Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: World War II - The Gathering Storm (3)
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March 29, 1940
London, the Capital of the United Kingdom
“France is drastically increasing its military spending?”
British Prime Minister Halifax furrowed his brow as he reviewed the report in his hands.
“Weren’t they just crying about a lack of funds for rearmament back when the Radical Party was in power?”
“They were, Prime Minister.”
Halifax read the report from MI6, his eyes filled with disbelief.
“Where on earth are they getting the money for this?”
Unable to imagine they would resort to burying themselves in debt to expand their military, Halifax could only arrive at one conclusion.
“Either the Radical Party was exaggerating their troubles, or they’ve completely recovered from the effects of the Great Depression.”
“Well, it’s difficult to say for certain at the moment.”
When the Radical Party was in power, Britain and France had been firm allies, sharing a great deal of intelligence to counter Germany.
But since de La Rocque’s French Social Party took over, intelligence sharing had all but ceased, though neither nation had officially declared their alliance void.
“Hmm, are they truly intent on going to war with Germany after all?”
Halifax narrowed his eyes, a perfectly natural deduction for him to make.
France was practically co-sponsoring Poland with Britain, the same Poland that Germany had gone to war with, and was also backing Finland. From Britain’s perspective, Germany had now become a strategic ally.
After the mad dog Germany under Hitler had undergone an internal regime change and become a UK-friendly shield against the Soviets, a French war with Germany would do Britain no good.
“It seems I’ll have to meet with the French Prime Minister.”
The Radical Party government in France had been overthrown for trying to start a war with Germany, forcing them to abandon Poland.
Yet, Halifax was bewildered by the fact that the new French government had not given up and was instead fervently expanding its military.
In any case, Halifax wanted to maintain the current state of affairs.
Germany had, for a change, shown generosity toward Poland for the sake of their common enemy, the Soviet Union. A French declaration of war that would escalate the conflict was the last thing he wanted.
“I will send a request to them, then.”
As Halifax nodded at Foreign Secretary Cadogan’s response, his secretary entered and announced.
“Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill has arrived.”
“Ah, our unwelcome guest is certainly diligent.”
Halifax spoke in an exaggerated, theatrical tone, and Cadogan shook his head with a wry smile.
Winston Churchill was still a marginal figure in the Conservative Party, but with the support of pro-German corporations and the opposition, he was slowly expanding his influence within the party.
And he was one of those who frequently voiced opposition to Halifax’s current policies.
“In that case, I will proceed with contacting France as you requested.”
“Please do, Foreign Secretary. I shall deal with the enemy within.”
Halifax smiled faintly as he watched Cadogan leave.
“Show him in. The man is a greater nuisance to the press if I don’t hear him out.”
-
His short, stout frame and discontented face gave Winston Churchill the impression that his nickname, the ‘British Bulldog,’ suited him perfectly.
Today, his expression was particularly disgruntled, making that impression all the more vivid. Prime Minister Halifax greeted him with a faint smile.
“Welcome, Mr. Churchill. It has been a while.”
“I requested a meeting last week, but you only granted it this week. So yes, I suppose it has been a while.”
A slightly bitter smile touched Halifax’s lips. Why would he want to meet a man who never had anything pleasant to say?
Of course, true to form, Winston Churchill paid no mind to Halifax’s sour expression and got straight to the point.
“Prime Minister. Are you out of your mind, demobilizing the army at a time like this?”
Halifax’s brow furrowed at Churchill’s rude words, but he answered steadily.
“We will not be joining the war, Mr. Churchill.”
After the Munich Agreement, Halifax had halted the vigorous rearmament Britain had been pursuing and was now preparing to demobilize and transition to a peacetime economy.
“Not joining the war? Look at what’s happening in Europe! Those damned reds have invaded Poland after Finland!”
Halifax wore a bored expression, as if to say, *Oh, this again*, but Churchill, his face a mask of frustration, continued passionately.
“While you and Chamberlain looked the other way, France has fallen under the rule of some fascist-like fellow who is now preparing to get in bed with the actual fascists. How long does Britain intend to stand by and watch the world burn?”
“‘Fascist-like fellow’? Your words are excessive for the leader of a nation, Mr. Churchill. While France’s recent actions are somewhat unsettling, they are, for now, still our ally.”
Churchill took out a lighter and lit his cigar. Ignoring Halifax’s scowl, he blew out a puff of smoke and spoke again.
“‘Still our ally,’ my foot! What kind of ally refuses to coordinate its foreign policy? Have you already forgotten what Attlee said in Parliament, Prime Minister?”
Churchill grew more agitated as he spoke, and eventually, Halifax’s patience began to wear thin.
“And what is it that you are doing, Mr. Churchill? Will you not be satisfied until our young men bleed and die in yet another European war?”
“If war is necessary, then we must fight! When dangerous men are playing with dangerous weapons on the continent, what parent stands idly by until their own child is stabbed?”
Halifax looked at Churchill, his face a picture of utter disbelief.
“Britain has yet to recover from the trauma of the last Great War! Why do you think we have worked so hard to build a bulwark that will bleed in our stead?”
“Ha! ‘Build’? It emerged on its own! And isn't it your foreign policy that has lost us the bulwark we did have?”
Halifax erupted in fury at the sharp retort—that Nazi Germany had become a bulwark on its own through a coup that created the Fourth Reich, while France had become completely estranged from Britain.
“Intervention, intervention! While you, a mere Member of Parliament, were crying for war against Hitler at the time of the Munich Agreement, I was busy as Foreign Secretary touring the Commonwealth dominions! I was there to see just how many troops they would send if Britain went to war!”
If war had broken out during the Munich crisis, Britain would not have been able to send even two divisions to Czechoslovakia.
Britain desperately needed time, and if it had gone to war then, the coup in the Fourth Reich would never have happened.
To Halifax, Churchill’s criticism of the Munich Agreement as a diplomatic failure and a defeat to Hitler, ignoring such basic realities, was nothing more than a child’s tantrum.
“You may not know, having been relegated to an has-been politician after the Great War, but I served as Viceroy of India and as a diplomat! I have seen with my own two eyes the cracks forming in the British Empire, the very thing we are so proud of!”
It was Halifax who had dealt with Mahatma Gandhi’s independence movement in India, negotiating with him directly to temporarily quell it.
He believed that if Britain were to exhaust its national strength in another war, it would mean the loss of its status as an imperial power.
From a historical perspective, he wasn't entirely wrong.
“Our Britain will be eternally strong! As always, we will lead Europe, and to maintain the powerful cohesion of the Commonwealth, our dominance over Europe is—”
Churchill shouted back in protest, but Halifax bellowed over him.
“Nonsense! We no longer have the strength for that! Don’t you see? Thanks to that war you love so much and the Great Depression, we are struggling just to maintain our proud Royal Navy and the colonies!”
Churchill fell silent, glaring at Halifax with displeasure.
“Let me be clear. As long as I am Prime Minister, Britain will never intervene in a European war. I will focus on colonial policy to preserve the influence of the British Empire, and I will never see our proud young men go off to die on that continent to protect another country!”
“So you intend to stand by and do nothing while the red menace swallows the continent?”
Halifax scoffed at Churchill’s words.
“Ha! A menace that can’t even break through Finland and Poland is no menace at all. Even if they fall, Germany is there. We should support Germany and let them bleed in our place rather than spill the precious blood of Britons.”
“There were many politicians who thought like you during the last Great War! It was only when France was on the brink of ruin that we finally sent troops, and how much blood was shed over those years as a result—”
His patience exhausted, Halifax cut Churchill off.
“Do you know what Australia said when we asked about their willingness to join the war? They said they didn’t want to participate in another Gallipoli!”
“How dare you!”
Winston Churchill was enraged. The Gallipoli Campaign he had championed during the Great War was infamous as a shameful operation that had resulted in immense casualties for Britain and the Commonwealth nations.
“That was not my fault! If the high command had directed it more competently—”
“Why, if we were to join a war now and fail, I suppose you’re already preparing to shift the blame to me then, too? As if anyone has forgotten what you did to John Fisher!”
Accused directly of championing the Gallipoli Campaign only to shift the blame to the First Sea Lord, Admiral John Fisher, while extricating himself, Winston Churchill’s face turned crimson as he heaved, speechless.
Halifax also took a ragged breath, loosened his tie, and then spoke.
“I have heard your opinion, Mr. Churchill. But I wish to leave a legacy of peace for the youth of Britain, not war. You may leave now.”
His political partner, Neville Chamberlain, was dying. Setting aside his own political convictions, Halifax wanted his comrade, at the very least, to close his eyes seeing a peaceful nation.
Winston Churchill, still breathing heavily, rose from his seat and spoke.
“You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you, Prime Minister.”
Halifax snorted. *Trotsky's words. Spoken like a true anti-communist warmonger.*
“Ha, let it come. As long as the Royal Navy exists, no one will dare threaten Britain.”
France’s open approach to the fascists was unnerving, but Halifax judged that they were still Britain’s allies, at least nominally, and could not openly become an enemy.
Now that the true state of the German Navy was known, even if every nation on the European continent joined forces, they could not surpass the naval power of Britain alone.
As an era of hegemony was fading, that alone was Britain’s pride and the source of Halifax’s conviction.
-
April 1, 1940
Moscow, the Capital of the Soviet Union – The Kremlin
An unconcealable rage simmered on the face of Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Soviet Union.
The three men standing before him—Marshal Voroshilov, Marshal Budyonny, and Chief of the General Staff Shaposhnikov—were sweating profusely.
“Do you have anything to say?”
Thanks to a winter that had been colder and longer than usual, the Rasputitsa had arrived late, but in the end, the Soviet army had failed to break through the defensive lines established by Poland.
“We are deeply sorry, Comrade General Secretary.”
As the three men spoke in unison, Stalin let out a dry laugh.
The vanguard’s disgraceful performance was one thing, but when the main force of one million troops arrived to attack, Stalin had at least expected some results from the offensive.
And yet—
“A twenty percent loss of deployed troops and tanks? Are you all joking with me?”
Not only were there no results, but they had suffered tremendous losses without breaching a single inch of the enemy’s defenses before the Rasputitsa set in.
The Finnish front, which had been showing some progress, was now just twiddling its thumbs after the main forces were withdrawn. Veins bulged on Stalin’s forehead as he spoke.
“It has become clear that our current tanks are like paper against the anti-tank guns and tanks those German bastards have been supplying. Resume the T-34 production plan that was halted.”
“C-Comrade General Secretary. The T-34 is a flawed machine. Rather than that, my plan—”
Marshal Grigory Kulik, who had been standing aside as if it were none of his business, paled and tried to stop the General Secretary, but Stalin roared in fury.
“And when will that be ready? I don’t need a perfect weapon! I need a decent weapon that can be mass-produced right now to break through their defensive lines!”
Marshal Kulik looked deeply displeased with the adoption of the T-34, but realizing that provoking the General Secretary further could cost him his head, he reluctantly backed down.
Stalin turned his gaze back to the three men standing before him.
“Does any of the three of you have an issue with being dismissed?”
None of them could utter a word. Stalin’s eyes shifted to Shaposhnikov.
“Who would be a good replacement for Chief of the General Staff?”
Although he was being dismissed, Shaposhnikov was grateful that the General Secretary had still asked for his opinion. He replied.
“General Meretskov would be a suitable choice, Comrade General Secretary.”
But the General Secretary narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased with the suggestion.
“Isn’t he leading the Finnish offensive from Leningrad? And he hasn’t shown any proper results either.”
His lack of success in Finland was largely due to Voroshilov, who, as commander-in-chief, had done nothing but blunder.
Meretskov had only just begun to shine after Timoshenko took command, right before Stalin pulled out the main forces. It was an unfair assessment, but in the General Secretary’s eyes, he was inadequate.
Shaposhnikov pondered the General Secretary’s response for a moment before speaking again.
“There is another suitable candidate. Though he has a rather fiery temper.”
“Fiery or not, I need a man who can bring me victory in this godforsaken Finland and Poland right now.”
Hearing Stalin’s words, Shaposhnikov nodded and replied.
“In that case, Comrade General Secretary, I believe General Georgy Zhukov would be a fine choice as my successor.”