The Rise of the Third Reich

The British Empire would not make peace with Germany, Hirschman was certain. At least Britain would not really make peace with Germany until it lost most of its fleet and fell into siege and blockade by the German navy.

Because what is happening between Britain and Germany now is not a regional armed conflict that has nothing to do with the overall situation, but a war for world hegemony. In such a war, there is no such thing as a "decent peace" and there is no such thing as "surrender and lose half".

If Britain makes peace with Germany under the current situation, there is no doubt that Britain will lose its world hegemony forever and become a second-rate country. Although the trend of Britain becoming a second-rate country cannot be changed, 46 million people are used to it. The British, whose glory never sets on their empire, will not give up easily. After all, it is always difficult to switch from extravagance to simplicity.

Therefore, if Germany wants to make peace with Britain, the obstacle it faces is by no means a stubborn Winston Churchill, who is probably an American spy, but 46 million unwilling British people.

Moreover, the Second World War has not yet shown its extremely cruel side. Although the British lost 200,000 to 300,000 troops (not counting Asan and Black Millet), most of them were captured into prisoner-of-war camps and received relatively good treatment. The indiscriminate bombing of the British mainland that was supposed to happen did not happen because of Hessmann. If it weren't for the material shortages caused by German submarines, aircraft, and camouflaged assault ships in the British mainland, most of the British people would not feel the harm of the war at all.

Under such circumstances, how can we expect the British to admit defeat and give up world hegemony?

"Your Majesty, although I don't think peace will emerge under the current circumstances," Hersman looked at William III, who looked very old with white hair, "but I am not opposed to contact with the British."

Although Hessmann did not want to make peace with Britain, he knew that Hitler had always had this idea and had established a secret negotiation channel with the British. It was just that William II, who had just passed away, was very resentful of Britain and could not carry out a peaceful movement with great fanfare.

But now the old emperor who had resentment against Britain died and was replaced by a new emperor who was willing to make peace with Britain. As the leader of the Juncker Corps, Hersmann could not oppose the views of the emperor and the cabinet at the same time.

"Can we allow Queen Olga to go to England?" William III asked tentatively. "If we can establish direct contact with George VI, perhaps we can speed up the reconciliation process between Britain and Germany."

"Of course," Hessmann nodded and smiled, "Queen Olga is a very suitable candidate, and there is nothing Churchill can do to prevent her from meeting the King of England."

Empress Olga is not Rudolf Hess. She is the Empress of Russia once recognized by the British government, and she is also a relative of British King George VI. Moreover, she is not a member of the German government or military. Churchill could not arrest her like Hess, or even prevent her from meeting George VI.

In the eyes of both William III and Hitler, the biggest obstacle to peace talks between Britain and Germany was a small group of political elites headed by Prime Minister Churchill. As long as they could convince the British king, the war could end quickly - according to the British Defense Act, It was the king who had full power, and Churchill's cabinet only received authorization from the king. So in theory, King George VI could stop the "random behavior" of Churchill's cabinet.

"So... on what terms should we use to make peace with Britain?" William III continued to ask.

“First of all, Britain should hand over all its territories in Africa, withdraw its troops from the Arabian Peninsula, return Iceland and the Faroe Islands to Denmark, return Gibraltar to Spain, and then return Madeira, Socotra, Bermuda, The Bahamas and British Honduras are handed over to us. Secondly, the United Kingdom must join the European Customs Union. Thirdly, the British Princess Elizabeth must marry Prince Friedrich. In addition, the United Kingdom must hand over three 'Glorious' class aircraft carriers. "

The conditions proposed by Hirschman did not seem too harsh. Asan in India was still British, Malaya, Singapore and Burma were also British, and Canada, Australia and New Zealand were still owned by the British Empire.

But these peace conditions were not the end of imperial decline for Britain, but the beginning of a new one. Because Britain, which lost the war, was simply unable to maintain the remaining colonies from falling apart. In the original history, Britain, as the victorious country, eventually lost the empire on which the sun never sets. If Britain becomes the defeated party and relies on Germany's protection, it will only be a matter of time before it is blackmailed and cut apart by Germany, and eventually loses its empire.

Therefore, no British politician with any brain would consider making peace with Germany until the end of the road. As for the ordinary people in the UK, they still don’t know that the Royal Navy is losing ground and is about to lose control of the sea.

“…these brave and fearless men used their sacrifice to win an important victory for the British Empire. Without victory, there would be nothing that the British Empire had symbolized, and without victory, there would be no more strong demands for centuries. and impulsiveness. Never before have so many given so much credit to so few on the battlefields of human conflict, and it is their presence that keeps us inspired and confident, if only we unite. , be braver, and our cause will not be frustrated!"

When Queen Olga sailed into the Port of Liverpool on the Swedish cruise ship Gothenburg, British Prime Minister Churchill's speech was heard over and over again from the speakers on the port pier. The content of the speech was about "Victory at the Battle of Shetland" and "The Daredevils".

During this period, Germany had an emperor die and a new emperor was crowned. Therefore, Goebbels’ propaganda system was busy boasting about the emperor and did not have much energy to boast about the German version of the “Victory of Shetland”. As a result, in the propaganda war It fell behind. So much so that not many Europeans cared about Germany's major victories at sea.

On the British side, under the orders of Churchill, propaganda agencies went to great lengths to promote the various heroic deeds of the "Fearless Death Squadrons" in the Battle of Shetland. In addition, the Shetland Islands were indeed not occupied by Germany. As a result, most British people believed that their invincible Royal Navy had truly achieved a "Jutland-style victory."

…

With a "click" sound, Churchill turned off the radio in his office, then slowly turned around, smiled bitterly at the visiting White House Intelligence Coordinator Colonel Donovan, and said: "If everything I say is true, , that would be great!”

"Mr. Prime Minister, your words will become true. As long as our two countries unite, our cause will not be frustrated... President Roosevelt also firmly believes in this!" Donovan said to Churchill in a very firm tone.

The purpose of his coming to the UK was to cheer up Churchill and the British cabinet - Roosevelt certainly knew how the Battle of Shetland turned out. The United States has a squadron in Iceland and also deploys many PBY Catalina seaplanes. Some of these planes were shot down by the Germans because they were too close to the battlefield. Some PBY Catalina seaplanes participated in the search and rescue of British pilots who crashed into the sea, and rescued dozens of Britons who had completely suffered a mental breakdown.

Therefore, Roosevelt was very aware of the cruel reality that the "HMS Hood" was sunk, the "Prince of Wales" was smashed, and the "Ark Royal" had sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Of course, the ordinary American people do not know these things. If they knew, they would be afraid, and the anti-German sentiment that had finally been raised would be replaced by anti-war sentiment. Therefore, the propaganda caliber of the Battle of Shetland in the United States was the same as in the United Kingdom.

However, Roosevelt still had no way to get Congress to vote to declare war on Germany. Although the Germans shot down several American seaplanes near the Faroe Islands and the Shetland Islands, causing the death or disappearance of twenty or thirty Americans, most members of the U.S. Congress believed that the voters who voted for them did not Would you understand why the Navy would go so close to Norway to defend the United States? Moreover, most ignorant American voters will not understand what the Anglo-German armistice means to the United States!

Therefore, Roosevelt could only send his crony Donovan to the UK again to cheer Churchill up, and at the same time discuss how to allow the UK to continue to fight alone.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the President has agreed to lease the Utah to you." Donovan forced a smile, and then told Churchill some good news. "In addition, the president is also prepared to lease the newly built Long Island escort aircraft carrier to you, and the five Revenge-class escort aircraft carriers under construction will also be leased to you after they are completed."

Take out 1 battleship and 6 aircraft carriers at a time! Roosevelt's hand was really big enough. However, Churchill's brows were still furrowed. He smiled slightly and said to Colonel Donovan: "The Russian Empress who is not worthy of the name has arrived in the UK... She was in Berlin to attend the coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm III. I think , She came here on the entrustment of Kaiser Wilhelm III and German Chancellor Hitler! Because of her status, I cannot prevent her from meeting the king, Colonel, I think you know what this means?"

Donovan was stunned for a moment, "Prime Minister, is the UK going to start peace negotiations with Germany?"

Churchill nodded slowly and said: "This is inevitable... We lost the battle in Shetland, and it is only a matter of time before we lose Gibraltar. Under such circumstances, there will definitely be people in the UK who want to seek a decent solution." Peace, and I cannot completely block the channels for peace. What I can do now is to join in and control the process of peace negotiations.”