Churchill's last words, although decadent, were tantamount to giving Gott an opportunity, an opportunity to lead the move of the capital!
This should not be something he, as an army commander, should consider. What he should consider is how to withstand the crazy attack of the Allied forces in London and protect the capital of the British Empire.
But Gott knew very well that it was impossible for him to complete the task of defending the capital. Unless the capital was changed, there was no hope that the capital of the British Empire could be preserved.
Without the English Channel, Britain has lost the capital to compete with the Allied Army. Whether it is the German Army or the French Army, their combat effectiveness is recognized as strong, far exceeding the level of the British Army.
The choice now faced by Lord Gott and the entire British Empire is to move the government's capital to Northern Ireland and use de Gaulle's French troops in the Irish Sea and the Isle of Man. There is still a slight chance of successful defense.
If they had to fight on the road with the German, French and Norwegian troops in London, even if they relied on street fighting to hold off the enemy, it would only delay the fall of the capital of the British Empire, and the essence would not change.
This is not alarmist, but a fact recognized by the entire British leadership.
The most direct proof is that after Gott walked out of Churchill's office and announced on his behalf that he was preparing to move the capital to Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, the vast majority of British politicians were quite happy to express their willingness to handle coordination.
Obviously, these British officials also knew that London could not be defended. Even with the Thames River to rely on, the British army could not resist the German and French armies on land.
Therefore, after hearing Lord Gott talk about moving the capital, the officials almost broke down in tears, and they all jumped out excitedly and prepared to help.
Gott's proposal to move the capital was purely from a military perspective. Without the coordination and operation of government officials, it would be impossible to move the capital.
Simply transporting one of Gort's troops from London to Belfast is not called moving the capital, it is called withdrawing.
The significance of moving the capital is not just as simple as transferring one or a few troops. For moving the capital, the most important thing is to move the government agencies of the capital to ensure the transfer of the national center. As for taking away a few troops from the capital, it is just a matter of convenience.
Additional tasks to be performed.
Gott has the ability to transfer the army himself. But to take away government agencies and relevant officials, this requires professional politicians.
Fortunately, the politicians are very cooperative.
Perhaps because these officials under Churchill did not want to fall into the hands of the Germans, they actively supported Lord Gott's idea of moving the capital.
After all, when Churchill was in power, these people could hold official positions. After the Allies occupied the British capital, the German head of state Reinhard probably would have supported Mosley, the leader of the British Fascist Alliance in his hands, to take office.
Before, German special forces penetrated into London and abducted Mosley in a legendary manner. This is no longer a secret among the British top brass.
Although Churchill immediately issued instructions to block the news, the news was not blocked among senior British officials. Instead, it spread more and more bizarrely.
Some officials even believed that the whole of London was full of "fifth columns" and that it was the fifth column that kidnapped Mosley.
The term "fifth column" originally originated from the Spanish Civil War.
At that time, Franco's Spanish National Army troops and Rommel's German Expeditionary Force simultaneously launched an attack on Madrid under the control of the Republican Army.
At that time, a British reporter asked Franco which army he thought would be the first to capture Madrid.
Faced with this tricky question, it is actually not easy to answer. Logically speaking, the Spanish capital of Spain should of course be taken back first by the Spanish troops under Franco. But judging from the situation, it was most likely to enter Madrid first at that time.
, clearly the 7th Armored Division under Rommel's command.
In the end, Franco's mechanism solved this problem without telling lies contrary to the facts or losing the face of the Spaniards.
He answered a British reporter: "The first to capture Madrid was the fifth column."
As we all know, Franco only had four columns of troops at the time. The so-called fifth column refers to the traitors and traitors of the Republican Army who supported Franco in Madrid, the Spanish capital.
Therefore, after the British reporter brought this sentence back to China, the British began to use the fifth column as a synonym for the enemy's inside line.
Mosley was swaggered out of London by the Germans, once again triggering British memories of the fifth column.
Many British people believe that London, the British capital today, is just like Madrid, the Spanish capital, full of insiders and spies laid in advance by the enemy.
Some British politicians have also taken this issue up, claiming that if the capital was moved to Belfast, where there are fewer traitors, the situation might be much better.
Those politicians claim that London has long been targeted by the Germans and has many insiders ambushed. But Belfast, the administrative center of Northern Ireland, is different. It is relatively peripheral and is not easily taken seriously by the Germans, so it will not
The Germans ambushed a large number of insiders in advance.
Of course, there are far more voices and reasons supporting moving the capital to Belfast than these.
Many politicians believe that Belfast, as the political and cultural center and largest industrial city in Northern Ireland, has rich heritage and extremely high industrial level, and can completely replace London's status.
On the one hand, Belfast has the largest airport in the entire Northern Ireland, which can accommodate most of the aircraft evacuating from the island of Great Britain. Among them, fighter jets are stationed nearby, and can better surround the new capital.
Belfast is located just on the southwest side of Belfast Bay, the largest seaport in Northern Ireland. As long as the transportation is arranged properly, the personnel and important equipment of London's major institutions can be transported to Belfast in a very short time.
Port of Manchester, and then quickly moved into Belfast.
The new capital has such a superior environment, and it regains the Irish Sea, providing the island of Ireland with another natural and dangerous defensive location. This has met the dual needs of political officials and the military at the same time, and it is simply the best
Capital relocation option.
After the capital is moved, the British capital will be able to resume operations away from the front lines. The security and defense pressure of the new capital will also be instantly superior due to the isolation of the Irish Sea.
Therefore, when the Allied forces had just captured Harmsworth Park and Lambeth Hospital in south London and had not yet advanced to the Thames River, the British government on the north bank of the Thames River had already begun the process of moving the capital.