The Rise of the Third Reich

War Cabinet Headquarters, King Charles Street, London.

The packed house of senior civil and military officials from the British Empire sat dumbly, no one spoke, and everyone stared at a briefing on the war situation in front of them in a daze. Winston Churchill turned his back to them, smoking a cigar and looking at the huge map hanging, motionless.

The lights in the underground conference room were very dim, and the air was filled with the smell of cigar smoke and coffee, as well as a faint musty smell. Beneath the bright surface, which seems to herald an arrogant empire on which the sun never sets, is actually an old, corrupt, and moldy country.

And that war briefing ruthlessly tore apart the last pretense of the British Empire to pieces!

What was contained in Prime Minister Churchill's inspirational speech in June 1940 as the British Expeditionary Force retreated from France was soon to become reality. Because the Royal Navy, which has defended the British mainland from foreign invasion for hundreds of years, lost four precious Glory-class aircraft carriers in the battle that just ended!

In addition, the flagship of the Home Fleet, King George V, also suffered heavy damage and was barely sailing towards the Firth of Clyde.

The German large fleet may have also lost an aircraft carrier, but other than that, all ships are intact and are now marching toward the Denmark Strait. In the Atlantic Ocean, it should be said that there is no sea force in the world that can stop them, not even the US Navy! The only one that can compete with the European Combined Fleet with the German Navy as its core is the Japanese Combined Fleet, but unfortunately, Japan is an ally of Germany.

Therefore, the British mainland will soon be invaded, which is a certain prospect, unless Britain is willing to surrender before then. Of course, this is impossible!

Therefore, the British people must now really prepare to fight to the end... The battle in France and the battle on the ocean have been lost, and the battle in the air is also greatly detrimental to Britain. Next, the British people must be confident and defend their homeland at any cost.

Just like Churchill told everyone more than a year ago: We will fight on the beaches! Fight where the enemy has landed! Fight in the fields and on the streets! Fight in the mountains! We will not surrender at any time. Even if our island, or a large part of it, is occupied by the enemy and starved, our overseas empire, armed and protected by the British fleet, will continue to fight.

Although in 1940, when Churchill said these words in a radio address to the nation, the entire empire was cheering for him.

But at that time, no British people believed that an invasion would happen... because the Royal Navy was still very powerful at that time, and the German Navy could only do some work to break diplomatic relations and could not threaten the British mainland at all.

But now...it seems that the German Nazis, who are armed to the teeth, are really coming to Britain. Are the British people ready to defend their decadent and declining world empire at all costs?

Just when everyone was unsure, Churchill slowly turned his fat body and looked at everyone with firm and confident eyes.

The British Prime Minister said: "We must fight to the end and we must win, because without victory the Empire will cease to exist."

"Mr. Prime Minister, we..." First Sea Lord Dudley Pound said with a sad face. "Our Royal Navy no longer has the strength to defend the homeland."

Four Tejas-class aircraft carriers were lost, and the King George V-class was severely damaged and lost its combat capability. Now the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier force has almost lost its combat effectiveness. Although there are still some battleships, Cunningham has already reported the wire-controlled gliding bomb via telegram!

60 P.108 heavy bombers dropped more than 290 500kg wire-controlled glide bombs! 72 of them hit (after increasing the altitude, the hit rate also dropped a bit), and all four aircraft carriers suffered more than 10 Hs293 bombs. The Glorious was hit by 14 missiles and was completely destroyed and sank when the fire got out of control and spread to the ammunition depot. Victory was hit by 15 bombs, 12 of which detonated, causing a fire that reduced the carrier to a floating shell. The Formidable only took 10 bombs before sinking into the water. It lost all power and could not be saved, so it had to be abandoned. Because the Indomitable seemed to be very durable at one time, it suffered the most bombs. It was hit by 18 Hs293 bombs and was blown to pieces alive. The King George V was hit by 15 bombs. It is absolutely a miracle that it did not sink.

But the wire-controlled gliding bombs used by the Germans and Italians were obviously a bigger miracle, and their appearance had completely changed the pattern of naval warfare. Now the overlords at sea are no longer even aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft, but have become shore-based aviation with long-range, high-altitude heavy bombers. At least in the sea areas that can be covered by the combat radius of shore-based aviation, the surface fleet has become more vulnerable than ever.

And can the remaining battleships of the British Empire still play a role in the battle to defend the British mainland when faced with such remotely controlled gliding bombs? The answer seems to be no.

"The Royal Navy has more important tasks in the future," Churchill waved his left hand holding a cigar, "so now we must preserve the strength of the fleet."

future? Does the Royal Navy actually have a future?

The cabinet members, who had long been pessimistic about the future of the British Empire, heard this and looked blankly at their never-say-die Prime Minister.

"The British Empire is a worldwide empire!" Churchill said sternly, "Our territories are all over the world. Even if our homeland is occupied by the enemy, the British Empire still has vast overseas territories that can support us in continuing to fight. From now on, the mission of the Royal Navy is Defend our most important overseas territories. At the same time, we must transport important personnel and materials to Canada. Canada will be the base for our counterattack in Europe and the starting point for the revival of the British Empire.”

Not to mention, Churchill is still capable. The fact that such a thing as escaping came out of his mouth can make the listeners stand in awe.

"Mr. Prime Minister, His Majesty the King..." Deputy Prime Minister Attlee frowned. He did not want the government to move to Canada.

The reason is simple. He is the leader of the Labor Party, and it was the votes of the British working class that brought him to power. If the government wants to abdicate in Canada, there will be many people among the elites that the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party rely on to run away with them, and Canada has already had semicolons of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. Therefore, when Conservatives and Liberals arrive in Canada, they will always have a foothold in the political arena. However, the British working class does not have the conditions to flee to Canada. Even if some of them can cross the ocean, they will go to work in the industrialized United States and will not stay in Canada, a large rural area. Therefore, Attlee, the leader of the Labor Party, had no choice but to retire from politics and retire in Canada.

But he didn't dare to say no to Churchill now. These were extraordinary times, and it would be terrible if Fatty Qiu was labeled a traitor. Therefore, Attlee could only bring His Majesty the King out to speak out.

"Of course His Majesty the King will not surrender to Germany!" Churchill said with certainty.

Attlee, however, had some doubts. Where is His Majesty's heir to the throne, Princess Elizabeth, now? I heard that this little girl is on a blind date with her cousin Prince Friedrich of Germany in the Netherlands! Is this a sign of resistance to the end? This is obviously about surrendering and losing half the battle...

Churchill glanced at Attlee, who had a suspicious expression on his face, and said: "The king's intention is very obvious, which is to fight Germany to the end and at the same time protect the interests of the British Empire as much as possible! Everything he did was for Our empire!"

This is actually telling Attlee: As a lawyer from a working-class background, you should not try to figure out the thoughts of the almighty king. You don't understand this kind of thing at all.

Having said this, Churchill nodded to the officials and soldiers present, "Okay, that's the end of today's meeting. I'm going to Buckingham Palace to see His Majesty now... to report to him the current extremely serious situation. "

…

After Churchill left the underground headquarters in King Charles Street, he went straight to Buckingham Palace. King George VI also knew that there was a decisive battle at sea today, so Fatty Qiu immediately summoned him as soon as he arrived. As soon as he met Fatty Qiu, he said, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry, I have some bad news to report to you."

"Again, defeated again?" The British king in military uniform sighed softly.

"Yes, we were defeated." Fatty Qiu said, "The navy lost four aircraft carriers, and the King George V class was also severely damaged and lost its combat effectiveness... Your Majesty, the cabinet believes that now is the time to consider defending Canada and Australia."

Defend Canada? But who wants to invade there?

However, the British King was not surprised at all when he heard Churchill's proposal. Instead, he nodded and said: "Yes, we must defend Canada and Australia... at least keep Canada from being occupied by other countries."

Churchill said: "Then the War Cabinet began to formulate a plan to defend Canada. At the same time, the War Cabinet also believed that part of the population of the British mainland needed to be evacuated. Her Royal Highnesses, the Queen and Princess Margaret, had better go to Canada immediately. Your Majesty... …Please also be prepared to leave your homeland and go to Canada at any time.”

The old fat prime minister paused and told the king in a very serious tone: "Your Majesty, it is enough for the British people to have Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth... There will be no problem in the homeland. The homeland will always be Britain and will not become Germany. A free state. But the situation in Canada is complicated. There must be a leader with sufficient prestige to ensure that this rich land will always belong to the United Kingdom. Therefore, all members of the cabinet hope that you can become the monarch of Canada in the future!"