Since the end of the Second Boer War, Britain has begun to gradually sell off its overseas assets, with southern Africa being the biggest beneficiary.
Port Elizabeth, Halifax Naval Base, Changi Naval Base, and the Chagos Islands were all purchased with money from Southern Africa. This is where Rock's nickname "Golden Hand" comes from.
These overseas territories purchased by Southern Africa, such as Halifax and Changi Naval Base, were voluntarily abandoned by the British. Port Elizabeth and the Chagos Islands produced almost no value during the period of British control. Their value was increased after the purchase of Southern Africa.
It was gradually manifested that Rock was nicknamed the "Golden Hand" and was considered to have the ability to "turn stone into gold".
Who would have thought that there are endless amounts of oil under the barren desert of Port Elizabeth.
Who would have thought that with the advancement of navigation technology, the unknown Chagos Islands (Diego Garcia) would gradually become the most important port and military base in the Indian Ocean region.
As for the Halifax and Changi naval bases, which have extremely important strategic positions, the UK actually gave them up, and Southern Africa was naturally happy to accept them.
For a short period of time, Britain and France will be safe.
Because the Germans need time to digest the results of 1939, whether it is Austria, Czechoslovakia or Poland, there are frequent resistance activities in the territory, and the Germans need time to complete the conquest of the local people, at least until next spring, Germany does not have the ability
Launched an attack on the British and French forces.
Of course, there is not much time left for the British and French. Even people who are insensitive to the situation know that once Germany has finished digesting it, the appetite of Germany, the war beast, will expand even more.
Winston wanted to save money for the Royal Navy, but the increasingly severe situation did not leave any chance for Winston.
On November 20, the 13,500-ton passenger ship "Athena" was torpedoed by a German submarine, killing 120 people, including 28 Americans.
Regarding the sinking of the "Athena", Britain and Germany disagreed.
The British insist that the Athena was sunk by a German submarine.
The Germans insist that the "Athena" was sunk by the British themselves in order to damage the relationship between Germany and the United States.
This statement is very strange.
But it's not impossible.
In this regard, the Anglo-Saxons have a track record. For example, the "Maine" that led to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War is more and more evidence that it was sunk by the Americans themselves.
Now that the "Athena" has sunk, maybe the British directed and performed it again.
Although this statement is strange, it is very popular in Europe today.
This isn't over yet, it's just the beginning.
On November 21st, 23rd, and 24th, the "Bosnia", "Royal Power", and "Leo Claro" were sunk off the coast of Spain successively. This fully proves that the German submarines have broken through the English Channel and are on the way.
Launched reckless attacks on British merchant ships.
In addition to attacking merchant ships, Germany also dropped a large number of magnetic mines on the British coastline.
Magnetic mines are a new weapon that Germany has just successfully developed. They can be detonated using their own non-triggering fuses without contacting the target.
The Germans first laid magnetic mines in the waters from the Thames Estuary to the sea near Hamble. From October to December, a total of 17 ships were sunk by magnetic mines, with a total tonnage of 56,000 tons.
The British knew nothing about the performance of magnetic mines and conducted minesweeping operations in relevant waters many times, but found nothing.
During this period, the new cruiser "Belfast", which had just entered service, and the symbol of the British Royal Navy, the powerful battleship "Admiral Nelson", one of the BIG7, were both damaged by German torpedoes. This gave the Royal Navy
Morale, a huge blow.
Things took a turn for the worse on November 29, when someone saw a German plane throwing something with a parachute into the sea near Hybolinas.
At that time, the sea tide was high, and the pilot made a mistake in judgment and dropped the weapon too close to the coast. As a result, after the water receded, a magnetic torpedo appeared on the beach, and the German secret was exposed.
When German submarines attacked British merchant ships, the British were not idle either.
Like the last world war, after Britain declared war on Germany, all German merchant ships docked in British ports were seized by the Royal Navy, and ships bound for Germany were also intercepted by the Royal Navy. If the ships were carrying contraband,
Then it will also be seized by the Royal Navy.
By December, more than 600 German merchant ships, with a total tonnage of 3.7 million tons, were seized by the Royal Navy.
Also in December, after a long and bitter war of words, Winston and Rock finally reached an agreement that Rand Bank would undertake the 150 million pound bond issued by the British government to purchase light cruisers from southern Africa.
and destroyers to strengthen the Royal Navy's anti-submarine and escort capabilities.
According to the agreement, Southern Africa will sell to Britain 23 "Durban" class light cruisers, 19 "Tiger" class destroyers, 21 "Lion" class destroyers, and some smaller tonnage frigates that also have anti-submarine capabilities.
Both Rock and Winston were satisfied with the result.
With these light cruisers and destroyers, the Royal Navy's escort capabilities and anti-submarine capabilities have been greatly enhanced, and Winston's status in the British war cabinet has skyrocketed.
The Southern African Navy took the opportunity to sell older warships to the British. Compared with dismantling them, the price must be much more beautiful.
As a result, Angel has become extremely swollen. In the latest shipbuilding plan of the Southern African Navy, the destroyer Angel is almost out of sight, and light cruisers will completely replace destroyers.
A very interesting thing happened in December.
Britain and France know almost nothing about Germany's next plan, which makes the British and French governments very worried.
Everyone knows that after Germany annexes Poland, its next step will be to attack France.
When Germany would attack and in what manner it would attack became the most worrying issues for the British and French forces.
The British and French governments spent a lot of effort trying to get the German army's next battle plan.
This wish is difficult to realize. Germany is different from Britain and France. It is difficult for Britain and France to penetrate into Germany. London and Paris are penetrated by the Germans like a sieve.
On December 15, a German staff officer was preparing to take a train to Cologne carrying the No. 5 instruction issued by Commander Fermi of the German Second Air Force to the commanders and headquarters of each corps. When the staff officer arrived at the train station,
Only to find that all the train tickets were sold out, the staff officer changed to a plane.
In 1939, all of Germany's best pilots were in the military, and the civil aviation pilots were not very skilled.
The unlucky staff officer flew on a plane whose pilot's skills were terrible.
Shortly after the plane took off, the pilot lost its direction. The plane flew westward, flew over the Derby border, entered Belgian airspace, and finally made an emergency landing in Belgium.
When the plane was discovered to have made an emergency landing at the Belgian airport, the staff officer tried to destroy the documents he carried with him, but was stopped by airport security personnel. The "Business Building Plan" was accidentally exposed.
This is really a place where you can't find anything without wearing iron shoes, and it doesn't take any effort to get there.
The British and French governments were overjoyed. Through the "Project Industry Building", all subsequent actions of the German army were under control, and the British and French coalition forces would completely take the initiative on the battlefield.
The British and French rejoiced too early.
The leakage of the "Yelou Plan" later caused great controversy because the process was so magical. Some people believed that the Germans deliberately leaked the "Yelou Plan" to the British and French allied forces, thereby laying a huge trap.
After the consultant carrying the "Business Building Plan" was arrested, Mustache quickly learned that the plan had been leaked.
So the Germans took advantage of the situation, modified the "Business Building Plan", and staged a drama about it.
The original content of the "Yelou Plan" was to pass through central Belgium on the right wing of the front, then turn southwest and launch a major assault directly in the direction of Paris.
After realizing that the contents of the "Business Building Plan" were leaked, Mustache adjusted the main attack direction from central Belgium to the Ardennes region, from the Ardennes region to Luxembourg to Sedan, then northwest, and then turned to the Calais region to implement a deep division assault.
Split the Northern Group of the Anglo-French Allied Forces.
The complacent British and French did not know that the Germans had changed their plans.
Even when the Germans knew that their phone calls were being monitored, they still issued orders in accordance with the contents of the "Business Building Plan".
These are all smoke bombs. In addition to the original "Plan A", the German army also has a "Plan B".
The British and French forces knew nothing about this.
Throughout the winter, the German army made no further moves.
The British and French forces did not launch an attack on Germany, and the sit-in war continued.
The battle at sea became increasingly fierce.
The Royal Navy intercepts German merchant ships all over the world. No matter what is loaded on the ship, as long as it is of German nationality, it will seize everything.
The German captains did not give in.
Many German merchant ships, after being intercepted by the Royal Navy, transferred all personnel to small boats and then scuttled the ships directly. They would rather lose all the ships and cargo on board than make it easier for the British.
After a German ship was seized by the Royal Navy, the cargo on the ship would naturally belong to the British. After the war was over, the ship would of course be returned, but forget about the cargo on the ship. This is what the Royal Navy did during the last World War.
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Although German submarines were attacking British merchant ships without restraint, generally speaking, the advantage was still on the British side.
The Royal Navy is indeed powerful.
In order to break the British naval blockade, on November 25, two German pocket battleships "Deutschland" and "Admiral Graf Spee" secretly set out from their home port into the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to threaten Britain's Atlantic trade routes.
The Royal Navy felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy and were overjoyed.
The German warships finally went to sea, and the opportunity for the Royal Navy to perform came. Winston deployed 28 warships to form 9 search fleets to look for the "Deutschland" and the "Admiral Graf Spee".
