It’s really not that Rock deliberately laughed at Nobuaki Makino. After all, Nobuaki Makino is also a baron of the Empire of Japan and the second ambassador representing Japan at the Paris Peace Conference. Even if Rock hates the Japanese, he will not do it in such a public place.
Show it directly.
How did Rock behave?
There is not a single Japanese in southern Africa now——
Or to be more precise, there are not even a single Japanese man, but there are some Japanese women working in special industries in Cape Town. This is not a deliberate attempt by southern Africa to insult the Japanese, but a national act supported by the Empire of Japan.
The reason for this situation is not to say that Japanese people did not immigrate overseas. In fact, Japanese people during this period also immigrated overseas in large numbers. There were many Japanese immigrants in Hawaii, Southeast Asia, and even South America. Southern Africa now has this kind of situation.
The situation is, it’s not that the Japanese don’t want to come, but the immigration company doesn’t want to come.
In southern Africa, the Indians are the least popular, followed by the Japanese.
As for the Africans—
Sorry, there are no Africans in southern Africa.
After attending the dinner at Poengale, Roque left Paris early the next morning without notifying anyone before leaving.
Silent all the way, Rock took a train to Calais, then transferred to a passenger ferry to cross the English Channel and directly arrive in London.
What awaits Roark is still a banquet, this time it was held by Kitchener to welcome Roark. All participants were members of the military, but excluding the two previous commanders-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, French and Haig.
That's fine, I guess French and Haig would be embarrassed to see Roque.
But you can't say for sure.
When Kitchener met Roque, he was flattered again without any bottom line. Roque reciprocated the favor and repeated what he had said at the Poengale banquet.
I guess I will have to repeat it again tomorrow when I get to Congress.
The exchange after the banquet was the meat of the show. Kitchener received Rock at his manor in the suburbs of London. The weather in September was pretty good, the haze had not yet formed, the air was still fresh, the manor was not big, and the garden was
It was well taken care of, and Rock and Kitchener walked and talked on the grass.
"Locke, what do you think of the future of Europe?" Kitchener started out with a high-level view. This argument was a bit high. If Rocke didn't know the direction of history, Rocke really wouldn't be able to follow it.
"The world war is not over. The Germans will not be willing to fail. They were forced to surrender because they could not persist. Give the Germans another twenty years to accumulate strength. When the next generation of Germany grows up, the Germans will definitely make a comeback."
As a frontline commander, Rock had a clear understanding of the situation in Germany.
When the Allies began to counterattack, Germany was already at the end of its tether. The German army at that time did not even have enough food. Many soldiers could only get a little bit of pitiful food to satisfy their hunger while fighting on the front lines.
In addition to food, the German army also lacked ammunition. When Ludendorff launched Michael's offensive, the German army's ammunition seemed to be sufficient, but it was only a flash in the pan. In the later stages of Michael's offensive, Germany could no longer sustain it.
Not only food and ammunition, the German army also lacks medicine, lacks experienced soldiers, lacks fighting will, and lacks reserve troops——
In short, everything is lacking. If the German army still has sufficient logistics, then the coalition forces cannot progress so fast.
When the German army surrendered, there were still 2.3 million German troops on the Western Front.
Although many of these German soldiers are children and old people, as long as Germany is still capable, Rock has no doubt about the fighting spirit of the Germans.
"So what do you think we should do?" Kitchener also knows Germany very well, and he also understands the current situation in Britain and France.
"We can't do anything. From the interests of the British Empire, we should support the Germans to stand up from the ruins as soon as possible and form a check and balance against France; but from the long-term interests, we should completely squeeze Germany dry and cut off Germany's future.
The opportunity to rise will turn Germany into several weak countries like the Austro-Hungarian Empire - but this will lead to France becoming the dominant player on the European continent. How to choose depends on Winston and France
What's wrong with people?" Rock didn't have any good ideas. The current international situation is a doomed situation for the British Empire. There are powerful enemies outside and hidden dangers inside. On the surface, the British Empire is still strong. In fact, it is strong on the outside and ineffective on the inside.
Only senior officials like Roark and Kitchener knew.
"Yeah, how to choose -" Kitchener's steps were heavy. Before the World War, no one probably thought that even if it won the World War, Britain would still be in such an embarrassing situation.
"The only thing we can do now is to ensure the integrity of the British Empire as much as possible, but London's influence on overseas territories and colonies is getting weaker and weaker. During the World War, in order to win the support of overseas territories, London made many promises. Now
It's time for these promises to be fulfilled." Rock reminded Kitchener that if this issue is not handled well, then when the next world war breaks out, there will not be so many colonies and overseas territories working for Britain.
Even if he sacrifices his life, whether he will be sold to the extent of World War I is also a question worth weighing.
This question is also difficult for Kitchener to answer, and there is actually no point in saying it. Kitchener is now in a semi-retired state. As soon as he steps down from the position of Minister of War, Kitchener will completely retire.
"I talked about this with Gianni a few days ago. Gianni made a suggestion at that time. Since the current model cannot continue to be maintained, can we change a way to keep the influence of the British Empire?
—" Rock should choose himself first. Whether it succeeds or not, Rock is not responsible.
Jenny is Young Smooz.
"Go on -" Kitchener couldn't wait.
"What Jenny means is the establishment of a Commonwealth. Commonwealth members join voluntarily and can withdraw at any time. All members of the Commonwealth have equal rights and are not subordinate to each other. The king is still the object of allegiance to all members." Rock didn't go into too much detail.
Just mentioning it briefly made Kitchener frown.
Sure enough, it is almost impossible to get old-school soldiers like Kitchener to accept a new thing like the "Commonwealth".
However, Roque still has to express his attitude clearly. It is obvious that the questions Kitchener asked Roque are almost on behalf of the British government. So Roque, as the Minister of Defense and War of Southern Africa, also represents Southern Africa.
answer.
Even based on Rock's current prestige in the UK, it can be said that Rock is answering on behalf of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and all other overseas territories and colonies.
"This is a blatant betrayal of the empire!" Kitchener was furious, his beard was trembling, and his eyes were on fire.
"No, no one betrayed anyone, and no one had any evil intentions. This is an inevitable choice for the development of the country. Times have changed, sir -" Roque couldn't help but be naughty. It's a pity that Kitchener didn't know this joke.
.
It was probably this last, vague remark that touched Kitchener.
After Roark finished speaking, Kitchener stopped and looked at the floating clouds in the sky in silence for a long time.
Just when Rock could hardly bear it anymore, Kitchener lowered his head and sighed: "Yes, times have changed——"
Then he stumbled suddenly.
Roque, with quick eyesight and quick hands, stretched out his hand to support Kitchener and called someone back.
The whole of London was agitated by Kitchener's stagger. As the British military god, Kitchener has supreme prestige in the UK, almost on a par with King George V of England.
Especially now that the World War has just ended. Although Kitchener actually played an extremely limited role in the World War and even had some side effects at the beginning of the war, as Minister of War, it was under the leadership of Kitchener that Britain
Won the final victory.
Now that the trumpet of victory has sounded, a group of veterans persisted until the end of the war before falling. It can be said that all British people were moved by Kitchener's spirit and were praying for Kitchener's physical condition.
Kitchener was immediately sent to the hospital. King George V rushed to the hospital to visit Kitchener that day. After Winston learned the news, he even put aside the Paris Peace Conference and left the leaders of various countries aside.
Return to London to visit Kitchener.
"Locke, you don't have to blame yourself too much. This has nothing to do with you -" Winston, who hurried to the hospital, comforted Locke.
In the conscience of heaven and earth, Rock really does not blame himself——
Kitchener is now almost 70 years old. According to the average life span of this era, he is absolutely very old. If it were not for Roque’s reminder, Kitchener would have died at sea two years ago, and he is still alive today.
It is already a blessing.
As for whether it has anything to do with Rock, it's really hard to say.
Think about a 70-year-old man who should have lived in seclusion in the countryside to raise his children and enjoy family happiness. However, because of the outbreak of the world war, he worked hard all day long as the Minister of War. Let alone a 70-year-old man, even a young man
It's unbearable. Winston is only in his 40s now. His hair is falling out in handfuls, and the nasolabial folds on his face are getting deeper and deeper. He looks like a 60-year-old man.
Rock looks very young, but that is because Rock knows that the Allies will definitely win the World War, so Rock has no psychological pressure, so his mentality is good and his spirit is naturally good.
If it were Roark who knew nothing about history, he didn't know that the defense line would completely collapse that day. Let's see if Roark can sleep so well every night.
Of course, in front of Winston, Rock still had to show his low mood and respect for Kitchener: "Oh - it's my fault, I shouldn't have talked about those heavy things with the marshal, those things
This should be a problem we need to solve.”
"What did you and the Marshal talk about?" Winston was curious.
Rock looked at Winston coldly with evil intentions and said lightly: "British-Commonwealth--"
Winston's eyes widened and he held his chest, feeling as if he was about to have a heart attack at the next moment.