After India's independence, only a few British colonies in Asia remained.
However, these peripheral positions are very important, and Britain will not give them up unless forced to do so.
Compared with India, the Lion City is Britain's core interest in East Asia.
What really worried George VI and Winston was that the Lion City and Malay, while India was demanding independent status, they were also demanding autonomy.
The British colonization in India was unable to make ends meet, and the returns were far less than the investment in maintaining colonial rule. Therefore, after the Bombay Sailors' Uprising, although the British and Indian colonial governments shouted that they would fight and kill, they did not mobilize troops from the British mainland, only from the surrounding areas of India.
Scattered troops suppressed and intimidated people more.
If they really want to suppress it, Britain can do it with its current strength.
Attlee's disarmament plan is in progress. The millions of British troops recruited during the World War have not yet been withdrawn from active service. If Britain mobilizes again, it can send an expeditionary force of not less than 100,000 to India.
It doesn’t even cost 100,000.
As far as the fighting will of the Bombay sailors is concerned, as soon as London starts mobilizing, the Bombay sailors may be frightened out of their courage, depending on the so-called uprising.
Although the strength of the Royal Navy has declined significantly compared to its peak, the current total number of British warships is still more than a thousand, including 16 battleships, 52 aircraft carriers, 12 more under construction, and 62 more.
cruisers, and nearly 200 destroyers.
The strength of the Royal Navy is indeed dwarfed by that of the Southern African Navy and the United States Navy.
But if we want to suppress the Bombay Sailor Uprising, we can still do it easily.
"India can be lost, but the Lion City must not be given up." Winston knew the significance of the Lion City to the British Empire.
Compared with the large and useless India, the geographical location of the Lion City is too important. If the Lion City is lost, the British colonial territory in Asia will completely collapse.
The Lion City is also a thief. It does not ask for independence, but only for autonomy. It also hopes to form the Malay Federation together with the Malay Peninsula, Sarawak, and North Borneo, which are also under British colonization, and gain self-awareness status.
If the Lion City made a separate request for autonomy, even if it was not independence, Attlee would not hesitate to send troops to suppress it.
Now the situation is very difficult.
During World War II, Britain suffered a major defeat in East Asia. If it had not been for the help of southern Africa and the United States, all British colonies in Southeast Asia would have been taken away by Japan.
Although Japan was defeated and surrendered, the British colonies in East Asia have put forward demands for autonomy, among which the demands on the Malay Peninsula are the strongest.
Unlike the Lion City, the Malay Peninsula was entirely occupied by the Japanese army during the war. British colonial officials either died in the battle or fled, and colonial rule completely collapsed.
During the war, the Malay Peninsula formed an army with the support of southern Africa and joined the Allied forces to resist the Japanese invasion.
What makes it difficult for the British is that the military in the Malay Peninsula has nothing to do with the British and is not controlled by the British government. This is the biggest headache for the British government.
"Lion City——" George VI hesitated.
If possible, King George VI would definitely not be willing to give up the Lion City.
But the situation is now clear. Without the support of Southern Africa, the situation in the Lion City would never be as bad as it is.
The Lion City is small, has a small population, lacks strategic space, and there is no such thing as armed resistance to British colonial rule.
Therefore, the Lion City is now pulling the Malay Peninsula, Sarawak, and North Borneo together to fight for autonomous status, which makes it difficult for the UK to deal with.
"To stabilize the Lion City, we must send more troops." Winston is also in trouble, but for the sake of the United Kingdom, Winston is still an old man.
Winston also plans to run for prime minister again in two years.
If the Commonwealth falls apart in the hands of Attlee, then Attlee's death would not be a pity. When Winston comes to power, Winston will be forced to take over the mess left by Attlee.
"If we draw troops from the mainland, there will be new troubles." George VI was exhausted mentally and physically, and the British soldiers were waiting to retire and go home. At this time, sending more troops to Asia would add fuel to the fire.
There will be unspeakable things happening.
"Then we will transfer them from India." Winston demolished the east wall to mend the west wall, completely transforming into a tinkerer.
Then dismantle it.
Mountbatten never expected that he would not be able to wait for the support of local reinforcements, but would instead deploy troops from India to the Lion City, which made matters worse.
An Qi was even more unhappy.
The war is over and there is no longer an external threat to the Lion City. What does it mean for the UK to send more troops to the Lion City at this time?
Just treat southern Africa as a thief.
The additional troops sent by the British army were not many, only 4,000.
But these four thousand people caused a series of problems after arriving in the Lion City.
During the war, Southern Africa rapidly increased its troops to East Asia, and there was not enough space at Changi Naval Base, so Angel negotiated with the Lion City to rent the British military camp in Lion City for use by the Southern African Expeditionary Force.
At that time, no one knew how long the war would last, so when renting the camp, there was no time limit set.
Now London is asking the Lion City to take back the camp for British troops to garrison.
Angel decisively refused on the grounds that after the Southern African Expeditionary Force rented the camp, it renovated and expanded the camp for better use by the Southern African Expeditionary Force.
Therefore, the UK can take back the camp if it wants, but it must compensate the Southern African Expeditionary Force for this part of the cost.
Angel’s asking price is not high, 1.2 million pounds.
The Lion City agreed to the price but wanted London to pay the money.
Attlee was so poor that he was about to throw away the money. He couldn't even get out 120,000 yuan, let alone 1.2 million.
During the World War, Lion City was located in the rear area of the Allied forces and served as a transit point for supplies for the Allied forces. It has developed rapidly in recent years, and its economic situation is also good. In theory, Lion City can afford this money.
Although the Lion City has a good economy and spends money generously, just before Angel proposed this condition, the Lion City Interim Management Committee had just decided to expand the port. Not only did it pay a one-time construction fee of 37 million pounds to the construction contractor Christian Company, but it also
Loan from Rand Bank for R45 million.
In other words, Lion City has no money now and will have no money in the future because it has to repay loans.
When things got to this point, no matter how confused Attlee was, he knew that he had been tricked by the Lion City and Angel.
Now the situation is obvious.
If London does not pay this money, the camp cannot be recovered, and the British troops who have come from afar cannot sleep on the streets.
If you pay, you may not be able to get the camp back, because no one knows if An Qi has any other requirements.
Attlee was helpless and sent a telegram to George VI, hoping that George VI could put pressure on Angel through Roark.
Rock would not put pressure on Angel, but would instead laugh at Attlee for his incompetence.
"Your Prime Minister is not very qualified. What has he done since he became Prime Minister?" Rock assisted Winston and gave Attlee eye drops.
If you think about it carefully, Attlee really accomplished nothing.
The first thing Attlee did after taking office was the Potsdam Conference. As a result, he was humiliated by the Russians and was disgraced.
In the subsequent reduction of military expenditures, Attlee's plan was unanimously opposed by Congress and the military. Congress felt that Attlee was not strong enough, and the military believed that Attlee's disarmament would directly affect British national security.
Saving money is important, but national security is even more important. You can't even abandon national defense just to save money.
As for the welfare plan that Attlee cares about——
If you want to improve social welfare, you must have money. This time Attlee went to the United States and got nothing. Truman agreed to the loan, but the conditions he proposed were too harsh. After repeated weighing, Attlee felt that southern Africa was better.
"The Labor Party never disappoints people." Winston added insult to injury. As much as he boasted at the beginning, he has lost as many people now.
The Labor Party always puts forward some unrealistic slogans to please the public, but the British just fall in love with this and refuse to change despite repeated admonitions.
The Conservative Party is indeed pragmatic, but it is not liked by the British people today.
George VI was also disappointed, but there was nothing he could do.
The Labor Party is elected by all British people with one vote. Unless there are major changes in the Labor Party, or Attlee himself resigns as leader of the Labor Party, Attlee can continue to be prime minister, and George VI cannot change him.
Attlee was also unlucky. When he became prime minister for the first time, he faced such a difficult domestic and international situation. When he was replaced by Roque, he also felt numb.
There is no way to solve the problem. We can learn from the French or Russians and conduct a bottom-up reshuffle, and Britain can regain its new life.
The problem is that neither Attlee nor Winston has the courage.
"The Chinese in Southern Africa are very sympathetic to the situation of the Chinese in the Lion City. In any case, I hope that London can exercise restraint and not hurt the feelings of the Chinese in Southern Africa." Roque reminded George VI and Winston that if the British used force, Southern Africa would also be affected.
I won't stand by and watch.
Now many Chinese in the Lion City have taken Southern African citizenship, so if the UK wants to use force in the Lion City, the Southern African Expeditionary Force will definitely protect the Southern Africans in the Lion City.
"We will not use force unless necessary." George VI retained the power to use force, and he would not hesitate to fall out with Roque in order to maintain colonial rule in the Lion City.
This is just saying that, both George VI and Roque were testing each other's bottom line.
The United Kingdom cannot afford to fight, and neither can southern Africa. The United States and Russia are at war with each other on the peninsula, but both countries have also maintained a tacit understanding of restraint and have not escalated the friction.
Rock hoped that George VI and Winston would understand one thing, that is, Britain's decline was inevitable, so the disintegration of the Commonwealth would be inevitable sooner or later.
It's just India and the Lion City that are making trouble now, Australia and Canada haven't started yet.
Compared with India and the Lion City, Australia and Canada are the mainstays of the Commonwealth.
If these two get into trouble, the Commonwealth will not be far away from disintegration. ()
