be in a hurry to go back.”

As the executive deputy secretary-general, it is not too much to make such a request, and Pauline Goddess did not refuse.

A few days later, Alan Wilson and Maggins were at the Opera House to watch Mary Martin perform.If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that Maggins still had such an elegant hobby.

It's just that Alan Wilson didn't. He was already drowsy halfway through the time. If it wasn't for Makins' fiancee, he would have been considering whether to leave.

Makins' fiancée is naturally speechless in appearance, and a little childish, and she is only 22 years old this year.Alan Wilson, who is at the best age of his life and knows the details of his colleagues, can only wish Makins a change after marriage.

But when he thought about himself, he didn't seem to be qualified to say anything about others. Apparently, Maggins still doted on this little fiancee. The girl named Julian asked Makins to accompany her to watch the opera.

"Alan, Pamela is not here, your life is not normal." Makins joked with a smile, "Julian still wants to meet the famous female chairman."

"There will be this opportunity. She has been slack recently and doesn't want to fly around all the time." Alan Wilson explained with a smile, "Actually, after the wedding, you two can travel to Malaya for a while, which is also very interesting. in the past. Then we can see each other more often.”

After entering the Ministry of the Interior, Maggins showed a vigorous side. For the sake of his reputation in Whitehall, he quickly held a wedding. Many officials from the Ministry of the Interior attended the wedding.

Throughout the wedding, Maggins also took advantage of this occasion to build contacts with colleagues from the Ministry of the Interior.

After going back and forth for more than a month, Alan Wilson could no longer stay in London. He visited Gerald Edward and stayed in Bonn for two days by the way. After passing through Paris, Rome, Comet [-] landed in Aden.

British South Yemen is a British colony in the Arab region, and Aden is associated with the Suez Canal throat control.

Even if Britain loses Egypt, it can prevent the forces in Port Said from using the Red Sea to enter the Indian Ocean through Aden.Moreover, it also prevents any external forces from entering the Persian Gulf without the acquiescence and approval of the United Kingdom.

In view of this, the British base camp in the Arab world is placed in Aden, while Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman are just British protectorates, although most of the British troops in Arab countries are deployed in the Persian Gulf.

A large part of Britain's hopes for recovery are pinned on it.

However, Alan Wilson's biggest impression of this place is that Hussein made the Saudi princes feel ashamed.It has been proved by actual actions that Soviet-style weapons are not bad, and American-style weapons can also be blown up.

The British Arabia represented by Aden is an extension of the British strategy in the Indo-Pacific region at a deep level.Status is extremely important, which is why this meeting is held in Aden.

After arriving in Aden, Alan Wilson also met with the Australian and New Zealand garrison under the guidance of his colleagues.That's right, there is also an Australian and New Zealand garrison here, stationed in Aden under the leadership of the United Kingdom.

In the next few days, the two waited for the arrival of other colonial commissioners. Alan Wilson also took time to go to the Indian community. Ambani, the richest man in India who built a mansion next to the poor kiln, should be the Indian community here. I don't know if this family is here now.

Chapter 886 Brown Sports Bullet

"For more than 100 years, we have fought so many countries. Could it be that Indians are allowed to blossom and bear fruit everywhere?"

Alan Wilson and the Persian Gulf Commissioner, who was already accustomed to the local area, looked at the hustle and bustle of the Indian community not far away, feeling very uncomfortable, "John, there are Indians in Sudan too, I almost forgot about them last time."

"Yes, but not too many, a community of thousands of people." John suddenly looked at Alan Wilson and lowered his voice, "What are you going to do?"

"Let them go back to where they came from." Alan Wilson relaxed with his hands in his pockets, "But there are thousands of people in a community, we can still do such a small thing, right?"

"It's not difficult." John and Alan Wilson turned their heads and disappeared into the Indian community in Aden, as if they had never been there.

In the next few days, commissioners from all over the world arrived in Aden one after another, and congratulated the new Persian Gulf commissioner and Alan Wilson by the way.Everyone already knows that Alan Wilson's rank has been raised by one level, and he has taken an important step in his career.

More than 20 colonial commissioners gathered in the Aden Administrative Office. The Aden meeting officially started. Alan Wilson was not polite, and directly took out the work instructions of Whitehall, saying, "Depending on the efforts of colleagues, after the end of the World War Ten years later, Britain finally does not have to keep its head down and be held hostage financially by suspicious allies. Whitehall is very satisfied with our work, and in the next stage, some adjustments in strategic direction will be made."

"Change is something we don't like, and I don't like it either, but I believe the gentlemen understand that to act in the national interest, some adjustments are inevitable."

"Deputy Secretary-General, you can just say that everyone wants to know what the adjustments are about." Ingram asked.

"Then I will not be polite. In terms of overseas garrisons, in addition to the British troops stationed in Germany within the framework of NATO, the current garrisons mainly consist of three major divisions, the three major joint operations commands in the Near East, the Middle East, and the Far East. The headquarters are in Cyprus, Aden and Singapore under our feet, British Africa is actually not important on the strategic map, don't look at the size of British Africa."

Speaking of this point, the real purpose is ready to be revealed. Among the three major joint operations commands, the Near East is the strongest. In a sense, the Near East Joint Operations Command with the Mediterranean Fleet can be regarded as a part of NATO, not a separate one. For the British garrison, the Middle East and the Far East are different.

Compared with the interests of the Middle East and the Far East, British Africa is definitely in a secondary position, regardless of the fact that the area is much larger than the latter.

"The huge funds in our hands need to support the troops stationed in the Middle East to stay here forever. If the British African colonies are regarded as the rear, then the Middle East and the Far East are the front lines. This is what Whitehall means. I hope gentlemen can understand."

With the current configuration of 80 British troops, plus British Africa, there are 10,000+ troops stationed in the colonies.Of course, there are not many in number, and it cannot be compared with the French army in Algeria.

Most of the colonial commissioners who came to Aden were from British Africa. It was Alan Wilson's job to make these colleagues accept this fact and take responsibility. direction.

Although Britain has recovered, its economic strength cannot be compared with that before the war. It can only place limited foreign investment in more important places. The Middle East and Far East are ahead of Africa.

"You don't need to be depressed. It may be a bit embarrassing to say. But the situation in Africa depends on whether France can stabilize. If France stabilizes, the African colonies will have enough time to adjust, and there is no need to worry about challenges coming soon. The Middle East is different, and challenges can occur at any time." John followed Alan Wilson's train of thought, "The situation in Africa is still very stable, and the jurisdiction of Alan and I is the real uncomfortable place."

"Who doesn't know the significance of the Persian Gulf. We know it, the United States knows it, and the Soviet Union knows it. To be honest, the national strength of the United States and the Soviet Union is higher than that of the United Kingdom. Our advantage depends on the accumulation of our fathers. We can stabilize the It is already too difficult to continue to ignore the interest of the United States and the Soviet Union in the Middle East."

"Well, although I can't agree with all of them, this is also for the sake of the overall situation." Unlike others, Ingram is a commissioner in British West Africa, which happens to be the most densely populated place in Africa. Big difficulty, "Before coming here, the political parties in Nigeria have stated that they will submit their opinions on the establishment of an autonomous dominion."

"A place with nothing but people." Although Alan Wilson's words are somewhat slanderous, Nigeria does not have nothing but people, but it is also a fact that there are not many resources per capita. The largest country in Africa in later generations is all supported by population. Give your own suggestion directly, "Go through the procedure and list a five-year buffer period. If the situation is eased because of this, part of the local garrison will be transferred to the East African colony."

"Will Whitehall agree?" Ingram knew that Alan Wilson had just come out of London, so he must know what Whitehall meant.

"Whitehall's opinion is to follow the procedure." Alan Wilson nodded, "Talk about the pound settlement, and the rest will follow the precedents of British India and Sudan. Nationalized enterprises in Nigeria and local elites form In terms of interest alliances, the main consideration is not to let Nigeria's autonomy affect the local economy."

"I understand. I'll pay attention to this when I go back." Ingram nodded and stopped talking.

"The strengthening of the layout in the Middle East requires at least 500 million pounds of funds. The Ministry of Finance means to provide [-] million pounds of support. The rest is for us to figure out." John was a little embarrassed when he took out the documents, after all He is now in the position of asking for money, and he is a little short of breath.

Sure enough, the huge gap between the required funds and the Ministry of Finance appropriation caused a buzz in the conference room.When you spend money, you are happy, but when you pay, you become a different face.

"Can your jurisdiction replace the important economic value and status of the Middle East?" Alan Wilson asked back, seeing that everyone was silent, he said, "So, how simple is this, the Far East and the Middle East are lost, and the cabinet withdraws all The colonies don’t hesitate, if the difficulty in Africa is the four arithmetic operations, our two places are simply calculus.”

It’s not a complaint, it’s an obvious fact, Alan Wilson must make his colleagues clear about this fact, “I don’t even think it’s enough, the investment of [-] million pounds, considering the interests of the UK, is no different from no investment. American organizations in the Middle East The actions of the country to block the Soviet Union, and the countermeasures of the Soviet Union, don’t say you didn’t see it.”

"Taking advantage of the recent troubles in Poland and Hungary is a good opportunity. Now the Soviet Union has no time to pay attention to the Middle East. Our pressure mainly comes from the United States, and at least the United States will not openly tear itself apart from the United Kingdom. It depends on whether we can rely on it in the dark." The former foundations of the British Empire safeguard British interests."

All the colonial commissioners nodded in approval. Although they are not in Europe, they have heard about the current affairs in Poland and Hungary. They are watching how the Soviet Union reacts to the anti-Soviet voices of the two Eastern European countries.

The incident in Hungary is mainly caused by two people. The current tension in Hungary is only reflected at the government level. The discord between Rakosi and Nagy, as well as the confrontation between the followers of the two, have not yet affected to the people of Hungary.

This incident has nothing to do with Allen Wilson, but he remembered that the Soviet Red Army suffered nearly a thousand casualties due to the Hungarian accident.The Soviet Red Army stationed in Eastern Europe is normally an elite division, far from being comparable to the KGB border guards stationed in the Far East.

Can the isolated incident in Hungary alone cause so many casualties to the Soviet army?

But the truth has long been submerged in the fog of history. The winner of the Cold War was the United States, and no one could find out whether the United States had any influence on the Hungarian incident.

The world is not peaceful. While the meeting in Aden was still being held, de Havilland, who had just arrived here after leaving the UK, looked solemn at the Wumera launch site in Australia. He looked at the huge blue light missile. The first finished product had already been manufactured. Today will usher in the first experiment.

When things came to an end, de Havilland felt anxious. Of course he wanted to prove his talent through the success of the blue light missile, but in this field, he was also an out-and-out novice.

After several years of preparation, he still asked him to come in person for the test launch of the first British ballistic missile.

Also coming to the Wumera launch site was Australian Governor Slim, the British Field Marshal.As well as the Australian Defense Minister and Army Commander.

The figure of Pamela Mountbatten appeared and greeted de Havilland, "I didn't expect you to come in person, respected Mr. de Havilland."

"I've already regretted it, ma'am. I didn't expect to receive so much attention." De Havilland smiled wryly. "With Marshal Slim and the leaders of the Australian military, what should we do if we fail?"

"Then continue to experiment. This is a strategic weapon. I absolutely support continuing." Pamela Mountbatten remembered her husband's words, this is a life-saving thing.

The projectile body of the blue light missile has a metallic luster.It is a behemoth, with a design maximum take-off weight of 68 tons. It is very bulky and uses liquid fuel. The engine used is the RZ.2 rocket engine of Rolls-Royce.

As the countdown began, everyone at the observation position also held their breath, and finally the huge blue light missile was successfully ignited, and the huge missile body escaped from the shackles of the earth's gravity and flew into the blue sky.

Just when everyone was about to celebrate, the blue light missiles moved irregularly, killing those who wanted to celebrate, and finally exploded in the sky with Brownian motion, becoming a big firework, and the ignited fuel fell like fire rain to the ground.

Chapter 887 The Enemy's Intercontinental Missile

The scene from the observation window made everyone fall into silence. Although they were not unprepared in their hearts, it was disappointing that the blue light missile that had been given high hopes turned into a big fireball.