Chapter 475 Destroyers for Islands

What the British lacked most at this time was destroyers, because the Germans had already begun to adopt "unlimited diving and limited warfare", which stuck the throat of the British. Without external resources, the British people could not fully guarantee their living materials, let alone those industrial machines, by relying only on the British Isles. Like the Japanese, his lifeline was in the ocean, and if it was completely cut off by the Germans, it would directly become a dead island.

After the Germans replenished more submarines in the cottage company, the combat effectiveness of the submarine force was increased exponentially, and the British merchant ships were attacked by wolves one after another, and suffered heavy losses. The British had to activate the merchant ship escort mechanism. Those destroyers with escort and anti-submarine functions are indispensable workhorses.

At the end of World War I, the British had 447 destroyers. But at the beginning of World War II, even the world's largest navy had only 119 destroyers. After the Norwegian campaign and the retreat from Dunkirk, another 11 ships were sunk, and even the remaining 108 ships were mostly mine-striking ships with torpedoes as their main combat weapons attacking the capital ship, and lacked anti-submarine functions.

Such a large gap, even if the British shipyards were to work at full capacity, would not be able to meet the immediate needs.

The newly appointed Churchill thought about it for a long time, and finally thought of the Americans. After all, although there are many disputes between Britain and the United States, the relationship between Britain and the United States is relatively close.

The feudal feudal system in Europe made them think that it was normal for a nation to be divided into several countries, otherwise the independence of the Americans would never have been so easy. Many countries in Europe are also cousins, and the relationship is also hot. For example, the English Hanover Dynasty at this time was from Germany, and the previous Plantagenet Dynasty was from France. But when it comes to fighting, although it is the same as shooting to the death, it generally leaves a little bottom line.

However, if you measure it by Huaxia's relationship, it is easy to deviate. The difference in race makes them think most about the issue of profit. The concept of altruistic internationalism is sometimes similar to that of having a small animal to care for it.

The relationship between the United States and Britain of the same kind and ancestor makes their relationship stand on the same position in many major matters, and many times they stand on the same position, even in later generations. It's just the American boss and the British brother.

But after all, the interest groups are different, and they are always two countries. When Churchill came to ask for help, the Americans chose to pretend to be deaf and dumb. The Americans have mothballed a number of old destroyers, which can be used there in stock. Others really don't have that much ability to shoot dozens of ships at once. This was one of the main reasons why Churchill was looking for Americans. He wanted the Americans to lend a hand.

"It's a waste! Can the British keep the British Isles alone? If not, when they surrender to the Germans, those ships will inevitably become the vanguard of the Germans to us! "In the U.S. Congress, there were people who disapproved of Americans getting involved in this mess.

"Could it be that after the Germans occupied the European continent, their footsteps would stop on the other side of the Atlantic? Their greed knows no bounds, and our beautiful and rich America may become their new target! "As long as the British have not fallen, the Germans will never set foot on our soil." ”

Many people in the United States are not optimistic about the situation of the British at this time, but the high-level people who have the right to decide are not optimistic and are waiting for the price to sell. They will not give up the British easily, but they also want to get more benefits from the British, so they are sloppy with a fight. However, soon the asking price also came out, 30 destroyers for 22 islands.

In the opinion of the Americans, if the British were defeated by the Germans, then the British colonies would not have the strength to take care of them, and it would be time to reduce them. And they have long coveted those islands of the British.

It is impossible for ships to sail unrestricted on the sea, and in the vast sea, a harbor, or even a place where fresh water can be replenished, is critical. The Americans have long owned the world's largest industry, but their tentacles have not extended to all parts of the world, which is much worse than the empire on which the sun never sets, and one of them is the lack of support from bases all over the world.

For this reason, they had plans such as Rainbow early on to annex these islands.

It turned out that the replacement of this set of destroyers by the Americans in history not only changed the course of World War II, but also changed the world pattern after World War II. No matter how large the territory of Soviet Russia is, it is still inferior to the network formed by the Americans and those bases in the Western world, so the navy of Soviet Russia was eaten to death by the Americans.

"This is a robbery while the fire is hot!" Churchill was furious, although the plan to change the island was proposed by the British themselves, but 30 old destroyers were too bad.

He could not help but feel sorrow for the fall of the British Empire. It's only been 20 years, and even in the immediate aftermath of World War I, Americans don't speak in such a tone. But he knew that the British Empire had fallen since the beginning of the world. When capital reaches a certain stage of development, it begins to detach itself from production and operates as financial capital in pursuit of greater profits. By the time London's financial predators launched a round of wool-cutting operations around the world, the center of physical industry had risen in the New World.

But the glory of the empire still shines on the medals of nobility, and although the British Empire is somewhat declining, it is among the three great powers in the world at this time. The British could not tolerate such acts of looting while the fire was in danger. The umbrella company appeared at the right time.

"Scott Destroyer! When we were looking for the best destroyer sample, we chose Scott as a sample, so we have quite a few ships like the Scott Destroyer. Room 48 always had a smile on his face, and even if the Englishman saw a ship identical to Scott, he would only have similar words in his ears and deliberately ignore other things.

Louis. Mountbatten just nodded proudly and didn't say anything. Although he was only a naval officer in his thirties, his background was profound.

He was a full-fledged aristocratic general, a cousin of King George VI and a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. His son, Prince Louis, was already the first sea lord of the British Navy and the first man of the British Navy before World War I, but because of his German ancestry, he had to avoid suspicion and resign as soon as the war began. However, because he later married Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Mountbatten was also a pure Englishman. Because of his royal status and his early resignation for special reasons, Churchill, who was the Minister of the Navy at the time, also favored him.

It can be seen that when it is, it is very important to fight for a father. However, Mountbatten is also very capable, and he can be regarded as a famous British general in World War II, and he will soon be in the position of marshal of the navy, commanding the commander of the joint headquarters of the three services. Meng Xiang had some impressions of him, and when the umbrella company took the lead, he took this path.

Because of the merit of the umbrella company and the appreciation of his boss, he will be promoted next. But before that, he also needs to negotiate a deal with the Umbrella Company's warships.

And because of the large number of transactions, Meng Xiang still chose the Scott-class destroyer, which has good performance and a much lower base cost than the class destroyer, and I believe that the British will also make such a choice.

"We heard that your country is going to exchange islands in the Western Hemisphere for warships, and we are also very interested." Room 48 said bluntly, "We have 16 Scotts. New! It was all paid in two months, and we only needed a few islands. ”

Knowing the Americans' asking price and getting Churchill's authorization, Mountbatten blinked quickly and said after a long time, "Which ones do you need?" ”

"Newfoundland, Jamaica, Bermuda, and the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean." Room 48 said these four places in a flat voice. Mountbatten was surprised, but his mind was also constantly spinning, considering the pros and cons.

Four islands for 16 Scott destroyers is much better than the Americans' 30 dilapidated destroyers for 22 islands, and the latest of those dilapidated destroyers has been 18 years old. But Mountbatten also knows that the more critical thing behind this deal is to pull in the United States and gain the support of the Americans.

"We still have four second-hand boats, which the Germans had planned to buy. However, when they heard that we had 20 new warships at the end of the year, they suddenly changed their attention. For a number of other reasons, we generally don't work with the Germans lightly. Although the 48 spoke tactfully, it was much more straightforward than those old fritters. directly revealed some meanings.

Mountbatten was also aware of the grievances between the copycats and the Umbrella Company, which may have been one of the reasons why the Umbrella found the British. But instead of thinking about the grievances between the two, he focused his attention on the sentence that was said in the middle of the 48. Umbrella company has 20 more ships at the end of the year? If you add those 4 second-hand ships, then they can come up with 40 of them. What kind of force is this umbrella, and why is it so strong?

Compared with the old destroyers of the Americans, he personally prefers the umbrella provided, and the same type of ship, only the convenience of maintenance and logistics is very objective. But it's not him who needs to make decisions, what he needs is to pass the word.

"Newfoundland?" Churchill looked at the information about the Umbrella Company little by little, and looked at the large map of Newfoundland.

At this time, the island of Newfoundland had not yet been incorporated into Canada, and it was an independent country under the protection of the British, until 49 years when some people voted to join Canada.

"The cod is good there!" Churchill sighed. Newfoundland is one of the four largest fishing grounds in the world, and is known as a fertile place where you can walk ashore on the back of a school of cod. However, no matter how many fish there are, they will not be able to reach the tables of the British at this time.

Meng Xiang opened his mouth to ask for this place, one was to take a fancy to this big fishing ground, the other was to take a fancy to this place, more than 400,000 square kilometers, the population was only more than 200,000 people, and during the First World War, almost all the Newfoundland troops who were pulled by the British to fight died in Europe, so that there were a quarter less young and middle-aged men in the country.

Another reason is that Newfoundland is right at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River on the U.S.-Canada border, blocking access to the Atlantic Ocean from the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. Further south, it's not too far from New York. Back then, it was a springboard for Europeans to land in the New World. The Titanic sank nearby.

This also shows from another point of view that the routes here still have a certain value. Since the Americans in later generations like to block Huaxia, Meng Xiang doesn't mind blocking them.

Blocking this place is naturally not enough, and cities such as New York are bounded by the endless Atlantic Ocean to the east. However, Meng Xiang didn't mind inserting one or two more points. Bermuda is another.

Bermuda became famous for the terrifying delta region near him. Since Meng Xiang crossed over, he had more understanding of some supernatural phenomena and became more interested. Whether it's exploring the mysteries of this place in the future, or whether it's one of the few small islands off the west coast of the United States, in short, this place is about to be settled.

In the same way, Jamaica is also stuck in an important place in the Caribbean Sea, and you can see the importance of its location by looking at the map, otherwise it would not have become a pirate den. There is a lot of pirate treasure here, but it is not as good as the use of the deep-water port of Kingston, and even less than the trade in sugar, rum, coffee, and rubber. Moreover, there are still 2.5 billion tons of bauxite that have not yet been developed.

Jamaica was still a British colony, and in '38 there was a general strike by workers across the island. Meng Xiang took the opportunity to send 77 to occupy a certain advantage with the Chinese armed forces around him and stood out among them. By this time, the Independence League Party they had formed had grown to nearly 10,000 people, second only to the largest party, the People's National Party, in Jamaica with a population of about 1 million. But when it comes to armament, the Alliance for Independence is the number one. The hundreds of Chinese among them were very strong in combat, and they did not waste the help of the twenty clones sent by Meng Xiang.

For this, the British refused to let go, and Meng Xiang was not greedy, but only said that he would be on lease for 49 years. Unlike Newfoundland and Bermuda, Meng Xiang simply said yes.

Similarly, the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean is leased.

The southernmost island of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago can be said to be in the heart of the Indian Ocean, the British are not stupid, how can they send out such an important place? So Meng Xiang was worried about the level of negotiation between the spies, so he directly offered a price and leased it for 49 years.

The spies' negotiations were simple, with conditions laid out, and there was little room for counter-offer. Even though Mountbatten said something, 48 didn't change his words. Joke, if these ships were given to the Germans, they would still be able to get the islands. Even after the fact, the British had to deal with the Germans in order to talk to the umbrella about the ownership of the islands. The stolen goods are also bought with money, and if you want to get them back in the future, the price will be great.

In the end, in order to save Mountbatten's face, only 4 second-hand destroyers and 20 new destroyers were booked for sale by the end of the year. Although it is given to them for real money, it is also easier to deal with than exchanging islands.

"Give it to them!" Churchill made this decision after thinking about it for a long time, with the permission of the royal family. If it is given to the Americans, even if it is rented, the chances of repossession by then are very small. And the umbrella company, no matter how you do it, they are just a group of companies. Ships, not too many British. With these ships of the umbrella company, when negotiating with the Americans, the price can be raised higher. Although it is necessary to gain the support of the Americans, if you can lose as little as possible, you will try to reduce it as little as possible.

Besides, in such a situation, the Americans can really calm down? He thought of the figure in the wheelchair, and he couldn't help but snort coldly in his heart.

When the twelve destroyers delivered first by the Umbrella Company were received by the British in the Indian Ocean, the Americans were in a bit of a hurry. Although Churchill had already revealed the news, the Americans thought it was a conspiracy by the British, and they did not believe that anyone had really come up with 20 destroyers in one go, and at this time of war and turmoil.

They checked, 10 Scott destroyers, 4 old, 6 new. They also suspected that Huaxia was equipped with a Scott destroyer similar to the Scott destroyer at this time, but there were many Scott destroyers in the Vanguard. Of course, if they had ever seen the Vanguard Navy's naval training fleet in the South Seas, they would feel a little familiar.

In order to quickly master these naval skills, Meng Xiang prepared 6 Scott destroyers as training ships, except for two seriously damaged and directly dismantled specimens, the other 4 were ready to be sold after a simple repair, they had already been repaired and dismantled by the shipyard boilers and pipes, cables and other parts many times, and continued to repair, the cost was too high, it was better to build new ones directly, so Meng Xiang was treated as second-hand goods.

In order to cover up the origin, afraid that the British would see the clues from some details, Meng Xiang also specially asked people to carry out some disassembly and transformation, and even polishing and painting. But even then, sold to the British, four ships earned back all the costs. After all, the Scott destroyer at this time is super cheap and cost-effective, which is why Meng Xiang never gets tired of using it.

The Americans could not find any obvious traces, so they had to rush to talk to the British first, so as to prevent the other islands from being taken away by others. Just like the Americans intercepted China in later generations, the British did not have a good heart, and the reason why the umbrella company successfully obtained the three islands around the United States was all hidden chess pieces left by the British, which stumbled the Americans.

Of course, in order not to affect the friendship between Britain and the United States, the British threw these three islands under the umbrella in advance, leaving little opportunity for the Americans to reflect.

But the other islands still needed to win over the Americans, so in July, the cooperation between the two sides took a turn for the better, and the Americans exchanged 50 old destroyers for 20 islands including the Bahamas, St. Lucia, and Trinidad. With the exception of St. Lucia, which was gifted by the British, the others were on a 99-year lease.

The Bahamas, which is close to Florida in the United States, even though the Americans wanted to come over and expand outward, were still rejected by the British and only gave them a lease. This is similar to the British directly handing over Newfoundland and other places to the umbrella, just to make a thorn between the Americans and the umbrella. The British have been in the country for hundreds of years, and there are also many scheming old foxes.

However, no matter how cunning they are, they can't imagine that there is still a golden finger shining behind the umbrella.

At this time, Meng Xiang didn't care much about the difference between his 49 years and the Americans' 99 years. He knew that no matter what, the idea of national rejuvenation in the future would sweep the world, and when the strength became strong, there would be spies operating in it, and the independent places would be in his pocket. Moreover, how the British seized some places, such as the Chagos Archipelago, will be seized by others, or even more.

If it were not for the alliance with the Germans, it would have been difficult for him to grab more territory from the British and French by that time. But even in alliance with the Germans, it is definitely not now. With both hands ready, Meng Xiang still needs to use the exchange method to get more opportunities. So he finished counting the British and began to think about the French again.

This time, his first thought was not the islands and colonies of the French, but the fleet that the French still retained.

The fleet of the French is also considered to be among the five great powers in the world, with the exception of Britain, Japan, the United States, and Germany, and a little stronger than Italy. The Mediterranean Sea was a territory where the French and Italian navies fought for supremacy, which was one of the purposes of the alliance between Italy and the Germans. At this time, although the French army collapsed, his navy was not damaged, but there was also a great chaos that had never been seen before.

With the surrender of the French puppet regime, it became a client state of the Germans, but the opinion of the navy has not been unified, some plan to surrender to the British, some want to follow the government, and some want to sink their own ambitions.

Meng Xiang is the most welcome to the latter one. As a large arms dealer who is interested in selling all over the world, and has a cheap base supply, he naturally hopes that those European and American countries will buy as much as possible. The French Navy is so fat that he can't bite it, and he doesn't bother to bite it, so the best ending is to sink to the bottom of the sea, and no one can get it. At that time, Meng Xiang had many more buyers.

"It's time for fireworks!" Meng Xiang looked at the time and couldn't help but smile slightly.