Chapter 941 940 [Goodbye Attlee]

London, Chinese Embassy in the UK.

"What is the specific political situation in the UK?" Wang Rizhang asked impatiently. Although he was nominally the secretary assigned to Zhou Hexuan, he had the responsibility to deliver news to Chang Kaishen at any time - after all, Chiang Kai-shek liked to play micro-manage and wanted to take care of everything, including diplomatic negotiations.

Guo Taiqi said: "The British cabinet now belongs to the wartime coalition government. The Conservative Party represented by Churchill is in charge of military and foreign affairs, and the Labor Party represented by Attlee is in charge of domestic affairs. The Liberal Party is dispensable."

Wang Rizhang asked again: "What are the attitudes of the Conservative Party and the Labor Party towards China?"

Guo Taiqi said: "The Labor Party advocates uniting all potential international allies, including China. If the British Labor Party is in power, it will certainly not close the Burma Highway, but the Labor Party rarely interferes in foreign affairs. You can understand that the Labor Party is not responsible for British foreign policy. There is only the right to suggest and discuss, and the decision lies with the Conservative Party.”

"What about the Conservative Party?" Wang Rizhang asked.

Guo Taiqi smiled bitterly and said: "The Conservative Party is divided into two factions. Although Chamberlain has stepped down, he still has a strong influence on the Conservative Party. He advocates compromise and peace. Churchill was a puppet when he first came to power, but after two After months of hard work, Churchill has won the support of many Conservative MPs. Now the Conservative Party is led in the general direction by Churchill. His diplomatic philosophy is to abandon Asia, first unite the United States to solve European problems, and then turn around and solve Asian problems smoothly. "

Zhou Hexuan summarized: "In other words, Churchill did not pay attention to Asia at all. No matter how lively the fight between Japan and China was, it could not compare with any battle in Europe."

Guo Taiqi said: "Yes, all Churchill's eyes are focused on Europe. As long as Japan does not attack Nanyang, he will not care about the life and death of China."

Wang Rizhang turned to Zhou Hexuan and asked, "How are Mr. Zhou going to start the negotiation?"

Zhou Hexuan thought for a while and said: "I want to see Labor Party leader Attlee first. If I can convince him, it would be easier. After all, Labor Party is also one of the ruling parties."

When Zhou Hexuan visited the UK, Attlee only played a small role and was ordered to serve as a tour guide for Zhou Hexuan. The two were somewhat acquainted.

It is ridiculous to say that a few years ago the Labor Party opposed all wars and pursued an idealistic foreign policy. They believed that war was evil, and if everyone disarmed together under the leadership of the League of Nations, the world would become infinitely better.

Even when the British government reorganized its armaments in 1935, the Labor Party stood up and accused that some members of the Labor Party actually wanted the British government to "close recruitment stations, disband the army, disarm the air force...abolition of terrible war facilities."

Well, it means advocating for the demilitarization of the UK.

If we really implement the concept of the Labor Party, then needless to say, Hitler can occupy the British Isles without spending a single soldier.

Attlee was an outlier in the Labor Party, just as Churchill was an outlier in the Conservative Party. Both men pursued a tough military foreign policy. So they came to power, and now Churchill was Prime Minister, and Attlee was equivalent to Deputy Prime Minister (at this time, Lord Privy Seal, and officially became Deputy Prime Minister two years later).

However, the two men had somewhat different views. Churchill wanted to unite the United States to solve European problems, and Attlee wanted to unite all anti-fascist countries to solve the world war—but neither of them could fully decide.

Churchill was a very frustrated Prime Minister. When he first came to power, Chamberlain was still equivalent to the Supreme Emperor.

Therefore, when Germany attacked Belgium, although the British government had sent troops, the cabinet was discussing how to sue for peace and even planned to cede the colony to Germany. After France formally surrendered, the British cabinet was discussing negotiating peace with Italy, intending to give up its Mediterranean interests to please Italy.

Every time Churchill took tough measures, he had to spend a lot of money to convince the cabinet and agreed to the cabinet's weak attempts for peace again and again. In Churchill’s words: “Knowing that it’s useless, you still have to do it to please teammates who are like pigs.”

…

The day after Zhou Hexuan arrived in London, the British Foreign Office secretly called the United States to once again seek Roosevelt's opinion. If the United States does not object clearly, Britain will temporarily close the Burma Highway.

When Hu Shi learned of the news in the United States, he immediately telegraphed the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chiang Kai-shek ordered Zhou Hexuan and Guo Taiqi to immediately launch diplomatic lobbying.

Guo Taiqi was busy giving speeches and meeting with officials from the British Foreign Office, while Zhou Hexuan went directly to Attlee.

"Zhou, long time no see." Attlee shook hands and smiled.

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Congratulations to your Excellency for becoming the Lord Privy Seal of the United Kingdom."

Attlee spread his hands and said: "This is not a pleasant job. The situation is too bad."

Zhou Hexuan said: "If you can overthrow Chamberlain's appeasement cabinet, this is your greatest contribution to the world's anti-Fascist movement."

"Maybe I should be happy about that." Attlee said with British humor.

Chamberlain was ousted by Attlee. Churchill was able to gain a foothold because of Attlee's support from beginning to end. At least in 1940, Attlee had a huge influence on Churchill, and convincing him was half the battle.

Wang Rizhang, as deputy envoy, sat nearby and listened attentively, while Ma Jue carefully recorded the speeches of both parties.

Zhou Hexuan and Attlee talked nonsense for a long time, talking about their experiences of traveling to London together, and finally got to the point of reminiscing about old times.

Zhou Hexuan asked: "Does Britain want to give up the Far East and give all its colonies to the Japanese?"

Attlee smiled and said: "Of course not."

Zhou Hexuan said: "Then why should we close the Burma Highway? It is one of China's only two external communication lines, and it is the most important one! Once the Burma Road is closed, it will be equivalent to helping Japan blockade China at sea. .China’s war of resistance is already very difficult. If Britain continues to add insult to injury, Japan will definitely be able to mobilize its troops to attack Southeast Asia.”

Attlee said: "Mr. Zhou, I greatly admire the Chinese people's will to resist, and I extremely hate Japan's fascist aggression. But the current situation in the UK is very bad. Germany is trying to block the English Channel and even wants to send troops to invade the British mainland. Under these circumstances, we can no longer go to war with Japan, please understand this helpless choice."

"In that case, why did Britain declare war on Germany?" Zhou Hexuan said sarcastically, "You can just sit back and watch Germany invade Poland. There is no need to fight now."

Attlee said: "Poland is our ally, and we cannot sit back and watch Germany grow."

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "It turns out that the British government will also take long-term considerations. I thought you would only focus on the current situation. Maybe starting a war with Germany and Japan at the same time will put the UK in a very critical situation. But have you ever thought about it, once China is defeated, Japan will Can we invade Southeast Asia or even annex India without any worries?"

Attlee said: "I'm sorry, I understand what you said. But Britain cannot go to war with Japan at the moment, and we need time. In fact, I hope China can engage in peace negotiations with Japan."

Zhou Hexuan was so angry that he laughed out loud: "Haha, can Britain hold peace negotiations with Germany?"

Attlee said: "We are determined to resist to the end, but we will not give up the possibility of peaceful negotiations."

Zhou Hexuan said: "Hitler should be very happy to hear this."

Of course Attlee was talking nonsense. He knew that peace negotiations could not succeed. But the British government did exactly this. The peace faction represented by Chamberlain still did not give up seeking peace until Germany began to bomb London.

With the exception of the Soviet Union, the major European countries have surprisingly unanimous views on the situation in the Far East. At this moment, Britain, Italy and Germany all hope for an armistice between China and Japan, and they are putting this into practice and constantly pulling strings from it.

Germany and Italy want to win over China and join forces with Japan to attack Southeast Asia. Britain wanted to maintain peace in the Far East and strive to prevent Japan from fighting anyone. If it wanted to fight, it would be best to fight the Soviet Union.

Britain really considers itself to be the boss. Historically, after they closed the Burma Highway, they actually came out to mediate between China and Japan. China and Japan responded: Get lost!

After talking for two hours, Zhou Hexuan still could not convince Attlee, but he also gained something - Zhou Hexuan successfully detected the diplomatic attitude of the British cabinet, which was to delay time until the United States clearly stated its position.