When the war broke out, the British government's total gold reserves and convertible investments, plus the rand it owned, totaled 4.5 billion.
After the war broke out, Britain increased its exports of luxury goods to the United States, including whiskey, fine woolen textiles, ceramics, etc.
At this time, Americans were still quite enthusiastic about British products.
In this way, Britain received approximately another $2 billion within 16 months of the war.
Southern Africa does not recognize the US dollar.
If the UK wants to order supplies from southern Africa, it needs to pay rands or pounds.
Southern Africa doesn't even recognize the pound anymore, because after the outbreak of the European War, the pound began a new round of depreciation, and the current exchange rate with the rand has dropped to 0.9:1.
By November 1940, Britain had ordered 11,000 aircraft from southern Africa, and the British government hoped to continue purchasing at least 12,000 more.
At the same time, in order to spend the dollars it earned, the UK ordered about 2,000 aircraft from the United States.
This is also one of the important reasons why Britain was able to win the Battle of Britain.
Another important reason is naturally the help of the Southern African Air Force.
In November, Winston established a procurement committee to be responsible for external procurement.
The head of the purchasing committee is Arthur Parvis. His famous saying is: We are now on a desolate island. Although the rations are insufficient, we have to rely on this ration to survive for a few more days.
The first thing Arthur Purvis did after taking office was to discuss the possibility of "exchanging destroyers for islands" with the federal government of Southern Africa.
Britain now has very few bargaining chips left. The islands that were once spread all over the world are now very few and they are almost the last bargaining chips left by the United Kingdom.
Arthur Parvis is a decent man, and I hope southern Africa can also leave some dignity to the United Kingdom.
Therefore, the plan proposed by Arthur Parvis was to exchange the jurisdiction of the island for the military supplies in charge of the south through a lease.
Destroyer is a nickname.
Of course, the lease also comes with conditions.
The conditions are similar to those in France.
The lease term is 99 years. After expiration, if the Southern African federal government is willing, it can continue to lease. The British government cannot refuse or increase the price.
Considering that the British government was once the suzerainty of southern Africa, the conditions should be more relaxed. The above conditions can be modified when the contract is renewed for the third time.
Of course, that must be agreed by both the Southern African federal government and the British government.
For Winston, this decision was helpless.
But it's necessary.
Just as British Finance Minister Kingsley Wood said: We must order all supplies as much as possible and leave future financial problems to the "eternal God" to solve.
When Roque saw this sentence, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
The British are still very reserved.
The meaning of this sentence is similar to "I will not care about the flood after I die."
The person who came to Pretoria to negotiate on behalf of Britain was Sir Frederick Phillips.
When Phillips arrived in Pretoria, he took with him Winston's personal letter to Roark.
This letter had an ill-fated fate. It had to be reviewed by the British Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Treasury, and approved by the War Cabinet before reaching Roark's hands.
In the letter, Winston stated the current situation in Britain and elaborated on his outlook for 1941.
Winston hoped that Southern Africa would increase its support for Britain. In order to increase Southern Africa's enthusiasm, Winston even promised in his letter to give up the power of the Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean.
This, of course, comes at a cost. Britain's surrender of the Indian Ocean means that the Southern African navy's activities in the Atlantic will be dominated by the Royal Navy.
Winston included an attachment in his letter, which listed all the losses suffered by Britain after the outbreak of the war. In the five weeks before November alone, the total tonnage of British ships lost reached 420,000 tons.
In the letter, Winston reminded Rock that the Japanese army had formed an overseas expeditionary force of five divisions and was ready to launch an attack on South Asia at any time. Once a war broke out in South Asia, Southern Africa's interests in Asia would inevitably be affected.
Regarding unified procurement, Winston hopes that southern Africa will provide Britain with at least 2,000 combat aircraft every month, of which the number of heavy bombers must not be less than 1,500.
This made Rock very happy, and Winston finally realized the role of heavy bombers.
Regarding ships, Winston hoped that Southern Africa would sell all the ships it produced to Britain after retaining the ships it needed.
Whether it is a warship or a civilian ship.
In addition to the navy, the British government plans to form 50 to 60 divisions. Most of the equipment required by these troops needs to be provided by southern African military-industrial enterprises.
Finally, regarding payment, Winston wrote in an almost pleading tone: If Great Britain loses all its salable property in this war, so that after Great Britain wins with blood and saves civilization, it becomes impoverished.
, that is wrong in principle, and the consequences will be detrimental to both southern Africa and Great Britain.
Rock thought for a long time after reading the letter.
The letter, which contains approximately 3,500 words and 15 pages including attachments, is the longest of Winston and Roark's numerous correspondences.
Rock knew that the situation in the UK was serious, but he did not expect it to be this serious.
But this is also what Rock hopes for.
If Britain does not weaken, when will southern Africa come forward?
"Replacing destroyers with islands" is not something Roque can decide alone. Even if it is symbolic, Roque must submit it to Congress for approval.
Just last month, Roque was re-elected as Prime Minister with a nearly unanimous vote.
This is nothing to be proud of, because also in October, Roosevelt was elected president of the United States for the third time.
Unlike the previous two times, Roosevelt's campaign this time was thrilling.
After the outbreak of the European War, Roosevelt once hoped that the United States would join the war as soon as possible, but he was strongly obstructed by domestic opposition forces in the United States and ultimately failed.
After this election began, Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie reiterated the old story: electing Roosevelt would mean sending their son, brother and lover to the grave.
For this reason, Roosevelt had to publicly declare: Your children will not be sent to participate in any foreign war...The purpose of our defense is defense.
Roosevelt's statement clearly indicated that the United States would not join the war in the short term.
This is a good thing for southern Africa and even better for the UK.
If the United States joins the war, the Allies may not necessarily be the United States' only option.
Now, as Roosevelt said, the United States is going all out to strengthen its homeland defense to prepare for a possible German landing across the Atlantic once Britain surrenders.
Although this possibility is relatively small, no one can guarantee that Mustache will turn all his energy to Africa after unifying Europe.
Of course, before submitting it to Congress for review, Rock would still discuss it with Henry and Stoudemire.
"Roosevelt also received a personal letter from Winston. London did not place all its hopes on us. If the United States agrees to the British proposal, then it will mean that the United States will participate in the war to a limited extent." Henry told the Americans.
People are extremely vigilant. If the United States and Germany join forces, then Southern Africa will also have to retreat to the African continent.
It is just a retreat on the African continent. It is difficult for the United States and Germany to bring the war to southern Africa. That would mean the death of millions or even tens of millions of soldiers, and the war may last ten years or even longer.
Even the United States cannot afford such consumption.
Southern Africa is more likely to survive to the end.
"When the Americans find that relying on trade alone cannot bring more benefits to the United States, the Americans will get involved sooner or later." Stoudemire looked down on the Americans. The performance of the U.S. military during the Cuban Civil War was still far behind that of the Southern African Defense Forces.
.
"So we have to meet London's requirements before the Americans do." Henry frowned, and the current situation seemed to suddenly be favorable to the British.
"No, the conditions proposed by the Americans will only be more harsh than ours." Rock was confident that Britain and the United States had never been monolithic.
Rock doesn't know yet.
In his letter to Roosevelt, Winston also hoped that the United States could provide more assistance to Britain.
Roosevelt's reply made Winston very dissatisfied.
The Americans demanded a cash transaction and showed little interest in Winston's suggestion of "exchanging destroyers for islands."
Considering that the British government's ability to pay has encountered huge difficulties, the United States requires Britain to transport part of its gold reserves to the United States as payment guarantee, which makes Winston feel humiliated.
British Empire
I don’t know when it started, but it has fallen to this point today!
Compared to Americans, Southern Africa is fine.
At least southern Africa is very interested in those British islands scattered around the world that are uninhabited and cannot generate much economic value.
For the UK, the economy is now the first criterion for measuring all problems.
"Should we be a little harsher?" Stoudemire is willing to add insult to injury and kill you while you are sick. This is Rock's mantra.
"Britain is exchanging the interests of the Pacific region for the support of the United States. We are not as good as us." Henry was also insidious and took advantage of the situation.
In order to exchange for greater support from southern Africa, Winston proactively gave the Indian Ocean to southern Africa.
For the United States, the bargaining chip Winston brought out was the Pacific Ocean. As long as the United States increased its support for the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom would share its interests in the Pacific with the United States.
This promise has even greater symbolic meaning for the Americans. Since the end of the last world war, Britain's sphere of influence in the Pacific has gradually shrunk. Now the most intense fight in the Pacific is between Japan and the United States, and even southern Africa cannot get involved.
.
In other words, Southern Africa does not want to interfere.
The U.S. strategy towards Europe is to sit back and reap the benefits.
The same is true for Southern Africa towards the United States and Japan.
