Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

The successor to the Prime Minister has been decided. Chamberlain and Churchill left No. 10 Downing Street and went to Buckingham Palace to meet King George VI.

"Your Majesty, this is Winston Churchill, Lord of the Admiralty." Chamberlain briefly introduced Churchill to George VI, indicating that he would serve as the new British Prime Minister. "This time the Conservatives and Labor will form a coalition government."

Under normal circumstances, the appointment power of the British monarch is only a ceremonial right, that is, the right to "agree to the appointment" and "seal and sign". At most, it can make suggestions for appointment candidates (and is limited to the prime minister consulting the royal family due to appointment difficulties. recommendation), does not have the right to appoint or propose candidates. So now this link is purely out of respect and loyalty to the royal family.

King George VI nodded to Chamberlain. "Thank you for your hard work, Prime Minister Chamberlain... Your Excellency." Because he was not able to speak well, he could not say a long story such as that the empire will not forget your contribution and that you are the pride of the empire. He asked after briefly chatting with Churchill for a few more words. "How long will the fight last this time?" He was already in his twenties during the last war and had even served in the Royal Navy; he knew the cruelty of war.

At that time, in order to force Britain to withdraw from the war, Germany's navy launched the so-called "unrestricted submarine warfare", which meant that German submarines could arbitrarily sink any merchant ship bound for British waters without warning in advance. The purpose was to block Britain.

At the beginning, Britain and other Allied countries underestimated the seriousness of unrestricted submarine warfare. Submarine defense was still in its initial stage. Unrestricted submarine warfare immediately caused serious losses to the Allied Powers. The losses of the Allied merchant ships increased from 300,000 tons in January 1917 to 400,000 tons in February, then soared to 500,000 tons in March, and then to 850,000 tons in April. On average, one in four British merchant ships at sea was sunk.

According to later official statistics, until the end of the war, German submarines sank a total of 2,566 Allied merchant ships, with a total registered tonnage of 5.73 million tons, of which British merchant ships accounted for three-fifths. The total tonnage of British shipbuilding that year was only 2.7 million tons. The merchant ships of the Allied Powers were sunk too fast and there was no time to replenish and replace them. If this continues, starvation or even surrender will follow.

In view of the deteriorating situation, the British First Sea Lord John Jellicoe submitted a report to the Lord of the Admiralty on April 27, 1917, issuing a serious warning to the government: "History has proved that if the strategy is based on unsecured lines of communication, Accordingly, the result must be unfortunate. Under these circumstances, a disastrous defeat is inevitable, and our current policy is directly leading to a disastrous defeat. If you are unwilling to consider this, then I firmly believe that the war will be defeated and the British people will starve to death. ."

Jellicoe's warning had an effect, and the British government began to face up to the dangers it faced. In order to deal with German submarines, Britain mobilized all its navy's light forces and submarines, began to convert a large number of small merchant ships and fishing boats into minesweepers and frigates, and stepped up the construction of new anti-submarine ships.

In the second half of 1917 alone, Britain deployed 227 fleet destroyers, 74 frigates and patrol boats, 65 submarines, 406 motor boats, 49 speedboats, 894 trawlers, 867 drift net fishing vessels, and 24 ships. minesweepers, 77 camouflaged submarine hunting ships, 50 airships, and 194 aircraft. In order to clear the mines laid by German submarines, more than 3,000 ships and 250,000 personnel were used for mine clearance in the autumn of 1917 alone.

George VI felt that this war would be a long and protracted war. If the German navy launches unrestricted submarine warfare again, the British people are likely to suffer severe shortages and living difficulties again.

Churchill replied neither humble nor arrogantly. "It's hard to say. What I can assure you is that the British Empire will defeat the brutal and barbaric enemies on the European continent and achieve final victory!"

King George VI and Chamberlain sighed secretly at the same time, what kind of price must be paid. "Is... is it possible... to negotiate?" George VI always had a hint of cowardice in his character. If this war could be resolved on the negotiating table, then he would be happy for it.

"Your Majesty, this was originally an 'unnecessary war.'" At this point, Churchill glanced at Chamberlain, who looked a little ugly, and did not continue. If Britain and France had not blindly pursued the policy of appeasement and allowed Germany to grow and develop, things would not have turned out like this. At that time, he preached the German threat theory everywhere, but no one listened. Now it's better, it finally led to a bitter pill, right? "Negotiations cannot eliminate Germany's ambitions, it will only make them more ambitious. Only by knocking them down so hard that they will never be able to stand up again can permanent peace be restored in Europe!"

I heard that King George VI nodded silently.

After discussing some other things, Chamberlain and Churchill bid farewell to George VI and returned to No. 10 Downing Street, only to hear a shocking piece of bad news.

The German army made a surprise attack on the Eben Emaar Fortress and captured the nearby Froenhafen Bridge, Feldweseldt Bridge and Cannae Bridge intact.

"What?!" Churchill and Chamberlain were shocked, as if they had heard a fantasy. "Didn't the Belgians say that the fortress was impenetrable?! Everyone in the fortress was asleep?!" Even if they built a pig nest as big as the fortress and captured more than a thousand pigs inside, It will take some effort. How long had it been since the German offensive began? Was this captured?

"How was the fortress captured?! Is there a traitor among the fortress defenders?" Even if there were traitors, the German army would not be able to capture it so quickly without a certain number. Could it be that when the people in the fortress saw the shadow of the Germans, they were so frightened that they came out and surrendered?

The staff officer who made the report shook his head in embarrassment. "The specific situation is not yet known."

Chamberlain frowned and muttered. "This is not good news."

The fall of the Eben Emaar fortress meant that the defenses along the Albert Canal-Liège line had been breached by the Germans. "Aren't these idiots even prepared to blow up the bridge?" The most basic way to defend against the enemy's attack is to destroy roads and blow up bridges; even if it cannot be blocked for a long time, it can effectively delay the enemy's offensive actions.

Fortunately, these stupid Belgians actually gave up three bridges to the German army. The main force of the German army is bound to rush into the hinterland of Belgium in a steady stream.

Cursing in his heart, Churchill asked. "It was the vanguard of the German army that captured the fortress and the bridge, right? Can the nearby Belgian army recapture the fortress and bridge before the main force of the German army arrived? At least blow up those bridges." Once the main force of the German army passes through Alber Especially, the nearby Belgian army could only retreat in large strides, and the consequence was that the British and French allied forces might not be able to arrive in time and would rush into the battle.

But after saying that, he realized that it was useless for him to say this here now. The commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, Viscount Gott, and the commander-in-chief of the French Army Gamelin should have received the news and responded.